COVER STORY

Franchising with the lot

Nicole Carmichael’s energy and hard work has taken her from the cosmetics world to a multi-unit McDonald’s franchise, and she’s ambitious for more.

Nicole Carmichael is in her franchise for the long term. “I want to have 15 stores,” she says.

This city girl was born and bred in Sydney and that’s where the Dubbo resident wants to get back to at some point. Her mini empire of four McDonald’s drive-thru stores is a stepping stone to a Sydney return

Sydney–Cooma–Dubbo. That’s been the journey for Nicole, who moved from running the duty-free business for a French cosmetics firm (working with Christian Dior, Clinique, Armani) to signing up to a Gloria Jean’s cafe, becoming a multi-unit operator in the coffee chain, and then investing in a McDonald’s franchise.

Nicole explains how the first shift away from corporate life took place.

“French companies like you to move on from your role after two years, and as I was already senior in Australia, that meant a move overseas. I was newly married and didn’t want to relocate,” she says of the transition from cosmetics to cafes.

So she took a sidestep, fulfilling her ambition of owning a coffee shop.

“I regularly met up with a girlfriend for a coffee at Gloria Jean’s, and I always wanted to run a coffee shop.”

She went through the training and opened up her first store when she was six months pregnant.

“Juggling any work commitment with a new baby is difficult, especially when it’s your own business because work never shuts off when you go home. But for me, I wouldn’t know life without having a million things to juggle, and the constant go go go is what I thrive on,” she admits.

So within nine months and with a young baby, Nicole had opened up a second store. By the time she was ready to move on, six years later, she had accumulated six stores.

“I loved Gloria Jean’s. I moved from the corporate to the franchise world and it taught me how to own and operate a business. I was training a lot of incoming franchisees, which was a privilege, but I wanted more personal development.”

There was also a financial reckoning in the decision to move on. Nicole believed that even with six Gloria Jean’s cafes, she would make a bigger profit with a single McDonald’s outlet.

“I came from a marketing background, so I thought about who is the biggest marketer, and it is McDonald’s. But I thought as I was a competitor with coffee, they would not be interested.”

It turned out McDonald’s believed her coffee and business skills would be an asset to the fast food chain and she began the long process to become a licensee. In all it took about 12 months, she says.

The process included interviews with licensees, a three-day on-the-job evaluation, and an appearance in front of the review board of department heads and senior leadership to confirm her suitability as a licensee candidate. All this happens before being accepted on to a training program.

Before Nicole got to the review board she was required to sell her Gloria Jean’s cafes as these were viewed as competitive businesses. She also sold her house to help finance the new business.

And she knew she would be relocating, as the McDonald’s system requires new franchisees to start out in a regional site.

“I was lucky to get my first store in 2014, I got Cooma. I was fortunate but it was a huge challenge because it is a seasonal store, most of the business is in the ski season with people travelling to the snowfields.” A mediocre revenue through the year rises to triple the volume in the ski season.

What it taught Nicole is the importance of a roster, and learning to operate on a tight budget for nine months of the year.

The store also had untapped potential. It was an opportunity to develop something she knew well – the coffee business.

A target was set for what the business should be achieving by 2019; Nicole had reached that goal by 2016. How did she do it? „

REGIONAL CHALLENGES

Sometimes it is very hard to recruit and retain staff. You can identify crew talent and develop it, but staff won’t stay in a country town.

WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL GOAL?

WHAT’S AN IDEAL NUMBER OF STORES?

“Not to work for a salary. Quite often business owners are just working for a wage. I wanted to grow and have multiple stores.”

“I always say the magic number is three. One is harder than four, and the cash flow is better at three.”

ON BEING A WORKING MUM

“I believe it’s very important for your children to see a strong work ethic in their mum, so they learn the same should be applied in their work life and understand that you need to work hard for your money.”

