In 2004, Wade Brannon was teaching his son’s T-ball crew when one other participant’s mom requested, “You are the ham man, proper?”
Nicely, he was the ham man: He based Heavenly Ham, constructed it as much as $150 million in income with greater than 200 franchises in 33 states, after which bought it to Honey Baked Ham. However by 2004, his function was Mr. Mother, caring for his 5-year-old boy and youthful twin women whereas his spouse labored as an actual property lawyer close to their Atlanta residence.
Parenting was rewarding however onerous; his son had what he believes have been sensory points (widespread amongst younger kids), which made some duties difficult. “I took him to my barber store, and he screamed the entire time,” Brannon recollects. “Each of us would depart sweaty with hair caught throughout us.”
The T-ball mother, whose title was Nanette Adair, occurred to have an answer for that: She’d opened a children salon known as Pigtails & Crewcuts, and Brannon had simply taken his son there. “He simply cherished it,” Brannon says. “He was watching films, enjoying with the prepare tables, interacting with different kids.” So when Adair stated she had some questions on franchising for Brannon, he was very intrigued.
After a number of conferences, in late 2004, Brannon purchased Pigtails & Crewcuts from Adair. The corporate now has greater than 80 franchise areas and goals to achieve the 100-unit mark by the tip of this yr. Right here, he talks about how you can construct a neighborhood enterprise right into a thriving franchise.
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How a lot of the Pigtails & Crewcuts mannequin was in place while you purchased it?
It was a single salon right here in Atlanta, had a federally registered trademark, and had a glance and a really feel. I acquired a few of my previous ham people again collectively, and we spent the following year-and-change placing the methods in place.
Hair and ham are totally different industries. What made you assume it might work?
There have been two main issues I checked out. I requested if there was a necessity — which I believed there was, given my son’s response as soon as he skilled it. After which I requested: Can it’s replicated? Can it’s copied and executed correctly by the common particular person with enterprise sense?
How did you go about replicating the service?
We needed to get a design package deal that may very well be recreated in every single place. We needed to write operations manuals. We needed to write franchise agreements and franchise disclosure paperwork. I talked to lots of people within the hair trade. I did not notice how massive the hair trade was till I began this. Goodness gracious, it is a $65 billion trade. However no one had taken the youngsters’s section of it and turned it right into a nationwide model.
What sorts of franchisees do finest together with your model?
We have now had a variety of ladies with 2-year-olds. They’ve a toddler they usually really feel like they’re able to get again into the office, they usually method us. We even have a variety of husband-and-wife groups. We’re not focusing on hairstylists. We’re focusing on businesspeople with individuals abilities. You have to wish to work with a crew, be part of your group, take pleasure in individuals — kids and fogeys.
What recommendation do you may have for would-be franchisors?
You have to be versatile. Markets change. Situations change. Every part adjustments. We went by a recession and came upon our enterprise was recession-proof. We went by a pandemic that fully shut us down for total intervals of time. You have simply acquired to have a product or a service that may survive the tough instances which are unanticipated. You need to be prepared to vary.
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