How a Scientist-Turned-Entrepreneur Built a Thriving T-Shirt Printing Franchise

Tina Bacon-DeFrece, president and CEO of Big Frog Franchise Group, never planned on entering the world of franchising. Originally a scientist, she and her partners started an online geek company only to find themselves frustrated by the complexities of working with traditional screen printers. 

“[W]e bought our own t-shirt printer, which is still in the stores today,” Bacon-DeFrece told Nick Powills, founder and publisher of 1851 Franchise, on his “Meet the Zor” podcast. “We were featured on a morning program because, you know, we were cool ex-scientists starting a T-shirt shop. Next thing you know, it wasn’t about geek stuff anymore; it was about printing T-shirts for local churches, schools and plumbers.” 

What started as a small project quickly turned into a thriving business, providing custom apparel for local communities and eventually growing into a nationwide franchise. Bacon-DeFrece’s analytical background and commitment to innovation have been key drivers in the brand’s success, transforming Big Frog into a disruptor in the industry.

A summarized transcript of Tina’s interview with Powills has been included below. It has been edited for clarity, brevity, and style.

Nick Powills: Tina, it’s a broken record question, but I think it’s so important to framing our conversation. How did you accidentally fall into franchising? What’s your franchise backstory?

Tina Bacon-DeFrece: It honestly was an accident. My partners and I were scientists who decided to start our own online geek company. It was before “Big Bang Theory.” We would have been the precursors to Big Bang geekiness, but we wanted to sell T-shirts, and working with screen printers was an absolute nightmare. They wouldn’t walk me through what vectorizing meant and color separation. So we bought our own T-shirt printer, which is still in the stores today. 

We were featured on a morning program because, you know, we were cool ex-scientists starting a T-shirt shop. Next thing you know, it wasn’t about geek stuff anymore; it was about printing T-shirts for local churches, schools and plumbers. When they started calling, we were like, “Well, if you don’t want geek stuff, I guess we could do this.” So we eliminated all the barriers to entry. We were like, “Just buy one. I’ll do the artwork.” Not that I’m an artist, but I’ll do it for you. We’ll print it. No minimums, just buy what you need. It really became a disruptor model for the whole industry.

Powills: Okay. So you’re going through this process, building a great business. How does franchising fall into that? At what point does your brain turn towards, “Let’s franchise this thing”?

Bacon-DeFrece: Our customer in South Tampa came in and said, “I really want to start one of these things,” and we were like, “Well, go right ahead.” And he said, “No, no, no, I need to franchise.” We did not know what that meant. We only knew about McDonald’s. So we talked to our banker, and he recommended we talk to a guy named Rick Shampaine. He was pretty big in FranNet through the years. He walked us through how to franchise. We did a private placement, self-invested, got a lawyer, and started franchising. We attended our first IFA [International Franchise Association] in 2008, trying to figure this thing out. There’s not much to it other than we stumbled our way to this point.

Powills: So, out of curiosity, as a scientist, the amount of detail you have to pay attention to and finding gaps is invaluable to what you’re accomplishing in that side of your life — did you go through the same process in franchising? Were you looking at it with a microscope or were you very trusting, like, “Let’s just go do this”?

Bacon-DeFrece: We did some pro formas and tried to figure out if franchising made sense financially — otherwise, we were going to just open up a chain locally — so we looked at it very closely. I’m definitely the overly analytical person in the partnership, and that’s my background, so that’s okay. But we looked at everything. I read all the books on the UFOC [uniform franchise offer circular], and then I went to the FDD [franchise disclosure document]. We went through all the financial analysis and then, of course, looked at the demographics that work and tried to analyze what our footprint would look like. So yeah, it was a scientific research discovery for sure.

Powills: As a scientist, I’m sure when you sit down, you’re trying to solve a problem, thinking about what the end is. In franchising, you go through this process to become a franchise. What was your dream at that point? How has your dream played out? Did you expect to be at this level? Did you expect to be bigger? Where did you expect to be 15 years later?

Bacon-DeFrece: I think we expected to definitely be bigger. COVID set us back a bit in terms of open units. We did close some, and it’s had different challenges that we didn’t expect, mainly in terms of franchise development. We grew pretty quickly in the beginning and then stabilized. I think our highest was 100, and we lost about 20 units over the last 15 years for various reasons. 

I think finding the right candidate has been the biggest challenge. We definitely thought if we liked the candidate and thought they were good people, they would be a good fit for the model, but that’s not always the case. We still want good people and people we like in the system, but it’s become more scientific in terms of the type of personality that will do well. That was definitely a big learning experience for us.

Powills: I’m fascinated by the DNA or experience of humans, so I wonder, what is your superpower? Given your science background, when problems arise, do you see them as insurmountable, or do you approach them with a “let's figure it out” mindset? Does your mentality and pre-entrepreneurship structure give you a unique ability to pivot in business?

Bacon-DeFrece: Yes. I think that’s how my team is, too. We’ve built a really good team that way. When we had a few closures, the first thing I did was go back to every personality test we ever did on all the candidates, put it in a spreadsheet and try some algorithms to figure out who that person is at the end of the day. Excel is my go-to for just about everything to solve the problem. And of course, Google. But yes, absolutely. If you can look at numbers critically and divorce from emotion, you can absolutely make more progress.

Powills: If there’s someone you’re talking to at a bar and they say, “Well, what do you do? What is the opportunity here?” how would you explain it?

