Risk and Reward: Attorney builds second career as a franchisee
Name: Bryce Bares
Title: Franchise Owner
Company: QSR Services
No. of units: 30 Dunkin’, 1 Baskin-Robbins
Age: 47
Family: Wife Sara and 2 sons, Elian, 15, and Xavier, 12
Years in franchising: 13
Years in current position: 13
Bryce Bares’ unlikely path to franchising may have started in a conference room at a law firm in Columbus, Ohio. As a young attorney, he represented franchise owners on labor and employment matters and was intrigued by their profitable businesses. It wasn’t long before he wanted to be in their shoes.
“As a lawyer, it is all about mitigating risk,” Bares says. “As a franchisee, it is about taking risks, and that is more appealing to me. I was paid well as a lawyer, but there was a ceiling on your success. As an entrepreneur, the business is more scalable, and you can exponentially expand your profitability.”
After eight years as an attorney, Bares took his first risk by leaving the practice and exploring franchise ownership. He met with Dunkin’ officials, who told him they were looking to expand into his home state of Nebraska. He developed a business plan and opened his first store in Papillion, Nebraska, in 2013.
As a first-time business owner with no QSR experience, Bares appreciated the benefit of having a proven system to follow because the franchise model removes many of the unknowns about operating a business. He also received valuable advice from others in the system. He expanded his education during a dinner with then Dunkin’ CEO Nigel Travis, several company executives, and a dozen franchisees at the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in 2012.
“That dinner alone was probably worth tens of millions of dollars in avoided mistakes,” Bares says.
While adjusting to a new career in the QSR industry, Bares leaned on his legal background. He felt he had a strong understanding of the regulatory side of the business and the financial impact of increasing the number of employees across his locations. His time as an attorney also helped when developing real estate. Bares has grown his business to 30 Dunkin’ stores and one Baskin-Robbins location. He has units in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri.
As he built his portfolio, he introduced a close family member to the world of franchising. His cousin Lauren Johnson owned a small photography company in Northeast Ohio, and he suggested that her entrepreneurial spirit could translate into a successful role as a franchise owner.
He brought her to the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in 2015, and she immediately became interested in following her cousin’s path. She attended the conference each of the next several years, made numerous contacts, and researched franchise opportunities. With guidance and support from Bares, Johnson purchased her first The UPS Store in 2019. She now owns four UPS locations and serves on the MUFC Advisory Board. She is quick to credit Bares’ influence for where she is today.
“He told me, ‘You were born for this,’ and he was right,” Johnson says. “He heavily influenced me not only by being a successful owner of his company, but encouraging me and helping me to start mine. Bryce knew all I needed was to get me to the edge of the pool, and then he would push me in. It was up to me whether I would either swim or drown. He knew me well enough to know I’d swim.” Read more about Johnson on page 50.
PERSONAL
First job: When I was 14, I vacuumed and emptied the trash at my dad’s business, which was an optical shop in Bellevue, Nebraska.
Formative influences/events: My dad was a weatherman for the Air Force, and my mom would waitress in the evenings when I was young. He later served as a physician in the Air Force before transitioning to civilian life and successfully starting his own medical practice. In retrospect, watching his story unfold was massively impactful on my decision to become an entrepreneur.
Key accomplishments: I practiced law for several years prior to my foray into franchising. I’m currently a certified developer for Inspire Brands and served on the regional franchisee advisory council’s development and government affairs subcommittees.
Biggest current challenge: Adapting to the tight labor market and staying abreast of rapidly changing technology and consumer preferences. Meeting development and remodel obligations with inflationary pressures and the high costs of capital.
Next big goal: Diversifying to other brands through partnerships with proven operators.
First turning point in your career: Representing business owners in my law practice and realizing that I’d rather be them.
Best business decision: Owning real estate wherever possible and leveraging my brand to fill affiliate-owned small shopping centers.
