Whataburger sold to an investment firm in 2019 and started franchising, adding wings and coffee while expanding out of state. The speaker argues it abandoned what made it special: great burgers and service. Domino's succeeded by fixing its pizza instead.
Waterburger used to make the best hamburgers. It was basically the In-N-Out Burger of Texas, loved by everyone. But now you read online reviews and people say Waterburger's just not the same. People complain about the food quality and they say, well, Waterburger has lost their way. Well, what happened? In 2019, an investment firm bought Waterburger from the original family that owned it. Their solution was to franchise and expand the menu, going from a focus solely on great burgers and service to adding things like wings, coffee, and franchisees in other states. Compare that to the turnaround of Domino's Pizza, whose stock has since outperformed Google over the past 15 years. They went to their customers and said, "Look, our pizza sucks," and then they went and they made their pizza great. Heck, my snobby friends now even say that Domino's Pizza's good. The lesson? Businesses aren't running a spreadsheet. We can kid ourselves about what really makes a business work, but fixing a business requires us not to lose sight of what made us successful in the first place. For Whataburger, that was making great burgers with great service. Do you think Whataburger has lost it? Tell me in the replies.
