The Bread Business Blog

What does Great Harvest mean to you?

 Posted by Mike Ferretti on May 18, 2010

 

 

 

Don't get fancy, just in one word, or phrase, what do we mean to you?  That is the essence of branding.  Michael.  Madonna.  Darth.  When you reach the one word status, well....brands can rarely get there but they can have souls.

Apple is innovative.  Ferrari is Red and everything that color means.  Goldman is, well, let's not go there.  Dave Matthews is The Band.  You get my point.  Brands have meaning.  It can be different for different people but they still have meaning. 

What does Great Harvest mean to you?

The inspiration for this blog came from a simple trip to the iTunes store.  I went looking for a movie and on the home page was this album cover with this dude with this wild hair.  I immediately recognized him as the conductor for the LA Phil I blogged about a few weeks ago.  I promise to not turn this into a music blog (although I will write about music frequently) but I just spent $13.99 at iTunes because I recognized a dude's hair.  That is a brand.

So, in one phrase, what do you think of when you think of Great Harvest?  What is meaningful enough about us to make you think of us at a glance?

Thanks for reading.  And responding.

 

This Small Business Owner Supports Wall Street Reform Efforts

 

 Posted by Mike Ferretti on May 7, 2010

 

 

It is good to see Congress getting serious about a real dialogue regarding financial reform.  In the interest of full disclosure, I live in a banking home in a big banking town with lots of friends that work in the Wall Street world. In my public accounting life, I worked with financial institutions.  I am not an unbiased observer.  But, I do firmly believe that we need reform in how Wall Street operates.  No one can look at the last 20 years and say anything else unless they have a personal agenda.

This is not the right forum for discussing what reforms are needed but the process by which we see those reforms being developed is fair game.  We have seen extremes.  Many ideas have been debated. Goldman has been charged in a civil suit.  A criminal investigation of their operating practices is underway.  Many cases that we have long forgotten are still pending.  Some stem from the Bank of America - Merrill Lynch merger.  The investigations into the Countrywide loan processes are gaining momentum again.  The same is true with WaMu (who I have a mortgage with) and Golden West.  I don't think any of that is relevant to what we are seeing in Congress.  The gap between Main Street and Wall Street has never seemed bigger in my life and I must admit that I actually feel closer to Main Street than the investment bankers today.  That is hard for a fairly conservative, free market advocate to admit. 

The process is what matters to me and is what I find fascinating and encouraging.  Congress is just about the most beaten up institution in America today.  They please no one as evidenced by their ratings from the public.  But, in the case of financial reform, they are actually doing their job and doing it well.  We aren't hearing much out of the House right now but the Senate is very visible on this issue.  Bills are coming out of multiple committees and are all over the board in theory.  I think that is good. 

I don't see a single idea in Congress or lawsuit pending in the courts that is without merit for debate.  I don't agree with all of them but in most cases where I disagree, they involve very complex issues that I think are being misrepresented.  What is good is that our political system is working.  Congress is having a reasonable debate on what is good for the future of our financial system and our economy.  They are legitimately working to find a middle ground where reform is effective.  The legal system is looking at what appear to be things that need a second look.  I may not agree with the ideas or allegations but I am encouraged that the process is working. 

Our current political environment is toxic and that is not good for anyone.  The same is true with the press coverage of the Wall Street lawsuit of the day.  For business to work in America, and without business working the country doesn't work, we need healthy debate and legal oversight like we are seeing today.  The way Wall Street has operated for the last generation is not good for America or the world.  They have moved from a business model based upon an advisory capacity to a player in the game.  That can't come without conflicts of interest that need to be controlled.  All of us have paid a dear price to learn that lesson but the fact that our society is working to control it and having a healthy debate on how to effect such control is the best example of democracy at work that we have seen out of our government in a long time.  My hat goes off to all involved. 

My faith in our government is coming back and I trust they will see this process through to a conclusion that allows small business owners to thrive.

Thanks for reading.

