Winning the Chain Restaurant Game

Are you ready for success?...

Find out what it takes in this insider's guide to making it in today's most exciting growth industry.

In this instructive and inspiring book, award-winning authors and foodservice industry experts Charles Bernstein and Ron Paul tell how the most successful restaurant companies win with bottom-up management, putting the customer on top. Based on interviews with more than a hundred industry executives and packed with enlightening examples as well as a few historic failures, this unique book teaches important lessons for restaurateurs and other entrepreneurs:

• Presents the first authoritative, in-depth look at the restaurant chain industry as a whole
• Tells how successful chain CEOs produce results with varied winning styles
• Isolates and clearly describes the eight crucial factors, or strategic "links," vital to restaurant chain success
• Tells how chains can capitalize on bulk purchasing, brand identity, consistent execution, an individual sense of style and—most of all—finding unique ways to please the customer

Few success stories so thoroughly embody the twentieth-century American dream as those of restaurant chains such as McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Little Caesar's, and Taco Bell. But besides the "true grit" demonstrated by entrepreneurial heros like McDonald's Ray Kroc and Wendy's Dave Thomas, what does it take to build and maintain a successful restaurant or retail chain? Find out in this first book to give a broad, long-term perspective on one of the nation's leading growth industries and to offer crucial lessons for all entrepreneurs, no matter what the business.

Winning the Chain Restaurant Game, by award-winning authors and noted foodservice industry experts Charles Bernstein and Ron Paul, documents the critical success factors required for one of the toughest, most competitive industries.

Highlighting the winning styles of more than a hundred chain executives, their triumphs, trials, disappointments, and turnarounds, this fascinating and instructive book identifies the eight strategic "links" that lead to victory in the chain restaurant business. With surgical precision, Bernstein and Paul explore such key factors as leadership, motivation, bulk purchasing, marketing, identity, consistency, and expansion. But they place focus ahead of everything and conclude that the entrepreneurial passion of an executive who deeply believes in his concept is the ultimate catalyst for success.

Small- to medium-size chains are going public at a dizzying pace and there are enormous financial opportunities for savvy restaurant owners. Winning the Chain Restaurant Game arms operators with the vital know-how needed to win the game.

The new edition of this bestselling book for entrepreneurs has been fully updated to offer the most extensive start-up toolkit of invaluable advice and expert guidance.""

Relevant to entrepreneurs of any experience, it covers absolutely every aspect of starting a business from bullet-proof plans to the best way to structure a business for a successful sell-on later. It includes information on brand management, customer service, marketing, financials and staffing, so you are fully prepared to set sail on your business journey.

This volume examines the involvement of minority- or women-owned businesses in technology-based research, with particular focus on the differences in research outcomes in achieving commercialization. Specifically, the authors empirically investigate the correlation between technologies from projects funded through the Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the minority or gender demographics of the owners of the businesses conducting the research. This study offers an opportunity to not only examine public-sector agencies' investments in research, but also to investigate if there are race and/or gender gaps in such business' participation in innovative activities. It also provides a means to understand innovation by minorities and women in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Investments in fundamental science and technology research and investments in human capital through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education are important building blocks of innovation. Two methods of fueling innovation are to 1) accelerate the commercialization of federally funded research and 2) ensure opportunities for underrepresented minorities and women in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Despite this understanding, there is still a disparity in the rates of educated men and women in STEM fields participating in entrepreneurship. Moreover, the link between underrepresentation of minorities and women across STEM fields correlates with entrepreneurial entry and performance. This book expands on these findings and estimates the probability that (1) a funded research project reaches completion, (2) the developed technology is commercialized, and finally (3) the commercialized technology is successful in the marketplace (i.e., the business gained revenue and market share from the technology).

