Secrets of Successful Franchisors - Davis Wright Tremaine

Franchise Players:
Secrets of Successful
Franchisors
Game Time at Restaurant High
March 14, 2013
St. Regis Hotel – San Francisco, CA

• Moderator:
Shelley Spandorf, Partner, DWT, Franchise practice
group leader
• Panelists:
Paul Damico, President, Moe's Southwest Grill
Anand Gala, CEO, Gala Corporation
Matt Kelly, Managing Director, North Point Advisors

What characteristics
distinguish a strong franchisor?

What do private equity investors look for when
they evaluate:
- Franchisor candidates?
- Franchisee candidates?

Should franchisors help finance
franchisee growth?

How does a private equity firm convince
its investors that it makes long term
economic sense to invest in a franchise
system with dissident franchisees and
underperforming units?

What is the minimum experience, unit size,
geographic penetration, capital, and
management talent a company should
have before launching into franchising?

License, joint venture, strategic alliance
vs.
Franchise
Why does it matter?

Top 10 Excuses Why a Distribution Agreement
Can’t be a Franchise
10. “Everyone else in our industry
does it this way”
9. “We grant licenses, not
franchises”
8. “We’ll just call it something else”
7. “We’re partners, really”
6. “We don’t tell them how to
operate their business”

Top 10 Excuses Why a Distribution Agreement
Can’t be a Franchise
5. “They use their own trade name,
not ours”
4. “They buy products from our
affiliate, not us”
3. “They sell other
products/services besides ours”
2. “We never intended it to be a
franchise”
1. “We didn’t know about the law
when we signed the contract”
2009 Rochelle Spandorf, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP