Who's Driving
Who's Driving with Wesley Turner & Steven Merck is all about the entertaining stories we share and brainstorming topics we discuss as two best friends would on a long road trip. Come along for the ride as we check in with friends & offer a wide range of informative topics centered around running small businesses, social media, and all things Home and Garden.
Who's Driving
Who's Driving- We're A Hot Mess S3E26
Wesley and Steven reconnect after 24 days apart to discuss recent business trips and cultural observations. Their candid conversation covers everything from mysterious car WiFi systems to McDonald's price-cutting strategy and the trending LaBooBoo collectibles. Oh! All with no internet and faulty equipment.
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We're here, take four. I think this is take five. Yeah, we're having. We're in the um uh hoopty, we're in the ditch. We're in the damn ditch. The random driver is falling off the road, but it's time for another episode of who's Driving. Welcome to who's Driving. I'm Wesley Turner.
Speaker 2:And I'm Stephen Merck. We're two best friends and entrepreneurs.
Speaker 1:Who's Driving is an entertaining look into the behind the scenes of our lives, friendship and business.
Speaker 2:These are the stories we share and topics we discuss, as two best friends would on a long road trip.
Speaker 1:Along the way, we'll check in with friends and offer a wide range of informative topics centered around running small businesses, social media and all things home and garden.
Speaker 2:Buckle up and enjoy the ride. You never know who's driving, or?
Speaker 1:where we're headed. All we know is it's always a fun ride. So let's try this. Start again. It's either our fourth or fifth time. We have no internet. The microphones aren't working, the camera keeps cutting off. We don't know why.
Speaker 2:We are so soft as a society now cutting off? We don't know why. We are so soft as a society now. I mean no internet, no Wi-Fi, and we are just falling apart.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean all of the stuff that works, I know. I'm just saying I hope it comes back on tonight because when I'm editing this, laying in bed at 2 am and trying to upload it, well I have a crazy question.
Speaker 2:You can make fun of me. Yeah, you're so good at it. How does my car have Wi-Fi?
Speaker 1:I don't know, does your car have Wi-Fi? Mm-hmm, do you pay a bill? Mm-mm, a bill?
Speaker 2:A bail. I don't pay a bail. No, it has Wi-Fi.
Speaker 1:I mean, I know certain cars do, but I figured it was like a cellular service and Dylan didn't know either.
Speaker 2:And Dylan's like really smart with this stuff. He's like what is it?
Speaker 1:I was like this car has Wi-Fi, can you tap into it like a hotspot? It connects to my phone, but I know, but is it just using your phone's Wi-Fi?
Speaker 2:Like is it pulling the Wi-Fi from your phone to run your car?
Speaker 1:I don't know that, but it has like it shows up on Wi-Fi. Oh as this. Yeah, it's like LLR, something Like Lane Rover. I don't know. I'm like, where does this come?
Speaker 1:from it's like LLR, something Like Lane Rover, something I don't know. I don't know. I'm like where does this come from? I know, well, I know some cars have that, but I always thought they were like you know how your iPad can have its own cellular service? I mean, I don't pay anything. I thought maybe it was like that. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. I mean, I may be paying, you're probably paying and you just don't know.
Speaker 1:Back to our story that we've now told three or four times. I don't even want to hear it anymore. So Stephen and I didn't see each other for 24 days until like today's Monday. Last night we saw each other for a live sale at the warehouse. I was on vacation, then you were in Hawaii and then you—I'm glad you scheduled it. This is the part where it turns off every time, because you had scheduled before you went to Hawaii that when you got back on Tuesday, did you go on Monday or Tuesday? Tuesday, tuesday morning you would get up and go to the Atlanta market to do live sales. And I didn't realize you scheduled that was like a long. You did a Tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, I thought you know sometimes you'll schedule them. He has loved doing these market lives. I love them. He just loves them.
Speaker 2:It's my favorite thing, in fact. In fact, I'm seriously contemplating buying a condo. Yeah, just because it would work for us it would work.
Speaker 1:And it's funny that you found your little like. I've always been the Instagram live sale person and really like the Instagram promoting products for our business. But you and Dylan have taken on this little niche Niche, it's fun, niche, it's fun Live sale, like going to Atlanta and y'all do the jewelry and bags and whatever. Yeah, jewelry and bags and whatever. But normally he will just say to me hey, dylan and I are scheduled to go to Atlanta next week or this week. We'll be there for a couple of days. I'm like, okay, that's good, I get to do work at the warehouse. I might do a lot. I was doing fall decorating, but it kept going last week four days. I was like you really set yourself up.
