From Multi-Unit to Multi-Brand: Avoiding the "Death Zone"

MUFC 2026, Day 2: General Breakout Session

Making the transition from a multi-unit to a multi-brand portfolio requires a fundamental shift in how franchisees think about their business. 

At the 2026 MUFC, experienced operators discussed what it takes to scale across brands during a breakout panel, “Multi-Brand Best Practices to Avoid the Death Zone.” Moderator Dennis Drake, a multi-unit franchisee with Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Another Broken Egg, led a discussion with fellow operators Sumit Bansal (Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa and Great Clips), Alex Karcher (Jersey Mike’s Subs, Dave’s Hot Chicken, and The Human Bean), and David Plait (Hungry Howie’s, KFC, and Great American Burger). 

“You’re no longer just running good locations,” Drake said. “You’re beginning to transition to running an enterprise.” 

That change is where many operators run into trouble. The session framed it as the “Death Zone,” the point where complexity outpaces leadership capacity. Operators add brands faster than they build the structure to support them, leading to inconsistent execution, stretched leadership, and burnout. 

“Growth doesn’t create problems. Lack of structure does,” Drake said. 

Panelists said operators often enter that phase the same way. They succeed with one brand, add another, and assume the same playbook will carry over. Karcher said the real-world experience can be vastly different for the unprepared. 

“It was a little too late, honestly,” Karcher said. “We were kind of patching things up, and then Covid stressed everything further. We had to get organized real quick.”  

That realization often comes with growing pains. The panelists said operators move from managing individual locations to coordinating multiple systems, cultures, and teams at once, which can create a leadership void. 

“You really need a brand leader for each brand you operate,” Karcher suggested.  

From there, franchisees begin building shared infrastructure, including accounting, HR, and reporting systems, but it’s important to preserve what makes each brand distinct. 

“It’s less about what you can share,” Bansal said. “It’s more about what the brand needs to be successful.”  

Systems also become more critical as complexity increases. Panelists pointed to the importance of consistent reporting cadences, simplified KPIs, and standardized playbooks to keep teams aligned. 

“Simplicity is the key,” Bansal said. 

Becoming a multi-brand franchisee means stepping away from former roles, so there’s less time dealing with customers and more time steering the organization. 

“You’ve got to get out of the house,” Plait said. “That was the hardest thing for me, to step away from what I loved doing every day.”  

He said the shift was not just operational, but personal. As operators scale, he said, success depends on trusting the people around them and building a culture that can carry the business forward. He added that it’s also important to pay team members what they’re worth. 

“Provide the opportunity for them to earn the resources they need to be comfortable, or you‘ll never have that freedom,” Plait said. “It took me a long time to learn that.” 

Multi-brand franchises must lean into building strong systems, processes, and teams that make long-term growth possible. “The goal isn’t more brands,” Drake said. “It’s building an organization that can support them.”