Over thirty years ago, Gerry Shreiber (above) took bankrupt soft pretzel company J&J Snack Foods and created the now famous SuperPretzel brand. J&J was recently ranked by Forbes for the fifth consecutive time as one of the 200 Best Bmall Companies, and presently sees sales of over $600 million.

superpretzel’s success story

1. In 1971, Gerry Shreiber purchased J&J Snack Foods, a soft pretzel company, for $72,100. At this time, the company’s sales were less than $400,000.

2. In 1972, J&J automated its pretzel assembly line, which did everything from extruding the dough to baking and flash freezing it. This allowed them to supply pretzels that could be reheated later on.
3. To increase marketability, Gerry gave his pretzels the name “SuperPretzel” in 1973 (inspired by Superman). With some creativity, he successfully pitched his pretzels to baseball stadiums, who at that time offered a limited menu.
4. In 1974, Gerry conceived a special enclosed rotating tree from which to hang his pretzels (it’s now a familiar site at movie theaters and stadiums). J&J’s sales broke $2 million for the first time in 1975.
5. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, J&J acquired a number of now-familiar brands, including Churro, Funnel Cake and ICEE. Sales crossed the $100 million mark in 1991 after two decades in operation.
6. J&J reached $200 million in sales in 1997, and $300 million by 2001. They presently have 2,300 employees and makes over $600 million a year.

did you know…

1. … Shreiber purchased J&J at a bankruptcy auction? It consisted of eight employees and had old baking equipment.
2. … Shreiber’s fully automated line is critical to J&J’s success? Shreiber’s engineer initially said “Gerry, you’re dreaming.” The line now makes 2 million pretzels a day.
3. … J&J controls 80% of the soft pretzel market? It also makes frozen beverages, Churros, Funnel Cakes, donuts and cookies.
4. … J&J’s stable of brands include ICEE and Hi-C? It has acquired over 30 companies and has had an amazing 144 consecutive quarters of growth.
5. … Gerry has amassed over $100 million in personal wealth? He regularly donates to animal causes and has a New Jersey farm with horses, goats, dogs and cats.

superpretzel videos

related links

• SuperPretzel
• SuperPretzel: How I Made My Millions (CNBC.com)/a>

1. In 1991, Reed Hastings founded Pure Software, which wrote a debugging tool for engineers. He was eventually joined by Marc Randolph as Vice President of Marketing. Shortly thereafter, the company was acquired for $750 million and renamed Pure Atria.
2. After the merger, Reed left Pure Atria and founded Netflix in 1997 along with Marc. Reed came up with idea after running up a $40 late fee due to a misplaced copy of Apollo 13; he decided to offer online rentals and abolish late fees.
3. In 1998, the pair launched the Netflix website with a single-rental model. On its first day, the website received 500 orders. Within 30 days, Netflix was seeing 1,000 orders per day.
4. Netflix introduced its current subscription model in 1999. By 2000, they had dropped the single-rental model entirely. Most plans now offer unlimited rentals, no late fees and no shipping charges.
5. Netflix went public in May 2002 with an IPO of 5.5 million shares at $15.00/share. By 2003, it posted its first profit in 2003 of $6.5 million–nearly 5 years after launching.
6. Competition from Blockbuster and the inevitable transition from disc to digital delivery are challenges for the company, but with approximately 8.2 million subscribers as of 2008—a 21% increase over 2007—and revenues in excess of $1.2 billion, Netflix continues to be a viable player in the online retail space.