Speaker 2:Well, I had it planned out and see, I have this disease and it's called. I think I'm 28, but I'm actually 52. Right, and this disease, just it, rears its ugly head often these days. So that came into play. But I was so jet lagged. I don't think I have ever felt so bad in my— I don't think I have ever felt that bad of a jet lag, no matter— it's the worst I've ever felt.
Speaker 1:Well, you had to fly like completely overnight on a red eye 17 hours, which is uncomfortable and it was long. And then it was like you got back but you said you're glad you scheduled Atlanta because it made you.
Speaker 2:Okay. Monday I was like whoa? I was like this is bad. I was like I might be calling the Marriott saying, hello, I ain't coming. And I was like, no, I need, I had stuff scheduled so I don't mess with the live sale people. Yeah, I will mess with him. I will mess with Marriott Daniel, I don't care, dylan, I don't care about anything, but I'm not messing with those live people.
Speaker 1:Because it took us a long time to get them to let us do these live sales. So I said hell, I'm doing it. It took us a long time to get them to let us do these live sales and all this other things.
Speaker 2:So I said, hell, I'm doing it. And it was the smartest thing I ever did because it jump-started me Like I had energy. It got me immediately back on my schedule. We got up and had breakfast and it just was good. It was really good. And the other thing that I really liked that I've never done in Atlanta, even market-wise at all, and that I want to do more of market lives at all and that I want to do more of even when you and I are there, is we left for a day at market and went to a warehouse outside.
Speaker 1:So you got a different view. It was almost re-energizing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because we got out, we were in, you know.
Speaker 1:It's easy to get stuck in the market building and right there in that bubble and we've even talked about we have to do that like even getting out to go eat when we're at market makes a big difference, Just like get out from there.
Speaker 2:Like that evening we got out and we were in the car and I was like what do we do, where are we going? I was like what do we do, where are we going? I was like what are we doing? I was like where do you want to go eat? And he was like well, I'm exhausted, let's just go to the hotel.
Speaker 1:I said hell no, we got to do something. Did y'all eat somewhere? Good?
Speaker 2:No, we weren't, we didn't decide and I was like, okay, I wanted to go to the mall to try on something that I had seen a lot. You went to Lenox or Phipps. We went to Lenox, but you know I was wanting kind of California pizza kitchen. So Lenox was there and I wanted to go buy a Prada to try something, and so we went by there, I tried that on and then by the time they closed at 8. Who, california Pizza Kitchen. California Pizza Kitchen At the mall.
Speaker 1:But you know it's If you go to the one out by Ikea there later. That's where I always order our salad. That's where I should have gone.
Speaker 2:But so I was like, well, hellfire, I don't want to drive around, I don't want to leave here now without eating. So we went To the food court. No, we went to Cheesecake Factory and they have a new skinny menu. Because I'm trying to, I think they've had that for a while. Yeah, they've had it for several years. I've been eating it for several years.
Speaker 1:How's that going for you? It was good, it is really good. I've had it for work and it's just like— Let me tell you how it is. It's good portions, though it's the portion control.
Speaker 2:That's what it is. It's not the food. No, because I got a whole wheat pasta, which I love whole wheat pasta, I don't have a problem with that and marinara and grilled chicken. But it would fit in the palm of your hand and you know that's what we should be eating, right? But I want two and a half hands and you know when.
Speaker 1:So you didn't get full on that.
Speaker 2:And so you got you a big old slice of cheesecake. You know, I actually one of my favorite things there is their skinny cheesecake which is like 400 and some calories. So I got that. Okay, and you know, any girl, it was actually really good, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Okay, and so I ate that A few days. We ate breakfast, breakfast. So I just had eggs, yeah. And then on days where we were like I overslept one day I never overslept. That was funny. Yeah, ever, ever. I don't even have to set an alarm.
Speaker 1:That was funny. You called me. You were like, I overslept yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm like I'm just going to sleep. We were getting, we were going live. We were supposed to be live at noon. I woke up at like 10.50. No, I didn't even wake up. Dylan did and said oh my God, we've overslept. Woke me up, I was like he's like you never. I was like welcome to the new. Yes, and so we at Starbucks.
