Page 113 - BWA FEB 2013

February 2013 | Business World Magazine | 113
can find those two things, you like them to
be well-capitalized and you like to see they
have the ability to grow the business with
some velocity, not just open a store.”
“If they have some actual store opera-
tions history, that’s also very important,”
he adds. “When we go out and search for
prospects, we’re looking for someone who is
well-healed, who has experience and has pre-
viously proven they can operate a business
successfully.”
Another attribute heavily valued in GFG
franchisees is community involvement. “The
simple reason for that is word-of-mouth,”
Dull says. “We like to see folks who have
shown they have a real connection to their
community, and that’s what I would catego-
rize as our “mom and pop” operators – some-
one who is looking to create a career through
franchising.”
When a franchisee buys into GFG, “they
get their money’s worth, and then some,”
says Dull. He credits that to their focus on
unit-level economics. Everything they un-
dertake is about driving a greater unit-level
economic for each individual franchise.
“You go out top line and you reduce costs of
goods. When you can do those two things,
you end up with a better economic story and
more profitable stores,” he explains. “We’re
constantly working with our R&D staff to
identify the right products for our stores.”
GFG’s commitment to providing fran-