The 8 | April 20, 2018

1. Frantastic: We’re starting this week off with some Frantastic news for franchising. According to the University of New Hampshire’s RIFC 50 Index, the franchise sector outperformed the overall market—represented in the S&P 500 Index—in 2017. The RIFC 50 Index, which is a stock portfolio composed of 50 U.S. public franchising companies, was designed to track the financial performance of the overall U.S. franchise sector. Last year, the RIFC 50 Index was up 28.6 percent while the S&P 500 was up just over 19.4 percent.

2. Franlebrity: Continuing on with this month’s tradition, our latest Franlebrities are this week’s featured 2018 Franchise Legal Players. Head to 1851 to learn more about what makes Matthew Kreutzer, Ann Hurwitz, Carl Khalil, Rob Lauer, Keith Kanouse, Mike Drumm, Sada Sheldon, Justin Klein and Charles Modell ones to watch.

3. Frash Money: It’s no secret that there’s a lot of Frash Money to be made in the fitness segment of the franchising industry. And right now, one brand that’s making a name for itself in the increasingly competitive space is Orangetheory Fitness. Inc. recently caught up with the brand’s co-founder Ellen Latham, who started the business out of her house after being fired from her job. Now, there are 900 Orangetheory studios open and the brand is expected to end 2018 with close to $1 billion in revenue.

4. Frant of the Week: Franchise sales teams have been hunting for the “great unicorn” – the secret to franchise growth—for years. Is now the time for that hunt to end? According to No Limit Agency* CEO Nick Powills, maybe not. In his latest Frant, Powills explains that while there isn’t a “secret” to franchise sales, there is the possibility of finding a unicorn among existing franchisees. If your brand’s franchisees are making money, taking on more units and providing strong validation, then your concept will continue to experience growth.

5. Franch Forward: If you’re looking to Franch Forward as a business owner in small city, some options are better for growth than others. WalletHub released its 2018 lists of the best and worst small cities in which to start a business, with Holland, Michigan being named the best of the best. St. George, Utah; Aberdeen, South Dakota; Wilson, North Carolina and Cheyenne, Wyoming are also ideal for launching a business. Cities across California, however, including Suisun, Eastvale and Saratoga, were ranked as some of the worst small cities in which to start a business.

6. Fran Funny: What’s a personality trait of a bad marketer? Anti-social.

7. Franspiration: “It is when the client and the attorney work as partners that a trusting and valuable relationship is formed.” – Marlén Cortez Morris of Cheng Cohen LLC

8. Franemies vs. Frands: Grubhub is making moves that will make it a better Frand in the eye of consumers. The third-party delivery app is teaming up with Venmo, making it possible for people to split the bill when ordering food through its platform. This partnership makes sense for Grubhub considering that more than 60 percent of its orders are placed on mobile devices.