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Getting creative with multi-brand concepts and social enterprise are just two ways franchise development teams can build their brands.
This year, Kahala Franchising, L.L.C., parent company of 10 franchise brands, including Blimpie, Cold Stone and Surf City Squeeze, celebrated 25 years of franchise development. In that quarter century, like all other established franchisors, Kahala has faced many difficult franchise development challenges. However, in both good and bad economic environments, the million-dollar question has always remained the same: "Where can we find qualified, well-funded prospects who have the drive to build a successful business, the discipline to follow an established model and the business savvy to represent our brand well in their local community?"
Clearly, portals, franchise consultants and good ol' networking are still strong avenues through which to find attractive candidates. However, in recent years, a number of iconic franchise brands have brought incredibly creative Ideas to development. A couple of those ideas, expanding multi-brand concepts and partnering with non-profit organizations, have become modern trends that appear poised for long-term success. Here are a few success stories.
A New Take on Multi-Brand Concepts
Recently, a Kahala area developer was working on a restaurant build-out plan with an area hospital. As opposed to simply pitching one restaurant brand, he developed a "quadri-brand" package that allowed him to fill the food court with four Kahala brands. Like many other brands, Kahala has experimented with dual-brand storefronts and has recently negotiated co-branded store partnerships with a convenient store chain. But four restaurant brands in the same location was a completely new idea. However, the area developer was convincing and created a strategy that retained each brand's value proposition and dispelled any worrisome thoughts of a loosely...