Why I Franchised My Business: Toppers Pizza, Welcomemat Services and Coolgreens

For entrepreneurs considering ways to grow their businesses, determining whether franchising is the right move is an important decision.

1851 Franchise caught up with Scott Gittrich, president and founder of Toppers Pizza*, Brian Mattingly, CEO and founder of Welcomemat Services, and Robert Lee, CEO of Coolgreens, to learn about why they decided to franchise their businesses.

Scott Gittrich, Toppers Pizza

Growing up working for a restaurant franchise, Gittrich envisioned Toppers Pizza as a franchise when he opened the company in 1991. However, he knew he needed to prove his business model was successful before franchising.

“Coming from the franchise business, I had a pretty idealistic view of the relationship between franchisees and franchisors,” Gittrich said. “I understood how closely they worked together, and I saw firsthand that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

About a decade after opening, Gittrich was confident that Toppers Pizza was ready to become a franchise because of its profitability, scalability and teachable concept. Through franchising, Gittrich believes the company has been able to grow faster and serve its customers more effectively.

“Successful franchisees know the market, everyone in it, and what customers want better than anyone,” Gittrich said. “The customers win when business owners are as close to them as possible, which is something you get through franchising.”

Gittrich also likes how franchising gives him the opportunity to share his passion for Toppers Pizza with others.

“I find it very rewarding to work with entrepreneurs who are creating wealth for their families and sending their kids to college by building the Toppers Pizza business,” Gittrich said. “It feeds my entrepreneurial spirit to help our franchisees be successful.”

Brian Mattingly, Welcomemat Services

As a company that helps small businesses flourish in their local communities by connecting them with people who recently moved to the area, Mattingly views franchising as a key component of Welcomemat Services.

“We focus on working with local businesses, so we knew from the start how important it is to be community-focused,” Mattingly said. “Having franchisees who know the ins and outs of their communities and who have relationships with local business owners has been a powerful piece of our company.”

Although Mattingly wanted to franchise Welcomemat Services when it was founded, he decided to wait in order to develop a better understanding of the business.

“We had to be patient to make sure we could learn the business ourselves before franchising,” Mattingly said. “We decided to put about 12 corporate units in place so we could learn the training and build the systems we planned to teach franchisees.”

Recently landing first in the advertising franchise category in Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2017 Franchise 500 ranking, Mattingly attributes the company’s success to its network of committed franchisees.

“When you have a franchisee that knows the community, they can find the best local businesses to connect new residents with,” Mattingly said.

Robert Lee, Coolgreens

One of the biggest business challenges Lee has faced was determining the right time to franchise Coolgreens, which is a fresh, naturally-sourced food concept that prepares soups, salads, wraps, bowls and flatbreads in-house.

“Everyone says you can expand and grow your business so quickly by franchising, but as a business owner, you have to admit when you’re not ready,” Lee said. “You have to make sure to grow enough internally and have systems and procedures in place.”

Seven years after opening Coolgreens, Lee decided the time was right to franchise the company. He was confident Coolgreens would make a good franchise because the barriers of entry are low, it does not require any special equipment, and the training process is relatively simple.

“Before we decided franchising was a good fit, we kept a running list of everyone who had asked us about franchising opportunities so we could reach back out and let them know the great news,” Lee said. “Our first two franchisees were previous customers.”

Besides allowing Coolgreens to expand into a variety of new markets, Lee likes how franchising allows him to share the brand with people interested in helping it grow.

“It’s amazing meeting people who love your brand so much that they want to get involved,” Lee said. “I enjoy giving a piece of the company to committed individuals who are willing to work hard and helping them advance their careers.”