The 8 | December 15, 2017

1. Frantastic: We’re kicking off this week’s edition of The 8 with some Frantastic news for women. According to a recent report published by the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Kansas City, women are opening up small businesses at a faster pace than men. Right now, about one in five small businesses is majority female-owned. That comes after the number of majority female-owned firms jumped by 22 percent between 2007 and 2015.

2. Franlebrity: Jennifer Saxton, the founder and CEO of Tot Squad, isn’t only creating a brand—she’s creating an industry. This week’s Franlebrity is raising consumer awareness to the fact that a solution to their baby gear problems exist, ultimately carving out a unique niche for Tot Squad to grow. In her interview with 1851 for the Young Ones to Watch issue, Saxton says building that type of awareness will continue to become more important in the franchising industry across the board, especially as millennials start their own businesses.

3. Frash Money: Last week, we explained how franchisees can get ready for tax season. This week, we’re doing the same for franchisors. 1851 spoke with accounting experts to get the best advice for businesses looking to get their Frash Money in order. They recommend organizing your books, looking at your purchasing assets, running a tax projection and seeing if you’re eligible for credits.

4. Frant of the Week: No Limit Agency* CEO Nick Powills is picking up right where he left off last week in his latest Frant. In the second part of his series highlighting how to pursue prospects rather than leads, Powills explains how leads can become more serious candidates once the discovery process begins. From franchisee validation to positive brand buzz, there’s a checklist of items that prospective franchisees are looking for. If your brand doesn’t check off the majority of those boxes, it’s going to be difficult to close a deal.

5. Franch Forward: McDonald’s found a unique way to Franch Forward with the help of Augmented Reality. The fast food giant partnered with Snapchat for its first ever sponsored Bitmoji, showing animated characters stealing users’ McCafé drinks. Even though this isn’t Snapchat’s first stab at sponsored content, this shows that there are more opportunities out there for brands to engage consumers without an obvious filter or sponsored screen.

6. Fran Funny: What do you call an obnoxious reindeer? RUDEolph.

7. Franspiration: “The advice I would have given myself earlier on would be, ‘have the courage to create.’” – Galen Welsch, co-founder and CEO of Jibu

8. Franemies vs. Frands: With the end of the year comes all of the articles predicting what’s next for every industry in 2018—including our own. However, one roundup of predictions from QSR Magazine recently caught our eye. The publication listed nine trends expected to take over the fast food industry in 2018. Some of them are obvious, like the importance of having a strong Instagram presence. Others, however, are a bit more out there. One trend that they’re anticipating is the use of charcoal in food to make it black, which is a drastic change from 2017’s unicorn and rainbow themed LTOs. Would you eat food that’s dyed to be darker? Let us know on Facebook.