Lyft: Nice guys gain ground
Many a business claims to have a social conscience. But the cynic might own up to a strong suspicion that this is no more than a bit of puff to stick up front in the annual report to create a warm and fuzzy feeling among those who actually dredge through such entertaining literature. You stick in a couple of noble-sounding sentences about your dedication to the greater good, then you can get back to the real work of maximising executive remuneration and outsourcing production to children in Bangladesh.
Occasionally, however, a situation arises where being perceived as a good corporate citizen becomes a key part of your success, as has happened in the war between ride-hailing giants Lyft and Uber in the land of the free.
It helps when your arch-rival is generally regarded as an amalgam of dark side, evil empire and Lord Voldemort, with a touch of casual sexism chucked in.
This has highlighted Lyft’s more mellow, wholesome image, with its concentration on treating riders and drivers fairly and with respect.
Lyft operates only in the US, so Uber has a clear advantage for riders who want to use the app around
the world.
Many expected the smaller operator to be crushed beneath the mighty wheels of the giant Uber. But this year Lyft has managed to increase its market share to 30% of rides taken in the US as Uber has suffered the consequences of a succession of public-relations catastrophes.
The war is far from over, but for now it seems that those perceived as the "nice guys" are gaining ground.
Gold Brands Investments: A bloodbath by any measure
The casual-dining sector in SA contains some remarkably high quality operations, with an uncanny ability to tweak their offerings to the changing taste of consumers and to keep on churning out earnings growth. And this is being achieved despite the flagging economy exerting serious pressure on disposable income.
On the evidence of its performance in the year to end-February, Gold Brands has a long way to go before it is included in this exalted company. Losing R48.5m on turnover of R142.8m is, under any circumstances, a bloodbath.
Its website entices potential franchisees to "join the fastest growing, best loved fast food franchise in SA". Perhaps when it says "fastest growing" it might be more accurate to claim to be growing fastest in number of stores closed in a 12-month period. The group has undergone restructuring that has put a halt to the opening of new franchises and resulted in the closure of more than 155 underperforming franchises during the year. The group says most franchisees have "very little or no business experience" and that, as a result, "not all of them end up being successful".
Gold Brands is pinning its hopes on an ambitious plan to partner with the UK’s Casual Dining Group, and to bring a range of upmarket international brands to our fair shores.
It is also hoping to bring the wonder that is ChesaNyama to the Great British market, and to tear those consumers away from quinoa and sushi and to the sheer delight of ChesaNyama’s famous 1m wors — a bold move in anyone’s book.
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