1851 Growth Club: What Is Winning In Franchise Growth?

The 1851 Growth Club set out to answer a difficult question: What counts as winning in franchise growth? 1851 Franchise CEO Nick Powills has the answer. In this post, he offers advice about how to define “winning” in terms of franchise growth and, more importantly, how future franchise owners and emerging franchisors can achieve it.

What Does Winning Look Like In Franchising?

Winning will look different for every brand.

“Growth is really in the eye of the beholder,” explained Powills. “While some franchises might win by increasing their number of units, others might emphasize increasing the profitability of existing locations, for example. Winning in growth, in short, is very specific to each brand and its goals.”

How to Define Winning For Your Brand 

Defining winning for each brand is crucial; this helps franchise owners and franchisors create and set attainable goals for themselves. When Nick Powills talked to franchise owners, he helped them define what winning looks like for them and their brand with strategic questioning.

“I start with questions like, ‘What's going to happen three years from now? What's your vision for five years from now?” Powills explained. “‘Are you trying to exit, scale, diversify, add more brands to your portfolio, or raise funds?’ Some of those questions end up helping brands define what growth should look like in a generalistic sense.”

Defining what growth will look like also allows a brand to put a plan into action and start working toward it. Creating an outline and a timeline to achieve growth is important. For example, a one-unit brand might decide to set goals year by year for how many units they would like to add. In the first couple of years, the brand might only increase by three or four units a year. In years five, six and seven, they can aim to double their growth each year, expanding exponentially.

“That seems like a long time frame when you are just starting,” said Powills. “But if profitability is secured in the beginning stages, then growing from one to 100 to 200 locations and so on makes sense.”

Working Toward Your Established Goal for Growth

Once a brand has an established goal for growth, it simply needs to work backwards. As Powills puts it, the next question is, “What's it going to take from an investment standpoint, a support standpoint and a leadership standpoint to make sure that we are positioned to have a fruitful exit?”

This important step is overlooked by many brands, meaning they do not properly invest from the start. Only considering the short term can lead to disappointing outcomes because the desired outcome was not part of the initial plan, and, thus, the correct steps have not been taken.

“So to answer what is the right franchise growth, it's going to be dependent on you,” explained Powills. “It's going to be dependent on the outcomes that you want.”

Final Words of Advice

Lastly, Powills advised franchisors to consider where they will actually make money.

“You make money off of royalties, not franchise fees,” he said. “And if you have fewer franchisees making more gross profit who are scaling, that could be better for your brand. So it's something to think about.”

Ultimately, you need to make incremental goals to accomplish along the way to secure your future success and each “win.”

“You need some sort of roadmap so you can see what you’re playing against, but you also need to look back and reflect on your progress,” he advised. “Ask yourself, ‘What would we have done differently if we missed this goal?’ This will ensure preparedness for the next part of your plan and a swift recovery for any missteps.”

For prospective franchisees who start putting the pieces in place now to help define what “winning” is when it comes to franchise growth, you will be in a better position to achieve it going forward.

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