Wild Birds Unlimited Guides Franchisees Through Funding Process with Strategic Business Planning Program

Since Wild Birds Unlimited first opened its doors for business three decades ago, the franchising industry has made some major changes. When it comes to business planning and financing, for example, the process of securing the right financing is more critical now than it has ever been before. That’s why the leading bird feeding and nature franchise offers its local business owners unparalleled assistance throughout the entire funding process.

It started back in the 1990s, when it became clear to the Wild Birds Unlimited team that they needed every candidate to write up a business plan before opening their store for business. In order to make that process more efficient, the brand put together an example business plan that franchisees could pull from when planning how to best execute their business strategies. That sample business model—which is updated annually—is still a pillar in Wild Birds Unlimited’s franchise system. But now, as the economy continues to recover after the recession, the brand offers its local owners even more guidance.

“There’s been a paradigm shift in franchise development. That’s why our business planning and financing assistance program has become a major part of the Wild Birds Unlimited system,” said Paul Pickett, chief development officer for Wild Birds Unlimited. “Conversations about funding need to start with prospective owners right off the bat. And we want to do everything in our power to make those conversations as productive as possible in order to set our franchisees up for success.”

Beyond offering its franchisees an example of a successful business model, Wild Birds Unlimited also provides its local owners with blank spreadsheets so they can easily run three years of P&L’s along with cash flow statements and balance sheets. Members of the brand’s corporate development team—including Pickett—also started building relationships with bankers and lenders in the industry that have been instrumental in Wild Birds Unlimited’s successful expansion efforts, including individual conversations with the funders and providing those funders with a copy of the brand’s most recent Bank Credit Report, developed by FRANdata.

“The real turning point for me came after I saw Ron Feldman, who’s now with FRANdata, speak at a franchising conference. I sat down with Ron and he gave me a list of the tools that I needed to put in place to assist my candidates in obtaining funding. I took that list and his advice about building and maintaining relationships within the industry and got to work. I immediately started seeing positive results,” Pickett said. “We can’t guarantee our franchisees funding, but at least we have the relationships in place that will ultimately help them move forward in the financing process.”

By consistently working with companies like Guidant Financial, BoeFly and FRANdata, Wild Birds Unlimited is able to give its franchisees a leg up in the funding process. From day one, the brand gets the ball rolling for both business and financial plans. It’s that commitment to providing corporate support that fuels the brand’s impressive business momentum—Wild Birds Unlimited is on pace to meet or exceed its goal of adding 20 new units to its system by the end of the year. The brand is also expected to see a 25 percent increase in franchise development activity, on top of the 50 percent jump from last year.

“We want our local business owners to have all the tools and resources they need at their disposal to make their dreams of business ownership a reality. Our business and financing assistance program is second to none, and we’ll keep making upgrades and improvements to it in order to stay ahead of the curve in the increasingly crowded franchising space,” said Pickett.