4 LESSONS LEARNED

1. “Gloria Jean’s taught me how to balance money and stock. When I got to Cooma I focused on coffee but then

I had to say it’s only 20 per cent of my business. I had to step back and work on 80 per cent of the business. 2. “Having a business with a cafe has been invaluable. Now I run it as a second business, the crew is run as a separate team. Coffee customers are very fussy – you can pour a bad coffee and they won’t come back. 3. “It’s important to understand the different elements of business.” 4. “We have to do our own delivery, we don’t have third-party firms out here.

So I had to establish delivery and run it as a separate business. I have to work out how to get to the customer in six minutes. It was test and trial. In the first lockdown we were shut down for two months, down about 50 per cent. We had the option of delivery and

I decided to wing it to see how it goes.

Now I’m the busiest for self-delivery.”

“I went back to basics. I worked alongside managers to prove they could build sales, improve customer service.”

She acknowledges, too, the importance of community involvement in business building.

Nicole’s stellar performance at Cooma impressed McDonald’s, and she was able to consider selling up and buying another store.

“With a single store, I still couldn’t afford Sydney. So I bought three Dubbo stores.”

In fact, Nicole negotiated for three drive-thrus and then had the opportunity to build a brand new site so signed up for the fourth.

Three of the restaurants operate 24 hours.

“It is very regional so I thought it would be a massive challenge, but it’s been the best thing.”

Regional challenges include not having technicians available to fix problems, and staff recruitment.

The move had proved a challenge for aren’t keen on retiring, they are doing too well, Nicole says. So for now the focus is on developing the existing portfolio of restaurants.

“I’m growing so much year on year. My goal is to continue to grow equity in my business. I’d love to have 15 stores, to be a big player, so I need to start working on it now.

“I pride myself on developing people. Some of my senior managers want to be licensees and I can challenge them, grow them to be a licensee.

“You don’t realise you have to work really hard and think outside the box. I need a team of people to work with me.”

Nicole has a management team and two supervisors working in the business, as she works on the business.

But she admits to always getting hands-on when she visits a store; and the Covid pandemic’s spread to regional NSW presented another challenge for the business owner.

“I had to go back to basics. At Dubbo I’ve just lost 50 per cent of my crew who are isolating for 14 days, so I’m back as crew,” Nicole reveals. “You have it in your blood, you still want to do it,” she says.

She also takes a leadership role within the McDonald’s network, on the board for Ronald McDonald House Orange, and heading up NSW/ACT McDonald’s leadership women’s group.

her family, too. Nicole’s son, who was just months old when she bought her second Gloria Jean’s store, was sad to leave friends to move to Cooma. It was even harder when he was in going into high school and had to shift home again, to Dubbo. But he’s found his feet and developed good friends.

“I’ve been really lucky my family has been so supportive. My husband is a country boy so he’s helped me settle in,” says Nicole.

Her husband has remained outside the business (except when his building skills are required for maintenance jobs) so there’s been a second income.

The family has moved from rental accommodation to their own home – and managed to invest in a Sydney property.

“McDonald’s has blown my socks off. I joined because it works, McDonald’s is so supportive. I was quite a young franchisee and I’ve been successful. I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

Except Sydney of course, the ultimate goal, and that is dependent on properties becoming available. Existing franchisees

THE MCDONALD’S FAMILY

“McDonald’s are fantastic for support. There is such a huge level of talent in the business. We are all one big family. Everybody’s actions affect the brand.

“If you have the passion for the brand, energy, drive and are definitely prepared to put in hard work, I’d recommend it.

“I was nervous about the McDonald’s way. Most licensees work their way up from crew, there are only a few of us from outside. I didn’t know anything about McDonald’s. But one licensee said in training, ‘Stop worrying about the processes, you can learn that, you have the business experience.’ He had the McDonald’s experience but not the business side.

“It takes many, many years of hard work to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But there are a lot of perks. We get to travel to conferences, to network. Most licensees are friends as well, it’s very inclusive.

“There’s nothing I’d change about my franchising experience. I’ve been thrown in the deep end and learned the hard way, and it’s made me the person I am now.” n