Future 50 – Franchise FoodService

Fast food leads to fast success for Franchise Foodservice
Susan Nord, SBT Reporter
Being a supplier to fast food restaurants, you would normally think the focus of Franchise Foodservice is the product.
But in this case, it’s the people.
At least that’s how President Jim Purcell views his company’s success. How else would anyone explain the meteoric rise of a company that was founded in 1997, began operations in 1998, has two distribution locations – one in Oak Creek and the other in Oklahoma City – and has grown from 15 to 186 employees in that same time?
A cynic may say it’s because of Americans’ obsession with instant everything, including meals. And while that certainly doesn’t hurt Franchise Foodservice’s long-term growth, Purcell gives the credit to the people that make his business go.
“The talent of the people we’ve been able to recruit and retain has been key,” Purcell says. “And their personal philosophies and beliefs have taken care of the company.”
The company was honored by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s Council of Small Business Executives as one of the Future 50, a designation given to the area’s fastest-growing companies.
Purcell began the company after working for PFS, a division of PepsiCo that ran its fast-food operations, which includes KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Franchise Foodservice continues to service those three restaurant chains in a 16-state area that includes the Midwest and parts of the Southwest. He is well aware that being tied exclusively to the Pepsi-related companies (although no longer owned by Pepsi) makes it look like all of his eggs are in one basket.
“I guess, at times, you look and say, ‘What really happens if something (bad) happens?'” Purcell says. “But I think there have been so many consolidations in our industry that there aren’t a lot of companies like us. We know that Tricon, which owns those three brands that we’re associated with, their long-term strategic plan says they need to have more than one distributor, for obvious reasons – the biggest one being that it keeps it competitive.”
The future looks bright for Franchise Foodservice as it prepares to launch a new Internet-based ordering system in the first quarter of 2001. It will not only be more efficient in terms of billing for both the customer and internal operations, it will allow customers to manage their inventory levels more effectively. It’s a value-added service that Purcell sees as further solidifying his company’s relationship with Tricon, and possibly other fast food chains.
But the growth happened largely because of the people working for him, Purcell says.
And, apparently, the employees like working at Franchise Foodservice, because employees have recruited friends, relatives and neighbors to work there, too. And while Purcell points out nepotism has its unique problems, there’s a definite upside.
“When somebody’s bringing someone into this environment, they have a vested interest, and the success rate is probably a lot better than hiring somebody who knows no one,” he says.
But a company can only go so far with good employees.
“Everybody talks about leadership – how do you get people to see your vision and do the things that are necessary to run the business?” says Purcell. “You’ve heard the statement, ‘Lead, follow or get out of the way.’ I believe that to be a great leader, you have to do all three things. At times you have to lead; at times you have to follow your people because they know much more than you do; and a lot of times, once you have done all those things, you’ve got to get out of the way. Let them do what you’ve asked them to do and what you’re requiring them to do – to do their best – and run with it.”