How can a model broaden?

Phillip Chang has wrestled with this query many occasions — like in 2004, when his bubble tea franchise, Boba Loca, hit a wall. “I could not remedy the issue by simply including one other drink,” he says. “I wished one thing extra, one thing greater.” So he created Yogurtland, a self-serve frozen yogurt model that sparked a world craze (and plenty of copycats).

Seventeen years later, Yogurtland remains to be going robust — no small feat within the ever-changing meals world. And Chang is able to broaden once more. Over the previous two years, he is launched two new ideas inside the Yogurtland model: Holsom by Yogurtland — a fast-casual, wholesome meal joint — and Egg N Hen, which makes a speciality of a Korean hen sandwich (and would not use the Yogurtland branding). Right here, Chang discusses the artwork of innovation, diversification, and gaining a aggressive edge.

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You strategy growth very rigorously. Inform me about that.

I don’t like growth for no purpose. My philosophy is: Why am I doing this enterprise and what is the finish objective? That must be very shaped. With out that, everyone is simply chasing cash. If you do not have your personal philosophy or a very good basis of who you’re, it is nothing. Id is so essential. It’s important to begin from there.

So the place did the Holsom and Egg N Hen ideas come from?

Earlier than we expanded, I wished to construct robust roots with Yogurtland. Doing that gave us plenty of nice concepts. I assumed, How can we make it higher?

We began with high quality. That is how I got here up with Holsom. It is very mild and dietary meals. However with Holsom, there may be nonetheless a connection to yogurt. I wished to transcend that — discover an actual meal. So for Egg N Hen we did plenty of analysis to ask, What’s the demand on the market?

The meat market is big, however I assumed individuals perhaps missed the hen alternative, and hen is a more healthy possibility. I am Korean, and there are many hen eating places in Korea. I knew how they served the hen, and so with our wonderful staff, we put collectively the demand for our market and got here up with this wonderful hen sandwich.

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How do you suppose innovation and continuous diversification have contributed to the success of your manufacturers?

Within the restaurant trade, we consider tendencies by way of cycles. There’s difficult occasions, however one factor that by no means modifications is {that a} high model can win in any form of cycle.

With Yogurtland, frozen yogurt consumption is continually going up and down, however we’ve got such nice high quality that we proceed to thrive. We’re taking on an enormous portion of the ice cream market.

The identical factor is true with Holsom and Egg N Hen. When we’ve got fine quality and supply value to our clients, we are able to dominate the market.

What recommendation do you will have for enterprise homeowners going by a not-so-great gross sales cycle? How do you keep motivated in occasions when it isn’t the perfect?

All entrepreneurs ought to have their very own philosophy and beliefs — an identification, and a transparent concept of who you’re. What do you need to obtain out of this?

All the time strive to have a look at the entire image. When a pacesetter is so into little operations, they miss massive tendencies. It’s important to perceive if a market is popping from a typical beef hamburger to a hen sandwich — there are many indicators. In the event that they learn them forward of time, then they’ll plan. Take a step again. And all the time find time for meditation — about your life, your loved ones, your targets, the individuals round you, and what you are attempting to realize.

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