Understand Regulation A+ and other alternative funding methods Regulation A+ and Other Alternatives to a Traditional IPO delves into the details of the new SEC rules under the JOBS Act of 2012 to examine the benefits and pitfalls for entrepreneurs and investors. Written by the 'Godfather of Reg A+, ' this book breaks down the complex details of Regulation A+ and other alternative funding methods to help small businesses determine how best to go public and raise capital. A traditional IPO comes with barriers that can be insurmountable for a small company seeking to enter the public markets; thus far, reverse mergers have provided a challenging 'back door' to the market, but Regulation A+ re-opens the front door to allow small cap companies to raise capital while keeping offering and compliance costs manageable in a way not possible with a traditional IPO. More complex than simple crowdfunding, yet just as accessible by all investors, Regulation A+ is a step up for entrepreneurs at any stage wanting to go public where Wall Street meets Main Street. Straightforward explanations, smart strategy, and illustrative examples make this book an invaluable guide for those seeking to truly understand the nuances of Regulation A+ in order to work more effectively within its bounds. Understand how Regulation A+ differs from a traditional IPO and the early experience with this exciting new approach Examine the JOBS Act and the SEC's rules under Title IV Explore the past, present, and future of reverse mergers, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and self-filings Discover new alternatives including new rules under Rule 504 and Regulation S The new rules provide a faster, more streamlined, more cost-effective route to up to $50 million in capital, and offer companies more flexibility than ever. Every entrepreneur needs to know all available funding options, and Regulation A+ and Other Alternatives to a Traditional IPO provides essential guidance from the expert in the field.

An excellent business plan impresses financial backers, provides a clear blueprint for the future of your company and functions as a benchmark against which to measure future growth. How to Prepare a Business Plan explains the process of creating an excellent business plan in an engaging and accessible way. It includes essential coverage of producing cash flow forecasts, planning a business expansion, planning your borrowing and monitoring business progress. Global case studies containing real business plans provide inspiration and real-life practical insight by analyzing the plans, monitoring the business' progress and discussing their problems. Sample business plans also show you the process in action and provide useful examples for creating your own. How to Prepare a Business Plan helps new business owners to consider what they really want out of their business, and to map their own journey and gain a new understanding of their product's place in the market, as well as writing a business plan with the clarity, brevity and logic to keep bank managers interested and convinced. Whether looking to start up or expand, this practical advice will help anyone to prepare a plan that is tailored to the requirements of their business - one that will get the financial backing they need.

Builds on what you already know about communications as a basis for becoming an expert in getting messages out to your own marketplace. In-depth coverage explains how to create, manage and produce cost effective advertising, publicity, brochures, catalogs and public relations events. Provides succinct guidelines, step-by-step checklists, easy-to-use charts, money-saving tips for budgets of all sizes and real-world examples which demonstrate the concepts in action.

The retail market in the UK is worth more than GBP400 billion annually and employs over 3 million workers, while in the US 29 million people create over USD $4 trillion of revenue through the industry. Despite the challenge to establish stores and big-box retailers, there's a rapid increase in the number of retail start-ups and consistent growth in the independent sector. From beard shops and barbers, through cafes and coffee shops, to 'retailment' concept stores and boutique consumer-focused experiences, the specialist retail sector is booming. The Retail Start-Up Book provides clear guidance and advice on how to develop a winning retail strategy that seamlessly merges online and offline tactics. Introducing the science of shopping and how to understand customer behaviours and needs, it explores the essential steps of developing a business plan, marketing and promoting a business and advising on buying and visual merchandising. Building on years of retail experience nationally and internationally, in large groups and with independent retailers, The Retail Start-Up Book meticulously provide invaluable practical insights to help new retailers hit the floor running, or more established organizations grow their business and nurture their profits.