did you know…

1. … the average customer rents 5-7 movies a month? Netflix also has an online queue system; most customers have 20-25 movies on this list. Once a customer returns a movie, the next item in the queue is automatically mailed out.
2. … the company has about 39 warehouses throughout the country? This allows most customers to get a movie in two days. On average, about 1.6 million out of Netflix’s total inventory of 55 million DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs are rented on any given day.
3. … Netflix’s early success didn’t involve normal advertising channels? Their first customers were the result of personal connections with early DVD adopters in Usenet groups.
4. … Netflix uses Cinematch, proprietary recommendation software? The system monitors viewing habits, reviews and inventory to make viewing recommendations to its customers.
5. … Blockbuster, Netflix’s chief competitor, launched its own online subscription service in 2004? It is about 1/3 the size of Netflix in terms of subscribers.
6. … Netflix invests heavily in its employees? Like its unlimited rental model, its salaried employees have unlimited vacation days. Even underperforming workers are given generous severance packages to ensure the company only has the best and brightest.

netflix videos

related links

• Netflix

1. Brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino in 1940, which was barbecue-themed. By 1948, the restaurant changed its focus to hamburgers, french fries and milkshakes; the burgers were half the price of competing diners.
2. In 1954, milkshake mixer salesman Ray Kroc met the McDonald brothers on a sales trip. Impressed by the efficiency of the operation, Ray convinced the brothers to allow him to sell McDonald’s franchises for $950 each, with a cut of 0.5% of sales for Ray. He opened his first franchise in 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois.
3. McDonald’s began its true financial turnaround in 1956 with Harry Sonneborn, who started their real estate arm, Franchise Realty Corporation. FRC purchased store sites and then leased them back to franchisees at a 20%-40% markup; this mechanism became the primary moneymaker for the McDonald’s Corporation.
4. Continuing problems with the McDonald brothers prompted Kroc to to purchase the entire business and brand in 1961 for $2.7 million. He financed this with a loan from a New York money manager.
5. In 1963, McDonald’s began marketing to families and children with the introduction of Ronald McDonald, played by Willard Scott (who previously played Bozo The Clown). Other familiar McDonald menu items such as the Filet-O-Fish, the Big Mac, Egg McMuffin, Quarter Pounder and Happy Meal were introduced in the 60s and 70s.
6. McDonald’s opened its first international location in Canada in 1967; this was followed by the first locations in Latin America, Asia, Australia and Europe in the early 1970s. By 1972, McDonald’s totaled over $1 billion in sales and had over 2200 restaurants. The 3000th restaurant opened a short time later in 1974.
7. McDonald’s now serves more than 54 million customers in 120 countries each day, with over 31,000 restaurants worldwide. With $22.8 billion in revenues in 2008, the fast food company remains a force to be reckoned with.

did you know…

1. … the busiest McDonald’s is located in Pushkin Square, Moscow? It serves over 40,000 people a day.
2. … McDonald’s saw its first quarterly loss in 2002? This spurred the company to make a strategic shift away from adding new locations and buying real estate. Instead, a focus on higher quality foods, healthier options and longer operating hours helped to reverse losses.
3. … some menu items were created due to dietary limitations? The Filet-o-Fish was invented to satisfy Catholic diners on Fridays, while the all-lamb Maharaja Mac was created for McDonald’s restaurants in India.
4. … Ray Kroc mortgaged his home and invested his life savings to become a milkshake mixer salesman? Part of his reason for opening new McDonald’s franchises was to sell more Multimixers to the McDonald brothers, who would run eight of the mixers simultaneously in their restaurant.
5. … Ray Kroc’s purchase of the entire McDonald’s business from the McDonald brothers strained their relationship? The brothers retained ownership of the original location, which was renamed “The Big M”. Ray opened up a competing McDonald’s one block north of it, and eventually drove the original restaurant out of business.
6. … Ray Kroc was obsessed about cleanliness? His motto was, “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean,” and he required that everything from the kitchen floors and uniforms to the parking lots be immaculate.

