The 8 | September 14, 2018

1. Frantastic: The International Franchise Association has announced the winners of its fourth annual “Franchising Gives Back” Awards. These Frantastic awards recognize a select group of franchisors and franchisees for their exemplary charitable work on behalf of their local communities. This year’s winners represent a variety of brands including Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Molly Maid, Jersey Mike’s, Uptown Cheapskate and College Hunks Hauling Junk.

2. Franlebrity: Our Franchise Development Leader issue is continuing on 1851, including a feature on this week’s Franlebrity, Dan Stone. The Chief Business and People Development Officer behind Front Burner Brands, which is the management company behind The Melting Pot, spoke with 1851 about why he loves the franchising industry. He specifically points to the collaboration that takes place, saying, “I love the networking. There’s a strong willingness to share insight in the franchising industry.”

3. Frash Money: Restaurants experienced a strong August. According to data from TDn2K’s Black Box Intelligence, same-store sales jumped 1.8 percent on average across the industry last month, making August the strongest month for restaurants since September of 2015. Year-over-year sales growth, however, should be taken with a grain of salt due to Hurricane Harvey’s impact last August.

4. Frant of the Week: In this week’s Frant, No Limit Agency* CEO Nick Powills discusses how the blueprints of yesterday are officially gone when it comes to today’s work environment. Millennials are changing the conversation — culture and work-life balance are now the main focal point when interviewing candidates. This is happening outside of the office, too — professional athletes are facing challenges with the next wave of teammates. It’s now up to businesses and organizations to determine how to best motivate their employees.

5. Franch Forward: There’s a new tool for franchisors called FranEngage. Created by Lightbridge Academy* Senior Vice President of Franchising Mark Mele, FranEngage is designed to solve a problem that’s often faced in franchise sales — knowing what your prospect is looking for and when. FranEngage compiles a franchisor’s sales content, including videos, brochures and applications, and then shows the brand’s sales team who is most active and who’s not.

6. Fran Funny: Domino’s Russia operation found itself in a Fran Funny situation when it rolled out a promotion offering 100 free pizzas to customers for 100 years who got visible tattoos of the brand’s logo. The campaign caught on, and they had to cap the number of winners at 350.

7. Franspiration: “ I find that the energy, enthusiasm and optimism of entrepreneurs can be challenging at times, at other times it can even be treacherous, but when it is harnessed correctly, it is exhilarating and incredibly rewarding.”  — Bob Anderson, CEO of Jimboy’s Tacos.

8. Franemies vs. Frands: We’re calling out Subway as a Franemy this week because they might be doing away with their famous $5 footlong promotion. The brand will now be allowing franchisees to decide whether or not to include the offering at their location. Subway is also testing out new menu items, including paninis