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1 week ago | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
Restaurant franchisees in 2025 face a growing litany of challenges—not only to their bottom lines, but for some, to their very survival. Higher wages, hiring and retaining quality employees, yo-yoing tariff rules, supply chain challenges, rising construction costs, and the prospect of increased inflation and interest rates all are keeping many multi-unit operators up at night. (Oh, did we mention AI?) Then there’s the hit from mandated remodels.
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3 weeks ago | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
You’re looking to grow your portfolio. But what’s the best path to achieve your goals? Acquire an operating unit? Convert an existing site? New build? To cite a well-worn maxim, “It depends.” It depends on so many factors and variables that, rather than list them all here we asked five very different multi-unit restaurant franchisees what they prefer. (Besides, you know them already!) Two are Past Chairs of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference (MUFC), and one is the Incoming Chair for MUFC 2026.
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1 month ago | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
We received so many great responses to this question that we’re running a Part 2. (Find part 1 here.)Choosing to add or switch to a new brand involves multiple factors, each critical to long-term success—some more than others, depending on which factors matter most in aligning with your business and personal goals.
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1 month ago | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
Choosing a new brand to expand, diversify, or to control your local market (or for any reason) is easier thought than done. So many factors are involved in choosing a brand that will further your personal and business goals.
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2 months ago | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
This past January, Franchise Update Media launched a new franchisee-focused newsletter called Multi-Unit Restaurant Franchisee--Paths to Success. This bimonthly publication has featured candid insight from successful multi-unit operators in the restaurant space who have taken the time to give us their thoughts on topics ranging from how they balance work and life to how they stay involved in the communities where they operate.
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2 months ago | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
Since starting this newsletter in January 2024, we’ve received some truly insightful responses to our questions from multi-unit restaurant franchisees across the country—from those with just a handful of locations, all the way up to the country’s largest restaurant franchisee with more than 2,600 units. One of our favorite (and most prolific!) contributors is David Ostrowe, Chair of the 2025 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, which kicks off tomorrow in Las Vegas. See his MUFC welcome video here.
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2 months ago | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
With rosy predictions for overall franchising growth in 2025, we asked multi-unit restaurant franchisees about their individual growth plans. First, a few highlights from the 2025 Franchising Economic Outlook from the IFA and FRANdata:Franchise establishments will increase by more than 20,000 units, or 2.5%, to 851,000 total units in 2025. Total franchise output is projected to exceed $936.4 billion in 2025, increasing 4.4% from $896.9 billion in 2024.
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Feb 24, 2025 | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
While operating brands in different segments is a proven path to diversification for many multi-unit franchisees, it’s not for everyone. Some prefer to expand with a single brand in their home market, growing beyond only when they’ve achieved market saturation. Just ask Nadeem Saleem Bajwa, CEO of the Bajco Group, which operates more than 200 Papa Johns and has signed to open 50 more over the next 5 years.
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Feb 10, 2025 | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
Following the inauguration of Donald Trump, uncertainty soared to new heights (depths?). Twenty-five percent tariffs (on hold for now) for our two biggest trading partners? Buy Greenland? Rename the Gulf of Mexico? Seize the Panama Canal? Take over Gaza? “Madness,” say some. “About time,” say others. And “WTF?” say most. No matter where you stand, uncertainty is bad for business.
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Jan 27, 2025 | 
franchising.com | Eddy Goldberg
For real estate in any year, it’s about location, location, location. For franchised restaurants in 2025, it’s about value, value, value—providing it to customers, that is—and finding ways to do so without falling into a race to the bottom as brands compete for a smaller consumer spending pie. Factoring in higher wages and supply costs, inflation, the cost of capital, and a new administration in D.C. makes for a period of increased uncertainty… which, of course, means both danger and opportunity.
