Exactly what happens, in what order
Every step, every deliverable, and every point where you stay in control — run by a team that has taken its own brand through this exact climb. Timelines depend on your starting point — a brand with a stalled FDD moves faster than one starting from zero — but the sequence doesn't change, and neither does who's accountable.
01
Weeks 1–4
Audit & architecture
Full review of what exists — entity, trademarks, FDD drafts, store financials. Program architecture set, unit economics validated against real numbers. If the economics don’t support franchising, we tell you here, not after you’ve paid for a program.
02
Weeks 5–12
Program & FDD
FDD issued and Item 19 finalized with your franchise counsel. Operations manual, training program and sales collateral built. Sales infrastructure — CRM, qualification flow, disclosure tracking — stood up and tested.
03
Weeks 12–20
Launch & sell
State filings handled, lead generation live, active selling begins. Every candidate is qualified against the profile we agreed on — and you hold final approval on every award.
04
Month 6 on
Award & open
First franchise agreements targeted, then the part most firms skip: onboarding, opening-team recruiting and operations support until each location stands on its own numbers.
What you're holding at the end of each phase
After audit & architecture
A written audit memo, a validated unit-economics model, and a go / not-yet recommendation with reasons.
After program & FDD
An issued FDD with Item 19, operations and training playbooks, sales collateral, and a stood-up sales infrastructure.
During launch & selling
A live, reported pipeline — plus the weekly report below, every week, including the declines.
Through award & open
An opening plan per franchisee, recruited leadership roles, and awards-versus-openings tracking until the unit reports on its own.
The numbers you see every week
Instead of a results page full of counters, here's what we actually report to clients — including the uncomfortable parts:
- Qualified candidates in pipeline, by stage
- Stage conversion and time-in-stage
- Candidates declined — and exactly why
- Units opened vs units awarded, side by side
How engagements end
Nobody publishes this section, which is exactly why we do. Engagements pause when the pipeline says the program isn't converting — and we tell you that plainly rather than burning your budget to hide it. Either side can exit on terms that are written down before kickoff.
When an engagement ends, your leads, your materials and your program go with you. They were always yours. A firm that has to lock you in is telling you what it thinks of its own work.
This works when the founder is in the room
Your real numbers
Store-level P&Ls, honestly stated. The Item 19 is only as strong as the financials behind it.
Your franchise counsel
We build the program with a franchise attorney, not around one. If you don't have counsel, we'll work alongside whoever you choose.
Your time at the close
Candidates buy the founder before they buy the brand. Discovery days and final calls include you — we run them, you close them.