1851: What was it that drew you into franchising?
Natasha Case, CEO and Co-Founder of Coolhaus: We actually only have one franchise, our Dallas operation. This was a very case specific decision to franchise there, as we had particularly strong partners approach us. The Dallas franchisees already had a food truck that roamed the city, so they knew the lay of the land very well. Also, operating an ice cream truck where you are not cooking hot food seemed manageable considering their other truck operation (Nammi) has to keep a lot more raw ingredients in inventory and operate more complex kitchen equipment. Lastly, our Dallas partners are both former architects, so they are an undeniable good fit with our brand!
1851: What do you see as the biggest change that is going to impact the franchise industry going forward?
Case: E-commerce and on-demand delivery. This is a very centralizing process, so it creates less needs for duplicated boutique retail outlets, in theory.
1851: What advice would you give to other young up-and-comers?
Case: Concentrate on your brand and bringing a unique vision/story-telling method through your product to a growing audience that wants to be part of your culture... and think BIG!
1851: What advice would you give to your younger self?
Case: You can walk through a wall when you don't know it's there. That's to say, inexperience or non-business-based training (in my case, architecture) can actually be an advantage, not an obstacle. It helps you think differently and approach risk in a more pure, visionary way.
1851: What advice would you give to someone deciding to own a franchise?
Case: Test the model before selling many. Minimum viable product is always ideal.
1851: What’s an innovative company (that’s not in franchise space) that you like and you think franchising can learn from?
Case: Glossier is very cool. And I love the less is more approach... 'make-up' being more about doing small things, so you can wear less overall. The products have an iconic, non-super-brandy look. They found an all-natural, somewhat feminist angle... it's cool how they have a point of view.
