Critical Success Factors: A study of Swedish

Restaurant Franchisors

Fanny Johansson
Andreas Pedersen

2018

Student Thesis, Master Degree (One Year),15 Credits

Business Administration
Master Programme in Business Administration (MBA): Business Mgmt. 60 Credits
Master Thesis in Business Administration 15 Credits

Supervisor: Dr. Agneta Sundström

Examiner: Dr. Maria Fregidou-Malama

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ABSTRACT

Title: Critical Success Factors: A study of Swedish Restaurant Franchisors

Level: Master Thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits.

Authors: Fanny Johansson, Andreas Pedersen

Supervisor: Agneta Sundström

Examiner: Maria Fregidou-Malama

Date: 2018-06

Aim: From its inception to its expansion nationally and internationally, the management of a
restaurant franchise concept uses various critical success factors to overcome the barriers that
they encounter throughout their different growth phases. This study aims to find out what the
CSFs are for Swedish restaurant franchisors of different sizes, what barriers they encounter and
what their solutions to these problems are.

Method: This is a qualitative study. An initial study was performed by open-ended interviews
with the CEOs of the Swedish Franchisor organization and the CEO of the Swedish Franchisee
organization. Thereafter, ten semi-structured telephone interviews were held with the upper
management at Swedish restaurant franchisor companies. Saturation was achieved after 6-8
interviews and the data was analyzed thematically.

Results & Conclusions: Small franchisors focus on concept development, finding capital and
finding franchisees. Two of the smaller franchisors used crowdfunding to finance their
expansion. Larger franchisors focus on standardization, improving their quality and on brand
building. The conclusion is that there are significant differences in the CSFs for small and large
franchisors.

Suggestions for future research: This study is limited in scope and limited in time. For future
research, we would recommend a longitudinal study of several newborn franchise systems, to
study them over several years and to see which CSFs are more important at different growth
stages. Another research approach could be to rank the CSFs by using a quantitative method
and work with a larger sample frame of franchisors. Or to study our fastest growing respondent.

Contribution of the thesis: The main contribution to literature is that small franchisors focus
on selecting the right franchisees and locations, large franchisors focus on developing the
concept and on standardization. The main managerial implication is that franchisors of all sizes
need to take a broad perspective and plan for different expansion phases.

Keywords: Franchising, Franchisee, Franchisor, Critical Success Factors, CSFs, Restaurant

Chain, Fast-Food chain, life cycle, expansion, barriers.

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 Table of Content

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................................. I

TABLE OF CONTENT ......................................................................................................................................................... II

LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................................................. IV

LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................................................. V

GLOSSARY & ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................................... VI

1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................................................ 2

1.2 PURPOSE AND PROBLEM FORMULATION ..................................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.4 DELIMITATION AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 DISPOSITION OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................................................................................... 4

2. THEORY ............................................................................................................................................................................ 5

2.1 STRUCTURE OF FRANCHISING ....................................................................................................................................................... 5

2.2 BARRIERS FOR FRANCHISORS ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
2.3 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR FRANCHISORS VARIES BETWEEN COUNTRIES ....................................................................... 9
2.4CATEGORIZATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS ....................................................................................................................... 9
2.5 APPLICATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS ......................................................................................................................... 11
2.6 THEORETICAL MODEL ................................................................................................................................................................. 12

3. METHOD ........................................................................................................................................................................ 14

3.1 RESEARCH APPROACH ................................................................................................................................................................. 14

3.2 RESEARCH STRATEGY .................................................................................................................................................................. 14
3.3 SAMPLING ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
3.4 SELECTION OF RESPONDENTS ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
3.5 GROUPING AND CODING OF RESPONDENTS ................................................................................................................................ 17
3.6 PRESENTATION OF RESPONDENTS ............................................................................................................................................. 19
3.7 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................................................. 22
3.8 DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 23
3.9 RELIABILITY ................................................................................................................................................................................. 25
3.10 STATE-OF-THE-ART .................................................................................................................................................................. 25
3.11 TRANSLATION ........................................................................................................................................................................... 26
3.12 VALIDITY.................................................................................................................................................................................... 27

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4. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH .............................................................................................................................................. 29

4.1 BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS ......................................................................................................................................................... 29

4.1.1 Barriers and Solutions Experienced by Small Franchisors ........................................................................................... 29
4.1.2 Barriers and Solutions Experienced by Large Franchisors .......................................................................................... 32
4.1.3 Summary of Barriers and Solutions.......................................................................................................................................... 35
4.2 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS....................................................................................................................................................... 37
4.2.1 CSFs Experienced by Small Franchisors ................................................................................................................................. 37
4.2.2 CSFs Experienced by Large Franchisors ................................................................................................................................. 41
4.2.3 Summary of CSFs ................................................................................................................................................................................ 44

5. ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 46

5.1 BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS ......................................................................................................................................................... 46

5.2 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS....................................................................................................................................................... 48
5.3 MODIFIED THEORETICAL MODEL .............................................................................................................................................. 49

6. CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................................................................. 52

6.1 FULFILMENT OF PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................. 52

6.2 THEORETICAL & MANAGERIAL CONTRIBUTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 53
6.3 SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS ............................................................................................................................................................. 54
6.4 LIMITATIONS & ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 54
6.5 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ....................................................................................................................................... 55

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................................... 57

APPENDIX 1 - CSF CATEGORIZATION ........................................................................................................................ 62

APPENDIX 2 – SUMMARY OF ANSWERS FROM INTERVIEWS (SWEDISH) ........................................................ 63

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 List of Figures

FIGURE 1: CSFS ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

FIGURE 2: RESTAURANT FRANCHISOR CSFS ......................................................................................................................................... 13
FIGURE 3: RESEARCH STRATEGY ............................................................................................................................................................ 15
FIGURE 4: MODIFIED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK BASED ON EMPIRICAL FINDINGS .......................................................................... 50

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 List of Tables

TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF INITIAL STUDY RESPONDENTS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STUDY. ............................................... 16
TABLE 2: DESCRIPTION AND GROUPING OF RESPONDENTS. ................................................................................................................. 18
TABLE 3: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS, TRANSLATED FROM SWEDISH ....................................................................................................... 22
TABLE 4: OVERVIEW OF BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS. ............................................................................................................................ 36
TABLE 5: SUMMARY OF CSFS. ................................................................................................................................................................ 45
TABLE 6: CONTRIBUTIONS TO BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS. .................................................................................................................. 46
TABLE 7: CONTRIBUTIONS TO CSFS. ..................................................................................................................................................... 48

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 Glossary & Abbreviations

Agency theory States that moral hazard and shirking are problems that
franchising solves.
Area developer Must develop a certain number of units in a certain time within a
certain region, cannot normally use franchisee’s.
CSF - Critical success The most important factors for a firm to focus on, in order to
Factors reach the firm's long-term goals. Important to measure these
factors, sometimes called Key Performance Indicatiors (KPI), and
not to measure the factors that are easy to measure.
Fast-casual restaurant A restaurant with a focus on quick service, a restaurant in
the segment between fine-dining and fast-food.
Franchisee Owner of a franchise unit, e.g., a restaurant
Franchise system / concept The complete business system of franchisor and franchisees
Franchise unit For example a restaurant, a real estate brokerage office, or similar
Franchise agreement The contract between a franchisor and a franchisee
Franchisor Owner of a franchise chain
Master franchisee Usually a franchisor sub-licenses a region or a country to a
master franchisee/licensee, who in turn develop own units, or use
franchisees.
Operations manual The manual that controls that a franchisee adheres to the chain
requirements. Written instructions of day-to-day operations.
Upper managers CEOs, owners, founders and business developers of the company
Quick-service restaurant Fast-food type of restaurants with quick service and take-away

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Thanks

We would like to say our heartfelt thanks to all our respondents of this study. You have all
provided insightful and valuable feedback to this study of Critical Success Factors in the
franchised restaurant sector in Sweden. We would also like to say thanks to our mentor Agneta
Sundström for the continuous feedback and support.

Fanny Johansson / Andreas Pedersen

Gävle, June 2018

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1. Introduction
This study aims to find out what the CSFs are for Swedish restaurant franchisors of different
sizes, what barriers they encounter and what their solutions to these problems are. This chapter
first describes the background of CSFs followed by the purpose of the study, the research
questions, the delimitations and the scope of the study and lastly the disposition of the study.
Critical success factors (CSFs) are the tasks that you focus on to reach your goals. This is true
for both individuals, groups, teams and for companies (Rockart, 1979). CSFs ask the questions
- what does it take to become the best in your field? What special tasks must you practice and
become a master in, and what do you need to measure to become the best, to have the
competitive edge?

For a company to become the best, they need to focus on the few vital tasks that are important
to their long-term goals (Bullen & Rockart, 1981). Upper managers must ask themselves “does
this task make a difference in the long run, does it bring us closer to the goals we have for our
company?” If it does not, then the task is not a CSF, and the manager should try and instead
find the tasks that will bring the company closer to its long-term goals (Rockart, 1979). In
addition, measuring and following up the non-critical tasks does not bring you closer to your
goals, but measuring the CSF does (Rockart, 1979).

