Page 115 - BWA FEB 2013

February 2013 | Business World Magazine | 115
chisees with the best possible value for their
investment is an excellent indicator of the
corporate culture at GFC – where their mis-
sion is to champion franchise brands and
the people who build them. “The people
who build them are our franchisees and our
customers,” Dull says. “Everything we do is
about unit-level economics, creating a prof-
itable environment for our franchisees and
delivering the very-best products to our cus-
tomers. It’s what we at GFG do best.”
“At the end of the day, we’re just real peo-
ple. We’re a pretty friendly group to work
with and I think that our franchisees would
tell you that we work really hard to make
sure their businesses are successful,” he adds.
ONLINE ORDERING
At Global Franchise Group, LLC, technol-
ogy plays an important role in how they de-
liver their products.The online functionality
of their business is something that has really
“shown some movement” for their franchi-
sees. For example, many of their products
have been made available to order online,
including their cookie cakes, ice cream cakes
and ice cream cupcakes. “Playing a bigger
role in the online world is great,” Dull says.
“We’ve really focused on developing our on-
line capabilities. We’ve actually gotten to a
point where we can offer delivery, so you can
go online and order it and we will bring it to
you.”
They’re also working on giving their cus-
tomers the ability to order product online
using their smartphones and other mobile
devices. Sometime in 2013, the Pretzelmak-
er® brand will release a new app for custom-
ers to order on the go. “When the customer
gets to the mall, they can actually order a
custom pretzel with their app and go to the
store and pick it up,” he says. “When you’re
popping up on someone’s handheld device,
then that really gets their attention.”
Looking ahead to the longer term, GFG
is well-positioned for the acquisition of ad-
ditional brands to add to their extensive
portfolio, and will continue to expand their
established brands globally in the food mar-
ket. “If we see alike-concepts that we think
synergistically works well with our company,
we’re definitely out there and available to ex-
plore those opportunities,” he says. “While
we continue to grow outside the U.S., we feel
that there is still a lot of opportunity here.
The sky is the limit.”