Why Franchise Due Diligence Is Like Marriage: An Interview with Joe Manuszak of UNITS Moving and Portable Storage

The idea of franchising is often viewed through the lens of glossy marketing materials. But what does it take to really understand the grit, risk and human element behind the typical franchising model? 

While due diligence is crucial, that human element matters too.

“On the side, I do marriage counseling — and I wrote a book on marriage. I see franchising as very similar to marriage. There’s a honeymoon period, a nice relationship period, then kids — meaning more locations — and rough patches,” said Joe Manuszak, director of operations for UNITS Moving and Portable Storage. “The question is how we deal with that. How do we work together for five-, 10- or 20-year renewals? My suggestion is: Don’t see every day as catastrophic. See it as teamwork. They’re not mountains; they’re speed bumps.”

The initial franchise buy-in can be difficult to navigate, which makes thorough due diligence essential — not only at the start but also later as you scale. 

Founded in 2004, UNITS began franchising two years later and today maintains a massive, growing presence in more than 500 American cities, providing on-demand moving and storage solutions.

Manuszak joined 1851 Franchise Publisher Nick Powills on a recent “Meet the Franchise” podcast to discuss his entry into franchising, the value of proper due diligence and his insights on scaling a business. A transcript of Manuszak’s interview with Powills, edited for length and clarity, has been provided below.  

Nick Powills: All right, Joe. First you, then the business — and it’s such an easy question. It’s the only scripted one I have. How did you accidentally fall into franchising? What’s your franchise accident story?

Joe Manuszak: I blame it on Domino’s Pizza. Domino’s gave me the market to run in Little Rock, Arkansas. And my first six months we were up between 50% and 70% each week over last year. They asked me to start doing that kind of assistance to help franchisees.

So they gave me 118 locations throughout Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee to start helping those franchisees understand what they could do differently to raise their sales. And that’s how I got started.

Powills: At what point did you understand franchising? Working in franchising is obviously one thing but the depth of people investing their life savings into the business is another. The level of control they have, what a P&L looks like — how long did it take you to figure that part out?

Manuszak: Probably about 90 days into it. I had a gentleman in Yazoo, Mississippi, who was doing certain things that weren’t within the gamut. But he said he was trying to do anything to pay bills. Then I had another franchisee who was absent. He didn’t care what it took and didn’t want to put any money into the system.

I had to learn how to look at outside investors versus people who didn’t understand the model versus people who really put their whole life savings into it. And it took me about 90 days. It was a real rude awakening when you’re relatively young to figure out, “Wow. This is a lot of money that some people are wasting. And some have really overinvested.”

Powills: A few comments, and then I want yours. One is 90 days. That’s 90 days of you working full time in a business to figure this thing out. I use that as an example because so many franchise brands, if you go to their franchise website, it says, in essence, “Buy my franchise.”

But if I ask this question to anyone, it might be 90 days, six months, a year. And so for the buyer, we’re all like, “Buy the franchise.” And we have this sense of urgency like, “Where are our leads?” But wait a second — it took us 90 days to figure this thing out. And we’re expecting a franchise buyer to know it on day one.

That’s why I’m fascinated by that answer. It fits my theory that, as franchisors, we’re not educating the franchisee at the level they probably need to be…

Manuszak: It’s kind of like a relationship — you can’t make somebody love you. You can’t make someone do more due diligence if they don’t want to.

It’s like you’re driving down the road and you’ve always wanted a Jeep. You buy a Jeep without doing due diligence to find out how often the four-wheel drive has to be checked, how often they get broken into or stolen.

Sometimes the other party — the franchisee — is just as guilty as the franchisor for not doing the due diligence. But they had the cash.

Powills: Yeah, I don’t disagree. I think they’re just as guilty — but they’re the franchise buyer. Most of them are investing a significant portion of their life savings into a business they have little to no control over. They almost trust too much and don’t cut the cards. 

But when you land with a good franchisor who says, “Look, I care about you scaling your business. I care about you hitting your wealth goals. Yes or no, this business makes sense for you.” Those tend to be the franchisors that don’t just celebrate every deal; they celebrate the franchisees who actually scale.

Manuszak: I think franchisors who have people in the field more often are the ones who are more successful. I talked to a franchisee the other day who said, “I expected to turn the key and it’d be like McDonald’s: my drive-thru would be full and my storefront would always be full.”

They didn’t realize they have to roll up their sleeves — do things in the neighborhood, meet the mayor, meet the people, do school events. They have to build the brand in their community. 

They keep thinking the big picture will do it, when sometimes they have to focus on the micro picture too.

Powills: That’s a tremendous line. Unfortunately, once someone makes up their mind that they’re going to buy the Jeep, you can say, “Your maintenance costs are going to be ridiculous,” and they’ll still say, “Just give me a chance.”

So there are equal issues on both sides of that.

Manuszak: I agree 100%. Franchisors and franchisees have both made mistakes. But sometimes they rely too much on a proven model. Yes, it’s a proven model but you still have to apply it.

Powills: Let’s shift into the brand itself. How are things going? What’s the good, the bad and the ugly?