Most family business owners and wealth creators share an important vision: perpetuating family and wealth for many generations to come. To ensure wealth continuity, many families put into place various structures, plans, and processes, including estate plans (which may include multiple trusts), ownership succession plans, governance structures/strategies, and others. These sometimes-elaborate plans are aimed at preserving family wealth. In reality, for many families, they don't. In fact, it has been estimated that a majority of estate plans in place fail, largely as a result of family conflict or communication problems. Author David Lansky reveals here that too many one-size-fits-all and elaborate continuity plans fail to take into account the idiosyncratic family factors that can interfere with continuity planning. Lansky details further how building the right foundation will help families implement the best continuity plans. Addressing that foundation effectively includes understanding the building blocks that make it up, assessing their strengths, and developing strategies to improve them. The specific building blocks include:* Learning Capacity * Familyness * Safe Communication Culture * Commitment to Personal Development* Effective Leadership of Change While richly informative, this book is not intended as a training manual, but rather as a starting point for important ideas and conversations. In fact, the goal of this book is to help families consider several related factors that go into a foundation for continuity, and to build more effective continuity plans and strategies based on their assessments.

The Wall Street Journal predicts that between 50-60% of all goods and services in the U.S. will be sold through network or multi-level marketing methods in this decade. Shows entrepreneurs how to start up and run their own successful, self-replicating network. Covers everything from picking the right product or service, managing your time, to tax and legal considerations.

This edited collection analyses the unexplored concept of the family business group, evaluating the opportunities and advantages that it creates for entrepreneurs. Raising a number of important questions, the authors construct a new research agenda for the complex topic of the family business group, which will ultimately assess its contribution towards the economy and society in general. The chapters provide a core understanding of the phenomenon and cover its formation, nature and complexities, as well as offering a holistic perspective and exploring factors such as scale, size and regional contexts. A useful tool for those researching small businesses, organisation, and business strategy, this book highlights the key advantages of family business group structures in both developed and developing countries, and local and national contexts.

This volume explores the ways in which knowledge and innovation impact business and economic sustainability, offering a wide-ranging and richly illustrated study of knowledge, innovation and sustainability of organizations from a dynamic capabilities perspective. In organizational theory, dynamic capability is defined as an organization's ability to react and adapt adequately and rapidly to external change. In today's global economy, pursuing sustainable strategies and practices is critical to organizational success. Complying with externally and internally imposed sustainability targets might initially appear as a restriction for organizations; however, they can be transformed into a new set of opportunities. This means that the classic ways in which management absorbs the experiences associated with evolving conditions, organizational frameworks and markets must be reconsidered in light of the preservation of the technological, environmental and social ecosystems. Featuring research and case studies from sectors such as NGOs, SMEs, education and agriculture, this book offers students, academics, practitioners and policymakers a multi-faceted understanding of how and why knowledge, innovation and sustainability are intricately linked-and offers insight into best practices that balance organizational and societal needs.

Is Your Marketing as Simple, Effective, and Affordable as Duct Tape?

Let's face it, as a small business owner, you are really in the business of marketing. The problem for most small business owners is that they suffer from "marketing idea of the week" syndrome instead of implementing a systematic approach to the problem of small business marketing.

In "Duct Tape Marketing," renowned Small Business Marketing guru John Jantsch shows you how to develop and execute a marketing plan that will give your business the life and longevity you knew you could have when you made that decision to go out on your own.

"CAREFUL Duct tape is a serious tool... it sticks where you put it. So are the ideas in this book. If you're ready to make a commitment and are willing to make something happen, John's book is a great place to start." ―Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow

"For all those who wonder why John Jantsch has become the leading advisor and coach to small businesses everywhere, Duct Tape Marketing is the answer. I have never read a business book that is as packed with hands-on, actionable information as this one. There are takeaways in every paragraph, and the success of John's blog is living proof that they work. Duct Tape Marketing should be required reading for anyone who is building a business, or thinking about it." ―Bo Burlingham, editor-at-large, Inc. magazine, and author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big

"Duct Tape Marketing is a worthy addition to the growing library of how-to books on small business marketing"―"concise, clear, practical, and packed with great ideas to boost your bottom line." ― Bob Bly, author of The White Paper Handbook

