"I'd hate to be the manager running the restaurant," says 70-unit franchisee Herman Li.
Some franchisors open several corporate locations first and then franchise them to a multi-unit franchisee.
This shortage is also causing buyers to seek multiple-unit franchisees, and not just franchisors, to acquire". As Bret states, the evidence of late indicates this appetite for acquisition is expanding into the franchisee ranks, with some significant multi-unit franchisee deals with strong values hitting the market.
I also serve as a member of the IFA Board of Directors, and in that capacity, I know hundreds of franchisors and multi-unit franchisees that have 50 or more employees.
When the franchisee is a private equity firm, there is little doubt their goals do not mirror those single-unit franchisees within the network.
I have met large multi-unit franchisees, owning dozens of locations, with a business valued well into the millions, who still wear a branded polo shirt every day of the week, because the brand they're affiliated with gives them a sense of pride, achievement and self-esteem.
The data were collected through document analyses, observations, and 96 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with franchisors and unit actors (franchisees, unit managers, professionals).
To this end, we qualitatively explore the views of franchisors and unit actors (franchisees, professionals, unit managers) regarding the help or hindrance of their business format design a key element in franchising in realizing strategic, organizational, professional and client-related results.
Secondly, I believe too many companies choose to franchise before they are large enough to attract multi-unit, sophisticated franchisees.
In 1996, 25% of Wendy's $255 million in pretax profits came from sales of units to franchisees, up from just 7% in 1993.
Therefore, we use the term 'unit actor' to commonly refer to franchisees, unit managers and professionals, when a finding applies to all of them.
