Why In-N-Out Isn't Coming to a City Near You

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Anyone who's ever been to In and Out knows to expect no matter where you are, the same consistent burger, smiling cashier, and long lines. Residents of Portland, Oregon were known to drive 4 hours each way to the nearest restaurant in Grant's Pass. And before there were any in Phoenix, locals supposedly flew to Ontario, California, had lunch and promptly flew back.

任何去过“I&O”的人都知道无论在哪里，都能品尝到一样稳定的汉堡、微笑的收银员以及长长的排队。俄勒冈州波特兰市的居民甚至会开车四小时去最近的格兰特帕斯餐厅。在凤凰城还没有餐厅之前，当地人据说会飞往加利福尼亚州安大略市用午餐后迅速返回。

And yet, despite seemingly unlimited demand, In and Out is one of the smallest major fast food chains in the world, with only 347 locations. There are over twice as many water burgers, almost four times as many five guys, and 40 times as many McDonalds, just in the US. Since it began in 1948, it's only opened an average of five restaurants a year, two less than Subway opened in a single day at its peak.

然而，尽管需求似乎无限，但 In and Out 是世界上最少的主要快餐连锁店之一，仅有347个位置。在美国，水牛城烤肉店的数量是 In and Out 的两倍以上，五个人的数量几乎是 In and Out 的四倍，麦当劳的数量是 In and Out 的40倍。自1948年成立以来，它每年只开业平均五家餐厅，比地铁公司巅峰时期一天开业少两家。

In other words, In and Out deliberately leaves money on the table, refusing to expand even where huge profits are guaranteed. Why? Profitable high-margin industries are often kind of boring. How do you make money selling toothbrushes? Uh, well, you sell them. Plastic handles with bristles on the end, as it turns out, don't cost very much to make, and therefore have healthy margins. Someone, of course, will try to turn them into a subscription, make them out of aluminum, ooh, and call it the youth brush, but most of us don't have a passion for consumer dental products. So the business model is simple. You hand me a couple of dollars, I'll give you a rod with some bristles.

换句话说，In and Out故意让钱留在桌子上，即使能保证获得巨大的利润也不愿扩张。为什么？有利可图的高利润行业往往很无聊。你怎么挣钱卖牙刷？嗯，你卖它们。事实证明，带有刷毛的塑料把手制作成本并不高，因此利润丰厚。当然，有人会尝试将它们变成订阅服务，用铝制成，哦，并称其为青少年牙刷，但大部分人对消费者牙科产品没有热情。因此，业务模式很简单。你递给我几美元，我会给你一根带有一些刷毛的棍子。

Things get interesting when companies have to get creative. When competition is high or consumer willingness to spend money low, they have to find some other way to make a profit. For restaurants, it's all about selling drinks. With printers, the money's really in the ink, and Costco's low prices? Those are offset by annual membership fees. Selling millions of french fries for a few cents each isn't a bad business for McDonald's, but it's found something even better. Real estate. While the company only owns and operates 15% of its restaurants and the rest are franchised, it owns almost all of their buildings and the land beneath them. Diseaseies pay about 8-15% of their revenue as rent to McDonald's, who makes money whether they're profitable or not, and that's on top of the normal franchise royalty. After going on a huge shopping spree during the 2008 recession, McDonald's now owns more than $30 billion worth of real estate. Not only is its business diversified, but much of that income is tax deductible. In other words, McDonald's is actually a more real estate investor than fast food franchise.

当企业需要变得富有创意时，事情变得有趣起来。当竞争激烈或消费者不愿意花钱时，它们必须找到其他赚钱方式。对于餐厅来说，一切都在于销售饮料。对于打印机来说，真正赚钱的是墨盒，而Costco的低价？这些被年度会员费抵销了。对于麦当劳，以几分钱的价格出售数百万薯条并不是一项糟糕的业务，但它已经找到了更好的业务。房地产。虽然该公司仅拥有并经营其餐厅的15％，其余部分都是特许经营的，但它几乎拥有他们所有的建筑物和地面。商家按照营业额的8-15％向麦当劳支付租金，无论他们是否盈利，麦当劳都会赚钱，这还不包括正常的特许经营权使用费。在经历了2008年的经济大萧条后，麦当劳进行了大规模的购物狂欢，现在拥有超过300亿美元价值的房地产。它的业务不仅多元化，而且其中大部分收入都可以减免税。换句话说，麦当劳实际上是一个房地产投资者，而不是一个快餐特许经营商。

