By Gyle Konotopetz Business Edge

What did John Bitove dream about during a boyhood busing tables and washing dishes at his father's restaurants?

In his own words, the dream was "to win a Super Bowl.”

That hasn't happened, but this one-time quarterback has earned quite a reputation as a big player in the corporate arena.

Bitove, son of respected Toronto entrepreneur John Bitove Sr., doesn't just dream big-league dreams. He plays there and loves the action.

Ken Kerr photo, Business Edge
CEO John Bitove’s Priszm Canadian Income Fund has cornered a big share of the Canadian fast-food market.

When Bitove made a play for a KFC restaurant franchisee in 1999, he didn't buy one. He made a successful pitch for Scott's Restaurants, owner of 330 KFC franchises - making him Canada's largest KFC franchise owner.

When Bitove made a play to move into pro sports in 1995, he didn't start in the minor leagues. He was a co-founder of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association and also created the Air Canada Centre, the Raptors' home arena.

Today, at 44, Bitove is the chief executive and the largest shareholder of the Priszm Canadian Income Fund. The 13-month-old income trust carries a market cap of $213 million, paying distributions to unitholders from cash flow generated by 470 quick-service restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands.

Yet, the hard-driving entrepreneur has no plans to slow down. In fact, he's now quarterbacking a new and innovative enterprise, as CEO and controlling shareholder in Canadian Satellite Radio, which is partnered with U.S.-based XM Satellite to provide subscription-based satellite radio service to Canadians.

Like a quarterback before a championship game, Bitove chooses his words carefully in discussing his satellite radio interests while awaiting a licensing ruling from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Hey, maybe that Super Bowl dream is still alive.

1. What are your favourite boyhood memories?

"Sports was everything to me as a youngster and I was always the captain of my teams in football, basketball and rugby. As a kid, I was also interested in business. I had a paper route and my brother (Nick) and I had a vending machine business which we eventually sold for a profit. I also worked in my dad's restaurants from the time I was 10 or 11, busing tables or washing dishes. That was a great learning experience. It's the tougher things in life you learn the most from.”

2. What did you learn from team sports that you've been able to channel into business?

"Everything. Leadership. Accountability. Commitment. Determination. Camaraderie. I say it all the time - team sports is almost a fundamental to be a successful business person and I don't think it's coincidental that a lot of successful business people have been athletes.”

3. As a youngster, did you aspire to follow your father's (John Bitove Sr.'s) path into the restaurant business?

"No, I always envisioned myself being involved in business in general. Restaurants were in the family, so it was second nature to me but I didn't just want to be in restaurants. I think my parents brought us up so we would try and follow our own aspirations, hopes and dreams. My mom and my dad were both important mentors. I've been lucky. I've had some very successful mentors outside of my family, too, who have given me guidance. One of the best was (former deputy prime minister) Don Mazankowski. Trevor Eyton (former chairman of Brascan Corp.) has always been very helpful with business advice. And of course, I've had so much help from my parents and my brothers and sisters who gave me the platform to work on my own.”

4. What's the most important piece of advice that your parents gave you?

"Respect. That's the fundamental value.”

5. How does your entrepreneurial style differ from your father's?

"I'm more like my mother. I look at all the negatives of something before I understand the positives. My dad is one of those 'rah-rah, go-get-'em' kind of guys.”

6. What was your first job?

"I worked at the Toronto Stock Exchange during my last summer as a high school student. It was awesome. It was in the old days when the TSE was live. I had a desk where the orders came in and you had to yell out to the floor, give hand signals or sometimes run out there if you had a giant order for Dome Petroleum for 100,000 shares. It was the ultimate competition.”

7. What motivated you to purchase Scott's Restaurants and its 330 KFC franchises in 1999?

"After I sold my interest in the Raptors, I was looking for other things to do and a lot of people were saying I should buy Scott's because there was great value there. It's funny, I kept saying that I was done with restaurants and I was going to move into other things. But people were saying it was an opportunity. So I asked a couple of bankers if I could raise a quarter of a billion to buy Scott's and they said that because of my background growing up in the restaurant business, it was a lot easier for me to raise it that way than go open an auto parts factory. The deal was there, the money was there and I just had to put it all together.”

8. Was the story Colonel Harland Sanders (the late founder of KFC) an inspiration to you and what do you think the Colonel would say today as you contemplate expanding the menu to include other items such as ribs?

"Any successful business story inspires me. It was something that I respected, especially when you look at how late in his life he did this. I'm not going to comment on the ribs. But I think the Colonel would say in today's competitive day and age that you've got to do what you've got to do to get more customers in the door. You've just got to keep some of the fundamental values such as good quality, good service and a decent value proposition and go after things.”

9. Will Priszm Canadian Income Fund continue to expand on its multi-branding strategy of twinning KFC stores with other brands such as Pizza Hut and Taco Bell?

"We've got over 20 planned for next year and over 100 planned for the next few years and it's working very well for us. It's a great customer experience because they have more choice and it's great for us because we increase our sales and profitability.”

10. What's your long-term vision for Priszm?

"We want to get over a billion dollars in (annual) sales and be one of the leading companies in the country. We believe we can get there within the next seven years. To be successful in this business, you need to focus on the customer. It's very easy to lose them.”

