The owners of Wild Eggs restaurants have started the process to franchise the concept across the country, expecting the first franchised locations outside of Louisville to open within the next year.J.D. Rothberg and Shane Hall, partners in Wild Eggs parent company Eggheadz LLC, are using past experience and outside organizations to navigate the process.
Franchising their casual breakfast concept to expand the company has been a plan for the restaurant company since its inception in 2007, Rothberg said.
Interested parties have inquired about bringing the concept to states other than Kentucky, but it wasn’t until this spring that they hired Florida-based Signature Franchising Inc. to help them file the paperwork required to start the process.
“They help guys like us (with little franchising experience) put everything together,” Hall said.
The company has to file paperwork, including disclosures — information about factors such as the background of the franchisors and the business, costs and litigation history — in each state that it intends to enter, but the process isn’t expensive, Rothberg said. In some states, paperwork can be filed for as little as $100.
Signature Franchising also is helping the company put together a package with all of the particulars of the business. It’s an instruction manual for franchisees, Rothberg said, including details of running the business such as what kind of lighting to use and what colors of paint to put on the walls.
The Eggheadz partners are about halfway through that documentation process, Rothberg said.
When finished, they will work with another company, Transworld Business Advisors Inc., to sell the franchises to franchisees across the country. The company has about a dozen “good” leads for potential franchisees, Rothberg said.
They are looking for franchisees with prior restaurant experience who plan to open multiple locations in a market.
Originally, the company wants to enter into markets relatively close to Louisville, such as Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Nashville, Tenn., and Charlotte, N.C.
Plan for 30 to 50 locations in next seven years
Rothberg and Hall will be involved heavily in helping each franchised unit with employee training, site selection, research and development, marketing and menu development. The cost to develop a franchise unit has not yet been determined, Rothberg said.
Franchising “is a great way to build a company, but there’s a lot of responsibility put on the franchisor,” Rothberg said.
In preparation for the venture, the company earlier this year hired a director of marketing, Lauren Henson, who will coordinate marketing, special events and promotions for the franchisees.
The company, which opened a Denver location last year, is using lessons from that experience to develop the franchising plan.
Rothberg expects the first franchised locations to open in nine to 12 months and hopes to have 30 to 50 locations in the next seven years. “We do have a huge opportunity here,” he said.
Breakfast segment is growing
The partners expect their concept to do well because breakfast is an “under-served market,” Rothberg said.
“They’re in the right part of the restaurant segment right now,” said Elliot Fine, vice president of marketing for Signature Franchising.