Ahhh. Fast food. Where would we be as Americans without all the fast food options today? Probably a lot thinner…maybe? But I digress.
In the last post, I wrote about Choosing Your Perspective. It is something that is yours, and your alone. No one can take it away, or choose it for you. You have complete control. I left you with saying that perspective can change the results without changing the facts, and that this related to business. Let’s get into that now.
Fast food restaurants are an American staple, esp. for road trippers like me. It gives us an opportunity to grab and go when we are on our way to or from a Speech and Debate tournament, or other vacation. There is always a place to stop at just about any time of the day. In fact, when my Speech and Debate team (LOGOS) was in Irvine, CA a couple years ago, we were on the way back to our rental at 1:00 AM and we were all hungry for some french fries. Hello McDonalds.
What does this have to do with anything? Everything. Fast food restaurants do their business based on the behavior of people. Not every one of them is open at 1 AM. Only those that know there are crazy people out there wanting fries at that time.
Every fast food restaurant has access to the same data and they open and close based on that data. One data point they all have access to is that Sunday tends to be the busiest day of the week, and therefore the best day for sales. Most, therefore, increase their staffing to prepare for that day.
The average per store revenue in this industry in the USA is $800,000 per year. McDonalds, who has the most stores in the USA (Subway has the most sores in the world) averages around $2.6 Million per store per year. And they do their best business on Sunday. Combined, all McDonalds stores in the USA do roughly $38 Billion in sales each year. They are tops in that category, and everyone else competes with them.
Except for Chik-fil-a. With the same data, they have chosen a different perspective. They close their stores on the busiest day of the week. They say their focus is not as much on selling chicken as it is on caring for their people. So, they are willing to sacrifice Sunday sales.
How’s that working for them? How do they compare to, say, the average McDonalds? Well, as you might expect, it’s not even close. Where the average McDonalds makes $2.6 Million in yearly sales, the average Chick-fil-a comes in at $4 Million a year!!! That’s right. According to Entrepreneur magazine, even being closed on Sunday, Chick-fil-a makes more money per store than McDonalds, Starbucks, and Subway…combined.
Same data, different perspective, vastly different results. Amazing, isn’t it. Your perspective does matter. Choose it wisely.
How has your perspective affected your actions? Comment below.