Chick-fil-A Record Profits: $230 Million

Chick-fil-A, the family owned fast food chain based in Atlanta, Georgia, is still a financially sound business after nearly seven decades of operations, a recent report by a Privco, business and financial research agency focusing on leading privately-held companies.

S. Truett Cathy founded Chick-fil-A, and had since been the pride of Southern United States. Now with more than 1,700 restaurants in the United States alone, the restaurant continues to be a go-to diner encouraging customers to “Eat Mor Chickn” on a “differentiated” menu.

While similar to its counterpart chicken fast food chains, Chick-fil-A stands out with its signature chicken sandwiches, salads, additional entrees such as waffle fries, as well as side dishes. It had also proven itself to be a hit in the breakfast market, with its breakfast bundles boosting sales by about 3.6 per cent in 2013.

Chick-fil-A’s customer service is also a standout, training its people to be “swift and attentive”. The efforts apparently paid off because for two consecutive years, the chicken fast food bagged the “best drive-through in America”, a title bestowed by QSR, a quick-service restaurant magazine to deserving businesses in the country.

While basking in financial success, Chick-fil-A closes shop every Sunday. This practice demonstrates the restaurant’s Christian corporate culture, springing from the owner’s Baptist principle of “honoring God and of directing our attention to things that mattered more than our business.”

Chick-fil-A operates on a business model that is distinctly different from its competitor fast food chains. After 68 years of success as a family business, the Cathy family leases their locations to franchisees but still owns the majority of them.On an annual basis, Chick-fil-A invests over $1 million in service evaluation, conducting phone surveys and focus groups to uncover customer service issues, resolve them and make improvements.

PrivCo revealed that Chick-fil-A had its revenue soaring to a record $1.40 billion in 2013, and net profit of $230 million. Based on its August 2014 report, the giant 100% family owned restaurant also had $550M EBITDA, and an operating margin of 41.9%.As of 2013, the four members of the Cathy family have a whopping combined net worth of $5.1 billion, up from $4.5 billion in 2012.

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