FranX | Goodbye 2021

The Next McDonald's (Big Idea)

Gratitude!

2021 was filled with turbulence, challenges, and opportunity.

No better way to end the year than with gratitude and a mindset toward a healthy, meaningful, and successful 2022.

From a life and business perspective…now is the time to plan and guide what will take shape in 2022.

Now is the time to start back-casting…

Project yourself 12 months into the future…

As 2022 ends, what will be the success sign posts that will be indicators of success? What KPI’s and metrics will you be measuring? What strategic hedges will you be relying on and what opportunities will you be leveraging?

Take a Moment…

Spend some time listening to great advice from our friend Annie Duke.

Access the FranX strategic planning guide…

Wishing you the best for 2022!

The Bottom Thoughts

For Bottom Thoughts, we thought it would be good to post the last one of 2020, add comments and set predictions for 2022:

Jump in the DeLorean back to this time last year. What would you tell Michael J Franchise?

Yo, there is going to be a pandemic where your life, your business and your norm will be completely disrupted.

• Still disrupted, but tired of it. Thus, businesses and people seem to be moving on from COVID – ef you Omicron.
• In 2022, COVID will still be here – as will it be in 2023. We will just have to deal with it – just like many unfortunate parts of life. But, that shouldn’t stop us from doing our best to chase happiness. YOLO

Robert Cresanti is going to be out at the IFA.

• And now, Matt Haller is in. But, the IFA has seemingly been quiet, or at least that is our perception. It seems as if San Diego is in play. It will be interesting to see who is still around, and what a new leader will bring to the industry.

Papa Johns will make a resurgence.

• All of first party delivery did. But, others are catching up. In 2022, convenience will continue to be king, but, perhaps in the sense of self-service and drive-thrus.

Go buy some stock -- like Peloton, anything to do with the home (Wayfair), Tesla -- and a whole bunch more because the bubble is not poppin’ yet.

• Well, Peloton s!@# the bed. Wayfair, too. Do they rebound? Not that we are stock advisors, but what goes down, tends to come up and some point (whether that’s a group on Reddit or real business value).

Airlines?

Restaurants?

Casinos?

Cruises?

Thousands of restaurants will close in 2020. Ugg.

• We were talking with a brand about consumer ideas. Their response was, “cool, but we need the labor.” Interesting that demand is skyrocketing, but the support to execute is weak at best.
• For some franchisees, shortage in labor means busting their butt. Some probably weren’t prepared for this hustle.
• Chuck & a Truck businesses were. But, can they scale?
• What type of wealth matters to franchisees?
• In 2022, we expect more personal happiness exploration, more quitting the BS, and more taking futures into your own hands (employees, future franchisees, entrepreneurs)

Bitcoin is exploding. Mortgage your house, your wife, your kids and put it all into da coin.

• OK, let’s say for argument’s sake you listened to us: The closing price for Bitcoin (BTC) on January 1 was $29,329.65
• So, let’s say you accessed $250,000. Put it all into bitcoin: 8.5 coins.
• Today (12/21), $56,000/coin. Value would be $477,343 or $227,343.
• Let’s pretend the average franchise’s net is 20%. At that average, your franchise unit would have had to do 1,236,716 in year 1 sales.
• So…just saying. Do it again this year?

Sports will be played in bubbles, without fans and without players (opt out).

• Less, but still complex a year later. Again, people are over COVID, players included.

A vaccine will be created in record time.

• Cool, but still finding its way through. Hopefully we are one step closer to herd immunity.

Franchise Knowledge for $100, Alex. RIP

• Wow, that was a year ago? So many more gone way, too, soon.
• Remember, life is short, find your happiness.

It’s been a year, FranXers. Ready to make 2021 better -- or better again?

Data is still data.

Wait for the market to correct and then invest.

Franchising is still consistently headed in the right direction, and the great resignation will continue to have impact.

Leads will continue to take longer to mature.

Chuck & a Truck businesses will continue to outpace other segments thanks to a perfected labor market – for anyone happy with one unit.

Under qualified franchisees will be offset by grit.

Big holding companies will continue to get bigger.

PE deals will be hot through the first half of 2022.

Businesses will have an awakening, call everyone back to offices at an increased pace, and then see more people quit.

The value of college will have to evolve into more experiential. College of tomorrow will be around work ethic, sustainability, and consistency.

2022, we are ready to be done with the double-year of 2020. But then again, life shouldn’t move this fast anyway.

HNY