SoBol’s President and COO Shares Growth Journey and Franchise Vision

Paul Gucciardo, president and chief operating officer of SoBol, joined 1851 Founder and Chief Growth Officer Nick Powills on a recent episode of his “Franchisor Hot Seat" podcast to discuss SoBol’s rise as a leading acai bowl, fruit bowl and smoothie franchise.

Drawing from his extensive background in the food industry, Gucciardo shares insights on how the brand has grown thoughtfully, focusing on operational excellence, product quality and franchisee success. With 75 locations already open and a strategic plan to hit 100 units, Gucciardo’s vision underscores SoBol’s potential to thrive in an increasingly competitive market.

A transcript of Powills’ interview with Gucciardo has been provided below. It has been edited for brevity, clarity and style.

Nick Powills: All right, Paul, we're actually going to start with you, then we'll get to SoBol. As a side note, I often tell a joke that I am the founder of SoBol because someone had to come up with the name — and that was me. A long time ago. Did you even know that part?

Gucciardo: I did not.

Powills: There you go. The old name had a trademark challenge: Super Bowls.

Gucciardo: I'm sure it was.

Powills: That's a hard name to get trademarked. There's another big game that might have a claim on that. So, the question was, come up with a name. I said, "I have an idea." And that was SoBol.

But tell me your story. How did you accidentally fall into franchising? What's your franchise backstory?

Gucciardo: I've been in the food business for many years, from when I was a kid up until my 30s. The food business was great for a long time, but when I had kids, it wasn't as family-friendly or family-conducive as I wanted it to be.

I love the food business and wanted to stay within it. I got introduced to franchising about 15 years ago and have loved it ever since.

Powills: One gap I see with franchisors — this applies to every franchisor — is that you go to a website and it says, "Buy my franchise," and you fill out a form.

Whenever I ask someone, "Go back to the day before you were in a franchise job — did you understand it?" the answer is often no, at least not to the depth required. Yet here we are, asking franchise candidates to understand franchising when they fill out a form. Then we're surprised when they're not returning our calls because they get scared.

If you go back to the day before you were in franchising, did you understand it? What has changed and what have you grown to appreciate about it since?

Gucciardo: No, I really didn’t understand it at all. Whether we’re talking about a prospect or just explaining in your local community exactly what you do or my affiliation with SoBol, it’s always a larger conversation about people not understanding what franchising is.

My appreciation for it now is that we wouldn’t have been able to scale the way we have if all the locations were corporate outlets. There’s no doubt about it.

Powills: What disappoints you about franchise growth? Is it an awareness challenge?

If people understood the magic of the business you’ve put together, would you have more franchises? Do you feel like it’s growing at the pace it should?

Gucciardo: I feel like it’s growing at the pace it should for us. Taking the time to build the infrastructure we’ve developed over the last seven years has put us in a great position to now grow at a more rapid rate moving forward.

Powills: Obviously, the category has exploded around you. You can see what a potential footprint looks like if you stay the course, based on what larger brands have achieved.

But what stands out in what you just said is that, as a franchise buyer, I hear, “We’ve taken our time to build the systems and processes to prepare for growth.” Sometimes brands skip that stage, grow too fast and franchisee success deteriorates because the infrastructure is overly reliant on them instead of corporate. It seems like you’ve taken the right pathway, setting up the infrastructure to give franchisees a greater chance of success.

Gucciardo: For sure. Speaking to our franchisees, 60% of our multi-unit owners didn’t start as multi-unit franchisees. They bought one store or one territory and then expanded. Now, we have franchisees with seven or eight units. It’s huge.

Powills: What I love about that — just as a side note — is my joke: If I gathered every franchisor I know into a stadium and said, "On the count of three, tell me who your ideal candidate is," you’d hear them all say the same thing: multi-unit, multi-brand.

But if we focus on bringing someone into the system, giving them the tools to scale and building the next multi-unit operator, we’ll find there are plenty of people who want to grow a business. They want to grow it for their family, build wealth and create something meaningful. They may not have done it before, but if you give them the scaffolding to succeed, they’ll thrive. That’s how you go from someone signing up for one unit to them owning seven.

Gucciardo: A hundred percent. Honestly, we’ve had less success with those multi-unit, multi-brand operators. There are exceptions, of course — we have a couple of great ones in the system right now. But by and large, we’ve seen more success with single-unit operators who work in the business themselves, learn and appreciate it, bring in family and friends and then scale from there.

