Building the Factory

This was an amazing week at Chick-fil-A at Fox Valley. We made a number of strides as a leadership team to be proactive instead of reactive. In just this past week we have set up a number of systems to make us more efficient, organized the restaurant, hired even more personnel, and strategically focused our efforts on specific training needs. In essence, we began building the factory.

It is so easy to get caught up in the daily operations of a grand opening of this magnitude. However, merely problem solving and reacting to each day as it comes is no way to manage a business. This week we intentionally decided that we were no longer going to run this restaurant day by day but instead plan and organize and start building for the future.

We created a number of systems in the restaurant in order to stay organized and to track our progress. We now have helpful checklists for opening and closing the store, a new method to more accurately order inventory, and a written down document with roles and responsibilities for each team member and leader.

This new perspective on the business has been so exciting because it really has enabled me to see the potential impact we have on the team. We are starting with a clean slate – no bad habits, no lazy tendencies. The team is excited to learn and eager to show us what they are capable of.