Franchise Journal April 2021

FRANCHISE Journal LEARN How Community Partners Fuel Feeding Tampa Bay p. 16

THE SCOOP On The Carson Scholars Fund p. 42

APRIL 2021/FranchiseJournal.com

Interview with ED RENSI:

Chief of Food Franchising

HOW TO Make Money in a Food Franchise p. 70

TM

FranExpoUSA.com

MIAMI

Miami Airport Convention Center March 13-14, 2021

TAMPA

Tampa Convention Center April 24-25, 2021

SAN ANTONIO

Henry B. Gonzalez Conv. Ctr. May 1-2, 2021

ATLANTA

Cobb Galleria

May 15-16, 2021

WASHINGTON DC Dulles Expo Center

September 18-19, 2021

ORLANDO

Orange County Convention Center

October 9-10, 2021

HOUSTON

Stafford Center October 16-17, 2021

DALLAS

Irving Convention Center November 6-7, 2021

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FRESHNESS ISN’T JUST A SAYING, IT’S A COMMITMENT. A SINCERE BELIEF THAT A GOOD MOOD BEGINS WITH GOOD FOOD AND EVERYONE HAS A PLACE AT THE TABLE. VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR FRANCHISE INFORMATION MAHANAFRESH.COM SEE US AT ALL OF THE GREAT AMERICAN FRANCHISE EXPOS: WWW.FRANEXPOUSA.COM

"Passive ownership and a fully absentee model is what Sharkey's is all about, says CEO Scott Sharkey. We have been able to combine a passive ownership franchise with a model that is 100% recession proof for today and years to come. Sharkey's Cuts for Kids is not one of those trendy franchises where maybe you make back your ROI within 3-5 years before your concept gets replaced by something bigger, better, or more trendy.

Our franchise offers people the opportunity to invest in a brand that has longevity, is fun to run, is recession proof and has very little competition.

40 New Locations in 2021! SharkeysFranchisingCompany.com

DAILY

Rep rt America’s

AMERICA'S

VOICE

TUNE IN WEEKDAYS • 7:00pm EST AMERICASVOICE.NEWS

DONATE FOOD & HELP FEED AMERICA During COVID-19 Think About Those Who Can't Help Themselves

For more information go to: www.FeedingAmerica.org

Put a Food Collection Box at your location and bring the food to your local food bank.

Every donation helps.

16 16 FEEDING TAMPA BAY Community Partners Fuel Feeding Tampa Bay’s Mission

by Kelley Sims 20 SKILL SAMURAI

Franchising for Good

24 Food Franchise vs. Independent Restaurant

by Phyllis Pieri

30 GOOD LIFE ORGANIC KITCHEN A Franchise That Promotes Extremely Healthy Eating

by Eddie Rodriguez

34 MIAMI GRILL

6

Three Franchising Models

by John Ovens

APRIL 2021 | WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM

38 AUTHORITY BRANDS

APRIL 2021

V

contents

9 Tips Every Franchise Owner Needs

To Know About Selling Their Business

42 CARSON SCHOLARSHIP FUND The Carson Scholars Fund Reaches 10,000 Scholarships 48 GROWN

On “Grow”ing Pains & Building a PurposeDriven Business: The Shannon Allen Story

by Faizun Kamal

54 ZOUP!

Two Guys and Some Oregano

58 PATRICE & ASSOCIATES Recruiting Specialists We Help Grow Great Brands!

TERIYAKI MADNESS 62 Celebrates 100th Shop Opening on the Heels of Exceptional Growth in 2020

by Jodi Boyce

66 AROOGAS Farewell 2020: Emerging Sports Bar Brand Looking Forward to 2021

70 Making Money in a Food Franchise

by Dave Roemer

106

72 FRANCHISE FASTLANE Conserva Irrigation Announces Accelerated Growth Plans

76 Investing in a Restaurant Franchise is

110 VITALITY BOWLS

Simply Delicious in 2021

by Seth Lederman

82 VILLAGE JUICE CO.

Leading the Plant-Based Food Revolution!

by Camantha Magoon

88 SMOKIN’-OAK WOOD FIRED PIZZA

by Scott Milas

92 VAVIA An Innovative Food Approach to Fostering Community Relationships

by Camantha Magoon

Year After Lockdown A How Vitality Bowls Navigated Pandemic Challenges Together as a Franchise

by Roy Gilad

88

114 MAHANA Insights on The Future of Food in Franchising

by Mariel Miller

120 MODERN MARKET Enrich Lives with Clean, Nourishing and Delicious Food

124 SALSARITA’S FRESH MEXICAN GRILL

Q&A with Phil Friedman

by Rhonda Sanderson

128 XPRESSO DELIGHT COFFEE

96

COVER STORY Q&A with the Chief of Food Franchising, Ed Rensi

106 CLEAN EATZ Takes Big Bite Out of the Healthy Dining Market

by Jason Barclay

The World's Leading Coffee Service

by Joshua Kovacs

132 Food Trucks: Thriving During the

Pandemic with Creativity and Compassion

by Bill McKee

136 DADDY O'BRIEN'S

Alcoholic Ice Cream A Hot Franchise Concept

140 TRADER JOE’S

Has Raving Fans—Does Your Business?

by Mike Martuza WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

7

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welcome W

NOTES

hen you think of the word franchise, it is very probable that the word McDonald’s pops into your head. With good reason since McDonald’s is usually the first franchise most of us come into contact with at an early age. When you think of McDonald’s you probably think of Ray Kroc and also for for good reason as he was the first visionary who saw the potential of McDonald’s globally. Of course, franchising is more than food and McDonald’s is more than Ray Kroc.

OUR COVER STORY AND THIS MONTH’S ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS THE STORY OF ANOTHER MCDONALD’S VISIONARY; ED RENSI. Ed’s McDonald’s story started just a few years after McDonald’s started franchising, in 1966 as a young man overseeing a grill in Columbus, Ohio and continued to the pinnacle of the food empire when he was named CEO of McDonald’s.

Along the way, his many accomplishments helped build McDonald’s to what it is today. Every time you bite into a Chicken McNugget you are

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tasting one of Ed’s visionary breakthroughs.

The McDonald’s story famously begins in 1954, when Ray Kroc, an Illinois salesman of multi-spindle milkshake mixers, learns of an unsolicited order for six mixers from a San Bernardino burger stand. His curiosity piqued, Kroc calls the customer, who impulsively ups the order to eight. Kroc’s nose for business twitches, and he drives, on the spur of the moment, to California to see for himself what distinguishes this booming restaurant from

the ones to which he has been struggling to convince to buy a single blender. This stand, of course, is the McDonald brothers’ eponymous hamburger stand and it’s about to start a franchise revolution that changed the world.

The McDonald’s in San Bernardino amazed Kroc.

While the original McDonald’s started in 1937 as a BBQ restaurant, by 1948 the brothers realized hamburgers were generating the bulk of their income and started to search for efficiencies

ED RENSI'S CAREER IS A TESTAMENT TO HIS WISDOM, CURIOSITY AND CONSTANT DRIVE TO FIND A BETTER WAY FOR BUSINESS TO OPERATE. everywhere they could find them. The very notion of fast food is a conceptual shift catering to the post WW2 era — one that’s all the more surprising in that it didn’t result in any sacrifice of quality. Seeking to distinguish their own hamburger stand from the unsavory, disorderly, teen-centered atmosphere of the competition, and to create one that’s more familyfriendly, McDonald’s created a minimalist stand, eliminating waitstaff and replacing dishware with disposable paper wrapping. They pared the menu down to the essentials of hamburgers, fries, and shakes, and came up with an industrial kitchen to turn them out via mass production — while maintaining their own high standards for quality.

The McDonald brothers began seeking franchisees in 1953. Their first franchisee was Neil Fox who opened in May 1953 in Phoenix, Arizona.

When Kroc came along the brothers were talking with a multitude of Southwest entrepreneurs but it was Kroc

who thought they could go national, against the brothers protestations that their outside seating model would not work in colder climates, and purchased the rights and agreed to share one-half of one percent of gross sales with the McDonald brothers. They eventually sold all rights to Kroc for $2.7 million. Their half of one percent royalty would be worth over $100 million per year today.

The amazing aspect of franchising is that new food entrepreneurs enter the market place every day with visions and aspirations as grand as Kroc’s. Who knows, the next time you go into a franchise restaurant you might be eating at the start of the next food empire.

While the story of McDonald’s can occupy multiple editions with the many advancements the company had on their journey to almost 40,000 locations worldwide today

we are fortunate to share the story of Ed Rensi, CEO of McDonalds from 1991 to 1997.

Ed’s journey in food franchising unbelievably spans 7 decades from that McDonald’s grill in Columbus to his current position as Chairman of FAT Brands. His career is a testament to his wisdom, curiosity and constant drive to find a better way for business to operate. Spend any amount of time with him and you’ll quickly understand what an impact this man has had on your life and the lives of billions and billions more.

Nick Neonakis

Editor, Franchise Journal WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

11

FOUNDER

NICK NEONAKIS DESIGN DIRECTOR

Pete Neonakis DIGITAL DIRECTOR

Abel Beyene ART DIRECTOR

Marty Greenbaum

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Chantae Arrington

SENIOR DESIGNER Patrick Elsner

MANAGING EDITOR Brenda Lesch

VIDEO PRODUCER Matt Panepinto

DEPUTY EDITOR Faizun Kamal

CONTRIBUTORS Jason Barclay Jodi Boyce Janice Charles Roy Gilad Faizun Kamal Joshua Kovacs Seth Lederman Camantha Magoon Mike Martuza Bill McKee Scott Milas Mariel Miller John Ovens Phyllis Pieri Eddie Rodriguez Dave Roemer Rhonda Sanderson Kelley Sims

SENIOR EDITOR Bill Polk ONLINE EDITOR Seth Lederman STAFF WRITER Megan Neonakis SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Abel Beyene ASSOCIATE EDITOR Mariel Miller ONLINE EDITOR Mike Ciccarelli

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APRIL 2021 | WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM

FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM

If you want to get ahead in franchising, The Franchise Journal has the most concepts and tactics to help you become a business owner.

Share with your friends. franchisejournal.com

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN AMERICA AGED 65 AND OLDER WILL HIT 70 MILLION BY 2020 Now is the best time to start a business in this $300 billion dollar industry.

From personal care to privateduty nursing, ComForCare’s mission is to help provide a safe environment for seniors who are aging in place, allowing them the grace, dignity, and pride they deserve. ComForCare is known throughout the industry for developing specialized senior care programs including Alzheimer’s care.

CarePatrol is the nation’s largest senior placement organization.

We take the pressure off families to help them find safer care options including assisted living, independent living, memory care, in-home care and nursing homes. Our senior advisors personally meet with families and serve as their guide -free of charge.

Estate sales often manifest when people find themselves at a crossroads in their lives.

They may be downsizing upon retirement, dealing with the death of a loved one, or moving to assisted living.

We provide an organized and professional way to sell their personal estate.

Visit us at BestLifeBrands.com to learn about each of these unique franchise opportunities in the senior care space.

Start Building Your Future

with Archadeck

As North America’s largest and most-trusted deck building franchise, Archadeck Outdoor Living is a proven franchise model that boasts a 40-plus year track record and nearly $1 billion in projects completed. In addition to offering you a business model built on proven best practices in the thriving outdoor living industry, Archadeck also has you “covered” with the support you need to have booming business, including innovative technology & programs, robust marketing & lead generation, business & financial support, production management, and more.

For entrepreneurs looking to achieve their personal and professional goals within a growing industry, Archadeck is the perfect choice.

Why Choose Archadeck?

• Low Initial Investment • Low Overhead • No Prior Construction Experience Needed

804-500-9865 ArchadeckFranchise.com An important part of

FEEDING TAMPA BAY

Community Partners Fuel Feeding Tampa Bay’s Mission

by Kelley Sims, Chief Development Off icer, Feeding Tampa Bay

A

s we close the chapter on an unpredictable year and the devastating ripple effect of a global pandemic, we reflect on our community’s extraordinary response which has fueled Feeding Tampa Bay’s momentum to end hunger by 2025.

Together, we stepped up for our neighbors in profound

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APRIL 2021 | WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM

ways. Generous donors increased their contributions.

Brave volunteers immediately rushed to distribute meals.

Our staff assembled to create new solutions to provide our neighbors with long-term stability. By the end of this year, we anticipate serving over 85 million meals across the 10 counties we serve – all powered by the mobilization of those who stand with us.

Before the pandemic, 650,000 families across our region relied on Feeding Tampa Bay. Now, we’re serving almost 2,000,000 meals per week to people in need, 68% of whom have never been in a food line before.

These are everyday people who were just one crisis, one job situation, or one pandemic away from food insecurity. Our community was and is there to support them. We stood together, rallied to meet the need, and doubled our output.

We know that there is enough food for every neighbor in need, we just need to bring that food to their tables. Feeding Tampa Bay has a plan for this. We will feed our neighbors today through forward-thinking food distribution solutions that overcome barriers to access - like our partnerships with global brands for our distributions, which will continue well after the COVID-19 pandemic.

We will feed our neighbors tomorrow, through continued programs. With national child hunger rates increasing on average by at least 47%, currently 1 in 4 children do not know where their next meal will come from. This is where our Feeding Tampa Bay family

stands together to step boldly into the gaps. Through robust, free grocery distributions, after school meal programs, Feeding Minds school pantries, SNAP benefits assistance and more, we are tirelessly working to ensure that each child in our care receives the food they need to thrive. In April and May, Franchise Consulting Company is standing with us through our Cereal for Summer (cerealforsummer. org) efforts to directly make an impact on local children during their Great American Franchise Expo in Tampa on April 24-25.

Our response to COVID-19 proves we are unstoppable when we stand together.

Franchise Consulting Company, and all Tampa Bay Franchisees, have a powerful opportunity to leverage this momentum and cultivate the health and capability of our broader community.

When our leaders stand with Feeding Tampa Bay, you set the pace for a more viable, stable and capable workforce.

Learn more about us and our businesses’ role in ending hunger in Tampa Bay at FeedingTampaBay.org.

With national child hunger rates increasing on average by at least 47%, currently 1 in 4 children do not know where their next meal will come from.

FeedingTampaBay.org

WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

17

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Kids Coding, STEM and Career Readiness Education.

Own a Franchise That Makes a Difference Low start-up costs | Flexible business model | Thriving education sector Preparing students for tomorrow’s workplace, while helping you build a b r i g h t fi n a n c i a l f u t u r e .

skillsamurai.com//franchising

EDUCATION

Franchising for Good PREPARING CHILDREN FOR TOMORROW’S WORKPLACE, WHILE HELPING YOU BUILD A BRIGHT FINANCIAL FUTURE. Skill Samurai is a fast-growing international education network focused on preparing students for tomorrow’s workplace, while helping entrepreneurs build a bright financial future.

Meet the coolest kid in school Many kids find other forms of tutoring boring... and let's be honest, there's often a stigma attached. Our coding classes are fun, designed to help children thrive academically and socially.

Skill Samurai students are known as the cool kids in school!

This isn’t your average education business, we’ve modelled our business on

some of the world’s leading gyms and membership businesses, so you'll enjoy reliable, predictable revenue.

Skill Samurai offers more courses and learning paths than any competitor.

Unlike other children's programs, we're focused on creating customized learning paths for every student. If we have a student who wants to be an engineer and design robots, we have a multi-year program to guide them to that goal. If they want to make video games we lead them from simple drag and drop tools to the same tools that industry professionals use.

Skill Samurai programs have

been vetted and accredited

by STEM.org, and all of our owners are trained and certified by STEM.org to ensure that they are the STEM experts in their community.

Skill Samurai offers more learning paths and more courses than any other children’s program on the market. This means that owners can attract a wider variety of students and keep them as customers for many years. In fact, we have students who attend every week of camp in the summer and come back year after year for our after school programs.

“COMPUTER PROGRAMMING IS A LIFE SKILL, RATHER THAN A JOB SKILL. LEARNING TO CODE IS AS IMPORTANT AS MATHS AND ENGLISH DESERVE ACCESS TO A WORLD CLASS CODING CURRICULUM, THAT'S WHERE WE COME IN.” Jeff Hughes-Founder

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More Ways To Grow Your Wealth: More Revenue Streams Than Our Competitors After-School Coding Memberships Most coding and education franchises are term based, which means you need to start the sales process over and over again. Our model is membership based, which means the lifetime value of a client is significantly higher, and your income is predictable offering financial peace of mind.

School-Holiday Camps At Skill Samurai, we believe in creating a business model where our franchisees can build a thriving business.

School holiday camps are an exceptional source of revenue.

If your campers (and their parents) enjoy the experience, it becomes a great way to build your membership base.

Career Certifications Skill Samurai is the only kids education franchise in the world that offers genuine career pathways and certifications. With many educaiton businesses, kids tend to outgrow the curriculum after only a few years. Our world-class curriculum is design to offer maximum retention and customer Lifetime Value.

Students can earn certification with: Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Alibaba.

Birthday Parties & Parent’s Nights Out Like our holiday camps, Birthday parties are a dual driver of revenue. Grow your bottom line by advertising and hosting Birthday parties. When parents want to get away they can drop

their children off on a Friday or Saturday night for a fun and safe organized evening. If kids have a great time, you have a great opportunity to upsell memberships and camps. Each revenue stream compliments and leads to another.

School Programs School partnerships are a great way to introduce your business to the community. You'll learn how to build long-term relationships with teachers and how to grow your business through school excursions and incursions.

RUN IT YOUR WAY

Full-time or Semi-absentee One of the biggest complaints about most franchise businesses is the lack of flexibility. We set out to build a franchise that was ultraflexible. Not ready to give up your job? Already running another business? Your Skill Samurai Campus can be operated semi-absentee.

WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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Effortless Staffing Our curriculum and delivery means that you don't need to hire computer programmers.

Running a successful business means hiring for attitude, then training for skills. Even if you've never hired staff before, we make it easy to hire, develop and retain great team members.

Work Life Balance The typical franchise operates after school and on holidays.

Our programs have been successfully run by universities students, leaving you plenty of time to work ON your business, or enjoy that elusive work life balance. The way a Franchise ought to be!

The Opportunity The Global education market is booming. The smart learning market is expected to grow by 17% per year. The global private education industry is projected to reach $218 billion by the year 2027.

Skill Samurai is looking for entrepreneurs who want to create a profitable, ethical brand that delivers positive impact to our next generation.

ABOUT JEFF HUGHES Jeff is a lifelong educator who has travelled the globe teaching and training. Since 2015 his company has introduced over 10,000 students to computer programming.

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Food Franchise VS Independent Restaurant What We Sell Restaurants Learned During The Pandemic

by Phyllis Pieri, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

I had met Robin Gagnon, the co-founder of We Sell Restaurants, during the International Franchise Association Convention. My conversation with Robin shed some light on I hope you will enjoy learning why people are attracted to food franchises and why being part of a franchise system makes a difference.

Q: Why did you start We Sell Restaurants?

ROBIN: My husband and

I both came out of large organizations, and like so many others we both decided to take a different path and start our own business. We decided that we wanted a niche vertical in the business brokerage industry.

So 20 years ago we founded our company, We Sell Restaurants, out of the

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basement of our home. For the first two years I kept my corporate job and did our business’ marketing and advertising at night and on the weekends. As you can imagine, this was a very hectic time in our life.

Q. How did you come up with your business’ name?

ROBIN: It’s a fun story because with my marketing

background I kept asking Eric, my husband and partner, lots of questions. At the end we got the essence of what he wanted to do. He said, “I will sell restaurants.” I said, “You are getting closer, but that doesn’t sound big enough. I think we need to be, We Sell Restaurants.” From there we ended up building the largest restaurant brokerage franchise brand in the country.

WE ESTIMATE ONE IN FIVE RESTAURANTS ARE FOR SALE AT ANY GIVEN TIME. “Isn’t it funny,” I said to Robin, “how what we are used to doing kicks in automatically.

For example, your marketing skills helped Eric come up with just the right name, using a process you had used for years. I always tell my clients that everything you have been doing up to this point prepares you for what is next.”

Q. How big is We Sell Restaurants today?

ROBIN: We are in 45 states

and have about $150 million in listing inventory. We help buyers and sellers realize the American dream of owning a restaurant.

We estimate one in five restaurants are for sale at any given time. So we are in the perfect place to help people realize that dream in or out of the business.

Q. When did you start franchising?

ROBIN: We began

franchising our company about seven years ago. We have strategically moved slowly in growing the franchise.

One reason for that is simply because we do so many franchise resales with people that come into the game and aren’t clear on what the expectations are going to be.

Those “problem children” come

to us to help them leave the system, and these units usually have the same issues: 1. The franchise owner discovers he doesn’t like the business and is unengaged.

2. The franchise owner isn’t committed to being active in the community.

3. The franchise owner is not following the system and because of this he isn’t successful.

When we first started, we were 90% independent, and about 10% franchise. As we’ve matured as a franchise brand over the last seven years that shifted to about 70% franchise 30% independence.

years are now turning over at a more rapid rate, which creates opportunity for others.

Another thing that has really driven the growth of our brand is the cooking shows such as the Food Network, and the idea that everyone can be a star!

Q. Are you a member of the (IFA) International Franchise Association?

ROBIN: Yes, We've been

members of the IFA, since the beginning of our brand.

Q. How has that served you?

ROBIN: The IFA is a remarkable training ground.

When I first started franchising, my franchise consultant said to me, “Robin, you will not understand or believe how generous the franchise

Q. What other factors are driving your business?

ROBIN: Today society is really forcing a lot of people to come into our sphere of influence.

First, you have grandparents who built their first unit and were the first ones to invest in the restaurants. Then they passed it to their children who expanded upon the business.

The next generation are the millennials. Interesting point, now the millennials have benefited from an incredible education afforded them by their family. They’re doctors and lawyers, and they don’t want to be in the food business. So those units that have been in the family for WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

25

WHAT THIS CRISIS SHOWED ME IS THAT IT’S VERY TOUGH TO BE IN BUSINESS BY YOURSELF. community is in sharing information.” This has been so true over the years. We were a tiny brand and we could sit across the table from a mega operator and have a continuous dialogue about mentorship, growth and opportunity.

Q. How did franchise units do compared to the independent restaurants during the pandemic?

ROBIN: COVID-19 hit the independent restaurant so much harder than the franchise world. This crisis really proved how valuable the restaurant franchise model is.

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During the crisis, independent restaurant owners were coming to us looking for help. We made the decision to put our own franchise sales on pause for a number of months to help our independent owners with training, support, help and advice. Fortunately, the IFA helped us tremendously with learning about the PPP grants and loans.

Meanwhile, we saw that the franchise brands gave their owners a great deal of assistance. For example, they helped the franchisees look at how to: • Take a fresh view of their menu

• Create a miniature menu that works for them • Analyze how dishes hold temperature • Start looking at their most profitable food items • Switch to a delivery model • Scale for takeout and delivery • Ensure they’re on all the apps • And more But for an independent to get up to speed on all of that it was too steep a learning curve.

I am so proud of the brands that I work with. Not only did they survive, they are posting UVs in their FDD’s in 2021 that are $50-$60,000 above the prior year. Not only that but they were not laying off staff, they were hiring staff!

What this crisis showed me is that it’s very tough to be in business by yourself. When they say franchising is “being in business for yourself, but not by yourself,” that statement really proved to be true during the pandemic.

This crisis proves that model to a tee because so many people benefited from the structure and the underpinning of a franchise organization during the crisis.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Phyllis Pieri uses her passion for people and her 35+ years in the franchise industry to guide fledgling entrepreneurs through the franchise selection process. In her franchise career, Phyllis has done it all, including working for franchisors, consulting with franchisees, and owning franchises herself. This depth of experience makes her ideal for helping people find the “perfect match” franchise at no cost to you that fulfill your personal and business goals. Contact Phyllis at 425-922-4126 or at phyllis@ thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com.

2021 LIVE EXPOS! MIAMI

TAMPA

Miami Airport Convention Center March 13-14, 2021

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ATL ANTA

WASHINGTON D.C.

Henry B. Gonzalez Conv. Ctr. May 1-2, 2021

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Orange County Conv. Ctr. October 9-10, 2021

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Register for FREE TICKETS at FranExpoUSA.com info@FranExpoUSA.com

How All Dry’s Commitment to Growth Helped Lead to an Exciting Partnership with Franchise FastLane Franchise Sales Organization, Franchise FastLane turns emerging brands into national brands, driving accelerated growth. With a highly selective process, brands need to prove they have all the systems and processes in place to be considered for the FastLane. Franchise FastLane is currently partnered with 14 brands in a variety of industries.

service just as much as we know water, and we really know water!” said All Dry COO, Bill Highsmith.

“We provide high-tech processes, intuitive software, proprietary training, and more to ensure any water or mold issue is properly handled.”

According to Franchise FastLane’s President, Carey Gille,

“We continue to hold a high standard for brand partners but All Dry checked every box. Matt Kuntz has successfully sold a business to a Fortune 100 company.

Considering that and his team’s 25 years of extensive knowledge and experience in the home services industry, we know this brand is going to be a “splash” hit!”

Now, All Dry is proud to join that coveted lineup. Since launching in 2014 in Jupiter, Florida, All Dry taps into the booming $17 billion, COVID-resistant restoration/ mitigation industry that is consistently growing around 5% annually with no seasonal dips in business. All Dry sets a new standard when it comes to helping property owners in a time of need and it is their mission to provide a fast and reliable service, treating each customer’s property like it is “The All Dry model is a simple their own. one. Franchisees get the benefits “All Dry’s business model is simple. of a low investment, homebased business with just a few It is customer service along employees. Not only does the with water restoration and mold remediation. We provide a level of All Dry team have an appetite for growth but they’re set up and customer service that is unfound ready. Their virtual training portal, within the remediation industry.

All Dry University, is informationAll Dry was developed by a team packed and such a valuable tool that has spent 27 years working for franchisees.” with property owners in their time of need. We know customer

All Dry is more than ready to accelerate its growth. “We saw Franchise FastLane as the leader in the franchise industry and we felt that their style and brands they choose to partner with are similar to All Dry. We plan to add 100+ territories in 2021,” said Highsmith.

With such a winning model, homebased and quick-to-launch within 30 days of signing, Franchise FastLane is confident that All Dry is THE NEXT BIG THING in franchising. Combine that with their low start-up investment that offers a strong return, best item 19 FastLane has launched, and their top-notch marketing and sales processes; franchisees are set up for success from the start.

A True Lifestyle Brand

No Nights, Weekends, or Holidays!

Join the

FUTURE OF BUSINESS CATERING! Apple Spice is a proven B2B box lunch delivery and catering company enjoying a piece of the $45.8 billion industry. We service the corporate and business community as well as education systems, government offices, health care, manufacturing industries, etc.

Contact us for

FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES! applespice.com | chuck@applespice.com | 385.259.6699

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Good Life Organic Kitchen A Franchise That Promotes Extremely Healthy Eating, Gives Back to the Local Community, and Turns Authenticity Into Profits For Its Owners.

by Eddie Rodriguez, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

V

itality and sustainable practices are two movements that are here to stay.

Nutrient-dense, real food and beverages are what leading health experts teach us to consume to make ourselves healthy for a longer life.

Sustainability has become very popular with more eco-friendly disposables, composting, and supporting our local farmers and vendors whenever possible.

What if there was a way to own a business that combined both of these movements? There

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is, and it is called “Good Life Organic Kitchen”.

The focus of Good Life Organic Kitchen (GLO Kitchen) is impacting the health of the community. They believe knowledge and education are essential. They aren't just a source of healthy food but a source of knowledge that their franchisees and employees can provide to their customers interested in getting and staying healthier. The founder of GLO Kitchen, Conor Delaney, was one of the least healthy and consistently sick children in his school. He lost his father to poor

diet and overall health decisions, and his mother had permanent disabilities from poor health. He understood the cause of the health decline for himself and his parents was a lack of knowledge around the food and choices they were making every day. Not only was Conor able to get his health under control with education and changing habits, but he is now an avid runner and leader in the health and wellness industry.

GLO Kitchen makes it a priority to find the healthiest ingredients from the best local sources. They strive to source as close to 100 percent organic as possible while emphasizing the support of small, local farms and vendors. All disposable items are eco-friendly and are composted for future use.

You may be wondering, what does a GLO Kitchen serve?

They serve nutrient rich juices, smoothies, bowls, and more.

They also serve local Greek yogurt parfaits, baked oatmeal, seasonal soups, sandwiches, salads, and other plant-based options. Customers can dinein at GLO Kitchen, order items to-go, purchase items in the retail market, and order items

for delivery through thirdparty delivery services in some markets.

Research from Expert Market Research shows the global organic packaged food market is expected to grow in the forecast period of 2021-2026 at a CAGR of 7.4%. The rising popularity of organic farming is driving the market. North America is expected to be the largest organic food packaged market during the forecast period.

A recent article from Food Business News reported 48% of U.S. consumers said they are definitely or probably changing their consumption habits to reduce the impact on the environment. Millennials, at 75%, are more likely than baby boomers, at 34%, to say they are definitely or probably changing their habits to reduce impact on the environment.

Ninety percent of millennials, ages 21 to 34, said they are more willing to pay more for products that contain environmentally friendly or sustainable ingredients. Another 86% of millennials said they would pay more for products with organic/natural ingredients, and 80% said they would pay more for products with social

responsibility claims. The percentages for baby boomers, ages 50 to 64, were 61% for environmentally friendly or sustainable ingredients, 59% for organic/natural ingredients and 48% for products with social responsibility claims.

The research shows what GLO Kitchen is offering is what the market is looking for in regards to healthy food and sustainability.

GLO Kitchen offers a semiabsentee ownership model, which is very attractive to many people interested in franchise ownership. This means as an owner, you do not have to work in the business full-time. A manager will run the day-to-day operations of the business, and as the owner, you will need to be involved 15-20 hours a week.

If you are still working full-time or transitioning to retirement, semi-absentee ownership is

a great business model. The healthy grab-and-go industry is sized at $9 billion and growing.

This is a great time to get involved.

GLO Kitchen offers in-house financing support, 20+ years of restaurant experience, along with full real-estate and marketing support for a quick start-up. GLO Kitchen's comprehensive training program will get you off to a great start from the very beginning. Their operating system allows you to manage all of your staff training and management support from one system. Markets are still available.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Eddie Rodriguez is a serial entrepreneur who has built multiple successful businesses and has been a franchise consultant for 12 years.

Contact Eddie at 305-460-9925 or eddiefranchistailor@gmail.com.

NINETY PERCENT OF MILLENNIALS, AGES 21 TO 34, SAID THEY ARE MORE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY OR SUSTAINABLE INGREDIENTS. WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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BEST ITEM 19 FASTLANE HAS LAUNCHED Simple and home-based restoration business model with a mission to help property owners return their property to normal after unexpected events.

RECENTLY ACQUIRED BY AUTHORITY BRANDS This is the only franchise opportunity in the $17 billion tree service industry.

Over 200 franchise territories awarded and 75 franchisees.

MORE THAN HOUSEPAINTING Color World Housepainting offers 5 services: painting, power washing, gutter installation, drywall, carpentry, and holiday lighting - for 5 times the revenue potential.

90% CUSTOMER RETENTION RATE + OVER 50 TERRITORIES IN OPERATION With more than 20 years in home services and franchising,t Mosquito Shield is built for success. Low-investment, semi-absentee, and quick-to-launch.

RESIDENTIAL MOSQUITO CONTROL

PARTNERED WITH OUTDOOR LIVING BRANDS Delivers professional, innovative, and environmentally responsible irrigation services. Started franchising in July 2012 and has already grown to surpass 100 locations in less than 3.5 years.

LEADER IN WORLD-CLASS OBSTACLE COURSE ARENAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY Featuring coach-led classes, open gym, birthday parties, special events, field trips, summer/day camps, and mobile obstacle courses.

2020 TOP NEW FRANCHISE BY ENTREPRENEUR + OVER 170 TERRITORIES AWARDED D1 brings the division one athletic-based experience to the public. With over 40 professional athletes already on board as owners or franchisees, this model offers recurring income and income that is highly diversified.

100TH STUDIO OPENED IN SEPT. 2020 & OVER 300 SCHOOLS AWARDED Premier Martial Arts is the only active youth character development franchise opportunity! Simple, proven, and profitable martial arts concept focused on youth character development and community impact. At Premier, No Kid Sits the Bench!

100TH STUDIO OPENED JANUARY 2021 Personal training fitness studio focused on consumers ages 45+ proprietary fitness technology and a 20-minute workout create an experience, unlike any other fitness concept.

500+ TERRITORIES AWARDED IN 1.5 YEARS Smash My Trash is a highly disruptive, patented model built to shake up the commercial waste industry. It is an extremely simple business model with recurring revenue, semi-absentee ownership availability, and produces incredibly high returns.

6 MONTHS IN & 45 FRANCHISE UNITS AWARDED Transforming garages from the cluttered junk drawer to America’s true front door.

Backed by 45 years of experience, this low-investment franchise is home-based and simple.

310+ STUDIOS AWARDED & FEATURED ON THE 2020 INC. 5000 FASTESTGROWING COMPANIES LIST Unique, fast-growing and profitable fitness concept combining 20-minute segments of spin, strength, and yoga to create what’s simply known as “The Best Workout Ever!”

150 TERRITORIES AWARDED & NEARLY 50 OPEN & OPERATIONAL

BY END OF 2020 Koala is part of the $50B insulation industry and provides high-quality insulation services to homeowners, contractors, and property owners.

WHAT IS FRANCHISE FASTLANE?

Franchise FastLane is an accelerated turn-key franchise sales organization (FSO). We work with a limited number of franchisors to perfect their discovery process, bring them qualified franchisee leads and drive explosive growth.

You drive your business. We drive your growth.

WHAT WE DELIVER

SAVE MONEY

Pay us when you get paid

FAST-FORWARD Expedite your growth

PROFIT

Become a sustainable brand

Contact us at Thenextbigthing@franchisefastlane.com

STAY FOCUSED

Continue to do what you do best

FRESHNESS ISN’T JUST A SAYING, IT’S A COMMITMENT. A SINCERE BELIEF THAT A GOOD MOOD BEGINS WITH GOOD FOOD AND EVERYONE HAS A PLACE AT THE TABLE. VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR FRANCHISE INFORMATION MAHANAFRESH.COM SEE US AT ALL OF THE GREAT AMERICAN FRANCHISE EXPOS: WWW.FRANEXPOUSA.COM

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

MIAMI GRILL

Three Franchising Models

by John Ovens, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

I

t’s not very often one food brand has three distinct franchising models. Miami Grill ensures franchisees have the flexibility to choose an opportunity that best fits their investment goals. Along with business model options, for over 30 years, Miami Grill has been solving the great “what are we having?” debate.

Miami Grill makes it easy with a menu as diverse as Miami itself.

There is always something for everyone at your table with their menu.

They serve the best of everything, from everywhere.

Authentic food is cooked after you order it, including cheesesteaks, Greek gyros, chicken wings, salads, and everything in between. In addition to dine-in or to go orders, delivery is available with Uber Eats or DoorDash.

Miami Gill is in high-growth mode. The company has highprofile corporate partnerships with names like Pitbull and

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new formats that meet an ever-changing marketplace.

Miami Grill is a franchise opportunity with a rich, diverse experience representative of Miami itself.

The Three Models

MIAMI GRILL TRADITIONAL MODEL The traditional model features a free-standing building in a fast-casual dining environment with space for 45-55 guests.

It also features a drive-thru, outdoor dining, as well as thirdparty delivery and EZ catering.

This is the model that started in the 1980s and is still going strong today.

MIAMI GRILL EXPRESS MODEL The express model features a guest experience built for modern times and designed for optimal flow. This experience is focused exclusively on drivethru, pickup, and delivery.

There is no dine-in experience available in this model. The startup and management are simplified making it a costeffective and streamlined

process. Buildouts can be completed up to four months faster than traditional new construction. The pandemic makes this model very attractive. If dine-in restaurants are closed, this model could still be open for business.

MIAMI GRILL & BAR The Miami Grill & Bar Model is a similar concept to the Traditional Model, but with fullservice restaurant that includes an expanded menu, complete bar, late night appetizers, and a vibrant look designed to tastefully reflect the influence of South Beach. It also features a drive-thru for expedited service.

BEHIND THE SCENES Miami Grill's restaurant technology streamlines operations with open, cloud based, point-of-sale systems with easy-to-use platforms.

Self-ordering kiosks and tablets enhance the guest experience

and create faster checkouts, while inventory, scheduling, management reporting and other back-end systems streamline operations. Miami Grill is currently testing voice recognition technology for drive-thru to further optimize labor dollars.

Miami Grill’s training and support is an immersion program designed to allow an individual that has no restaurant experience to learn the business. They seek individuals with multi-unit experience. However, they have franchisees in their system that are doing well with no prior experience.

IT’S ALL ABOUT PASSION FOR THE BRAND AND A DRIVE TO SUCCEED! ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Ovens has over 30 years of leading domestic and international businesses in the US and overseas, extensive experience operating multi location businesses globally. For over 13 years he has helped individuals find alternative business opportunities for corporate employment. Contact John at 770-516-2184 or at johnovens@ thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com.

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FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM/SUBSCRIBE C O N TA C T U S I N F O @ F R A N C H I S E J O U R N A L . C O M

A DIVISION OF KEYSER

DON’T HAVE A REAL ESTATE DEPARTMENT?

WITH F.R.E.D.

NOW YOU DO WHAT’S F.R.E.D.?

Franchise Real Estate Department (F.R.E.D.) is your team of franchise commercial real estate experts.

F.R.E.D. IS ALWAYS

ON YOUR SIDE

As a franchise-focused division of Keyser, F.R.E.D. gives you all the power and resources of a commercial real estate brokerage, with a focus on franchising.