Speaker 1:That was part of your jet lag.
Speaker 2:Possibly the turkey bacon. They have a egg white and turkey bacon muffins. Mm-hmm, they kind of knocked it off from McDonald's. The Egg McMuffin is really good. Oh, I don't even. I hate turkey. Yeah, I hate turkey and I hate the bacon at Starbucks because it's gross and chewy. It was really tasty. So if you want a tasty, healthier sandwich on the go, get the Starbucks with the egg white, with turkey bacon.
Speaker 1:It was really good. You know I ain't eat that meat, but it was good, good to know. So funny thing, when y'all went to market. You know we're always looking for whatever we find, the latest things. You go to market a lot of times and you know, like you said, you've reached out to vendors, we're going to meet this one or that, but you also find things you never know. You never know. So this surprise was the Labubus. Mm-hmm, y'all found some LabBooBoo dupes, known as the LaFooFoos. Do y'all know what LaBooBoos are? If you haven't heard about LaBooBoos yet? Daniel actually turned me. I had not heard of them. He turned me on to them months ago, like it was just the thing.
Speaker 2:Billy did at Market months ago and I was like what the hell is that? He was like months ago, right, and he said I think we should sell these. I said you are crazy. This is what I said, and I think I said it to you. I said you're crazy as hell.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm not doing that. Dillon had turned me on to them. And then you and I were in Dallas at the market and we saw some and I was like you know, we got to do these things. And I was like, have you seen the Laboobies yet? And you were like Dylan had just told me about these is what you said. We're like, yeah, we're going to have to do those. If you don't know about Laboobies, they're by Pop Mart and they started, which is a Chinese company, and there's only a few of these places in the US, but it's these little monster things and everyone is clipping them onto their bags, backpacks. Kids are collecting them, but it's not just kids, it's adults too that are putting them, even on their high end. A lot of celebrities have them, it's the Beanie Babies of 2025.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they're called La Boo Boo's. Well, and if you get the, you know not Pop Mart. Well, first of all, you can't get it.
Speaker 2:You can't get them. You can't get the real Labubus at all.
Speaker 1:I mean people can. They're reselling them for a lot. They're like $180. Stand in line and you can blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But if you get a dupe one, they call them LaFooFoos, which I think is funny. So you found some LaFooFoos. Some very good quality LaFooFoos I might add, when y'all were at market. And I just think it's so funny because the amount of those that y'all sold we were looking and they're still selling today of those that y'all sold.
Speaker 1:We were looking and they're still selling today, and then you weren't able to call today and get some more.
Speaker 2:It's the most ridiculous, but they are cute they are and I hated it, I resisted it, I hated it. I was like, oh, and you know it was Amanda Live Girl. She was like I found some LaBooBoos or LaFooFoos or whatever they are and I was like okay. And I was like I don't want to do this in my mind, but you know the little assholes are.
Speaker 1:You know it's addictive. They are. It is addictive. You don't find one there in the past. Yeah, part of the fun behind them if you don't know about the boo-boos yet is they're blind boxes. So you can buy cases or individual. Like a case will have maybe like six in it or so. And then there's individual boxes but you don't know like which style or color. So it's not like with the Beanie Babies. Back in the day everyone was driving to different stores Like I need this specific beanie baby and they were trying to hunt them down. These are boxes and you don't know what kind you're getting. You can get a style. You can know there's different styles, varieties, you can know that part, but you don't know which color. And then there's some that are mystery. It is fun, it is fun, it is fun and I love that. Now Dylan is torturing you by like hiding them around.
Speaker 2:I'm very damn aware I will go home. He's at the warehouse right now, but he will make it home before me and they'll probably be some in my shoes. I mean it is and I'm like here's my thing. They're really cute, but I don't like stuff strewn about like put it in a basket. If he wants those corny little things, that's fine, but they're everywhere because he keeps opening them. And it is fun. I've opened them. They are addictive. I'm going to have you open one. Am I going to open one? You're opening one tomorrow. You've got to. It's fun. It is fun. Here's what I suggested to the customers. This is what I'm going to do with them. So we have. We spent Christmas morning with Dylan's parents. You know we go with Dylan's sister and their parents and everything and have Christmas. So I'm taking a case for Christmas morning.
Speaker 1:That'll be it.
Speaker 2:And I'm attaching a prize. There's going to be a prize for each color. Yeah, and get oh, that's fun.
