Growing a Franchise
With more than 30 years in franchising, Monaghan says successful development begins with choosing the right people and continuing support well after signing.
Franchise Sales Leader: Tom Monaghan
Brand: Central Bark USA
For Tom Monaghan, chief development officer of Central Bark USA, franchising wasn't an accident. He was quite literally born into it.
Monaghan grew up in a family that owned and operated service station franchises. His earliest memories of the business include spending time in a playpen in the back office before eventually graduating to sweeping floors, pumping gas and working on cars. He continued working in the family business through college and later managed it before the family ultimately sold.
That experience gave Monaghan something that would shape the next three decades of his career: an understanding of franchising from the franchisee’s side of the relationship.
“I really have this affinity, and it’s really what’s held true to me, of what it’s like to be that owner-operator franchisee in the space every day making it happen,” Monaghan said.
Since moving to the franchisor side, Monaghan estimates he has worked with roughly 2,900 franchise owners throughout his career. His first franchisor role came with Postal Instant Press, where he began as a franchise business consultant before eventually serving as vice president of operations and vice president of marketing. He has held senior positions with brands including Maaco Enterprises, Griswold, Philly Pretzel Factory, CertaPro Painters and Green Home Solutions, as well as serving as global chief development officer for Prosperity Brands.
Today, that experience informs how Monaghan approaches franchise development at Central Bark. Rather than viewing development as simply selling territories, he sees it as the beginning of a much longer relationship.
Monaghan says there is no single professional background that defines the perfect franchisee. Instead, Monaghan looks for three qualities: hungry, humble and smart.
“They can come from any type of industry,” he said. “But if we know they are humble and willing to be taught, they are hungry to work hard and build something great for their family, and they’re smart — not just book smart, but common-sense smart — and can problem-solve and connect with people and are good listeners, that’s kind of the ideal profile.”
That philosophy also changes the nature of the development process. “We don’t try and sell anybody anything,” Monaghan said. “We are recruiting for great partners.”
For Monaghan, awarding a franchise to the wrong candidate simply to accelerate unit growth can create problems that reverberate throughout the system. He has seen firsthand how franchisee challenges can originate at the very beginning of the relationship.
“A lot of those problems started at the front end of the system,” he said. “You brought in someone that may have had the desire and may have had the money to try this, but didn’t buy into your core values.”
Monaghan’s philosophy extends beyond candidate selection. A strong development team may bring the right franchisee into a system, but long-term success depends on what happens next.
He believes franchisors need continuous feedback loops across selection, training, marketing, operations and ongoing support. New owners often enter franchising optimistic about what they can accomplish, only to encounter the inevitable difficulties of running a business.
That is precisely when the franchisor needs to become more involved, not less. “That’s where a really great franchisor can make a difference,” Monaghan said. “If you don’t take them there and help them make the breakthrough with disciplined thought and disciplined action, you’ve lost them.”
For Monaghan, this is one reason franchising has remained compelling throughout his career.
“Franchising is really a people business, and none of them are the same,” he said. “Therefore, you need to find out how to motivate and encourage folks to get the most out of themselves through your operating system, not the other way around.”
After more than three decades working across multiple franchise concepts, Monaghan has developed a clear framework for what separates strong franchise organizations from the rest.
Drawing inspiration from Jim Collins’ “Good to Great,” Monaghan points to three fundamentals: disciplined people, disciplined thought and disciplined action. It begins with people.
“Any organization that we’re going to have is only as good as putting the right people in the right seats on the bus,” he said.
From there, leadership must understand what the organization does particularly well, remain disciplined around that core focus and create buy-in throughout the system. Finally, the company must execute consistently.
“Those three things, the disciplined people, the disciplined thoughts and the disciplined action or execution, ultimately lead an organization from good to great,” Monaghan said.
It is a philosophy he has carried across five franchise organizations during his career and one that continues to shape his work at Central Bark USA.
For Monaghan, the ultimate measure of successful franchise development is not simply how many agreements get signed. It is whether those owners have the tools, support and partnership necessary to build something meaningful once they enter the system.
“What really gets me excited is having franchisees be successful in their endeavors at the local level,” he said. “Having franchisees that can not only live their lifestyle, but their income and their equity dreams through that franchise ownership, that’s what gets me jazzed and excited even after 30-plus years of doing this every day.”
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