Their Story
In 1993, Ted & Angela Yang were looking for a way to make a little more money and have a little more free time for themselves. After researching many options, they decided to go with a Mrs. Fields franchise. And 16 years and 7 stores later, they haven’t looked back. We caught up with Ted to find out a few of his secrets to success.
Ted said there were many factors in deciding to open a Mrs. Fields store versus some other franchise opportunity. Considerations included the established international brand equity, having a store in the mall with built in traffic and security, and being a regular customer himself. And since his wife preferred Mrs. Fields, it was probably in Ted’s best interest.
When asked his favorite thing about owning a Mrs. Fields franchise, Ted was quick to say, “It is a perfect business for family. Its simple operations make our life simple and easy. [Our] favorite thing is that we can write our own schedule or have vacations without approval from anyone.”
Ted’s biggest surprise was how easy it is to be successful. “Its operation is so easy that I can own multiple stores without sacrificing standards.” Another way he’s been able to be more efficient in his franchise ownership, and therefore be profitable is by delegating responsibility to some of his trusted employees. “Delegation is an investment of my time. The investment pays off later since I free my time to perform higher-payoff activities.”
And of all the accomplishments he’s had, you may wonder what Ted considers to be his greatest victory. “My biggest success so far is that I was able to quit my full time job to be a Mrs. Fields and TCBY franchisee. I do not have my own concept. I do not have unlimited resources. What I do have is faith in the Mrs. Fields concept.”
Even during these tough economic times, companies can still be profitable. Although he’s constantly looking at minimizing costs and maximizing sales, Ted’s real secret is positivity. “No matter how bad the economy is, positive thinking and positive actions always makes it better.” Similarly, the thing from the 11 day training that’s stuck with Ted is the concept of GENI, which stands for “Good Enough Never Is". Never being satisfied with mediocrity is an essential attitude to find success.