From one site to nine: a franchisee on scaling without breaking
A multi-unit operator on what changed between site one and site nine, and what they would do differently.
Scaling a franchised estate is not the same job repeated nine times. The operator we spoke to describes three distinct phases, each of which required unlearning what worked in the last one.
Sites one and two were run personally. Everything the operator knew about the business came from being in the room.
Sites three to five broke that. The answer was not working harder but hiring a general manager per site earlier than felt affordable, then accepting a worse P&L for two quarters while they learned.
By site six the constraint had moved again - to recruitment and to cash flow timing on fit-out, neither of which had been a problem at three sites.
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