THINKING CRITICALLY MiniCase 14 Jennie and Gary Grassia—Trifork Enterprises, LLC (ary snd Janne Grasse ave baen nappy mare! or 17 jars. uring that bm toy Rave bolt both a fay nda business. For many yar, Jen's pares ouned 8 franchise called "Lit Gyn” that provided atic ‘ct ad developmental edveaton for young chien. ‘Jonnie and Gary tari wekingatthegyminhighchoet ecologe, expects, evertuy beaming Managers ote two faites nthe anche, and then partners. n tell of 208 he oppornity to star anew rani by ‘heresies became wvalabie Simply Fondue “Gmply Fondue laa restaurant franchise operation thats based on fond cooking, A fondue restaurant Is oe where the rew food la ke at the tabla by the customer. The food aves at the table cut into biteizod segments an is then cooked fo taste By 200 Pit MiCaee the eustomere using long forks. Fondue Is gone ‘tought of by Ameccans as dipping food in chase fnd chocolta—unich is certainly part of tho exper fence. Howove, "fondue" comes from & French ors To melt” So i adtan to the cheese and chero lat fondue thee Is aso Rot al or beat, wher ean be used to ook a varety of Hams, nluding beet, chicken, shrimp, and mushrooms, The restaurant h 4 real compet advertago in comparison to ether Festaufant operations because it does not requ'e large kichen staff fo cook the food: only proparaion |s needed For this particulr Simply ondve's maka, ‘retypca ket oran ncvl plate ate restaurant vil average approximstely $45. Tus, the restau is ‘ought of = ahigh-quaityoecause you can s0° rout food being cooked, higher priced meal experience. “The Grasiag had Become fnitar wh the Sinshy Fond tari 1 yar toe by raquning are ‘Simply Fondin. Tey as Kron fra we hey wars Twatat another busese, 20 Bey Pad boon ig a do ‘ange amrton ere typos franchises svalibe. ‘Thy wore cron to the etait busines, since Here ways soomed tobe Gerard and hare were mary we- ‘eabiened anchors. They were dawn to forcue Fan hse, since seemed ke @ une rich, but ene wth ‘owing demand, Tere are two mor Faneise cing ‘hat ofr sue ood. Gary vista with bot maer anise ‘poUns, bt the lade of the Sry Fonaue anion ‘Sperton ely messes him. He wes convinced a ie oul be the most supportive Franchi. Ore rial Key issu tat bacame ler for Gary ane Jenne whon ey re invaved withthe chad cavemen tachi wa the Importance of strong support bythe rancho. Farchors promi support in ren for ae oy ray parents frat the tanchisee must pay Howeve, te fol Prot fd witingraes fo hep the fanctiese succeed sen ins than promised. Thus, oe te hay ues that Gary focused on when making his ealuaton oft two francis systems waa wrich one was actualy gong tobe the most alt thom. Hefounethat total cots oft francis Puchased rom athe group wou be Be aaa ne the ato of what was promied wn rly te sara, Tus, the eat ot whch enchion o Buy woud be based on when oro othe farchicors woul actualy flow Preah ‘onwhatt proms,“Thy began teak at ocaion or restaurant inthe large soutestem ty n which ney Wed. Howse, by ‘aly 2008 they relzd thatthe corporate tanchsoe ‘as ago lating to open 8 corperate sore in thor cy. te fac the franchisor nad easy aepun late nego tions to open a stein avery popular downtown aoa. Using he contacts that ho has daveloped nhs research ‘on the busasses, Gary conteted the resident ofthe ‘tanchisr company. During the ext fw conereation it ‘became clear tat the rancho rsient wanted ether ‘company. or prvally owned Franchise inthis downtown location, butt wast goad alceaton to nothave some” ‘hg place soon, The Grnsins were abst arange to buy the Manche and take ovr he Inawe regions, ‘Tha unde ex be purchase ofthe ranches, the prep rato of ho restaxrat, ana ther ost ee om {Small Sunes Ansan an. ‘Tha proparasn ofthe ste tok longer han expect rina month. The pace ha beana stores locston per to tar purchsue and lacked everyting need! forthe restart. However, thy nat avo pay vont ah thecontructon phase, sven hough tock along ime, itwas net nary as cat ae tmnt have been, most ‘eal operations be kay grocer for success onen Said to be locaton, lation locaton, but the Gases ‘xparence hghight th fect that wa that Es ‘other varaleis the cot of tatacaton. Te leation is much cheaper than may inte same downtown aoa because, ahough they havea stec-rontentac, te ‘restaurants acaly downstairs a baearent “The restaurant open srs performing we. The sueceas of the business as ac the Grassia to stat the process of opening anther etaurant. The leering assooatod with the Smply Fondue restaurant hes given ‘he couse the confide to belive they now have the ich sits nocessary to 6 the net restaurant By them ses witout anchis. The ray fos tat ao pal to the fancisor canbe up to percent of the revenue of be usnees. Ratarng that fr can bea oral ac- ‘orin prota. The succeas of he business hes alto allowed Gary to go into th buseess only two days @ wool Toso we oaya ar ho Butea ine Fstsra Friday and Saturday, soho spends 15 hours both ays ‘working, oes now allow ir to spend more tne st home. Thee i il plonty of work done rom home, but the Grassi tnd the resost bene af Being an ent roneurs the aby 0 sperd mor time with afar. Running a auecesshu tancise has lowed the Geastias to reo thar management sil, Today the “ama uses ve ay elments in that management. Ones CREDITS seasecrandmensemsaas x ISDE enter eet ‘Open Tabi, in wich viduals can reserve a abe lo lronicaly. Tne Grassi have found 80 percent of ie Customers ue this sytem. Ta restau s open only for dimer due tothe cooking tie for the food a be tables. The fact such a high percentage of reservations came tvaugh his eyetem means each marin they can tol what night's business wil be. the lve oa vats doesnot appear fo be at the eve they desire or ‘ho evening hey can work ether trough Facebook or ‘athat oun ema It of customer tole ight spect. Tho rest that they can almost exact precict, what tar estore sctity wl be n'a dey. They a0 have employed Greupon etectvly, especialy during ‘he slowor summer marth to generate cath ow. How ‘rer they have found they have to provide very specie Itations on ther Geoupon soupan to prevent sbuse “Theylimit an offerte two coupons erable and they leo ensure that he coupon snot forthe ete cost ot mea Four to do so moans at to fo tree people could ‘come in and share singe mea among tamsanes, What Advice Do the Grassias Have for New Entrepreneurs? 1. Work with people. Mt does nat pay otha eng fun Yo Yolland make uvessonahe domands. The restaurant ‘wat ina historeal balding and puting up be elgrage ‘hey realy wanted was a probion. However, by work Ing wh he oumers of te icing they were vent aly able to achieve a poate satu, 2. Keap anes of cor»munieaton open wih your partner nd hos with whom yeu hve to de! on a regular ‘ase, sue as lender, oseholders end son They tl want you to be succesful thet show they wl ‘0p, These elton ae mutual bene, anda oid rlsionsp the key tthe scons, 3. un your tanchig nthe manner tat he tranchisare suggest. ny pay for a ranch if you are not ging todo what they suggest? Thay have sytem tat are proven. Take acvartage of ht Beyond! a yOu ‘do nt do as they suggest and something goes wena, ‘Questions: 1. Wat other restaurant that are franchises ave you tari? 2, Would fondue franchise werk in your ety or scton 8. lea tancise approach to your fst busines a good aye develop skits nodedtorun your own bus? Sori: 288 © Gay 0, Btn. 290:© Care Minicane 4 ‘Thinking Cray 99