This study attempts to find the CSFs in ten Swedish restaurant franchisors by interviewing the
upper management of each chain and to study the factors that they consider vitally critical to
expand their chains. What do they believe are their CSFs? What do they measure? Are there
differences between small and large franchisors?

As far as we know, no other study has researched the CSFs in restaurant franchisors in Sweden.
This study fills a gap in the understanding of CSFs related to the expansion of restaurant
franchisors in the quick-service and fast-casual sector, and whether or not the size of the
franchisor is a factor that affects the CSFs.

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1.1 Background

In 1961 Daniel published an article in the Harvard Business review called the “Management
Information Crisis.” This article became the start of the research area of “Critical Success
factors.” Rockart (1979) also published an article in HBR, called “Chief executives define their
own data needs,” which was a continuation of Daniel’s work, but with more industries
included. Daniel studied three industries. In the automobile industry, he found styling, efficient
dealer organization, and efficient control of manufacturing cost to be the most important CSFs.
In food processing, he found that product development, distribution, and effective advertising
were the most important CSFs. He also studied life insurance where he found that the most
important CSFs were the development of agency management staff, control of administrative
staff, and development of new policies. According to Rockart (1979, p. 87), CSFs help
managers to identify significant factors so that they may receive the attention they need. He
also states that: “the identification of CSFs moves an organization away from the trap of
building its reporting and information system primarily around data that are easy to collect” (p.
87). Instead, it forces the company to collect the data that are important for their long-term
goals.

Both Daniel’s and Rockart’s focus was to help managers find the CSFs in their companies.
These early pioneers of CSF research were mainly focused on industrial and large
American firms. In later decades CSFs have been studied in different industries, and
researchers such as Camillo, Connolly & Kim (2008) have been studying CSFs in the restaurant
sector. Camillo et al. (2008) found that the location of a franchise unit could be a possible
problem, and a CSF. Location is important in the restaurant industry and a unit can be harmed
in being a block away from the perfect location (Choo, 2003). To solve these problems, the
franchisors decide the location for a new franchise unit, to ensure that this problem does not
stand in the way for the success of the chain.

1.2 Purpose and Problem formulation

Recently, there has been a large increase of domestic franchisors in the restaurant sector in
Sweden and not all chains have been able to expand successfully (CEO Swedish Franchise

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Organization). New chains were able to expand with 5-10 units, but then leveled off. Other
chains managed to expand to 15-30 units, and then leveled off, and yet other chains have
managed to increase their expansion rate each year. In our study, we have assumed that
competition has increased in this sector and that specific franchisors have more effective CSFs
than others do. It is of interest to study what the franchisors believe their CSFs are. In addition,
because the chains in our study are in different life cycles and expansion stages, it is also of
interest to investigate whether size has an effect on their CSFs. Therefore, in this study small
and large franchisors are compared to understand differences due to size and related to CSF.

From its inception to its expansion nationally and internationally, the management of a
restaurant franchise concept uses various critical success factors to overcome the barriers that
they encounter throughout their different growth phases. This study aims to find out what the
CSFs are for Swedish restaurant franchisors of different sizes, what barriers they encounter and
what their solutions to these problems are.

1.3 Research questions

The following research questions were used to investigate the purpose of our study. The first
question aims to analyze what barriers and solutions a Swedish restaurant franchisor has. The
second research question aims to analyze what CSFs Swedish restaurant franchisors have. The
third research question aims to analyze the differences between CSFs for small and large
restaurant franchisors.

Research question 1:
Research question 2:
Research question 3:
What barriers do franchisors meet when expanding and what
are the solutions to these barriers?
What are the main CSFs for a restaurant franchisor?
Do small and large restaurant franchisors experience different
CSFs?

In this study, our theoretical framework includes all of the known restaurant CSFs from the
literature. Our framework is used to analyze the answers from our respondents, and intends to
identify new CSFs unique for Swedish restaurant Franchisors. The theory section describes

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barriers, the CSF field and franchising in more detail and at the end of the chapter provides the
reader with our theoretical framework. These three research questions are operationalized in the
methodology chapter by using the theoretical framework from the theory section.

1.4 Delimitation and scope of the study

In this study, we will investigate CSFs from the franchisors perspective and we will specifically
focus on franchisors within the restaurant sector in Sweden. The companies will include both
fast casual and quick-service restaurants. Franchise facilitators are industry associations, who in
Sweden are Svensk Franchise (Swedish franchisor organization) and Svenska Franchisetagare
(the Swedish franchisee organization), state agencies and consulting firms. In our study, we’ve
had direct contact with the CEOs at both industry organizations, as well as a consultant at a
consulting firm, the Franchise Group AB, as well as the upper management of ten franchisors.
No other sectors, countries or business systems will be researched.

1.5 Disposition of the study

This work is structured in the following way. First, in the theory chapter, we start with an
overview of the major theories of CSFs and franchising that are relevant to the aim of our
study. The theory chapter presents our theoretical model. Following this, our method is
presented and how qualitative research was conducted. Thereafter the main results are
presented in the empirical research chapter. These main results are then analyzed in the analysis
chapter and compared with previous literature. The conclusion chapter summarizes the research
performed, and discusses the fulfilment of the aim, purpose and research questions that were
presented in the introduction chapter. Managerial, ethical and societal implications are also
discussed in the conclusion, as well as the limitations of the study, and suggestions for further
research.

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2. Theory
In this study we view barriers, solutions to the barriers and CSFs as interconnected. We have
structured the theory chapter by first describing franchising and the competitive advantages
researchers have found in this area, especially life-cycle and first mover advantage, to provide a
broad overview of a franchisors situation. We then continue with barriers for franchisors and
barriers that may exist in owners/founders, to highlight that barriers may exist in unexpected
areas, not just in the operations area. The third section explains the research that has been done
on CSFs and that CSFs may differ between markets and industries. The fourth section discusses
application of CSFs in restaurant chains who use franchising. Since there are overlapping CSFs,
we needed to categorize the different factors and this is done in the fifth section. The sixth
section summarizes all the major theories into our theoretical model. This model incorporates
the most important concepts, in regards to our research questions, from the whole chapter. The
theories that are mentioned but not used in the framework will be used in the analysis of the
empirical findings.

2.1 Structure of Franchising

Franchising has come a long way since the brand franchising of, e.g., Singer and Coca-Cola in
the 1800s. From the mid-1900s, the business format Franchising has been a widely practiced
business model, used in different industries, and is especially popular in fast casual and fast
food restaurants (Norton, 2004). McDonalds and Burger King are well-known examples of
successful business format franchisors. Business format franchising is a turn-key business, not
just a brand to hang over your door. Franchising, as it is known today began in the 1960s in the
US as an alternative to expand chains that had a limited amount of capital and/or managerial
talent to expand on their own (Duckett & Monaghan, 2011). By using franchising these chains
could expand rapidly, have access to capital, save on operating costs, and capitalize on the
motivation of independent entrepreneurs. Franchising is one of the alternatives to company
owned units (Carney & Gedajlovic, 1991). Another benefit of using franchising for a firm is
that it minimizes operational risk.

Today, the World Franchise Council and the International Franchise Association estimates that
there are 16,000 franchised systems operating in 140 countries globally (Duckett & Monaghan,

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2011). Franchise systems exist in most sectors of the economy, e.g., hotels, restaurants and
coffee shops, car rental, real estate brokerage, business-to-business services, business services
(Alon, 2012). There are small and big franchise systems, local, regional and international ones,
and regardless of size, what every franchise system has in common, is access to a proven
business concept that easily is taught to others (Mendelsohn, 2005).

The franchisor is the owner of the franchise concept and has the accumulated managerial know-
how (Alon, 2006). Due to the proven business concept that the franchisor has developed, a
franchisee is willing to rent the franchise concept and pay franchise fees (rent) to the franchisor
(Hoffman & Preble, 2004). The franchise agreement and operations manual are the tools that
the franchisor use to create a uniform chain experience. Normally a franchisee agreement runs
for 5-30 years and has periodic renewals (Dant, Perrigot & Cliquet, 2008). The length of the
franchise contract depends on the industry it is in. Hotels usually have longer contracts,
whereas quick service restaurants and retailing use shorter (Rubin, 1978). In the case of
substandard quality or any other problems with the franchisee, the franchisor will not renew the
franchise contract and will find a new franchisee (Hoy, 1994).

Franchising is not always successful as the system incorporate elements of risk (Roh, 2002).
Researchers have found that the success rate of a franchising systems is greater compared to
other businesses due to the shared competence and economies of scale (Gikonyo, Berndt, &
Wadawi, 2015). However, this might not be the whole truth since findings suggest that the
success of franchising might not be reported truthfully by franchisors. Unsuccessful units can
be resold, or repurchased by the franchisor, or debranded, and sold (Hoy, 1994). Several
aspects could be problematic for franchising system. According to Rubin (1978), a franchising
relationship should be comparable to a partnership; however, frequently the relationship can
resemble an employer-employee relationship. This can cause an imbalance in the relationship
and power between the franchisor and franchisee. Franchisees can be forced to make costly
changes on short notice, and this is not always in the best interest of the franchisee, but in the
best interest of the chain (Spinelli & Birley, 1996). Factors such as a country’s rules and
regulations have also shown to be potential barriers to franchisors all over the world (Hoffman
& Preble, 2004). In order for the franchise system to be successful one of the keys is also to

6
find franchisees who will be successful. However, this could potentially be difficult for the
franchisor as there are several different criteria for the selection of franchisees, including their
business experience, financial strength, local market knowledge. Therefore, finding a
successful franchisee resembles finding a successful employee, it is difficult to foresee their
future performance and this becomes a barrier for franchisors (Mendelsohn, 2005, p. 79).