Speaker 2:Make a little game out of it, making a game out of it. So I'm going to attach a prize to each color and then everybody picks one and you see what you win, kind of like, you know, opening an Easter egg or something I don't know. And the other thing I think would be super, super cute is like, if you have a children's birthday party, have that as your birthday party, have that as your theme and have every kid get one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that would be cute, so that would be really fun, I think.
Speaker 2:you know, I think they're really cute.
Speaker 1:But I was just shocked by how many y'all sold and the response on our level, with our audience. So it's been really fun. And speaking of opening one, if you are current on our episodes and you're listening, this one is dropping on Tuesday, august 26th. This week, on Tuesday, wednesday and Thursday, we're having a fall celebration inside the Nested Fig app. We're going to be live at 1 pm, 4 pm, 8 pm Eastern-ish times. We're going to do some fun games, some giveaways, special deals. We got new fall that's arriving. We'll do stylings. It's going to be a lot of fun. So make sure you join us inside the Nested Fig app. If you don't have our app yet, you can go to the comments below the little description of this it's always linked there. Or just go to your app store phone, tablet, android or Apple search the Nested Fig and you'll find our app there and you can grab that. So join us this week.
Speaker 2:And these silly little things we're talking about are on there as monster, monster dolls.
Speaker 1:Monster dolls yeah, so you'll have to get them, but I don't know, there's not very many left. Well, I don't know which, I'll call, I just restocked. Oh, you did. Okay, I saw Dylan say we got them in. I knew you were calling the vendor today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I called and I was like nothing easy, you know, he said I almost cried. I was like, because usually you deal with them, he was like I need you to set up this account and we're almost in your bills, Just forget it. No, it wasn't like that.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, moving on from that, it's been in the headlines and I wanted to get your take, and I don't even know, because you've been on the move, if you've seen this, but McDonald's has been in the news, since you love to talk about McDonald's, that they are working to lower some prices on some of their food, which you know we've talked about. That is really set by the franchise owner when I was an owner.
Speaker 2:I don't know how it is now. That was in the franchise agreement.
Speaker 1:McDonald's had no met with restaurant operators and offered to provide financial assistance to franchise owners if they lowered prices. Okay, this is what I so how do you interpret what's going on behind the scenes?
Speaker 2:Well, I'm texting an owner right now to find out, okay.
Speaker 1:While you're doing that, so I just texted an anonymous owner.
Speaker 1:Okay, while you're doing that, let me tell you some of the other points in here. So they are working. Eight of McDonald's combos meals will soon cost 15% less than the total value of the meal items purchased separately. That's significant. So, for instance, $10 meal could cost $8.50 if you're buying the combo. They can expect the starting in September on the Big Mac, chicken, mcnuggets, mcchrispy, quarter Pounder with Cheese, egg, mcmuffin, the core product yeah, so the core products and discounts in place through at least the beginning of 2026. Well, first of all, when is that doing? I guess luring you back, maybe trying to get you back there? So McDonald's says it's fighting back against consumer perceptions that it's become unaffordable. Well, first of all, that's not a perception, it is. That's a fact.
Speaker 2:That's a fact. When I feel like me as a consumer, I'm going not McDonald's, any restaurant and I'm like this shit is high, right, it's a problem yeah.
Speaker 1:I agree, when was I? Because I haven't eaten honestly at McDonald's in so so long, except for Daniel, and I did stop one day and get some fries. We were on the way somewhere, but somewhere, and it's just the price of these meals. I'm trying to think where it was, because it was not a McDonald's, but it would be something similar if I speak, and it was for me like literally $12 or more and it wasn't. I don't even get like a soft drink sort of situation and I was like if you're a family of four and you're going through like a drive-thru, that used to be that's how you were saving the day, Like well, at least I can go through and get a 99 cent burger.
Speaker 2:Or a $2.99 Happy Meal for your kid.
Speaker 1:Right, and now if you go and it's going to be like $60 for family of four.
Speaker 2:That's crazy.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, that's what they're saying. It's embarrassing, okay, here's my thing. But what they're saying it's embarrassing, okay, here's my thing. Okay. What they're also saying, though, which I find interesting, is they're saying places like Applebee's and stuff are taking advantage of this because you can now get, like their meals are less than the fast food which the casual dining it's kind of flipping, because for a while it had flipped from the casual dining of, like chilies, apple bees, that sort of thing, because they were perceived as the expensive ones for what the value was. So, anyway, that's kind of the whole report, so you can tell me what you think about it.
Speaker 2:So well, there's several things. First of all, the franchise agreement that I had. I do know that they changed the national franchise agreement right after I retired. Yeah, so I don't. I'm not privy to it and it's like this thick before I wouldn't even waste my time reading it Hell, I didn't read it the first time before. I wouldn't even waste my time reading it Hell, I didn't read it the first time. But it is in there that each owner determines their prices. Yeah, period. I just heard back from this owner, so I will share that in a minute.
Speaker 2:In the past, what McDonald's did when I was an owner, they would manipulate you. They would dangle a carrot and say, if you do this, we'll give you this Like for breakfast all day. I was adamantly opposed. Right, you talked about it. I was very vocal about it too. The co-op-wide you know, when I'm passionate about something, it kind of comes out yeah, and I had to eat the crow because then they came back and said but if you'll do breakfast all day, we will pay for your digital menu boards. I had three restaurants. That was like a couple hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 1:You're like breakfast all day. It is Get some biscuits out y'all 24-7.
Speaker 2:That's what they did in the past. I just asked a current anonymous owner. Yeah, so what they're doing is they're manipulating the owners now, and I say manipulating. This needs to happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they're persuading.
Speaker 2:They're persuading. I mean, this is something I feel strongly about. If I were in McDonald's and I were still in leadership, I would be talking about come on, guys, we've got to do better. This is embarrassing. I'm embarrassed at McDonald's prices and I'm not even an owner anymore. So what they're doing is they are price-pointing advertising and then once you vote on it, then they can enforce it.
Speaker 1:So I knew there was a legal, so tell us what that means. They're price-pointing advertising.
Speaker 2:Price-point advertising. So what that means is each co-op and I don't know how many co-ops there are now in the United States because that's changed. But what I was in was Greenville, spartanburg, asheville. It went from Western North Carolina to Northern Georgia, so it's a large area. Now they're even larger. The co-ops are larger. Fewer owners, larger co-ops, so they can manipulate you.
Speaker 2:So each co-op— that's not negative, but I'm not negative. I mean it's the facts, it's their plan and it's fine. So what they're going to do is each co-op will go in and they will vote oh, we're going to promote this egg McMuffin meal. Are these three or four breakfast value meals for breakfast? And listen, I don't know shit. I'm just telling you Theoretically. I'm thinking this is how it's going to go. So then we go in and say we're going to pick our top four core menu bacon, egg and cheese, egg McMuffin, sausage, mcmuffin sausage, biscuit meals and we're going to have these at this price and promote that, yeah. And then they'll do the same thing for lunch and dinner menu yeah. So it's kind of. And then the co-op gets on the same thing. So once you vote it in as a co-op and it's just a majority vote, it's not all. It's a two-thirds vote with financial things, I think. Hell, I can't remember my middle name. I'm not sure what's telling you that, but something like that. My middle name, mitchell, let's tell you that, but something like that.
Speaker 1:And they once you do that, then you got to stick to them. Yeah, but they'll do it for a time period Like. This is going to be our month-long promotion for September, this might be the one for October, or they might do it for a quarter. Here's the problem.
Speaker 2:And I would say this even if I was an owner today. Here is the problem and here's the problem with McDonald's. This is the problem with us, this is the problem with everybody. Once you have raised your prices to that level, once you have raised your prices to that level, you have really changed the whole level of the way you're operating your business, like payroll, your labor costs, your food costs everything and to go back, that's really hard, and to go back for just a promotional time.
Speaker 2:It's a lot of money. Yeah, it is a lot of money. So the thing is is, if they do this and they do not really really increase their customer count their transactions per store, they have really just thrown money down the drain. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think that's part of what happens. If you're like analyzing McDonald's as a business owner, Because they have reported, like, I think, good earnings and stuff, but it's good because the price went up this much, so of course you've got more. But if you know the facts, they're and I'm not privy to that Because the murder count is down, so that's what they're trying to.
Speaker 2:I do not know this. No one has told me this. I'm making the assumption and I'm sure if I wanted it I could find out in five minutes, but I'm not going to put anybody in that position by them doing this and it being in the media.
