Harvard Business Review spotlights Menchie’s business model in article on innovation

What do electric cars, iPhones, bicycle rentals, ketchup bottles, Snow White and Menchie’s have in common? They were all singled out by Harvard Business Review as examples of how a really great idea can transform a marketplace.

Harvard’s business publication pointed out that you don’t need an advanced degree or a stratospheric IQ to make a breakthrough in business. In a lot of questions, you just need to be creative, and be willing to ask “Why is it done this way?” and, “How can we be different?”

For Menchie’s, the “Aha!” moment came when founders Danna and Adam Caldwell questioned why frozen yogurt and ice cream stores forced customers to endure long waits to get a made-to-order dessert. Lines of customers would stack up as employees took several minutes to create each order. The employees were trying as hard as they could, but they couldn’t keep up, which meant that some customers would give up rather than suffer an interminable wait.

The Caldwell’s realized these bottlenecks created customer frustration and diminished their overall buying experience.

“Why not let guests serve themselves? Why not give guests control?”

So that’s what they did. What was the impact? Harvard Business Review said it best when they wrote, “Bye-bye, traditional yogurt retail.”