Franchisor life-cycle and competitive advantages

According to Hoy & Stanworth (2003) the main competitive advantages during a franchisors
life cycle are (1) rapid access to markets, (2) reduced cost of capital, (3) risk sharing within the
channel, and (4) highly motivated owner-operators. These factors explain why a franchising
system has competitive advantages. However, the importance of each factor varies over a
franchising system’s life-cycle. Lillis, Narayana & Gilman (1976) interviewed over 50 fast-
food franchisors to find the different life stages of fast-food franchisors and found four main
stages (1) penetration, (2) growth, (3) maturity, and (4) late maturity. The conclusion from
Lillis et al. (1976) was that a franchisor in the early stages find rapid access to markets and
highly motivated owner-operators important competitive advantages. Highly motivated
franchisees were regarded as important in all growth stages. Reducing costs of capital becomes
less important in a business' later growth stages because of the financial strength that larger
franchisors usually have. There was also a noticeable increased use of own units as the
franchisors grew in size.

First mover advantage

Being the first in a market can provide a restaurant chain with superior profits due to economies
of scale (Michael, 2003). Michael (2003) performed a study of restaurants and concluded that
the chains who used franchising to grow rapidly to a large size gained a first mover advantage
that in the latter stages provided the chains with higher profits. Preble and Hoffman (2006)
came to the same conclusion when they studied business format franchisors that expanded
globally. They also added a discussion on which licensing formats that were most appropriate
for different types of foreign markets. In general, they concluded that master franchisee
licensing should be used for dissimilar markets and area developers for similar markets.
According to the authors, inexperienced franchisors should wait to enter dissimilar markets

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until their skills in (1) distance management, (2) cultural adaptability, (3) host country policy
adaptation, and (4) Currency exchange management had strengthened. First mover advantage
can be found both domestically and internationally for a restaurant franchisor.

2.2 Barriers for Franchisors

In a study by Floyd and Fenwick (1999) barriers for a franchise chain are explained by the use
of different growth stages. The authors found between three and ten stages, but decided to use
five stages for their study, namely (1) Hatchling - Establishment of business prior to
franchising, (2) Nestling - A commitment to franchise, (3) Fledgling - Franchisee recruitment
and rapid growth to reach economies of scale, (4) Adult - Franchise system maturity, and (5)
Internationalization. The authors mention that franchise chains will not always manage to
successfully move to all stages, and that chains may get stuck on the way, due to growth
barriers.

The authors found eighteen barriers in a study with respondents in retailers in sport, domestic
products and services, real estate, and rental cars. The barriers that they discovered were, e.g.,
initial concept development, obtaining customers and delivering service, format refinement,
replicating and testing format, and finding good franchisees. Due to Floyd and Fenwick’s
(1999) study being done in various industries there were no straightforward conclusions for the
different stages. This is a limitation of their study. We believe a more industry specific study,
such as a study of restaurant franchisors may provide a clearer picture of which barriers are
more relevant for restaurant franchisors.

Owner Barrier

There are other studies that may provide further insight into the growth barriers for franchise
systems. Stanworth and Curran (1976) and Tuck and Hamilton (1993) found that the growth of
small firms that are managed by their founders may have barriers in how the founders can
change his/her self-image. When a franchise chain starts to grow an owner needs to develop
his/her managerial role. In the beginning of the life of a chain, with only a few units, the owner
have a front-line managerial role. When the chain starts to grow the owner needs to transition to
a mid-managerial role, and as the chain grows further, the owner needs to move to an upper-

8
managerial role, which involves supervising the middle managers. According to the authors,
not all owners manage to change their self-image and therefore are not able to move up a level,
and this can become a barrier for the growth of the chain. According to Tucker and Hamilton
(1993), it is helpful if the owner already from the start is at the middle-managerial level, and
not too involved in the day-to-day operations of the units. Since it is difficult to transition more
than one role, and it is better to start at a middle managerial level.

2.3 Critical success factors for Franchisors varies between countries

CSFs may differ from country to country, and even between industries (Esteves, 2004).
According to Bullen and Rockart (1981) geographical location can affect CSFs. There are
several studies on this topic and Asemi and Jazi (2010) found that implementation of CSFs
does not differ between developed and developing countries, but that there were undeniable
differences between nations.

Although CSFs can vary from country to country, and even between businesses in the same
industry (Asemi & Jazi, 2010), authors found that developing CSFs help businesses create a
competitive advantage (Trkman, 2010). Rockart (1979, p. 87), managed to find the main
benefits for managers when implementing the CSF approach into the business strategy and
noticed differences between industries. Nevertheless, CSFs help managers in determining what
factors need management attention and to what extent and what works well as a measurement
for managers to identify company conditions. Even though the factors can vary between
countries and industries, CSFs still help businesses to move away from the “easy to collect”
data, and rather helps them focus their attention to the important data that might not be
collected otherwise (Hietschold, Reinhardt & Gurtner, 2014).

2.4Categorization of critical success factors

In this section the four different theories from Alon (2006), Camillo et al. (2008), Choo (2003)
and Gikonyo et al., (2015) are combined to develop our theoretical framework. The table that
was used for the categorization can be found in Appendix 1. The five main categories of
promotion, franchisee management, learning, external and growth were developed and are
discussed below.

9
CSFs for brand, appeal, value to customers, marketing strategy and unique concept have been
grouped into the broader category Promotion. In this category, there are three studies from
Gikonyo et al. (2015), Camillo et al. (2008) and Choo (2003). The original findings from these
studies in regards to CSFs range from brand power concept, cultural appeal, cultural
adaptability, balance between price, value, service and product quality to sell a unique
concept, not your ego.

Lafontaine and Shaw (1998) studied growth in franchising and this category cover the different
CSFs for location selection, chain expansion speed, quick internationalization and
standardization. These CSFs have been grouped into the broader category Growth. In this
category, there are two studies from Gikonyo et al. (2015) and Alon (2006). The original
findings from these studies in regards to CSFs range from good site selection, location to
franchising speed, internationalize quickly and standardize method.

The CSFs for distance management, franchisee selection, relationship franchisee, contract
management, work-life balance, and clear vision have been grouped into the broader category
Franchisee Management. The contribution to this category comes from the three studies of
Gikonyo et al. (2015), Camillo et al. (2008) and Choo (2003). The original findings from these
studies in regards to CSFs are competent management, partnership management, balance
between family and work-life.

The CSFs for competitors and regulations have been grouped into the broader category
External. In this category, there are studies from Gikonyo et al. (2015) and Choo (2003). The
original findings from these studies in regards to CSFs range from competitor environment,
governmental policies to host country risk management.

The CSFs for franchise vs. owned stores, operate own stores, continuous learning, and
creativity have been grouped into the main category Learning. The contribution to this category
comes from the two studies of Camillo et al. (2008) and Alon (2006). The original findings

10
from these studies in regards to CSFs are from grow franchising vs. owned, operate a sufficient
amount of company owned stores, continuous learning and keep your creativity high.

2.5 Application of Critical Success Factors

To aid in answering our research question the theories from the four researchers in figure 1
were primarily used to develop our theoretical framework. Alon (2006) studied CSFs in
international franchising and found that retailers who aim to be successful in the international
market should (1) franchise quickly, (2) use international and standardization strategies to
appeal to a larger audience, (3) focus on expansion with franchisee’s, yet still operate a
sufficient number of company owned stores, (4) focus on continuous training. Choo (2003)
focused on franchisors that entered into East Asian countries and found six distinct CSFs: (1)
Distance management, (2) Cultural adaptability, (3) Host country risk management, (4)
Contract enforcement, (5) Marketing approach and (6) Partnership management.

Camillo et al. (2008) conducted a study in the restaurant sector in Northern California and
found common characteristics of successful vs failed restaurants. Camillo et al. (2008) found
that the success of restaurants depends on two main factors; emotional factors and operational
factors. Another eight factors were found to have a direct effect on the success of a restaurant
(1) unique concept, (2) high creativity (3) knowledgeable managers (4) manage costs rather
than revenues (5) work-life balance (6) have a vision (7) stay composed, act, do not react (8)
manage a balance between price, service and product quality (See Figure 1).

With focus on franchise chains in the restaurant sector, Gikonyo et al. (2015) paid attention to
CSFs. Their investigation of foreign franchisors entering the Kenyan Restaurant market, found
that nine different variables of CSFs are most important: brand power/concept, competitive
environment, government policies, distance management, cultural appeal, excellent selection of
franchisees, good site/location selection, good relationship with the franchisees, and proper
contract management.

