What does America?s fastest growing restaurant chain look like on the inside and how was the growth accomplished? For the answers to those questions and many others I read a recent Forbes article entitled ?Five Guys Burgers: America?s Fastest Growing Restaurant Chain?.
First, ?Five Guys? growth in numbers:
- Doubled number of stores since 2009
- Started in 1986; since then, has grown to 1,039 stores in the US and Canada with commitments to open another 1,500
- Grew 792% since 2006, nearest competitor Jimmy John?s grew 241% over the same period and now has 1,329 stores
- Company-owned franchises 200; franchised 839
- Projected sales of $1B+ in 2012; corp revenues of $275M with cash flow of $50M
- Current value of the company estimated at $500M, $375M of which belongs to the founders, on an initial investment of $70,000
Founder Jerry Murrell and his sons came up with the idea in 1986 when Murrell offerred his older sons nearing high school graduation a deal? they could go to college, or they could use their tuition money to start a restaurant.
Like many rapid growth successes stories, early growth was slow and hard to come by.?Persevering?through employee theft, customer service shortcomings and inter-family squabbles behind the scenes, the group opened their second store in 1989 after being turned down for business loans by numerous local banks. Instead, they raised money $10,000 to $30,000 at a time from 100 friends and acquaintances and committed to always paying on time.
Even early on Murrell received suggestions that he stray from the company?s ?core competency? of high quality burgers and fries? coffee, chicken sandwiches, milkshakes and more were all brought up and some even tried but?every time?Murrell found it to be a disaster. Eventually, Murrell and company gave up, and his disciplined reasoning is instructive in demonstrating his understanding of his own brand:
My fear was that we?d add something new and not be good at it, then some reviewer would write about how bad our coffee was and not how good our burgers and fries are? [The demise of other restaurant chains involves one constant.] They all started to offer too many items and got away from their core.
By 2002, they had 5 stores in Northern Virginia and began thinking about franchising. Murrell received a copy of Franchising For Dummies from his son which he read and that, combined with a fortuitous meeting with former Washington Redskins-kicker and burger joint owner Mark Mosley and consultation with Fransmart the Five Guys team moved ahead, selling out all franchise rights to Virginia within three weeks.
The standard franchisee must have a minimum net worth of $1.5M and liquidity of $500,000. He pays an upfront fee of $75,000 per store, the average store costing $350,000-$500,000 to open and generates an average of $1.2M in revenues each year. Five Guys corporate charges 6% of gross revenues and another 1.5% which is collected for ?audits? which are used to pay $1,000 weekly bonuses to stores that score will after being visited by independent examiners. According to Five Guys largest franchisee, stores break even within two and a half years and have operating margins in the?mid-teens.
There are other entrants in the ?better burger? category such as Smash Burger and Shake Shack (note: I?ve had both and I don?t think they offer much competition) and because of the rapid franchising, Five Guys has?occasionally?run into the problem of overlapping markets where franchise owners?cannibalize?one another?s sales. Murrell occasionally buys back franchises when he can and the company is currently working on an overseas expansion which will begin in the UK. There?s talk of expanding to the Middle East and private equity and investment bankers have been on the company?s case for years.
Who knows what lies ahead but so far, through all the ups and downs, the company has remained a thoroughly family affair.
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