July 20th is National Hot Dog Day. It’s a perfect time to consider this intriguing question asked by Paul Freedman in his book The Restaurants That Changed America while describing the impact of the fast-food industry on Howard Johnson’s: “Why did the hamburger triumph as opposed to the hot dog?”
He points out, “Frankfurters are also easy to eat in the car and historically they were the food item most closely identified with the United States in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century… it’s clear from the lack of mammoth national hot-dog chains that even now there is something about the frank that doesn’t lend itself to the industry.”
Why are hamburgers and not hot dogs the more popular/sustainable fast food business model? This is all the more interesting because hot dogs arrived on the scene well before hamburgers.
Search newspaper archives from the mid-nineteenth century and you’ll see plenty of Continue Reading “Why Are Hamburgers The Fast Food King Instead Of Hot Dogs?”
Why It’s Important You Exhibit Creative Tendencies
Thanough, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Many aspiring entrepreneurs feel the creative urge represents the most important trait for success. Many great ideas, though, never become viable businesses.
Take a look at some of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time.
Did Henry Ford invent the automobile? No. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot first produced a steam-powered automobile in 1769.
Did Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak invent the microcomputer in 1979 with the introduction of the Apple ][ computer? No. The French team headed by François Gernelle within a small company, Réalisations & Etudes Electroniqes (R2E), created what they called the “Micro-ordinateur” in 1973.
Did Ray Kroc invent the fast food hamburger joint? No. Most point to White Castle’s 1921 opening of its original location in Wichita, Kansas, as the first fast food hamburger franchise. Heck, Kroc didn’t even invent McDonald’s. He bought the restaurant from founders Dick and Mac McDonald after becoming the chain’s franchising agent in 1955.
What is the importance of creative behavior?
It’s not the ability to come up with an original idea that wins the day. It’s the ability to take Continue Reading “Why It’s Important You Exhibit Creative Tendencies”