11
Figure 1: CSFs (Alon, 2006; Camillo et al., 2008; Choo, 2003; and Gikonyo et al., 2015).

2.6 Theoretical Model

Our theoretical framework in Figure 3 has been structured by using the five categories we
described earlier. The five categories are (1) Promotion, (2) Franchisee management, (3)
Learning, (4) External factors, and (5) Growth. In the promotion category brand, marketing and
concept are gathered. Under the franchisee management category all the CSFs that were found
for franchisees are shown. In the learning category all the CSFs about franchisor learning are
listed. In external we found two CSFs in the literature, competition and regulations. The growth
category is centered around how to standardize and grow the chain and finding locations. Apart
from the CSFs we also used the categories “barriers to expansion” and “solutions to barriers.”
The barriers for restaurant franchisors in particular have not been clearly found in previous
studies, and neither have the solutions.

12
Figure 2: Restaurant franchisor CSFs (Gikonyo et al., 2015; Camillo et al., 2008; Choo, 2003;
Alon, 2006).

The theoretical framework in Figure 2 visualize a franchisor’s potential CSFs with intention to
facilitate an analysis of the empirical data. The framework highlights the areas, which
according to previous studies, are vitally critical for a restaurant franchisor. There were five
main streams of CSFs in the literature and they are separate categories: growth, promotion,
external influences, franchisee management and learning. As is evident in the figure, the first
three represents external factors to manage while the two last refer to internal management
issues. Their location in the framework does not signify any internal ranking.

13
3. Method
This chapter describes the research approach, research strategy, sampling, selection of
respondents, grouping of respondents, presentation of franchisors, validity, reliability, data
analysis, as well as state-of-the-art and translation of the interviews. Our method chapter
explains how our study was done. The main point in this chapter is that ten semi-structured
telephone interviews were held during three weeks with business developers at Swedish
restaurant franchisors. The aim of the interviews was to collect CSFs from restaurant
franchisors in Sweden, and to find the barriers to success and the solutions to these barriers.

3.1 Research approach

Our study used an inductive approach, as opposed to a deductive approach. An inductive
approach consists of first collecting related data, followed by spotting common patterns, and
from those steps, theories can be developed (Backman, 1998; Patton, 1990). For this study we
decided on using a qualitative approach because it provides us with a fuller picture of the
research area. According to Maxwell (2012, p. 17) the strengths of a qualitative research
approach is that it, from an inductive approach, focuses on the specific situations or people,
emphasizing words and meaning, rather than numbers, such as in a quantitative approach.

The decision to use a qualitative research approach enabled us to explore and find themes from
our interviews. According to Boeije (2010) there are three types of qualitative research
depending on the findings of the study: thematic survey (exploratory), conceptual (descriptive),
and interpretive explanation (explanatory). Our research falls under the thematic survey, which
is used when the purpose is to find themes, to describe, and to interpret them. This aligns well
with our study, as we want to find themes in the CSFs for franchisors, describe them and later
interpret them to contribute to previous literature. There has also not been done any research in
this area of CSFs for restaurant franchisors in Sweden before, which is also why an explorative
study would be appropriate as a first step of researching this area.

3.2 Research strategy

Our study used an exploratory research approach. An exploratory approach is according to
Esaiasson, Gilljam, Oscarsson and Wängnerud (2003) a good choice when there is little

14
previous knowledge about the topic and the authors want to shed new light on a problem. Our
study was started by gathering information about previous research within CSFs for franchisors
through a literature review. This provided us with an overview of previous research and
different theories to use in our research. As shown in Figure 3, after the literature review we
started our study by conducting a preliminary interview with two franchising professionals (see
Table 5). This helped us to gather current knowledge of franchising in Sweden and helped us to
narrow down the research topic and ground the study in current problems for franchisors.

Figure 3: Research Strategy (Source: own).

During our preliminary interviews, we also found several good sources of where to find
franchisors in the restaurant sector. In addition to our preliminary interviews, we also attended
a franchise event in Uppsala that we were invited to by one of the interviewed respondents. The
event confirmed most of the findings in this study. The event itself has not been used in this
study other than improving our background knowledge of the research area of barriers,
franchising and CSFs and seeing firsthand how franchisors recruit franchisees through
professionally organized roadshows. The event could not be used for triangulation.

15
Table 1: Summary of initial study respondents and their contributions to the study (Source: own).

Company Respondent Role Date Length Contribution to study

Svensk Franchise (Swedish Franchisor Jonas Martinsson CEO 12/3/18 1h Franchisor organization point of view
Organization)

Svenska franchisetagare (Swedish Love von Gertten CEO 16/3/18 30 min Franchisee organization point of view
Franchisee Organization)

3.3 Sampling
Our sample frame of franchisors in the restaurant industry consisted of 33 companies. These
companies were found by using two websites (1) franchisefinder.se and (2) svenskfranchise.se,
which were referred to us by Jonas Martinsson (Martinsson, J., personal interview, March 12,
2018). We sent out emails to all 33 companies asking them if they would like to participate in
our study. Ten companies responded within 24 hours and agreed to participate in the study.
Since 10 interviews was our goal, we did not try to contact the ones who did not answer one
more time. It was apparent in the responses that those companies who agreed to participate in
our study were genuinely interested in discussing what makes franchise chains successful, there
were no companies who canceled their participation so our effective response rate was 30,3%.
The study uses convenience sampling. According to Etikan, Musa and Alkassim (2016, p. 2),
convenience sampling is a non-probability and non-random sampling where the population has
“easy accessibility, geographical proximity, availability at a given time, or the willingness to
participate are included for the purpose of the study”. Using a convenience sampling method
allowed us to perform the study within the short timeframe allowed.

Further Glaser and Strauss (1967) recommend the method of saturation in qualitative studies.
According to Glaser and Strauss (1967), saturation is reached in a study when the sample size is
big enough to obtain feedback from most perceptions in the population. The saturation point is
reached when no more information is found by further data collection. In our study, saturation
was reached at 6-8 interviews and the interviews beyond this saturation point, did not add
additional information. Rather, the information that was gathered by the last 4 interviews
confirmed what earlier respondents had mentioned. The decision was made to continue with the
last interviews because it would strengthen the results of the study.

16
According to Patton (1990), a qualitative sample size should be determined by balancing
available resources, time and the objectives of the study. In our study, by interviewing 10
respondents out of a sample frame of 33, the study reached both saturation, as well as the
objectives of the study, by using the time allotted and the available resources effectively.

3.4 Selection of respondents

Ten semi-structured telephone interviews with seventeen open-ended questions were held in
early April of 2018 and ranged in length from 17 - 35 minutes. The questions for the interviews
can be found in Appendix 2. The interviews were done by one or two of the researchers, who
recorded the interviews and took notes about the themes and connections. Since the
respondents were in different Swedish cities, such as Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo, it
was decided to use telephone interviews for all of the respondents so that a uniform interview
format could be used for all respondents (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009, p. 349). The
telephone interviews were held during regular business office hours and were set-up by
emailing the respondents a few days before.

For the selection of respondents, we aimed to interview the top management in the franchisor
organization because these managers are the ones who have the best knowledge of their chains
CSFs. We succeeded in reaching the CEOs, owners, and the business developers, all of whom
are part of the top management. Most of the business developers were also co-owners of their
chain.

3.5 Grouping and coding of respondents

The respondents had a diverse background. Their companies ranged from small to large, and
from newly started, to well-established franchise systems. Table 7 demonstrates that all of the
respondents were CEOs, business developers, and/or owners, with the exception of one
respondent, who was a franchise consultant. The respondents educational background varied,
with 4 respondents having an undergraduate degree, one respondent with a PhD and the rest
had unknown educational background. Overall, the educational background seemed high, as

17
well as their experience within the franchising field. All respondents were male, with an
approximate age range between 35 and 55.

Table 2: Description and grouping of respondents (Source: own).

Small franchisors Large franchisors

Small Small Small Small Small Large Large Large Large Large
Respondents Franchis Franchis Franchis Franchis Franchis Franchis Franchis Franchis Franchis Franchis
or A or B or C or D or E or F or G or H or I or J

Nr of
1-21 1-21 1-21 1-21 1-21 43-160 43-160 43-160 43-160 43-160
franchisees

Age of
franchise 3 5 9 16 1 30 48 20 6 23
system

Quick Quick Fast Fast Quick Fast Quick Quick Fast Fast
Sector
Service Service Casual Casual Service Casual Service Service Casual Casual

Bus.
Interviewee Dev. Bus. Bus. Bus. Bus. Bus.
Owner Owner Owner CEO
background (consulta Dev. Dev. Dev. Dev. Dev.
nt)

The grouping is based on the number of franchisees. The grouping was done after all the
interviews had been held and the decision to divide the interviewed companies was taken to
allow for comparison within and between the groups. The number of franchisees was a
parameter we considered as relevant. This is because a small organization, in this case a
franchisor with few franchisees, is familiar with what everyone involved needs to do, both
internally with the franchisee and externally as the franchisor. This may be similar to the fact
that more franchisees mean that more people need to be checked to achieve certain results. In
the companies we have investigated, we saw a large spread between the numbers of franchisees
in the analysis template, from 1 to 160 franchisees. We also saw that there were two distinct
groups of small and large franchisors among our respondents, which led us to believe that this
parameter is of primary interest in how to divide the franchisors. Small franchisors had 1-21
units and large franchisors had 43-160 units. There were no respondents in the range of 22-42
units. We did not see that the age of the franchise chain was a parameter that yielded any
groupings, however, the age information is shown as background information.

