Competitive Culture

Entrepreneurial Leadership

Dion C. Woodard

Strayer University

BUS 508

April 23, 2013

Introduction

During the 1980’s Five Guy’s franchise idea began from a simple discussion regarding of Jerry Murell’s CEO son’s reluctance to attend college. In 1986 Jerry Murrell’s entrepreneurial spirit along with his wife and two sons opened up their first Five Guys hamburger restaurant in Arlington VA. The original restaurant although small and had limited parking, and initially consumer were leery of the price; however this immediately dissipated once customers tasted their burgers. Today Five Guys’ is one of the most popular burger franchises in the nation, with more than 1,000 stores across 47 states grossing over $976 million in revenue. This paper would look at the “Entrepreneurial Leadership” that aided in the success of Five Guys’. This paper will further analyze the Five Guys’ philosophy that sets them apart from other fast food franchise competitors and also the original mission of the brand which has sustained throughout the years. This paper will also address factors that contributed to the success in addition to the ethical and social practices which culminates into the culture of the Five Guys’ leadership infrastructure within the franchise trough the years.

Five Guys Mission

According to Boone and Kurtz (2012), Entrepreneurship is the willingness to take risks to create and operate a business. An entrepreneur is someone who sees a potentially profitable opportunity and then devises a plan to achieve success in the marketplace and earn those profits. Jerry Murell’s like other successful entrepreneurs understood this philosophy early and proceeded to capture it within their mission statement. According to USA Today, Five Guys’ set themselves apart from Burger King, McDonalds, Wendy’s because their mission is in the business of selling only burgers, and...