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January 2012

Features

Franchisee of the Month: Glenn Mueller
Next time you order a pizza for delivery, note the insulated  bag that keeps your pie piping hot all the way to your door. While you’re tipping the driver, take a glance at the car. Chances are you’ll spot one of those illuminated portable car-top signs. Now tip your hat to Glenn Mueller and the gang at RPM Pizza, Domino’s largest franchisee, because both the bag and the car-top sign are RPM innovations that have become ubiquitous in the food delivery business....
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20-Minute University

Interviewing candidates in a buyer's market
Today’s economy has produced a “buyer’s market” for employers who have open positions. On the surface, this looks like a good problem to have. After all, you can get more for your money! However, with the market saturated with good people looking for jobs, the hiring process can be daunting....
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Cover Stories

The Year of the Franchisee
The Great Recession left clear winners and losers in the chain restaurant game. Fast-food places? Burger King wasn’t the only one that could wear a crown. The fast-casual sector fared even better. But old-line family or casual concepts? Stick a fork in ’em. Strangely, the players most deserving of a superhero’s cape pulled a Clark Kent on the business, dodging recognition despite a show of considerable might. Regardless of the segment, franchisees now stand even taller and firmer after the wobble of the economic downturn....
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What the new breed of franchisees looks like
The Super Zees Characteristics: Well-financed; multiple brands; sophisticated infrastructure; often specialize in nontraditional locations; likely to develop proprietary brands in addition to being major franchisees; often have franchise interests beyond restaurants. Poster Child: HMSHost, Bethesda, Maryland...
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Ideas Index

January 2012 Idea Index
Financing: Need start-up cash? Try some of the new crowdsourcing sites like Kickstarter that have already helped operators launch their new concepts Managing: Lighten up...
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Menu R&D

A nation of nibblers
Remember when dinner at a restaurant always meant sitting down to a multi-course meal of appetizer, entrée and dessert? Not any longer. More and more Americans are patronizing restaurants differently these days, opting to make a meal of shareable appetizers, small plates, inventive bar food or coffee and a snack. According to Chicago-based market research company Technomic, only 5 percent of consumers are now eating three square meals a day. The shift can be attributed to several trends:...
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A new take on steak
The rib eye is one of the most popular steakhouse cuts and most fans like it served up simple—well seasoned and broiled or grilled. At the nine-location Smith & Wollensky, the menu offers a prime, dry-aged 28-oz. rib eye steak just that way. But executive chef Matt King wanted to do something more for customers looking for a bit of adventure and variety. The deconstruction process A rib eye has two clearly defined muscles. King starts out by removing the outer cap muscle and the bone, leaving the well-marbled 9-ounce eye....
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Kale and beets brighten the menu
By January, fresh, local produce is a distant memory in most parts of the country. Even warmer growing regions are not supplying much variety to fill the salad bowl. But that isn’t stopping Corey Shoemaker from creating colorful, healthy tosses of winter greens and other vegetables. As chef at Mii amo Cafe, the spa restaurant at Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona, that focuses on “intelligent cuisine,” he makes the most of whatever is available....
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Draft notice: Tapping the latest libations
More than beer is being drafted these days at restaurants and bars. Sparkling wine, liquor, cocktails, cider and kombucha are all flowing from taps. The tactic is both a point of differentiation and a margin booster....
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Hot off the panini press
To paraphrase the Gershwins, “You say panini, I say panino...” Technically, if you’re making just one of these popular Italian-style grilled sandwiches, it’s a panino; more than one, it’s panini. No matter what you call them, you need a dedicated grill to make a panino or panini the right way....
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Skills

Funding franchisees: How small Z's are finding big money
When Myron Allen wanted to open a Toppers Pizza franchise in Rochester, Minnesota, he turned to an old friend: his local banker. His banker passed him to another bank, which left him hanging for a month. It was then that he gave computer dating a try. He listed himself with Boefly.com, a year-old online exchange that introduces lenders to borrowers who meet their criteria. Within a week, he had eight interested parties. Four weeks later, he was approved for a Small Business Administration loan....
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MonkeyDish

Tyrant or tenderheart: What’s your management style?
Watching episodes of Hell’s Kitchen, the average viewer comes away thinking that cursing, screaming and ruthless bullying is the only way to run a successful restaurant kitchen. True, many chefs are as hellish as Gordon Ramsay appears on TV, routinely leaving their staff quaking in their clogs. But some industry veterans are embracing a kinder, gentler management style—and finding it has its place. ...
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Kickstart your funding
Sunhui Chang is building one of the smallest restaurants in Oakland, Calif. When it opens in early 2012, FuseBOX will have a focus on Korean fare with a casual atmosphere. Chang, owner and chef, was planning on using city business development money for the project. “As the politics changed and economy got worse, the development money disappeared,” says Chang. That’s when he turned to Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site that harnesses the power of many small donations from lots of different people....
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