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3.6 Presentation of respondents
We found two distinct groups of small and large franchisors when we compared the companies
based on the size parameter. We chose to divide the ten franchisors that were interviewed in
two groups: small franchisors and large franchisors. The group of small franchise chains
consists of five companies with 1 to 21 franchisees. The group of large franchise chains
consists of five companies with 43 to 160 franchisees.

Small franchisors
Franchisor A
Small Franchisor A is active in the quick service restaurants with a Californian/Mexican focus.
It has grown both on its own and with around 10 franchisee units for the last 3 years. The focus
of the business is healthy and fresh ingredients and the positioning in the market is to be a more
fun alternative to unhealthy fast-food. The chain is still in the early stage of expansion, where
they are marketing themselves to attract franchisees and because they do not have a well-
known brand yet. It is a traditionally structured quick service chain with a business model that
requires excellent locations with high foot-traffic in order to be profitable. The management
expects the expansion rate to be 5 units/year, for the upcoming years.

Franchisor B
This is a 5-year-old franchise chain with around 15 units. They focus on small units with low
investment costs and easy operations. The chain has an experienced management team from
building 50 franchisee units under a different, but similar concept. The chain has also managed
to secure funding through online peer-to-peer fund-raising (crowdfunding) to finance their
future franchisor operations. The positioning in the market is a quick service outlet for cold
Asian food with a mid-segment pricing which requires high foot- traffic locations. The
management expect the expansion rate of the chain to be 10 new franchisees per year. An
international expansion is planned in the future.

Franchisor C
Small Franchisor C is a restaurant chain that mixes different foods such as pizza, salads and a
coffee shop. It has around 10 franchisees and is approximately 10 years old. The concept has an

19
original storytelling and interior design, but is not a destination in itself, and must rely on good
locations to be profitable. The position of the restaurant is to be a social meeting place that
serves food with wholesome and organic ingredients. A highly successful crowd funding
campaign secured financing for further expansion of the chain. The management expects the
rate of expansion to be 4 units per year.

Franchisor D
This is a fast-casual restaurant chain with its roots in Stockholm. The chain has around 25
franchise units and the age of the chain is around 15 years old. Mediterranean food is served in
an authentic environment. Structure and business model of the chain is traditional with a need
of good locations to be profitable. Management expect the chain to grow with an annual rate of
5 units.

Franchisor E
Small Franchisor E is a new franchise concept in traditional quick service, positioning
themselves as a high-end restaurant compared to their competitors. Ingredients are of higher
than normal quality and pricing is at a premium price point. The chain has two units and
actively marketing their franchise concept to expand the chain. The management team is one of
the least experienced in this study. Expansion rate is expected to be 3-5 units per year.

Large Franchisors
Franchisor F
This restaurant chain within the fast-casual segment is one of the biggest chains in this study. It
was founded about 25 years ago and now have approximately 150 units in Sweden, and
internationally. The market position is to serve American food and provide sports entertainment
in a friendly atmosphere. The franchise concept utilizes large units and is a destination in itself
so a unit does not need the best location, but can be located on a second floor, or similar. A
highly experienced management team. The chain only operates a few units themselves.
Management expects the expansion rate to be 10 units per year.

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Franchisor G
Large Franchisor G is the oldest and largest franchisor in the study. Around 45 years old with
about 150 franchise units. The chain serves a mix of quick service food such as hamburgers,
hot dogs and kebab. The chain has a unique franchise business structure, with a majority
shareholder that owns the brand and concept, while the remainder is owned by the franchisees
themselves. During the last years, this chain has begun to reposition itself with larger units and
with new interior and exterior design, to meet the challenges from other quick service
competitors. The repositioning of the chain seems to be a daunting task for the management.
According to management, growth rate is expected to be around 5 new units per year.

Franchisor H
Large Franchisor H is in the coffee shop business and was established about 25 years ago and
today has about 60-80 units. The market position is mainstream with a focus on organic
ingredients. Price point is mid-upper, depending on location. Business model requires good
visible locations with high foot-traffic. According to the management, the expansion rate for
the coming years is expected to be around 10 units per year. The chain has no problems in
attracting franchisees due to its well-known brand.

Franchisor I
Large Franchisor I is the fastest growing franchise chain in this study. It is about 7 years old
and have expanded the last few years with 30-40% per year, and now have around 60 units.
There are several reasons this chain has grown with impressive numbers. First, its business
model does not require top locations, it has managed to create a popular concept and this fast-
casual restaurant is a destination in itself. Thanks to having lower requirements for their
location, which makes it easier to find locations, and a focus on cutting costs with the help of
technology, this chain offers its franchisees an above average profitable concept that is also
easy to find space. The position in the market is fast casual international food in a novel setting.
According to the management, expansion rate is planned to about 20 new units per year.
International expansion is planned. The chain uses a mix of own and franchise units. Attracting
franchisees is not a problem due to its reputation as a profitable franchise.

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Franchisor J
Franchisor J is one of Sweden’s most well-known pub chains. It was founded about 25 years
ago and now has around 50 pubs. Business model is to locate the chain in smaller cities and
serve a menu of classic pub food with an international twist. Position in the market is to be the
most popular place to go to in smaller towns. Price point is mid of market. There is a mix of
own and franchised pubs. Management expects the chain to grow with 5 units per year.

3.7 Interview Questions

We asked the same interview questions to all of our respondents. The questions were designed
as open-ended and with the purpose of not being leading or providing the respondent with any
of the known CSFs from the literature (Leech, 2002). Table 3 shows our questions and the
connection they have with our three research questions about barriers, solutions and CSFs.

Table 3: Interview Questions, translated from Swedish (source: own).

Research Questions Interview Questions

Telephone Interview

General Questions Can you tell us about your background?

What role do you have in the chain?

How many franchisees do you have in the chain, how many units do you
operate on your own in Sweden?

How many units do you plan to open within 1 year, 5 years, and where?

Is it important to operate your own units, why, or why not?

RQ1: What barriers do franchisors meet What is success to your chain? (how do you define success?)

when expanding and what are the solutions

How do you measure success for your chain? (any specific numbers that
to these barriers? you study?)

Which factors do you believe are most important to be able to expand your
RQ2: What are the main CSFs for a
chain successfully?
restaurant franchisor?
Which factors are most important in order to have successful franchisees?

RQ3: Do small and large restaurant franchisors When you look at your competitors, what do they do well, and what can
have different CSFs? they improve?

Which are the biggest barriers for the expansion of your chain?

When building new units, what are the most important factors?

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 What are the critical success factors when managing your chain? (what
factors are most important to be successful)

What problems are difficult to predict when recruiting franchisees or when

managing your chain?

What are the solutions to overcome the most What other problems can you experience as a franchisor?
important barriers to franchisor success?

What is your solution to these problems? How do you solve these problems
as a franchisor? Please provide practical examples.

Wrap-up Questions Do you have anything to add, anything that we have missed to ask about,
anything that you consider being a critical success factor for your chain?

Anonymity Would you like to be anonymous in this study?

Thank you for your time and for being part in our study!

The questions were worded in a neutral tone, to be explorative, and were aimed at asking about
different aspects of the respondent’s company without being detailed or biased Their theoretical
connections are barriers, solutions and their different CSFs. The grouping of CSFs from our
theoretical model also helped us shape the questions so that all the groups have questions, such
as, promotion, franchisee management, learning, growth and external. Most of the respondents
had no problems to provide us with long and interesting answers, without any interference or
prodding from our part, except for the occasional “Uh-hum,” or “Interesting! can you tell me
more?” Their ease of answering our questions was probably due to their upper managerial
positions in their chains, and that they are business developers who deal with this type of
questions on a daily basis. The open-ended general interview questions in Table 3 therefore
worked well with our respondents and provided the study with the data that was needed. After
the first interview, the wording was changed to improve the “spoken word,” since a few of the
Swedish words were unnecessarily difficult to pronounce, especially when interviewing
respondents who used mobile phones in areas with bad connection.

3.8 Data Analysis

Our data analysis has been based largely on the data we collected from ten different franchisors
through semi-structured interviews. We have done extensive analysis work on these interviews
and divided the data analysis into several steps. We started by recording the ten interviews, to
be able to transcribe them and to accurately reproduce what was said. To get a good overview

23
and to transcribe the interviews efficiently, we used a computer software called Adobe
Audition, where we recorded the audio, improved the audio when needed and listened at
various speeds to increase coherence. By using the software, we reproduced what was said in
order to create as correct picture as possible based on data collected from each interview.
Sometimes the recording required audio adjustments due to the respondents’ use of cell phones
in areas with bad coverage. We believe that we were able to reproduce accurately the data
collected and that the audio quality had no impact on the study.

