Future Faces of Franchising

Ask any one of these millennial franchisees and franchisors what it took to get what they are, and you’ll start to notice a lot of commonalities among them. They all worked hard. They all did their due diligence. They all put 100% of their time, attention and resources into building something that would leave a legacy for their families and the communities they serve. But with these young people, you’ll also notice that none of their routes to success were exactly the same.

Black Restaurant Week spoke to three franchise owners -- all African American, all millennials -- about the paths that led them to successful franchise ownership, or, in one case, to becoming a franchisor. There’s Ashley Lamothe Derby, who brought Downtown Los Angeles its first Chick-Fil-A. There’s Vanessa Boles, who opened her second Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Texas at the end of 2018. And there’s Julian Boyd, who is helping to bring the Memphis chicken restaurant that his parents started 29 years ago to the national stage.

Read on to find out what led them to where they are now, what it takes to stay there, and what you’ll need to know should your path lead you to the rewarding -- and challenging -- world of restaurant franchising.

JULIAN BOYD President of Boyd Franchising, LLC

One could argue that Julian Boyd, president of Boyd Franchising, LLC, was born to be in the restaurant business. His parents are the owners of D’Bo’s Wings and Things, the Memphis-based restaurant known for a buffalo sauce that “dances on the taste buds.”

Before opening their food truck concept nearly 30 years ago, Buffalo wings had not been taken seriously in Memphis, but as Julian and his brother grew, so did the popularity of D’Bo’s tangy orange sauce. The restaurant has since grown to several locations around Memphis, winning numerous awards and wing competitions.

After graduating from Morehouse College, Boyd spent four years in corporate America before deciding it was time for the next generation to take over the family business. But instead of going back to a cushy executive title, he decided that D’Bo’s should roll up its sleeves and begin the hard work of opening itself to franchising. And that he should be the one to lead that charge.

Boyd immediately began pursuing his MBA at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill because it was one of the best entrepreneurship schools in the country, and even better -- it offered a Family Enterprise tract that prepared students for leadership in their family firms. Then he interned on the franchise financing team at Pizza Hut, slowly but surely gathering the insight, connections and experience he would need to D’Bo’s to the next level.

There are three components, Julian said, to maintaining a respected brand as a franchisor: a strong training program, customer service and quality control. The training aspect is especially key, because, “it’s easy when you can drive down the street and control what’s going on in your area, but you’re not always going to be able to fly Atlanta or fly to Texas to make sure everything’s being run exactly right.”

Another key is finding franchisers who are in it for the long haul.

“Not everybody who has the financial support to pull it off is not necessarily going to be your best partner,” he said. “So it’s figuring out that balance between who has the finances to do this and who’s going to be a dedicated person that’s going to help grow this concept.”

Despite D’Bo’s has 30 years of experience in the restaurant business, the finance degree from Morehouse, the MBA from UNC and the internship at Pizza Hut, Julian had no idea how much he didn’t know, and how quickly he would have to learn.

“A year ago I had no idea how detailed a franchise disclosure document had to be; how important marketing material is; how hard it is to find high quality franchisees,” he said.

But the name of the game, he told Nosh, is remaining adaptable. And securing a few good mentors along the way.

“One person we brought on was very good at franchise real estate. Another one of my mentors works with a company that helps the airports bring franchise concepts to them. Then another works with emerging franchise concepts,” he said. “Surrounding myself with people that know more than me is how we’re in the position we’re in today.”

VANESSA BOLES Operator Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Once Vanessa Boles decided she wanted to get into franchising, she knew exactly what company she wanted to work with. Back when she was a student at Florida A&M University, she and her friends would always hang out at the Tropical Smoothie Cafe after class. She liked the cozy atmosphere that allowed her to foster such good friendships, the caring service from employees and the healthy options that were always fresh and ready.

After finishing with her master’s degree from FAMU, she began working at the Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ar, where she held a financial position and where she says she got an unparalleled level of training. Afterward, she worked in the marketing department of Unilever for three years before finally deciding that she wanted to franchise a restaurant. Tropical Smoothie Cafe immediately came to mind.

Her main goals were to a legacy for her family and positively support her community. Since bringing a Tropical Smoothie Cafe to Shenandoah, Tx in 2016, she has already done both.

“I’m able to spur job creation in the community, hire people who live locally and provide my community with a healthy alternative to your traditional fast food,” she said.

Boles has built relationships with customers who’s health outcomes have improved since dining on their smoothies, salads and wraps. She’s seen employees go off to college or be able to start supporting their families. And as far as her own family is concerned, she’s hired her sister, dad and husband as part of her management team.

Now she’s doubling that impact by opening her second Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Magnolia, Tx in December of 2018.

Managing daily operations and big-picture thinking can be challenging enough for one franchise, let alone for two. But Boles says that owners will at least find themselves more equipped to handle certain obstacles the second time around.

“We took a lot of learning from our first cafe opening and were able to apply that to make the second one a lot easier,” she said. Already having a management team in place, for example, made things run a lot smoother.

But whether it’s the first, second or third go-round, there are some things, Boles would advise every franchisee to remember.

“The process is definitely not an overnight process,” she said. “It’s something you want to take your time with, do you due diligence on and feel 100% comfortable with. You want to feel great about the numbers. Does it make financial sense for you? Have you really done all your research? Have you looked at all of your potential competitors? Where are the trends in this market going? Ask as many questions as you can.”

Asking questions, she says, is key. “What are the future plans for the brand? What is the future direction of the brand? A lot of times you can see where they’re at right now, but you don’t know where they’re headed down the line.”

When the time comes for Boles to open a third location, she’ll be ready.

ASHLEY LAMOTHE DERBY Operator Chick-fil-A

When Ashley Lamothe Derby first started with Chick-fil-A, she was 15 years old and trying to earn enough money to buy herself a car. She had no idea that at 26, she’d be one of the youngest franchise owners in Chickfil-A history. But fate often intervenes, just as her store operator and mentor did when he first suggested that she consider a career in franchising.

Chick-fil-A is notoriously selective about who it allows to hold franchising rights. They want dedicated leaders who bring total alignment to the company’s personal values and mission, and in return, the company pays for all startup costs, including real estate, restaurant construction and equipment. In addition, franchisers get the benefit of joining a well-recognized and highly reputable brand, which should make success almost inevitable.

But, in no way is that success guaranteed, which Derby learned shortly after opening the doors to her University of Southern California location. Despite being a household name in many other cities across the country, the brand was still new to the area, with very little name recognition in the Los Angeles community.

So Derby devised a plan to get their name out there by putting food into people’s mouths. For free. She worked with local organizations and institutions to offer their catering services, had her team hit the streets with samples, and soon people were coming in on their own. Eventually the location did so well that Derby was chosen to do something that Chick-fil-A doesn’t often allow its franchisers to do -- take on another location. This time in the prime hot spot of Downtown Los Angeles.

Like the others, Derby stresses the importance of researching before opening a franchise. But there’s also one other thing she thinks all potential franchisers should be aware of: the mental work that comes with maintaining the restaurant long after opening day.

“I spend 95% of my time dealing with people, training people and developing people. And with that comes a lot of different personalities, a lot of different opinions,” she said. “It’s hard mental work. And I don’t think a lot of people see it as that. Most people see it as you’re in the restaurant doing physical labor, but there’s a mental component that’s really challenging too.”