How a McDonald’s Worker Turned a Broken Soft-Serve Machine into a $100 Million Company

Success stories like Atlassian, Canva, Airtasker, and Finder all pull at heartstrings, but this one gets right into your belly.

Brullen founder Justin Fischer was just 15 years old when he caught the billionaire bug. As a spritely teenager at the very beginning of his working life, Fischer made a pact with himself that he would one day own a billion-dollar company, and like many great entrepreneurs, he found a niche and filled it. As the Aussie entrepreneur explains, years spent behind the counter at McDonald’s flipping burgers laid the foundations for what has become one of the nation’s most intriguing success stories.

“My one and only job, first-ever job actually, was working at McDonald’s in Australia,” Fischer tells me. “This is where I learnt many valuable skills I still use today.”

Fischer, the man who can now officially be credited for fixing the issue of broken soft-serve machines at McDonald’s restaurants Australia-wide, is the brains behind the perfect scoop. After seeing the outdated ice cream technology up close, the aspiring business owner took matters into his own hands, creating a soft-serve machine that produces the perfect texture, consistency and taste for soft-serve ice cream, frozen yoghurt, acai, and more.

I recently sat down with Justin Fischer to talk through how he built his company from scratch, broke into global giants like McDonald’s and IKEA, and how he manages it all as a single dad with two daughters.

MOM: What sparked the idea to start Brullen, and why soft-serve machines of all things?

Justin Fischer: “I was around 15 years old when I decided to one day own a billion-dollar global brand, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to fill a gap in the market and work towards my dreams. After years of working with other people and branded machines, I realised I could build something better. I’d spent my early career servicing them, but I reached a point where I asked myself, “Why keep servicing someone else’s product when I can build and manufacture my own?”

MOM: What was the turning point?

Justin Fischer: “When a major Italian manufacturer dismissed my ideas. I did my research, sourced the best components and started designing machines that were simple, reliable and built to perform.”

“Brullen came from a belief and vision that I could manufacture equipment as good or even better than my competitors. I always say the market leaders, including Brullen, are all great machines, and we all have our pros and cons. We love to be different and continually innovate and listen to what the market wants, not what we think the market needs. This is a big difference between us and some of our competitors – listening.”

MOM: Do you remember the moment you realised Brullen could become something massive?

Justin Fischer: “When I cracked the code! And we tested every product type available that could be used in our machines worldwide and were able to get each product type made with perfect texture, consistency and tasting great by adjusting the machines for each one. Something I had never seen before in any other brand of machine. It was a turning point that proved we were no longer the underdog and were setting the standard and leading the industry.”

MOM: How did you break into global giants like McDonald’s, IKEA and Burger King?

Justin Fischer: “I spent nearly seven years at McDonald’s, and during this time made a lot of contacts and connections. People I spent time doing training courses with and flipping burgers with moved into higher positions within the McDonald’s Corporation, and I reached out to them as I was growing my company. They also understood the same frustrations and loved my ideas for a solution to save them money, time, increase sales and most importantly, have happy customers. Once I had a great working relationship with McDonald’s and a proven track record with real data, this helped to get on more QSR brands. I wouldn’t put it down to only McDonald’s as I knew my solution and product worked with proven history and data, and would have secured partnerships with the major brands anyhow.”

“As a Restaurant Manager and being on the other side of the counter, I understood the frustration of the soft serve machines being down and the stress it put on my staff and the disappointment and frustration for my customers, as well as the huge ongoing maintenance costs.”

MOM: Did you ever see a soft-serve manufacturing machine company exceed $100 million in value?

Justin Fischer: “Absolutely. $100 million is not large on the global scale. The hospitality industry is valued at around $5.71 trillion USD. Plenty of room for growth from only $100 million. Our two main competitors are worth more than $1 billion. We are closing the gap and have a way to go, but for me, it’s not if it’s when.”

MOM: You’ve ridden trends like froyo and acai. How do you identify what’s worth chasing?

Justin Fischer: “Since I have engineered Brullen machines to run any product, the trends find us to a degree. We are fortunate enough to be doing business around the world, and we see the trends picking up in certain regions and know it’s only a matter of time until these trends reach other markets and go global. We are ahead of the game from enquiries we receive from around the world, our own experience and market research and then promote and offer customers the latest trends accordingly.”

MOM: What’s the biggest mistake you made in building Brullen, and what did it teach you?

Justin Fischer: “Not listening to my gut. Listen to my gut and follow my heart. Be passionate and confident about it and never lose sight of my vision and dreams.”

MOM: You’re a single dad and entrepreneur. What does “balance” actually look like in your life?

Justin Fischer: “Balance in my life is to be successful in business and work hard to achieve my goals, and be surrounded by a team. However, the number one priority for me is to be the best Dad in the world and someone who my daughters can be proud of. I spend quality time with my daughters, and when I am with them, I try hard not to talk about business or my stress and just enjoy being with them and creating memories and ensuring they are happy. My daughters’ happiness is my absolute top priority.”

MOM: You’ve said your “why” is your daughters. How do you involve them in your journey?

Justin Fischer: “By spending as much quality time as I can with them and teaching them the values and rewards of hard work.”

MOM: You travel internationally almost every month — how do you stay mentally and physically sharp?

Justin Fischer: “It’s hard work to achieve this, and to be honest, sometimes I do struggle. My daughters are a huge motivation for me, which I leverage mentally on those tough days dealing with jet lag and travelling, as well as not losing focus on the goal and my dreams. I always ensure I have a healthy diet and exercise to keep my mind sharp.”

What’s your go-to routine for beating jet lag and staying focused on the road?

Justin Fischer: “My go-to routine is balancing some downtime during my business trips. When I land in a different time zone, I have learnt to fall straight into the time zone and not go to sleep until it is my normal sleep time in the evening in whatever country I land in. Often, I will go to the hotel gym, read a book, go for a walk after checking in, unpack and freshen up after checking in to the hotel, depending on the time. It’s a luxury if I can line up flights where I land in the evening and it’s my normal bedtime!”

MOM: What’s next for you, both as a business builder and as a dad?

Justin Fischer: “My next goal is to buy back my time to allow me even more time with my daughters and be able to enjoy my hobbies and interests. I will achieve this by having a great team who don’t rely on me for day-to-day operations, and I’m well on my way to this next step.”

Justin Fischer is