After we had transcribed the ten interviews, we then coded and categorized the data. We started
by using our analysis template, coloring all empirical material, divided into each company and
interview. This provided us with all the relevant and essential data with which we then could
explain and quote what was said during the interviews. Color-coding paved the way to first sort
the data for each interview by the way we found it, along the variables that made up our codes,
based on our theoretical framework. After that, we cited the data that had the greatest weight
and relevant information. These codes were developed iteratively during the course of the
study. We continuously worked with preserving the context of the quotes since this may
sometimes cause problems, when pieces of text are extracted from its context (Bryman & Bell,
2005).

We then proceeded with color-coding the data belonging to each company and what they said
about each term, to create a basic directory of terms that would contribute to interpretation and
theorizing. After we had developed our empirical data, we analyzed the relationships between
the two groups by iteratively looking back and forth at our theoretical framework. This made it
possible for us to compare the connection with the theory associated with our empirical
framework. Because we had created a basic directory of important terms, we gained a good
overall view of the relationship both within companies and between the two groups. This is in
line with the findings from Boeije (2010).

24
3.9 Reliability
Care has also been taken when choosing the respondents, all of them have positions as business
developers, and open-ended questions have been used to gather data. Care has also been taken
to make sure that the right questions were asked based on the theoretical model in figure 2.

To increase the reliability care has been taken to collect reliable data. When conducting our
interviews, we asked open-ended questions to get the respondents answer in their own-words. It
was also important not to provide the respondents with any of the CSF factors that we collected
from literature studies. Because of this our follow-up questions during the interviews were of
the type “Interesting, can you tell us more/elaborate more?” Only during the last question,
when we asked whether the respondent thought we had missed to ask about any important
CSFs, we sometimes added a question at the end of the interview about something new or
unusual that the respondent had mentioned earlier in the interview. For example, one
respondent mentioned an extensive use of area developers; another mentioned a structured way
of expanding the chain, with the use of several steps, where each expansion step involved a
different marketing mix. According to Boeije (2010) reliability is referred to as the consistency
of measurements and method in the study. This was applied to our study by asking neutral
questions and the same questions to all of the respondents.

3.10 State-of-the-art
To find relevant theoretical literature, we used Google Scholar as a meta search tool. We also
searched literature in specialized databases such as Emerald, Business source premier, SAGE,
ScienceDirect and Taylor & Francis to download articles that were not possible to download
through Google Scholar. We also double-checked if there were any other articles available in
our chosen subject area of franchising and CSFs. By using the Ulrich web, our attempt was to
use articles from only peer-reviewed academic journals. We wanted to discuss and present
well-known theories within the theoretical field of franchising and CSFs.

Most of the articles and books were in English and were found by using a combination of
keywords such as “franchising,” “franchisor,” “critical success factors” and “Restaurant.” After
a while, the search keywords became narrower and we began using cited authors in the field as

25
a search term as well. Halfway through the literature review we had a good overall view of the
research area and began reading the reference lists of relevant articles to find further specialized
articles.

As the research progressed, we gained more knowledge about who the important researchers in
the field were. This knowledge has aided us in what articles and theories to present in the
literature review. These articles have been helpful to find well-established definitions and
helped us write the literature review and to formulate our tentative theoretical framework.

When deciding between which articles and books to present in the literature review we used a
simplified version of state-of-the-art. We checked the number of citations in Google Scholar,
and the history of the citations, whether the citations were recent or older. Due to time
limitations, we decided only to study the first page of the citations to decide if the headings had
a positive relevance to our study. We also looked at the cited article whether it had for us
relevant citations. The limitation of this state-of-the-art work is that we have not studied the
citations in depth but still received a good overview of the research field.

We operationalized our interview template based on the five categories in the theoretical
framework. All CSFs in the framework have been identified based on the analysis of previous
studies and were judged as good starting point to explore how Swedish restaurant franchisors
work with CSFs.

3.11 Translation
This study is written within the MBA program of business development at the University of
Gävle, with a mix of Swedish and foreign students. All courses and course-work were in
English. This study is written in its entirety in English and will be presented in English at the
final seminar. Both the respondents in the study and the authors of the study are however
Swedish. This is not a limitation of the study since both authors of this study have a fluent
grasp of academic English from several years of university studies in the US.

26
One of the main problems with translating back and forth in an academic study is that nuances,
context and meanings may get lost, or misunderstood, especially if the researchers use external
translators who are not familiar with the study, or if there are several researchers doing
different parts of the study. Since the authors of this study have both researched, designed and
translated the questions from English to Swedish together, performed the interviews together in
Swedish, and then translated the answers back to English together, there is little risk of
misunderstandings in the translation process. Furthermore, when performing the analysis, the
translations were rechecked several times and also here inconsistencies were adjusted at that
stage. We believe that the translation process is not a problem in this study.

One obvious problem with translations in a qualitative study, since qualitative studies usually
make use of direct quotes, might be in the language of the direct quotes (Van Nes, Abma,
Jonsson & Deeg, 2010). The own vocabulary and language level of the authors may color word
choice, and grammar, and also point of view, the researchers “glasses” may affect how the
quotes are translated. Due to this all the direct quotes may have a similar “feel” in their
language and the normal variety of language from different persons might be missing. The
meaning and context of the direct quotes should however remain intact from the original
Swedish version. We took this problem into consideration while translating by making use of a
dictionary and when difficulties of translating arose, we discussed with one another as partners.

An advantage of the work being written in English in its entirety, instead of only the abstract is
that a wider international academic audience can read the details of the study.

3.12 Validity
In our study, we use Schwandt’s (1997) definition of validity related to how accurately the
description represents the participants’ experience of reality, and how credible the description
in the study is according to them.

Validity in qualitative research can be defined as how appropriate the tools, data and processes
have been for the study (Whittemore, Chase & Mandle, 2001). Whether the research questions
are valid for the planned results, whether the choice of methodology was appropriate for

27
answering the research questions, whether the design was valid for the methodology, whether
the sampling and data analysis was appropriate, and whether the results and conclusions were
valid for the sample and its context (Whittemore et al., 2001). Creswell and Miller (2000)
mention that there is a consensus that qualitative research should demonstrate its credibility.
The authors list several procedures for establishing validity, such as member checking,
triangulation, thick description, peer reviews and external audits.

The first indication of high validation is that our respondents were all experts in the area of
franchising, either CEOs, owners/co-owners, or consultants. The respondents had extensive
experience from a high managerial position in the company, which gave them access to all
information needed to respond thoroughly to our questions. Maxwell (2012, p. 89) stated there
are three main types of validation in qualitative research - description, interpretation and theory.
Problems of description involves inaccuracy or incompleteness of information. Therefore, we
chose to conduct interviews. Problems of interpretation includes imposing the theoretical
framework instead of trying to understand the participants through their words and actions.
This was solved by not asking leading, closed or short questions and giving the respondent time
to think and reflect before answering. Lastly, theory causes a problem for validating a study
when researchers do not pay attention to discrepant data and do not consider alternate
explanation to situations. This was solved by not letting our personal opinions influence the
research throughout the collection of data and be neutral at all times. (Maxwell, 2012, p. 89-90)

28
4. Empirical Research

In this empirical chapter, we present the findings from the ten interviews with business
developers at restaurant franchisors. The chapter is divided in two sections, barriers and their
solutions, and CSFs. At the end of the chapter, the different factors that were found in the
interviews are summarized.

4.1 Barriers and Solutions

Our first research question concerns to identify the barriers and solutions to these barriers as
experienced by our respondents. This first part describes each respondent’s barriers and the
solutions they use to overcome these barriers.

4.1.1 Barriers and Solutions Experienced by Small Franchisors

Franchisor A
Small Franchisor A is a quite small company and its business developer explains in the
interview that there is a lack of good franchisees in the market. This is because of the reason
that the knowledge about franchising as a business system is too small in Sweden. Small
Franchisor A have had problems when it comes to budgeting for the franchise expansion. The
business developer Small Franchisor A further explained that the lack of knowledge in
franchising also leads to complications when it comes to financing from banks as they are not
willing to risk their money on something they have little knowledge about. According to this
franchisor Swedish banks prefers well-known chains.

“If you compare countries such as Italy, France and Asia like China and Australia,
there everyone knows about franchising and it is a well-known alternative for
businesses. For example, in France the banks have an understanding for franchising
which facilitates financing of new franchisees.” (Business developer Small Franchisor A)

Due to this limited knowledge about franchising in Sweden, it is important to be careful in the
recruiting of franchisees and have the patience to say no to plenty of candidates before you sign
a contract. The business developer Small Franchisor A stresses that to accept a franchisee for
quick money and without full motivation and commitment will cause problems in the future.

