WSJ on Franchising - The Big Get Bigger

>>>>> The Quandary of Large Multiples vs. the "Hands On" Operator

There's a slight difference between the ratio of McDonald's stores

per Operator in the USA as stated by McDonald's Corporation and

by Franchise Equity Group. While I don't keep an inventory of the

names on every franchise agreement I know enough to identify

trends.

I believe Oak Brook would count every person approved as an

Operator and divide that number into the total number of stores

in the country.

In other words, a twelve store operation with the original Operator 

and their two children (who are approved Operators) all functioning

as one entity would be counted as three operators by Oak Brook.

I'd count that as one operator. But there's no winning this numeric

argument because there are variations all over the board.

The fact is, the ratio of stores per Operator is higher and will keep

growing into the future.

I continue to hear the small Operators described as a "liability""

to the corporate side.

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