F.R.E.D. only represents tenants, never landlords, so you know we’ve always got your back and are ready to negotiate aggressively for you and your franchisee.

From site selection, to lease negotiations and hanging your official “Now Open” sign, F.R.E.D. helps remove the hassle by coordinating with construction, legal, and your landlord throughout the entire process at no cost to you or your franchisee.

CHAT WITH F.R.E.D. ROCCO FIORENTINO

rf@keyserco.com 609.206.4300

TY BREWSTER

tbrewster@keyserco.com 623.332.3201

OR VISIT US ONLINE www.keyserco.com/fred 602.9.KEYSER

EXPERT ADVICE

9 TIPS

Every Franchise Owner Needs To Know About Selling Their Business

Franchisees who are reaching the point at which they are considering selling their business often have questions about how to do so. A good succession plan is about three things: 1) Selling your business at the time of your choosing 2) Selling your to the person of your choosing 3) Selling your business at the price of your choosing.

With our experience in supporting franchise owners, Authority Brands has prepared nine tips every owner needs to know about selling their business.

1. Gather The Essential Documents

The first thing a franchise owner should do is create a Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect yourself when you begin to share business and financial information with potential buyers. Be sure to collect the following financial statements: Three full years of reconciled and potentially

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audited financial statements (cash flow statements, balance sheets, income statements), bank records, business records, tax returns, and current yearto-date financials. these records will bring financial certainty and a way to assess the business value to potential buyers.

2. Think About Mitigating Documents

Being organized and having a plan helps potential buyers

understand the business and create a plan of their own. Not to mention, it makes you and your business come across as well-managed so prospective buyers view it as a strong, low-risk investment. Create a plan to showcase you and your business. Here are some questions to ask yourself: Is the business’ success solely dependent on you? Is your dependent on one vendor?

Is your business tied to one territory? Is there more

IT IS ESSENTIAL TO QUESTION YOUR BUSINESS’S WORTH WELL AHEAD OF SELLING AND TO PLAN AN EXIT STRATEGY AND VALUE GOAL FROM DAY ONE. potential revenue available?

What are your company’s previous accomplishments?

3. Determine Your Business Value

A business is ultimately worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The best way to determine a fair price for your business is to look for outside help. Professional appraisers, such as a CPA or a business appraiser, can provide great help in finding your business’s value. Industry experts can also give much-needed knowledge, such as former franchise owners, business brokers, or bankers. It is essential to question your business’s worth well ahead of selling and to plan an exit strategy and value goal from day one. In order to consistently understand your business’s value and worth, you should know your EBITDA as banks/contributors focus on it heavily. Additionally, you should evaluate your business by looking at past trends to estimate your company’s future growth, estimating how long can you maintain current customer revenue, and learning your market value of debt and equity because the buyer will inherit it.

your family members or customers, key employees, suppliers, or even customers.

Here are three types of buyers you can consider selling to: • Strategic Buyer: Someone looking to see how your business fits into their company’s long-term plan • Investment Buyer: Someone interested in your company’s profitability and

stability for an investment opportunity • Internal Buyer: Family member or employee with plans for and knowledge of your business Regardless of the type of buyer, it is important to ensure that all prospective buyers have the necessary certifications, licenses, and/or credentials for your business.

4. Consider Who Will Buy Your Business

Who are your possible buyers?

They could be anyone from WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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TAKING CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS MEANS TAKING CARE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES, CLIENTS, AND CUSTOMERS, SO CHOOSE A BUYER YOU CAN TRUST.

6. Determine If A Buyer Is Qualified

5. Search For Qualified Buyers

During the first few months of your search, focus on marketing your business and finding qualified potential buyers. However, remain cautious about how much you’re spending and be sure not to alarm any employees or customers. In order to get buyers interested, consider investing in newspaper advertisements, trade publications, websites, business brokers, or the local chamber of commerce events. Remember to ask truly interested parties to sign an NDA for more information.

This will ensure that your privacy stays intact and that all your employees, customers, and clients will not be able to see your detailed financial statements.

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In order to properly screen buyers and achieve franchisor approval, you’ll need to request the following information from potential buyers: Financial statements, permission to run credit/background checks, ownership group structure, available funds to invest, financing sources, past judgments/bankruptcies.

Additionally, be sure the potential buyers meet the new franchise qualification and have the business knowledge to grow the company. In the end, taking care of your business means taking care of your employees, clients, and customers, so choose a buyer you can trust.

7. Ask Yourself If You Should Use A Business Broker

To help market your business to potential buyers, you could use a business broker who can help maintain confidentiality, negotiate, and vet buyers. It’s important to know that there is a brokerage fee. A business broker helps you maintain confidentiality, keeping the news of the sale away from customers and competitors.

Plus, the brokers are skilled negotiators and will only bring qualified buyers to you.

8. Create & Implement Your Perfect Marketing Plan

When implementing the best marketing plan for your business, constantly check that it fits your buyer audience and that you are not spending beyond your budget. You may be worried that list your business for sale locally would worry your employees.

Therefore, some efforts you could consider are advertising in local “business for sale” websites, classified newspaper listings, industry-specific publications, and networking events. Additionally, don’t forget to utilize social media and digital ads.

9. Negotiate on a Win/Win Price

A prospective buyer may walk away due to leverage, timing, information, communication, and emotion. Additionally, an owner may not sell for their asking price because of overvalued expectations, declining revenue and profitability, lack of effective marketing, and urgency to sell. When deciding on a price, make sure to understand the financing behind the business sale, which can vary from owner financing, cash purchase, and bank financing.

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 10,000 KIDS!

The Carson Scholars Fund Reaches 10,000 Scholarships

The Carson Scholars Fund (CSF), led by co-founders Dr. Ben Carson Sr. and his wife Candy Carson, has been recognizing and rewarding students who embody the American spirit for 25 years!

These young people from all 50 states and Washington DC not only dedicate themselves to excellence, particularly in academics, but they also demonstrate their humanitarianism through volunteer work, by creating their own charitable initiatives, and by addressing community needs through creative problem solving.

In July 2020, the Franchise Journal did a cover story on the CSF. At that time, it was shared that the CSF hoped to award its 10,000th scholarship in 2021. The CSF is thrilled to share that they have achieved this momentous goal and

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have awarded their 10,000th scholarship to an exemplary fourth grader, Derron Blake Jr. (DJ) of Palm Beach, Florida.

A ceremony was held on March 23, 2021, at the M/Y Café located in the Rybovich Marina to recognize DJ as a representative of all the incredible 2021 scholars and those who have come before him. Dr. and Mrs. Ben Carson Sr. were present to host the ceremony along with members of the CSF Palm Beach Chapter led by Mrs. Sande Constantine. Also in attendance were Caleb

and Savannah Bennett whose family funded the scholarship, as well as DJ’s family members, mentor, and scout leader. Principal Chanda Kinlaw of Northboro Elementary School in Palm Beach introduced DJ and Olivia Harper. DJ and Olivia are schoolmates who both shared the significant recognition of being named 2021 Carson Scholars.

DJ was presented with a large check and balloon bouquet in recognition of being the 10,000th scholar. He was provided the opportunity

to give a speech and said with great conviction, “Not only was I selected as a Carson Scholar, I am the 10,000th recipient of this prestigious award.” During the ceremony Dr. Carson shared the importance of the Carson Scholars program stating, “We are trying to create the leaders of tomorrow." Candy Carson added, "When you get behind them [Carson Scholars] with something like this and they feel affirmed for the dedication and sacrifice, because they do sacrifice.

They are working hard when others are out playing; they are developing themselves to be the best that they can be."

In his Carson Scholars application, DJ communicated, “I am an orator, Boy Scout, and community advocate who loves the earth. When I grow up, I want to participate in the same causes as an honorable

DJ WAS PRESENTED WITH A LARGE CHECK AND BALLOON BOUQUET IN RECOGNITION OF BEING THE 10,000TH SCHOLAR. HE WAS PROVIDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE A SPEECH AND SAID WITH GREAT CONVICTION, “NOT ONLY WAS I SELECTED AS A CARSON SCHOLAR, I AM THE 10,000TH RECIPIENT OF THIS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD.” politician. I want to lead with fairness, compassion, and dignity like my mentors, scout master, coaches, and Dr. Martin Luther King.”

DJ is a natural leader and peacemaker, ensuring all students’ voices are heard and respected. DJ’s leadership goes beyond the classroom. He has been involved in an ample amount

of community activities and public speaking events. DJ has given public speeches in the community ranging from topics on gun violence to promoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s message of equality and freedom for all individuals.

He has won many awards and has been recognized multiple times for his oratorical accomplishments.

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OLIVIA SHARED, "I'M REALLY PROUD OF BEING A CARSON SCHOLAR AND IT MAKES ME FEEL REALLY GOOD. I REALLY ENJOY READING AND I GET TO PUT A BIT OF MY READING SKILLS INTO MY WRITING AND IT'S REALLY FUN TO BE CREATIVE WITH WRITING." He is an active participant in the community, serving as a Webelos Boy Scout and mentee for K.O.P. Mentoring Network. He has also participated in food drives, clean-ups, and veteran assistance tasks.

2021 Carson Scholar, Olivia, is described as curious, modest, and confident in her creative process. She is highly esteemed by her teachers who say that she is genuine, witty, and well-rounded. Olivia writes well, analyzes reading accurately and maintains a 4.0

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GPA (including her 6th grade Advanced Mathematics class).

Olivia shared, "I'm really proud of being a Carson Scholar and it makes me feel really good.

I really enjoy reading and I get to put a bit of my reading skills into my writing and it's really fun to be creative with writing."

During the 2021 scholarship season, the CSF awarded 668 new scholars and 831 recognized scholars across the United States. The CSF has the dream of one day being able to name a Carson

Scholar in every school in the United States. These students will have the opportunity to be recognized in person in front of their families, educators, and community leaders at banquets across the country.

The CSF would like to express its appreciation to Mr. Nick Neonakis, the Franchise Consulting Company, the Franchise Journal and all our dedicated supporters who through their generosity have allowed the CSF to impact the lives of America’s youth.

o t k ClDiconate

F

90¢ OF EVERY $1 RAISED Goes Toward Benefiting Young Students carsonscholars.org

Start a Business.

Change Lives.

Your clients can do more than just start a profitable business.

Help them change lives by connecting talented employees to growing businesses as a part of the $160 billion staffing industry.

Want to learn more? Let's get started!

Visit AtWorkFranchise.com or call 888-553-1745 today!

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

On “Grow”ing Pains & Building a Purpose-Driven Business: The Shannon Allen Story

by Faizun Kamal, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company Get ready to meet Shannon Allen, ladies and gentlemen!

After reading this piece about her story and why she started her business with her husband, Ray Allen – 2X NBA champion, you will be inspired to “grow” your passion, whatever it may be.

I sat down with Shannon to get a peek behind the veil of what makes this mompreneur tick. And what I came away with was…. well, read on and decide for yourself!

What is your company? grown What is your title?

CEO/grownwoman

Please describe what our company does:

grown is the first ever USDA organic certified fast food restaurant (with a drive thru) in the US-we make “real food, cooked slow, for fast people.”™️

How did you start your business?

We were in LA for the 2008 NBA Finals (Lakers/Celtics).

This was the moment we had all prayed for, & the thing my husband Ray dreamed of & worked for his entire life- the NBA Championships.

Everything seemed perfect-

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except for one thing- our 17 month old son, Walker was suddenly not himself. He was lethargic, peeing thru his diaper, excessively thirsty and then began vomiting.

The night before Game 5, Ray said: “Shan, something’s wrong with Walker.” This is the night after he scored more three pointers in a finals game than any player in NBA History- after he went on a virtual rampage & helped his team come back from a massive deficit to win game 4- yet this is where his mind was. “Promise me when you wake up tomorrow, if he’s not himself, you’ll take him in.”

The next morning, I woke up in a pool of Walkers urine. He was lethargic, limp like a wet noodle. I rushed him to the hospital for a blood test. The doctor, face white, said: “Your blood sugar is supposed to be between 70-120; Walkers is 639. He has Type 1 Diabetes and is in ketoacidosis which means his blood sugar is poisoning him to death; if he doesn’t get insulin soon, you are going to lose him.”

THIS WAS THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING.

In an instant I became a warrior for my son- an activist,

an advocate. I threw myself into a life of intense focus & advocacy to raise awareness and money for research for a cure for my Walker & millions like him living with Type 1 Diabetes. It changed the course of our lives forever, and like his initial diagnosis, what happened next was the thing I never could’ve prepared myself for.

I was on my way to buy groceries for dinner and Walker, who was in his car seat, was suddenly suffering from extremely low blood sugar. I needed real food & I needed it NOW. I frantically scanned the highway in search of what I wanted- a delicious, freshly prepared meal made with organic ingredients & the convenience of a drive thrufor Walker and my sons who were all in tow.

What I quickly discovered was that what I was looking for did not exist and that

simple realization left me feeling powerless, defeated and broken.

For the first time since Walker’s diagnosis, I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.

It also empowered me to action. This was the moment that grown was born.

I called my husband Ray and told him we were going to reinvent fast food. It took eight years to get our doors open & 18 months to successfully complete our organic certification process.

We are thankful to our amazing #grownteam that continue to invest in this collective dream to make grown all over the country and the world, but most importantly to our community of grown guests in Coral Gables, Miami Dade and South Florida that overwhelmingly and faithfully support us with your patronage, loyalty and for championing grown every WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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single day. Your faith in our mission to change the world one USDA organic certified fast food meal at a time is the thing that sustains us.

I never dreamed of being a foodtrepreneur or restaurateur; the truth is, grown was born from pure frustration and desperation. grown is the future of fast food and we won’t stop until we are accessible and affordable to every family – regardless of mean income or zip code.

Walker is 13 years old now & is the most resilient, brilliant, loving, athletic, happy, joyful, kindhearted & talented person I know. To the world, Ray may be the 2x NBA Champ & Hall of Famer, but, in our house, Walker will always be the real MVP whose daily battle with diabetes gave birth to our family’s resilience, our shared grown mission & this extraordinary movement!

How long have you been open?

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary on March 25th!

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How has becoming an entrepreneur changed your life as a mom?

Every decision I make as a business owner has consequences- my children, my husband, my family-is what’s most important to me.

Whenever I am faced with an opportunity or a challenge I ask myself how it could positively or negatively affect my babies- our life. Being a Mom in business is like having an integrity halo.

How has motherhood changed your entrepreneurial mindset?

My children are so proud of what we’ve built-of our teamthat we are who we say we are.

This is what drives me.

How has motherhood made you better equipped to take on a leadership position within your respective field?

Moms are the ultimate jugglers- we all have a million balls in the air- chaos is our normal. If you are a small business owner and a mother

you are uniquely equipped for wearing many hats, multitasking, becoming an expert on the fly and assessing what needs to be done when-Moms are so clutch at prioritizingthis is an essential tool in business- what needs to happen right now? Ok, let’s do that. Everything else can wait.

I think a lot of time you can get bogged down in wanting everything to be “perfect” before you start- Moms are used to jumping in, getting our hands dirty and making shit happen.

How has the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affected it?

We are a restaurant, so it’s been increasingly challenging to navigate. However, the silver lining for us has been that even with the global pandemic; our flagship location (with drive thru) never closed- we’ve been able to service our customers at the drive thru, for pickups/ takeouts and thru our contactless at home delivery partners which ultimately

I NEVER DREAMED OF BEING A FOODTREPRENEUR OR RESTAURATEUR; THE TRUTH IS, GROWN WAS BORN FROM PURE FRUSTRATION AND DESPERATION. means our team members kept their jobs and are able to feed their families. Which was my primary concern- keeping our team and our guests safe.

Contributing to the health/ wellness of our community is our raison d’etre, so we have been especially cautious about safety protocols and pivoting as new information is dispersed.

Name one mentor that has played a pivotal part in your ongoing success and how they have impacted your career and overall professional mindset:

My Mom is my mentor.

She owns/operates the number one independently owned real estate company (Sterling Realtors) in central Connecticut. At 71 years young, she is still at the top of her a field- a Black woman with over 40 years of experience, wisdom and an impeccable reputation built on integrity, referral business and a desire to put families in homes. If I’m blessed enough to accomplish 1/1000th of what she has, I will have done better than I could’ve dreamed.

What is it about you that makes you uniquely positioned or prepared to be an entrepreneur?

I am an idea person by nature. Brainstorming, ideating and holding space for women/ momtrepreneurs to fulfill their dreams is the kind of work I

could do full time. So often we hear that folks are looking for “coaches” when what they really need is a cheerleader. I feel most alive and useful when I’m supporting the dreams of others.

Why do you think building a community of ambitious working moms so important?

Lol. Where do I start? So often we are looking for a place to be seen, heard, understood and valued- it’s the essential piece of the puzzle of personal fulfillment and feeling whole enough to actually put ourselves and our dreams first. Being a Black women in business- and not just any business- a business whose mission is reinventing fast food (no small task) it is essentially important for me not just to occupy a seat at the table- but, to build a banquet hall of my own with unlimited seats for passionate entrepreneurs to follow.

What do you want your child(ren) to learn from you as business leader and/or entrepreneur?

I hope my children know that when they have a problem that needs solving, they need look more further than their own imagination. Every great invention, business, good or service was derived by someone that was ultimately, solving their own problem.

If you are brave enough to create the thing you “wished” existed and you never lose

sight of your “why”- you won’t just solve your own problem, you’ll solve the problem of the masses.

What is the one question you get as a mom and an entrepreneur that you dislike answering the most? Why?

“Who built this for you?”

They’re implying that there’s some guy behind a curtain pulling the marionette strings that actually created grown and executed the dream; but, pushed me out front to be a spokesperson or face of the brand. Its offensive and ridiculous-but, I get it all the time. What they’re really saying is that I (a Black woman with 5 children, one of whom has a very serious medical condition, married to a professional athlete, couldn’t have possibly created it).

This year has been challenging, to say the least.

How are you maintaining positivity during this time?

Gratitude. We are alive and healthy. We have each other.

Nothing else matters.

What has been the most rewarding part of pandemic parenting and running a business simultaneously?

Loved every second of working from home & zoom school.

What do you hope the next generation of mom entrepreneurs learns from you and your experiences? Create the thing you wished existed.

WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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Voted #1 in Financing, Thanks to Our Franchise Partners.

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We’d love to help you succeed. Contact a Franchise Financing Consultant:

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Own a Creative, Dynamic Business in the $100 Billion Flooring Industry INDUSTRY TOTAL INVESTMENT: $180K-$200K Mobile Flooring Showroom We bring the showroom to the customer and bring her an experience the Amazon Way – where she wants it, when she wants it; IN HER HOME, with her own lighting and home décor.

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WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Two Guys and Some Oregano

F

rom their early days as spice merchants selling seasonings and blends to restaurants, the founders never settled for good enough.

