Franchising

Why franchising is the way to scale pizza restaurants

Photo: Adobe Stock

January 17, 2024 by Austin Titus — President, Cannoli Kitchen Pizza

Congratulations — your pizzeria is a hit! Due to its success and customer feedback, you might be thinking of taking it to the next level by scaling up and adding new locations to draw as many hungry diners as you can. For an even bigger slice of the pie, consider scaling up with franchising, which offers a proven business model for you and a reliable familiarity for your customers. With the right franchise system, you get a partner that has your back and offers all the resources you need so you can go big without losing the unique flavor that made you successful.

Pizza is America's favorite food and one of the most popular franchise dining categories. Here's why franchising could help you be the next great local pizza chain and how to get there:

A proven system

Franchising leverages a business model that's already been tested and refined, with systems fine-tuned and challenges resolved, and solidifies it as the framework for achieving that same level of success at new pizzeria locations. Entrepreneurs who buy into the franchise are guided by experienced teams at the corporate level and by fellow franchise owners, all of whom offer support to franchisees who wouldn't have it if they were on their own, plus marketing help for national or regional exposure and the purchasing power of being part of a large network.

Franchising enables local pizzerias to accommodate both kinds of customers: those who want to try something new by choosing a smaller, locally owned pizzeria, and those who want to stick with what they know is good and will be a consistent product wherever they get it.

Consistency is one of the biggest benefits of growing through franchising. If you have a certain menu item that people are clamoring for, how can you be sure guests at a second or third location will get the same experience? With the proven business model of a franchise, they will. That's because the system has mechanisms in place to ensure all the equipment is the same, and that the recipes are exactly the same across the board. The goal is for the customer to visit any location and get the same product at each one — a goal that is attainable through franchising.

Start small and grow

In fact, consistency and quality should be at the forefront of scaling any pizza restaurant. We acquired our restaurant brand from its founders and are now franchising it. Now that we are a franchise, we are excited to expand and add new locations in 2024. As we open new locations, consistency and quality will remain top priorities.

Outside of consistency and quality, we recommend staying true to the identity of your restaurant. Don't lose sight of what brought you success in the first place. At Cannoli Kitchen Pizza, we remain focused on our identity as a little place you might find in New York City, where you'll find specialty pizzas and classic pastas, calzones, strombolis and desserts made with authentic Italian recipes. We're not competing with major pizza chains to provide the 25 or 30 pizzas for a seven-year-old's birthday party. We're competing to provide the family dinner on a Friday or Saturday night, with your parents, your grandparents or your whole family — whether dining in or carrying out. It's what made the brand a success, so we're not going to give our customers something else after they brought us here.

Getting started

One you've decided to franchise, keep these tips in mind:

• First, make sure you're profitable. If you're a franchise, you're going to be charging franchise fees and royalties to your individual franchisees. So, you have to look at your margins. You have to determine if a location can afford to pay the fees on top of all their other expenses, and make sure you're offering franchisees something of value in exchange.
• Training is critical at all stages of franchise development. This is how you ensure that your franchisees produce at the quality that you've built your reputation on. We have several weeks of training before a franchisee opens a new location and continue that education and support throughout the year.
• The right leaders. Choose franchisees who are a good fit for your organization and ensure that you're also a good fit for them. They're your representatives throughout your brand, so they should understand and have a passion for what you're trying to do.
• Vendor partners. Make sure you have the right food distributors throughout your network, who understand your recipes and get you the right ingredients — otherwise, you may get different versions of the same recipe throughout your brand.
• Team spirit is an essential resource. Gather your franchisees and their teams at least once a year to build camaraderie and team spirit while sharing knowledge. We have our own convention each year for all members, and I think this is one of the most helpful things we do. We get some of our best ideas from our franchise owners because they're the ones that are actually in the field running the business every single day.

Now serving: Success

One of the most obvious signs of success is the most exciting. You'll know you've succeeded when franchisees start opening up new locations and come back to say they want to duplicate them and even get their family and friends involved. With a careful business strategy, you can be a part of offering several aspiring entrepreneurs the chance to own a pizza franchise.

About Austin Titus

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