Likewise, if you think of In-N-Out only as a burger chain, it doesn't make much sense. Why not open more locations? Why not change and perfect the recipes, or add new menu items? But if In-N-Out is really about serving a predictable, familiar experience more than the food itself, opening new locations and trying new things are huge risks. In-N-Out's secret ingredient, the thing it's really selling is consistency. The every location has the same familiar layout, drive-through lane and iconic crossed palm trees, a reference to the founder's favorite movie. Unlike other fast food restaurants, the interior is clean, well lit, and easy on the eyes. Most importantly, the menu is dead simple. Hamburger, cheeseburger, french fries, three flavors of shakes, and the two hamburger patty, two slices of cheese, double double. That's it.

同样地，如果你只把In-N-Out看作汉堡连锁店，那么这样就没有多大意义了。为什么不开更多的分店？为什么不改进和完善配方，或者添加新的菜单项呢？但如果In-N-Out真的是关于提供一种可预测的，熟悉的体验而不仅仅是食物本身，那么开设新的分店和尝试新事物将是巨大的风险。In-N-Out的秘密原料，真正推销的是一致性。每个店铺都有相同的熟悉布局、驶入车道和标志性的交叉棕榈树，这是对创始人最喜欢的电影的参考。与其他快餐店不同的是，内部环境清洁、光线明亮，给人舒适的感觉。最重要的是，菜单非常简单。汉堡、芝士汉堡、薯条、三种口味的奶昔和两个汉堡肉饼、两片芝士组成的双重汉堡。就是这些。

Drink, there's milk, hot cocoa, coffee, classic and diet coke, root beer, Dr. Pepper, 7-Up, lemonade, and iced tea. Even with a few secret variations, like grilled cheese, animal fries, and the Neapolitan milkshake, there's nowhere near the selection of, say, a Dairy Queen or McDonald's, which have about twice as many drinks alone as everything at In-N-Out. Its menu changes not seasonally or annually, but maybe once a generation. In 1958, bottled sodas became fountain drinks. Milkshakes were added in 75, Dr. Pepper 21 years later, lemonade in 2003, and hot chocolate 15 years after that. When a fourth beverage size was proposed, a fight reportedly broke out inside the company. And in 2018, it closed all 37 locations in Texas for a full 48 hours when it found buns that didn't meet its quality standards. The downside of this consistency is that it can't respond to changes in the industry. In 2015, McDonald's was able to turn around declining sales with its all-day breakfast. And caught off guard by Chipotle's success, many chains have tried capturing that market by introducing more healthy alternatives.

这里有牛奶、热可可、咖啡、经典和低热量可乐、根汁啤酒、Dr. Pepper、7-Up、柠檬水和冰茶可供选择。即使有一些秘密的变化，比如烤奶酪三明治、动物炸薯条和那不勒斯奶昔，但选择还远不及 Dairy Queen 或麦当劳多，它们仅饮料就有两倍于 In-N-Out 的选择。它的菜单没有季节性或年度性变化，可能代际性变化一次。1958年，瓶装汽水变成了龙头饮料。75年加入了奶昔，21年后加入了Dr. Pepper，2003年加入柠檬水，15年后加入热巧克力。当提出第四种饮料尺寸时，据报道公司内部发生了争斗。而在2018年，当它发现配方不符合质量标准的汉堡包时，它在德克萨斯州所有37个地点关门两天。这种一致性的缺点是它无法应对行业变化。2015年，麦当劳能够通过全天供应早餐扭转销售下滑的局面。而被 Chipotle 的成功迎头赶上，许多连锁店试图通过引入更多健康的选择来占领市场。

On the other hand, by keeping things simple, In-N-Out can carefully optimize every ingredient in its business formula. Inevitably, new items mean longer lines, confused employees, and added complexity. The McCafe Coffee, for example, required each store to buy a $15,000-20,000 espresso machine and train employees on how to use it.

