Layne’s Chicken Fingers, the rapidly growing chicken finger franchise, has doubled its footprint year over year for multiple years. The growth isn’t driven by reckless expansion. Rather, the franchisor has partnered with qualified, driven operators who know how to use brand systems to their advantage and build on an existing model to achieve remarkable success. For its top-performing owners, long-term success starts with the vision on day one.
“If you’re entering a system and buying enough territory for five or 10 units, what I would recommend is building the org chart at one unit, three units, and then five or 10 units,” said Masroor Fatany, CEO of AYG Food Services, a top-performing Layne’s franchisee in Texas. “Even though you don’t have the folks for each position when you first start, you have all the tasks identified at each level. And as you scale and add revenue, you can start filling those seats.”
Knowing where you want to go and what it will take to get there is the first step in building a successful multi-unit portfolio and making a real regional impact. Notably, the most successful owners not only outline the organizational structure they’re looking to build but steadily work to fill those seats. They see investing in people as a way to invest in their business.
“When we opened our first two Layne’s restaurants, we knew that we had something special,” said Taylor Thomas, a multi-unit Layne’s owner with locations in Texas and Oklahoma. “We’ve hired many people in the office — maybe even a couple too many. But it’s all for the plan. It’s my job to make sure that our employees have a place to grow.”
Both Fatany and Thomas have exceeded their original development agreements with Layne’s, specifically because they found success and saw opportunity. Fatany originally committed to opening one location per year, and he has now opened 12 over the span of five years. Thomas is on track to fulfill his 10-year development schedule in just three and a half years.
For these owners, Layne’s success and momentum as a brand have been key drivers. After opening a couple of restaurants each and familiarizing themselves with the process, the results spoke for themselves, and they both took initiative to continue developing ahead of schedule.
This ambition has yielded great success. Fatany has expanded with both traditional restaurant models and nontraditional ones, including drive-thru-only and stadium concession models. Thomas has set and broken systemwide opening-week sales records multiple times. While Layne’s continues to emphasize healthy growth, the ability to recognize an opportunity and act on it rather than wait for a prescribed timeline can be an important factor in successful multi-unit expansion.
When development is moving quickly, it’s crucial that owners and their teams stay nimble. This not only allows them to adjust to unexpected variables during development but also allows them apply lessons learned as soon as possible and capture unique opportunities.
“We built three ground-up prototypes, and we made changes with each one,” Thomas said. “We stretched the back, made the coolers bigger, tweaked the kitchen and added dual drive-thru lanes. We implement changes like these as soon as we possibly can — the faster the better. We try to stay at least a year ahead on the planning phase, and with this brand, it’s so easy to make adjustments and implement everything we need to.”
Operator ambition is just part of the equation. The franchise environment makes a major difference, too.
“First of all, the Layne’s system is designed for us to win,” Fatany said. “Notably, they don’t treat the supply chain as a cost center. That was something that is unique to Layne’s as a franchisor.”
That approach reflects how Layne’s leadership views its relationship with franchisees. The supply chain is not treated as a way to mark up costs, but as another source of support. More broadly, the brand works closely with franchisees as they grow their businesses.
“The franchisor is very cooperative in listening to the franchisees,” Fatany said. “On big issues and all the way down to the smallest detail. They want franchisees to grow. They want to work with you.”
Successful multi-unit franchise growth doesn’t happen by accident. As Fatany and Thomas illustrate, it requires a clear vision from day one, intentional investments in people and the agility to strike when opportunities arise.
When ambitious operators partner with a franchisor that’s truly dedicated to franchisee success and a collaborative culture, growth becomes a natural byproduct. For entrepreneurs considering their next investment, Layne’s represents a proven growth engine with a bright future. By leveraging its established system alongside a strategic playbook for building proper teams at the franchisee level, owners have a pathway to fast-track growth, impact their communities and build lasting multi-unit legacies.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/layneschickenfingers.