When they discovered soup was often an afterthought, they set out on a mission to make Good, Really Good© soup using only the freshest ingredients possible. Now their mission to be undeniably better than “good enough” applies not only to our soup, but everything we do.

While we started with a single restaurant in 1998

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and 12 rotating daily soups, today’s Zoup! Eateries offer an enticing, innovative menu that pays homage to our rich soup and broth heritage with more than 70 locations in 16 states & Ontario, Canada. From salads and sandwiches to mac, broth

bowls & grain bowls, craft beverages and more, we’ve evolved our menu to keep up with the national demand for healthy options, but that’s not all. It’s what established us as the leader in soup and broth and it translates naturally to

FROM SALADS AND SANDWICHES TO MAC, BROTH BOWLS & GRAIN BOWLS, CRAFT BEVERAGES AND MORE, WE’VE EVOLVED OUR MENU TO KEEP UP WITH THE NATIONAL DEMAND FOR HEALTHY OPTIONS, BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.

the rest of our menu. Whether it’s with ingredients, recipes or techniques, we constantly explore opportunities to delight our guests with delicious, healthy and craveable food crafted from clean label ingredients.

20 years later Zoup! Eateries are the leader in the soup and broth restaurant category of Fast Casual. Our heat and serve “no cooking” format enable individuals with and without restaurant experience to focus on customer service and run a business that can become a big part of their community.

With no need for culinary staff or cooks our owners also enjoy family friendly hours in a $125.6 billion dollar industry with a lot of repeat customers.

Today’s 1,300 to 1,600 square foot restaurants offer state-of -the- art ordering and delivery technology and a customer friendly design that give guests the experience they want whether they’re ordering online, through the app, curbside, on the go or looking to sit and savor their meal.

OUR HEAT AND SERVE “NO COOKING” FORMAT ENABLE INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE TO FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE AND RUN A BUSINESS THAT CAN BECOME A BIG PART OF THEIR COMMUNITY.

For more information on a Zoup! Eatery franchise, visit zoupfranchise.com WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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LOOKING FOR SOMETHING

Investment Range: $357.900 - $695,500

DIFFERENT?

ZoupFranchise.com

248-210-5588

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY OPPORTUNITIES

PATRICE & ASSOCIATES Recruiting Specialists We Help Grow Great Brands!

T

he hospitality industry has seen a lot of ups and downs over the past year. The pandemic has certainly flipped the industry upside down, but one thing that consistently rings true is that hospitality always bounces back in a big way.

Historically, the industry is one of the strongest contributors to the GDP. As we look to 2021, we expect a strong resurgence, and the data is there to support it. Americans have shown a strong pent-up demand for going back out to eat!

Data from the National Restaurant Association shows that 83% of adults say they are not eating out at restaurants as often as they would like. This percentage is almost double of what we saw before the pandemic.

As the vaccine starts to roll out and we head into Spring, restaurants will be gearing up for a strong round of hiring. We expect to see a lot of growth from fast-food and fast casual restaurants, many of which saw their same store sales sky rocket due to increased take out and delivery demand. There is also a surplus of real estate

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THERE ARE STILL MILLIONS OF HOSPITALITY VETERANS THAT WILL BE RE-ENTERING THE WORKFORCE THIS YEAR. THAT’S WHY PATRICE & ASSOCIATES, THE NATION’S LARGEST HOSPITALITY RECRUITING FIRM, IS SO OPTIMISTIC REGARDING A STRONG YEAR FOR HIRING. which should make it easier to find locations for the brands that have significant growth goals.

There are still millions of hospitality veterans that will be re-entering the workforce this year. That’s why Patrice & Associates, the nation’s largest hospitality recruiting firm, is so optimistic regarding a strong year for hiring. Many of our current clients have come back with significant job orders for 2021 and several large brands

have approached us to handle their hiring needs in the coming year. This isn’t just for manager level employees, these openings also include Director and Exec level positions from any discipline, from marketing, to operations, sales, and even technology. Our 175 current franchise locations are gearing up for a strong 2021.

The Patrice & Associates franchise model is unique in that it offers a low investment, home based model, with

unlimited scalability, and a fast path to cash flow. The opportunity to earn revenue quickly is due to their national relationships with some of the strongest brands in the industry, including companies like Panera Bread, Wing Stop, Aramark, etc. Franchisees can build teams of recruiters and quickly develop their own account base to create passive income. Patrice & Associates is consistently ranked as one of the top 100 franchise brands to invest in under $100,000. We have strong growth plans and are projecting an additional 40 new franchisees this calendar year. With available territory in almost every major market in North America, there is a lot of opportunity!

For more information: patriceandassociates.com WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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Recruiting Specialists

We’ve added EXECUTIVE SEARCH to our popular model

MORE POSSIBILITIES SAME LOW PRICE

TAKING EXECUTIVE RECRUITING TO THE NEXT LEVEL While we will still maintain our staffing services in our CORE niche, expanding into Executive Search opens up more possibilities, for the same, low price franchise offering, thereby exponentially increasing franchisees ability to maximize ROI in a home based, low overhead, professional model.

With the Patrice & Associates Executive Search channel, franchisees can: Create an additional revenue stream to impact ROI Place professional, management and C Suite positions both in and outside of hospitality Take advantage of industries and job functions that are booming RIGHT NOW! Secure higher fees

Examples of Recent Executive Search Placements include: Multi Store Operations Supervisor, Brand Grocery Store Chain Executive Chef, Hospital Chief Operating Officer, Lawn Care Company Director of Marketing, Nationwide Dry Cleaning Company Director of Finance, Global Entertainment Company

About the Pandemic Patrice & Associates has continued to service its clients throughout the Pandemic and beyond. With more and more businesses beginning to resume operations, they are calling on us to help them re-staff and backfill positions in our CORE niche of Hospitality and Food/Beverage. We’re getting leads for new clients every week that want our help. As the economy rebounds, we’ll be there to help our client’s staff back up!

TACTICAL LASER TAG FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES LASER TAG REDEFINED FOR ADULTS AND TEENS Team Combat combines cutting edge interactive immersion technology with a complete, turnkey franchise system to offer unique entertainment opportunities.

TACTICAL LASER TAG LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE

Team Combat creates realistic combat simulations for fun, sport, or tactical training purposes. This is a new concept of fun and entertainment. Each Team Combat site has a 8,000-10,000+ square foot facility and offers a Tactical Laser Tag experience that is immersive, stimulating, and satisfying for adults and teens.

Our laser combat system is state of the art and contains the same technology used by the US Military. Many area SWAT teams, the US Navy, the Army National Guard and the Drug Enforcement Agency all use our equipment and facilities. This isn’t kiddie laser tag but it doesn’t require participants to have any specials skills or to be athletic. Everyone can enjoy the competition.

TACTICALGAMINGSYSTEMS.COM | (219) 200-5010 | JACK@TACTICALGAMINGSYSTEMS.COM

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

TERIYAKI MADNESS

Celebrates 100th Shop Opening on the Heels of Exceptional Growth in 2020

by Jodi Boyce, Chief Marketing Off icer, Teriyaki Madness

Hometown husband-and-wife entrepreneurs will open this milestone shop, their second location of this booming franchise with more on the way.

Hey, ya’ll. Teriyaki Madness is about to hit the big 100.

And it feels like a Texas-sized celebration is in order!

The rapidly expanding fast casual chain of Seattle-style teriyaki bowls will proudly open its 100th shop in Katy, Texas on April 1.

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That means 2021 is shaping up to be yet another big year for these intrepid teriyaki troupers, which opened 30 new Teriyaki Madness shops in 2020, 25 during the pandemic, even as COVID-19 crisis made 2020 a daunting year for the restaurant industry.

This year, the 18-year-old Denver-based powerhouse is accelerating dramatically.

After taking years building the infrastructure, processes and team while proving the business model nationwide, it’s turning up the heat. The brand brought on qualified franchisees for 18 new shops in January and February. By the end of this year, Teriyaki Madness will add another 45-50

open shops throughout North America and another 50 new franchisees to their system.

2022 is already shaping up to add another 50%+ growth to a quickly growing success story.

SOME OTHER 2020 ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDE: • Systemwide revenue increased 48% compared to 2019.

• Same Shop Sales increased 18%+ through Covid.

• 78% of franchisees are pursuing additional locations.

• New shops are opening even bigger and better with a 45% year-over-year increase in grand opening sales due to brand awareness.

• The corporate team grew 50% to support system growth.

“Opening our 100th shop in Katy is a real achievement for us as a brand, of course.

It’s extremely gratifying that we have such strong support from our customers,” said Michael Haith, CEO of Teriyaki Madness. “The last 12 months have been a difficult one for the industry, but we’ve been able to buck the trend by depending on our best-inclass technology investment and the commitment of the franchisee shop owners to the communities we serve.”

Even better news: the Katy location’s franchise owners, husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Sylvester and Shadia John, are already part of the TMAD fam — and like most of the rest of the TMAD community, are rapidly expanding.

Sylvester, a 27-year-military veteran, and Shadia, who worked for 20 years as a bank manager, settled in Houston after his military career ended and his work as a safety specialist for Chevron brought him to the area. They were originally attracted to TMAD by the robust training and support since they had zero experience in the restaurant industry.

They’re excited about opening this milestone 100th shop for the brand and already have plans for a third shop as well.

“The fact that we’re opening the 100th Teriyaki Madness shop is thrilling to us, both as entrepreneurs and fans of this brand,” said Shadia. “We wanted to be with a brand that had a lot of growth going for it, and we know we found the right partner in

Teriyaki Madness.” Sylvester echoed those feelings. “TMAD is a fast-growing brand that offers quality, innovative food options,” he said. “In addition, the profit margin really appealed to us, and we knew we could reach our financial success with this brand.” * This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy a franchise. It is for informational purposes only.

“THE LAST 12 MONTHS HAVE BEEN A DIFFICULT ONE FOR THE INDUSTRY, BUT WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO BUCK THE TREND

BY DEPENDING ON OUR BEST-IN-CLASS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AND THE COMMITMENT OF THE FRANCHISEE SHOP OWNERS TO THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE.” — Michael Haith, CEO of Teriyaki Madness WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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434-995-5582

HandymanPro.com

What does it mean to be a Handyman Pro Franchisee?

Low overhead

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Standardize your customer relations management and business planning with our customized technology

Take advantage of our established systems and

business partnerships to find handymen and lead sources.

Handyman Pro, LLC 630 Peter Jefferson Parkway #200 Charlottesville, VA 22911

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Farewell 2020: Emerging Sports Bar Brand Looking Forward to 2021

2020 has been a year that most Americans are glad to put behind them, and Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar owner Gary Huether, Jr. knew that his best path forward was through, so he carved out the brand’s place in the takeout and delivery market space for a new pathway to continued growth and expansion.

Enlisting partners such as Olo for online ordering and Paytronix for Arooga’s mobile app and customer loyalty incentives, the brand found ways to streamline the order and delivery system for its guests, as well as reward them

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for their takeout orders in the process which has helped them see exponential growth in off-premise sales.

The brand is also looking at different models for growth, which include smaller, fastcasual style concepts.

"We’re in the works right now for a small footprint Arooga’s. We have some concept drawings done, and we’ve moved forward making those a reality with takeout and delivery becoming such a

big thing," said Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar Owner and President, Gary Huether Jr. "Right now, it’s between 4,000 to 5,000 square feet.

We’ll look to keep that around 4,000 with still having a bar and dining area."

Looking to 2021 to stimulate the brand’s growth, Arooga’s is offering free franchise fees for life to new owners through June 30, 2021.

"We’re running a free franchise fee for life, so a new franchisee gets their fee credited back to them when it opens for the first restaurant and all future restaurants," said Gary

Huether, Jr. "We thought about what the motivation would be for someone right now, and tied that in with lower rent and real estate opportunities, and thought that might be a great opportunity for an entrepreneur to come in."

Four-time Entrepreneur Magazine Top Franchise 500 ranked Arooga's Grille House & Sports Bar is an innovative restaurant group that currently offers several different models for investment: their traditional sports themed and entertainment focused concept, an urban design with a similar theme and a flexible floorplan with reduced square footage, and their Tap & Kitchen concept which focuses on modern industrial

design, craft beer, and kitchen featuring sustainably raised, no antibiotic ever proteins along with local and organic produce. Arooga’s offers franchising opportunities for their concepts to qualified multi-unit candidates. For

more information on available markets in the US and internationally please visit www.aroogasfranchising. net, or contact Keith Swade, Director of Franchise Development at keithswade@ aroogas.com.

WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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FREE FRANCHISE FEE

Free Franchise Fee FOR LIFE*

WINNER OF

For more information please contact our Director Of Franchisee Development

KeithSwade@aroogas.com *For any new Franchisee’s through June 30th, 2021 you will pay the Franchise Fee of $49,500 at the time you sign the franchise agreement. When your Arooga’s location opens we will credit back your franchise fee by crediting your royalty payments. If you sign a Multi-unit franchise agreement we will honor this offer for all locations included in that Multi-Unit Franchise agreement.

START YOUR OWN

CASINO PARTY RENTAL BUSINESS 21fun.com

NOW IS THE BEST TIME! Thousands of Event & Party Planners, and probably hundreds in your area, are looking for ways to entertain their clients, family, and friends with smaller gatherings during this year’s pandemic. At this point, everyone is completely Zoomed out. America wants to get back to celebrating and having fun again.

NOW, is the perfect time to build relationships with Event Planners and local businesses. Today smaller parties are the safe trend, and in 2021, there will be a steep increase in demand for entertainment accommodating larger gatherings.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Hi, Welcome to 21 FUN, we are very excited to offer franchise opportunities for a very unique & niche business Casino Party Rentals.

It means it’s a great time to get in, and be the first in your area to start this high growth potential niche franchise. There is no limit to the type of events and revenue opportunities we offer, including; Weddings & Anniversaries Celebrations, Birthdays & Graduation Parties, Fundraiser & Charity Events, Team Building & Employee Appreciation gettogethers, Poker Tournaments & Poker Nights, Holiday Parties, Private and Social Events, all types of Corporate Events, Tradeshows & Conventions, Bachelor(ette) Parties, and more. The list goes on and on!

17 years ago, I started 21 Fun

POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH

so much growth potential

The 21 Fun team will offer unrivaled training and support to each franchisee as they join our 21 Fun family. The company’s operating model is simple and has been structured with well-defined processes and growth systems in place, allowing for ease of replication.

Initial training will be held at the headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area or Las Vegas. Summer training is available in Lake Tahoe, as well. For almost 20 years, we have mastered the ability to market, sell, and execute private & corporate Casino Parties & Events. 21 Fun is poised to expand operations in major metropolitan areas across the United States.

that is not only stress-free,

MAKING CONNECTIONS 21 Fun has an A+ Better Business Bureau Rating and an impressive reputation with Event & Party Planners. Event Planners are VERY particular who they bring on to represent them for events. 21 Fun will guide you with the ins and outs of securing the event planning business and will reach out to introduce ourselves on your behalf, if you wish. Generally, Event and Party Planners will not risk their reputation of bringing onboard any new contractor without knowing about their history. 21 FUN has the experience and reputation to help you succeed.

INCREASED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY From photo booths, to prop rentals, and the latest trend of piping hot mini donuts for all kinds of events. We’ve done it all. There are so many fun ways to increase your earnings potential to the max! Ask us about high value potentional add-ons to your 21FUN Franchise.

Pitboss@21funcasino.com

Casino Party as a hobby and here we are today offering franchises. I just love it!

Truly, this is a business with

but is FUN! Please feel free to browse our page, imagine the FUN and if you have any questions, please contact us.

John Scarborough

BUSINESS ADVICE

Making Money in a Food Franchise

by Dave Roemer, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

I

n more than 30 years in franchising, just about everyone I have ever talked with about becoming a franchisee asks one question, “How much money can I make?” That is a perfectly valid question to which the most likely answer is “It depends.”

Maybe a better question to ask for any franchise but particularly for a food franchise is “HOW do I make money?” That question should get you some excellent

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answers. If it doesn’t, you’re probably looking at the wrong franchise.

Like any business, the formula for making money in food can be broken down generically and simply. Sales less costs equals profit. So, to make money, you need to grow your sales and control your costs. Notice I said control your costs rather than minimize your costs. There’s a big difference but more on that in a minute.

Since many of the costs in a food franchise are either fixed dollar amounts or percentages that should remain pretty consistent, the most important factor to making money is growing top line sales. To do that consistently, there are a couple key factors: 1. Be consistently strong at the basics of quality, service and cleanliness.

2. Make sure your franchise is good at introducing Limited Time Offers (LTO’s) The first factor falls squarely on your shoulders. You must provide your customers with a consistently good experience on every visit. Notice I said good, not great; here’s why.

Running a food business is hard and it is dependent upon a lot of things going right every day. Being great takes time so if you want to grow sales, being consistent is more important than being great.

Customers hate surprises. Few things will ruin your business faster than being great one day and poor the next. Work on being consistent first then gradually become great.

The other factor important to consistent sales growth is up to your franchisor. The best brands create news and excitement consistently by introducing LTO’s. They bring in a product for a short time

to create excitement and give people a reason to visit for the first time or to visit more often.

Then they take it away. They do that so they can create pent up demand and bring it back. Think McDonald’s McRib. Maybe not the greatest product ever but people get excited when it comes back.

The other answer to the “How do I make money” question is to control costs.

The thing to remember about the food business is that it is a business of nickels and dimes.

By that I mean that to make money you need to manage the small things. Notice I used words like control and manage. I did not say minimize or limit. If you start thinking about minimizing costs, the tendency is to cut corners and in the food business especially, cutting corners leads to less top line sales because customers notice quickly.

All that said, there are three main categories of costs you will need to get right.

They are: 1. Occupancy costs 2. Food costs 3. Labor costs Occupancy costs are controlled before you ever open your doors. The biggest item in this category is rent.

You also need to consider Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges if you are in a strip center and taxes if you have a free-standing building.

Total occupancy cost should be absolutely no more than 10% of sales. That means rent needs to be no more than 7%- 8% with the ideal range being 5%-7%. To get these numbers right, you need to be confident in your first year

THE THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE FOOD BUSINESS IS THAT IT IS A BUSINESS OF NICKELS AND DIMES. sales projections. Taking too long to grow sales to the point where the percent makes sense can be fatal.

Food cost is the next major cost to control. If your franchisor does not have a system that allows you to determine an ideal food cost using your menu mix and pricing structure, that is not the franchise for you.

Controlling food cost is a matter of what I call “gap control”. Your business will have an ideal food cost percent that is calculated using the amount of every menu item you sell, the cost to produce each item and the selling price. The “gap” is the amount your actual cost, based on a physical inventory, differs from the ideal. The gap is caused by human error and waste. Usually the waste factor is no more than 1% but can be slightly higher depending on the brand.

Waste is necessary and realistic in any food business.

For example think about french fries. Fries are an item that must be cooked ahead of time and held rather than cooked to order. Fries are used on most orders so having them on hand at all times is critical to service speed. Unfortunately fries get cold quickly so they cannot be held for long. To balance service with quality, fries will be wasted. It is part of the business. The trick is to waste the right amount.