Speaker 1:their transactions are down the number of transactions. So they might be putting on a good front that their earnings are good. Sales are up. Sales are up because the percentage of what things cost. But behind the scenes, what they're worried about, without you saying this, is their transactions are declining. When your transactions are declining, your business is eroding. Yeah, and that's not where you want to pay.
Speaker 2:So your business is eroding. So your business is eroding and when you go to sell your business, your business is worth less, because I mean, if somebody's buying it that has seen it, they're going to go. Holy shit, you've been losing transactions for three years, yeah well, we've been growing since then. Well, hell, if a meal is $30, right, yeah, it catches up. Eventually it catches up. It always catches up. It's kind of like I feel like the restaurant business is just now. The backlash of COVID is just hitting them the way it hit retail about two years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's been a delay in that. Well, I think what's really hitting them if you're looking at the big picture, it's there was this period with the COVID and everything was through the roof in sales, but then that also put in a lot of changes as far as look what using McDonald's since we're on the topic, look what a restaurant looked like and how it operated then versus how it operates now, and I think it's all snowballing and catching up. Where there is no, there's like no customer. If you go into a new one, there's a window and you order yourself. Well, it's funny, it's no customer service.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's funny that you bring all this up.
Speaker 1:They're having to pay one person what they probably used to pay three people, and so they're dwindling down as much as they can to have just one front person. That you don't see. They have the boards that you order from. If you've gone into a new one and it's as generic as you can get, because they're, I don't know?
Speaker 2:Well, look at it. This morning, this is what I woke up to. What?
Speaker 1:is this I ate at your old McDonald's Saturday and you would be very disappointed and I said which one?
Speaker 2:And he said which one. Yeah, that's crazy. And he said this was my dad. So I've told you all about my dad. Love my dad. My dad's a man of few words. Love my dad. My dad's a man of few words and the few words can be either really funny, really bitchy, and there's really not a lot in between. That's just how he is. And usually when I get, when he texts me about McDonald's, listen y'all, my whole family. Once you're a McDonald's owner, you're an owner for the rest of your damn life. Well, you're still this fear. It is, it is, it is and you know what. It's kind of helpful. And I told a friend of mine today after my dad texts me this and I'm going through it with him and I'm like, I feel, and I'm like, and I'm still like, I'm sorry and I'm like what is wrong with me? It ain't my problem.
Speaker 1:It ain't your problem.
Speaker 2:But it still affects it, like I'm still like I'm going to pick up the phone and call yes, and it was the whole. It was the service aspect and I was like what happened with the service? There was none. He said I stood there for five minutes. I timed it. Well, first of all, I can't believe he stood there for five minutes.
Speaker 1:Well, that's because they were trying to make him order on the board on the kiosk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he's older and he doesn't like stuff like that. Yeah, they were trying. He will refuse that. So that is true, the manager was on the phone and just having a conversation. It just ignored him. And then he got his food and it was old fish and you know that old fish is like cardboard nasty. They forget to fish at McDonald's. Then you break them back. So you know I hate hearing that.
Speaker 2:And I'll tell you another thing that since you brought all this up that we have to talk about McDonald's, Well, here's something there's in the restaurant industry not McDonald's in the restaurant industry, especially with quick service well, all the restaurants. One thing that I used to always look at is there are national statistics on food away from home for your given area, for your demographic area, and you always want to keep your menu prices within a certain percentage of the food away from home. So basically, you don't want to get too far above what it costs for you to make a soppy joe at home versus getting a big mac Right, and I can tell you right now that is out of whack.
Speaker 1:It is out of control Because it is great, like you said. You know I don't. I'm fortunate enough that like I'll just whip it, honestly, I don't eat out that much. But, like I said, I went somewhere. I don't know. I'm fortunate enough that like I'll just whip in, honestly, I don't eat out that much. But, like I said, I went somewhere. I don't know where it was, but I don't think about it. So I just ordered what I wanted and it wasn't even complicated. But when I got the price and I feel like for me, when it was just me in the car for myself and I was like, damn, that's expensive, like I didn't even need it, you know it wasn't like I was like when you have that feeling, just as the general, I'm like that's a problem, but anyway, so that was. I was just wondering your thought on that and how the manipulating was coming.
Speaker 2:Well, and I hope they correct it. And I hate it for the owners because you know we've all fallen into that pothole. Well, the McDonald's down the street, their price is this. So I'm going to go up to this. Yeah, I mean, even I fell into that at times. You know, I was like well, I mean, my restaurants were typically, but here's kind of what's happened. Mine were kind of on an island.