Layne's Chicken Fingers
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By leveraging the power of the Layne’s franchise model in combination with their own careful planning, these Texas operators have built impressive multi-unit portfolios with the brand.
Layne’s Chicken Fingers, the rapidly growing chicken finger franchise, has doubled its footprint year over year for multiple years. The growth isn’t driven by reckless expansion. Rather, the franchisor has partnered with qualified, driven operators who know how to use brand systems to their advantage and build on an existing model to achieve remarkable success. For its top-performing owners, long-term success starts with the vision on day one.
“If you’re entering a system and buying enough territory for five or 10 units, what I would recommend is building the org chart at one unit, three units, and then five or 10 units,” said Masroor Fatany, CEO of AYG Food Services, a top-performing Layne’s franchisee in Texas. “Even though you don’t have the folks for each position when you first start, you have all the tasks identified at each level. And as you scale and add revenue, you can start filling those seats.”
Knowing where you want to go and what it will take to get there is the first step in building a successful multi-unit portfolio and making a real regional impact. Notably, the most successful owners not only outline the organizational structure they’re looking to build but steadily work to fill those seats. They see investing in people as a way to invest in their business.
“When we opened our first two Layne’s restaurants, we knew that we had something special,” said Taylor Thomas, a multi-unit Layne’s owner with locations in Texas and Oklahoma. “We’ve hired many people in the office — maybe even a couple too many. But it’s all for the plan. It’s my job to make sure that our employees have a place to grow.”
Both Fatany and Thomas have exceeded their original development agreements with Layne’s, specifically because they found success and saw opportunity. Fatany originally committed to opening one location per year, and he has now opened 12 over the span of five years. Thomas is on track to fulfill his 10-year development schedule in just three and a half years.
For these owners, Layne’s success and momentum as a brand have been key drivers. After opening a couple of restaurants each and familiarizing themselves with the process, the results spoke for themselves, and they both took initiative to continue developing ahead of schedule.
This ambition has yielded great success. Fatany has expanded with both traditional restaurant models and nontraditional ones, including drive-thru-only and stadium concession models. Thomas has set and broken systemwide opening-week sales records multiple times. While Layne’s continues to emphasize healthy growth, the ability to recognize an opportunity and act on it rather than wait for a prescribed timeline can be an important factor in successful multi-unit expansion.
When development is moving quickly, it’s crucial that owners and their teams stay nimble. This not only allows them to adjust to unexpected variables during development but also allows them apply lessons learned as soon as possible and capture unique opportunities.
“We built three ground-up prototypes, and we made changes with each one,” Thomas said. “We stretched the back, made the coolers bigger, tweaked the kitchen and added dual drive-thru lanes. We implement changes like these as soon as we possibly can — the faster the better. We try to stay at least a year ahead on the planning phase, and with this brand, it’s so easy to make adjustments and implement everything we need to.”
Operator ambition is just part of the equation. The franchise environment makes a major difference, too.
“First of all, the Layne’s system is designed for us to win,” Fatany said. “Notably, they don’t treat the supply chain as a cost center. That was something that is unique to Layne’s as a franchisor.”
That approach reflects how Layne’s leadership views its relationship with franchisees. The supply chain is not treated as a way to mark up costs, but as another source of support. More broadly, the brand works closely with franchisees as they grow their businesses.
“The franchisor is very cooperative in listening to the franchisees,” Fatany said. “On big issues and all the way down to the smallest detail. They want franchisees to grow. They want to work with you.”
Successful multi-unit franchise growth doesn’t happen by accident. As Fatany and Thomas illustrate, it requires a clear vision from day one, intentional investments in people and the agility to strike when opportunities arise.
When ambitious operators partner with a franchisor that’s truly dedicated to franchisee success and a collaborative culture, growth becomes a natural byproduct. For entrepreneurs considering their next investment, Layne’s represents a proven growth engine with a bright future. By leveraging its established system alongside a strategic playbook for building proper teams at the franchisee level, owners have a pathway to fast-track growth, impact their communities and build lasting multi-unit legacies.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/layneschickenfingers.
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