Powills: Yeah, if we’re setting a headline or tone for this conversation, it’s that franchising — and life, really — conditions us to believe we have to sell and have to grow. There’s this fake pressure to grow quickly. But when you focus too much on that, you can bring in the wrong franchisees.

Multi-unit franchisees often come with baggage. They have a perception of what works and what doesn’t, a bit more ego and no problem telling you what’s wrong with your system. That creates turbulence.

Compare that to someone who says, “Show me the way. I know I need to grind hard on my first unit for six months to two years before I can think about opening a second one. Show me the way.” That’s a different mentality entirely.

For franchisors, currency comes in the form of cash and royalties. But it also comes in kindness — building a culture where you actually want to work with the people in your system.

Gucciardo: Exactly. And, Nick, the sales aspect plays into this too. A happy franchisee is the best salesperson we could ever have. When people are lining up to be validators for the brand, it shows how content they are with it.

Powills: I mean, it’s huge. It’s everything. About two years ago, I went through a process with a friend where we were exploring a potential franchise to buy.

I’ve done this probably three or four times over my 20 years in franchising. Each time, I’ve gone through the process and reached the validation stage. For me, it always comes down to a simple question: Would you do this again? If there’s even a moment of hesitation, it tells me it’s not ready — not for someone like me.

Let’s get into the brand. For someone who isn’t familiar with SoBol, how would you explain it? Obviously, fans of the brand are easy to convert — they’re already customers. If they have the financial backing, they may want to become part of the business. But for someone out there in the universe, how would you describe SoBol?

Gucciardo: We’re an acai bowl, fruit bowl and smoothie brand with a real dedication to quality. We focus on a smaller menu, concentrating on the core of our business — bowls and smoothies — rather than chasing what everyone else is doing. We’ve seen great success from that approach.

Powills: So your point of differentiation — is it rooted in product innovation? Or is it more about operational excellence?

Gucciardo: It’s about operational excellence and the quality of our product. We’re consistent in putting out a high-quality product.

Powills: To the buyer, is your ideal candidate someone who is a fan of the brand? Or is it more often someone you introduce the brand to? Or perhaps someone who looked at a competitor, found they were sold out and discovered SoBol as an alternative? How does that ideal persona come together?

Gucciardo: Nick, we’ve seen a combination of all three. Some are diehard SoBol fans who’ve been customers for years and decide they want to own a location. More often, it’s folks who are introduced to the brand by their kids, nieces or nephews who love it. They come into the store, see what it’s about and then immediately go online to explore franchise opportunities.

Powills: Is it ever someone who hasn’t had that personal connection or referral — someone just browsing online who stumbles upon the brand?

Gucciardo: Rarely. It’s usually people who are already in touch with the brand.

Powills: I think that’s the key statement often missed in franchising: operational excellence, treating the customer well and quality of product. In my opinion, that’s where your franchise sales come from.

If you spend money marketing the message in emerging states, you might find a needle in the haystack. But in the concentric circle around your existing locations, as long as operations, food quality and customer reviews are strong, you’ll naturally attract candidates who genuinely want to be part of the business. Those are the candidates you want — not the multi-unit operator who owns Dunkin’ Donuts and is just looking to intermarket.

I also think the emotional disconnect in these scenarios can really hurt from a currency standpoint.

Gucciardo: For sure, for sure. The other piece is that we’re selective about where we expand and who we talk to. If our distribution model isn’t set up in a specific territory, we’d rather not open a store there. It’s about ensuring we’re setting franchisees up for success from a distribution standpoint.

Powills: Let’s touch on the investment. Cost to get in — what’s in your Item 19? How do you approach that?

Gucciardo: It’s a wide range. For 2024, our FDD [Franchise Disclosure Document] lists $195,000 to $453,000. It really depends. We love value engineering — especially with second-generation wet spaces — absolutely.

Over the last five years, we’ve seen our footprint shrink. COVID taught us that we don’t need large seating areas, especially as rents continue to climb. Fair market value on rents has been a big challenge for the industry, so we’ve shifted to smaller footprints. We no longer need 1,200 to 1,300 square feet.

Powills: What about Item 19? What do you disclose there?

Gucciardo: We disclose the buildout cost of $195,000 to $453,000.

Powills: What about gross revenues?

Gucciardo: Gross revenues for the top quartile have grown from $799,000 in 2022 to $856,000 in 2023.

Powills: That’s a great number. Here’s what intrigues me about restaurant operators: most of them are fans of the brand. They come in saying, “I want to buy this.”

When you ask, “How many brands did you look at?” the answer is usually one, maybe two. They stay very focused on the business they’re passionate about.

