Crystal McKenzie
September 12, 2013

Howard Johnson: Entrepreneur It is said that necessity is the mother of all inventions. While I found this to be true after reviewing the list of entrepreneurs that I put together, I decided to choose Howard Johnson. I wouldn’t say that his invention was born out of necessity but I still find myself liking his product and his story as well as sharing his love of ice cream! His humble beginnings and “go-getter” spirit personify the American Dream and round out the reasons why I admire him as an entrepreneur. The text defines an entrepreneur as a risk taker and someone who seeks out a profitable opportunity. I find the risk taker portion of this definition to be the true spirit of an entrepreneur and what separates the men from the boys, if you will. I’m sure that people before Howard Johnson or even during his time had similar ideas but he did it. Johnson decided to move forward with his idea, his vision, and make it a reality. I admire entrepreneurs because they can take an idea and make it something more than scribbles on a piece of paper. I find several similarities with Howard Johnson in that we both came from backgrounds of working to help our families as well as restaurant work. I admire the fact that even though he barely had an elementary school education, he was able to be a successful business man. I highly value education so this is the one point where I feel he could have potentially been more successful. In his early twenties, Johnson bought a drugstore soda fountain then followed this with two more stores over the next few years. Ten years after opening his first soda fountain, he launched franchising. I have read several different places that either lists his franchise as the first restaurant franchise or one of the first. Whether it was first or not, he was still able to charge a fee to operators who would use the shop’s name, supplies, logo and food. In class, we discussed “creative destruction” and how entrepreneurs do this with an existing idea. I find it incredibly fascinating that Johnson was able to look at the Interstate Highway system and realize that people traveling on the Interstate would need places along the way to stop and sleep and eat. He was able to think ahead far enough that he took his basic starting idea of the soda fountain and it evolved into the world’s largest food chain and then also adding motels. It’s amazing to think that in 1925 he opened a soda fountain and twenty-seven years later he opened his 351st restaurant. Johnson had much success through the 30s, 40s and 50s and eventually turned over the control to his son in the late 50s. Growing up, Johnson watched his father run a business but also had the realization that his father left debt from that business after he died. I truly believe that Johnson wanted to make sure that he left his son a successful business and that would be his legacy, after all he did name the company after himself. The company grew so much so fast that it could not sustain the momentum. As the company grew, its standards weren’t as high as in the past so customer service suffered. In addition to the decrease in service, there was an increase in competition. Fast-food companies started to pop-up and provide new competition to Howard Johnson’s and this was also part of the down-turn. The company was so successful and for such a long time and as a result of someone who didn’t come from money and who wasn’t overly educated. The company had decades of success but ultimately could not compete with fast-food giants such as McDonalds. It goes to show that a company or business needs to be able to adapt and evolve to the market in order to continue with its success. When Howard Johnson first started his business, it grew with the Interstate System but it failed to adapt and compete. I witnessed this same problem with a company I worked at while in college. For several years, I worked for a locally owned pub and the owners decided to start franchising after only eight years of operating. The owners of this pub did not have the initial luck that Howard Johnson did and tried expanding well before their restaurant was ready. Additionally, they were not prepared to offer the support to their franchises so they lost a lot of money and ended up going out of business. I find it interesting that Howard Johnson was able to successfully franchise in 1935 and the owners of the pub that I worked for couldn’t make it work. Obviously, it’s not as simple as that, but it is interesting. Overall, Howard Johnson had a great idea, but he failed to adapt and grow his business to meet the needs of the market and consumer demand. This issue is still affecting businesses today as shown with the company that I worked for in college. This is the second side of the double-edged sword of entrepreneurship. Someone or a team has an idea, puts their time and energy into only to be pushed out by competition or forced to change their “baby”. I see how so many entrepreneurs can fall into this trap and it sends me in awe of those who succeed.