In This Episode
- Chadwick Corcoran’s pizza journey began at age 5, stretching pies in his mom’s Numero Uno pizzerias. After a real estate career, he returned to pizza, starting Two Doughs as a mobile pizza oven in 2016 before opening a brick-and-mortar location in 2022.
- Two Doughs specializes in naturally leavened sourdough pizza dough. Chadwick discusses the challenges and nuances of working with sourdough, including maintaining the starter, balancing acidity and structure, and using a blend of organic flours from Central Milling.
- Chadwick emphasizes the importance of catering for growing a pizza business. Two Doughs leveraged anchors at breweries and wineries and focused on web development and SEO to generate leads and build brand equity over time. Instagram is also valuable for brand recognition.
- Consistency comes from serving both employees and customers well, and having good systems in place. Chadwick notes the struggles of the pizza industry, including employee retention challenges. Perseverance and faith helped him overcome obstacles like having the Two Doughs trailer stolen.
- Startup costs were around $80-100K for the original Two Doughs mobile oven, while Chadwick recommends at least $500K for a brick-and-mortar pizzeria. The Two Doughs menu features two pizza doughs, house-made focaccia, meatballs, sausage, and a curated wine list focusing on California’s Central Coast region.