11. Are you one who celebrates your victories in business?

"Yeah, unbelievably so. But then the next day I focus on the next challenge. You've got to make sure you give the team a hug and celebrate as well as you can when you achieve a goal, because the next day has its own set of challenges and opportunities you've got to face.”

12. What's your best advice for a young entrepreneur?

"Be honest and open. Be honest, because everyone finds out the truth, and be open, because if you're not, you're going to be unhappy most of the time.”

13. What is your shortcoming as an entrepreneur?

"I can believe in people too much. I can be too loyal. But I don't ever want to be ruthless in business. What's the point? If those kinds of things are ever attached to your name, you can have all the money in the world, but is that really what you want?" 14. How do you reflect on your success in bringing NBA basketball to Toronto in 1995?

"I wouldn't trade it for the world. I sold the team because the economics with the players' salaries had changed fundamentally from when we had agreed to join the league. At that stage of my life, there were other things that I could focus on that would be more lucrative personally. Emotionally, it was a ton of fun being involved with a sports team, but I decided it wasn't appropriate to dedicate five to 10 years of the highest income- earning years of my life to running a basketball team.”

15. How did being in the media spotlight suit you?

"I love being involved in exciting things with a group of people, but I personally hate being in the spotlight. What do I hate about it? I don't think any one person is that important in anything. It skews things to make it seem as if one person is doing everything, and success is never built on one person. I'd like to think that at some point I'd do it (pro sports ownership) again, but it would have to be in a different stage of my life. It could be in the NHL, but it's got its own set of economic challenges right now (with the current lockout).”

16. If NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow came to you for advice about ending the lockout, what would you say?

"That's interesting, because I see both sides and both sides are right. If you have a system that allows individuals to earn as much as they can possibly earn, why stop it? At the same time, if you've got a business that doesn't make any money and, in fact, loses money (as the NHL owners claim), then you have a fundamental problem. Having said that, if there are people lined up to own franchises, why should the players sacrifice salary for that? This is not an easy problem to solve. I think people have all the power in the world to get what market forces will allow them to get in terms of the income side. Maybe at some point in time, the sports leagues are going to have to come up with a different formula to make things work.”

17. Do you lose sleep over how you're perceived in the public eye?

"Yes and no. What's most important to me is what my employees, my friends and my family think of me. You can't please everyone, especially in the media. The media build you up and tear you down, and that's what sells newspapers. My mother is a classic example. Whenever there's a good article about me, she says, 'Isn't that wonderful.' When there's a bad article, she says, 'How could a reporter be so stupid?' I say, 'Ma, just remember the good one you read last week.' It all balances out at the end of the day. I'm not so consumed by it but, at the same time, you don't discard it.”

18. What's your next great challenge in business?

"As you know, I'm the controlling shareholder in Canadian Satellite Radio and we've been before the CRTC. We're keeping our fingers crossed as we await their decision (on licensing) some time in the spring. The potential of satellite radio is huge and it will take some time to get there. But I really don't want to say too much because we're in the licensing process and I don't want to jinx myself by making any comments about what may or may not happen. We're just really hopeful that we'll get the licence.”

19. What's the catalyst that drives you to succeed?

"The joy of achievement. I don't think I'll retire at a young age because I think the fun of living is continually having more experiences.”

20. God taps you on the shoulder and says you can change one thing in your life. What would it be?

"My hair colour. 'Cause I've always wanted to be a blond. Why? Because blonds have more fun.”

IN PROFILE: John Bitove

* Title: CEO/chairman, Priszm Canadian Income Fund.

* Born/raised/age: Toronto/44.

* Education: Indiana State University, bachelor of science (marketing), University of Windsor, law degree, member of Ontario bar.

* Family: Wife Randi, three children.

* Career: Bitove has spent 20 years as an entrepreneur in the food and hospitality industry and has been CEO of the Priszm Canadian Income Fund since its initial public offering on Nov. 10, 1993. Bitove is also chairman and majority owner of Scott's Restaurants, and chairman, CEO and controlling shareholder of Canadian Satellite Radio, which is partnered with U.S.-based XM Satellite Radio with the goal of providing satellite radio in Canada. Bitove is the founder and former owner of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association, creator of the Air Canada Centre and was the volunteer president and CEO of Toronto's unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games.

* Telling Quote: Asked about his favourite meal, Bitove said: "I really like the (KFC) boneless wings, I have at least one (KFC) Twister sandwich a week and, of course, I love the old (KFC) original recipe chicken."

* Passions: Coaching youth basketball, golfing, snowboarding.

THE COMPANY: Priszm Canadian Income Fund

* Brass: John Bitove, CEO/chairman; Rupert Altschuler, president/chief operating officer; Peter Walkey, chief financial officer.

* Profile: Priszm is an income fund that went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1993. The fund provides distributions to unitholders based on cash flow from a network of 470 quick-service restaurants in Canada, including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Priszm is Canada's largest independent owner/operator of quick-service restaurants (based on number of stores).

* Monthly Distribution: 10.5 cents per unit.

* Recent Unit Price (TSX:QSR.UN): $13.75 (52-week range, $9.92-$14.05).

* Stat: Restaurants that contribute to the Priszm fund attract 1.5 million customers a week from stores in seven provinces.

* Website: www.priszm.com

* HQ: 101 Exchange Ave., Vaughan, Ont., L4K 5R6.

* Phone: 416-739-2900, 866-774-7961.

(Gyle Konotopetz can be reached at gyle@businessedge.ca)