Join Nick Powills, Head of Growth at Mainland and franchise expert, as he delves into the critical role of transparency in franchise sales. Discover the common frustrations of new franchisees regarding costs, real estate timelines, and scaling strategies. Learn how franchisors can set realistic expectations from the outset, including presenting financial data ethically and addressing potential hidden gaps in the sales process. Understand why unexpected expenses and lengthy buildout times often surprise franchisees and the importance of proving success with a single unit before expansion.

Join Nick Powills, Head of Growth at Mainland and franchise expert, as he unveils five key secrets to attracting and securing multi-unit franchise owners to accelerate your brand's growth. Learn effective strategies for identifying ideal candidates and optimizing your franchise sales process. Discover how to target the right prospects, recognize the traits of successful multi-unit franchisees, and implement marketing tactics that resonate with serious investors.

Less than half, or 47%, of U.S. executives feel confident about the country's economic direction in the year ahead. That share is a marked decline from December, when 67% of business leaders polled by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants reported feeling optimistic about the economic outlook for 2025. Tariffs and an ensuing trade war are the likely culprits behind the downturn in sentiment, Bloomberg reports, with 59% of respondents saying they would expect levies to negatively affect their business. So, naturally (as we are in franchising), I wanted to look at this from two perspectives – first, my thoughts and second AI.

Join Nick Powills, Head of Growth at Mainland and franchise expert, as he explores the key to attracting multi-unit, multi-brand franchisees. Discover the two crucial elements that capture the attention of these high-value investors. First, showcase a compelling franchise opportunity by emphasizing profitability and strong unit economics. Second, implement targeted franchise marketing strategies to reach them on platforms like LinkedIn and through industry publications. Ready to unlock the secrets to landing these significant franchise partners?

Join Nick Powills, Head of Growth at Mainland and franchise expert, as he dives into the world of AI-powered content creation for franchises. Discover how tools like Google Gemini can revolutionize your content strategy, boosting production speeds by threefold. Learn practical applications of AI to craft engaging content that resonates with local audiences while staying true to your brand. Unlock techniques to repurpose content effortlessly across various platforms and gain insights into using AI to analyze and optimize your content performance. Ready to amplify your franchise marketing with the power of AI?

The single most frustrating question I hear is: Where are my leads? It isn't just frustrating for me, it is frustrating for the brand – because in their hearts of hearts they truly believe the number of leads don't align to their expectations. For our team, it is frustrating because they could be busting their butts to figure out the pathway to the fountain of leads – with their efforts not striking a chord with the right buyers in the right markets who are willing to fill out the form. Thus, frustration is celebrated by all. But, now, in my typical curious-style, I went down a pathway to help land the plane when it comes to number of leads, expectations and outcomes.

Years ago, I worked with a brand that sold franchises to anyone who had a penny. Some of those candidates had hustle and grit – which ultimately lifted them up to success. But many folded when the going got tough. I would imagine the 8 franchisees from the above limped into franchise ownership. In my opinion, we qualify people to own three, award one, reserve enough for a rainy day and enough to scale – and then build infrastructure around them to make them successful no matter what it takes. The bestest (I know I used that word) franchise brands grow smart and in concentric circles to maximize the potential of support, marketing and thus unit level economics. For the franchisees profiled (See the article on 1851), if you are being negative at the point of signing or opening it is usually driven by two things – a lack of transparency in the buying process (which will be instantly elevated if we qualify the persona correctly) and stress of bleeding money without revenues coming back in. Just because franchising allows business operators the ability to skip the line to business ownership, it doesn't mean that it doesn't require some crazy to muscle through storms. Who is your ideal buyer? Who is the franchisee who is worth more in royalty than others? Start there and be very strict who you let in – especially if you have a sound business model and opportunity.