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Entrepreneurial Leadership

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Entrepreneurial Leadership

Five Guys is a large fast-food chain restaurant that stands out among the rest. They have different philosophies that set them apart from other fast-food companies. Many of the values that Five Guys started with have made them succeeded and are still a huge factor in their success today. After being around for seventeen years, Five Guys decided to start franchising the company, which lead to a large success in such a short amount of time. We will also discuss the ethical and social practices that Five Guys have that are a part of their company. Five Guys have a few different philosophies that set them apart from other fast-food chains. The first is that they are not a “fast-serving restaurant,” they take pride in their burgers with having a quality burger, and it being fresh made to order. In the past years they had signs in their restaurants that stated “If you’re in a hurry, there are a lot of really good hamburger places within a short distance from here (Welch).” A second philosophy that they believe in is “their best salesman is their customer (Welch)”. They feel by just treating their customers with respect that that is all the advertising that they need. The original values of Five Guys were “Sell a really good, juicy burger on a fresh bun. Make perfect French fries. Don’t cut corners (Welch).” They use 80 percent lean mean, that is always fresh, they never freeze their burgers. They use a certain process for their fries where they get them from Northern Idaho because it is a better quality potato that is “grown solid and tasty” instead of potatoes in other regions that are cheaper and grow at a quicker pace (Welch). The process that they use for their fries that sets them aside from other restaurants is that most fast-food chains serve “dehydrated frozen fries because if there’s water in the potato, it splashes when it hits the oil (Welch).” At Five Guys, “They soak the fries in water so when the fries are pre fried; the water boils, forcing steam out of the fry. This forms a seal so that when they get fried a second time, the fries don’t absorb any oil, and so are never greasy (Welch).” These fires are cut every morning fresh. They also focus on all of their franchises to be so clean that you can eat off the floor. These values are still strong today and help with their success in the fast-food business. For seventeen years Five Guys was a family owned and operated company, until 2003 when Jerry and Jane Murrell and their sons decided to offer the company as a franchise (Five Guys). There are now one-thousand and thirty nine stores open between the United States and Canada and about fifteen thousand more ready to build (Burke). One of the main reasons that they are so successful is because of the quality of their burger. Around the United States and Canada, you will get the made to order to what the customer wants, buns always toasted on a grill, eighty percent lean beef that is never frozen (Welch). You will always get the same amount of condiments no matter what the issue is, for example in the article on “Inc.Com” the price of a case of tomatoes went up because a hurricane wiped out the crops in Florida, and the franchisee did not want to buy at the price of the tomatoes, so instead of not using any tomatoes they stuck to the two slices because that’s how it should always be no matter what (Welch). Another way that made Five Guys so successfully in such a short amount of time is making the company into a franchise. When they first started they only accepted people that had the amount of money upfront to invest because they knew banks would not help (Welch). This also allowed the franchisee and the corporation to make a profit right away instead of having to pay a loan back. The third reason that they were able to succeed is because they kept the business simple. They only decorate the decor with red and white stripes. They also do not add anything else to the menu other than burgers and fries. They do not want to decrease the quality of their food by adding additional items to the menu, and they also want to be able to only serve fresh ingredients. For years people have asked them to add different items to their menu like milkshakes, they feel that they will not serve anything frozen so they would have to keep fresh milk and ice cream (Welch). There are many different ways that Five Guys use ethical and social practices. One way is that they do not use any advertising or beg their customers for surveys on feedback about their meal or service. Five Guys feels that the customer is the best salesman they could have, “treat that person right, he’ll walk out the door and sell for you (Welch).” Another way that Five Guys use ethical and social practices is the “third party audits” which keep their franchises clean, safe and that their food is prepare correctly. These audits are one the “secret shopper” and “safety audits (Welch).” The Secret shopper is when someone comes in acting like a customer but then grades the crews on “cleanliness, courtesy, and food preparation (Welch).” The second is safety audits where the person lets the crew know who they are and they check on all the equipment in the store (Welch). If the crew receives a good score, they get a thousand dollars to split among them (Welch). Five Guys have come a long way since 1986, then in 2002 when they expanded the company into franchising. With over a thousand stores and fifteen hundred more on the way, the Murrell family and franchisees are making over “One-Billion” dollars in revenues (Burke). This small business has increased into a large corporation in such a short amount of time by just caring about the customer’s wants and needs, keeping it simple and a great quality burger. Five Guys is a company that stands out against other fast-food restaurants.

References
Welch, Liz “How I Did It: Jerry Murrell, Five Guys Burgers and Fries.” 2010, April 1 Inc http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100401/jerry-murrell-five-guys-burgers-and-fries.html#/magazine/20100401/jerry-murrell-five-guys-burgers-and-fries.html/1 Murrel J. “About Us,” 2010, Five Guys http://www.fiveguys.com/about-us.aspx Burke Monte “Five Guys Burgers: Americas Fastest Growing Restaurant.” 2012, July 18 Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/monteburke/2012/07/18/five-guys-burgers-americas-fastest-growing-restaurant-chain/3/ Kurtz, D.L. (2012). Contemporary Business (14th Edition). Hoboken NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc

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