• YogiBear

How Yogi Bear’s Laser-Focus on Brand Differentiation Made It a Top Franchise

By |2024-11-18T15:40:19+00:00January 30th, 2018|Blog|

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp Resorts was named one of Franchise Business Review’s top 200 franchises of 2018. We recently sat down to chat with Jim Westover, VP of Operations, to talk about the franchise’s growth over the past 50 years and how their focus on brand differentiation and franchisee education has been a critical factor in becoming a top choice for franchise buyers.

  • discovery day tactics

5 Tactics to Make Discovery Day More Effective

By |2023-03-16T16:03:03+00:00November 20th, 2017|Blog|

Discovery days are an integral part of every brand’s development process. They are a way to set appropriate expectations and expose candidates to what it’s like to be a part of your franchise brand. Here are five ideas to make your discovery day more effective and make sure the candidates you choose will turn out to be successful franchisees.

  • franchisee satisfaction data as business intelligence

Franchisee Satisfaction Data as Business Intelligence

By |2026-04-14T15:25:35+00:00September 11th, 2017|Blog|

Business intelligence is all about using data to make informed decisions for your organization. It applies data analysis to glean actionable insights, identify risks and opportunities, and guide strategic plans. If you’re not collecting franchisee satisfaction data, you’re missing a critical piece of business intelligence. And that means you’re putting your entire system at risk.

  • franchisee satisfaction reviews

Highlight Your Franchisee Satisfaction Reviews Online to Influence Candidates

By |2026-04-14T15:25:56+00:00August 14th, 2017|Blog|

It’s no secret most people read online reviews of a product or service before making a purchase. While most franchisors expect and encourage franchise candidates to contact their existing franchisees as part of the validation process, more and more are starting to realize they need to have reviews of their system online to grab candidates’ interest in the first place.

  • grow your franchise brand

Growing Your Franchise Brand Without Losing Sight of What Matters

By |2025-12-22T15:09:56+00:00July 20th, 2017|Blog|

The energy behind small, but growing franchise brands is often fueled by the passion, culture, and core values of its founders, staff, and franchisees. As a brand grows, those things tend to get diluted or take a back seat to other priorities. Pulse surveys can help you keep your franchise on track and keep franchisees and corporate staff from disengaging.

  • communication audit

Communication Audit: Think of It as Benchmarking

By |2023-03-16T19:59:09+00:00April 10th, 2017|Blog|

When was the last time you did a communications audit? Probably too long ago. Strategic communication is a critical component in your organization's ability to reach and exceed business objectives. And just as you would with other key areas of your organization like operations, marketing, and finance, communication must be reviewed, directed, adjusted, and monitored to ensure the best possible outcomes.

  • The Franchise Happiness Project

eBook: The [Franchise] Happiness Project

By |2024-11-18T15:34:31+00:00February 1st, 2017|Blog|

If you can commit to focusing on one area to work on each month and embedding it into your corporate culture, you may find that a step-by-step approach to change can end up making a big difference. This eBook lay out 12 best practices you can implement over the course of a year to increase satisfaction and improve productivity.

  • Zach Nolte, Kitchen Solvers

Zach Nolte

By |2023-03-15T16:54:26+00:00December 14th, 2016|Blog|

Zach Nolte President, Kitchen Solvers Did you use any type of survey before FBR’s? If so, was it internal or [...]

  • Lennon, Chuck- Photo

Chuck Lennon

By |2023-03-28T11:47:51+00:00November 2nd, 2016|Blog|

Chuck Lennon President, TeamLogic IT Did you use any type of survey before this? If so, was it internal or [...]

  • Light bulbs and perpetual motion. Idea o creativity concept.

The 2016 Smart Ideas Project

By |2025-02-18T17:42:35+00:00August 15th, 2016|Research, Resources|

FBR Insights, Issue No. 1, Spring 2016 We asked franchisors across North America to share the innovative ways they’re moving the needle on franchise performance. Our goal was simple: to gather the collective brainpower across top franchise brands and share as many smart ideas as possible on ways to improve business performance. The results are compiled here in the 2016 Smart Ideas project, the first in our series of reports for exclusively for franchise professionals.

  • Heart

The Missing Piece of Your Corporate Culture

By |2025-12-22T15:09:09+00:00May 13th, 2016|Blog|

Franchise brands with strong cultures have extremely high satisfaction and engagement among their franchisees. But cognitive culture is only half the story. Research cited by Harvard Business Review article points out that emotions are central to building the right culture.

  • binoculars representing transparency in franchising practices

GAINING TRACTION: 5 Steps to Drive Franchise Performance and Profitability

By |2021-02-12T16:59:51+00:00February 20th, 2015|Blog|

Having a strong culture of transparency is critical for the long-term success of your franchisees and your system as a whole. Franchisees can easily get distracted as their business grows, which will ultimately stall their growth. Being 100 percent transparent as an organization will keep you and your franchisees laser-focused on things that really matter.

  • money case

3 Ways You Are Wasting Money

By |2026-04-14T15:14:45+00:00January 7th, 2015|Blog|

Prior to spending the bulk of your budget on advertising, online lead generation, or attending shows to generate interest from potential franchisees, it's crucial to address things your franchisees aren't happy about. Why? Because your franchisees’ feedback can make or break a deal when trying to bring a new franchisee on board.

  • dummy

Don’t Be a Dummy

By |2026-04-14T15:16:22+00:00July 3rd, 2014|Blog|

No matter how “good” your system is, there’s a little bit of dummy in every organization. If any of these sound like someone you know, now is the time to address it – they could be holding you back from being truly GREAT.

  • hand

Improve Franchisee Relations One Note At A Time

By |2024-11-18T15:09:53+00:00June 19th, 2014|Blog|

A common complaint from franchisees is that their franchisor doesn’t listen, the corporate office is out of touch, and they don’t feel part of the larger brand. There are a lot of big picture things you can do to change this, but there’s also one seemingly small thing that can make all the difference: A handwritten note.

  • jimmy johns spring

Jimmy John’s Greatest Mistake

By |2026-04-14T15:17:43+00:00April 7th, 2014|Blog|

The passion of Jimmy Liautuad is palpable. He’s got a big personality, and as he shared at Franchise Time’s Finance and Growth Conference in March, he’s had a great ride as CEO of Jimmy John’s Gourmet Subs—a brand he started back in 1983. But it hasn’t all been roses.

  • franchise business owner satisfaction

Compete Locally to Succeed Nationally

By |2026-04-15T14:32:23+00:00October 7th, 2013|Blog|

Local efforts can have a big impact on a franchise system as a whole, including its unit profitability, storewide sales, and overall brand growth. If you’re not already, you may want to consider what (or who) is actually driving your local efforts.

Item 19: Uncluttering the Debate

By |2026-04-14T14:32:41+00:00June 27th, 2013|Blog|

It’s no secret that the Item 19 is a hot-button issue in franchising. While the majority of experts vote in favor of it, there are still many who argue that an Item 19 is not absolutely necessary. Who's right?