The Hungry Jack’s founder who brought KFC to Australia and took over Domino’s is still at it, this time borrowing from Chick-fil-A that’s tripled profit.
When somebody reminded Jack Cowin last night that he was the same age as US President Joe Biden, the 82-year-old reminded them that he’s also the same age as rock stars Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney. “And I’m a year younger than Ringo Starr. So I said, I’ve been to concerts with McCartney and Mick Jagger over the last year. They get on stage and perform for three hours without taking a break.”
Cowin likes to think he’s still rocking it in the corporate world, he told the Forbes Australia Icons and Investors Summit. His main job now, he said, is to make sure that he’s on top of new ideas and has the right people to implement them. “And having the courage to make the change if it’s not working.”
Canadian-born Cowin, 82, brought Kentucky Fried Chicken to Australia in 1969 and then founded Hungry Jack’s, the Australian Burger King franchise which now has more than 440 stores and a food-processing division. He’s the largest shareholder in the Domino’s Pizza in Australia, has an interest in the Lone Star Texas Grill restaurant chain in Canada and owns a plant-based meat substitute business called v2food in partnership with the CSIRO’s investment fund Main Sequence Ventures.
In importing all these ideas, he’s built a fortune that Forbes estimates at $4.8 billion.
And his latest import has been to “steal” an idea from US fast food chain Chick-fil-A.
He told the Forbes Australia Icons and Investors summit that he had always rewarded Hungry Jack’s managers with bonuses. “The average salary of a restaurant manager was $65,000, $75,000 a year,” Cowin said. “To get the bonus, you had to jump through three burning hoops of fire. And they never really were confident that you wouldn’t find a way to cut them out of the bonus.
“People ask, how do I look for ideas in business? I read a lot. I’m curious. I’ve got the antenna out. I’m looking. I travel a lot. I look at other businesses in this industry.”
Jack Cowin
“We’ve spent 45 plus years in doing that. There’s an American company that sells chicken called Chick-fil-A. They only operate six days a week, they’re closed on Sundays. The average McDonald’s in the U.S. does US$3.2 million U.S. dollars per outlet. Chick-fil-A does just under $10 million. So they do three times more business than the average McDonald’s.
“I don’t have a lot of original bones in my body. But if I see a good idea, I’m prepared to steal it. And the principle is, it’s an upside down pyramid. Most businesses in this room have a pyramid. And you’re at the top, you’re the CEO, and you’ve got the workers down the bottom. This turns the pyramid upside down.
“Customers are number one. The people that deal with the customers are number two. And then the store manager, he has the people, he has to crew the stores. That’s the Chick-fil-A philosophy. Turning the pyramid upside down. So we did this, and we’ve had enormous growth over the last five years.
“The profitability of the business is up three times.” While one store manager made $300,000 last year, the average was making $200,000, he said.
“You can imagine the intensity and the care that goes into every customer who comes through the door.
“You attract the best people into the business, your turnover [of staff] stops … It’s a growth mindset. It’s had a huge impact on the bottom line of the business. So that as a principle is something that I work on.
“People ask, how do I look for ideas in business? I read a lot. I’m curious. I’ve got the antenna out. I’m looking. I travel a lot. I look at other businesses in this industry. Why is that business so successful compared to others? Why do some go broke, others don’t? And as I say, that example I just gave you of the upside-down pyramid has certainly worked for us.”