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related links

• McDonald’s

After dropping out of college, Jim Cavanaugh founded Jani-King in 1969 with a $3,000 loan from a school friend. Nearly 40 years later, his commercial cleaning business has over 12,500 franchises in 19 countries and was ranked by Entrepreneur as the #1 Homebased Business for 2007.

jani-king’s success story

1. While studying business as the University of Oklahoma in 1969, Jim Cavanaugh also worked at a Holiday Inn as a night auditor. Jim eventually befriended a husband and wife who would come in nightly to clean the common areas of the hotel. From this couple, Jim saw the big potential in the commercial cleaning industry and began working on ideas to franchise it.
2. Despite the protests of his friends and even the husband and wife team who cleaned the Holiday Inn, Jim borrowed $3,000 from a friend and established Jani-King. He decided not to begin franchising immediately, opting instead to learn about the cleaning business for the next 5 years.
3. In 1974, Cavanaugh placed an ad an Oklahoma City newspaper offering a Jani-King franchise for $2,500 plus a small royalty. In return, Jim would find clients and provide cleaning equipment and supplies. Within 3 months, Jani-King had signed up five franchises.
4. By the end of the 1970s, Jani-King relocated to Dallas, TX and had expanded to Tulsa and Fort Worth. This was followed by a slew of new locations in the 80s, as well as expansion into international markets by the 1990s.
5. Today, Jani-King has over 12,500 franchises in 19 countries, held together by a network of 120 regional offices. The commercial cleaning industry will likely reach $117 billion in revenues by 2009, of which Jani-King no doubt earns a considerable share.

did you know …

1. … Jani-King owner Jim Cavanaugh never finished college? He made several attempts at the University of Oklahoma, but was so driven to be an entrepreneur that he finally gave up and started Jani-King instead.
2. … Jim made many mistakes in his early days? He limited the number of franchises in Oklahoma City to five, which became a problem when Jim had more contracts and clients than his franchisees were willing to take on. Jim also charged too little in royalties and fees, leaving him broke and evicted from his apartment.
3. … one franchisee, Martha Llama started off as a cleaning lady making $5.50 an hour? She now owns her own Jani-King franchise, employs 60 people and grosses over $1 million a year.
4. … Jani-King was rated as the #1 Homebased Franchise in 2007 by Entrepreneur? It was also ranked #2 among low-investment franchises, with a fee between $8,000 and $16,000. Franchisees have the option to work part-time or full-time, and are supplied with clients by Jani-King.
5. … Jani-King is an avid supporter of sports? They’re the official cleaning company of the PGA and Champions Tours, and are also involved with NASCAR and USAR Pro Cup auto racing.

related links

• Jani-King International

Despite the failure of a previous business, bankruptcy and divorce, Gary Heavin went on to found Curves, a women-only gym with a low overhead mantra. Curves International makes over $2 billion annually, and has over 10,000 locations and 4 million members.

curves’ success story

1. At age 20, pre-med student Gary Heavin took over a failing conventional gym in Houston. Within five years he opened up six more gyms; in ten years he had seventeen, but his business soon went under as he expanded too quickly and was forced to declare bankruptcy.
2. In 1992, Heavin made a second attempt and opened up Curves for Women, a fitness center in Harlingen, TX. Learning from his past mistakes, Heavin’s business model stressed low-overhead costs. He restricted machines to a simple fitness circuit, reduced the hours of operation and made it available to women only.
3. Curves sold 100 memberships in its first week of operations, easily recouping Heavin’s initial $10,000 investment. Encouraged by success, Heavin and his second wife Diane opened their second location in 1994, and were making approximately $250,000 a year.
4. In 1995, Heavin decided to offer Curves franchising; by 1996 there were 44 gyms, and by 1997 there were 247. Franchises nearly doubled every year thereafter, and by 2004 there were over 8,000 locations.
5. Today, Curves International has over 10,000 locations and can be found in 60 countries. The company grossed $2.63 billion in 2004 with 160 employees and 4 million members.

