Raintree Looks For Competitive Brand Advantages and Growth Potential in an Ideal Partner Brand

The experts at Raintree have built a comprehensive franchise growth program for each of their partner brands to improve said brands’ content and design, franchise lead generation, brand management and franchise sales. These brands include some of the fastest-growing in their respective industries, including Jamba, Cheba Hut and Teriyaki Madness. 

According to Raintree CEO Brent Dowling, there are three distinct factors that the team looks for when partnering with brands—differentiators, strong unit-level economics and established support infrastructures. With 30 years of collective franchise ownership experience and over 2,000 franchises awarded, the Raintree team is comprised of experts in what works and what doesn’t.

Competitive Differentiators

“The first thing we look for in a brand is a strong differentiator,” said Dowling. “The brand should be able to explain to us in just one or two sentences how their business model is unique or superior to other franchise brands in their segment. In order to generate effective franchise leads, Raintree’s experienced marketing team needs to have a strong business model to incorporate into our robust inbound and outbound marketing strategies.”

Without a confident and differentiated business model, a brand doesn’t have a story to tell—or sell. Raintree is committed to providing a brand’s leads and prospects with beautifully designed and individualized content, which effectively answers all questions and makes a genuine emotional connection with potential buyers. In order to implement and execute this strategy consistently so effective design and SEO-driven content can spark massive franchise sales growth, a brand needs strong differentiators and a succinct business model.

Strong Unit-Level Economics

Strong franchise unit-level economics are equally as important, according to Dowling. When a brand applies to partner with Raintree, the team carefully investigates its economics to ensure that the ROI timeframe makes sense financially and that the system earnings average reaches at least 15% before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Raintree looks carefully at the applicant brand’s Item 19 to get a better sense of its profitability potential for markets across the country. 

“From a franchise growth standpoint, we look first and foremost at the economics of the business,” said Dowling. “It’s wonderful to position franchise concepts to potential buyers that allow franchise owners to experience strong levels of fulfillment, help their community or be in an industry that’s really fun—but at the end of the day, it’s still a business. In order to survive and enjoy those other, secondary benefits, the owner needs to make a profit.”

Infrastructure To Support Scalability

In addition to strong financials, Raintree is interested in brands with a strong support infrastructure, executive team and growth alignment. “We look for brands that prioritize franchisee support and are prepared and eager to continue to invest in the system to properly support a host of new franchise owners. Far too often, we see franchise concepts attempt to take a shortcut and cut costs within their support system—with disastrous results down the line.”

According to Dowling, an appetite for growth is needed to match Raintree’s goal of developing the brand long-term. In order to recreate a brand’s franchising development materials, Raintree’s results-oriented approach must align with the culture of the brand. Without a strong infrastructure—which includes a qualified leadership team, loyal and passionate franchisees and turnkey operations—a brand may not be able to withstand the level of franchise growth that Raintree hopes to bring. As the driving force behind making sure action items are completed by both teams in order to propel the brand into accelerated growth mode, the experienced team of franchise sales professionals needs to be confident that the brand is willing and able to grow quickly and the right way. 

“As franchisors ourselves, we noticed that there were a lot of companies and individuals who were clearly overpromising brands on franchise growth expectations, and ultimately disappointing those brands,” said Dowling. “We felt that it was important to cultivate an open dialogue with each brand to establish relationships and make sure our goals align with those of the brand.”

The Advantage of a Mutually Beneficial Partnership

Recently, the children’s fitness brand FUN BUS partnered with Raintree in preparation for explosive franchise growth. According to Dowling, FUN BUS is a prime example of the type of brand Raintree is looking for when partnering. The emerging children’s fitness brand was already growing, with a strong Item 19, competitive concept and a newly minted franchisor looking to expand. Because the brand housed an infrastructure ready for franchise growth, including an established culture in the childcare segment, a passionate leadership team and loyal franchisees, Raintree was able to bring in better-quality leads, form stronger relationships with broker networks and improve the brand’s appearance to potential candidates.

While differentiators, franchise unit economics and strong support systems are important for brands in any segment, Dowling pointed out a few additional categories that currently pique his interest when partnering with brands. 

“It is important that a brand features an ‘Amazon-proof’ concept nowadays, meaning their business model cannot be replicated by the Amazon, or e-commerce, marketplace,” said Dowling. “Other lucrative segments include childcare and pet care. In terms of the QSR and fast casual segments, restaurants with a lower cost of entry have proven to be successful, as well as service brands that take advantage of new and emerging segments.”

As Raintree’s franchise consultants continue to seek out those franchisors who exhibit a competitive advantage through differentiation, strong unit-level economics and an ability to support growth, Raintree is set to cultivate explosive results for both itself its partner brands.