Benjamin Diau Email & Phone Number

Williamsburg, VA, US

Newport News, Virginia, United States

• Conceived, developed and established a unique fast casual style restaurant serving made-to-order poke sushi bowls.
• Assembled facility, appliances, fixtures, and personnel to create a small business that manages itself. Created and rolled out policies and procedures for all facets of operations to include: recruitment and training.
• As silent GM, occasionally visit the operation to ensure compliance with established SOPs and to train leadership staff.
• Rapidly achieved and sustain profitability despite marketplace woes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Williamsburg, Virginia, United States

• Acquired a franchise with a renowned chain of 1500+ pretzel shops founded by Anne F. Beiler and her husband, Jonas, in 1988.
• Serve hand-rolled pretzels, dips, and beverages in a fast-casual, walk-up trade setting in a busy shopping center.
• Orchestrated all facets of the startup of the business to include site selection (Williamsburg Premium Outlets Center), buildout, furnishing, equipage, staffing and training, policy development and implementation, and.
• Provide day-to-day operations oversight for what has grown to 6-10 employees and ~$750 thousand in annual revenues. Directly responsible for inventory control and replenishment, team recruitment and training.
• Accomplished ~13 years of successful operation to include one of the top performing stores in a region of 200+ locations in net sales per customer. Won numerous corporate and community awards for excellence in service.

Richmond, Virginia, United States

• Served as first point of contact for mortgage applicants in process of purchasing a home or refinancing a mortgage. Engaged potential clients to help them understand what they qualified for and guide them through the.
• Liaised with realtors, loan analysts, underwriters, and insurance advisors to accelerate growth across multiple business lines.
• Participated in an immersive Training Plan to ensure future success and become a subject matter expert in all business lines.
• Acted as a trusted advisor and advocate for clients to prepare for closing. Ensured accuracy / efficiency at each step of the way.
• Employed Encompass software to originate loans for FHA, VA, ARM, Jumbo, and Conventional applications.
• Conducted initial pre-qualifications and prepared loan applications and requisite documents as set forth in the VA Vendee program.

Williamsburg, Virginia, United States

• Joined the family business after completion of undergraduate degree, fulfilling progressively responsible positions that culminated as General Manager of a fine dining establishment for the final eight years of.
• Learned and fulfilled virtually all front and back house leadership functions to achieve GM status that included: operations management and production control; scheduling and workforce allocation; menu planning.
• Managed advertising, tour groups, social media marketing / posture, and other visibility channels to promote traffic.
• Ensured the sustainment of operational integrity that earned Top Asian Restaurant awards and status for many consecutive years. Played an integral role in positioning the restaurant for extremely profitable sale in.

Williamsburg, Virginia, United States

• Conceived and established a unique import merchandise business to exploit contacts in the orient for unique gifts, garments, trinkets and toys. Drew on fresh concepts in retail/wholesale sales prior to the emergence of.
• Built business to employ five associates that staffed the store and the business office. Peak sales reached $250K in FY2007.
• Regularly traveled overseas to visit factories, select and procure merchandise, negotiate prices, establish supply contracts, and arrange for export to the U.S. Designed, manufactured and packaged several products that.
• Opened an attached gift shop at Peking Restaurant (above) and negotiated gift shop placements at various other retail outlets and wholesale accounts. Grew product line to over 500 items and a catalog of custom-order.
• Expanded sales year over year to position the company for profitable sale to a competitor in the fall of 2008