Small Business Owners Fly with a Net

 

 Posted by Mike Ferretti, April 30, 2010

 

 

Trapeze. Fly through the air. You know, the circus thing. Ever wanted to do it? Neither have I, but that might change. A few weeks ago, as they pulled up on their Harley's, I said hello to the owners of the Burke and Lorton, VA Great Harvest bakeries and we started talking about fun stuff we do outside of work.

A better way to put that is they started talking and I just kept picking my jaw up off of the floor. They are taking trapeze classes. As in, go up in the air 40 feet, stand on a small platform, grab a bar on two wires and jump. Then you have to rotate and get your legs on the bar so someone can grab you off and swing you to the other side. They actually do this for fun.

As we moved to something else, they asked me about the next time I would be in their area and made me promise to come in on a Sunday so I could go flying with them. I seriously wonder if I have the nerve or abs to do it, but I have to love a work environment where someone invites me to become a Flying Wallenda. I don't think I would have ever gotten that if I had stayed in public accounting or been on Wall Street. But, stories like this are every day gigs in Great Harvest.

We have an owner that leads gourmet food and wine tours in France. Three that hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon together each year. One that does 50k cross country skiing events. Some that surf. One that grows his own bees for the honey in his breads at the bakery. One that has survived a helicopter crash. We love how we can share stories like this and have them be real. And how we can encourage each other to try new things.

I can honestly say that I never expected to have the words "I am going to try flying on a trapeze" come out of my mouth. But they have. A work environment where we can trust each other enough to go try, and likely fall, on a trapeze is unusual. But, not at all uncommon for this Great Harvest tribe.

I can't quite get my head around the trapeze thing but it is actually starting to sound like fun. And I am being lead there by Jeanette and Jeffrey, a couple that rides bikes to work in pink Great Harvest shirts. That is cool...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What crazy things have you been talked into trying lately?

 

What a Bakery Franchise and You Can Learn From the LA Philharmonic

 

Posted by Mike Ferretti on April 20, 2010

 

 

Any business needs to constantly be aware of its changing marketplace if it hopes to survive.  Markets, businesses and products have life cycles just like living beings do.  The trick is to understand which ones really impact your core business.

A great example of an organization that has done a consistently good job of managing its life cycle in a very mature business is the LA Philharmonic.  In an era when many people consider classical music to be dead or dying, this group consistently manages to stay abreast of its market and thrive.  And, they have done so for most of my lifetime.

How?  They refuse to be defined by what people say they should be and keep reinventing themselves.  In the late 1960's, they started this trend by offering performances beyond the traditional symphony.  They introduced the concept of smaller groups of their orchestra, a chamber group and a new music group, doing additional performances that offered a sound and experience beyond what a traditional symphony could offer.  While revolutionary in their day, these ideas have become copied universally throughout the music world as other organizations tried to imitate the success of the LA Phil in the face of their own declining audiences.

In the early 1980's, they had their first experience with a young conductor by the name of Esa-Pekka Salonen.  It was unheard of at that time for such an established, prestigious orchestra to turn the baton over to someone in their mid-20's.  The success was unprecedented.  They continued their run together for some time and eventually Salonen became their full time music director and took the orchestra, literally, to places no American orchestra had ever gone.  In 1992, he conducted the Phil as the pit orchestra in the opera Saint Francois d'Assise at the Salzburg Festival, the first time an American orchestra had been given such an honor.  During his tenure, Salonen lead a movement away from conductor worship and reinvented his organization into one that focused on the music and musicians, leading them to unprecedented heights. 

Just recently, he retired as full time music director and they did it again.  As his replacement, they hired Gustavo Dudamel, a young Venezuelan, barely 3 when Salonen first picked up a baton with the LA Phil.  By going against conventional wisdom, again, the group continues to defy odds and have a successful organization in a business many consider dead.  By the time he is done, Dudamel could easily be one of the all time great conductors and this group was smart enough to get him on the way up.

There are lessons in this story for all of us. If an organization rooted in classical music can keep reinventing itself by ignoring the boundaries of its box, all of us can as individuals and businesses.

Thanks for reading.

