A Recipe For Growth: How To Choose A Franchise Partner

Dubai-born fried chicken brand BonBird is heading to the UK – and it’s made quite a splash along the way. Its parent company, Yolk Brands – which is also behind Pickl, the Dubai-born burger joint that’s growing rapidly across the globe – has made headlines for signing a franchise agreement with the UK’s City Restaurants Group that has been billed the largest deal of its kind by a homegrown quick-service restaurant in the UAE. Now, given that both BonBird and Pickl are scaling internationally through franchise agreements, Inc. Arabia asked Yolk Brands founder and CEO Steve Flawith to share his playbook for selecting the right partners to grow his business – here’s what he told us.

How does one choose the right franchise partner? A lot of people ask us this – it is perhaps the million-dollar question, since it sets you up for success. The problem though is that there’s no clear-cut answer – but maybe there are a few guiding stars. Here’s a primer:

1. Don’t Be In A Rush

Trust me – you are not ready for franchising; no one is. That’s why for us at Pickl, the first few years were centered around learning; we rejected so many amazing offers on the table to franchise, purely because we just weren’t ready, and we would never have given value to our partner when they launched. We thus spent two years building our framework, putting together the standard operating procedures (SOPs), the guidelines, the “how to build a Pickl” manual, legal contracts, intellectual property (IP) protections – basically, everything from A-Z. We then invited people in to challenge us, rip our work apart, and then, we rebuilt it from scratch. It was, to say the least, a humbling experience. But we didn’t rush, we laid the foundations for expansion, so that we could then go out, and find the right partner to make it work – with us.

BonBird is a Dubai-born fried chicken brand. Image courtesy Yolk Brands.

2. Cast Your Net Wide

Do you want to fish in a small pond, or fish for marlin in the ocean? Where your network may be big, it’s always worth getting some help. There are a lot of franchise consultants out there, but finding the right one for you is the challenge. We tend to avoid the larger international ones, as we perhaps don’t mean much to them; we are probably just a number on their spreadsheet at the end of the day. So, we’re fans of working with the smaller boutique consultants who hustle day-in, day-out to find us the right partners. These consultants are key to building that relationship with them, so that they really get to know your brands.

3. Flirt And Date Before Getting Married

Let’s be honest here – the contract you are entering into with your future franchisee is going to be bulletproof. You both owe each other an obligation to success here. So, much like you’d spend time choosing your life partner, you shouldn’t jump straight into a franchise agreement. When getting to know your potential franchisee, initial office meetings are great, but if you feel they are the one, dinners, coffee, and out-of-office activities are key to make sure you have the same alignments, morals, ethics, and synergies to take this forward. Can your partner fulfil their roll-out schedule they’re committing to? Do they have the funding in place to grow your brand as you’ve always dreamt of? At the final hurdle, it’s well worth running the due diligence process, so that you are always 100% sure you found the right partner.

Steve Flawith, founder and CEO, Yolk Brands. Image courtesy Yolk Brands. 

4. Work On Your Relationship

Make no mistake; this is a relationship, and you are both signing up for this together. Relationships shouldn’t be a tick-box exercise. We’ve found over the years that we’ve learnt so much from our franchisee partners, we’ve gained insights together into the operations as well as improvement points. We’ve also always listened, and taken their opinions back into the brand to see how we can further strengthen it, and grow the total business lines together. We’ve always found that ongoing support and face-to-face meetings on the ground have helped us establish our relationships with our franchisees. At the end of the day, their success is based on your help, guidance and support – as a partner.\

Pictured in the lead image is City Restaurants Group’s Omair Ali with Yolk Brands’ Steve Flawith. Image courtesy Yolk Brands.

This article first appeared in the March issue of Inc. Arabia magazine. To read the full issue online, click here.