did you know…

1. … it only took Curves seven years to open up 6,000 franchise locations, compared to the 25 years it took McDonald’s and Subways? There are 1.5 Curves for every McDonald’s in America; it’s also the 6th largest franchise in the US.
2. … Curves centers are much smaller and intimate than conventional gyms? Each location occupies approximately 1,200 square feet with 10 to 12 machines; compare this to regular gyms which are 50,000 square feet in size. Curves members follow a 30-minute workout, and rotate machines based on a soundtrack.
3. … Heavin actually served a short time in jail? After his first fitness business failed, he went through a divorce and was subsequently unable to pay for child support.
4. … Curves was partially inspired by Gary Heavin’s mother, who died when he was only 13? She was overweight and suffered from high blood pressure. The target audience for Curves is older, female and overweight.
5. … according to a formula developed by the company, a town of 10,000 can sustain 400 Curves members? This is coincidentally the size of an average Curves club.
6. … the fee for a Curves franchise is relatively low? A franchise starts at $29,900 + 5% gross (capped at $795/month), while the equipment costs $3,000-$5,000. The US market is fairly saturated, but interested parties can also purchase existing locations for an average of $120,000.

curves videos

related links

• Curves International

Although it started off as a hobby, Matt Daimler and his wife’s SeatGuru.com is now one of the web’s most popular travel websites. The site helps travelers find the best airline seats from over 40 carriers and 275 airplanes.

seatguru’s success story

1. In 2001, 25 year-old networking engineer Matt Daimler was on an international flight. He noticed a passenger who had enough legroom to use his bag as a leg rest. Matt realized that some seats were better than others, and resolved to make a website to show the best and worst airline seats.
2. Matt launched SeatGuru.com in October 2001 with a single, color-coded seating chart of a United Airlines 757-200. A few months later he was unemployed and decided to focus on developing the site.
3. By summer 2002, SeatGuru had charts for the six largest US airlines. This was thanks to Matt’s research as well as submissions from other fliers and the community at Flyertalk.com.
4. SeatGuru got its big break in October 2002 when his site was featured in the Wall Street Journal; it was at the time seeing at most 200 visitors per day. Matt added text link ads in 2003 and this allowed him to make a few hundred dollars but as he was now employed, SeatGuru remained a hobby for him.
5. In the summer of 2003, he signed up for Google Adsense which allowed him to place targeted ads; Matt was very surprised to make over $100 in his first day.
6. One year later, his wife quit her job in April 2004 to run the site; she managed to double the site’s business in two years. By 2006, SeatGuru.com was making $10k-$20k per month and featured 40 airlines and 275 airplanes.
7. In March 2007, SeatGuru was acquired by Expedia subsidiary TripAdvisor.com for an undisclosed sum, believed to be in the six figures. Matt and his wife now work as consultants for Expedia.

did you know…

1. … the site served over 800,000 visitors in January 2008, and was viewed nearly 6 million times in that month alone? Most visitors are from the US, and are evenly divided between leisure and business travelers.
2. … SeatGuru has a database of nearly 20,000 reviews? Visitors can comment on any aspect of the flight experience from the comfort to in-flight amenities such as Audio, Video, AC Power and Food.

seatguru videos

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• SeatGuru

1. Shelly Hwang, a USC graduate now in her mid-30s, ran two unsuccessful franchises before opening Pinkberry. She partnered with Young Lee, a South Korean bouncer turned architect and tried to open a teahouse in West Hollywood in a 600 sq. ft. former tattoo parlor.
2. Due to uncooperative neighbors and the denial of their liquor license, Hwang and Lee gave up on the teahouse and decided instead to convert the location to a frozen yogurt (fro-yo) shop.
3. Pinkberry opened in January 2005 and only sold $70 their first month, but within four months they were turning a profit. Their first major break came in August 2005 when they were mentioned by Daily Candy.
4. The popularity brought with it problems: parking problems and trash, due to the long lines of customers willing to wait 20 minutes or more for the yogurt. In one month customers racked up $175,000 in parking tickets; their first location currently averages 1,300 to 1,600 customers per day.
5. There are now 50 Pinkberry locations, most of them in New York and California but plans for expansion to London, Las Vegas, Seattle and San Diego. They recently received a $27.5 million investment from Maveron, a venture capital firm founded by Starbucks’ Howard Schultz and former investment banker Dan Levitan.