Hardest lesson learned: Hiring poorly collapses your business rapidly. It can be difficult to tell whether the person you hand the keys of the company to has the soft skill set to be a great manager.
Work week: A routine work week is elusive. Most of my day is spent on the phone or out in the field with my team. We have a biweekly leadership meeting to set goals and review performance. My role is to support my team, so I try to make myself available to them 24/7.
Exercise/workout: Six years ago, I committed to taking care of myself, so now I do strength training three times a week and walk or run every day.
Best advice you ever got: “Do what you say you’re going to do.” It’s almost stupidly simple, but it’s amazing how many businesses and people don’t follow through on what they say they will do.
What’s your passion in business? Helping others achieve their goals and dreams, whether it’s my team or others getting into franchising. Growth is the fun part of the business because of the additional opportunities it creates for everyone in my organization.
How do you balance life and work? I don’t really believe in a work-life balance for myself. My work is an integral part of my life, not something that can be separated and neatly siloed. I do believe it is important to take time to be with the people I love and do the things I love to do.
Guilty pleasure: TikTok doomscrolling.
Favorite book: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
Favorite movie: “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”
What do most people not know about you? I spent a year teaching music at Amherst College.
Pet peeve: People who use speakerphones in airports.
What did you want to be when you grew up? A fighter pilot.
Last vacation: Catamaran trip to the British Virgin Islands in April.
Person you’d most like to have lunch with: Larry David.
MANAGEMENT
Business philosophy: “Serve and support like family.” My business exists because of the guests and my team, and taking care of both is critical to success.
Management method or style: Set objectives. Hire people smarter than I am. Task those people to achieve those objectives and empower them with the resources they need. Listen to them, facilitate communication among the team, and evaluate based on results.
Greatest challenge: Inflation and margin compression required a complete rewrite of our business and growth plan.
How do others describe you? A terrible golfer.
Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? What did you learn? Absolutely. When I signed my first store development agreement with Dunkin’, I had no restaurant or QSR experience. I met Rob Branca, another Dunkin’ franchisee, at the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, and he was unbelievably gracious with his time and advice. He invited me to dinner the next night with the CEO of Dunkin’ and about a dozen of the largest franchisees in the system.
One thing you’re looking to do better: Operations have fallen below my standard. That’s largely driven by crew-level turnover and a hyper-competitive labor environment. We’re trying to improve our crew experience to increase retention and improve the guest experience.
How you give your team room to innovate and experiment: The best ideas invariably come from the crew upwards, not me downwards. Like all franchisees, we are somewhat hamstrung in innovation by having to follow the franchisor’s systems. Whenever I visit stores, one of the questions I always ask my crew is, “If you could wave a magic wand, what is one thing you would change about the way we do things?” I have implemented more of their suggestions over the years than I can count.
How close are you to operations? As we’ve grown, I’ve taken myself out of the operations role and have a full-time director of operations. I keep my finger on the pulse of the business through daily and weekly reports on key metrics. I also still visit several stores each week to experience the customer perspective and hear my team’s feedback. My focus now is primarily on development and growth.
What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? Marketing support and product innovation.
What you need from vendors: Dunkin’ is unique in that the franchisees collectively own the supply chain, so we are lucky that we largely retain control over our primary vendor. We have sole suppliers for POS and technology, which has been a source of frustration. One disadvantage of being part of a large franchise system is that it becomes difficult to pivot to new and better technology as it emerges.
Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? We are focusing on value and refocusing on our core beverage business.
How is social media affecting your business? It has definitely changed the way our franchisor spends ad dollars. There is significant purchasing at the national level for social media advertising. The emergence of social media as the consumers’ primary vehicle for information has devalued traditional media channels. As a result, the competitive advantages of being a large brand have been blunted. Small brands are now able to do hyperlocal social media advertising that often gets more exposure than large brands get. They no longer need to spend millions on TV ads to receive visibility. An empowered crew member with an iPhone and TikTok can make a viral advertisement even if you don’t want them to.
