...FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES: INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Ingredients for Success Dr. Hammad Elbedour BUSINESS 508: CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS 27 October 2013 FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES: INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Ingredients for Success Five Guys considered by many as the best burger on the market originated in Lorton, Virginia in 1986. Five Guys entrepreneurs were Jerry Murrell with his wife and sons, Forbes Magazine identified in 2012 as the fastest-growing restaurant chains in America, five new stores opening weekly (Boone). The philosophy of Five Guys has set this fast food chain apart from the other fast-food chains. One of the company’s primary competitive differences is keeping it simple and perfecting their limited menu. Five Guys was built with the intent of keeping the Murrell family together as a unit and those strong family values remain today. Each of the seven Murrells own equal company shares of Five Guys, totaling 75% of the company. The family continues to hold business meeting at 1:00 PM on Tuesdays at their Virginia headquarters and decisions are made by a unanimous vote. The Murrell family has remained constant on the simple concept they started their business; creating a better burger and while making a little money doing it. Three factors that have contributed to Five Guys success is their branding, business ethics and franchising. Five Guys quality centered brand...
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...Five Guys Burger and Fries Restaurant Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant started as a 1 restaurant operation located in Arlington Virginia. As an alternative to college Jerry Murrell decided he would build a family business that his sons would help run. He then told his two older sons if they opted not to go to college he would use their college money and put it towards a business and they would stay behind to build and help run the business. His sons agreed. The two younger sons also joined the family business and in 1986 Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant was launched. (Monte 2012) Although not the least expensive burgers in town Jerry Murrell, his wife and their sons were determined to create a place where people can go and have good home made to order burgers and fries. They set themselves apart from traditional fast food burger restaurants such as McDonalds and Burger King by not cutting corners and using the best and the freshest ingredients. Good high quality meats are always used to make burgers and put between daily fresh baked buns and lots of topping. Their hand made fries are cut from fresh patatoes cooked fresh every day. Nothing on the menu starts out frozen. Making these good dishes would not only put smiles on their customer's faces but keep them as returning customers time after time with family and friends. Their customers would become the advertisment for Five Guys. The Murrell family were believers in the keep it simple approach to...
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...Entrepreneurial Leadership: “Five Guys and Fries” Professor Watts MBAE5302 – Economics and the Free Market December 16, 2014 Euronda S. Jefferson Five Guy’s Philosophy “Anyone can make money in the food business as long as you have a good product, reasonable price, and a clean place” (Pulizzi, 2010) It was this quote from John Willard Marriott that provided the groundwork John Murrell used to build Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Jerry Murrell, Owner of Five Guys Burgers and Fries, has had a love affair with burgers and fries since he can remember – but not just any burger and certainly not just the run of the mill fries. For this reason, Five Guys’ philosophy, and mission sets it apart from other hamburger chains, thereby creating a successful business model. Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains for the following reasons. First of all, Jerry did not have the pressure like others do when planning to start a business. Jerry was not in a fuss to make money, nor have a strong ambition to monopolize the burgers and fries market. Contrary, Jerry’s goal was to send his two sons to college, and not start a burger joint, a business philosophy providing Jerry the leverage to make more meaningful decisions for starting his burger business. Second, to Jerry’s surprise, his sons did not want to go to college, a decision that he supported. The whole family decided and agreed to use the son’s tuition to start a burger...
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...Five Guys: An Honest Business Built on Simplicity Reyna Haynes-Smith Professor Barry Adkins Contemporary Business BUS 508 October 19, 2012 Food. It’s a major topic of discussion today. What’s healthy, what’s not. What’s filling, what’s worth the money. There are many factors that contribute to the reason consumers choose one business over another. Most choose fast food options because they don’t have the time for a sit down meal. Time is short and many want a meal that is filling but also want something healthy. Enter Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Five Guys was founded in 1986 by Jerry and Janie Murrell in Washington DC. They wanted to give their sons the opportunity to either build a business or go to college. The business route won and the family opened a carry out burger joint in Alexandria, VA. Their premise was to concentrate on the quality of their product and the satisfaction of their customer. From that a simple yet beneficial business was born. The “Keep it simple” mindset has brought Five Guys tremendous success. “Now, over 20 years after Five Guys first opened, there are over 1,000 locations nationwide and over 1500 units in development. Five Guys continues to receive media attention and has grown a cult-like following around the world”. Five Guys took many years to perfect their business practices. Many of their practices differed from those of other businesses...
