Time magazine (June 16, 2008) has an interesting article about a fast food restaurant in Russia which, in the last 10 years, has grown to be the 4th largest fast food chain in the country and the only home-grown entry on the list. The chain is called Teremok and they’ve grown by focusing on blinis – the traditional Russian thin pancakes (think crepes). They serve them with everything from butter to smoked herring and caviar.
What captured my attention in the article was the founder’s, Mikhail Goncharov, approach to problem solving. The article states:
…All of it is learning by doing. “When I see a problem, ” Goncharov says, “we buy books on the topic, then we read, then we decide.”
Wow, how simple can you get and, by following this approach, Teremok has grown to $110 million in revenue (including a huge increase of $47 million over last year). So here’s the methodology – 1. Identify the problem –> 2. Search for solutions –> 3. Investigate the solution –> 4. Decide on a course of action and –> 5. Implement the solution.
With 400,000 books published last year and millions (billions?) of blog postings on every topic imaginable, you think that you might be able to find the answer to the problems you face in your business.
