The Ledger
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Five Guys targeted 30% food costs by raising prices, never cutting quality
“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.”
Five Guys funded early expansion using gross revenue share agreements
“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 …”
Murrell: Hidden real estate locations proved genuine customer demand
“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.”
Murrell: Five Guys would rather raise prices than exceed 30% food costs
“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.”
Murrell: Five Guys perfected operations for 17 years before franchising
“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…”
Murrell: Five Guys sold 3,500 U.S. franchises within two years
“And I think within a year and a half, or two years, we sold 3500. We sold the whole United States.”
Murrell tested food viability by picking hidden, low-rent locations
“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.”
Five Guys refined its restaurant model for 17 years before franchising
“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…”
Five Guys sold 3,500 U.S. franchise locations within two years
“And I think within a year and a half, or two years, we sold 3500. We sold the whole United States.”
Jerry Murrell and his family still own 75% of Five Guys
“We own about 75% of the company, me and my family.”
Murrell: Five Guys opened its first location with just $35,000
“Our first story put 35,000 dollars in it.”
Murrell: Five Guys was profitable from its very first day
“And we made money from our very first day, and we were breaking even, and we were paying our rent.”
Murrell: Five Guys' original potato supplier is now a multimillionaire
“Now he's become a multimillionaire because we buy all our potatoes from him.”
Murrell: Five Guys initially paid seven times McDonald's price for buns
“We were paying about seven times For a hamburger bun as McDonald's was then.”
Murrell: Early investors got a cut of gross revenue, not profit
“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.”
Murrell: Five Guys has built ~1,400 stores and sold out all US territory
“We've got about 1400 of them built out now, but all the territory in the United States is gone.”
Murrell: The Murrell family still owns 75% of Five Guys
“We own about 75% of the company, me and my family.”
Five Guys corporate owns roughly 450 US stores and 50% of 60 European stores
“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.”
Murrell: High school friends who bought early Five Guys stock became millionaires
“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…”
Murrell: Mastering basic services like burgers, drinks, or haircuts guarantees steady income
“In fact, my mom used to say, if you can make a good hamburger, or serve a good drink, or give a good haircut, you'll always... Have something to do, yeah. Have an income.”
Thrasher's French Fries inspired the simple Five Guys menu model
“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…”
Jerry Murrell launched the first Five Guys in 1986 with $35,000
“Our first throw, we put 35,000 dollars in.”
Five Guys broke even and was profitable from its first day
“And we made money from our very first day, and we were breaking even, and we were paying our rent.”
An exclusive potato contract made an Idaho farmer a multimillionaire
“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.”
Five Guys paid seven times more for hamburger buns than McDonald's
“We were paying about seven times for a hamburger bun as McDonald's was then.”
Five Guys priced early burgers three times higher than McDonald's
“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.”
Five Guys corporate still owns 450 of its 1,400 U.S. stores
“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.”
High school friends who bought early Five Guys stock became millionaires
“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…”
Murrell: Attempted oil and bottled water ventures in the 1970s
“I tried a few businesses. I started an oil business in Texas, and I did a couple other dumb things. I tried to start a water business, of all things. I thought selling bottled water back then would have been a good idea, and everybody laughed at me. I had a ha…”
Murrell: Five Guys idea came from focusing simply on burgers and fries
“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.”