INTERVIEW
a video game. There’s a score-
card, up down, profit loss. But
in terms of meaningful contri-
butions ... after a couple of years
it becomes pretty boring. It’s
stressful, but it’s not interesting.”
He decided to enrol in busi-
ness school, at Carnegie Mellon
University, one of the best in the
US. “I already had all the maths
and bookkeeping, and got really
into the education. The second
year the course work starts, and
that’s when everyone tries to get
a job somewhere. Towards the
end of my second year, I realised
that I hadn’t signed up for any
interviews. Why would I spend
the time missing all the inter-
esting stuff by trying to get a job
somewhere when I didn’t know
what I wanted to do? I got a lot
more out of school than prob-
ably most people. I then had to
start my own business because
I didn’t have a job!”
Yo u ng credits his grandfather,
George, with having a major influence on
his life. He was on the board of the North-
western Mutual Life Insurance Company
in Wisconsin, and a senior partner in the
largest law firm in the US mid-west. “He
always was a rebel rouser, and once put on
the board meeting notes that he had a spe-
cial guest speaker from Peru. He brought
along one of his pet llamas to the board-
room. He always had fun. He never felt
he was above anyone. And he thought
part of life was having a laugh.”
Mad Mex employs about 800 people, and
in Young’s view they are each integral to
the company’s success. “The biggest thing
I have had to learn is how to work with
people, and to realise that everyone comes
from a different framework. As a hot-headed
Wall Street trader, it was the hardest thing
to realise that other people were not on
the same page. I had to bring them along
without destroying the culture. The biggest
challenge we had for the first six years
wastogettheframeworkonhowbestto
worktogether.Themostsuccesswehave
hadoverthepastthreeorfouryearsis to
implementa wholenewphilosophyonpeo-
pleandculture,leadership,coachingand
training.It’samazinghowmuchbetterit is
whenyougetthepeoplepieceright.”
HesaysthattheMadMexmodelis torespect its franchisees. While
Mad Mex was not mentioned in
the recent federal parliamentary
inquiry into franchising indus-
try conduct or any of the public
controversy beforehand, he
wants to apply the latest
best practice.
“Franchising had so many
bad actors that it deserves every
bit of bad publicity it gets. It’s
not great for selling a franchise
at the moment. People are less
confident than two years ago.
But we take the Mexican idea
of family, and say to our people
that we are in this together. We
are a team. We have had peo-
ple who have been incredibly
successful, and some who have
tried hard and done all the right
things and it hasn’t worked out.
But we have never used the hor-
rible behaviours that you see in
some franchise groups.
“There are issues we are
working on. If we sold our
business to somebody who didn’t have the
scruplesorthevaluesthatwehave,there’s
verylittleprotectionfortheexistingfran-
chisees.Thenewpeoplecouldactsimply
tomakethemselvesrich.Fundamentally,
thatis a problem.A goodbusinesscould
bebought,andthenwhois responsible
andwhatprotectionsarethere?I am
interestedtoseehowtheytrytoregulate
morality.It’sa trickyone.
“I amexploringhowI candocumentthe
principlesandvaluesofourbusinessso
that,if someonenewcamein,ourvalues
wouldbecomeinstitutionalised.There
shouldbea constitutiononhowtodeal
withcertainthings.Wehaveanopportuni-
tytoradicallychangewhatthefranchisee
getsto seeandunderstand,andwhatthe
franchisorunderstands,soit is a mutual
agreement.That’smuchbetterthanthe
currentsituation,wheretherearetwo
contractsandnoguidingprinciplesabout
howth e businessruns.”Fresh perspective ... Young says
each of his 800 employees is integral
to the success of the company.“The biggest thing I’ve
had to learn is how to
work with people ...
everyone comes from a
different framework”
PHILLIP CASTLETON