Connecting your franchise with your community

 

 Posted by Mike Ferretti on March 3, 2010

 

 

 

Would you love to meet the brightest minds in your business?

Who wouldn't?

Well, I just did.  Annually, we invite all of our franchisees and employees to a conference where we deal in depth with a particular topic, do some networking and have a ton of fun.  This year we spent 3 days in Napa, CA studying how to make our stores more profitable in the face of an increasingly volatile commodity world and uncertain retail environment. 

Every year I come away amazed at how talented and insightful our bakery owners are.  I am truly blessed to be able to work with them and honored to have that privilege.  The energy they generate and the ideas they share are inspirational. 

We also have a chance to build and improve our sense of community.  There is one thing we do that is really cool.  Each year we take a portion of the revenue we generate at this event (it is not a profit center by any means...we charge some fees to offset costs) and award a scholarship to someone in the Great Harvest family (owner, owner immediate family member, bakery employee, franchise office employee) based upon a very non-traditional selection process. 

Our specific goal is to award a scholarship to an interesting and meaningful applicant that falls outside of traditional scholarship channels.  We look for passion, vision, and people that have limited traditional funding means available.  We look for people giving back that have a need.  People that make a sacrifice (social worker or teacher or artist or national park ranger) have a greater need than an investment banker.  People a touch out of the mainstream are more interesting, in this context, than people taking a traditional education path.  We like people that do things a little bit different and we want to help them stay a little bit on the edge.  This helps keep us connected with a fun part of life.

Writing things like this feels gratuitous or as if I am the kid screaming "look at me!"  That is not my intention.  We think connecting with your community in ways like this makes the world a better place to live and hope to set a good example for others.

Thanks for reading. Do you have any fun community stories to share with us?

Great Businesses Live their Mission Statements. Is it Enough?

Posted by Mike Ferretti on Feb. 5, 2010

 

 

September 11. We all have stories. One of our DC area bakeries was owned by a couple that had Pentagon ties. He worked there. She used to. They lost some friends in the attack. Like the entire country, we were all aching to do something. But, we were sitting in Montana 2000 miles away. What could we do? We did the only thing we knew. We baked bread. We opened our training bakery to the public and sold the bread.  We took all of the money we raised and sent it to the Pentagon 9/11 Victim Relief fund. A bunch of Great Harvest bakeries did the same thing in their towns. We felt better. But...

One of our field reps, Kayla Conner, came up to me at the end of the day as I was all happy with what we had done and said, "You know, that was awesome, but is it enough?  We did a great thing but that is the only time the home office has ever done that. We have tons of organizations in Montana that need help. Can't we do something for them, too?"

Wow.  Talk about getting a reality check.  She was totally right.  The fifth line of the Great Harvest Mission Statement reads Give generously to others.

It was time for the home office to start to walk the walk.  It was something we all wanted to do, but we just never had as an office.  That was no one's fault.  We just hadn't.  We were generous people doing generous things individually in the community, but not as a group.

So, we thought about how could we fix that. Someone came up with the brilliant idea of making it a part of the training that our franchisees receive when they buy a store.  Prior to that, we had encouraged bakeries to give back to their communities, but had never led by example. The bakeries were living generosity but were we?  From that moment forward, every training class that has come into the Great Harvest system has opened the training bakery for a day, baked and sold bread, and given all of the money to a local southwest Montana charity. Over 50 classes. Over 50 bake days. Over $200,000.

That has become a part of our training culture. People that join the Great Harvest family of bakery owners get the spirit of generosity from the day they graduate to being an owner. It isn't just a line in our mission statement. It is something we care enough about to shut the office down for these days (did I mention that these things have become so popular that trainees can't  handle them on their own so we close the office for the day and join in the effort with them?) so that we can really live the dream. 

And all because one field rep had the guts to say three little words. Three words everyone wanted to say but she actually did.

"Is it enough?"

Kayla Conner photo

What Are the Land Lines for Your Small Business?