In what ways are you using technology (like AI) to manage your business? We implemented self-order kiosks across all our stores during the labor shortages a few years ago with mixed results. We are at the infancy of integrating AI into our businesses, but it’s easy to envision a time when the kiosks have AI-generated faces that take your order and answer your questions conversationally. In the drive-thru, I foresee a move away from menu boards entirely and a shift to mobile-order-only pickups.
How do you hire and fire? Carefully and fast. It is critical to take the time to hire the right person for the right role. If they are not a cultural fit, it is important for them to exit the organization as quickly as possible.
How do you train and retain? We recently hired a director of training and put one of our restaurants through the brand’s certified training restaurant process. This restaurant operates in accordance with all brand standards and serves to train all new managers coming into our system. We retain by listening to our people, paying competitively, and treating them like family.
How do you deal with problem employees? Identify if the problem is will or skill. If it’s a will problem, there is simply not a fix, and it’s time to part ways. If it’s a skill problem, it’s incumbent upon us to ensure we provide the training and resources.
Fastest way into your doghouse: Dishonesty. I always tell my people that if you’re doing the job correctly 90% of the time, you’re winning. We all make mistakes, and I don’t expect perfection. But I do want to know when things go wrong.
BOTTOM LINE
Annual revenue: Approximately $30 million.
2025 goals: Diversify into additional brands via strategic partnerships.
Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? I aim to double revenue across my businesses every five years through a combination of new units and sales growth.
Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? In five years, I’d like to have a diverse franchise and real estate portfolio generating at least $75 million in revenue. In 10 years, I would like to generate $150 million in revenue.
Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? No, I’m concentrated in the restaurant space currently. It has been a good business, and it made sense to grow within this space to the scale I have currently. But now that we’ve reached scale, it’s important to cut across multiple segments to mitigate risk.
How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? The economy in Nebraska has been strong, but the consumers have less discretionary income to spend. Unemployment is near historic lows, which makes staffing incredibly challenging.
Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? Yes, the market continues to grow rapidly. The population growth in the Midwest has insulated us from some of the economic hardships taking place in other parts of the country. But it has led to increased competition to be able to attract both customers and employees.
How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business? After rapid inflation, consumers are increasingly price conscious, which has required us to focus on value.
How do you forecast for your business? We have a weekly planner that we create before each year with sales and cost objectives for each store. We adjust that planner weekly as the business changes.
What are the best sources for capital expansion? We’ve used local banks, which are particularly good for the real estate side of my business. I’m increasingly intrigued by crowdsourcing capital for expansion. Having local investors pool money and own a piece of a beloved brand could yield positive outcomes. I’m actively exploring partnerships with experienced franchisees in different sectors as well.
Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? Private equity is increasingly entering the franchise space. It recognizes the shift by franchisors toward large franchisees, who offer the scale and revenue to justify the investment. Some of these players really understand our business while others don’t. My experience with banks mirrors that of private equity. The banks that do a lot of work in the franchise space are usually more willing to fund and take risks than local banks that view a franchise just as they would any nonfranchised small business.
What are you doing to take care of your employees? We support them with time off, competitive wages, growth opportunities, and kind treatment. Our people are our business, and without them, we’d collapse overnight. For salaried employees, we’ve always had a “take what you want” vacation policy without a limit on days, and we’ve only had a small handful abuse that policy over the course of 12 years.
How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? We have been paying close attention to hours allocated per store while also trying to be competitive with wages and benefits.
What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them? As I write this, the FLSA salaried overtime exemption threshold will increase so significantly that I may rethink how we compensate certain salaried employees. It may make more sense to shift some salaried employees to hourly.
How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? We provide bonuses, public praise, certificates, parties, and all sorts of permutations of recognition. It’s fun to celebrate great team members.
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? I’m not sure I’ll ever exit franchising entirely, but I can envision paring off, restructuring, or recapitalizing existing assets to diversify into other opportunities.
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