另一方面，In-N-Out 通过保持简单，可以在其商业配方中仔细优化每个成分。不可避免的是，新商品意味着更长的队伍、困惑的员工和增加的复杂性。例如，McCafe Coffee 要求每个门店购买一台价值 15,000-20,000 美元的浓缩咖啡机，并对员工进行培训。

At In-N-Out, there are five levels of employees. Level 1, the janitor and counter handout. 2, for the drive-through. 3 and 4, who make french fries. 5, who's allowed to assemble burgers. In 6, the only person authorized to man the grill, which requires at least three to six months of training. Not only does this ensure well-trained cooks, but it also turns fast food into a proper, well-paid profession. Level 1 employees are generally paid more than minimum wage, and managers make an average of $160,000 a year, with some making well over a quarter of a million dollars overseeing a single location. It's not hard to see why they stay with the company for an average of 14 years.

在In-N-Out，员工分为五个级别。1级是清洁工和柜台员工。2级是汽车顾客专用通道的员工。3和4级是负责炸薯条的员工。5级员工有权组装汉堡。6级员工是烧烤的唯一授权人，需要接受至少3到6个月的培训。这不仅确保了受过良好培训的厨师，而且将快餐变成了一个体面、高薪的职业。1级员工的薪资通常高于最低工资标准，经理每年平均薪资为16万美元，有的人管理单个地点，年薪超过25万美元。很容易理解为什么他们平均工作14年以上。

Almost all current and ex In-N-Out employees say the same thing. It's a stressful, chaotic, and yet highly desirable job. Everyone, full and part-time receives 401K plans, dental and vision coverage, and paid vacation days. Even more impressive, it does all that despite having some of the lowest prices in the industry. A hamburger, fries, and milkshake cost just $6.85, about half the price of the same order at Shake Shack.

几乎所有现任和前任In-N-Out员工都会说同样的话。这是一份有压力、混乱但极为理想的工作。全职和兼职员工都享有401K计划、牙医和视力保险和带薪休假。更令人印象深刻的是，尽管价格是行业内最低的，但它还是能做到这一切。一个汉堡、薯条和奶昔只需要6.85美元，大约是在Shake Shack订购同样订单的一半价格。

Any other company would, without hesitation, export this formula of high-skilled employees, a simple menu, and consistent quality across the country. And then, when that worked, across the globe. The fact that it hasn't is more than anything else a reflection of its values, set 70 years ago in Baldwin Park, California, by husband and wife founders Esther and Harry Snyder. It was the first place ever to use a two-way speaker system, allowing drivers to place orders while in line. They would eventually open 18 more locations, but strictly only when they could afford to buy the property outright, never on a loan. Principaled, thoughtful founders like the Snyder's aren't all that hard to find, but rarely does the second generation inherit those same values. Only about a third of family businesses survive the second generation, and another 50% don't last until the third.

任何其他公司都会毫不犹豫地将这个高技能员工、简单菜单和始终如一的质量的配方输出到全国甚至全球。但这家公司没有这样做，这反映了其价值观，这些价值观由创始人艾斯特和哈里·斯奈德夫妇在70年前的加利福尼亚州鲍德温公园确立。这是第一个使用双向扬声器系统的地方，使得司机在排队时能够下单。他们最终开了18个分店，但严格遵循自己的原则：只有当他们有能力完全买下房地产时才会开设新分店，绝不使用贷款。像斯奈德夫妇这样有原则、深思熟虑的创始人并不难找到，但第二代很少继承相同的价值观。只有大约三分之一的家族企业能够在第二代中生存下来，另外50%在第三代之前就会倒闭。

In and out is one of the few chains that has stayed true to its beginnings, despite going through several traumatic changes. When Harry died in 1967, his son Rich took over, who then died in a plane crash in 93, after which his brother Guy replaced him, only to die six years later. Esther then returned to manage the company. Finally, in the riskiest move of all, after she died in 2006, presidency was given to someone outside the family, Mark Taylor, until Guy's daughter, Lindsey, reached the age of 30, when she inherited 50% of the business, and then almost full control in 2007 at age 35. In and out has seen six different leaders, been heavily pressured by outsiders to franchise the business, and watched the industry it helped create change dramatically. And yet today, 70 years later, any of its very first customers would feel right at home in any of its 300 locations.