"With the world suffering from depleted reserves of trust, a business that sells plenty of it every day tends to create the most value. The great thing about trust as a product feature is that it delivers exceptional returns. With this book, John Jantsch has zeroed in on exactly what small businesses need to sell every day, every hour." ―Ben McConnell, co-author of Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force

"John Jantsch has provided small businesses with the perfect perspective for maximizing all marketing activities - offline and on. Jantsch has the plan to help you thrive in the world of business today. Read it, all your competitors will." ―John Battelle, cofounding editor or Wired and author of The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture

"Duct Tape Marketing is a great read for anyone in business. It has fresh ideas laid out in a practical and useable way. I highly recommend this book for growing any business." ―Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI and Co-author of the New York Times bestseller, Masters of Networking

This handbook is the definitive source of research on the differences among family firms. It provides a timely and thorough investigation of the variant strategies and behaviors undertaken by family firms today, taking a closer look at different configurations of family involvement and how they influence outcomes and success. While studies on differences between family and non-family firms are deeply rooted in the literature, this handbook uniquely examines the family firm heterogeneity research to date and the inner firm governance, financial and non-financial objectives, and strategies such as innovation, competitive dynamics, internationalization, and human resources management. The handbook pulls together the work of the most prominent names in family business from around the world, separating itself from the competition both in content and geographical scope. Future research directions provided in each chapter will spark further interdisciplinary scholarly work, and will be enlightening for researchers, educators, and practitioners who are currently limited to the narrow and exclusive literature and advance the burgeoning research on this important topic.

This book responds to the growing demand for a scientific approach to the concept of startups, which are a manifestation of the digital revolution and an innovation-driven economy. With a focus on digital enterprises, the author presents empirical research carried out over 4 years in collaboration with the Startup Poland Foundation, and provides a developed universal definition of a startup. This book highlights the necessity of a clear definition, in order for startups to be treated as a permanent economic phenomenon, rather than a temporary whim. Addressing the crucial need for an effective startup management methodology and more education on this form of entrepreneurship, Digital Startups in Transition Economies offers guidance for those researching entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as entrepreneurs, public institutions, startup accelerators and technology transfer centres.

This book examines the ways in which cultural and creative industries can drive entrepreneurship, innovation, sustainability and overall regional development. It will address such issues as (1) the technical (tangible) components of creative and cultural industries in relation to innovation; (2) the intangible components of creative and cultural industries in relation to services provided; (3) the relationship between tangible and intangible components and economic and social innovation; and (4) the ways in which creative and cultural industries effect and influence regional sustainability and development. Cultural and creative industries and the creative economy as a whole have been increasingly prevalent in research literature because of their role in driving economic and social development. Cultural and creative industries also enable other forms of entrepreneurship and innovation beyond the traditional, technology-based focus of innovation, thereby enhancing regional growth and development through these channels. The contributions presented in this book discuss the main issues, challenges, opportunities and trends of cultural and creative industries through conceptual analysis and cases studies from different world regions. Featuring research from industries such as art, health care, beer and wine and education, this book provides researchers, academics, professionals and policy makers with a detailed examination of the development and potential of cultural and creative industries in regional and global economies.

Small companies create value in unique ways, often outperforming much larger competitors. In Small by Design: The Entrepreneur's Guide For Growing Big While Staying Small, entrepreneur David Feldman reveals how small businesses can make a major impact with a minimalist mindset. The value a company creates is not a function of its size, and according to Feldman, the clutter of conventional growth often crowds out actual impact. It's far better to assemble the truly essential resources and learn to apply them well, all while staying deliberately, intentionally, and proudly small by design. Small by Design is not for companies hoping to appear bigger than they are; it's about becoming confident in their small size and being proud of that choice. Staying small often lends itself to a competitive advantage, and though this doesn't happen automatically, neither does mimicking the strategies of multinationals.