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Franchising with a Fastlane Mentality

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

AubreyJ

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Hello everyone! So this has been a long time coming, and I am really excited to finally create my own progress thread for my Fastlane venture.

My Fastlane business is to own fast-food franchises- and I know what most of you are thinking, “Franchising is NOT Fastlane”- but I believe that it can be, in fact I know that it can be with the right process and with the right mindset- and that is what I am setting out to do. I don’t want to own one franchise, or two, or even five- I want to own hundreds. But in order to own hundreds, I first have to start with one, and that is what I have been working towards over the last year.

One of the most important things with franchising is having capital- most franchises set net worth and capital requirements, and if these requirements aren’t met- the answer is almost always a no whenever you apply to become a franchisee. Because of this, over the last year I have been working at growing my net worth and gaining capital. I have spent the last year working odd jobs like cleaning pools and mowing lawns, I worked as a part-time nanny, I’ve been flipping items on craigslist, and investing in the stock market- over this period of time, I was able to save about 130k.

Once I made enough money, it was now time to apply to fast-food concepts. I did a lot of research on about 30 different concepts and I then narrowed down my choices to 3. I went through the application process for these three companies, and later on I found out that I was approved by all three concepts, and just a couple of days ago I made my decision on what concept I was going to franchise with.

A couple of days ago I was approved for a 3-unit deal with a concept based here in Texas- I don’t want to reveal the name of the concept until I am further along in the process- but it was my number one choice and I am extremely excited to start growing my franchising business with this company.

So, this is my progress thread- For the first couple of months, there won’t be a whole lot to report on- but I decided to make this thread because franchising isn’t a topic that is widely talked about on here, and this thread can show the steps it takes to be a multi-unit franchisee starting from the very beginning. From signing your Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), to finding a location, to opening your first store, and then to becoming a multi-unit franchisee: I hope that I can show this process through this progress thread, and hopefully I can provide some value to anyone who is interested.

If anyone has any comments, questions, or tips- please let me know! For my next post, I will outline what I have planned for the near future. Thanks everyone for reading!
 
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AubreyJ

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Here is what is next:

Now is time to deal with the legal side of things- I will be getting the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) in the mail in the next day or so. Then, I will have to examine the FDD and negotiate things like opening dates, fees…etc. This will take time, as I want to make sure to have all points covered with the FDD. After the FDD is signed it will be time to start looking for locations- but I will post on that when the time comes.

Other than the FDD, I have been given the opportunity to work with a multi-unit franchisee in Chicago. This mentor of mine is allowing me to go up to Chicago and work with him for a couple of months- he is going to teach me everything there is to know about how to become a Fastlane franchisee. I am extremely excited to have been given this opportunity, because this man is where I envision myself 30 years from now- he owns 100+ franchises, a variety of different concepts and industries, and he has been extremely successful throughout his career- and so it is really exciting to get the chance to work with him. I am leaving around October 28th (Also my 21st birthday:D), and I will be staying for a couple of months.
 

AllenCrawley

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Thanks for sharing your progress. Looking forward to the updates. Very excited for you.

I am curious as to the decision of choosing to be a franchisee over being a franchisor. Was it the existence of a proven plan and system that effectively cuts the learning curve? Or?

Rep+
 

AubreyJ

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Thanks for sharing your progress. Looking forward to the updates. Very excited for you.

I am curious as to the decision of choosing to be a franchisee over being a franchisor. Was it the existence of a proven plan and system that effectively cuts the learning curve? Or?

Rep+
Thank you!

Over the last year or two I've brainstormed (and tried out) a lot of different ideas, from venturing into e-commerce to working solely in residential real estate, and also trying to become a franchisor- and the more I thought about it, the more research I did, and after I talked to dozens of franchisees throughout the country, the more confident I became that franchising was the right thing for me. The proven plan and system is definitely a huge upside to going with the franchising route- it is just something I think I could be really good at, especially if I apply the fastlane process to the business. I've owned residential real estate for the last year and so I do plan on continuing with that along side my franchising venture.
 
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AubreyJ

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Today I spent about 8 hours driving around the Dallas/Fort-Worth area trying to find a territory, and I think I may have found a great area for my franchise. I need to run the demographics on the area, I am also running the demographics for the top 5 and bottom 5 units for this concept so I can try to figure out what I want in my territory and what I want to try and avoid- This is one of the first steps of many in order to get my business off the ground, and so far so good:D
 

AubreyJ

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Update

Things are progressing nicely, I have my territory- Not going to include a map of my territory or anything yet, because the FDD still isn't signed, but I have a territory in the Dallas area. I'm currently in negotiations with everything regarding the FDD- like opening dates, fees...etc. Hoping to have the FDD signed in the next month or so, but I am really in no rush as I want to make sure everything is covered. Definitely don't want to rush through the process and then screw myself over in the future because of it.

While FDD negotiations have been going on, I've been calling every single franchise owner for this concept. Just trying to do some last research before I sign the FDD. I'm trying to see what their overall views and opinions are of being an owner- things like numbers, likes and dislikes...etc. So far the phone calls have been really promising.

I am moving to Chicago on the 27th to work with my mentor- everything is set, I have my apartment, I've talked to my mentor and his staff who I will be working with and I am extremely excited to learn a ton from successful franchisees!
 

AubreyJ

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UPDATE:

So, a lot has changed over the last 2 weeks. I moved to Chicago to work with my mentor and will be staying here for 6 months. Right now, I am learning what it takes to successfully run one store- which is a lot of work, but I am learning a lot. My mentor has 4 store openings in Chicago between now and the end of the year, so in the coming weeks I’ll learn how to open stores, hire staff..etc.
Things are progressing nicely with the concept I've been talking with- but the FDD still isn't signed and so there really isn't much of an update with that.

Goals:

- I want to save as much money as possible throughout the next 6 months, and so I plan on continuing what I have been doing- investing, flipping, and hustling in order to save at least $10k. By March 2015 I want to have between 140-150k cash.
- Keep researching and applying to concepts. Since my ultimate goal is to build a franchising business as apposed to just owning one single franchised unit, one of my goals is to get approved for multiple concepts so that I have franchises lined up for the future so I can expand my business at a fast pace.

I have a lot of ideas and plans for my business- I just need to decide which ones are the best ones to go with in order to turn this into what I have envisioned in my head.

The next update will come once I have one (or more) FDDs signed.
 
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saigon

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Thanks for sharing - nothing like having a mentor take you up under their wings, especially when things get hectic so you can see first hand.

I'm working through the details of starting a potential franchise next year depending on how the original idea turns out and if it has legs for franchise appeal - will definitely keep an eye out here for some pointers as I explore that avenue.
 

saigon

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@saigon how are you evaluating whether the idea has franchise appeal or not? What criteria are you using to decide this?

I got away from this idea and moved onto a different path but if the "process" can be documented and replicated in volume (relative term but think 50-100+ times, in my mind), it could be franchised. My idea for a B&M retailer could have been franchised and the competitors in the space I was going to enter are doing just that. That's how you achieve some very attractive scale.
 
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