Bacon-DeFrece: That actually does happen quite a bit — not that I’m in bars often — but essentially, we say it’s a community-based business. If you have been working in the corporate world for years, it’s an opportunity to really connect with everyone in the community. Everyone needs decorated apparel for something, so it’s just a nice boutique environment, very friendly, with a great small team. People and small businesses will come in and request custom shirts. It’s a fantastic opportunity to connect with nonprofits in the community. That’s what most of our owners really love about it. For the first time, they’re truly connected to their local community.

Powills: It’s interesting you say that. I do a lot of podcasts with franchisees, and I’ve been exploring the shift from corporate America to business ownership. What keeps coming up are the gaps they face. In corporate, they often see no pathway to advance, which leads them to question the purpose of building wealth for someone else. But when they move into franchise ownership, they encounter new gaps, like missing infrastructure. For example, I spoke to someone who said, “I’ve never hired at this level, so I didn’t know what to do.” Does that resonate with how Big Frog addresses these issues for franchise buyers?

Bacon-DeFrece: Yes. Our first goal before FranNet was really making sure that infrastructure was in place for them. Obviously, we can’t hire for them, but we provide the Indeed ads and whatever they need. We give them personality tests they can use and tell them who to look for. So, it is definitely a challenge. 

I don’t know if this is true with the other franchisees you’ve spoken with, but these executive vice presidents worked with college-educated white-collar workers, and we’re hiring people right out of high school. It’s just a different employee type. I think that’s what our people struggle with the most — how to motivate and manage people who are just more free-thinking. Our people, too, are more artistic, so it’s definitely a different mindset. We work a lot with them to make them understand you’re leading a different group of people than you’re used to, but there is still a lot of boots-on-the-ground learning for them. They can’t deny that.

Powills: If I bought your business today, I’d make two changes: first, elevate your journey and story, which initially resonated with people. It’s currently buried. Second, turn your download guide into a “What is franchising?” resource. The Big Frog approach — sharing what you had to learn — could make a huge difference, especially for buyers who are afraid of investing their life savings. How does that resonate with you?

Bacon-DeFrece: I totally agree with what you said, and I think the way our website is focused is definitely for a more informed person looking for business. But I think that’s a valid point, to take it down a notch and do some pages on that — maybe a blog about how I got started — just add that to it. I think that’s a good point. And frankly, it’s kind of why our brand strategy this year is really focused on broker relationships, because they’re doing that training for us and getting people up to speed so we don’t have to do that part. Following that strategy has been pretty successful for us so far. But I do agree that the more data, the better on the website, in general, makes it easier for the potential candidate.

Powills: If we were to take every founder at the IFA in 2008, a percentage of them didn’t make it, a percentage of them have exited and a percentage of them are still dreaming. Clearly, you’re still in the dreaming stage, still building something special. What’s the vision of the brand right now?

Bacon-DeFrece: Right now, like I said, we’ve gotten our brand back on track after COVID. Our goal is to expand probably 50 units in the next three years. We do have a master franchise in Canada, so we’re expecting to open some more units up there. I think we have two in progress. For me, the goal is to expand the network to the point that we can give more benefits to the franchisees. For instance, licensing — if we have enough franchisees, we can do that. The other thing we’re looking at is expanding into online ecommerce; I don’t know if you know who Custom Ink is, but some of those online competitors start to show up there and offer a new revenue stream for the stores. If we can keep growing that distribution network, we can be a really powerful ecommerce force to reckon with as well.

Powills: How many locations do you have open now?

Bacon-DeFrece: 75.

Powills: And what’s the cost to get in right now?

Bacon-DeFrece: It ranges from about $160K to $320K. There’s optional manufacturing equipment that people can buy.

Powills: Okay. And then what are you disclosing in Item 19?

Bacon-DeFrece: So, our top quartile is about $959K, second is $576K, and then the average for the stores is $532K.

Powills: When I see the leadership around me, the vision — like Custom Ink buying a Superbowl ad — becomes our North Star. What if our collective could do that through locally owned and operated businesses? It’s a cool dream. 

What's a good day for you? What's a bad day for you right now?

Bacon-DeFrece: Most days are good. I think bad days are just days where a franchisee is struggling. We actually just launched a brand new point-of-sale system this year, so we’ve had a lot of transition pains with that. I think those are the bad days where it suddenly stops working, and we all go into panic mode and call the POS company. I enjoy any day I’m not getting an alert that something isn’t working for the point-of-sale, but that’s how they go. We just have to deal with that. 

Otherwise, things are good. We’ve got really engaged franchisees, which makes it a fun system. I enjoy speaking to them. I still do, not to all of them daily, but to at least one or two a day. That’s something I enjoy — hearing what’s happening and trying to help with any issues they’re having in the store. So, I can’t complain. I really love my job. I love work. I love my team. So, I’m good for now.

Powills: I joke that I wanted to be a baseball player when I grew up, and here I am talking about franchising, geeking out on franchising. I didn’t expect to be here, but I love what I do too.

Bacon-DeFrece: Yeah, it’s a nice change. I wanted to be Indiana Jones, and that just didn’t work out for me.

Powills: Alright, Tina, let’s close on this. If there’s a candidate that has watched this discussion up to this point, anything else you want them to know about the business before we sign off?

Bacon-DeFrece: I think the big thing — and this is what every franchisor would say — is we’ve figured out the key to success with the business. It’s really about following the systems. That’s the advantage of franchising. Don’t second guess, don’t reanalyze — just go with what’s working for the stores. That would work for any possible candidate, I imagine, in any system, but that’s it — don’t waste your energy reinventing the wheel. Just move forward.

Watch the full episode above or on YouTube.