The third major cost to

control is labor. The primary way to control labor is to have the right amount of people scheduled at the right time.

There are too many factors to discuss here but the main idea is this: having too many people for the sales you bring in costs you profits. Not having enough people costs you sales. Think about the last time someone walked out of a restaurant because they were obviously understaffed.

The bottom line is there are all kinds of small things that impact your bottom line in the food business. When investigating food franchises make sure you ask the franchisor and franchisees how they make money and listen carefully to their answers. If they are able to talk details, keep talking. If they sound vague or say things like, “worry about the top line and the bottom line will happen”, say thank you and move on.

If you have interest in a food franchise, give me a call. I am happy to answer any questions and guide you through the process of evaluating which ones are the best.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dave is a Franchise Consultant with more than 30 years in franchising as a franchisor and a franchisee.

In 2013, he became a franchisee of Action Coach and learned franchising from a franchisee’s perspective.

He has a a BS in Business from the University of Phoenix and an MBA from Stetson University. He can be reached at DRoemer@ thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com or 740-972-9841

WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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Conserva Irrigation Announces Accelerated Growth Plans and a New Partnership with Franchise FastLane to Increase its Expansion Across the United States Revolutionary Water Conservation Focused Irrigation Company Plans Accelerated Expansion After Reaching 100 Locations in Three Years and Posting Significant 2020 Sales Growth

RICHMOND, VA (December 17, 2020) — Conserva Irrigation, the only national outdoor irrigation company founded on the concept of water conservation, announced today it has partnered with the country’s leading franchise sales organization, Franchise FastLane, as part of its strategy to significantly accelerate the growth of the business throughout the United States.

This comes shortly after Conserva Irrigation announced earlier this month that, as the largest and first-to-market franchise in the irrigation industry, it had

eclipsed 100 territories operational.

Conserva Irrigation operates underneath the Outdoor Living Brands umbrella organization, a franchise company that has successfully scaled four similar exterior home services franchises.

After testing the business model in various pilot markets for five years, Conserva Irrigation was launched as a franchise by Outdoor Living Brands in mid2017. Chris Grandpre, Chairman & CEO of Outdoor Living Brands, said “We’ve admired Franchise FastLane’s ability to deliver exponential franchise growth to its partner brands. After

our organization is ready to support the exponential growth that we’re confident Franchise FastLane will deliver. We’ve invested in the support team and support systems plus we have the experience and track record gained from our other brands to handle an increased pace of new Conserva franchise location openings. In light of how selective Franchsie FastLane is, we’re thrilled to partner with them for this next chapter of our growth.”

According to Carey Gille, President of Franchise FastLane, “We conducted preliminary due diligence on nearly 400 franchise brands in 2020, but brought on less than ten as new brand partners. We are extremely selective in search of the most compelling franchise opportunities.

We look for concepts with strong unit economics for franchisees, attractive ROI’s, happy and successful franchisees who support the brand’s growth, and methodically testing a franchisor willing and able to the Conserva support the expedited growth Irrigation business that Franchise FastLane will model for five bring. Outdoor Living Brands years and then has a proven track record and building it to a experience scaling franchise 100+ unit franchise businesses. That track record system over the and financial strength, combined last three years, with Conserva’s first-to-

market positioning and its differentiated business model makes this a compelling franchise offering for Franchise FastLane to represent.”

Labeled as an essential business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Conserva Irrigation’s rapid growth can be credited to innovation, teamwork and culture, and the strength of its business model and proprietary processes to audit irrigation systems.

Conserva’s methodology includes a quantitative rating of the water efficiency of an irrigation system called the System Efficiency Score or “SES”. The SES allows a residential or commercial property owner to understand how much water their sprinkler systems are wasting, as well as to understand what repairs and improvements need to be made to reduce water consumption and lower water bills while keeping turf and plant material healthy.

“Conserva Irrigation is proud to be the industry leader in providing responsible, water-efficient irrigation solutions to our clients, while helping our franchisees to build vibrant businesses that allow them to achieve their personal career, lifestyle and financial goals,” stated Russ Jundt, founder

of Conserva Irrigation and brand leader of the business unit under Outdoor Living Brands. “We are excited to have the opportunity to accelerate the pace of adding new franchisees and locations to our system in partnership with Franchise FastLane.”

In addition to its growth, Conserva Irrigation recently jumped more than 1,400 spots in this year’s Inc. 5000 ranking, which lists companies based on their percentage of revenue growth from 2016 to 2019.

Conserva Irrigation also experienced its highest sales months in June and July 2020 since the company’s inception in 2010.

With a successful track record, Conserva Irrigation has remained nimble during the pandemic to sustain company growth.

It adjusted field operating procedures and launched virtual franchisee training this year allowing it to continue its supporting new franchise openings while maintaining social distancing requirements.

Conserva Irrigation is planning expansion throughout the United States and continues to seek single and multi-unit franchise operators with a range of corporate experience, independent or franchise business owners looking for diversification opportunities, and irrigation companies seeking to align with Conserva’s proven business model and systems.

Incentives are also available for veterans, multi-territory agreements, and those with existing irrigation businesses.

To learn more about Conserva Irrigation, email conservaleads@franchisefastlane.com.

BUSINESS ADVICE

Investing in a Restaurant Franchise is Simply Delicious in 2021

by Seth Lederman, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

“HOPE RISES LIKE A PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES OF SHATTERED DREAMS.”

T

here is finally some positive energy in the air and the hope that everything will return to normal with things like the COVID vaccine. To say that 2020 was a challenging year for all industries, especially restaurants, would not do the year justice. In 2020, the restaurant industry’s sales fell across the board by 17%. Individual store profits declined by 20%. The restaurants that fared best were the ones that already had limited-service options.

They were well poised to adapt and switch gears in March and April when nearly 9% of all food sales were related to offsite consumption.

Forecasts are Looking Up! The good news is that the forecast for the restaurant industry heading deep into

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—S.A. Sachs 2021 looks bright. According to the National Restaurant Association, sales for eating out will likely increase as we hit a recovery period. Although 2020 was the most challenging year that the restaurant industry has ever seen, with a nearly 20% decline in sales, 2021 hopes to see massive gains. But it is anticipated that there will be a difference between limitedservices versus full-service restaurants. Forecasts are that limited-service restaurants will enjoy an 8% increase in nominal sales, which equals a 4% real rise in revenue, with full-service being a little less.

Where are the Forecasts Coming From?

One thing that we all learned from the pandemic is that things don’t always go as planned. We also knew how much eating out and dining

with friends and family was essential to our socialization.

And as we all hope that things will ease and social distancing can go back to social interaction, our desire for dining out is projected to be strong. Currently, an estimated 83% of Americans reported that they were not dining out as much as they would like.

Consumer Trends 2020 was undoubtedly an unprecedented and uncertain year. The restaurants that survived did so by acting quickly to change their food delivery and processing practices to meet the pandemic’s demands. Most desire for their lives to return to pre-pandemic norms, but some changes will continue to be desirable even when all businesses are open without restrictions.

restaurants had to keep on their menus only the meals that a small kitchen staff could manage. Most importantly, the items that were going out had to be carry-out-friendly, meaning that they could retain their taste and quality on-the-go. The stripped-down menus are likely going to continue until, as a society, we reach a level of more certainty of how life is going to be going forward.

Comfort Foods Consumers have made their wants known, and comfort foods are one of them. Up to a third of restaurants, from upscale to nutritious, are adding more choices that align with consumer wants like pot pies, soups, burgers, and pizza.

People enjoy having the option for easy curbside pick-up and delivery to work with their business schedules. Restaurants that can incorporate those options - and do it well, delivering the same quality in carry-out as eat-in - will likely increase their revenue for decades to come.

Streamlined Menus One of the biggest hurdles of surviving the pandemic for restaurants was the unpredictability of ordering.

Without the ability to gauge customer demand, many found themselves without the right amount of inventory or with too much stock. Fullservice restaurants have always prided themselves on providing more choices and culinary tastes. But many fullservice operators decided early on to focus and have more streamlined menus to reduce disappointing customers by being out of products or risking product loss.

With staff diminishing,

Off-Premises is a MUST Before the pandemic, 80% of those eating out preferred the dine-in experience over carry-out and delivery. In March, when the shutdowns began, restaurants had to adjust how they delivered their consumers’ options. When forced to close their dining areas, the ones that pivoted quickly fared best.

The shift had to be made instantaneously from dining-in to other customer experiences, which didn’t require face-to-face service.

It was indeed a time of more transition than the restaurant industry has ever experienced.

But those who successfully perfected the dine-out option will likely see it pay off for the long-term.

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Meal Kits Became Popular The best way to deliver hot and fresh food to the consumer is to cook it at home. The allure of having all the ingredients laid out made home cooking fun again for many individuals.

Take-home kits introduced the concept of cooking to many who had never given it a try before. Statistics indicate that up to 75% of both Generation Z and Millennial consumers enjoy meal kits that allow them to cook their restaurant favors when they want them fresh out the oven.

Mix and Match One recent trend is taking bits and pieces from favorites restaurants and adding your

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own twist. Millennials are wild about ordering their favorite appetizer and following it up with a main dish from a different restaurant or prepared at home. They are good with making one part of the meal but want to have a favorite dish from a restaurant to accompany it.

Adding Grocery Sales People want convenience. If you can order food from your favorite restaurant and quality groceries simultaneously, that eliminates a step from your already-busy schedule and a trip to the store. More than 50% of consumers say that they would be delighted to buy groceries like dairy, pasta, or meat from restaurants along with their order.

Meal Subscriptions With an introduction that slightly pre-dated the pandemic, meal subscriptions became wildly popular during the shutdowns.

Meal subscriptions allow consumers to either pick up or have their meals delivered for a discounted rate. More than half of all people polled said they would sign up if subscriptions were available from their favorite restaurants.

Alcohol-to-go While many restaurants suffered from the loss of alcohol sales, the consumer feels as if they suffered, too. A third of twenty-one or older consumers report that they ordered from a restaurant that allowed takeout or delivery of

alcohol. Although it wasn’t an option for most pre-pandemic, those who do it now would like the trend to continue. Many enjoy signature cocktails and their favorite meal when dining out and want to have the same “experience” at home.

Diet-Specific and Healthy Meals Just like people crave comfort, many are looking for healthy and diet-specific alternatives. Restaurants are quickly trending toward offering more specific meals

like vegan or gluten-free options and lower-calorie meals to a growing consumer base that is finding weight loss and maintaining health important to their overall routine, whether eating in or dining out.

10 TIPS FOR FRANCHISE OWNERS

If you are one of the many employees in America looking forward to life returning to normal but not heading back to the daily grind, owning a restaurant franchise is an excellent investment to consider. To ensure that you have the most success, follow these tips.

1. Learn as much about the franchise as you can - Carefully peruse the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) to get a comprehensive overlook of the company’s finances.

They are required to disclose information according to the law.

2. Check their return on investment projections You want to increase the likelihood of knowing what your investment will look like long-term. Understand what the profit versus liability ratio is and the total investment required to buy-in.

3. Ask about the management team’s credentials, and information - How successful as a group are they? How much success do they have with training programs? It is good to know how much support you will get for the long-term and when you need it.

4. Talk to current and

previous owners - Find out what current franchisees’ experiences were. How long did it take to make a profit, and how satisfied are they now?

to take: owner/operator or executive owner? How much time and attention will it require, and what type of talent will you need to retain for success?

5. What is the long-term viability? - What is their track record? If they are a startup, what do they have to offer? If you are going to buy into the franchise, you should know what to expect ten years down the line - or even 30.

9. What is the average sales growth? What are comp stores sales doing?

Are they currently flat or on the decline?

6. Examine your location What are territorial rights?

What is the competition in your locale? How much of a demand is there where you want to open up a business?

7. How complex is it to run?

Is it turnkey, or will it take a long time to get up and running?

8. What does the management look like?

What role are you going

10. Some franchises will provide financing, but sometimes all-cash at the start is safer - know what your expenses will be and how much financing you’ll need.

If you are considering switching gears to grow your wealth and find a better work/life balance, becoming a restaurant franchise owner might be the best solution. With forecasts looking up for the year ahead, now might be the ideal time to get in and grow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Seth Lederman, a Franchise Acquisition and Development Specialist, is a Multi-faceted entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in small business success, including ownership and sale of his own business enterprises. He is a frequent contributing author to The Franchise Journal and is on the exclusive Forbes Business Council. Contact him at 312-307-1297 or at seth@thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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Jeff has served as a YPO Chapter Chair, is a member of CEO, and has served in various capacities with the following organizations: Novant Health, IFA Franchisor Forum St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. and The Minority Wealth Commission.

ABOUT THE SHOW Unpacking experiences from today's proven visionaries, action-takers and business athletes to understand the perspective, decisions and fundamentals that can be applied to your life.

Topics include pursuit of learning, health and wellness, leadership, entrepreneurship and much more!

Other guests include: Kevin McCarthy, Nikheel Advani, Devan Kline, Nick Friedman,Josh Wall and more!

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Leading the Plant-Based Food Revolution!

by Camantha Magoon, Communications & Content Specialist, FranDevCo

According to the International Food Information Council, 54% of consumers, and 63% of those 50 and over, care more about the healthiness of their food and beverage choices in 2020 than they did in 2010.

This upward trend has pushed

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health-focused brands like Village Juice Company to the top of their local markets with a consistent year over year increase in corporate revenue, from $600k in 2016 to $2.4MM in 2019 and a projected $14MM by 2024.

“WE ARE REALLY ENCOURAGED WITH SALES THIS YEAR.

BY MID MARCH, THE MAJORITY OF OUR LOCATIONS HAVE SEEN RECORD WEEKS, SOME HAVE HAD THEIR BEST WEEK IN YEARS OR EVEN SINCE OPENING. OUR CONCEPT IS POISED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE DURING THIS RECOVERY AND MOVING FORWARD.” —Clyde Harris, Village Juice Company Co-Founder & CFO

Village Juice Company (AKA Village Juice or VJCo.) is not only a leader in their industry, but they are also at the forefront of the plant-based movement with an award as The Best Vegetarian Restaurant in the WinstonSalem Journal three years running, and a shout out from Olivia Culpo herself!

The former Miss Universe and fellow Charlotte based restaurant Co-Owner named the local Village Juice location as one of her favorite restaurants in the area, and it’s obvious why.

The brand’s farm-to-table and diverse menu options are competitive advantages that keep their consumers happy and coming back.

Which is a straight correlation to their impressive ROI. Nutrition is Key Plant-based foods are finally beginning to gain popularity with the American people based on the record 29% growth that healthy, nonprocessed foods have seen in the past two years, and with VJCo., eating a healthy, wellbalanced diet with a variety of delicious protein options and an assortment of fruits and vegetables is at the core of their dining experience.

They believe real food doesn’t contain ingredients; they are the ingredients! Everything on their menu is pressed, squeezed, ground, pureed, mixed, chopped, and crafted in-house, and that is why Village Juice is changing the way consumers experience healthy. In the U.S., 98% of all juices sold are heat pasteurized, but not at Village

AT VILLAGE JUICE COMPANY, IT’S ABOUT MORE THAN JUST BEING A RESTAURANT. IT IS A NEW WAY TO APPROACH LIVING A HEALTH-CONSCIOUS LIFESTYLE! Juice. All of their food is Mother Earth approved, and from their sales and reviews, their consumers are loving it! “This is the BEST place for vegan/vegetarian options! The food was amazing, and I feel so good after eating it! I’ve found my new favorite spot” VJCo. Customer Co-Founder and Creative Director Lonnie Atkinson knows first-hand the benefits of a plant-based diet. She has been through her own healing with plant-based foods in addition to seeing what a difference eating plant-based foods could do for her mother during her battle with cancer. The impact that a diet centered around fruits and vegetables had on her

mother’s recovery is a big part of why Lonnie is so passionate to bring not only the menu, but also the culture and values of Village Juice to the public.

For the brand, they sum this up pretty simply: “From a plant? Eat it. Made in one?

Don’t.”

Their consumers come from a variety of diverse backgrounds, with college students positioned at the top of the list. It’s no secret that college students don’t always have the best food and beverage options available to them, and they are changing the name of the game when it comes to what they are looking for nutritionally. Nearly half of all students follow a special diet or avoid at least

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one allergen, and 79% of students try to reduce the amount of meat they eat. With these restrictions, it can be hard for them to treat their body well while on a college campus, and that is where Village Juice comes in.

Advancing in Their Market The brand began their growth onto college campuses in 2017 when Wake Forest University approached them about putting a location on their campus. Since then, they have started to research and advance within this new market and in 2020 they reached a Master Licensing

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Agreement with Aramark to grow the Village Juice brand and place restaurants and products nationally on university campuses.

This agreement with a billion-dollar company has made Village Juice Co. a premier brand within Aramark's Harvest Table Culinary Group. It has also set them up to launch their expansion across the nation and put locations on every campus! Now thousands of students will be introduced and exposed to the brand, and once they graduate will find their local Village Juice and create a whole new

generation of customers.

This new opportunity is leading the brand to not only embark on an aggressive growth strategy to expand their reach into universities, but will also continue to advance their franchise locations around the country.

By adding the brand onto college campuses, it helps improve the entire brand’s top of the line by 12%, and more customers will have easy access to treating their body to minimally processed plant foods that are richer in all of the things our bodies love, like fiber, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.

With the brand’s young and insanely loyal customer base, innovative technology, and place at the forefront of the plant-based movement that is sweeping the nation, Village Juice is poised to be one of few restaurant models positioned to accelerate growth post-COVID, and their new partnership with Aramark will be a major part of their promising growth in the coming year.

For Franchising Information To learn more about opportunities available with Village Juice Co. franchising, visit their website at https:// www.villagejuicecompany. com/ or reach out to villagejuiceco@frandev.co!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR FranDevCo’s Communications & Content Specialist, Camantha Magoon, has a background in Linguistics and Anthropology f rom Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.

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WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Smokin’-Oak Wood Fired Pizza

by Scott Milas, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

S

peed and experience are two features that restaurant guests are looking for today. A Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza franchise perfectly meets the demand of today’s consumers for freshness of ingredients, speed of preparation, consistent and outstanding quality, and a great dining experience. A cross between fast-casual and sit-down dining but at a fast-casual price point, Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza has taken pizza and reinvented it for today’s consumers.

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The franchise caters to both a lunch crowd that has the “need-for-speed” as well as guests that desire a more leisurely dining experience, all while enjoying a glass or two of beer or wine with dinner.

Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza caters to families so they can enjoy a wide variety of options of amazing food they all love and can be in and out of the restaurant quickly or slow it down and enjoy their time together.

Millennials, the increasing and very important group

of consumers, expect an exceptional experience when they dine out and prefer food that has artisanal roots, intense flavors and bold textures. This segment consistently rates the product taste, quality and value an enthusiastic “twothumbs-up.”