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...ENTREPRENURIAL LEADERSHIP The Five Guys Story Jeanne M. Catalano Strayer University Authors Note This paper was prepared for Bus 508 Contemporary Business Taught by Professor Dr. Nayak Passion, creativity, and the desire for the Benjamin ignites the flame in which entrepreneurship grows. One such man, Jerry Murrell gave his kids an option: college or run a business, and thus, Five Guys and a Burger was formed in Arlington, Virginia. (Boone, 2012, p. 78). Like all other small businesses’, Jerry faced obstacles such as competition, supply and demand, and capturing market share all while trying to maintain an ethical and socially responsible business. Jerry has maintained this success by following one simple recipe for success: burger and fries (“Five Reasons,” 2010). This simple concept along with his 5 rules of the business: best salesman is the customer, every position has ownership, know what your good at and stick to it, quality is everything, and employee incentives has catapulted Five Guys into over 16 years of business. (“Five Reasons,” 2010). Since 1986, despite the recession, the beef crisis, and competition, Five Guys have not only sustained their business but have almost doubled in size. Over the years, Jerry has stood by his original value to just sell burgers and fries and execute it well (Joiner, 2012). His philosophies have remained strong and his success can be attributed to three main factors: Product specialization, human resources, and branding...
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...Five Guys Evelyn McAllister Strayer University Contemporary Business BUS508 Dr. Ruether October 27, 2013 Five Guys How Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains. Five Guy’s philosophy focuses on creating a quality product that customers will appreciate. They make sure to focus on the customers and their employees. According to Boone and Kurtz (2012), Five Guys has focused on quality by ensuring that its meat is 80% lean, keeping its plants clean, ordering its quality potatoes from Idaho instead of purchasing cheaper potatoes from Florida or California, soaking its fries to avoid them from absorbing oil, making their burgers to order and ensuring fresh bread gets delivered to each franchise daily (Boone & Kurtz, 2012). Customers appreciate the Small details such as cooking their burgers to order. Each burger is made when the customer orders it unlike most other burger chains where the burgers are already made and sitting in a bin. They do not offer a wide variety of food products like other burger chains. In an interview for Inc. magazine, Five Guy’s founder Jerry Murrell stated, “Sell a really good, juicy burger on a fresh bun. Make perfect French fries. Do not cut corners” (Welch, 2010). That has been the business plan since they opened the first store in 1986. Five Guy’s has built its business on burgers and fries. Many other burger or fast food chains tend to cut corners. They use frozen products because the cost may be a little...
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...Entrepreneurial Leadership: Five Guys Burgers and Fries At the heart of every entrepreneur is a drive and motivation to take an idea and see it evolve into a fully functional and striving business. To see a business progress and be successful there has to be vision, fearlessness, determination, and resources. When these things are in place a dream can become reality. A true entrepreneur knows this and will do what it takes to bring the vision to pass. “Treat that person right, he'll walk out the door and sell for you." This statement embodies the belief and philosophy of Five Guys Burger and Fries owner Jerry Murrell. From the beginning Mr. Murrell wanted the focus of the company to be on producing a quality product and customer satisfaction. In a world where there is a fast food restaurant on every corner, there has to be something to make one establishment stand out from the others. Five Guys’ stance on quality and satisfying the customer has gotten them many awards and recognition over the years. They have proven to be a grade above most of their competitors. From day one Five Guys has stayed simple by sticking with the basics. The company was founded on the principles of quality, great customer service, and cleanliness. The company wants the place so clean the floor could be eaten off of. As reviewed in “Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Ingredients for Success”, they take pride in cooking fresh meat and having their fries grown in Idaho which is considered...
