McDonald's

Using your business experience

Paul Crocker had run a number of successful petrol station businesses before taking on a McDonald's franchise in 1995. He now operates five restaurants in Kent with the help of his wife. He has consistently outperformed the national average for sales growth.

"The secret," says Paul, "is a combination of fine tuning operational performance and enticing new customers into the restaurant." He does this by getting out into the community, and seizing every opportunity there is to sponsor events and distribute vouchers so that people have an incentive to visit.

"McDonald's is great if you're competitive," Paul adds. "There are lots of measures to show you how you're performing regionally and nationally - as well as your own figures for last week and last year. I just like to beat targets. It gives me a buzz."

Paul was on the McMarCo committee for several years. It's made up of franchisees and senior people from Head Office who jointly decide the Company's marketing activity and spend for the following year. "It's amazing the influence you, just one individual, can have on the decisions of a big company," says Paul. "You really do have an effect. You're involved all the way, from coming up with ideas, to approving campaigns and budgets."

Getting involved with the community

Zulfikar Somji believes working with the community and building local contacts makes a winning difference to McDonald's image. McDonald's 'Just Bin It' litter-busting campaign had been a part of his community activity calendar for four years before he won the national 'Just Bin It' title. He won the prize for the many links he forged with local councillors, editors and community partnerships.

But what stands out for Zulfikar are the links with the local schools, and the sense of pride his management and staff get from what they have achieved within the local community. He and his managers get involved with education at many levels, talking to business students about franchising and self-employment, and helping with interview techniques. They also volunteer as reading partners for local children with reading difficulties. Their award from the local borough for their commitment to Work Related Learning takes pride of place in the restaurant.

In a community with many friends and family affected by the Asian tsunami, Zulfikar's Forest Gate restaurant in east London quickly became a focal point for fundraising efforts. Says Zulfikar: "People were happy to give their money to McDonald's to forward to this appeal, which I think demonstrates a great deal of trust in the Company."

A consumer's perspective

Kate Walker had never worked for McDonald's before she secured her franchise in 2004 at Bellshill near Glasgow. She and her husband, who helps to run her franchise, did have plenty of business experience - in advertising and utility cost management. Kate feels the big advantage she had was seeing the business from a consumer's point of view. She's a mum with three kids, so she had visited McDonald's plenty of times. "There's always a danger that you get caught up in the processes and overlook the effect on the customer," she says. "I think I'm less likely to do that."

As a result, sales have gone up substantially ahead of the market and employee motivation is high, with a lot of staff wanting to take training courses and progress up the career ladder. "People development is really important in this business," says Kate. "Instilling pride in what you do so that people take responsibility for their role - that's absolutely key."