Joining a franchise gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to start a business within an already established brand, allowing them to take advantage of a business model with a proven track record of success.
On this episode of Franchising Trends, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by Bryant Amundson, co-founder of Nautical Bowls, to share his experiences running a successful, rapidly growing franchise.
Key Takeaways
1. Nautical Bowls is an açaí bowl restaurant franchise. Amundson notes that the name comes from his and his wife’s home state of Minnesota, the land of a thousand lakes. The brand expanded at a slow pace, opening the first location in 2018, adding a food truck in 2019, and launching the second location in 2020.
2. Amundson and his wife were initially apprehensive about franchising due to the uncertainty involved. To address these concerns, the two partnered with someone who already had experience launching and scaling a successful franchise.
3. Nautical Bowls has awarded over 190 licenses and expanded to over 60 locations. To attract successful owner-operators, Amundson refined and streamlined the company’s menu and processes to ensure that new franchisees would be set up for success.
4. Most new Nautical Bowls locations opened within the last year. Amundson notes that each new store’s mileage varies in terms of generating profit, as restaurants take time to build clientele. The company is continuing efforts to streamline operations and lower food costs to help its franchisees achieve more success.
5. Nautical Bowls aims to reach the same level of prevalence as Chick-Fil-A, one of the most popular franchises in the U.S. In as little as five years, the company has already reached double the amount of locations Amundson believed was possible in 20 years.
"The best franchisees, and this is similar to most of the players in our space, use owner-operators, the ones that are in their community just being really good neighbors." — Bryant Amundson
