Why I Franchised My Business: Layne’s Chicken Fingers

Founded in 1994 in College Station, Texas, Layne’s Chicken Fingers* is known for its friendly service, iconic chicken fingers and secret sauce. The brand’s successful cult following began at its original location near Texas A&M University and has since grown from a tiny campus phenomenon to a Lone Star State icon, providing good times and delicious food at eight locations in Texas, including three in College Station, four in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and one in Houston. The brand also recently announced it will be bringing six new locations to Dallas-Fort Worth by spring of 2022.

1851 Franchise spoke with CEO Garrett Reed to learn more about how the Layne’s Chicken Fingers brand got to where it is today.

1851: Can you start by telling me a bit about your background?

Garrett Reed: I started in the restaurant development business and ended up at Starbucks in the late 90's, helping make the brand explode in popularity during that time. I eventually became a real estate developer here in Texas, and I knew the owner of Layne’s Chicken Fingers. In 2017, I had the opportunity to acquire the brand, and he stayed on as a minority partner. 

1851: How did the idea of franchising come about?

Reed: In the beginning, the brand was completely “unfranchiseable.” When it was purchased in 2017, it was the ultimate mom-and-pop business — a cult following, high T-shirt sales, no real operations structure. It was super successful, but there was no way to franchise, as there was no repeatable business model to sell. We spent an entire year developing policies and procedures following the purchase and went about it very systematically. From there, we decided we needed to stress-test the concept. We went to Dallas and opened up three units in six months, which was unheard of. The whole idea was that we were going to open up three units, wait three years, and adapt to any challenges and issues that came up along the way. We are now ahead of schedule and just opened our fourth unit corporately. We didn’t start franchising until 24 months ago, once we proved to ourselves that we could. Once we had it all down to a science — that is when we started to franchise. 

1851: How was the process of franchising? What lessons did you learn early on?

Reed: I’ve found that in my restaurant development experience, there are two different kinds of franchisors. Some are just out there to make money, and there is nothing wrong with that. Then there is another group that is actually selling the concept and a business model. We wanted to sell something we could be proud of — which really comes down to our culture. It is all about how to greet guests and treat employees well. 

Now, as we’ve signed quite a few franchisees over the past couple of months, it is interesting to see how we compare to other brands. Most of our franchisees also own other brands, so we are learning a lot about how other brands treat their franchisees and how to do it the right way. 

1851: What advice would you give to other business owners thinking of franchising their concept?

Reed: You have to know what you want to do before you begin. Have a plan in place. Do you want to sell as many franchises as you possibly can, or keep your business as it is? One of the things we do at Layne’s, which I would recommend to other emerging franchisors, is to avoid hiring an outside sales person or even an in-house sales person. We have teams for every aspect of the business, but the one thing that we don’t let anyone else in the company do is sell franchises. My business partner and I take every single call, we go to the Discovery Days and meet with every single franchisee prospect. If you want to keep your soul and keep your culture alive, don’t let somebody else sell franchises for you. It will be more work, and you will likely have to spend a lot more time saying no, but it is worth it in the end. 

1851: What do you love most about franchising? 

Reed: What I love most about the business is the people who work for us. I want to get everyone I know into the business. The food business is the food business — we sell great fast food — but I love franchising because I love providing opportunities. 

1851: So, why did you franchise your business?

Reed: The reason we franchise is to give people the opportunity to experience our culture. We are a cool, unique brand, and we want to spread that culture around the country. Our brand mascot is called the Astro Chicken — a chicken in a space helmet. We created that mascot back in 2017 because we wanted to spread some motivation. It all comes down to how you function as a human being. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Live carefree like a chicken would. They are the most ridiculous animals on the farm. Be ridiculous like a chicken. On the flip side, what is the most complicated thing that a human has ever done? Travel to outer space. If one bolt isn’t screwed on right, everyone dies. If you can live your life like the Astro Chicken — carefree, loving life — while also treating work like it is as important as space travel, you will be successful. That is what the Layne’s franchise opportunity is all about.