March 2014
| Business World Magazine | 53
wonder how to appropriately answer those
questions. He could say who was growing
the fastest or spending the most on market-
ing, but that doesn’t really determine who
the best is,” explains Rowan.
Stites reasoned that by creating a inde-
pendent system that allowed for the collect-
ing of data from franchisees and generating
a report that would provide the information
sought out by investors, he would be able
to offer them a greater sense of confidence
and assurance that the business in which
they might invest had the right people and
right systems in place. Rowan says whether
the franchise involves retail, food or services,
there are certain questions that every poten-
tial franchisee has prior to making an invest-
ment. After developing a survey that reflect-
ed what franchisees most want to know, the
team at FBR realized they could also pro-
vide another service to corporate owners in
helping them better identify perceptions as
to their respective company’s strengths and
weaknesses.
Rowan concedes that it was far from easy
to get buy-in at the early stages, and some
The team from FastSigns (a franchise focusing on graphic design, content management and
visual communication solutions, is a 2013 leader in Franchisee Satisfaction.
