Coffee & Analytics

Are you spending thousands on franchise conferences but struggling to convert leads into sales? In this episode of Coffee & Analytics, we break down the raw data from the recent Multi-Unit Franchise Conference to reveal what high-level operators are actually looking for in 2026. We dive deep into the "Triangle of Influence," analyzing the 2,100+ attendees and 500+ unique ownership groups to understand their investment criteria. From the demand for lower labor models to the shift toward real estate-backed portfolios, we discuss how to position your brand as the obvious choice for a multi-unit operator's next acquisition. Stop playing for the short term. Learn how to engineer a 5-year growth roadmap that takes you from a single unit to over 100 locations through strategic positioning, proven unit-level economics, and the power of the "long-game" drip campaign.Need help building a franchise? Join the Growth Club now!

Most franchise brands believe multi-unit franchisees are just waiting to discover them at a conference, through a broker, or from a great sales presentation. Unless you are in roughly the top 1–5% of franchise brands, you are not even on the evaluation list for these sophisticated multi-unit operators. No booth at the Multi-Unit Conference is going to change that. The franchises that win understand that you don't chase multi-unit franchisees. You build a system they start researching before you ever meet them. Need help building a franchise? Join the Growth Club now!

AI is about to force a level of transparency the industry hasn't fully reckoned with yet — legally, operationally, and culturally. And here's the part that should make every franchisor pause. AI doesn't get a commission. It doesn't care who pays whom. It doesn't benefit from steering candidates one way or another. Its job is to cut through the BS. Need help fixing your brands AI strategy? Join the Growth Club now https://bit.ly/3MgoaHN Read more about this episode: https://1851franchise.com/mainland/ai...

At FranCamp this year, we ran through a live survey – with a focus on gaining unrestricted answers to 5 key questions. 1. What is the #1 thing missing for explosive franchise growth? 2. What is the #1 thing you can do that costs nothing to drive growth? 3. What is the #1 thing you will spend money on to drive growth? 4. What is the value of one franchisee to your system? 5. What is your primary growth goal for 2026? All responses were captured live, categorized, and reviewed – thus, giving us true active insights – across brands ranging from 1 to hundreds of locations. These weren't meant to be thoughtful responses, they were meant for high pressure reactions. Charles Internicola joins me for this special episode of Coffee & Analytics. Read the full article.

2025 was a year full of lessons! Nick is joined by special guest Emily Grotkin, VP of Partner and Client Success at Denamico, to share insights from franchisee profiles/surveys collected in 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-hulstein/ https://www.denamico.com/

We, as a franchise community, have an undeniable affinity for athletes in franchising. Why does this connection exist? How do we get in front of athlete franchise buyers? Where are they—and why would they want to buy? 1851 Franchise publisher Nick Powills is joined by John Martinelli from NOCAP Sports and Damiere Byrd, former NFL player and current Bumble Roofing franchise owner. Read more here: https://1851franchise.com/athletes-in-franchising-2730529#stories

The shift is happening — and it's happening fast, especially for broker-conditioned franchises. I'm getting more and more calls that sound like this: “We used franchise brokers for growth in the past, but that's no longer part of our plan moving forward.” So… how did we get here? For franchisors, the broker model made perfect sense for years: leverage someone else's network to sell your brand. It worked — until it didn't. Now, there are some clear friction points. You could be paying for the B.S. Candidates might not be receiving transparency. The broker vanishes when things go sideways. Costs are ballooning. Read more: https://1851franchise.com/the-franchise-broker-slowdown-2730406#stories

Are leads down for other brands in 2025? Are franchisees not buying as much? How do I compete in this crazy franchise world for more deals? What are the new franchise metrics? In 2025, franchising isn't slipping—it's evolving. Lead volumes vary by brand and category and investment, but the overall ecosystem remains robust. Brand expansion remains real, even amid higher costs. Join 1851 Franchise Publisher & Head of Growth Nick Powills as he dives into why your lead generation might be slowing in 2025 and what you can do to alter the trend.

Wouldn't life be a lot easier if you had a sense of what was in your pipeline, how it looked, what the activity was and what the likelihood of closure looked like? Join 1851 Publisher Nick Powills & special guest Brendon Dennewill, Co-CEO of Denamico, for another episode of Coffee & Analytics. On this episode, we will take a look inside candidate behavior and how revenue operations, attribution scoring, and candidate predictability can save your franchise pipeline. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendonde...

