Why Chick-fil-A Crushes McDonald’s (And What You Can Steal)

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You can say a lot of things about fast food. It’s cheap, fast, and everywhere.

But here’s a stat that should stop you:

Chick-fil-A makes more per store than McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Subway—combined.

Here’s the math:

• Chick-fil-A: ~$8.5 million per store, per year

• McDonald’s: ~$3 million per store, per year

• Starbucks: ~$945,000

• Subway: ~$420,000

• And Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.

So, how does a chicken place that takes one day off a week beat the most famous burger brand on earth?

Let’s break it down and more importantly, let’s talk about how you can steal their playbook.

1. The Owner Model

McDonald’s has thousands of franchisees. Some own 5, 10, even 20 stores.

Chick-fil-A keeps it tight. One owner, one store. That owner is in the business. They’re not sitting back collecting checks. They’re on-site, hiring, managing, checking bathrooms, and running team meetings.

It’s ownership with skin in the game.

McDonald’s franchisees can spend over $1 million just to open a location. Chick-fil-A operators pay $10,000. But they don’t own the store—they run it. Chick-fil-A owns the real estate and the brand. Operators just run a tight ship and earn a cut of the profits (often in the high six figures).

If you’re an owner reading this, ask yourself:

You don’t need to run every call or ship every order. But if the numbers aren’t where you want them, you might be sitting too far away from the work.

2. Simplicity Wins

McDonald’s has dozens of menu items. Wraps, salads, shakes, burgers, fish sandwiches, breakfast burritos, espresso drinks, and more.

Chick-fil-A sticks to what works:

• Chicken sandwich

• Nuggets

• Fries

• Lemonade

• Maybe a seasonal shake

It’s boring, but it works.

Simplicity drives:

• Faster service

• Easier training

• Lower mistakes

• Higher throughput

More focus = more margin.

Most owners are too spread out. Too many offers. Too many types of clients. Too many “maybe we could try…” ideas.

Cut the menu. Double down on the stuff that sells.

3. People First, Profit Follows

Chick-fil-A is obsessive about who they hire. They want “the nicest people you’ve ever met.”

Sound fluffy?

Here’s what happens when you only hire high-trust, hard-working people:

• Lower turnover

• Fewer missed shifts

• Better customer reviews

• Fewer manager headaches

• More repeat business

Hiring nice people isn’t just a feel-good move. It’s a compounding business advantage.

McDonald’s has more hiring volume and looser filters. More churn. More issues. More “we’re short-staffed today” signs.

Don’t hire for skill. Hire for standards. You can train the rest.

4. Clear Values That Actually Guide Behavior

Chick-fil-A’s values aren’t printed in a handbook nobody reads.

Their standards show up everywhere:

• “My pleasure” isn’t just a phrase—it’s a mindset.

• They wipe tables when no one’s looking.

• They sprint to fix a mistake.

• They smile at kids and help carry trays.

You walk into one and feel the difference.

Their culture isn’t an accident. It’s taught, modeled, and enforced daily.

If your team is unclear on how to treat people, serve clients, or respond to problems, it’s not on them. It’s on you.

Set the standard. Repeat it. Reward it. Model it.

5. Serve Fewer, Better

Chick-fil-A isn’t trying to be on every corner.

They focus on high-performing stores with high-performing leaders.

McDonald’s has over 40,000 stores. Chick-fil-A has under 4,000.
But Chick-fil-A’s per-store revenue is almost 3x higher.

This is the key point:

More offers, more products, more channels, more clients—that’s not always growth. Sometimes it’s bloat.

A business grows best when each rep, store, client, or product line performs better. Not when you pile on more and more.

6. Train Like It Matters

McDonald’s has training. But Chick-fil-A treats training like a competitive edge.

They don’t just teach you where the mop is.

They run mock drive-thrus. They test how fast and accurate you are. They teach scripts, handoffs, smiles, posture, greetings.

Why? Because every second counts. Every mistake costs.

That kind of repetition isn’t just for fast food. It’s for business.

Your team can do better. But they won’t guess their way there.

If someone isn’t performing, it’s probably not a motivation issue. It’s a clarity issue.

7. Work From a Playbook

Everything Chick-fil-A does comes from a playbook:

• How to greet a customer

• What to say when there’s a delay

• How to keep the bathroom spotless

• When to check the drive-thru line

• How to restock without slowing service

They don’t wing it.

This is what owners miss. They build the business, but don’t document the system. So every team member is forced to figure things out from scratch.

That creates stress, mistakes, and slow growth.

Build the playbook. Train the playbook. Improve the playbook.

8. Small Decisions Stack

A lot of Chick-fil-A’s edge comes from little things:

• Two people at the drive-thru line instead of one

• Multiple lanes during busy times

• Tight uniforms, clean counters

• App-based reordering

• Getting your name and remembering it

None of those on their own make the business. But stacked together? They make the brand.

You don’t need one magic tactic. You need a dozen little ones that add up.

Find 3 things to improve this week. Then do it again next week.

What You Can Copy Right Now

You’re probably not in fast food. Doesn’t matter.

The Chick-fil-A model works in any business:

• Service business? Your reps are your drive-thru.

• Agency? Your project managers are your cashiers.

• SaaS? Your support team is your bathroom cleanliness.

It all matters.

Here’s how to apply this today:

1. Pick your highest-performing offer.
   Put more attention there. Trim the rest.

2. Simplify your sales process.
   Cut out steps, choices, and confusion.

3. Build your playbook.
   If you got hit by a bus, could the business still run?

4. Make hiring a filter, not a favor.
   Don’t rush it. Don’t settle.

5. Improve one process a week.
   Small tweaks lead to big wins.

One Last Thing

People think growth means adding more.

More clients. More features. More reach.

But the best businesses? They subtract.

They say no. They do less. They go deeper.

That’s how a chicken sandwich shop, closed on Sundays, beats the biggest burger brand in the world.

Want help building a business that runs this tight?

Book a free clarity call and let’s map it out.

Keep crushing it,

Ryan