 

 Posted by Mike Ferretti on Jan. 22, 2010

 

 

It was cold when I got up this morning so I headed to the treadmill and wimped out on running outside.  Treadmills are boring so I need inspiration.  Today's choice was a video of the 25^th anniversary Ironman competition from Kona.  There was something remarkable in the show.  Any IM is remarkable but something else struck me.

Paula Newby-Fraser, the greatest IM athlete of all time in my opinion and yes, I think a woman holds that honor, was recalling what she considered the low point in her career.   In 1995 she blacked out during the marathon portion of the event and could have died.  The video of the incident has a race official standing over her looking a touch stressed screaming "Call 911!  Does anyone have a cellular?  Call 911!" 

Are you kidding?  Cellular?  Who doesn't have a cell?  That was just 15 years ago and look how institutionalized that change has become in our society. Today the question might be "Who has a land line?"

This isn't some nostalgia piece for Coolio tunes or Fargo on VHS.  Just the opposite.  Every business, every idea, every relationship has its landlines.  The trick is knowing which ones are worth keeping and which ones can go.  Once you figure out which to preserve, you have to take steps to make that happen.

At the core of our business model is our belief in individual freedom and equity.  Our definition of individual freedom is a topic for another day but like all freedoms, they can be taken if not protected.

Franchising has a reputation, in some cases well deserved, for being less than fair to its franchisees.  That is why it is so heavily regulated. 

We think we are different.  We are fair to our franchisees and that will always be true but this is one of our land lines we are keeping.

In 2001, a group of franchisees approached me with a radical idea.  Renegotiate the franchise agreement from scratch to the point that we all thought it was good and then allow it to be changed only when both the franchise office and a super majority of an elected council of their peers agreed.  No other franchise company in the world has done that and it is what really makes us different.  We started with a premise that our negotiated agreement was fair and we should change it only when we had a darn good reason.  Not because we feel like it or just found a way to make more money. 

The legacy of that is a business and its customer base who have stated -- "Here is what we consider a fair way to do business and we are going to make it work for life unless we both agree to change it."  All of the things that matter are now subject to consensus change management, not one-sided implementation. 

I remember presenting this idea at a franchise conference. The first two questions I got were from the COO's of two well-known, national franchise companies.  They were  "Have you lost your mind?" and "Will you not tell anyone else, please because the rest of us don't want to do it."  If your competitors want you to be quiet, odds are you did something right.

Giving up control of your business rules is scary but if you want to really cement your bond with your customers, doing just that makes a perpetual commitment to treat them fairly.

As I finished my run, Paula had not won her 9^th world championship, but she did finish 12^th.   In her mid 40's.  In a sport dominated by people 15 years her younger.  Rock star.  No one was surprised.

What are your land lines and what are you doing to keep the ones worth keeping?

Some business ideas are just good

Some ideas are just so good they, well, just are. The iPod and iPhone were such products. We think doing business the Great Harvest way is one of those things that just is.

My name is Mike Ferretti and I have had the honor of being the CEO of Great Harvest since 2001. Like many people, I fell in love with the business the first time I looked at it. I truly believe that at Great Harvest we live the ideals we say we stand for. They aren't just words.The words impact decisions and actions on a daily basis.

In our world, a company's soul is all about the promises it makes and how well it meets those promises. Simply put, we believe our highest promise is to leave where we go, better than when we got there. In as many areas as we can.

Over my next few posts in this blog, we will go to some of those places. We will talk about how our business model is revolutionary in terms of equity in franchising. We will talk about how we try to set an example for other businesses. We will talk about how we believe in local commitments. We will talk about how we support communities. We will talk about how our products make their neighborhoods better. We will talk about how we believe in equity. We will talk about how we support and are a part of the local food movement. Most importantly, we will talk about how we challenge ourselves to be meaningful instead of just saying we are.

Great Harvest's journey is over 30 years in the making. My little slice of that is entering its 10th year. The ride is incredible and I hope you hop on. Push us to live our ideals. Join us by helping us help others. Join us to learn about how we believe a business should be run. Come along to eat some great bread. Come along for the sheer fun of it. We don't really care why, just come along. You'll be glad you did and we will love having a new friend.

Thanks for reading.