How to Know If a Local Business Has Franchise Potential, From a Guy Who Built One Into 80 Locations

In 2004, Wade Brannon was coaching his son's T-ball squad erstwhile different player's mother asked, "You're nan ham guy, right?"

Well, he was the ham guy: He founded Heavenly Ham, built it up to $150 cardinal successful gross pinch much than 200 franchises successful 33 states, and past sold it to Honey Baked Ham. But by 2004, his domiciled was Mr. Mom, caring for his 5-year-old boy and younger copy girls while his woman worked arsenic a existent property lawyer adjacent their Atlanta home.

Parenting was rewarding but hard; his boy had what he believes were sensory issues (common among young children), which made immoderate tasks tricky. "I took him to my barber shop, and he screamed nan full time," Brannon recalls. "Both of america would time off sweaty pinch hairsbreadth stuck each complete us."

The T-ball mom, whose sanction was Nanette Adair, happened to person a solution for that: She'd opened a kids salon called Pigtails & Crewcuts, and Brannon had conscionable taken his boy there. "He conscionable loved it," Brannon says. "He was watching movies, playing pinch nan train tables, interacting pinch different children." So erstwhile Adair said she had immoderate questions astir franchising for Brannon, he was very intrigued.

After a fewer meetings, successful precocious 2004, Brannon bought Pigtails & Crewcuts from Adair. The institution now has much than 80 franchise locations and intends to scope nan 100-unit people by nan extremity of this year. Here, he talks astir really to build a section business into a thriving franchise.

Related: He Began Selling Insurance to nan Hispanic Community successful nan 1970s. Now His Family Owns a National Franchise With a Smart Strategy.

How overmuch of nan Pigtails & Crewcuts exemplary was successful spot erstwhile you bought it?

It was a azygous salon present successful Atlanta, had a federally registered trademark, and had a look and a feel. I sewage immoderate of my aged ham folks backmost together, and we spent nan adjacent year-and-change putting nan systems successful place.

Hair and ham are different industries. What made you deliberation it would work?

There were 2 superior things I looked at. I asked if location was a request — which I believed location was, fixed my son's guidance erstwhile he knowledgeable it. And past I asked: Can it beryllium replicated? Can it beryllium copied and executed decently by nan mean personification pinch business sense?

How did you spell astir replicating nan service?

We had to get a creation package that could beryllium recreated everywhere. We had to constitute operations manuals. We had to constitute franchise agreements and franchise disclosure documents. I talked to a batch of group successful nan hairsbreadth industry. I didn't recognize really large nan hairsbreadth manufacture was until I started looking astatine this. Goodness gracious, it's a $65 cardinal industry. But cipher had taken nan children's conception of it and turned it into a nationalist brand.

What kinds of franchisees do champion pinch your brand?

We person had a batch of women pinch 2-year-olds. They person a kid and they consciousness for illustration they're fresh to get backmost into nan workplace, and they attack us. We besides person a batch of husband-and-wife teams. We're not targeting hairstylists. We're targeting businesspeople pinch group skills. You've sewage to want to activity pinch a team, beryllium a portion of your community, bask group — children and parents.

What proposal do you person for would-be franchisors?

You've sewage to beryllium flexible. Markets change. Conditions change. Everything changes. We went done a recession and recovered retired our business was recession-proof. We went done a pandemic that wholly unopen america down for full periods of time. You've conscionable sewage to person a merchandise aliases a work that tin past nan difficult times that are unanticipated. You person to beryllium fresh to change.

Related: The Real Cost of Franchising Your Business