did you know…

1. … Pinkberry’s appeal is minimalist and healthy? Customers choose between fat-free plain or green-tea yogurt and toppings that include fresh fruit, granola and cereal. Orders range from $5-$10.
2. … part of Pinkberry’s success is the store itself? It’s painted in bright colors and filled with modern decor from Philippe Starck and Le Klint. So addictive is the experience that regulars sometimes call it “Crackberry”.
3. … many of Pinkberry’s customers are celebrities? Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen Degeneres, David Duchovny, Kirsten Dunst, Salma Hayek and Paris Hilton are all fans, but their clientele includes everything from teenagers to affluent families.
4. … Pinkberry success has seen a slew of competitors? They include Kiwiberri, Snowberry, Roseberry and Berri Good. Their stiffest competition is from Dan Kim’s Red Mango, who already owns 130 locations in South Korea and over 30 in the US.

pinkberry videos

related links

• Pinkberry

With $2,000 and a small, 600 square foot apartment, Adrian Salamunovic and Nazim Ahmed now make over $1 million a year selling highly personalized DNA, fingerprint and lip-print artwork.

dna 11’s success story

1. Over a glass of wine, web consultant Adrian Salamunovic came across a DNA imaging brochure that his friend, molecular geneticist Nazim Ahmed, had brought with him. Adrian felt the DNA images were a piece of art, and asked Nazim to image his own genetic code.
2. Several weeks later, Adrian’s DNA art was ready and he promptly hung it on his wall; surprisingly, all of his friends wanted one too. Seeing a good business opportunity, the two friends partnered together with only $2,000 and started DNA 11 in Nazim’s small 600 square foot apartment.
3. A year after starting operations, DNA 11 made over $1 million in sales and continues to grow. Their company has been seen on The Today Show, HGTV, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal, and was even featured in an episode of CSI:NY.
4. DNA 11 now also offers customized Fingerprint and KISS portraits. With partnerships with MOMA and numerous art galleries, design stores and contemporary furniture stores, DNA 11’s future looks bright.

did you know…

1. … All production is kept in-house? DNA 11 now has 10 employees and a 3,000 square foot studio that handles printing. They only outsource DNA imaging to a secure, multi-million dollar laboratory.
2. … DNA samples are regularly destroyed for customer privacy? Even the final artwork does not present any genetic information that could be used to uniquely identify the customer.
3. … DNA 11 regularly gives back to charities? These include the MAC AIDS Fund, The Humane Society and Lance Armstrong Foundation.

dna 11 videos

related links

• DNA 11

An opera singer, Genevieve Thiers is also the founder of Sittercity.com, a babysitting website. Currently 29 years old, Genevieve started with just $120 but now makes $3-$5 million per year.

sittercity.com’s success story

1. As a senior majoring in English and Music at Boston College, Genevieve Thiers baby sat for more than 30 families. One day she saw a pregnant woman posting fliers on campus for baby sitters, and offered to help. She realized that a website could help to bring sitters and parents together.
2. In May of 2000, she borrowed $120 from her father and purchased Sittercity.com. She then printed 20,000 fliers and posted them to campuses around the Boston area. Her future husband, Dan Ratner, was an early investor who helped her fold brochures and now serves as Vice President.
3. By August of 2001 they had 600 baby sitters; Sittercity.com was officially launched on September 1st. The first user registered that same afternoon; within six months, they had spread to Cleveland and New York City with primarily word-of-mouth advertising.
4. One year later, Sittercity.com moved to Chicago and by summer 2004 had expanded into a downtown office and hired her first two full-time employees. Genevieve also earned a Master’s degree in Opera and founded OperaModa, an opera company.
5. Sittercity.com currently has 22 employees and revenues between $3-$5 million per year. The site has over half a million users as well as 150,000 baby sitters, nannies and pet sitters.

sittercity.com videos

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• Sittercity.com