Nick's Pizza & Pub Make Forbes Best Small Companies List

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL -- A local favorite for pizza has been chosen by Forbes as one of best small companies in the country. Nick's Pizza and Pub has become a "sort of community center" during its 15 years in business, Forbes wrote about Nick's in announcing it as a selection for its 2017 Best Small Companies list. The list, also known as the "Small Giants" list, is made up of 25 small companies that value “greatness over growth.”

According to Forbes, what these companies have in common is a sound business model, strong balance sheets and steady profits. But that’s not all. The companies contribute to their communities and have been acknowledged in their respective fields.

Nick's Pizza & Pub, which is headquartered in Crystal Lake, brings in $6 million in revenue and has 200 employees. The Crystal Lake location is along Pyott Road while there is also a Nick's Pizza & Pub in Elgin at 900 S. Randall Road.

Two other Illinois companies also made the list: Fusion OEM, based in Burr Ridge, and Basecamp, based in Chicago.

• Illinois Businesses Make Forbes Best Small Companies List
  

Here is what Forbes had to say about Nick's Pizza & Pub:

Nick Sarillo started Nick’s Pizza & Pub partly because he felt the community needed a family-friendly restaurant. A former construction worker, he was frustrated with the options available for his own family. In the next 15 years, Nick’s Pizza & Pub did indeed become a sort of community center. Scarcely a week went by without fundraisers for local charities or people in need—and Nick’s would contribute 15 percent of the gross profit generated by events. It also had a vibrant culture built around what he called his “trust-and-track” (as opposed to command-and-control) approach to managing. He was naïve about finance, however, and, out of ignorance, took on too much debt over the years. The result: he was running out of cash and three weeks from bankruptcy in 2011. With all other options exhausted, he wrote an email to customers explaining the situation, taking full blame for it, and asking for help. The customers rallied and literally saved the company. Sales almost doubled for the next two months. Some even called the bank, urging it to help Sarillo find a solution. The company survived; Sarillo’s debt was restructured, and he learned a hard, but crucial, lesson about the balance sheet.

• Click here to see the full list of companies that made the list.

Shannon Antinori contributed to this list.

Photo credit: Patch File Photo

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