These guys have good competitive advantages
If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.
- Jack Welch
Can you think of a more competitive market than fast food restaurants? I have not been able to come up with one. This blog will show how Five Guys Restaurant provides for competitive growth in a very competitive market segment.
Five Guys has been a Washington, DC favorite since 1986. It was then that the parents offered the brothers the option of college or starting a family run business … as the story goes. The business option won and the carry out burger business was launched in Alexandria, Virginia.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s they perfected their trade with expansion in the area and adding the eat-in the restaurant feature. In 2003, they were finally convinced to franchise and their business has continued to grow on the national scale.
What is the secret of this small business’ growth, you ask?
It is not rocket science, but it is a hard lesson for many businesses to learn (especially small businesses). The question businesses in highly competitive markets need to answer is the following:
How do you make a difference to someone who has infinite choice?
Five guys … just another fast food restaurant? Not so fast … consider their value discrimination:
Always fresh beef, never frozen
Fresh cut (from real potatoes) French fries. If you have visited a restaurant, you noticed the bags of potatoes in a visible portion of the establishment.
Burgers are cooked by hand, not a machine
Many options for burger fixings and potatoes
Still fast service
So the answer to the question of Five Guys success in a highly competitive market?
Build and maintain competitive advantages around what your target customers are looking for.
What are some of your business’ competitive advantages that you would share?
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I think if you were to visit DC now, you would see that the fast food market is tougher than ever, but the burger market in particular has a ton of competition and all of the tastier options have a true competitive advantage.
Five Guys still has the potatoes, the fresh burgers and the condiments.
BGR has onion rings and they were the first one to offer the big fancy 300 choice Coke machine.
Good Stuff, Shake Shake, Ray’s, and BTS all offer something different too. Something that is unique.
And, that’s what I think makes all of them successful. Especially when you compare them to another food niche in DC, Asian Fusion.
Its a joke among friends that what DC needs is another Asian Fusion restaurant. Someplace where the menu is the same, the service is the same, and the only difference is the location.
I guess my point is that its not easy to offer up something unique. It doesn’t have to be something huge and entirely new. Sometimes just being a little nicer or offering a different selection of soda will be enough to push you over the edge into the place people prefer.
Certainly not easy to be unique … takes constant attention and willingness to experiment some. Agree with your comments which I appreciate Dave. Thanks.