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...Five Guys Ingredients to Success Danielle Rush Dr. Etta Steed BUS 508/ Contemporary Business October 24, 2013 Five Guys How it Started In 1968 Jerry and Janie Murrell gave their four sons a proposition; the four Murrell brothers had to either start up a business or go to college (Five Guys Holdings LLC, 2012). The boys decided that the restaurant business was the journey to embark upon. With the guidance of Jerry and Janie the first carryout only burger joint was opened in Arlington, Virginia in 1986 (Five Guys Holdings LLC, 2012). It cost the Murrell family $70,000 to open up the first Five Guys with the company being ran by Jerry, and his three sons: Matt, Jim, & Chad, while his wife Janie did the books (Burke, 2012). The Murrell family had one mission and that was to ensure the customers would be getting top quality burgers and fresh cut fries. The Murrell family knew that with good quality food and great customers the burgers and fries would speak for themselves and start to attract a crowd. Over the course of a few years the family found the recipe for success and what it takes to make a consistently great tasting burgers and fries time after time. Throughout the course of this paper the five guys philosophy, values, success, and the ethical and social practices of five guys culture will be discussed. Five Guys Philosophy Jerry Murrell and his sons maintain a focus on the freshest and high quality burgers and fries the customers can buy. Through taste...
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...Contemporary Business October 28, 2012 Professor Rhonda Evans Strayer University Describe how Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast food chains. Five Guy’s philosophy sets apart from other fast food chains because of their ideal burgers. “Five Guys goal is to sell the best quality burgers possible. To sell the best burgers possible they focus on quality, service, and cleanliness”. (Elan, 2007) When a customer leaves Five Guys the aim is for them to really find the products and services irresistible. The high quality food does all the talking. Another way they differ from other food chains is they don’t invest a lot into advertising. York (2009) points out that Five Guys’ invest in an intensive secret shopper program where restaurant crew members can earn additional pay by getting high scores from secret shoppers. Also, a wide variety of topping choices for their burgers is offered. Welch (2010) explains how they “prepare their fries by soaking them in water so that when the fries are pre-fried, the water boils forcing steam out of the fry”. While visiting Five Guy’s Burgers and fries for the first time back in 2003, during a brief conversation with the friendly cashier, I was amazed to find out that they use coolers instead of freezers. The truth is, I had never heard of that being done before in a restaurant. Another thought that I have that makes Five Guys’ different from other food chains is the way they execute the processing of the orders. ...
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...Entrepreneurial Leadership Contemporary Business October 27, 2013 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...
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...1. Determine how Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains. The five Guys’ philosophy, Jerry Murrell and his five sons saw the vision to opened a fast food restaurant, on the menu is Americans favorite meal, hamburger and fries. The first store opened in Arlington, Virginia, 1986. Welch (2010) found…Jerry Murrell and his sons believed to set apart for other fast-food chains they would need to concentrate on the quality of the quality of their product, and the satisfaction of their customers. Boone and Kurtz (2012) Found…In his own words, Jerry Murrell’s business plan was simple. “Sell a really good, juicy burger on fresh bun. Make perfect French fries. Don’t cut corners. Five Guys’ burgers are made to order, it is different from the other fast-food chains, not place under a light for extended hours. According to Boone and Kurtz, (2012); the Five Guys Burger stores had a sign “If you are in hurry, there are a lot really good hamburger places with short distance from here.” 2. Analyze the original values for the start-up company and how it remains strong today. Boone and Kurtz (2012) found… the original values from the beginning, Five Guys fast-food restaurant wanted people to known that their money went to providing quality food. Money not spend on décor, the stores have simple red and white tiles. The hamburger meats are 80 percent lean, never frozen, always fresh. The fries are made from potatoes from Northern Idaho. The potatoes in Florida and California...
