Wall’s Ice Cream is a very popular ice cream brand in The United Kingdom. The Wall’s logo is prominently displayed at convenience stores, groceries and restaurants and cafes all throughout England. Wall’s is apparently also famous for their “Stop me and Buy One” tricycles roaming the streets filled with ice cream treats.
I haven’t personally seen the logo there by visiting England. No, I’ve seen the logo often when I watch my favorite British Detective mysteries. But enough about me and my Brit-Binge.
Wall’s has been making ice cream for over 100 years, but Wall’s didn’t start out as an ice cream business. No, Wall’s was a butcher shop! T. Wall & Sons Ltd. was a sausage maker since 1786. But in 1913, the owner, Thomas Wall, realized that his sausages weren’t very appealing to his customers during the warm Summer months. He hit on the unique idea of selling ice cream during the Summer to increase sales and to save the jobs of his employees.
It didn’t hurt the bottom line, either. Now Wall’s survives over 100 years later, branded and thriving. As an ice cream provider.
Would you make a similar choice in your business, a choice where you change your entire business model so that your employees are taken care of?
Do you have to make such a radical choice?
Maybe there is another way to demonstrate your sincere interest in the financial well-being of your employees. In this economy of nearly full-employment, it is certainly in the best interest of businesses to hang on to valuable employees. Time and again, successful companies have proven their success comes thanks to the people working for them, the people showing up every day eager to do their jobs and to see their employers achieve long-term success. Surely it’s in the best interest of the employer to invest in those employees, whether that’s in small ways or in a radical way.
Like Wall’s, a company in business literally for centuries, but thriving in incredible ways for the past 100 years thanks to a small but ingenious investment on the part of its owner at the time.
Where will your business be in 100 years?