Troy Sproul – Blue Square Pizza
Founder
Boston, Massachusetts
(This Q&A is part of a series about pizzerias’ New Year’s resolutions. To read other operators’ resolutions, click here.)
What are your top three goals for your pizza business in the coming year?
1. Expand and optimize our commissary operations as we bring our third location online – the first store specifically designed to test and refine our commissary-driven production model. This will allow us to fine-tune logistics, streamline dough, sauce, and ingredient production, and solidify systems that support multi-unit scale.
2. Strengthen and deepen our talent pipeline in preparation for expansion. This includes identifying emerging leaders within the company, investing in development programs, and building a bench of trained pizzaiolos and managers who can confidently step into new roles as we grow.
3. Complete the build-out of our app-based training system, SOPs and cultural programming. This digital platform will serve as the backbone of operational consistency, allowing us to deliver standardized training, reinforce our core values, and ensure every team member has the tools to succeed.
How do you plan to improve business operations and profitability in 2026?
Our biggest operational and profitability gains will come from bringing our new commissary component fully online in spring 2026. What makes our approach unique is that our commissary is not a standalone cost center – it’s also our second operating location. By designing the space to function as both a thriving pizzeria and a centralized production hub, we’re able to monetize a traditionally high-overhead commissary model. This structure eliminates the pressure to rely on low-margin items, like dough, to cover fixed costs. Instead, we capture the full profitability of a busy retail location while simultaneously producing dough, sauce and labor-intensive ingredients for the entire system. The result is the best of both worlds: a strong revenue-generating store paired with the operational consistency and scale benefits of a centralized production facility. With this model coming fully online, we expect to achieve true economies of scale, improve product consistency – especially through the centralization of our sourdough program – and unlock a 2-3% system-wide margin improvement, pushing EBITDA above 25% for the first time.
What’s one skill or area of knowledge you’d like to improve as a business owner in 2026?
In 2026, I want to focus on more intentionally building a winning culture within the company. While our turnover rate is already low at around 15%, I believe there’s another level of team cohesion, pride and shared purpose that I haven’t fully tapped into yet. A strong culture isn’t just a “nice to have” – it’s foundational for creating a sustainable, multi-unit brand. To that end, I’m developing a five-point, employee-centered plan that will reinforce our core values, expand our incentive programs, and introduce a structured pizzaiolo training pathway. My goal is to create a culture that isn’t just felt but lived – one that energizes our teams and enhances the guest experience at every location.