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...The Economics of Five Guys Determine how Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains. “Do good in school or you will end up flipping burgers your whole life!” How many times have kids heard their parents talk like that? Well that has worked out very well for Jerry Murrell and his sons. Jerry Murrell is the founder and owner of the first Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Their business plan includes making the very best burger around, matching that with perfect fries and not cutting any corners in the process. They started in 1986 and in 2002 when they began selling franchises they only had 5 burgers joints. Today there are over 570 of them and annual sales reach the $483 million mark. The Murrells spend their time overseeing the opening of around four new stores each week. And just think your parents said flipping burgers was a dead end job. When Jerry Murrell began franchising he was just a small burger operation with an almost cultish following in Northern Virginia. Today, the business is, by some, estimated heading in the direction of the $1 billion in value mark. Five Guys only has 87 locations. That is 87 cities or areas where their stores are located. Most of these are in the Washington region, but a hundred more are located along the East Coast this year. There are thousand more being phased into the business plan. Each store, the company says, will make around $1 million per year. Jerry and Janie Murrell and their sons are often asked...
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...paper evaluates five published reported articles and the results are based on research organized from various resources including my personal analytical opinion about entrepreneurial leadership. Organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal using proactive behavior by optimizing risk, innovating to take advantage of opportunities when it presents itself, taking upon your own personal responsibility and managing change with a dynamic environment whereas the organization benefits as a whole, is one way to define entrepreneurial leadership. Based upon the readings and research I found you will see how the entrepreneurial leadership is illustrated in Five Guys Burger and Fries family owned business. During the 1980’s and 1990’s the Murrell family continued to stick to and perfect their simple system. Five Guys would be the go to place to get a fresh juicy burger along with fresh cut fries and all the fresh toppings of your choice, stuffed all between fresh baked hamburger buns. Murrell realized that in order to compete with the fast-food chains, Five Guys must concentrate strictly on food. The meat for the burgers---80 percent lean---is always fresh, never frozen! Burgers are made to order, with a selection of 15 free toppings including grilled mushrooms, barbecue and hot sauce, and jalapenos. The buns are toasted on a grill, and the fries are thick-cut from Idaho potatoes, cooked in peanut oil. Because Five Guys insists on top- ...
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...Five Guys: Recipe for Success 1 Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Recipe For Success Bonds Contemporary Business- BUS 508 January 25, 2013 Five Guys: Recipe for Success 2 Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Recipe For Success Introduction Five Guys and a Burger was created in 1986 when founder Jerry Murrell realized his two oldest sons did not want to go to college. He was okay with their decision and decided to use their tuition money that had been saved to open the first Five Guys and a Burger, a quality hamburger take out restaurant located in Arlington, Virginia. This paper will discuss the company’s philosophy; start up values, factors for success and the culture of the food. Five Guys Philosophy Five Guys’ philosophy sets them apart from any other food chain. They believe that if you sell quality food and maintain superior customer service that the product will sell itself. “Keep it simple, focus on “food,” not “fast,” and use honest-to-goodness fresh ingredients of the highest quality you can buy.” (Smith, para.3) When a restaurant keeps it simple, inventory and training is much easier within the restaurant and employees usually do a better job due to their tasks being much more manageable. When owning a small business quality versus quantity is important because it...
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...Five Guys Burgers and Fries: “Ingredients for Success” Dr. B. Iannucci Contemporary Business October 17, 2013 Entrepreneurial Leadership Everyone wants to see their children grow up and go to college and possibly become millionaires. Well that was the dream of the Jerry Murrell, but unfortunately two of the oldest sons said they were not going to college. So instead of paying for college he found himself paying for a mortgage to open a business where the boys can work and learn responsibility. The rest is history. Dave Kurtz’s (2012) wrote, “Five Guys and a Burger grew to 570 franchises in the United States and Canada.” Determine how Five Guys’ philosophy sets it apart from other fast-food chains. The philosophy that set Five Guys apart from other fast-food chains was that Jerry Murrell’s strong focus on the quality of the food and type of food served, and the customer satisfaction. Jerry Murrell once stated “Treat the person right, sell walk out the door and sell for you.” (Weise, 2011) Analyze the original values for the start-up, and how it still remains today. The original value of the company for the start-up was to have value and perfection within the company. This is still the case today. Five Guys insist on making the quality of food served (fresh hamburgers, hotdogs, and only Idaho potatoes for the fries) and customer serve a first priority. All the restaurants feature the same simple, red and white tile décor and no paid advertisement, which is done...
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