Five Guys

“We own about 75% of the company, me and my family.”

“Most franchisers start off to franchise. We didn't start off to franchise. We had no idea we were going to do that. We started off to build a family business, and we put 17 years into it, and we figured out how to do it right. So when it came time to franchisi…”

“We were paying about seven times for a hamburger bun as McDonald's was then.”

“There must have been 20 places selling boardwalk fries, but only one place had a long line, and that was Threshers. It was, the line was a hundred feet long all day long. So me and the kids, that got into our mind, like, you know, hamburgers, fries, keep it si…”

“The kids didn't know why we were raising the prices, but we would always say food costs would stay around 30%. Whatever we gotta do, if we gotta raise prices, we raise prices. And we said, if we have to worry about price, we don't want to be in this business.”

“Our first throw, we put 35,000 dollars in.”

“A guy named Rick Miles was a small potato dealer out there, so we got a hold of him. And we said, would you sell us potatoes? We did not know at the time that he was small. Now he's become a multimillionaire because we buy all our potatoes from him.”

“We have a joint venture in Great Britain and France and Germany where we own with our partner half, that's about 60 stores, and then over here we own about 450 out of the 1400.”

“Well, if we can put it where, you know, it's hard to find, but if we can get people coming there, then we know we got something.”

“And we made money from our very first day, and we were breaking even, and we were paying our rent.”

“I think we were selling something for like three times, four times what McDonald's was selling for, which everybody said we were crazy, we wouldn't make it that way, but we didn't let the kids know how much we were paying for any of the food.”

“And I think within a year and a half, or two years, we sold 3500. We sold the whole United States.”

“When I started Five Guys, I let three or four of my buddies that I went to high school with buy stock in my company, because I thought it would be a great thing for them, because they didn't have money. A little bit, they had a little bit of money, but not muc…”

“We'd say, give us 5000 dollars, we'll give you a certain percentage of the Gross. Not, never the profit, because there was always too many ways to get cheap people that way. So I said, we'll give you a certain percentage of the gross. We'll give you the money …”

“So me and the kids, that got into our mind, like, you know, hamburgers, fries, keep it simple, might work. And that's where the idea came from.”

“Now he's become a multimillionaire because we buy all our potatoes from him.”

“We had three sons plus one more son with Janie. My fifth son wasn't born yet, so it was four sons and me, so we said, well, we'll call it Five Guys for now, and then we'll change it.”

“Most franchisers start off to franchise. We didn't start off to franchise. We had no idea we were going to do that. We started off to build a family business, and we put 17 years into it, and we figured out how to do it right. So when it came time to franchisi…”

“We would always say, food costs would stay around 30%. Whatever we gotta do, if we gotta raise prices, we raise prices. And we said, if we have to worry about price, we don't want to be in this business.”

“And I think within a year and a half, or two years, we sold 3500. We sold the whole United States.”

“And we said, well, if we can put it where, you know, it's hard to find, but if we can get people coming there, then we know we got something.”

“When I started Five Guys, I let three or four of my buddies that I went to high school with buy stock in my company, because I thought it would be a great thing for them, because they didn't have money. A little bit, they had a little bit of money, but not muc…”

“Our first story put 35,000 dollars in it.”

“And if you add up all of the restaurants and franchises around the world, he says they are approaching two billion dollars in revenue.”

“We were paying about seven times For a hamburger bun as McDonald's was then.”

“And we made money from our very first day, and we were breaking even, and we were paying our rent.”

“Out of the, out of about 14, 1500 restaurants, we have a joint venture in Great Britain and France and Germany where we own With our partner, half. That's about 60 stores. And then over here, we own about 450 out of the 1400.”

“We've got about 1400 of them built out now, but all the territory in the United States is gone.”

“We own about 75% of the company, me and my family.”

“We'd say, give us 5000 dollars, we'll give you a certain percentage of the gross, not never the profit, because there was always too many ways to get cheap people that way.”