At this year’s Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, more than 2,000 attendees gathered in what is widely considered one of the most concentrated rooms of franchise capital in the industry. On paper, the opportunity is clear.
This is not just a conference. It is a pipeline accelerator, a deal room and a signal-rich environment for who’s actually growing in franchising. Thus, based on the data, this is one of the highest-quality franchise ecosystems you can be in physically — whether simply attending or investing in a branded footprint.
In this episode of Coffee & Analytics, 1851 Franchise publisher Nick Powills breaks down how to turn that investment into momentum with future buyers.
About 2,100 total attendees were in the room, forming a near-perfect triangle of influence:
This is NOT a top-heavy franchisor event or vendor trade show. It’s a deal-making ecosystem
Roughly speaking, the room included:
There were 711 franchisee attendees representing 523 different companies.
That matters because this is not a room where a few large operators brought teams. It’s a room filled with hundreds of distinct ownership groups.
The mix likely included:
Total Franchisee Attendees: 711
This is one of the deepest franchise buyer rooms a brand can access.
There were 728 franchisor attendees representing 285 companies.
Many brands brought multiple team members across development, operations and leadership. This is a serious recruiting and growth environment, not just a brand-awareness exercise.
There were 615 supplier attendees representing 320 companies.
This means heavy competition, but also validation. A room with this many suppliers signals that the broader ecosystem sees real value in showing up.
Of the roughly 711 franchisees in attendance, spread across 523 unique companies, the composition looked something like this:
This was the largest category by far. It included:
These operators are typically highly systemized and focused on unit economics. Many are looking for:
This group included:
This may be the fastest-growing mindset segment in the room. These concepts offer:
These operators are often already multi-brand or are the most open to second-brand diversification.
This category included:
These brands often share:
This group included:
It’s a smaller segment, but one that is often curious about multi-brand expansion and differentiation.
This category included:
These tend to attract longer-term operators and are often more operationally intensive.
This segment included:
This may be the most sophisticated group in the room. Many think like private equity firms.
Among franchisors, the category breakdown looked similar:
The balance is notable. Few industry events maintain a near one-to-one ratio between franchisors and franchisees, which creates what appears to be an ideal environment for deal-making.
But a closer look at the data, and the behavior of the attendees, tells a more nuanced story: This is a high-value audience, but not an immediate buyer pool.
Among the 711 franchisees in attendance, more than 500 distinct ownership groups were represented. This is not a room dominated by a handful of large operators, but rather a broad base of decision-makers with varying levels of scale. Many are multi-unit operators. Some are already managing multiple brands. Others are still expanding within a single system.
A smaller but meaningful segment represents first-time franchisees, often attending to learn, evaluate and build relationships before making an initial investment.
From a financial standpoint, the room skews heavily toward established operators. While precise figures vary, the perceived net worth of attendees typically ranges from $500,000 to more than $5 million, with a meaningful concentration of capital sitting in experienced multi-unit groups. By most measures, this is one of the most financially qualified audiences in franchising.
Yet qualification does not equate to immediacy.
Frankly, brands that apply patience to the franchise growth process are often the ones who remain hungry, satisfied and committed to business adaptation aligned with franchise growth.
Despite the density of capital in the room, many franchisees are not actively seeking a new brand. One benefit of having a booth was the ability to engage in direct conversations and gather insights from franchisees.
A few themes came up repeatedly:
When asked what constituted the right deal, many pointed to negotiation around the total package, including royalties, fees and overall structure.
A common pattern among multi-unit operators is to expand within their existing concept until available territory is exhausted. Only after reaching that limit do they begin evaluating additional opportunities. That dynamic fundamentally shifts how franchisors should interpret the value of the conference.
Rather than a room full of active buyers, the event is better understood as a room full of future capital allocation decisions.
For franchisors, the return on investment from attending is often measured in near-term leads, discovery days or signed agreements. However, in this environment, those metrics can be misleading.
The real value lies in access — not to immediate transactions, but to operators who will make expansion decisions over the next 12 to 36 months. In that context, success is not defined by how many deals are closed immediately after the event, but by whether a brand becomes part of the consideration set when those decisions are eventually made.
For franchisees operating one or two concepts, the decision to invest in a new brand is rarely about choosing between competing franchisors. Instead, it is a comparison against what they already own.
The central question becomes:
Why allocate capital to a new concept instead of opening another unit within an existing system?
This framing places franchisors in direct competition not only with each other, but also with the proven performance, familiarity and operational efficiency of the franchisee’s current portfolio.
When franchisees do begin to consider a second or third brand, their evaluation is typically grounded in a consistent set of criteria:
For these operators, brand positioning alone is insufficient. Decisions are driven by data, experience and peer validation. Thus, brands should make a shift from selling to positioning.
As a result, the traditional franchise development approach, focused on immediate conversion, is giving way to a longer-term strategy.
Franchisors are increasingly tasked with:
Platforms such as 1851 Franchise and similar media ecosystems are playing a growing role in this shift, allowing brands to remain visible to operators well beyond the conference itself.
For brands that invested significant time and resources to attend Multi-Unit, the question is no longer simply how to follow up. It is how to remain relevant.
In a room defined by long-term decision-making, the brands that succeed are not those that sell first, but the ones that are remembered when the timing is right. In franchising, that moment often comes months, or even years, after the initial conversation.
Here are 10 headline-driven story angles franchisors should consider developing in the months following the conference:
This is where most people completely blow it. They follow up with: “Great meeting you, let’s set a call”
That does not work with this audience.
Subject: “Not for today — but when you’re ready”
Message:
This lowers resistance immediately
Example sequence:
Email 1:
“How operators are hitting $X/month in [category]”
Email 2:
“What changes from unit 1 to unit 5: A real breakdown”
Email 3:
“Where this fits if you already own [their category]”
This is where 1851 brands have a HUGE advantage.
Use:
Follow them everywhere digitally
Instead of:
Consider:
You become a peer, not a seller
Six to 12 months later:
“Are you still expanding within [Brand]? If and when you look at a second concept, I’d be happy to share what we’re seeing across operators.”
Now, your messaging starts to break through. This tone shift moves the relationship from sales to nurturing.
What everyone says:
What wins:
1. Respect their current brand
“If I were you, I’d keep building [Brand] too…”
2. Introduce doubt, subtly
“At some point, every operator hits a ceiling — territory, margins or bandwidth…”
3. Position yourself as the next logical step
“When that happens, most operators look for something that offers [insert your differentiator: higher margin, lower labor, different daypart].”
4. Back it with Proof
“Here’s how operators are actually performing…”
You are not competing for their next decision. You are competing for their future identity as a multi-brand operator
The brands that win are the ones that:
Follow 1851 Franchise on Youtube to be the first to know about new episodes of Coffee & Analytics with Nick Powills.
Mainland
SPONSORED
MUFC offers access to one of the most qualified rooms in franchising, but most operators are not buying today, forcing brands to rethink how they build long-term demand.
At this year’s Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, more than 2,000 attendees gathered in what is widely considered one of the most concentrated rooms of franchise capital in the industry. On paper, the opportunity is clear.
This is not just a conference. It is a pipeline accelerator, a deal room and a signal-rich environment for who’s actually growing in franchising. Thus, based on the data, this is one of the highest-quality franchise ecosystems you can be in physically — whether simply attending or investing in a branded footprint.
In this episode of Coffee & Analytics, 1851 Franchise publisher Nick Powills breaks down how to turn that investment into momentum with future buyers.
About 2,100 total attendees were in the room, forming a near-perfect triangle of influence:
This is NOT a top-heavy franchisor event or vendor trade show. It’s a deal-making ecosystem
Roughly speaking, the room included:
There were 711 franchisee attendees representing 523 different companies.
That matters because this is not a room where a few large operators brought teams. It’s a room filled with hundreds of distinct ownership groups.
The mix likely included:
Total Franchisee Attendees: 711
This is one of the deepest franchise buyer rooms a brand can access.
There were 728 franchisor attendees representing 285 companies.
Many brands brought multiple team members across development, operations and leadership. This is a serious recruiting and growth environment, not just a brand-awareness exercise.
There were 615 supplier attendees representing 320 companies.
This means heavy competition, but also validation. A room with this many suppliers signals that the broader ecosystem sees real value in showing up.
Of the roughly 711 franchisees in attendance, spread across 523 unique companies, the composition looked something like this:
This was the largest category by far. It included:
These operators are typically highly systemized and focused on unit economics. Many are looking for:
This group included:
This may be the fastest-growing mindset segment in the room. These concepts offer:
These operators are often already multi-brand or are the most open to second-brand diversification.
This category included:
These brands often share:
This group included:
It’s a smaller segment, but one that is often curious about multi-brand expansion and differentiation.
This category included:
These tend to attract longer-term operators and are often more operationally intensive.
This segment included:
This may be the most sophisticated group in the room. Many think like private equity firms.
Among franchisors, the category breakdown looked similar:
The balance is notable. Few industry events maintain a near one-to-one ratio between franchisors and franchisees, which creates what appears to be an ideal environment for deal-making.