If you take that $800,000+ average unit volume or top-quartile volume and compare it to the buildout cost, you can chart the opportunities: how much falls to the bottom line, how much you can reinvest into a second location and how quickly you can get to three locations. At that point, you’re making really good money and changing the financial projections for your family’s wealth.

If we look at the numbers — buildout costs between $200,000 and $400,000, with performance that’s 1.5 to 2 times the investment — it’s clear that this is a sound, strong investment. It would rank among the better food investments.

Why do you think candidates don’t go through this process? Is it because they have to be a fan of the brand? Is it just impossible to convince someone to invest if their passion isn’t already tied to the product?

Gucciardo: Look, I think that’s part of it. People see AUVs [average unit volumes] around $800,000 or $856,000 and compare them to other brands with slightly higher AUVs. But when you look at our numbers, you see our operational costs are much lower than others in the industry.

For example, the amount of skilled labor required in our stores — or rather, the lack of skilled labor required — makes it a simpler business to run from an operational standpoint.

Powills: Yeah, I think that’s the other side of it. What are the hours of operation?

Gucciardo: Across the brand, stores typically operate from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. Some locations adjust their hours in the winter based on demand, so there are provisions for that.

Powills: Yeah, part of the issue is there’s no uniform way Item 19s are presented. When you’re comparing potential earnings, costs and what drops to the bottom line, brands can present those metrics in countless ways.

Even if you disclose more, it may not reflect the nuances. For example, other brands may have higher AUVs, but if you break down the hours of operation and consider the number of shifts required or the extended operational demands — like a pizza restaurant with delivery that stretches beyond the four walls — the comparison changes.

If you evaluate average gross revenue per hour, some models don’t align as favorably. This brings us back to where we started: If candidates don’t understand franchising, business operations or ownership — and most don’t — they don’t even know where to look.

It’s unlikely you’ll have this deeper conversation unless someone stumbles onto this video or says, “I love the product,” lands on a website, fills out a form and starts the process. Most aren’t doing their homework to fully understand the business’s value.

Gucciardo: Or if they make it to the discovery day process, we’re definitely having this conversation with them at that point.

Powills: Right.

Gucciardo: Another key point is that we are still independently and family-owned. We haven’t had private equity investments. We genuinely care about our franchisees, their profitability and their growth. This allows us to stay focused and maintain a personal touch with all of our stores.

Powills: And every grumpy franchisee out there should listen to what you just said — that you actually care about them — and stop being grumpy, right?

Let’s talk about vision. What’s the plan for the next year? How would you describe the vision for the business?

Gucciardo: Our vision? Super cool food and an awesome experience. That’s what we live and breathe every single day — franchisees, our corporate team, everyone.

Right now, it’s all about the march to 100. We’re focused on reaching 100 units. Just 18 hours ago, we celebrated the grand opening of our 75th location here in Long Island, New York. We had about 600 people in line, braving 20-degree weather to celebrate with us. It was a great accomplishment, and now we’re marching toward 100.

Powills: How many stores do you currently have in development or signed that are moving toward lease negotiations?

Gucciardo: I’m anticipating another 10 stores opening this year. We’ve got 30 stores in development right now, all in various stages, including multi-unit deals.

Powills: That’s great. A few more in the pipeline. Of course, the reality is that the expiration date on hitting 100 units this year is coming fast, considering how long it takes to secure real estate and get things moving. But that’s a solid vision. And, frankly, only about 1% of brands ever make it past 100 units.

For what it’s worth, you guys have been working on this for a long time. I’ve had brands tell me, “We’re going to hit 100 units in three years.” I tell them, “No, you won’t. Let me show you how it works.”

You go: one to two, two to four, four to eight, eight to 16, 16 to 32, 32 to 64. Then you’re over 100. That’s a seven-year roadmap. But they don’t want to hear that. They’ll insist, “We’re going to do it in three years.” Then I see them at a conference and ask, “How’s it going?” They’ll say, “Oh, we’re at 13 units.”

Gucciardo: Exactly. They don’t want to see the reality.

Powills: I think you’re doing a lot of things the right way. You’ve been very calculated with your growth, and even calling it the “march to 100” shows it’s a realistic goal. You’re not saying, “We’re going to double in size in two years,” which might happen eventually as you get the snowball effect going, but you’re staying grounded.

I appreciate this, Paul. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

Gucciardo: Of course, thank you.

Powills: For Paul and Nick, this was another “Franchisor Hot Seat.”

Watch the full interview above or on YouTube.

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