Business With A Heart...Is It Still Possible?

There’s something to be said for building a business on your own terms.

When you start a company with your own money, your own time, and your own reputation on the line, you get to decide what the business will stand for.

You don't have investors sitting across the table telling you that the next quarter matters more than the people who helped you get there. You can make decisions based on your core values, even if they don't yield the quickest return.

That’s what caught my interest when I read the story of Andrew and Peggy Cherng, founders of Panda Express.

The couple started with one Panda Express restaurant in Glendale, California, in 1983. Today, Panda Restaurant Group is still privately held and has grown into a $7 billion business with about 55,000 employees, more than 2,500 locations, and a presence in 12 countries.

That's impressive growth, but what sets them apart is what the Cherngs have done with that success.

They seem to understand something a lot of businesses forget: your employees are people first and employees second. That’s what’s different about Andrew and Peggy.

Panda Express offers employees financial wellness resources, including help with budgeting, saving for a down payment, and seminars on buying a home. The company's in-house real estate legal team helps with those homebuying seminars.

And it appears to be making a difference. Sixty-three percent of Panda Express managers are homeowners, with a median age of 34. At a time when homeownership has become increasingly difficult for younger Americans, that's a pretty remarkable number.

The Cherngs call building Panda their own American Dream. Now they're helping their employees pursue theirs. They’ve shown that you can build a hugely successful company while remembering that the people who make it possible have lives, families, and dreams of their own.

I believe that's how business ought to work. And Kudos to Andrew and Peggy for keeping their hearts at the core of their business.