BIGGBY® COFFEE Corporate Employee Teams Up with Longtime Customer and Michigan State University Alumni to Open a Franchise in Northern Illinois

Lisa Smith has had the opportunity to watch BIGGBY® COFFEE grow from a handful of coffee shops during her time at Michigan State University to where it is today. So, when she decided she wanted to open a business locally in her hometown of McHenry, the positive-energy and community-oriented coffee franchise was top of mind. 

Around a year-and-a-half ago, Smith signed on the dotted line and was ready to open her very own BIGGBY® COFFEE location. Unfortunately, life happened and Smith decided that she would no longer be able to pursue the opportunity. At the same time, Will Hartford, a franchise recruitment representative on the BIGGBY® corporate team, had dreams of opening his own location, too. When he heard about Smith’s situation, he thought it was the perfect time to transition to franchisee. He called Smith and asked her if she would like to partner with him on the franchise. Now, the pair is opening the McHenry location as a team. 

1851 Franchise talked to Hartford and Smith about their journey in franchising with BIGGBY® COFFEE and their plans for the future. 

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Lisa Smith: I graduated from Michigan State just over 20 years ago, so I've been really familiar with the BIGGBY® brand from my time as a student until today.  My in-laws from my previous marriage lived in Michigan, so I spent a lot of time going back and forth over a 20-plus year period and watched the brand grow. I was intrigued by [the brand’s] success, from just a handful of coffee shops when I was a student at Michigan State, to where it is today. 

I was looking for another opportunity for myself and my family just over a year and a half ago, and so I started looking into the franchise. I wanted to make sure it would make sense for my hometown of McHenry, Illinois.  At the time, my sister-in-law was working at a BIGGBY® store in Michigan as a shift lead and she would share all of her great stories about her experience at the coffee shop.  Will called me after I inquired about the brand online, and we spent months discussing the opportunity. I ended up signing the [franchise agreement] and jumping in after so many conversations with Will and sharing in his enthusiasm for the brand. Unfortunately, life happened and I thought I would have to terminate my commitment. Will told me to give it some time and see how things work out. He called me about two months later and asked about partnering. I hesitated initially, but after a lot of discussion we decided to partner last year. So now we're doing this together. And it's so exciting. 

Will Hartford: I grew up in East Lansing, [Michigan,] which is where BIGGBY® had their first store, so I have been around the brand my whole life. I attended Michigan State University and a couple years after graduating, I started working at the BIGGBY® home office. I’ve now had the privilege to work here for the past three years, most currently as a franchise recruitment representative. I had always wanted to own my own business and pretty quickly, after starting at the BIGGBY® home office, I decided I wanted to own one of these as a franchisee. When life happened and Lisa couldn’t take on the franchise commitment anymore, I thought it was the perfect opportunity. Because of the great working relationship we formed up to this point I asked her if she would want to partner up with me. After many discussions we found that we had a lot of the same business goals and similar motivations. And we dove right in.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Smith: I found it intriguing. I have some very good family friends who had owned 13 McDonald's around this area, and so I was very familiar with the concept. In fact, I worked for them when I was a teenager and understood the success it had brought to their family.  I just never thought I would actually do something like this until I did.

Hartford: I knew pretty much nothing about franchising prior to working for BIGGBY®. I always had the perception that franchising with a big brand, or even a regional brand, was difficult to get into and would have a lot of barriers to entry. After I started working in franchising, I learned that's not the case. I'm really thankful I found franchising and think everyone should at the very least look into what it would be like to franchise a concept that they are a regular customer at.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Smith: I’ve just been watching it for so long. I thought it was amazing how much it grew. And I love the story. I love the fact that Mike [McFall] and Bob [Fish] are still so involved and just how much they believe in the company. It still feels like a family-run company but in a very big network. 

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Smith: I grew up in this town and I want to invest in the growth and success of the city of McHenry.  We have a great community here.  My vision is to grow these coffee shops across McHenry County, and maybe across Lake County as well. I want to take it as far as we can. 

Hartford: I agree with everything she said. We want to have a community-oriented coffee shop — a coffee shop for everybody — and we want to grow the BIGGBY® footprint across Illinois. I see a super unique opportunity for BIGGBY®, especially in Northern Illinois. There are no regionalized concepts like us — there's really only Starbucks and Dunkin’ — so I think it's a really good opportunity that we have to grow the brand in this specific marketplace. 

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Hartford: The most interesting part of this is that we didn't know each other at all before becoming business partners. And I'm also thankful that the BIGGBY® home office is letting me transition from a corporate employee to a franchisee. 

Smith: I am thankful for Will being so flexible and ready to jump into this business with me. Otherwise, I likely would have had to walk away from the opportunity.  We are blessed to have  this partnership in place and we're both here for the same goal. We are committed to growing this business and making it the best that it can be right here in McHenry. 

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Smith: They need to do their homework and understand that it takes a lot of work. It is a commitment and it takes dedication from the owner to make it successful.  Starting from building out the project to marketing and community support.  Understand the resources that are available to you as a franchise owner and use them as a guide to make the best decisions for the business that are on brand and intentional. 

Hartford: Research is super important. Don't limit yourself to one brand. There are so many different franchise concepts out there. It's wise to pick a few that interest you and thoroughly analyze them and also talk to existing franchise owners. I think franchisee satisfaction is one of the biggest indicators of a healthy franchise system, so make sure to talk to the actual franchise owners themselves before jumping into signing a contract with any brand.

About The BIGGBY® COFFEE Franchise

BIGGBY® COFFEE, based in East Lansing, Mich., was started with a single store on March 15, 1995. One year later, and on the cusp of opening a second location, Bob Fish and Michael McFall, on a handshake and $4,000, decided to franchise the concept. The brand’s cultural values of Make Friends, Have Fun, B Yourself and Share Great Coffee help coffee lovers and the coffee-curious alike benefit from a less pretentious and fun approach to the standard gourmet cafe paradigm. Besides connoisseur-worthy drinks with names like Teddy Bear® and Caramel Marvel®, BIGGBY® COFFEE baristas provide a unique experience focused on brightening their customers’ day and supporting them in building a life they love. The “Big ‘B’” on the orange background caught on, and today BIGGBY® COFFEE has 379 cafes across many states, including Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Idaho, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida.