Franchising Research and Benchmarking Firm Uses Franchisee Feedback to Help People Better Evaluate Brands
When Eric Stites started his career in franchising in the early 2000s, things looked much different. “There was no internet the way people know it today, no Google reviews, no Yelp and very little in the way of third-party reviews to help candidates understand what life inside a franchise system was really like,” he says. At the time, Stites was working for a franchise lead generation company and kept seeing the same problem. “When candidates went to call franchisees, they wouldn’t call back and validate.”
His realized that franchisee surveys could be the answer, but knew the feedback needed to come from an independent third party to feel credible. So, in 2005, he launched Franchise Business Review (FBR) to make validation easier and help candidates get honest insight into brands. Stites introduced FBR to the franchise community by calling everyone he knew in the business, but he was met with pushback. “One franchisor actually said, ‘Our franchisees hate us. Why would we want to survey them?’”
To help communicate FBR’s value proposition more clearly, Stites brought in Michelle Rowan early on. “The first five years of my role was educating franchisors and helping them understand the benefits of feedback from their franchise owners,” Rowan says.
FBR Awards and Benchmarking
Over time, FBR introduced its awards, which “helped put us on the map,” Stites says. “They gave an independent look at franchisee satisfaction and the overall health of a system.” Today, the company is the leading franchising research and benchmarking firm, using franchisee feedback to create data, insights, reports and awards that help people better evaluate a brand.
“Buying a franchise is a major decision, and candidates want to understand what support looks like after they sign. They want to know how franchisees really feel about training, communication and leadership. Candidates are doing their homework. They’re looking for reviews,” Rowan says.
On the other side, FBR gives franchisors a level of operational insight that can be hard to get any other way, with feedback on support, communication, leadership and the overall franchisee experience. Culture is a big part of that. “Franchisors need to focus on the culture that they’re creating in their organizations on both the employee and the franchisee side because that is what creates longevity in a brand,” Rowan says.
Over the years, FBR developed a close view of what great franchise brands tend to have in common. “Transparency, leadership and a great support team are some of the shared traits among top-performing systems,” Stites says.
Partnership With IFPG
To Stites and Rowan, partnering with the IFPG franchise growth platform was a natural fit. Stites says the move was about reaching more of the franchising community, especially emerging brands that need help understanding what it takes to build a strong system.
“IFPG’s vision of supporting franchisors from inception all the way to an exit strategy is exactly why we wanted to be part of it,” Rowan says. “The partnership also gives consultants another tool to help move deals forward. Credible third-party reviews and reports can help consultants position a brand earlier, answer objections faster and move candidates through the process with more confidence.”
Since the acquisition was announced in February, the team has launched a new product that gives franchisors faster feedback earlier in the franchisee journey. The survey can be sent as soon as a franchisee opens, giving brands insight into development, training, onboarding and support. “Now we’ll start creating a benchmark on that side,” Rowan says. “It creates a whole new data set that can help educate candidates on where a brand stands, even if it is not yet large enough to have full FBR benchmark data.”
The Benefits of Independent Research
Franchising is growing, and more people are looking at it as a path to business ownership. The International Franchise Association projects that the U.S. will have about 845,000 franchised businesses by the end of 2026, supporting nearly 8.9 million jobs.
For many people, franchising makes business ownership feel more possible. The IFA says 64% of franchisees are first-time business owners. Franchisees own their businesses but have the support of an established brand, including training, systems, marketing and guidance.
Still, every franchise system is different. Candidates want to know what current owners really think about the support they receive, the leadership team and the day-to-day experience.
Independent franchisee feedback helps candidates make smarter decisions and helps franchisors see what is working and where they can do better.
Learn more about Franchise Business Review.
