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When cousins Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac
were growing up outside of Portland, Maine,
family gatherings invariably meant locally caught
lobster on the table. Like sweet corn in the
Midwest or fresh salmon in the Pacific Northwest, lobster was
a regional delicacy they took for granted.
On a roll: Cousins’
signature fare.
Both cousins eventually moved away:
Tselikis, now 30, to the Boston area,
where he sold medical devices, and
Lomac, 33, to Los Angeles, where he
worked in real estate while pursuing
an acting career.
In 2011, Tselikis flew to California for
some sunshine and a visit with his cousin.
Playing their favorite childhood video
game, NHL ’94, they reminisced about
all the good meals they’d had as kids, and
how difficult it was to find high-quality
Maine lobster throughout the U.S. Even in
some parts of Maine, Tselikis had discovered,
there was a preponderance of cheap,
low-quality lobster from other areas.
Impressed by the burgeoning L.A.
food-truck scene, they hit on their big
idea. “We said, ‘Let’s take what we grew
up with—this awesome Maine lobster—
and let’s bring it to where it’s not accessible,”
Tselikis recalls. “Food trucks were
blowing up then in L.A. We thought if
we served it via truck, the trend was
bound to continue and expand to the
rest of the country.”
Over the next year, the duo worked on
the project while holding down their day
jobs, and in April 2012, the first Cousins
Maine Lobster truck lifted its window in
L.A., serving lobster rolls, lobster tacos,
bisque and clam chowder. There was
a 60-person line throughout that first
night, and they completely sold out.
The truck’s popularity continued,
and six months later Tselikis and Lomac
quit their jobs to work on the concept
full time. By 2014 they had a fleet of four
trucks serving Southern California and
had signed on 10 franchisees in locations
across the U.S. They also launched
a mail-order business that overnights
lobsters and other New England-inspired
products directly to customers’ doorsteps.
Revenue since launch has topped
$8 million, a figure they hope to increase
exponentially as their franchisees come
online over the next couple of years.
IT SEEMS like there’s a new franchise
concept every few days. While some, like
Cousins Maine Lobster, come out with
buzz and grow quickly, most take years to
reach double-digit unit figures—if they get
that far at all. Many would-be franchisors
eventually close their doors or simply
remain small, local chains. Some spend
time and energy perfecting a concept, but
where they get into trouble is in adapting
that concept for franchise expansion.
Tselikis and Lomac weren’t thinking
of franchising when they opened their