“In-N-Out”是少数一直保持创始初衷的连锁餐厅之一，尽管经历过几次惊心动魄的变动。1967年Harry去世后，他的儿子Rich接手经营，但在1993年因飞行事故丧生。之后他的兄弟Guy接替他的位置，但仅六年后也去世了。Esther回来管理公司。最后，在最冒险的举动中，她在2006年去世后，公司的总裁职位被给予了家族外的人Mark Taylor，直到Guy的女儿Lindsey到达30岁，继承了公司50%的股份，并在2007年35岁时几乎完全掌控了公司。In-N-Out已经见证了6个不同的领导人，受到外来人员极大的压力来进行特许经营，并观察到它所帮助创建的零售业发生了巨大的变化。然而，时至今日，任何一位最早的顾客都可以在它的300个分店中感到宾至如归。

Its current president is the highest rated female CEO in the US by employees, and while the company continues growing, entering Texas in 2011, Oregon in 2015, and soon Colorado, it does so very carefully. Lindsey, still in her 30s, doesn't expect to expand east of Texas in her lifetime, and never in every US state. With so few locations, every grand opening is a major event, with free organic marketing and much fanfare. Lines are so long that the company hires off-duty police officers to manage traffic, and flies in all-star employees, experienced workers who manage the chaos in long, 10-hour shifts.

目前公司的总裁是美国员工评价最高的女性CEO，公司继续发展壮大，2011年进入得克萨斯州，2015年进入俄勒冈州，很快还会进军科罗拉多州，但都要非常谨慎。尽管林赛还年轻，但她不指望在有生之年将公司拓展至得克萨斯州东部以外，更加不可能扩展至美国的所有州。由于分店数量极少，每次开业都是一次盛大的活动，会得到免费有机营销和热闹的欢呼声。队伍排的如此长，以至于公司还雇用了警察管理交通，同时派遣经验丰富、能够在长时间的、10小时候班下“管理混乱”的优秀员工。

The biggest bottleneck is distribution. Buns are baked daily, milkshakes 100% dairy, and there are no freezers or microwaves. That means ingredients have to be prepared at distribution centers, currently in Baldwin Park, Lathrop, California, Dallas, Phoenix, Draper, Utah, and Colorado Springs. From there, they need to be delivered within a single day's drive to each of their stores, which limits new locations to roughly 500 mile radius from each distribution center.

最大的瓶颈在于配送。汉堡饼每天都要烤制，奶昔使用100％真正的牛奶，餐厅里没有冰箱或微波炉。这意味着原材料必须在配送中心进行准备，目前在加州的鲍德温公园、拉索普、达拉斯、菲尼克斯、犹他德雷珀和科罗拉多斯普林斯。从那里，它们需要在一天内到达其每个商店的单日行驶距离之内，这限制了新的位置到每个配送中心半径约500英里的范围内。

Whether you're a fan of Shake Shack, Whataburger, Five Guys, or McDonald's, you have to admit there's something special about In-N-Out. While McDonald's will always make more money, serve more customers, and be more widely known, In-N-Out has arguably done something even harder. Keep a legacy alive while staying true to its original ideals over 70 years and through six generations of leadership. The lesson is, whether in business, life, or learning, the hardest part is often just keeping a good thing going.

无论你是喜欢Shake Shack、Whataburger、Five Guys还是麦当劳的粉丝，你都不得不承认In-N-Out有其独特之处。虽然麦当劳总能赚更多的钱、服务更多的客户、更广泛地为人所知，但In-N-Out无疑做到了更难的一件事情。在70多年和六代领导人的历史中，保持传统理念的传承。其教训是，无论在商业、生活还是学习中，最困难的部分通常只是保持一件好事物的持续发展。

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