Speaker 1:But you, when I knew you and you were in there. Here's what I feel like from observing what I know about you. Here's what I feel like from observing what I know about you. If COVID and all of this would have happened where prices were going up, the cost of labor was going up or whatever instead of raising your prices to the extreme which I feel like people would have done you would have focused on how can I get more transactions, how can I get more pennies to the bottom I always did that Instead of how can I get this, and that's where they lost touch. They should have been focusing on the promos to get their volume and you want your transaction count and your sales to be like this.
Speaker 2:Not like I don't think. Yes, not like I don't think. And sometimes you know, if you had, I can remember like I might do a price increase, a big price increase, once every. I don't know what did I do? Maybe two or three years? No, never more than two.
Speaker 1:But a big price increase was like a quarter.
Speaker 2:No, ten cents. But I mean you do it on everything. But I would see I didn't do it just on everything because that would have been too easy. No, my dumb ass which I wasn't dumb, I was smart I printed a product mix. I went through item by item with my red pen and said, okay, am I going up on egg biscuit? Does this make sense for a biscuit and a fried egg? Yeah, and I looked at it piece by piece and then I looked at it as if customers were building their own. Does the price get stupid? Yeah, so I looked at it like that. So at times, once you did that, it would be nice because that first month you might see, for that first month you might see your sales increase jump here and your transactions only go up here, but then it closes in over the next month. You know when you start seeing it separating. Yeah, but then it closes in over the next month, you know when you start seeing it separating.
Speaker 1:Right, and that's what I feel like they're saying You're doing your business.
Speaker 2:They focused on the wrong thing and in McDonald's it's not as busy Like I'm I know when I drive by McDonald's.
Speaker 1:You would have been all focused on getting the number of transactions so that you could increase the overall pennies that fall to the bottom. They focused on the individual to try to get that up. And then you can tell when you drive by McDonald's and there's two cars in the drop-through, when you used to be like, oh, we're trying to put through X number of cars in an hour, they ain't worried about that because they don't have that problem. They don't have that backup problem at least and I operated my business.
Speaker 2:One of my best friends he's an old man now. He was a McDonald's owner and he told me years ago and it was such a great piece of advice he calls me Young Stevie.
Speaker 1:Young Stevie, young Stevie.
Speaker 2:Well, I was the youngest at the time, I know, but you based that on me he said look at your business like you're selling it every year. Yeah, sit down really quiet time over several days. Look at your whole business like you're selling it.
Speaker 1:That's a good advice and I said why?
Speaker 2:Why do I look at that? And he said you want to look at all of the moving part. You have to look at who is president. I'm not getting into politics, you just have to look at who's president, because you have to look at the tax implications. You have to look at all of those, the economy, and you have to look at how many prospective owners are there out there that can actually buy your stores. You have to look at your life on your leases, because you're screwed if you sell. If you go to sell, oh I want to sell my McDonald's, I've got 24 months left on my lease, on my 20-year lease. Well, hello, mcdonald's may make you rebuild. Yeah, so you're going to be giving that McDonald's away. Yeah, so you really like, when you sell your McDonald's business or you sell even an individual store, there are so many moving parts that you have to consider that affect what you walk with. And that's why I moved mine up, because it Fell into place.
Speaker 1:That's what you were either having to sell or commit for another million years.
Speaker 2:Well, I was going to be buying 10 more stores, so that would have been about 22 and a half million, and then I was going to spend about 3 million on my existing, so I would have been spending 25 million. So once you put that 25 million in, I would have had to stay in the business 10 to 15 more years, you know you said you wouldn't willingly really get back into it.
Speaker 1:But if they run it down enough, you might could buy them at a good deal, build them back up and sell them all over again.
Speaker 2:I'm never going to say never.
Speaker 1:Y'all going to see me managing a McDonald's.
Speaker 2:You know I mean crazier things. I could point to McDonald's, I could point to restaurants and you're going to. I'm not going to call people's business out. I know—and listen, I never got a damn McDonald's for this, but I know a McDonald's, I know several, but I know one right now in my head that sold for—no, there's two—$160,000.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. They'd run it in the ground that much.
