“Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Ingredients for Success”

Company Overview

The Five Guys business venture was founded on a few well thought out principles
which they saw as a unique way of not only penetrating a competitive market
dominated by many other well-established franchises, but also making a name for
themselves and expanding their business.

The main principle that the Five Guys operated by was, and still is, providing a
high-quality product and maintaining that level of quality throughout, regardless.
They decided they would never compromise on the quality of the product, and
this not only became part of their brand, but also attracted a loyal following.
Because he was adamant on regulating, supervising and controlling the standards
of production and the quality of the final product, Jerry was not as eager as his
sons were on franchising the business (Hatten, 2003). However, after much
persuasion by his sons, he gave in.

Five Guys ‘philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains

Jerry had decided that in order to make Five Guys the best fast-food store, he had
to make sure that they did not cut corners. One of the Five Guys policies is that
the customer always comes first, and that is the code that the Five Guys’ staff
works by. They offer nothing but the best for their customers. To achieve this,
Five Guys always use fresh buns for their burgers to make them the freshest and
juiciest burgers in the market. Furthermore, they also make the perfect fries that
are usually hand-cut to a perfect size and fried using a suitable formula.

At Five Guys, another fundamental principle is that the customer is the best
salesman. This means that if contented and satisfied, the customer will do the
sales pitch to others, whether friends or relatives, and consequently there will be
an increase in sales. The customer is the most prominent partner in the business,
and as such, Five Guys adopts the approach that a customer is not an outsider,
but part of the business.

Original Values for the Start-up Company

As part of their business plan, the Five Guys Burgers and Fries fast-food store had
made it clear that they were not going to compromise on the quality of their
products. They instead focused on making the customer happy by satisfying and
exceeding the expectations of their customers. This, they achieved in several
ways; instead of spending a lot in décor and adornments, they concentrated their
efforts on the provision of good affordable quality food. They maintain this up-to-
date with their simple work uniforms and spacious uncluttered restaurants.

The Five Guys store has also had a practice that it has maintained from its
inception; instead of mass-producing the burgers, each burger is made to order
and served with the toppings that the customer wishes alongside hand-cut fries.
The procedure of laying the slices of topping has not changed either (Kaputa,
2012).

Factors that contributed to Five Guys’ success

Once a small suburban burger place in Washington DC, Five Guys has, in just a few
years, developed into America’s fastest-growing fast-food chain. A number of
factors have led to the success of the Five Guys Burgers and Fries venture. One of
these has been the requirement that any prospective franchisees must have
enough capital or financial resources, to put up and operate at least five
restaurants. The franchise should also be managed by skilled personnel who have
acquired managerial experience and a strong business background (Hughes &
Kapoor, 2011). This ensures the continuity and reputation of the brand is not
impaired.

Another factor is the fact that Five Guys have maintained the original burger-and-
fries formula. They make sure that the same process is repeated in each and
every store assuring their customers of the same high-quality, great-taste
regardless of the location of the store. This consequently creates a loyal clientele
base therefore increasing sales.

Ethical and social practices as part of the Five Guys’ culture

One of the most highly emphasized ethical practices in every Five Guys’ store is
the maintenance of quality products (Kaputa, 2012). All their products pass
quality assurance not only from the customers, but more importantly from a 3rd
party audit. In the pursuit of maintaining quality and high standards of food
production and preparation, each of the Five Guys’ restaurants undergo two-
weekly audits by 3rd parties. The safety audit is meant to check and confirm that
all the kitchen equipment, including cutlery and utensil, are safe and in excellent
condition. The hygiene audit, on the other hand, is carried out to report on the
cleanliness of the entire facility, courtesy displayed by the staff, and more so the
standards of preparation of food. To avoid undue advantage, the auditors walk in
as customers, and this helps them to get a genuine perspective of the facility and
staff (Hughes & Kapoor, 2011). After the audit, the highest scoring team is
awarded with $1000 to boost their morale, making them feel they are part of the
Five Guys family and that they are accountable and valuable. The Five Guys CEO,
Murrell, explains, “Treat your employees and customers right...".

Part of the Five Guys policy also entails rewarding staff for quality customer-
service by setting aside 1.5% of all revenue collected, and awarding them bonuses
instead of using these funds to engage in advertisement and marketing. In a
market with as stiff a competition as the fast-food industry, every competitor
dedicates a sizeable portion of the revenue generated to advertisement as a
means of attracting new customers. In the Five Guys model, however, the main
objective seems to maintain the customers through consistency in quality
production and relying on the product’s reputable quality to “sell” itself to the
public.

The Five Guys formula for burgers and fries also ensures that the proper health
code standards are met if not exceeded. Right from purchase, to the preparation
and serving of the potatoes, strict guidelines are followed in order to ensure that
the products on sale are not only tasty but also safe and healthy.

It would be a calculated guess that it is this kind of reputation for upholding

ethical standards that might have encouraged President Obama to visit one of the
Five Guys’ stores where he ordered a cheeseburger with tomato, jalapeno
pepper, lettuce and some mustard, taking 10 fries and additional 8 burgers to go.
What better way to market your brand than by having the head of state as your
satisfied customer.

It is clear that with the ethical and social practices that the Five Guys franchise
employ, they have indeed enchanted their customers and consequently driven
them to the rapid growth they have gone through in the last few years. In
conclusion, Five Guys has been able to expand and grow at a steady fast rate since
it became a franchise mostly due to its ability to maintain the high-quality of its
products that made it a successful business in the beginning.