This franchise is a fast-casual franchise concept that serves authentic, artisan, wood-fired pizza. Their proprietary dough is made fresh every day, they roast their own meats in the oak wood-fired ovens, they even chop their own fresh

vegetables. In fact, their food is so fresh they don’t even have a freezer!

From the time a guest walks into the restaurant, they are immersed in the Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza experience supported by the pleasant aroma of oak burning in the oven. Right away, guests see an open plan kitchen and are greeted by team members that interact with them in a way that makes the guest know they are valued.

Their pizzas and other menu items are baked using 100% oak wood-fired cooking: There are no microwaves or no cheap grills. They use oak wood that has dried 12 months. Aged wood has a smoky flavor a gas just can’t copy.

The demand for pizza is not slowing down anytime soon.

Research reports that 83% of

FROM THE TIME A GUEST WALKS INTO THE RESTAURANT, THEY ARE IMMERSED IN THE SMOKIN’ OAK WOODFIRED PIZZA EXPERIENCE SUPPORTED BY THE PLEASANT AROMA OF OAK BURNING IN THE OVEN.

consumers eat pizza at least once a month, 43% at least once a week, and 14% every day! This type of consistent behavior allows you to build loyalty with your guests, so they return again and again.

It’s a great time to be in the pizza business.

In addition to the traditional Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza restaurant concept, the company is able to offer the NEW Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza & Taproom. The taproom

concept is an optional feature for those franchisees who wish to expand their craft beer offering. A Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza & Taproom restaurant is typically around 3,000 – 3,500 square feet and has between 25-50 beers on the wall.

This is great for guests who want to sample beers, or have a pint or two of their favorites, along with amazing woodfired pizza. We all know pizza and beer are a match made in heaven!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Scott Milas is a franchise Top 15 consultant with The Franchise Consulting Company who works with many different people from all types of backgrounds who are interested in learning about owning their own business for the first time. He also works closely with multi-unit/brand owners who are looking to diversify their business portfolios. Contact Scott at 413-935-5111 or scottmilas@ thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com. For more information on Scott, visit www. scottmilasfranchisehelp.com.

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WHAT'S COOKIN'?

An Innovative Food Approach to Fostering Community Relationships

by Camantha Magoon, Communications & Content Specialist, FranDevCo

Food is one of the consistencies in all our lives, and it just may be more meaningful than most of us give it credit for. Whether we’re sitting around the dinner table with family, or grabbing a quick bite to eat with friends, food is the factor that brings us together and shapes lasting memories for us to look back on. For VaVia, breaking bread with their community is about doing just

that: getting involved, bringing the community together, making lasting memories, and fostering positive relationships. By creating their Can Café, the technologybased Waste Removal Franchise is giving back to their community while taking versatility to the next level.

What It Is VaVia’s Can Café is a community outreach event designed to show appreciation to local 1st Responders and City Officials by utilizing one of their 10-yd containers to create a place where they can grill delicious hamburgers,

chicken, and sausage in rally of support for their guests.

The first Can Café was hosted at Belle Meade City Hall in Nashville, Tennessee with 30+ people in attendance including the men and women of Belle Meade PD, City Officials, and the VaVia team. It was a tremendous success in fostering the brand’s community relationships and building morale for those that serve their community.

Since the first event, VaVia

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has also cooked for a few of their Nashville customers!

The Tenant Building Group was one of the first, and the most recent was The Britt Development Group in March. During the event, the brand showed their gratitude for their customers as well as raised money to support The Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The Owners of The Britt Development Group, Brian Layton and Russ Mabry, specialize in remodeling, renovating, and restoring older homes before reselling them to an open market.

When asked how they felt about VaVia, the pair responded: “VaVia is the best dumpster company we have

VAVIA VALUES THEIR LOCAL RELATIONSHIPS, AND THEIR CAN CAFÉ IS A WAY TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT AND BE AN ACTIVE PART OF THEIR COMMUNITY. ever used, period! You guys do what you say you're going to do 100% of the time. If all of my supplier vendors were as reliable as you all, we could take on 5-6 more projects without adding people.

You’re also not a bad cook!”

A CommunityOriented Brand Waste is a $76 Billion/year industry and VaVia has the goal of ripping the stigma

off garbage. With the Can Café, the brand has found a way to make the trash industry not only look appealing with their simple, effective branding and truck design, but also their name will be synonymous with more than just waste!

While their business keeps sites and streets looking beautiful, their Can Café provides additional brand awareness and brings their community together in a unique way!

VaVia values their local relationships, and their Can Café is a way to show their support and be an active part of their community.

The brand plans to hold 2 events a month with hopes that every one of them will be more successful than the last in bringing their local communities together.

For Franchising Information To learn more about opportunities available with VaVia franchising, visit their website at https://www. govavia.com or reach out to vavia@frandev.co!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR FranDevCo’s Communications & Content Specialist, Camantha Magoon, has a background in Linguistics and Anthropology f rom Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.

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COVER STORY

Q&A with the Chief of Food Franchising,

by Janice Charles, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

I had the pleasure of talking with Ed Rensi about his life with McDonald’s® and what he has been up to after McDonald’s. Ed talks about his experience as CEO of the most powerful brand in the world and his relationship with Ray Kroc.

He also talks about what he has learned along the way and how he is presently driving the FAT Brands concepts. The insight Ed provides is invaluable!

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Janice Charles: What was it like being the CEO of McDonald's?

Ed Rensi: I started my career with McDonald's in 1965. I got into the management role via the training program, in February of 1966. My parents owned a restaurant, but I didn’t like it at all. I just wanted to be a schoolteacher. I never wanted to be in the restaurant business; but McDonald's wasn't the restaurant business. McDonald's was something, which to this day, even I have a hard time describing what it was. It was a cultural experience for me.

It was a program, a system

that allowed me to go from being 19 years old to become the CEO. It was because of the way I was trained, educated and mentored not only by the management of the company but also by franchisees and suppliers.

It was truly a holistic organization where the franchisees and suppliers all played a distinctive role in helping each other be successful. It was the foundation of what Ray Kroc and Fred Turner spiritually created. I don't know if they even realized what they were doing. Kroc was a salesman, he was a developer of ideas, he was a builder of men and he enjoyed life immensely. Fred was a disciplined and focused guy. He expected the best out of everybody.

When I became CEO of the US company, it was all about the people. I was a Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for the company globally. I went to Mexico several times and it was interesting to see how

McDonald's as an organization could enrich cultures.

McDonald’s had the innate flexibility of the brand that drove its success. The leaders of the company always, always, always said no matter what, whatever it is we do, we're going to do it better than anybody.

We were not going to kid ourselves about what it is and that we're in a hamburger business. We provide food for customers at an affordable price and they're going to get the best we can get.

It was an operations driven company. It was about how well you run restaurants for the benefit of the employees and the customers. It was a singular focus. I think there's a big problem right now at McDonald's because there isn’t anyone in senior leadership that's ever managed a McDonald's restaurant. They just don't

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understand what it means to run the restaurants. Instead of leading the restaurant industry, they're starting to follow the restaurant industry.

I can see it in the architecture in the new buildings. They mimic the new buildings of competitors. It's like they're using the same architect with different colors. That was never the goal of McDonald’s. We always wanted to be daring and different.

So, what was it like being CEO? Thank God we had great franchisees, great suppliers and a lot of great leaders because it made my job a hell of a lot easier than it perhaps should have been.

The most important thing I did was to understand scale. If we were going to be dominant from a competitive standpoint, we had to build a lot of restaurants fast. We put 40 regional offices in and five Zone Managers. The Regional Managers were to build 30 restaurants a year, in every region. The franchisees struggled with that because

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they wanted them, but they didn't want the impact. My attitude wasn't about impact, just make sure you do an outstanding job, and you'll get the store, and that impact will be yours and not ours.

JC: Talk to me about your remembrances of Ray Kroc: ER: Ray Kroc was a very, very complex man who really had his greatest success after he was 50 years old. He was a consummate salesman. Ray was always trying to find that unique product in a very unique market, that he could sell better than anybody else.

Ray was tireless. He could work 24/7 because he had very strong goals and attitudes about what he was going to do. The whole story about him selling multi mixers is exactly the kind of person he was. He was in St. Louis where he got a phone call from his secretary who said “Hey, a customer in CA just ordered 10 more of these things.” He literally drove out to California to see this restaurant and was infatuated by their use of the multi mixer itself with the multiple spindles and the restaurant. Ray was enthralled with the restaurant system because he was looking for that unique thing that he could sell.

Dick McDonald was an engineering type and he laid out the Speedy system. The story about Dick laying out the store on a tennis court is absolutely true. His brother Maurice wasn't anywhere near that kind of process person. Dick and Mac couldn't figure out how to make money. They got

with Ray to make a business agreement for them to sell franchises. He was going to get a percentage of whatever he sold. I think at that time, there were nine franchises in Arizona and California. None were very successful, so Kroc started selling franchises.

Ray went to the bank to renew some loans. While meeting with his banker, he said, “You know Mr. Kroc, let’s have a look at your numbers here and I'll see if I can straighten out your balance sheet and your income statement.” He told Ray, he didn’t realize he was in the real estate business. “You want to buy the land that these restaurants are on, lease them, get control of it then mark it up.” It let the franchisees put their money inside the building and equipment instead of the land. This began the story of how McDonald's ended up owning and controlling the buildings on the land.

Controlling the real estate was very essential for the longterm success in McDonald’s.

This is why McDonald's is 66 years old. Most restaurants

now get a 20-year run if they are lucky.

You know, I think about Bob Charles, your Father, one of the kindest and nicest men I ever met. He was willing to teach, educate and coach. You look at the innovations he brought to the system and his behavior was always amazing to me. I think Bob could have had 50 restaurants if he wanted to, but he had a family. It’s rare when you find an individual who did not have greed as their primary motive. In his restaurants, there was nothing he wouldn’t share. Some of the marketing stuff he did was great. He helped McDonald’s with marketing and had a great relationship with McDonald’s Management over the years.

It’s interesting when I think back, I think about every McDonald's franchisee and every supplier. They were part of the business. They all had a great instinct for people.

Ray was very strategic, kind of interesting. A little side story about how maniacally focused he could be. I was

working in Columbus, OH, as a new Field Consultant calling on franchisees. The Regional Manager got Kroc and Turner convinced that they had come to Columbus and see the Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips. There were all kinds of fast-food joints opening all over the place and we were getting our asses handed to us in Columbus. It was the test market of the world whether it was Arby's or Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips or whatever the hell it was that came into town.

So, Kroc and Fred Turner came to Columbus and I picked them up at the airport.

I drove them to the new Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips on Morse Rd. We got there and I said OK guys let's go in. Kroc said he didn’t want to go in. He asked me why he should go in? I told him “I don't know. My boss told me to bring you here”. My boss looked at me and said to get some fish and chips and bring them out so they could see what it was like. I came back with 3 boxes of fish and chips.

I offered it to Kroc and Turner.

They said, “We're not going to do this, we're not gonna eat this!” Fred said, “I don't even know why we're here. Let's go back to the airport.” They didn't eat anything and never opened the boxes up.

I took them back to the airport, thinking to myself that had to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life. Kroc looked at me and said, “We have enough to do growing McDonald's.

Let's not get distracted by fads.” He got on the plane and they left. That's when I realized - don't chase fads.

There's a lot of fads in the world and we see it going on now because of these ghost kitchens. I just read an article about this woman who was talking about hydroponic farms. She said, “Why in the world would I want to order food over the phone or on an app from a restaurant that I've never heard of or seen before?”

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They valued people and wanted people to work hard and succeed because of effort. They would hold people accountable and could be very tough, but always gave them another chance. They were very special men.

I'm sure there's a lot of other men and women in the world like that but they were the two guys that impacted me the most.

JC: Talk to me about what you've learned along the way. said “I don't want my food to come from a ghost kitchen.

I want it to come from a real restaurant.”

I think we're going to see a lot of fads come and go during this pandemic because restaurants are making a lot of money in obtuse ways which are not sustainable.

We are social creatures as people, and we need to see each and talk to each other.

Body language is 60% of all communication. You know I'm sitting here watching you - you're 2000 miles away from me. I talk and you shake your head yes, you smile as I'm resonating with you. That is important for not only socialization but it's important for employees and bosses.

There is no way in hell I would ever run an office through Zoom. I want to see people talking. I want to know if they are sad. I want to find out ways to see if I can help. If they're happy, I want to celebrate with them. When I think about Kroc and Turner and who they were, they were great people.

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ER: I've learned about what good food tastes like because one thing I did for McDonald’s was - we had to eat a lot.

I've been in every kind of restaurant. The essence of everything I've learned has to do with people. I'm not very much of a people person. I like my company better than anybody’s, but we need all kinds of people to make this world go around. Everybody has value. Sometimes you

have to wait a little while to figure out what that value is but if you search for the value in everybody and help them amplify it, you will succeed.

I'm not a financial guy. I am terrible in the financial world. I'm an operations guy. I recognize that about myself. One thing I learned is you had better admit your mistakes in a hurry and move on to declare victory.

I guess the thing I've learned more than anything is the value of people in any institution. It’s recognizing what people have a passion for that allows you to lead them to where they want to go or where they need to go. I had a young man working for me in Chicago. He came in one day and said, “I'm going to quit.”

I asked, “Why do you want to quit?” He said: “Because I can't handle this. He said, “I want to go buy a nice piece of property with a big lake on it or access to a lake and open up a fishing camp. I want to go fishing.” I said, “Well OK, that's good. When do you want to do that?” “I've got to

start getting ready you know because I'm 25 years old.” I told him, “Let’s talk about this for a minute. I understand that is a passion for you, but do you realize you have no idea how to do that? You might be successful, you might fail.”

I said, “Why don't you think about taking our training program? McDonald's will teach you how to read a P & L, as we had a curriculum called Finance for the Non-Financial Executive. You can understand a Balance Sheet and Accounts Receivable. You will learn how to operate that business. We have a Real Estate class that's two weeks long where you can understand the fundamentals of Real Estate acquisition.

What would you do if I told you it wouldn’t cost you a thing?

We also have promotion and marketing courses at Hamburger University for you to take. When you get done with your career at McDonald's you're going to have all the disciplines you need to do what you please.

You will have profit sharing and you may have some stock options. Take the next 25 years to grow, develop and educate yourself and then one of these days, you can go out there and buy a fishing camp.” Well, ultimately, he did buy a property on the lake, but he never built the fishing camp because by that time, he had 30 years with McDonald's. He was a Vice President. There's the whole idea about passion. How do you redirect it into something that will benefit him and the company? It was to get him to realize that educating himself was as important as anything.

The most important thing I

learned along the way is to listen to people very carefully.

I do a lot of work with a lot of companies. Over the last 15 or 20 years since I left McDonald’s, I tell them the same thing. You are going to need a program for people in your company.

Great men and women always succeed no matter what the obstacles are. You can ask me 1,000 more questions and I'm going to come back to the same thing every time.

It's people, it's education, it's training, it's coaching, mentoring and developing with a common singular focus.

JC: Let’s talk about your vision for FAT Brands.

ER: I share a vision with the founder of the company Andy Wiederhorn. He’s a very bright young man. He is everything

I am not in the world of finance. He’s a good financial engineer and is very strategic and understands what these restaurants need. He likes being in the franchising business because of the economics and he doesn't want to run company stores.

I support that completely.

His goal is to find brands that have a great history that have been neglected, abandoned, ignored or bought by a private

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equity company. Once they get all the synergies out, they just move on. It’s been a history with so many of these private equity companies. I share Andy’s vision. I think being an asset and people light in a leadership role is very important these days.

I used to tell my franchisees that you do not get to change the McDonald's system until you have perfected running it. Once you are perfect in running it and you make the most out of the system, THEN you can make suggestions on how to make it better. Until then, don't talk to me.

FAT Burger itself started in the 40’s by a black woman.

She named it after her boyfriend who was Mr. Fat. It ended up being FAT Burger, for fresh, authentic and tasty.

The future of FAT Brands is really strong.

FAT Brands started back

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in the late 60’s so they've been around for a good while. But other than the virus, all our brands are moving forward.

We are looking for other acquisitions because we can take companies that have run out of gas along the way and reinvigorate them.

The future is good, and the plans are to stick to the strategy of finding good quality brands that aren't being run as well as they should. We’ll fix them just like we will fix Johnny Rockets.

Hurricanes Bar and Grill has made a terrific turn around.

Gregg Nettleton is doing a fabulous job with that, and again, just like McDonald's, it always comes down to the people. I think that the best thing I can do for the brands is to give them advice when they ask for it. I’m not trying to tell him how to run the company better. I care about the success of franchisees. I mean genuinely care that the franchisees are going to be successful.

I used to tell people at McDonald's all the time that I'm not running a multibillion-dollar company. At the time I left, the US company was a $32 billion company. I'm running a restaurant doing $2,000,000 a year on street corners all over the world. My job was to run restaurants better than anybody could ever run any restaurant.

If you just said to me 40 years ago that I'd be interested in indoor farming and hydroponics as a way to provide great produce for restaurants, I’d say that’s never

going to happen. But the fact of the matter is people are far more conscious of what they eat today than ever before.

People are demanding better nutrition. You really stop and think about it when we got a federal mandate to put all the nutritional information and publicize it and put it on menus. That started to change the way people eat. We have to give people choices today.

In the restaurant industry, franchisees and franchisors better come to grips with the fact they need to evolve with their customers. Customers evolve generationally. They are different today than they were in 1950, in 2020 and beyond, it's just a fact of life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Janice Charles was raised in a McDonald’s Owner/Operator family.

Her Grandparents, Parents, Aunt and Uncle and Brother were all McDonald’s Owner/Operators. Janice resides in Colorado and works as a Franchise Consultant assisting people in finding a franchise.

Janice can be reached at: janice@ thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com or 303-319-5186.

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SALESINFO@STGBRANDS.COM EBD CB, LLC (“EBD CB”) is a franchise seller/broker representing CycleBar Franchising, LLC (“CycleBar”). This advertisement does not constitute a franchise offering or the solicitation of an offer to buy a CycleBar franchise which may be made only after your receipt of the CycleBar Franchise Disclosure Document, which first must be registered with certain states. CycleBar franchises are offered solely by means of the franchise disclosure document issued by CycleBar Franchising, LLC, 3185 Pullman Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, and at (949) 346-9794. Certain states and foreign countries have laws governing the offer and sale of franchises.

If you are a resident of one of these states or foreign countries, CycleBar will not offer you a franchise unless and until it has complied with all applicable legal requirements in your jurisdiction. Please consult with your franchise seller/broker at EBD CB for an updated list of jurisdictions where franchises can be sold.

Copyright © 2018 EBD CB, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

CLEAN EATZ Takes Big Bite Out of the Healthy Dining Market

by Jason Barclay, Partner, BrandONE Franchise Development

C

lean Eatz, one of the nation's most-rapidly expanding, quick service restaurant and meal plan franchises, continues to cook up awareness about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Founded in 2013 by Evonne and Don Varady, this thriving brand currently stands at more than 50 opened cafes and another 70 in the development pipeline.

