šŸ” The $18B Menu

šŸ” The $18B Menu

Most of you know Chick-fil-A - the fast food restaurant thatā€™s home to the #1 chicken sandwich in the US.

(If not, theyā€™re the ones putting the ā€œeat more chickenā€ signs everywhere)

As of 2017, Chick-fil-A has made more money per restaurant than the top fast-food chains, and brought in over $18B in sales last year.

All while:

  • Being closed on Sundays

  • Operating only in the US and Canada

  • Not selling the #1 ordered fast-food item (cheeseburgers)

How did they do it? Whatā€™s their secret sauce? (no pun intended)

Is it because their chicken is just that good?

Great questions, and Iā€™ll let you in on a little secretā€¦ Itā€™s their menu.

Hereā€™s what we got for you today:

  • šŸ” Our Business, Is Chicken

  • ā° The 10,000 Hour Mark

  • šŸ¤« The Secret Sauce

Read time: 5 min 6 sec

 šŸ” Our Business, Is Chicken

Not only does Chick-fil-A offer the smallest menu of all fast-food chainsā€¦

But itā€™s all about chicken.

Chick-fil-A is the only fast food chain that doesnā€™t offer tons of different options like cheeseburgers, hot dogs, bean burgers, etc.

On the surface, this seems oddā€¦ Why would you not want to appeal to a larger audience? Well, hereā€™s whyā€¦

If someone wants a burger, where do they go?

Burger King? McDonalds? Wendys?

My guess is whereverā€™s closest.

But where do they go for the best chicken sandwich theyā€™ve ever had?

Chick-fil-A.

So while Burger King and McDonaldā€™s have to split every customer looking for a cheeseburger, Chick-fil-A gets EVERY customer looking for chicken.

This is what we call ā€œdifferentiation.ā€ Itā€™s changing something about your business that puts you in a different category than your competition.

For example:

  • Loom = Screen recording

  • LinkedIn = Business networking

  • Rolex = Watches

In the end, Chick-fil-A has made more money by appealing to a smaller audience.

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ā° The 10,000 Hour Mark

While writing this, I came across some interesting statsā€¦

Turns out, thereā€™s a clear correlation between profitability and menu size.

Is this a coincidence? I doubt itā€¦

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks about what it takes for someone to become an expert at something.

Did Steve Jobs become an expert in tech because he was born a programming wizard?

Is Chick-fil-A rated the #1 chicken sandwich in the US because they stumbled upon some secret chicken recipe?

Probably not. 

Gladwell says thereā€™s one thing that makes someone the best in the world at somethingā€¦.10,000 hours of practice.

He talks about how every great musician, athlete, and billion-dollar CEO can attribute their success to repeated practice that compounds over time.

And itā€™s usually around the 10,000-hour mark that they become truly exceptional, or ā€˜an outlier.ā€™

How long it takes to hit 10K hours

So while other chains like Subway and Starbucks have split their ā€˜hoursā€™ between 200+ itemsā€¦

Chick-fil-A has put their 10,000 into a few items which has compounded into the success they have today.

EX - Chick-fil-A launched the Innovation Center with food scientists and chefs who all work to make a 10/10 chicken sandwich.

The bottom line: As entrepreneurs, we like to keep things exciting by testing new opportunities, but by doing that we fail to put the time in to be truly exceptional.

šŸ¤« The Secret Sauce

Chick-fil-A is known for two things: The chicken sandwich and great customer service.

How do they pull this off? You guessed itā€¦ their menu.

Hereā€™s why:

#1 - Fewer order mishaps. With less variables (ingredients, drinks, sauces), customers have less options to change orders and employees make fewer mistakes.

#2 - Faster food prep. The CEO of Chick-fil-A (Andrew Cathy) frequently talks about ā€˜protecting their food prep timeā€™ with a smaller menu.

The fewer order-by-order variables possible, the faster food can be prepared and more can be prepared in advance.

#3 - More brain power towards customer experience. Chick-fil-A doesnā€™t just sell chicken, they also sell the experience of Chick-fil-A.

By focusing less on changing the menu and seasonal offers, Chick-fil-A has given more attention to the overall customer experience than other fast-food chains.

For instance, Chick-fil-A pays full-time employees to participate in drive-thru simulations to shave off seconds.

And last July, they released their ā€œfuturistic elevated designā€™ for new buildings to speed up their drive-thru.

Thatā€™s it for today!

The Profit Snack Team

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