FranDev Players: Brett Larabee, Director of International Development, Little Caesars® Pizza

Brett Larabee, director of international development for Little Caesars® Pizza, is a formally trained chef. That’s probably why he likes to rely on his culinary background to explain the difference between an independent business and a successful franchise. 

He says, it’s like the difference between cooking and baking. 

“Cooking is variable. You can make something more well done or medium rare, more salt, less salt, more fat, less acid,” he explained. “But when you're baking, it's a perfect science. And the reason a franchise works is because you follow the recipe.”

And Little Caesars knows something about that. Founded in 1959, the Detroit-based pizza chain is the third-largest pizza chain in the world and an icon in the franchising industry with stores in 26 countries and counting (Moscow, here they come in 2021). 

We asked Larabee to share more of what he thinks makes a franchise grow.

1851 Franchise: Everyone knows Little Caesars, so what would you say is the brand’s overall approach to franchise development?

Brett Larabee: Little Caesars is a family company and has been for 60 years and will continue to be. So the main approach that we take is we're a family company who is really franchising to other families. Yes, we're obviously looking for multi-unit investors with high-net worth and the ability to scale and grow a business, but these people are families just like us. We're looking for long-term relationships. We're not here to just sell a franchise and move on. We're here to build sizable businesses with people interested in wealth creation.

1851: How did you get started?

Larabee: I started as a Subway franchisee in 1986. I've been in franchising forever. This will be my 35th year. I was just fascinated with the idea of being in control of my future and having my own business. I always felt endeared to the idea of small business. It made sense to me. One of the things that's really driven me over the years is that I've been able to provide a lot of opportunities to families all over the world to build sizable businesses.

1851: What are the keys to consistent franchise growth?

Larabee: Understanding how the business model works in different environments. Once you have a keen understanding of that, you understand how it’s going to work differently in different demographics. 

For instance, if your business is in the Midwest, once you get out to the West Coast or the East Coast, your customer is going to be different. There's going to be different competitors, different economic and socioeconomic demographics. Be aware of those idiosyncrasies in those different areas and allow yourself the flexibility to meet the specific markets needs. That's what Little Caesars does really well with an adaptive menu strategy. We look at what our consumers are buying, not just in the pizza category, but throughout the whole food spectrum. 

So, in certain parts of India you're not going to put meat on the menu. In other parts of the world, you need to have halal product because the majority of the populace is Muslim. In some parts of the world, if you didn’t have pork you wouldn't be interesting. 

1851: Are there hurdles to successful franchise growth right now? 

Larabee: The only real hurdle right now is just kind of the lack of ability to travel and logistically move equipment and construct stores. Things just take more time now. But in many ways the pandemic has created real estate opportunities. It’s reduced competition in a number of markets around the world. It's exacerbated the demand for a product like Little Caesars, which is budget conscious. People are more economically constrained now than ever. 

1851: Has COVID-19 affected franchise growth? 

Larabee: It's provided a lot of development opportunities. A lot of people are interested in building Little Caesars, but the actual store growth, getting stores open, that slowed down.

1851: Are there common mistakes franchisors make when they're trying to grow?

Larabee: I see so many franchisors not drilling down to the most effective business model, simply franchising something that they think will work, or that kind of works well in a certain region or area, but doesn't scale beyond certain borders. It's fine to be optimistic and hopeful, but when you don't do franchising right, you hurt people. Not only just their business, but their family and their kids' ability to go to college.

1851: Any other mistakes?

Larabee: Franchisors are misaligned with the franchisees they bring into the system. The franchisees either don't have enough capital, or don't have the right expectations as to what it takes to be successful in the business. So they don't move to the same in the same direction, which often leads to failure because resources and time are spent doing things that simply either don't work or won't work. That's probably the biggest thing that misaligns franchisees with their franchisees they bring into the system: the franchisor hasn't fully established the expectations and the guidelines.  

1851: Do you have any specific plans or goals for ‘21?

Larabee: We're gonna grow beyond the 26 countries we're in now. We're gonna open in Moscow, Ecuador and Portugal. We're going to continue to grow in India, the Philippines, Malaysia and the U.K. These are markets that we've already got a good foothold in, so we're in the process of growing those incredibly desirable markets.