Guide To Franchising Your Business: Q&A With Samir Wattar, Layne’s Chicken Fingers

Franchises offer a platform that allows passionate entrepreneurs to make an impact, work for themselves or build wealth independently, even if they don’t have their own original business idea. For business leaders who have a proven model and plans to grow, the choice to offer franchises can be both a strategic one and one that is incredibly fulfilling. But the path from ideation to awarding franchises isn’t always straightforward.

To help demystify the process, 1851 Franchise spoke with Samir Wattar, chief operating officer of Layne’s Chicken Fingers*, about his journey to franchising and advice for others looking to follow a similar path.

A transcript of Wattar’s interview with 1851 has been provided below. It has been edited for clarity, brevity and style.

1851 Franchise: Why did you decide to franchise your business?

Samir Wattar: The goal has always been to franchise the business. We see the value of franchising. I’m a firm believer in franchising when it’s done right. Once you decide to franchise, you take on a lot of responsibilities, and you have to own up to those responsibilities. But it’s not about a check. It’s about lifting someone up, building wealth for them and helping them be successful. We believe Layne’s is perfect for that model. It’s a simple operation, it’s cost-effective and if you put your mind to it, anyone can do it.

1851: What advice would you give to someone thinking about franchising their business?

Wattar: My biggest advice is to consider what you’re selling. You’re not selling the product. 

We, at the Layne’s home office, have two customers. We have the regular customer that walks into a Layne’s restaurant, buys chicken tenders and goes home. Then we have another customer who is the potential franchisee. In my opinion, you’re selling them services. We need to treat the franchisees as we expect them to treat Layne’s guests when they walk into the restaurant.

If you’re not focused on the service and just want to collect the check, you’re destroying your brand.

1851: How many franchise consultants did you look at?

Wattar: We’re different in this regard. We bring in what we call a franchise business consultant to support franchisees. This person works for Layne’s and is the voice of the franchisee in meetings at the corporate level.

I expect that franchise business consultant to always be the voice of the franchisee, not the voice of the company, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. They need to be able to express the franchisees’ opinions because, at the end of the day, the franchisees are the ones doing it. We don’t want to hand down orders and tell franchisees they have to do it just because we said so. That won’t work.

Right now, we have one person in charge of operations, and we have one franchise business consultant that reports directly to him. Once we hit 25 restaurants, we’ll have another on board. For every 25 restaurants, or every three to four franchisees, you must have one FBC. Their job is to protect the brand and protect the franchisee.

1851: Did you consider working with brokers when you were first getting started?

Wattar: We didn’t. We haven’t felt the need to. We’ve sold 226 restaurants in three years. Everything we’ve done has been organic, and I like that. I’m not going to say “never.” Eventually, we’ll need to, but at this point, we’re comfortable where we’re at because we grow based on the support we can provide. Again, we’re not just selling franchises.

1851: What was one thing you wish you knew about the franchise process?

Wattar: It’s not something I wish I had known, but it’s something I’m glad I learned early on. I’ve been in franchising a long time, so I’ve seen the good, bad and ugly. When I decided to go into franchising, years ago, one of my mentors sat me down and said, “Samir, I know you want to be on the franchising side of the business, and it’s a fun side, but you need to understand one thing. When you go home, your wife asks you, ‘How was your day?’ When a franchisee goes home, his wife will ask him, ‘How were sales today?’ If you don’t understand that, you shouldn’t be in franchising.”

That’s been my motto for the last 20 years in franchising. I have franchisees who still call me today because of our relationship. They know how I operate.

Growing and selling franchises is difficult. No great franchise did it alone. Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisors grow their franchises with confidence? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and see what we can do for you.