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 “Many franchisors have 8-10 franchisees but see no continuous growth. The
explanation to this is that the recruitment process is too fast. This causes a lot of
problems to occur, which leads to the company not making any money. A success story
turned into fiasco.” (Business Developer Small Franchisor A)

Franchisor B
Small Franchisor B is a new quick service chain; however, the interviewed business developer
for Small Franchisor B had over 17 years of experience as an area developer in another
successful fast-food franchise business and was able to provide a lot of information. The
business developer Small Franchisor B explains that recruiting is a recurring problem for
franchisors in terms of both franchisees and restaurant managers. This is because it is difficult
to get to know someone’s personality from the recruitment process and franchisees or
restaurant managers might be too controlling which could also be problematic. Another
unexpected problem, which Small Franchisor B faces, is the how the market shifts, e.g.,
financial crisis or food costs which can affect the company’s gross margins.

“For example, we have had problems with salmon and seaweed which increased in
cost. We had to start buying our salmon from Norway because all other salmon was
contaminated with lice. We also had a hard time getting access to seaweed because it
did not grow very well due to poor weather conditions.” (Business Developer Small
Franchisor B)

To solve these unexpected problems, it is important for a franchisor to have good and frequent
communication with their suppliers. The Business Developer Small Franchisor B stresses the
importance of always staying on top of what is currently happening in the world to be able to
predict future problems. Lastly, important is always to have a back-up plan at hands when
things do happen is important.

Franchisor C
Small Franchisor C has over the past five years, seen a slow growth but is within the next years
expecting to expand their chain by almost the double of what they currently have. The Business

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Developer Small Franchisor C states that the main barriers they faced through the expansion of
the chain, relates to shortage of capital and profitability issues.

“You have to have capital even during years of poor sales in order to keep developing
the concept. That is where the big chains have big advantages, as they are able to invest
in something that is 5 times their annual profit and are able to get financing from banks.
Meanwhile, we have to buy without financing from the banks and to a lower valuation
at 3-4 ties out annual profit. We cannot buy the best locations that are out for sale;
rather we have to be satisfied with the locations which the big chains do not buy.”
(Business Developer Small Franchisor C)

Further, the Business Developer Small Franchisor C stresses that the change in the market of
resource causes problems for them. As the costs of raw materials, increase prices also have to
increase, although this is not always possible. To solve this, it is important to have good
contacts, to negotiate about everything and to import product from other European countries
and not just focus on Sweden, according to the Business Developer Small Franchisor C.

Franchisor D
Small Franchisor D mentions that both external and internal factors cause problems for them.
Currently there is a lot of construction of new buildings for retail stores and restaurants. Due to
the increase in online shopping, retail stores are also closing, making these locations vacant. In
the vacant spaces, restaurants are opening up, which is increasing the competition in the
market. However, Small Franchisor D seems to believe that their main problem lies in
recruiting competent franchisees. The Business Developer Small Franchisor D states that the
current expansion of franchising in Sweden is making it harder to recruit but also that
franchisees are good at “acting” during their application process. With “acting” he means that it
is difficult to understand an applicant’s real personality during the recruitment process and his
solution to this is to train franchisees continuously.

“When you sign a franchise agreement, you have to focus on fully training the
franchisee that is how we try to solve recruitment problems” (Business Developer Small
Franchisor D)

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Franchisor E
Small Franchisor E faces main barriers within the recruitment process of new franchisees. A
candidate can seem to be great yet turn out to be a problem for the business. This is because
personality tests do not fully show everything you need to know about the candidate before
hiring and further consideration needs to be taken into account before hiring a franchisee.

“Be very careful in the recruitment process, check references and take your time in the
selection process.” (Business Developer Small Franchisor E)

4.1.2 Barriers and Solutions Experienced by Large Franchisors

Franchisor F
Large Franchisor F is a successful restaurant franchisor in Sweden with around 150 franchisees.
With their effective expansion and easy access to capital also come problems. The Business
Developer Large Franchisor F states that when something is problematic within their business it
is when the franchisees do not fully understand and appreciate the concept of the business.

“The franchisee purchases things that are already purchased, to cut costs, or adapts the
franchise concept too much or in a wrongful way by findings new things to add to the
offerings of the restaurant.” (Business Developer Large Franchisor F)

The Business Developer for Large Franchisor F stresses the importance to have good
communication between all parties in order to create comfort about the vision and concept of
the business. It is important to create advantages for the franchisees and to go back to the
question: What’s in it for them?

“We use an extranet where all documentation e.g. the handbook, guidelines, and
policies are available. We host annual owner conferences and management conferences
that meat regionally to talk about management questions. On top of that, we offer
forums, chef meetings, and our area managers that visit restaurants at least 4 times per
year. This creates an important link between the HQ and the franchisee.” (Business
Developer Large Franchisor F)

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Franchisor G
Large franchisor G is currently in the process of rebranding and repositioning and because of
this had their focus on the problems of the brand itself and the Business Developer Large
Franchisor G states that their brand currently needs to be repositioned into a more standardized
chain in order to increase its value for the customers. Larger Franchisor G want to make the
same journey as one of their competitors did, from hunting for good locations to, ten years
later, real estate owners’ stand in line to open one of their restaurants.

“To solve this situation, it is important to never be afraid of calling the shots with a
short notice, to be alert and be flexible and ready to make changes if needed. Examples
are sales, direct mail marketing, local newspaper ads, and everything ‘within the four
walls’ of increasing the average tab amount.” (Business Developer Large Franchisor G)

Franchisor H

Large Franchisor H mention that there is a lack of available locations and the rents are getting
higher which affects their profitability negatively and causes them to say no to new locations.
High rents also affect their franchisee’s profitability. Another problem, according to the
Business Developer Large Franchisor H, is the process of recruiting franchisees, as it is hard to
know fully the franchisee before hiring. To solve the problems of recruiting competent
franchisees, Large Franchisor H uses an external recruitment company in order to find the most
qualified candidates through checking references.

“The high rent is the highest barrier for expansion at the moment” (Business Developer,
Large Franchisor H)

Franchisor I

Large Franchisor I is a franchisor that is expanding rapidly and plans to open 2 new units per
month for the next couple of years. Due to this rapid success, the Business Developer Large
Franchisor I states that there are not any distinct barriers, which they face. In the beginning of
the expansion, financing from banks was a problem, although, now after having establish

33
themselves as a strong brand in the market, financing comes easily. Further, the Business
Developer for Large Franchisor I explains that location is not a problem, as is the case for other
restaurants, as they are more of a destination and a planned trip and do not need AAA locations.
One small problem, which Large Franchisor I face is to find good chefs for the kitchen.

“We recruit chefs from Greece and Spain to solve this. Also, our chefs do not really
need to be educated because they are trained internally anyways. The only ones which
needs extensive culinary experience is the kitchen manager who is in charge of
controlling the flavor of the food.” (Business Developer Large Franchisor I)

Furthermore, the Business developer Large Franchisor I stress the importance of having good
support from the HQ in order to succeed. This includes having great quality managers that are
out in the field, visiting the restaurant to show support and make sure the guidelines are
properly followed to enable success for the franchisee.

Franchisor J

Large Franchisor J is one of Sweden’s most well-known pub chains. It was founded about 25
years ago and now has around 50 pubs. The interviewed business developer Large Franchisor J
has a background from different marketing roles and he has worked for the current company for
ten years. This chain does not believe it is important to operate a large number of own pubs.
But they do own two pubs for concept development and training. According to the business
developer Large Franchisor J “some chains open up too many new units, and some inevitably
fail”. This chain tries to screen the franchisees to lower the failure rate.

"We are trying to find experienced restaurant owners, to avoid closing franchise units
unnecessarily, and franchisees should want to work within the framework of a franchise
concept. It is easy to think that it is easy to work within a concept, but it is harder than
you think" (Business developer, Large Franchisor J)

When discussing the biggest barriers to expand the chain this business believes that the biggest
barrier is to find good people with a relevant restaurant background. They would also like to

34
lower the construction cost of new pubs, but they have seen a trend of construction becoming
more and more expensive. This is a clear barrier for a quicker expansion. When asked about
competitors he mentions that his pubs have a clear niche with a broad appeal to most market
segments. On the other hand, their competitors are niched, and appeal usually to narrower parts
of the local market. Coffee shop chains, O’Learys and Pinchos were mentioned as competitors.
When discussing unexpected problems that may occur when choosing franchisees, or when
running the chain, he said:

“It is really difficult to know the personality of a person when recruiting franchisees.
We try to meet the applicants intensively and try to understand them, but it is very hard
to predict how they will perform. When it comes to running a restaurant, being
entrepreneur, a leader. It is really hard to predict and it is usually the recruitment of the
franchisee that can go wrong. But as we become more and more process driven and
develop routines for the recruitment process, we become better at managing this.”
(Business developer, Large Franchisor J)

Other problems that may occur is that franchisee’s do not adhere to the franchise concept.
Franchisees want to change the menus and discuss whether the chain have the right suppliers.
Sometimes this chain has to enforce the franchise agreements by using lawyers. They do not
see any difference in the franchisee problems depending on if the franchisee is new or old,
problems can occur anytime during the contract period.

The solution to solve these problems is to work closely with the franchisees. The franchisees
should feel that they are both “serviced” and “controlled.” The franchisees should also always
feel that they are evaluated, at all times.

