The costly mistake in multi-unit development is opening restaurant three before restaurant one has a general manager who can run a Saturday alone.By Greg Vojnovic, VP and Head of FranchisingThe first five franchise restaurants should open as one operating system, …
An Item 19 is a photograph of a defined set of restaurants in a defined year — not a forecast, and not the same thing as how many restaurants the brand has today. 1851 Franchise’s 2026 FDD reading guide starts …
Company-first, then franchise means the restaurants were proven on the franchisor’s capital — the first partners are not paying for the experiment. The brand has a few restaurants, a deck, and a development schedule. The first franchisees pay for the …
Sandwich-system operators and The Melt keep ending up in the same conversation because they already run the same kind of restaurant — an inline room, no drive-thru required — and they own different hours of the day. Why do sandwich …
A Fast Casual burger brand spent years as a company system. Franchising came after the P&Ls, not instead of them. Most emerging restaurant franchises ask operators to fund the proof. The brand has a handful of restaurants, a deck, and …
There are two ways to enter a new market. The first is broker-led. A vacant end-cap appears. The rent looks workable. The co-tenancy is familiar. The story gets built backward from the space. Sometimes that works. Often it produces an …
Most multi-unit operators are not hunting for a first brand. They are hunting for a second one that does not steal lunch from the first.
Most second-concept conversations start with AUV. Serious multi-unit operators start with labor. A brand can post impressive volumes and still be the wrong addition if it requires a different staffing culture, a larger crew, or a production system your existing …
Experienced multi-unit operators already know the frustration. You find a strong inline or end-cap — right trade area, right co-tenancy, rent you can live with — and then the file stops. A chicken restriction. A deed limitation. A co-tenancy clause …
