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re: Five Guys, Chic-fil-A, Panera Bread vs. McDonald's, BK, Taco Bell (not food related)
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:13 am to jacks40
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:13 am to jacks40
quote:
Maybe unrelated but which franchise is more profitable to own?
Chic fi la, if you are talking just one unit. But you can't have more than 2 or 3. While groups may own like 99 McDonald's.
Domino's is killing it though. That is prob the best to get into rt now. Plus, you don't have to deal with customers eating at the restaurant.
When restaurants have to start putting nutrition value on the menus, I'd be interested to see if places like canes or chic fi la take a hit. People just automatically assume chicken is healthier. Not when it's deep fried.
This post was edited on 6/14/17 at 9:18 am
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:14 am to Will Cover
the only fast food experience that i have found to be consistently competent in the SOUTH is chic fil a. every single time.
all fast food employees, generally speaking, are much better elsewhere (cali and midwest) in my personal experiences.
all fast food employees, generally speaking, are much better elsewhere (cali and midwest) in my personal experiences.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:19 am to rocket31
quote:
the only fast food experience that i have found to be consistently competent in the SOUTH is chic fil a. every single time.
Demographics. It sounds racist, but a young educated person prob isn't going to work at a place if all the employees look diff from them, or don't speak English.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:28 am to Will Cover
quote:
Is it now based upon reputation only? Or do they fish in a better pond to start with?
I believe its these two to an extent. Hire better quality of people, pay them a bit more and offer better incentives. Before long you've built a better quality wok environment that breeds better quality of worker. The circle keeps going round and round.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:29 am to GynoSandberg
quote:True
Building a positive culture at the conception of the franchise is key
quote:True. Being that McDonald's nor BK have very good products, it would be hard for them to make real changes. Even if they were always adequately staffed and had polite workers, they'd be getting killed on labor because their products are so poor. Chick-fil-A on the other hand has a great product that attracts loyal customers. This creates a positive perpetual cycle that requires good employees that they pay relatively well. This creates a positive atmosphere at work which leads to better service and so on. In fact, Chic-fil-A has already surpassed McDonald's as the family friendly fast food place by adding in the play areas, and will continue to strengthen their strong hold for the next 30 years. McDonald's had a great opportunity to grow its brand the right way in the 90s when it controlled the majority of the market share and they blew it.
Some places are in too deep. Decades of bad culture would take mass house cleaning to change. As it stands now, it's going to be a slow process to change your poor customer service places
quote:yup
When you're pulling from a talent pool that's some of the poorest, least educated people in the nation, and paying them minimum or just above minimum wage, it's an uphill battle. You're trying to change an attitude that's been ingrained in them since birth. People's expectations of quick service restaurants are ridiculous - what do you expect out of these people? Either stop eating it or stop bitching if you ask me
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:38 am to Will Cover
It all starts with leadership
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:39 am to Will Cover
Corporate culture and infrastructure.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:43 am to Will Cover
quote:
True, however I have yet to encounter a "bad" employee at any Chic-fil-A. They always seem so happy and very eager to please.
It's actually quite refreshing.
I hate Chic-fil-A food but I don't mind going there for my wife and kids because their service is top notch. Five Guys has good service too. It's amazing that there is such a drop off with other fast food establishments.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 9:47 am to GetCocky11
quote:
I went to Chic-Fil-A the other day. Instead of speaking into the drive thru intercom, they had employees standing outside taking orders and payment through their iPads. It was hot but the employees were happy and polite.
It was wonderful.
Yeah, and now they have a worker standing outside the service window with your meal in hand as you drive up. Chic-fil-A's car line is very fast.
Their food stills sucks though...
![](https://images.tigerdroppings.com/Images/Icons/IconLOL.gif)
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:04 am to dgnx6
quote:
Chic fi la, if you are talking just one unit. But you can't have more than 2 or 3. While groups may own like 99 McDonald's.
Not even close. The owner of a CFA is a glorified manager. They share a significant portion of the profits with the corporation. My understanding is the average CFA cash flows between $150K and $250K. And it's rare to get more than 1 location and nearly impossible to get more than 2.
McDonald's has average cash flow of over $350K per restaurant. The average operator owns about 7 McDonald's. Plus they own their business so they build equity. Each store is worth between 4 and 8 times annual cash flow, minus any debt or reinvestment needs. McDonald's is clearly more valuable than a CFA franchise even if you're just looking at average per location.
As far as employees, the biggest problem McDonald's has is the complexity of the store. There are more items at McDonald's than at other fast food locations. Think of Canes or CFA that deal with a limited number of items. That's less pressure. Since everybody is paying roughly the same to employees, would you rather work at the toughest store or the easiest? That leads to better employees.
