February 2014
| Business World Magazine | 75
gaged,” he says. “It’s an engaged invest-
ment, a full-time occupation. And we be-
lieve we can take just about anybody and
turn them into an effective operator.”
Prospective franchisees go through six
weeks of classroom and on-site training
with the corporate operations staff, all of
which must be completed before a loca-
tion is opened. Once a store is opened,
the company provides access to an online
Franchise Resource Center and follows
through with in-store inspections, cus-
tomer surveys and mystery shopper pro-
cedures that protect the brand.
All franchising inquiries thus far have
come to Biggby’s from the outside in,
though the company does hold twice-
monthly “Discovery Days” at its head-
quarters to introduce the concept to in-
terested parties. No prototype exists for
the ideal franchisee, McFall says, and no
previous restaurant experience is required
for prospective owners, so long as they
meet baseline financial requirements that
include $70,000 in equity available equi-
ty and $150,000 in net worth.
In the big picture, coffee shops make up
the fastest-growing segment of the restau-
rant business, according to the 2012 Cof-
fee Statistics Report, and specialty cof-
