Derrick Hayes, the West Philadelphia native and founder of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks has been a serial entrepreneur even as a child, so his success on the multimillion-dollar chain is not much of a shock, writes Emma Burleigh for Fortune.
As a kid growing up in Philadelphia, Hayes sold bean pies, newspapers, shoveled snow, and juggled several side hustles before eventually gaining at 9-to-5 in the postal service.
In 2014, he opened his first Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks location in Dunwoody, Georgia, following his passion after his ailing father wished he start his own business…