In this episode of The Restaurant Report, we sit down with Mike LaRue, a 16+ year franchise veteran who has, since the beginning, maintained a focus on emerging brands. Mike is the VP of Franchise Development for Angry Chickz, a fast-growth Nashville hot chicken brand.
We discuss how this brand was able to build 20+ units without an infrastructure which could be its secret weapon to success.
Five key areas to grow your franchise brand.
Expand into new markets: This is the most common way to grow a franchise brand. By opening recent franchise locations in new markets, you can reach a wider audience and increase your sales. To do this effectively, you need to identify markets where your brand is not yet present but with a demand for your products or services. You must also ensure you have the resources to support new franchise locations, such as training and marketing.
Develop new products or services: This is another way to attract new customers and increase sales. By offering new products or services, you can show your customers that you are innovative and committed to meeting their needs. To do this effectively, you need to identify products or services that are in demand and that you can develop and market effectively. You also need to ensure that your franchisees can support the new products or services, such as by providing training and support.
Invest in technology: Technology can help you improve your operations, reach new customers, and increase sales. For example, you can use technology to develop a next gen mobile app that builds community, loyalty and potentially even a payment process outside the normal rails of foodservice.
Cultivate a strong company culture: A strong company culture can attract and retain top talent, essential for franchise growth. The problem with most brands is that they are cookie-cutter instead of building personalized experiences for cultural growth. With some advanced tools in Web3 this is fast becoming a growth opportunity for brands due to increased engagement by a much more digital native worker.
Maintain high product quality: Product quality is essential for franchise success. Using user-generated feedback and set you on a course of product quality and improvement. The key around quality may be found in various places to dive deep into every aspect of the quality build process included the final engagement of the consumer to achieve a level that is often missed by most brands.