Biography of Alan Stillman Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Biography of Alan Stillman - Essay Example The original intention of TGI Friday’s was to provide people with a neighbor friendly bar where they could grab a hamburger or French fries. Through Alan’s innovation, the joint started serving burgers on toasted English muffin in an effort to create an in-house atmosphere. The results were tremendous. Alan had underestimated the influence serving food would have. In an effort to lure ladies, the joint began giving out burgers for free during end month. The argument was that many girls pay could not sustain them over the whole month. The joint quickly grew in popularity prompting the hiring of security guards in only three months of operation. Increased hordes of customers meant a significant restructuring for the joint. The foods had to be changed to adjust to menus that were quick to prepare. The second TGI Friday’s location was in Tennessee. A lad from Memphis approached Alan with the intention of buying a franchise. At the moment, Alan understood little about franchises. The counterpart offered to help with the idea of a fifty/fifty ownership stance. With the success of the second outlet, more people partnered with Alan resulting in about six outlets, in the country. This was a rapid growth of the enterprise. Soon, interested parties who possessed more capital than Alan approached with an intention of setting up similar franchises in Dallas. The Dallas partner was Scoggin and Henrion. The Dallas premises was twice the size of the original TGI Friday’s and raked in an annual figure of $2,000,000. A shift in Stillman’s business took place in the year 1971. The economy was experiencing a downtrend. People from all sorts of places were chasing Alan around trying to buy the interest. A prospective customer offered one million dollars, which Alan took gladly.