Five Strategies For Franchise Growth

Every year, a few companies show massive gains in our Franchise 500 list by either leaping hundreds of spots or making a strong debut. How do they do it? We called them to ask.

- Claire Zulkey And Madison Semarjian

Strategy #1

Focus on your (faster!) fundamentals

Company

Scooter’s Coffee

Franchise 500 Placement

#460 last year; #225 this year

People will reward the company that serves them fastest. That’s the theory at Scooter’s Coffee, at least—and it’s showing results. “If you look at the national data, the average drive-through wait time at Starbucks is just over four and a half minutes,” says Tim Arpin, VP of franchise recruitment. Scooter’s aims to do it in 40 seconds. And customers don’t even have to leave their cars, since the coffee arrives via a drive-through kiosk window.

This superfast concept has helped Scooter’s open about 30 locations annually for the past six years. Last year, that number more than doubled to 65 (which helped send it 235 spots higher on our list), and next year the company expects to open 100 more units. To explain the growth, Scooter’s points to a COO hired from Starbucks in 2017 and a chief development officer formerly at Arby’s in 2018. But the real story comes from the years leading up to the hires, when Scooter’s invested more heavily in its foundation than it did in recruiting franchisees. “Often franchises bring in a franchise seller and sell a bunch of units, thinking the rest will solve itself,” says Arpin. “It’s a cautionary tale in franchising; brands get out over their skis.”