Speaker 2:So I'm just saying, I'm just putting it out there, if I were to get a phone, call Because that's crazy, like if you don't know, that's free.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're usually millions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's free. That's crazy. If they called me tomorrow and said I have two shitholes, then it would be yeah, and you can get them for $160,000 a piece. I would be like, girl, I will see you at the grill area. I traded you because you're running this. We're doing this for seven years. Oh my God, that would be crazy and I, you know I'm never going to say never. It would be like it would happen.
Speaker 1:We got to get the live sale at 8. So we got to get this dinner rush done and we got to be like Wesley, you are late again.
Speaker 2:I told you about this. Sorry, no, I mean, there are circumstances. Again, I told you about this. Sorry, no, I mean, there are circumstances, I would go back.
Speaker 1:But it would be very difficult.
Speaker 2:It would be very difficult, meaning I'm so old school McDonald's, I mean I would be a rogue. I mean I was a rogue when I was in there, but now I would be like my letters from legal would be. I mean it would be miles. They'd be like you can't say that, you can't do that. I'd be like, oh my gosh, that's funny. So Southernism.
Speaker 1:Oh, you got a Southernism.
Speaker 2:This is a food thing. So I've had two people because you know it's called my Southernisms have caught on. So I have had two random people ask me did y'all do this when you were growing up? Hell, yeah, we did. And guess what? If it was on the table now, I would do it today. And I don't know if y'all did this in Tennessee, but I can't imagine that you didn't. But this is definitely a South Carolina thing is did y'all ever take? It didn't matter if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, or breakfast, lunch and supper, it didn't matter. You would take molasses and we never had molasses. Molasses, honey or syrup, any of the three, okay. And then you would take butter and put that on your plate and pour that molasses one of those, either molasses, honey or syrup and you would take your fork and you would mash it together and you would create this whipped butter and then you would put that on your biscuit.
Speaker 1:No, we didn't do that. But I mean, it's kind of like making honey butter it is, but we were just having to self-serve right there at the no Mm-hmm. Hmm, I know there were a lot of things I wanted to get through, so we'll do that next week because we got off on the McDonald's thing.
Speaker 2:On the McDonald's thing. I know, but it is a good topic.
Speaker 1:And it affects. But there's Some people have been texting our hotline and some other things, but we'll get into that. Yeah, you found out.
Speaker 2:You found out that cantaloupe and gravy is a thing. Yeah, there's multiple.
Speaker 1:Makes me we gotta have it. We should try it. It's so good, but I had something from TikTok that I found interesting. I meant to show you this. It was a mom on TikTok and her kids are Generation Alpha. So that is what the hell? Well, I just looked it up. That is like 2010 through 2024, maybe, yeah, 2010 to 2024. But so I guess the younger ones 10, are in school or whatever. But she was saying she just learned from her kids that are this generation. And then a lot of people in the comments were saying it was true. So I'll bring it up that for this new generation, farts, farting farts aren't funny anymore. Like if someone farts in the classroom they don't laugh at it.
Speaker 2:That's so sad.
Speaker 1:I know, right, where have we gone, I mean, but her kids, so she had them there, like asking like well, why don't we like we always found that funny or whatever? And they're like why that's like laughing at someone sneezing or laughing at someone with hiccups. It's not funny and I'm like, so I want to know it makes me want to fart.
Speaker 2:Right, so I want to know it makes me want to fart.
Speaker 1:Right. So now I want to know if you're listening and have younger kids, do you ask your kids like do you find this to be true? Like if someone oh hell, the whole funnel went down. We don't rain out of gas.
Speaker 1:I don't even know what we were talking about, except for farts, aren't funny anymore. So what? I really I don't know out of gas, I don't even know what we were talking about, except for farts aren't funny anymore. So what? I really I don't know if you picked it up or not, but I wanted to know. If you're listening and you have younger kids, do you find this to be true? Let us know in the comments or text us on our hotline 864-982-5029. And with that we are going to wrap this up, because I can't take it anymore. We just wrecked up today. Remember to join our online community if you want to watch the train wreck there. Even more of a train wreck. Yeah, you can watch the train wreck by going to whosedrivingpodcastcom. Or, of course, you can listen anywhere for free Apple Podcasts, spotify, all the other services too, all the places. Remember to leave us a review wherever you're listening to me, if it's fine, if it's the best Open the door and just push me out.
Speaker 2:If it's not a good review, don't leave.
Speaker 1:So that's all we got this week. Hopefully next week we'll have our shit together.