Management also has a lot to do with it as well. If you own 10 McDonald's then you're not in the restaurant frequently. So you're at the mercy of other people to run it for you. That leads to a lot of issues. Other places like Taco Bell, BK and Wendy's face similar issues.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:19 am to dgnx6
quote:
Some places have dress codes, no visible tattoos or piercings.
Definitely not the McD's and BK by my office. And there's about a 50% chance that they'll frick up the order somehow.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:23 am to Tiger Prawn
quote:
True, however I have yet to encounter a "bad" employee at any Chic-fil-A. They always seem so happy and very eager to please. It's actually quite refreshing.
This
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:27 am to Skywalker
As others have said, it's really about management. Look at the typical McDonald's manager vs. any Chick-Fil-A manager. The difference is absurd. Also, McDonald's, BK and others have been around forever and are so focused on the bottomline that they simply do not care about customer service....kind of like Wal-Mart. Chick-Fil-A and others saw an opportunity to differentiate their business and ran with it.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:34 am to Will Cover
I mean chick fil a 100% pays more than McDonald's and Burger King
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:35 am to Volvagia
Also the difference in employee quality between chick-Fil-a and McDonald's and McDonald's and Burger King is about the same. Burger King is that bad. It's a shame too because Burger King's burgers and fries can be quite tasty.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:43 am to Will Cover
I'd be interested to know the demographics of the employees of each of these chains. I wonder if any conclusions could be drawn based upon the demographics.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:55 am to Will Cover
I would not consider 5 Guys and Panera to be "Fast food" like CFA, Cane's, McD, BK, TB
Those two are in the fast casual area.
But comparing Canes/CFA to the other three fast food:
1) Look at the Menus. CFA and Canes have much smaller and simpler menus, which means fewer different processes needed, fewer options, fewer things happening at the same time, etc. That improves efficiency and effectiveness.
2) The vast majority of workers at the first two are younger and working just to get some money while in school, etc. Most of them will eventually get other jobs (unless they become managers). At the other places, it's many people who can't get a job anywhere else.
3) The first two places charge a little more, no dollar menus, etc, so they tend to attract a higher caliber customer. Therefore, the employees don't have to deal with as much BS.
4) Probably because the margins are higher, the first two might not pay more per employee but they can have more employees working on a shift. When you have enough people for all the work that needs to get done... you can actually be successful.
Those two are in the fast casual area.
But comparing Canes/CFA to the other three fast food:
1) Look at the Menus. CFA and Canes have much smaller and simpler menus, which means fewer different processes needed, fewer options, fewer things happening at the same time, etc. That improves efficiency and effectiveness.
2) The vast majority of workers at the first two are younger and working just to get some money while in school, etc. Most of them will eventually get other jobs (unless they become managers). At the other places, it's many people who can't get a job anywhere else.
3) The first two places charge a little more, no dollar menus, etc, so they tend to attract a higher caliber customer. Therefore, the employees don't have to deal with as much BS.
4) Probably because the margins are higher, the first two might not pay more per employee but they can have more employees working on a shift. When you have enough people for all the work that needs to get done... you can actually be successful.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 10:56 am to Tiger Vision
quote:
I'd be interested to know the demographics of the employees of each of these chains. I wonder if any conclusions could be drawn based upon the demographics.
The only CFA I've ever been to that is a disaster is the one on Vets near Williams. Demographics are very different than your average CFA.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 11:00 am to Will Cover
Honestly I'm not a fan of Five guys (shitty burgers imho), Panera ( seemingly built by pretentious soccermoms), or Chic-fil-a (their chicken is pretty weak imo). Then again, fast food for me is basically Popeyes (or occasionally Canes) if anything. If I'm going to spend that kind of money on a sandwich/meal, there are just too many good options for not much more money. However, I live in an area with a great food scene which does make a difference. Their employees at those places do seem to be a cut above, but if the product isn't to your liking, then what the heck does the service matter.
Posted on 6/14/17 at 11:19 am to poops_at_parties
quote:
Birds of a feather flock together. Quality attracts quality.
Good college or high school aged kids who actually have some self worth don't want to be associated with the typical fast food employee. They are embarassed to be alongside the typical burger king or Popeyes employee. Even if those restaurants decided today to change it up, that stigma would take a lot to overcome. CFA, Canes, etc. Started out from the get go only hiring good people. A kid doesn't feel the same stigma working there and it continues to snowball attracting a revolving door of better candidates.
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