Manuszak: The good is that it’s what I would call a recession-proof business. People are always graduating from university, getting their first job, upgrading because they have children or downsizing because they’re empty nesters.

The average person moves 13 times in their lifetime (seven times within their own neighborhood). That shows this is a viable, long-sustaining business.

The bad thing is, it’s not cheap. To start, you need 100 to 300 containers — and the price structure is on the high side. It’s not for someone without capital.

So our audience is narrower: people who can afford our franchise and understand the long-term return (whether that’s one year, two years or three).

Powills: What’s the investment to get in?

Manuszak: Anywhere between $750,000 and $1.5 million.

Powills: That’s going to give you a very specific buyer — someone who has built some wealth. What do you put in Item 19?

Manuszak: We include our actual franchise numbers. We’re proud of the good points and we understand the bad ones. We show people who’ve had experience — more than a year or two — and how they’ve grown.

Powills: What’s the average unit volume currently?

Manuszak: I don’t like to say that. I’ll explain. I just moved back to America and the rules are really funny here. I’ll happily give you a copy of Item 19 — but I won’t quote it.

Powills: Where were you moving from?

Manuszak: I’ve been living in Cape Town, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; and London.

Powills: All still in franchising?

Manuszak: Yes. I ran Domino’s Pizza for Australia, Domino’s for Europe, Pizza Hut in South Africa, Botswana and Nigeria, and then was over 60 countries with BELFOR Franchise Group for 12 years.

Powills: So the BELFOR connection probably means a similar buyer for this business, right?

Manuszak: Very similar. But you can enter with a lot less money. I’d hate to say it’s a “man in a van,” but in some aspects it is. You can walk in with $100,000 to $200,000 in some of those brands.

With us, you’re buying a small territory of 60,000 people versus starting off with a million.

Powills: I actually appreciate the bigger investments. It eliminates — not completely — but some of the folks whose ambitions don’t align with what the business can do.

Manuszak: Agreed.

Powills: I usually say the rule of three. Have enough investment for three units: one to open, one for rainy days and one to scale. Because if you don’t scale, you’ll be frustrated.

Manuszak: That’s correct.

Powills: Tell me about the small-market franchise program.

Manuszak: It allows a franchisee to go into small markets — Bowling Green, Kentucky, or Springfield, Missouri — with fewer containers and no warehouse. We can compete with mom-and-pops while maintaining our national long-distance moving program.

Powills: When I looked at your available territories, it seemed like they’re trending smaller, meaning demand is high. I imagine you have multi-unit franchisees who know the model and keep buying.

Manuszak: We do. We have very few major markets left: El Paso, Albuquerque, Pittsburgh, Portland. The rest are medium or smaller cities.

One of the hardest things right now is tariffs. We import a lot of our products, and prices can change between shipment and arrival. We’re working to keep product costs stable for franchisees.

Powills: I love that transparency. I looked at a bin distribution business once. Corporate sales were $4 million — but when we asked franchisees their biggest challenge, they said, “We can’t get the bins.” There was a lack of transparency, so they walked away. What you’re saying — “Here’s the situation…” — that honesty matters.

Manuszak: No matter what you’re doing in franchising, there’s turbulence — competition, pricing, or marketing. Look at Domino’s and Papa Johns. We bought cheese, meats, ovens and boxes from the same vendors, but they had the slogan “Better pizza, better toppings.” Brilliant marketing.

Powills: Out of curiosity — and this isn’t a knock on your current brand — but you’ve worked for iconic, “sexy” brands. Do you miss that? Is it hard to transition out of restaurants?

Manuszak: It is like a drug. My kids say, “Dad, I worked for this restaurant a bit. It was so cool, fast-paced and full of cash.” Food is sexy.

But what we’re doing now helps people — people who are moving, people starting families. 

I’ve learned so much about people ages 38 to 50. Younger customers do everything on their phone — ordering, scheduling — so franchisees must ensure their microsites are mobile-ready.

I feel really good helping people understand the nuances of franchising, intellectual property and how to adapt to change.

Powills: Going back to your story — your career wasn’t about food. It was about helping humans.

Manuszak: I’ve carried that on here. We have programs. If a franchisee is up 15% in sales, we drop one royalty point; 30%, another. In a new market, we reduce royalties for the first six months, then tier up gradually.

If a franchisee refers us to a new one we didn’t get organically or through a broker, we pay $15,000. 

We’re focused on growth.

Powills: All right, Joe — one last thing. I overuse the saying “bet on the jockey, not the horse.” But I’d bet on you: You understand business, scale and how to help people reach their goals.

If there’s a buyer out there watching, what do you want them to know about the business?

Manuszak: On the side, I do marriage counseling — and I wrote a book on marriage. I see franchising as very similar to marriage. There’s a honeymoon period, a nice relationship period, then kids — meaning more locations — and rough patches.

The question is how we deal with that. How do we work together for five-, 10- or 20-year renewals?

My suggestion is: Don’t see every day as catastrophic. See it as teamwork. They’re not mountains; they’re speed bumps. How do we get over them together and stay “married” through the life of the contract?

Watch the full interview here.