Since franchising in 2016, Clean Eatz has gained much national popularity, even making Restaurant Business Magazine’s Future 50 List as one of the fastest growing small franchise concepts. With this kind of movement, it’s easy to understand why fans continue to flock to the brand.

Through five revenue streams – a dine-in menu, weekly meal plans, Grab ‘N’ Go freezer options, CE Marketplace items and catering – the model has positioned itself as a go-to

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for diners craving more from their food.

“Our mission is to change people’s lives,” said Evonne Varady. “We do this by serving up nutritionally-balanced meals and providing constant education on healthy lifestyle habits that fit our customers’ individual goals. Our instant acceptance in new markets just reinforces that we’re on the path to making a real difference.”

Currently, Clean Eatz café

footprint runs from Maine to Florida, and as far west as Arizona. With its headquarters in Wilmington, N.C, the brand remains hellbent on staying out in front. Through groundbreaking campaigns – like the We Change Livez Challenge, which rewards individuals $10k per month for sharing their wellness efforts on social media – Clean Eatz has built an entire

“WHETHER IT’S ROLLING OUT NEW MENU IDEAS – LIKE ADDITIONAL RECIPES ON OUR SIGNATURE WRAPS, CLEAN CRUST PIZZAS, BOWLS, BURGERS AND SMOOTHIES – OR CREATING CE MARKETPLACE PRODUCTS, WE’RE ALWAYS IN THE TEST KITCHEN BRAINSTORMING: ‘WHAT’S NEXT?” —Evonne Varady, Founder, Clean Eatz support community around its offerings.

At the same time, the restaurant and meal plan model regularly launches new product innovations to stay fresh through the eyes of its consumers. Most recently, they unveiled Clean Eatz Barz – a flavor-brimming, protein packed snack for people on the go.

“Whether it’s rolling out new menu ideas – like additional recipes on our signature wraps, Clean Crust Pizzas, bowls, burgers and smoothies – or creating CE Marketplace products, we’re always in the test kitchen brainstorming:

‘What’s next?,’” Evonne Varady said. “Everyone’s on the go these days and life moves fast.

We cannot replicate time, but we can do our best to give it back. We understand that our customers’ personal needs constantly change. It’s our passion to keep up with that, providing exactly what they need to keep pushing in the moment.”

The investment to open a Clean Eatz café is lower than expected and other food franchises. Our average

investment to open a café range from $125,000 to 595,000. This range varies based on if we are developing a second-generation site or an empty shell. Clean Eatz helps franchisees with financing options. We recruit franchisees with a minimum net worth of $400,000 and $100,000 liquid to invest. Our franchise disclosure document provides detailed revenue figures from our franchisees.

Our top 25% café revenue is nearly $1,500,000.

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WHAT'S COOKIN'?

A YEAR AFTER LOCKDOWN How Vitality Bowls Navigated Pandemic Challenges Together as a Franchise

by Roy Gilad, Founder and CEO, Vitality Bowls

I

t is safe to say that the past year has been a whirlwind for all of us, and over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all faced a great deal of doubt, uncertainty and disbelief.

As franchise industry professionals, we have learned to cope, adapt and redirect our efforts toward solutions that keep our businesses going, and through it all, we have learned that teamwork and goodwill can bring people together to generate hope for the future in times of need.

At Vitality Bowls, we quickly pivoted as soon as the pandemic hit to implement methods of engaging customers and helping our franchise owners make an impact in their communities.

Our franchisees began making frequent food donations to hospitals, emergency centers and city organizations, providing them with healthy meals to keep them energized throughout the day as they fought on the frontlines. The initiative was so well received that one of our locations quickly reached a milestone of donating over 250 smoothies and 50 bagged meals to area hospitals.

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Through the donations, local residents and frontline workers realized that Vitality Bowls is more than just a neighborhood café – we are a trusted partner

of the community.

As a brand, we also implemented a number of operational practices to shift our focus towards off-

THE PANDEMIC STRATEGIES EVENTUALLY RESULTED IN AN INCREASED AVERAGE TICKET PRICE, THE ADDITION OF 60,000 MEMBERS TO OUR EXISTING LOYALTY PROGRAM, AND OVER 1.8 MILLION AÇAÍ BOWLS SOLD. premise dining strategies and reinventing customer experiences. With the help of our franchise system, many of our local Vitality Bowls stores were able to operate with curbside pickup models to encourage off-premise dining. We also provided staff with personal protective equipment, and installed signage displays and floor markers in our cafés for employees and guests to follow social distancing and safety protocols more effectively, taking extra precautions to keep everyone safe.

Not only were we able to make a difference in our local communities as a united front through these efforts, but our tactics also made us stronger as a franchise. The pandemic strategies eventually resulted in an increased average ticket price, the addition of 60,000 members to our existing Loyalty Program, and over 1.8 million açaí bowls sold.

While there is no way to guarantee what the future holds as we continue to navigate the outcomes of COVID-19, we are certain that together as a system, we can better our chances of generating hope and persevering through the challenges to make great things happen.

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A Super(food) Franchise Healthy, fast-casual restaurant looking for entrepreneurs!

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WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Insights on The Future of Food in Franchising

by Mariel Miller, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

MUCH OF THE SENTIMENT TODAY CAN BE SEEN IN A RECENT NY TIMES HEADLINE THAT READ:

“Signs Of Economic Life Are Picking Up, And Mounds Of Cash Are Waiting To Be Spent As The Virus Loosens Its Grip.”

O

verwhelmingly, consumers anticipate “business as usual” in the not-too-distant future, and that’s great news for potential franchise investors.

As people continue to seek out the comforts and familiarity of life pre-pandemic, many businesses will reap the benefits of enormous pent-up demand. Nowhere is this truer that in the hard-hit

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environments that provided social interactions. We are social creatures, after all. No amount of Zoom Happy Hours can replace an hour with friends at the local brewery or lunch downtown with the team.

Clearly businesses like recreation, fitness, sports and of course foodservice were not deemed “essential”- using covid language, that is. They also withstood the greatest amount of responsiveness

and change to survive. And its interesting to observe, even predict, which of the pandemic-responses we saw businesses implement were short-term crisis-interventions and which will end-up permanent adaptation to todays altered landscape.

Natural disasters, like 2020, offer us clear insights into a company’s leadership, corecompetencies, and culture.

As a potential franchise owner exploring your options,

you will want to go beyond the analysis of how a concept performed financially through covid19. You’ll want to learn how the organization handles changing environments overall and how they are building capacity for change in the future.

Restaurant/QSR concepts have been dealing with significant changes on several fronts in recent years.

Changing consumer behavior, technological advances, the “on-demand” marketplace and ever-increasing competition top the list. The inability for some brands to weather these changes marked certain failure – Add in a world-wide pandemic - Accelerate the inevitable. But rather than cross off the entire food sector off the list, food franchises are in the mix for all savvy candidates. Let’s face it, this “3-meals a day” habit consumers have developed will always drive enormous and permanent demand.

What do you look for in a potential franchisor in this category, then, critical to survival? We asked Dave Wood, who is a multi-concept franchisor, founder, and CEO today. Dave has over 35 years of food franchise experience, including decades of awardwinning ownership as one of the largest Domino's franchisees in the US. Succeeding on both sides of the franchise relationship and keeping his finger on the pulse of the industry, Dave shared his thoughts on the aspects that are tell-tale signs a food concept is built-to-last today.

Here are Dave’s Top Due Diligence Hacks 1. How Do They Deliver?

Delivery penetration was already gaining momentum before the pandemic. Now, a transformation that was projected to take years is happening in months.

“We see total online food delivery—through online delivery platforms and restaurant self-delivery—of $45 billion in 2020, vs. our prior estimate of $41 billion in 2021, reaching 13% of the addressable market this year and 16% by 2022, vs. 2025 in our prior estimate.

That means nearly three years of consumer spend is being pulled forward, led by accelerated growth from delivery platforms.”. Says John Glass, lead equity analyst covering the U.S. restaurant sector.

Beyond that, Dave encourages potential investors and owners to find out how the food actually tastes when its delivered.

“It’s one thing getting the food efficiently from the kitchen to the front door, it’s another thing to ensure the quality and taste is consistent to the on-site experience when it gets there. “

2. Expect Tech!

Technology is either used as an advantage or poses a real threat.

Restaurant franchises with the wherewithal to last embrace technology, invest into technology and keep-up with our increasing dependence on technology. Mobile apps, and communication that is as easy as face-to-face is no longer a “nice-to-have” in food franchises.

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As a new franchise owner, Dave says, “It’s a sign of the times to expect to be handed an iPad when you walk into training loaded with operational documents, resources, even recipes of every item on the menu to facilitate staff training and quality control.”

3. Beyond “Location, Location, Location” Obviously, there is an abundance of real estate left behind by unfortunately unprepared and/ or undercapitalized previous tenants. Many of whom were QSR and food related. The availability

of prime locations, potentially decreased buildout costs, more negotiable leases, and motivated landlords are some of the benefits today’s candidates can expect.

But Dave says there is more to the story when you are investigating the Real Estate component.

“People change, and the millennials are very different consumers. For example, they don’t come in and dine. Sit down restaurants have been on the decline for a while now and fast casual have been and will be where the growth is. So, expect to see continual changes in requirements and more flexible franchisors. Smaller footprints, lower rents, and new, efficient layouts that are designed to be more delivery and take-out centric.”

Since many of these components would be difficult to implement as an immediate reaction to a crisis, it seems much can be learned from a good look at how franchise leaders and their systems survived 2020.

Jack Welch said it best: “Change before you have to”. It seems franchisors that did are here to stay.

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WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Enrich Lives

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Nearly a dozen years ago, two friends overhauled their careers and made the conscious-yet-risky leap into entrepreneurism. Anthony Pigliacampo, a design engineer, was thriving in his 9-5 job. But, he saw an opportunity to solve a problem – not being able to find restaurants that were both healthy and delicious – and he knew he could make a difference by letting his professional skills and personal passions collide.

Being an uber athlete, Pigliacampo was always on the lookout for health-conscious, affordable food options he could get on-the-go. Much to his disappointment, he never found one that checked all his boxes and met his expectations. Pigliacampo decided enough was enough.

He partnered with an old high

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school friend, Rob McColgan – both determined to disrupt the restaurant space by making real food the new standard in fast food.

This mission drove Pigliacampo toward business ownership and co-founding Modern Market Eatery, a fast casual concept with madeto-order scratch soups, salads, grain bowls, sandwiches, pizzas and carved plates.

Fast forward to 2020 and Pigliacampo has turned Modern Market Eatery into an award-winning 30-unit restaurant operation spanning across five markets. Guests love the elevated experience and freshly made food served at a reasonable price. Plus,

Modern Market Eatery was ahead of the curve when it was founded – everything is clean and made from scratch, resulting in guests’ dietary preferences being easily accommodated and customized.

Logically, the next step for the modern, health-focused brand is to franchise the concept so people across the country can more easily enjoy clean, convenient and delicious food.

Offering the Franchise Opportunity As fate would have it, Pigliacampo had a franchising expert living right up the road from him: Renee Israel, cofounder of Doc Popcorn and

MODERN MARKET IS BUILT ON THE IDEA THAT THE CREATIVITY AND SCRATCH COOKING TECHNIQUES USED IN FINE DINING CAN BE REENGINEERED INTO A FAST CASUAL FORMAT.

advisor to other emerging franchise concepts. Israel was the perfect fit to help Modern Market Eatery lever a franchise strategy to grow.

Like Pigliacampo, Israel considers herself a healthcentric athlete and someone who is unshakably committed to taking care of her body and what food goes in it. When the founders asked her to join the Modern Market team, Israel jumped at the opportunity.

It’s not because she needed to dive into a new business endeavor, but rather, because Modern Market Eatery and its purpose is one that parallels Israel’s own lifestyle and passions.

Israel saw the impact Modern Market Eatery had on her community and the need for an elevated bakery café concept in cities around the country. Creating Doc Popcorn from scratch as a healthy snacking alternative in nearly 100 high-traffic venues before selling the company, Israel knew what needed to be done to kickstart the franchise program.

What Sets Modern Market Eatery Apart The efficiency behind the scenes is what sets Modern Market Eatery apart from its competitors. Modern Market is built on the idea that the creativity and scratch cooking techniques used in fine dining can be reengineered into a fast casual format. From sophisticated technology integrations, to a kitchen line that utilizes every inch, Modern Market Eatery has streamlined efficiency over its decade in business. The result?

The average time it takes to serve an order is under six minutes.

Additionally, Modern Market Eatery serves up a proprietary protein program with grass fed beef, all natural chicken, and sustainable salmon. All are cooked in house using highly refined techniques that yield a superior finished product compared to anything else in fast casual.

Being founded by an engineer has led Modern Market to embrace technology.

Like the food served in every restaurant, the new Modern Market website has been completely built from scratch.

The proprietary digital platform enables guests to seamlessly place and customize orders, while also integrating directly

with all third party delivery providers. Most importantly, the recently rebuilt website enables franchisees to easily absorb orders from digital channels, including its own loyalty app, as easily as they could if the order took place at the cashier in a restaurant. This is critical since 50 percent of Modern Market’s orders begin online.

Ideal Franchise Partners Modern Market is an ideal investment for experienced multi-unit operators and restaurant veterans looking for an efficient, healthy concept to add to their brand portfolio.

The ideal candidate is aligned with the brand's culture, respects its scratch-made approaches and is interested in operating at least three restaurants.

Anyone interested in learning more is encouraged to reach out to Chief Franchise Officer Renee Israel at renee@modernmarket.com or go to modernmarket.com/ franchise for more information on how to join this on-trend eatery in serving the modern diner and operator.

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AN ICONIC BRAND RE-ENERGIZED FOR TODAY’S MARKETPLACE APPROXIMATELY 500 LOCATIONS Affordable, scalable and profitable // Multi-unit retail/service opportunity // Legendary brand, category leader

A NEW ACQUISITIONS & CONVERSION MODEL:

Martinizing employs a unique real estate approach that seeks out existing dry cleaning business owners who are ready for an exit, allowing new franchisees to open quickly and minimize their initial investment.

A B U S I N E S S W I T H M U LT I P L E R E V E N U E S T R E A M S

Mobile App-Driven

Retail

Routes

Lockers

Mobile App-Driven

On-Demand

Spanning Eight Countries // 70-Plus-Year Heritage // Open for Business Quickly Total Investment: $419K-$736K // Liquid Capital Requirement: $150K Net Worth Requirement: $700K

CORPORATE SUPPORT ENCOURAGING REAL BUSINESS GROWTH

On-going. corporate support and education puts Martinizing owners on a path to success.

Site Selection // Financial Analysis // Store Design & Buildout // Comprehensive Training Existing Cleaner Acquisition Assistance // On-Going Operations & Marketing Support Individual financial results may differ from results stated in Item 19.

*

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Gross Sales: $609,489.78 • Proven Marketing & Lead Generation Gross Profit: $315,657.07

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WWW.KOALAINSULATION.COM/FRANCHISE Disclaimer: This is not an offer to sell a franchise. An offer can only be made through the Koala Franchise, LLC., 2020 Franchise Disclosure Document. Certain states require franchise registration, check the Koala Franchise, LLC., 2020 Franchise Disclosure Document regarding your state.

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Q&A with Phil Friedman CEO of Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill

by Rhonda Sanderson, Founder of Sanderson & Associates

Interviewer (Rhonda): What spurred Salsarita's to add a drive thru at many existing and now future locations?

Phil: Drive-thru has been a long-term ambition of mine since I bought the brand, and we have gone through a lot of evolution since. With the development of our new prototype – the “new Salsarita’s” as I call it – with improved kitchen efficiency and strong franchisees eager to implement, we were ready for drive-thru.

What is unique was tailoring our build-yourown concept to a drive-thru menu. Salsarita’s was not pioneering the concept of drive-thru, rather we were getting on trend with other QSR concepts, such as Panera.

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Rhonda: Why do you think it has been such a success? How does drive thru enhance the Salsarita's experience?

Phil: Primarily because it’s what our consumers want, but also because we are achieving drivethru-level speed. They want convenience and accessibility, and drive-thru and online ordering satisfy that. Our online capabilities exemplify this convenience and accessibility, allowing guests to pick up orders in the restaurant or the drive-thru.

Fast casual is all about better food in a better environment.

Drive-thru allows guests to choose their environment, while still getting that better food.

DRIVE-THRU ALLOWS GUESTS TO CHOOSE THEIR ENVIRONMENT, WHILE STILL GETTING THAT BETTER FOOD.

Rhonda: I understand the brand is adding drive thru to more existing and new locations. Is the plan for all stores to have a drive thru or will it be determined on a case-by-case basis? If not, roughly what percent do you expect drive thru to comprise for the Salsarita's system?

Phil: Overtime our system will be heavily drive-thru, led by new development as our existing restaurants have limited conversion opportunities. We anticipate up to 80% of new development, both franchise and company, will be drivethru. We will have four drive-thrus by the end of the year (all franchise) and four company-owned drive-thru locations by the end of 2019.

We will also add two drive-thru locations in Mississippi, where I am the franchisee, by the end of 2019.

Rhonda: What do you think the future of drive thru holds both for Salsarita's specifically and the restaurant industry in general?

Phil: Drive-thru has become and will continue to be an integral part of our growth.

It gives us the opportunity to add breakfast (an additional daypart of us) and late night in select markets. So much of our business is off-premise, and that will continue to be

the theme for us and other fast casual concepts as we evolve to meet consumer demands. Over time you will see more and more fast casuals adapting to include drive-thru. And you will see our development and growth in both airport and campus locations. Stay tuned!

ABOUT SALSARITA’S FRESH MEXICAN GRILL Founded in Charlotte, N.C. in 2000, Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill offers

Mexican favorites such as five flavorful house-made salsas, custom burritos, tacos, nachos and salads made fresh to order with an extensive selection of proteins, toppings and fillings.

Salsarita's was acquired by franchise industry veteran Phil Friedman in 2011 and operates more than 85 locations in 18 states, including 15 that are company-owned.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit www.salsaritas.com, like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ salsaritas and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @salsaritas.

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WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Xpresso Delight Coffee The World's Leading Coffee Service

by Joshua Kovacs, CEO, Oakscale

In a day and age where tech reigns supreme, food and beverage concepts can no longer simply offer the best tasting burger, rice bowl, or burrito to attract customers.

Increasingly, customers expect far more. From the ability to get food and drinks where they work and live to demanding fresh and transparent sourcing, America’s evolving eating habits are forcing F&B businesses to innovate.

A new report from Label Insight and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) revealed that shoppers are increasingly demanding transparency and a closer connection to their food — so much so that 75% say they'll switch to a brand that provides more in-depth product information beyond what's provided on the physical label.

Nigell Lee CEO of Xpresso Delight, a NYC Based Coffee Service company, understands that modern Food and Beverage companies need to think more like logistics companies if they are going to give customers what they want at scale.