Join Nick Powills from 1851 Franchise as we dive deeper into lead generation. In this episode we are hitting the top topics all franchisors scratch their heads over. Learn the financial motivations that drive serious candidates, how to turn an unresponsive lead by using a different set of tools and content, and turn Discovery Day failures into actionable insights, and much much more!

Franchise Sales Feeling Stuck? You're not alone. “Where are my leads?” is the #1 question every founder, salesperson, and CEO in franchising asks. But the answer isn't more leads—it's more predictability. If you want to build a *data-backed system that tells you where deals are coming from—and why they stall—* this is for you.

Join Nick Powills, Head of Growth at Mainland and franchise expert, as he delves into the critical role of transparency in franchise sales. Discover the common frustrations of new franchisees regarding costs, real estate timelines, and scaling strategies. Learn how franchisors can set realistic expectations from the outset, including presenting financial data ethically and addressing potential hidden gaps in the sales process. Understand why unexpected expenses and lengthy buildout times often surprise franchisees and the importance of proving success with a single unit before expansion.

Join Nick Powills, Head of Growth at Mainland and franchise expert, as he unveils five key secrets to attracting and securing multi-unit franchise owners to accelerate your brand's growth. Learn effective strategies for identifying ideal candidates and optimizing your franchise sales process. Discover how to target the right prospects, recognize the traits of successful multi-unit franchisees, and implement marketing tactics that resonate with serious investors.

Less than half, or 47%, of U.S. executives feel confident about the country's economic direction in the year ahead. That share is a marked decline from December, when 67% of business leaders polled by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants reported feeling optimistic about the economic outlook for 2025. Tariffs and an ensuing trade war are the likely culprits behind the downturn in sentiment, Bloomberg reports, with 59% of respondents saying they would expect levies to negatively affect their business. So, naturally (as we are in franchising), I wanted to look at this from two perspectives – first, my thoughts and second AI.

Join Nick Powills, Head of Growth at Mainland and franchise expert, as he explores the key to attracting multi-unit, multi-brand franchisees. Discover the two crucial elements that capture the attention of these high-value investors. First, showcase a compelling franchise opportunity by emphasizing profitability and strong unit economics. Second, implement targeted franchise marketing strategies to reach them on platforms like LinkedIn and through industry publications. Ready to unlock the secrets to landing these significant franchise partners?

Join Nick Powills, Head of Growth at Mainland and franchise expert, as he dives into the world of AI-powered content creation for franchises. Discover how tools like Google Gemini can revolutionize your content strategy, boosting production speeds by threefold. Learn practical applications of AI to craft engaging content that resonates with local audiences while staying true to your brand. Unlock techniques to repurpose content effortlessly across various platforms and gain insights into using AI to analyze and optimize your content performance. Ready to amplify your franchise marketing with the power of AI?

The single most frustrating question I hear is: Where are my leads? It isn't just frustrating for me, it is frustrating for the brand – because in their hearts of hearts they truly believe the number of leads don't align to their expectations. For our team, it is frustrating because they could be busting their butts to figure out the pathway to the fountain of leads – with their efforts not striking a chord with the right buyers in the right markets who are willing to fill out the form. Thus, frustration is celebrated by all. But, now, in my typical curious-style, I went down a pathway to help land the plane when it comes to number of leads, expectations and outcomes.

Years ago, I worked with a brand that sold franchises to anyone who had a penny. Some of those candidates had hustle and grit – which ultimately lifted them up to success. But many folded when the going got tough. I would imagine the 8 franchisees from the above limped into franchise ownership. In my opinion, we qualify people to own three, award one, reserve enough for a rainy day and enough to scale – and then build infrastructure around them to make them successful no matter what it takes. The bestest (I know I used that word) franchise brands grow smart and in concentric circles to maximize the potential of support, marketing and thus unit level economics. For the franchisees profiled (See the article on 1851), if you are being negative at the point of signing or opening it is usually driven by two things – a lack of transparency in the buying process (which will be instantly elevated if we qualify the persona correctly) and stress of bleeding money without revenues coming back in. Just because franchising allows business operators the ability to skip the line to business ownership, it doesn't mean that it doesn't require some crazy to muscle through storms. Who is your ideal buyer? Who is the franchisee who is worth more in royalty than others? Start there and be very strict who you let in – especially if you have a sound business model and opportunity.