But a closer look at the data, and the behavior of the attendees, tells a more nuanced story: This is a high-value audience, but not an immediate buyer pool.
Among the 711 franchisees in attendance, more than 500 distinct ownership groups were represented. This is not a room dominated by a handful of large operators, but rather a broad base of decision-makers with varying levels of scale. Many are multi-unit operators. Some are already managing multiple brands. Others are still expanding within a single system.
A smaller but meaningful segment represents first-time franchisees, often attending to learn, evaluate and build relationships before making an initial investment.
From a financial standpoint, the room skews heavily toward established operators. While precise figures vary, the perceived net worth of attendees typically ranges from $500,000 to more than $5 million, with a meaningful concentration of capital sitting in experienced multi-unit groups. By most measures, this is one of the most financially qualified audiences in franchising.
Yet qualification does not equate to immediacy.
Frankly, brands that apply patience to the franchise growth process are often the ones who remain hungry, satisfied and committed to business adaptation aligned with franchise growth.
Despite the density of capital in the room, many franchisees are not actively seeking a new brand. One benefit of having a booth was the ability to engage in direct conversations and gather insights from franchisees.
A few themes came up repeatedly:
When asked what constituted the right deal, many pointed to negotiation around the total package, including royalties, fees and overall structure.
A common pattern among multi-unit operators is to expand within their existing concept until available territory is exhausted. Only after reaching that limit do they begin evaluating additional opportunities. That dynamic fundamentally shifts how franchisors should interpret the value of the conference.
Rather than a room full of active buyers, the event is better understood as a room full of future capital allocation decisions.
For franchisors, the return on investment from attending is often measured in near-term leads, discovery days or signed agreements. However, in this environment, those metrics can be misleading.
The real value lies in access — not to immediate transactions, but to operators who will make expansion decisions over the next 12 to 36 months. In that context, success is not defined by how many deals are closed immediately after the event, but by whether a brand becomes part of the consideration set when those decisions are eventually made.
For franchisees operating one or two concepts, the decision to invest in a new brand is rarely about choosing between competing franchisors. Instead, it is a comparison against what they already own.
The central question becomes:
Why allocate capital to a new concept instead of opening another unit within an existing system?
This framing places franchisors in direct competition not only with each other, but also with the proven performance, familiarity and operational efficiency of the franchisee’s current portfolio.
When franchisees do begin to consider a second or third brand, their evaluation is typically grounded in a consistent set of criteria:
For these operators, brand positioning alone is insufficient. Decisions are driven by data, experience and peer validation. Thus, brands should make a shift from selling to positioning.
As a result, the traditional franchise development approach, focused on immediate conversion, is giving way to a longer-term strategy.
Franchisors are increasingly tasked with:
Platforms such as 1851 Franchise and similar media ecosystems are playing a growing role in this shift, allowing brands to remain visible to operators well beyond the conference itself.
For brands that invested significant time and resources to attend Multi-Unit, the question is no longer simply how to follow up. It is how to remain relevant.
In a room defined by long-term decision-making, the brands that succeed are not those that sell first, but the ones that are remembered when the timing is right. In franchising, that moment often comes months, or even years, after the initial conversation.
Here are 10 headline-driven story angles franchisors should consider developing in the months following the conference:
This is where most people completely blow it. They follow up with: “Great meeting you, let’s set a call”
That does not work with this audience.
Subject: “Not for today — but when you’re ready”
Message:
This lowers resistance immediately
Example sequence:
Email 1:
“How operators are hitting $X/month in [category]”
Email 2:
“What changes from unit 1 to unit 5: A real breakdown”
Email 3:
“Where this fits if you already own [their category]”
This is where 1851 brands have a HUGE advantage.
Use:
Follow them everywhere digitally
Instead of:
Consider:
You become a peer, not a seller
Six to 12 months later:
“Are you still expanding within [Brand]? If and when you look at a second concept, I’d be happy to share what we’re seeing across operators.”
Now, your messaging starts to break through. This tone shift moves the relationship from sales to nurturing.
What everyone says:
What wins:
1. Respect their current brand
“If I were you, I’d keep building [Brand] too…”
2. Introduce doubt, subtly
“At some point, every operator hits a ceiling — territory, margins or bandwidth…”
3. Position yourself as the next logical step
“When that happens, most operators look for something that offers [insert your differentiator: higher margin, lower labor, different daypart].”
4. Back it with Proof
“Here’s how operators are actually performing…”
You are not competing for their next decision. You are competing for their future identity as a multi-brand operator
The brands that win are the ones that:
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About the Author
Nick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.
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