“We have succeeded in bringing the third wave of coffee to the workplace by

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providing gourmet coffee to offices that has only been possible through a transparent and sophisticated supply chain.” Says Nigell Xpresso Delight is the world's largest coffee service franchise with over 200 franchises in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States and provides coffee service to over 1000 offices every day.

“We found that the only way to set yourself apart from other coffee companies is through providing the freshest possible experience directly where customers are… in the office,” says Nigell.

To meet consumer demands for quality and transparency, Xpresso Delight built out a sophisticated supply chain

that sources beans from Brazil, Papua New Guinea, and Columbia,roasts it in the United States, and ships directly to offices within a week of roasting. They supply offices with top-of-the-line automated espresso machines that grind their bean blend and froth milk at the push of a button, dubbed “automated cafes,” and provide a weekly cleaning service to ensure quality. All for a simple percup-rate to offices, making it a seamless and straightforward process for offices to upgrade their coffee.

Xpresso Delight capitalizes on the dynamic market shift toward companies providing better amenities for employees and green

initiatives — it’s also benefiting from an emerging trend in American coffee consumption.

Millennials, the generation taking over the majority of the workforce, are driving the move away from typical drip coffee toward espresso-based drinks. Most restaurants and cafes, even donut shops, now offer espresso drinks to satisfy the demand.

Xpresso Delight has expanded by partnering with sophisticated multi-unit franchisees to bring their coffee service offering to the top 50 cities in America. In the past 14 months they have brought on 25 franchise units many of which are exclusive franchise partners with the rights to 3-5 franchise units.

Here’s what the brand has established in the U.S. market that is spurring the growth: 1. Swiss-Manufactured Automatic Espresso Machines: Xpresso Delight provide offices with a top of the line fully automatic espresso machines allowing office employees to make milk-based espresso drinks like lattes and cappuccinos right in the office with one touch of a button.

2. Seamless Supply Chain: Xpresso Delight provides offices with a proprietary blend of 100% Arabica beans that was formulated to taste great both with milk or on its own. The beans are roasted fresh, then shipped directly from the roaster to the clients’ offices.

Franchisees save time and money on warehousing and distribution, and clients get the freshest coffee possible. If you’re not a coffee aficionado, it is widely agreed upon that coffee brewed from beans that were just roasted yield the best flavor and quality.

Because most of Xpresso Delight’s competitors are distributors, the quality of their offering cannot match.

3. Pay-Per-Cup Model: Xpresso Delight innovated to create a pricing model

commensurate with the American culture’s proclivity to subscription based services.

People no longer want to make purchasing decisions, they’d rather pay a subscription fee for a monthly service, everything from streaming entertainment to razors and clothing.

Similarly, rather than locking companies into a long term lease of their machine, or simply charging for the actual coffee, Xpresso Delight charges clients on a per cup basis. If the office drinks 1,000 cups of coffee in a month, they get charged for exactly that number through a monthly invoice. Centralized billing provided by the franchisor makes this easy for franchisees to manage.

To be the best in your F&B category, you must adapt to the ever changing technological advances in society, and you must innovate.

We are the only office coffee service franchise in America, and we’re certainly not devoid of competition in our space, but for a franchisee looking for a unique category of franchise that is the leader in innovation in its industry, there’s no better place to start than Xpresso Delight.

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Your Home Thoughtfully Clean The Green Clean Customers Need At ecomaids, we help franchisees tap into the vast supply of consumers who want eco-friendly solutions for their home cleaning needs. Our safe, natural cleaning products, and our thorough 64-point checklist, help us shine brighter than anyone else in the industry.

Why Our Franchisees Love Our Spotless Opportunity

In House Financing

In House Marketing

Proud to offer $10,000 Discounts to Military Veterans, First Responders and ethnic minorities

Recurring Revenue

Available to qualified candidates

Corporate call center to close sales

Repeat customer business model

High-Demand for Green Business

Better for Planet Earth

We’re a Happinest Company

People want safe, natural products

Keep chemicals out of the environment

Franchise experts with 50 years of experience

To get more info on this eco opportunity, contact: 855-424-8683 or franchiseinformation@ecomaids.com

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

FOOD TRUCKS

Thriving During the Pandemic with Creativity and Compassion

by Bill McKee, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company

The coronavirus pandemic has created a significant impact on the food servicing industry, resulting in massive layoffs for workers and loss of income for restaurant owners, posing a definitive threat for small and medium-sized food businesses.

The nationwide lockdown has compelled restaurants to shut down operations, with independent restaurants

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taking the biggest hit.

Restaurant analysts estimate 75% of independent restaurants might have to close down due to business shutdown.

However, food truck services are rising to the occasion by reaching out to their local communities and bringing the ‘restaurants’ to people during the pandemic. Unlike many food places right now,

food trucks are adapting to the situation with their onthe-go business model and connecting with customers on a personal level.

Food trucks with franchise ownership are standing up to the current situation, and business is thriving for franchisees who are hustling their way up and “keeping it moving.” The guidance and franchisor support are helping

BY TWEAKING THE BUSINESS DYNAMICS, MANY FOOD TRUCK OWNERS ARE FINDING INNOVATIVE WAYS TO REACH OUT AND HELP THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY. food truck chains expand their business, and they are, quite surprisingly, being more successful this year despite the pandemic.

CREATIVITY AT ITS BEST COVID-19 has skyrocketed sales for many food-truck owners. By tweaking the business dynamics, many food truck owners are finding innovative ways to reach out and help their local community. And the response has been massive too.

A Maryland food truck had to carve out a new business plan when they lost onequarter of their income due to the lockdown restrictions.

They found opportunities in fundraising events, selling essential food and hygiene items through their food truck, and introduced grab-and-go meals as takeaways.

Food trucks are gaining momentum by creating a presence in the neighborhood and building goodwill with their customers. They are finding ways to be resourceful and valuable to their customers by partnering with food delivery services and other food truck owners. By assessing their consumer’s needs, they are shifting the focus to customer relations and promoting positivity with good food.

FRANCHISING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOOD TRUCKS The franchising industry is committed to providing business ownership opportunities to stabilize the economy and helps local communities grow.

The food truck business is thriving under the franchise system, with more franchisors reaching out to independent business owners to be a part of their already-established food network. Restrictions at dinein restaurants might also be an important reason for food trucks not losing their charm, with more people getting tired of cooking for themselves at home.

Franchise ownership is helping entrepreneurs and independent businesses to gain traction, thanks to the flexible norms of operations and engagement offered by existing brand recognition.

The truck-franchising model is engaging with new franchisees to explore business opportunities in both brick-and-mortar stores and on-the-go food trucks.

With an established business model and sufficient funding,

franchisors are also taking care of the various sanitation and hygiene protocols to ensure the safety of both the customers and franchisees.

By funding for mobile food truck units across the major entry points, the franchising food truck business is empowering local businesses.

Food trucks owners of the same franchising community are collaborating to get through the dire situation. The social push by the franchising industry is redefining business ownership, with food trucks surviving the brunt of the pandemic with compassion and support.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bill McKee has been a business owner since 1993 and built several successful businesses, he has been a franchise consultant since 2007. Contact Bill at (972) 767-8433 or Bill@TheFranchiseConsultingCompany.com.

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grow a healthy business Saladworks is the original create-your-own, fast-casual salad franchise.

Healthy – USDA reports that American adults are choosing healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables to support a healthier lifestyle. That’s why nearly half of all Millennial and Gen Z consumers buy 3+ entrée salads per week away from home. Saladworks is on-trend.

grow a healthyequipment-light business and easy Simple – Our concept is asset-light, Saladworks is the original create-your-own, to operate. No fryers and salad no hood means less expensive fast-casual franchise. buildout costs for Healthy you.– USDA Just chop, sliceadults and dice to serve the reports that American are choosing healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables to support a tastiest create-your-own salads is turn-key. healthier lifestyle.

That’s whyaround. nearly half of all Saladworks Millennial and Gen Z consumers buy 3+ entrée salads per week away from home. Saladworks is on-trend.

Accessible – The fast-casual landscape is overbuilt and Simple – Our concept is asset-light, equipment-light and easy to operate. No fryers and no hood means less expensive cluttered with create-your-own burger, sandwich, pizza, buildout costs for you. Just chop, slice and dice to serve the tastiest create-your-own salads around. Saladworks is turn-key.

Mexican and smoothie concepts. Landlords are looking for Accessible – The fast-casual landscape is overbuilt and healthy concepts like ours.

We have market, venue, format cluttered with create-your-own burger,the sandwich, pizza, Mexican and smoothie concepts. Landlords are looking for Saladworks is the original create-your-own, concepts like ours. We have the venue, format and footprint you healthy want.

Saladworks ismarket, available. fast-casual salad franchise.

grow a healthy business

and footprint you want. Saladworks is available.

saladworksfranchising.com

fransales@saladworks.com

* Details located at Item 19 inside Saladworks Franchise Disclosure Document.

Healthy – USDA reports that American adults are choosing healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables to support a healthier lifestyle. That’s why nearly half of all Millennial and Gen Z consumers buy 3+ entrée salads per week away from home. Saladworks is on-trend.

$1,227,858 median net sales for top quartile*

saladworksfranchising.com

Simple – Our concept is asset-light, equipment-light and easy to operate. No fryers and no hood means less expensive fransales@saladworks.com buildout costs for you. Just chop, slice and dice to serve the tastiest create-your-own salads around. Saladworks is turn-key.

* Details located at Item 19 inside Saladworks Franchise Disclosure Document.

t sales for top quartile*

Accessible – The fast-casual landscape is overbuilt and cluttered with create-your-own burger, sandwich, pizza, Mexican and smoothie concepts. Landlords are looking for healthy concepts like ours. We have the market, venue, format and footprint you want. Saladworks is available.

$1,227,858 median

saladworksfranchising.com

fransales@saladworks.com

* Details located at Item 19 inside Saladworks Franchise Disclosure Document.

$1,227,858 median net sales for top quartile*

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Daddy O'Brien's

Alcoholic Ice Cream A Hot Franchise Concept

F

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or those entrepreneurs looking to get in on the ground floor of a hot new concept, Daddy O'Brien's Irish Ice Cream Pub may excite you.

Everyone loves Ice Cream and adults love alcohol.

THEIR BEGINNINGS: Frank O'Brien, aka DaddyO, began creating alcoholic ice cream in his basement in 2014. His entrepreneurial wife, Lori, who loves to create successful businesses from nothing, recognized his unique talent and started selling

AWARD WINNING: After just a few months of ice cream making, DaddyO attended his first National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA) convention and walked away with his first national award for creating Kentucky Salted Caramel in

Daddy O'Brien's has perfected the art of alcoholic ice cream. Just one taste of DaddyO's homemade ice cream creations and you will want to get in on this "Cold Gold". This is a new niche market and many have tried but none have succeeded in creating an insanely delicious alcohol infused ice cream product until now. Daddy O'Brien's has become the alcohol infused ice cream destination hot spot in Metro Atlanta.

their ice cream from a cart at festivals, food truck nights and corporate events. They instantly became the most popular booth with deep lines of ice cream fans. Everyone who tasted their ice cream creations said "Oh my God! Where's your store!" People were soon showing up at their front door to buy ice cream.

It soon became evident they needed a brick and mortar.

In 2017 they opened a restaurant/pub/barlour in Sugar Hill GA.

one of their competitions.

The next year, 2015, he came away with 3rd place for his Irish Pistachio and Honorable Mention for his T.A.C.O. flavor (Tamarind Apricot Coconut) along with multiple blue and red ribbons for other flavors.

In 2016 he hit the Motherlode by winning 1st place in the Best Flavor of the Year competition with his Butter Beer flavor. And in 2018 he was awarded the coveted title of Grand Master Ice Cream maker.

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THE STORE: The concept of an Irish Ice Cream Pub was created out of the minds of this couple that has been together since high school and is totally unique.

Frank O'Brien describes the atmosphere. "To walk into our store, is like walking into Ireland. It has a dark wood bar with stained glass windows, ornate black granite and bar ceiling, Jack Daniel whiskey barrel hi tops, Church pews for booths, deep red and green walls, a stone fireplace and curtains on the windows. It has

it, Daddy O'Brien's is the place to be.

a magical and homey feeling with leprechauns and lots of Irish decor. And the smell of the waffle cones in the air is like heaven! Daddy O'Brien's is where friends meet, stories are shared and ice cream memories are made." Every demographic meets at Daddy O'Brien's. Since half of their flavors are Family friendly, the kids are always a part of the mix. Folks come for a night out, date night, family night, lunch meetings, after sports games, fundraisers, you name

FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES: Every day someone says to the owners, "I wish there was a Daddy O'Brien's in my city."

Well now there can be with the help of other entrepreneurs like yourself.

Franchisees can choose to open an ice cream only model or a full service Irish Pub/ Restaurant model. "If I had a location in a great tourist area or a bustling downtown or live/ work/play complex with lots of daily/nightly foot traffic, I would do just the ice cream

THE MENU: The ice cream only model offers homemade adult and family friendly ice cream creations, sundaes, Belgian Waffles, Poffertjes (mini Dutch pancakes), shakes, adult shakes and slushies, beer, wine and cocktails.

The restaurant menu includes the above plus Homemade Soups, Shepherd's Pie, Bangers and Mash and several Panini sandwiches.

model. " says Lori O'Brien, aka, MommyO. "If I were in a high traffic location, but worried about seasonality, then I'd go with the full service restaurant.

Obviously the restaurant is a heftier buildout and staff load. Either model is the same franchise fee of $30k. Once you find an approved location, you just need to duplicate the look in your buildout. We will train you on making our ice cream recipes so that the ice cream you sell is made in house which is a great selling point.

Even though this is a high end

product and should be sold in upper/middle class areas, there is great earning potential.

Alcoholic ice cream is a niche market that is not going away.

Daddy O'Brien's offers a superior high quality product. Your location will be the destination spot of your metro area.

Owners high school sweethearts, Lori and Frank O'Brien, aka MommyO and DaddyO have been entrepreneurs for decades. daddyosicecream.com WWW.FRANCHISEJOURNAL.COM | APRIL 2021

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The world is taking notice – NuVinAir® is a dealership’s best friend. Our revenue-generating NuVinAir® Support Plus+ Program (NSP+) is disrupting the auto industry through cleaning innovation, patented technology, and world-class support.

Here are a few ways the NSP+ Program can benefit your dealership:

For more information on how NuVinAir® can help your business generate Nu Revenue, visit us online at:

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

Trader Joe’s Has Raving Fans— Does Your Business?

by Mike Martuza, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company What is a Raving Fan? It’s a customer who not only uses your services regularly but also raves about your business to others. Inside the world of Trader Joe’s long time shoppers will give newbies advice as to what products to try while they are in the store and will rave about the products and customer experience while they are out of the store. Trader Joe’s has perfected growing their business by having existing customers become their primary source of advertising.

In case you do not have access to a Trader Joe’s and have no idea what I’m talking about, Trader Joe’s is a grocery store – but not your mother’s grocery store. It’s an eclectic, fun and interesting place that turns grocery shopping into kind of cultural experience.

They provide their customers with incredible combinations of low-cost staples along with moderately priced exotic items that cannot be found in a common grocery store.

At first glance someone unfamiliar with a Trader Joe’s might think, “So what, another specialty grocery store”, but for its customers, Trader Joe’s has achieved the most loyal and fervent following in the industry. If you haven’t been able to tell, I would be the epitome of a Raving Fan. My

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wife claims that if Trader Joe’s was a cult I would be first in line to join as I not only shop there all of the time but I’m also a walking commercial.

How does Trader Joe’s create raving fans? How can I take some of their methods and apply them to create raving fans for my business? What I realized was that to create raving fans I needed to create a “superb (or) memorable customer experience” that exceeded what my competitors provide.

This proved to be trickier than expected because I quickly realized that my customers were not just the people looking to buy. My customers also included my employees, business partners and members of the business community with whom I interact. My goal is to have anyone who refers my business be certain that I will treat his or her referral the

right way.

Walk into any Trader Joe’s and you will find crew members (employees) wearing Hawaiian shirts, handing out balloons and stickers to kids, and providing customers with samples of their products. Since every crew member has been trained to do all tasks in the store, the shopper never waits in a long check out line; I don’t ever recall standing in a line of more than 2 or 3 people. When I can’t find something a crew member will stop whatever he or she is doing and walk me over to the product. Lastly, if I’m unsure about a new product they encourage me to buy it, try it, and return it for a full refund if I don’t like it. Can you think of another grocery store chain that creates this type of experience for its shopper?

To create an experience like this for the shopping-

Article reprinted with permission from the book “The Franchise Rules” by Michael Martuza

customer, Trader Joe’s must be treating their crew member and customers rather well. Although wearing Hawaiian shirts to work probably helps morale a little bit, there are bigger reasons the employees enjoy the work experience. The product layout in the store is determined by the employees based upon what’s best for the shoppers of that store. In addition to input into the store’s decisionmaking process, employees are well paid and are provided retirement accounts.

Finally the other customers of Trader Joe’s, the communities and their suppliers are also raving fans. For the communities Trader Joe’s brings good jobs and their appearance

is a source of pride for the community, a sort of “we have arrived” statement not unlike the first openings of Starbucks in a community a few years ago.

For the product suppliers Trader Joe’s is easy to do business with – no coupons, advertising fees, shelf fees or other headaches that they go through with the big grocery chains.

So with Trader Joe’s employees, communities and suppliers serving as the store’s raving fans, is it any wonder that shoppers are their primary marketing tool?

The lesson I took from Trader Joe’s to implement in my own business is that no matter who I am dealing with - past or potential clients, business partners, affiliate

organizations, etc. - I should treat them as I would want to be treated. Remember the Golden Rule? Sometimes in business it’s about doing the right thing, not about making the next dollar.

Do the right thing by everyone you work with and you will win Raving Fans and help your reputation and business to grow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mike Martuza is a serial entrepreneur, lecturer and author of the best selling book “The Franchise Rules.”

Mike has over 30 years of business ownership, business creation, franchising, consulting, coaching and management experience.

He has been helping people find great “fitting” franchises for more than a decade. Reach him at 617.337.3033 or mikemartuza@ thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com.

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JOIN THE LEADER IN LARGE-FORMAT PRINTING Why SpeedPro? B2B model All-inclusive startup package Unlimited scalability High gross profit margin Non-retail hours Few employees needed Fast-paced, creative business KickStart Program Initial and ongoing training as your business grows Best in class support in a growing and exciting industry

Pathways to Ownership New Studio Start-ups: SpeedPro has available territories all over the U.S. and Canada, underscoring the opportunity to open and build your large-format printing business wherever you reside.

Resales: SpeedPro Resales are a great fit for anyone interested in buying an established business.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SPEEDPRO FRANCHISING, CONTACT: 888.598.5065 live@speedprofranchising.com SpeedProFranchising.com SPEEDPRO.COM 2020 SpeedPro – All Rights Reserved. This ad does not constitute an offer. Financial Performance Representations (FPRs) are made based on our Franchise Disclosure Document. Your results may vary.

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