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Spin-offs get a bum rap. Anytime you hear about characters from a popular show getting their own prime time program, chances are your first instinct is to roll your eyes. And you&#8217;d be forgiven for being skeptical. After all, for every &#8220;Friends,&#8221; there&#8217;s a &#8220;Joey.&#8221; And we won&#8217;t even get into &#8220;Joanie Loves Chachi.&#8221; But when done right, spin-offs can elevate the art of television. Just look at &#8220;Better Call Saul.&#8221; Breaking Good AMC&#8217;s new golden child is a spin-off of the epically popular (and rightfully so) &#8220;Breaking Bad.&#8221; Only instead of telling the tale of a mild-mannered suburbanite turned criminal kingpin, &#8220;Better Call Saul&#8221; is an origin story for one of the former show&#8217;s fan-favorite characters. Plenty of people were holding their breath in anticipation of the show&#8217;s premiere. No one wanted to see the legacy of their favorite program tarnished. However, the critics have spoken, and the viewing public is breathing a sigh of relief. According to popular review aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a nearly unprecedented <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/better-call-saul/s01/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=what-better-call-saul-can-teach-us-about-franchising-success-1124" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">score of 100 percent</a>. However, professional TV watchers aren&#8217;t the only ones excited about &#8220;Saul.&#8221; Various news outlets have reported the premiere garnered <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-better-call-saul-771750?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=what-better-call-saul-can-teach-us-about-franchising-success-1124" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">6.9 million viewers</a>, a new record for a cable premiere. It&#8217;s still very early in the show&#8217;s run, but its initial success can tell us a lot about how to create a successful franchise. At the end of the day, what is a franchise besides a spin-off of its own? Stay true to the original Franchisees have a huge leg up over other small business owners thanks to the trail blazed by their parent companies. When people visit a <a href="http://checkersfranchising.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=what-better-call-saul-can-teach-us-about-franchising-success-1124" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Checkers</a> for a burger, they have a certain level of quality in mind, one of the reasons they seek it out in the first place. While each franchise is its own separate entity, it&#8217;s important to carry the torch for the reputation established by the original. &#8220;Better Call Saul&#8221; knows this well. From cinematography and soundtrack to dialogue and character-building, the show launched out of the gate with the same level of excellence &#8220;Breaking Bad&#8221; viewers had come to expect. Don&#8217;t use consumer goodwill as a crutch With that being said, the show didn&#8217;t rest on its laurels. Any TV program even tangentially related to &#8220;Breaking Bad&#8221; could have coasted by on viewer nostalgia and goodwill reserves. However, &#8220;Better Call Saul&#8221; went out of its way to stand on its own merits. Any franchisee who believes he or she can simply go through the motions and succeed thanks to a well-known name is in for a rude awakening. Consumer recognition can only take you so far, which is why it&#8217;s essential for franchisees to go above and beyond to ensure positive consumer sentiment is well-founded. Innovate where appropriate All companies have their own unique guidelines for franchisees to follow, but that doesn&#8217;t mean there isn&#8217;t any room for innovation. After all, a person who runs a <a href="http://pitapitusa.com/franchise/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=what-better-call-saul-can-teach-us-about-franchising-success-1124" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pita Pit</a> in Southern California may see very different customer demands from someone who operates a Pita Pit in the Midwest. While it&#8217;s important to stay true to the spirit of the original, every franchise is its own individual enterprise. That means it&#8217;s up to those in charge to make sure they&#8217;re serving their specific community and establishing new modus operandi when appropriate. &#8220;Better Call Saul&#8221; certainly stayed true to the dark (and darkly comic) spirit of &#8220;Breaking Bad,&#8221; but it also wasted no time in creating its own unique identity. Franchise or TV show, that&#8217;s a recipe for success.

1851 Franchise

AMC's new hit show may have more in common with franchising than you think.

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