Keep ideas focused
When a franchisee wanted to sell frozen yogurt cones at his store, Kim had to do some evaluating based on what he’s established the company to be.
“Once the idea comes to me, I’ll have them explain why they need it, why they think it will work or help improve their store, and then why they’re so passionate about it,” he says.
In this case, the owner said he wanted to be able to sell to more people and operate at a lower price point and give people a reason to come to his store instead of places like McDonald’s.
With some reasoning behind the idea, then Kim and his team assess it using a few guides.
“One, does it make sense to the brand and will it not deteriorate what the brand stands for?” he says. “No. 2, if I were to do this and the test was successful, could I really roll it out nationally or regionally because consistency and repeatability are important to us? Then I look at the variables, like cost. How much is this going to cost to execute and promote?”
By putting the cone idea through these filters, he concluded that it wasn’t a good idea and said no.
“We’re not ice cream, and we don’t want to do anything that reminds people that we’re ice cream, …” he says. “We don’t compete with McDonald’s. You’re not going to make incremental revenue by selling cones, because you’re selling them at a lower price point, and it doesn’t promote the core product.”
But on the opposite end, when an owner in Hawaii proposed serving papaya at his store as a topping, Kim ran the same filters and came to a different conclusion than the cone idea and told him to go for it.
“Papaya is really cheap in Hawaii,” Kim says. “Hawaiians love papaya like strawberries are to the rest of the country, and it fit with the brand — papayas are healthy, delicious fruit that can be served fresh and went well with our yogurt.”
It all goes back to evaluating ideas based on what’s important to you and your company.
“It goes back to analyzing it with regard to our brand trifecta and making sure that it makes sense for the brand and makes sense from an economic perspective and make sure it makes sense for the business,” he says.
Having a process like this helps you maintain your focus and not get distracted by ideas that seem great but in reality aren’t.
“I’m a big believer in brands and the power of brands,” he says. “The way I exercise my leadership is to constantly stay dedicated to not redefining who we are for the wrong reasons — especially if it has to deal with short-term ways to overcome obstacles.”
This can’t be a once-a-quarter or once-a-year thing either — instead it should be constant.
“When new things come up that you haven’t thought of or it wasn’t there last week or it gets proposed to you, always go back and assess it,” Kim say
s.
“ … Make sure that resonates well.”