4.1.3 Summary of Barriers and Solutions

As shown in Table 3 there are overall more barriers than solutions for small franchisors in the
Swedish restaurant sector. Between the ten respondents, the eight barriers of (1) characteristics
of franchisee, (2) franchisee selection, (3) work within concept, (4) good location, (5) market
fluctuation, (6) high rents, (7) financing for franchisee and (8) communication with franchisee

35
have been mentioned twenty-nine times. Whereas the six solutions of (1) careful recruitment of
franchisee, (2) operate own units, (3) brand building, (4) quality control, (5) supplier network
and (6) planning only have was mentioned fourteen times.

Table 4: Overview of barriers and solutions. (Source: own).

Although, for large franchisors there is no imbalance between barriers and solutions as five of
each have been mentioned nine times. Overall, between the small and large franchisors, the
characteristics of the franchisee is the most common barrier, with eight out of ten respondents
experiencing it as a barrier. Careful recruitment of the franchisee is the most common solution
between all franchisors, with three out of ten stating it as a solution. Good locations, market
fluctuations and financing for the franchisee is only experienced as barriers to small
franchisors. Operate own units, brand building and quality control is only expressed as
solutions to the barriers for large franchisors.

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4.2 Critical Success Factors

One of our research questions concerns the CSFs for our respondents. This second chapter in
the empirical part of our study describes the CSFs that we found in the interviews.

4.2.1 CSFs Experienced by Small Franchisors

Franchisor A

Small Franchisor A has had a hard time to introduce its franchise system in the Swedish
market. As explained by the Business Developer, Small Franchisor A defines success by seeing
their business and brand expand and see it grow by looking at it from economical terms.

“…success is based on that the team spirit is good, which happens when the economical
part works.” (Business developer Small Franchisor A)

As other franchisors mentioned, he explains that the franchisees are the most important factor
in order to expand successfully the chain. A franchisee should be driven, committed and
entrepreneurial and needs to be able to handle people well, both customers and employees. The
franchisee does not need to have extensive knowledge about running a business. The Business
Developer Small Franchisor A further states that the satisfactions of the franchisees are
important to expand the chain successfully.

“You have to have satisfied franchisees or you will not be successful. If a potential
franchisee calls a current franchisee, they should have a positive feedback. There has to
be a demand to become a franchisee for the chain or you will not be able to succeed as
a company. There needs to be a positive aura around the business concept. At least 7
out of 10 current franchisees must be happy, and 1 to 2 which should be very pleased
with the concept.” (Business Developer Small Franchisor A)

Franchisor B

Small Franchisor B defines their success by the well-being and satisfaction of everyone within
the chain, such as, the employees, franchisees and area developers, and that everyone within the
chain makes money.

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 “…by looking at the revenue and then everything else is measured based on that, such
as how big of a percentage the rent, and salaries are and whether there is an upward or
downward trend in the revenue stream.” (Business Developer Small Franchisor B)

To achieve this success, the business developer Small Franchisor B states that the franchisees
must be driven and have the consumer in focus at all times, also as a franchisor, it is important
to give good support to the franchisee and create a good relationship between the parties. The
Business Developer Small Franchisor B further explains that the location is extremely
important when opening a new restaurant because there needs to be a good flow of people, be
close to offices and be a good spot for lunches in order to be successful. Small Business B also
puts a lot of focus on their marketing strategies, and how it consists of different stages based on
where the company is in its life cycle, which is a key to follow in order to be successful.

” …we only focus on local level first, such as newspapers and coupons in Stockholm.
After that we plan to advertise on TV and Radio and really build the brand. We need at
least 4-5 restaurants to get to the stage of advertising in the subways.” (Business
Developer Small Franchisor B)

Franchisor C

Small Franchisor C defines their success by having the opportunity to work with the right
people, that their franchisees are motivated and are having a good time. The most important
CSFs are the people and that they have “drive.” When measuring the success of the chain this
business developer Small Franchisor C stresses that:

“We work with KPIs, just like most do, for example food cost, both theoretical and real
food cost. We try to get as close as possible to the theoretical food cost. Wage costs are
harder to measure because franchisees are self-employed and it depends on their wages
and when taking out their salary during the year. (Business developer Small Franchisor C)

They also use mystery shoppers throughout the year to measure customer satisfaction. When
asked what the most important CSFs are, they answer with similar answers as in barriers and
solutions, with “people, money and location.” They also mention technology as a CSF with

38
self-service kiosks and apps. According to the business developer Small Franchisor C the food
becomes more important for the customer when waiting lines are reduced. His goal is to
simplify everything in the operations of the units. Important factors when recruiting
franchisee’s is that they are entrepreneurs with stamina, and that they do not go out and buy
expensive toys the first thing they do when they start to earn a bit of money.

As a chain, the ambition is to grow to the point, where they can afford to have more people
employed at HQ and to be able to control the franchisees more.

Franchisor D

Small Franchisor D emphasize that they want their consumers to recognize themselves in all of
their restaurants and defines their success by having an upward trend in revenue. It is important
to have clear goals and for example, try to improve the gross margin. Further, the business
developer Small Franchisor D states financing is an important factor to succeed, but he mostly
emphasizes that the character of the franchisee is important to the business’ success. The
franchisee should spread the concept of the chain correctly and listen to the franchisor that
knows the concept inside and out.

“…the franchisee should not find their own solutions; rather, they should just follow the
handbook and the franchise agreement. Whoever does this, ends up having much better
business ratios, and if a franchisee does not follow our handbooks the business ratios
and margins fails… some franchisees use their spare time to try to lower their costs
instead of just following our instructions and using our purchasing channels” (Business
Developer Small Franchisor D)

This franchisor considered the disloyal purchasing behavior of a few franchisees as hurting the
whole chain. Since lower volumes in their purchasing channels could cause the chain to receive
lower bonuses and discounts from the suppliers.

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Franchisor E

Small Franchisor E says that success to them is defined whether they as owners can live on
franchising; they also want to contribute to employment, especially for immigrants. This
success is measured by the quantity of franchising units that are opened and by looking at the
margins of the business. The Business Developer Small Franchisor E states three main things
that are important in order for Franchisor E to reach this success.

“A good concept, good franchisees, and to continuously develop the concept…between

the franchisor and the franchisee it is important to have an honest conversation. If they
make money, we make money!” (Business Developer Small Franchisor E)

Furthermore, the Business Developer Small Franchisor E explains that the location is essential
in order to open up new chains and that the location outweighs the cost.

“Location, location, location! You do not have to be in the very center of the city but
there needs to be a good flow of people, with schools and stores around it. Even if the
rent is high, it could outweigh other options if it is a good location.” (Business
Developer Small Franchisor E)

Further, Small Franchisor E focuses on marketing as an important factor for success. This
should be done both through local newspapers and on social media, according to the Business
Developer Small Franchisor E. In order to know how to apply their marketing strategies, an
important aspect has been to hire a consultant to run their social media accounts successfully.

“Nowadays social media is huge! For us the strategy of being very open and honest on
social media has worked really well. Many people know about us because of our social
media sites.” (Business Developer Small Franchisor E)

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4.2.2 CSFs Experienced by Large Franchisors

Franchisor F

Large Franchisor F states that their success depends on how attractive their concept is and how
successful their franchisees are which are measured by looking at the profitability and the costs.

“We measure it from two perspectives. First, we look at B2B through our franchisees,
by how we handle our concept to our franchisees, such as profitability and
relationships. Second, we focus on B2C by seeing what the consumers think about us
through social media, and qualitative customer research such as Mystery Shopping.”
(Business Developer Large Franchisor F)

Further, the Business Developer Large Franchisor F states the importance to have the right
partners, competent and driven franchisees and to be located where there is growth and flow of
people. Large Franchisor H also emphasizes the importance of not only continuously
developing their concept, but also to appreciate what they already have established. According
to the Business Developer for Large Franchisor F, having a good support system and a stable
organization does this.

“You have to have a good support system. For example, we have one support system in
the Nordic countries and one in the international market. The Nordic system is more
developed including franchise agreements, products, the full supply chain, policies, and
checklists. We also have training throughout the year that are based on our marketing
strategies and how everyone should adapt to it.” (Business Developer Larger
Franchisor F)

Franchisor G

Large Franchisor G states that it is hard to fully define success but focus their attention on
having a standardized strategy with a local touch. The success is measured through multiple
areas, according to the Business Developer Large Franchisor G. Customer research, market
research and brand research are factors, which measure success along with the growth of sales

41
and customer visits. The Business Developer Large Franchisor G stresses the importance of
having continuous analysis of the business by both seeing the positives and negatives. To build
a strong brand, to have a good location, to have a customized marketing strategy and to have
cooperation among franchisor and franchisee are other factors which affect the success of Large
Franchisor G. On top of aforementioned factors, Large Franchisor G focus on what they can do
in-house in terms of their food.

“Food safety is very important, with the kitchen especially in focus. We have a bigger
menu than most of our competitors, which involves a bottleneck to find a
solution...always being updated on what is happening in the world and in the market is
important. For examples mad cow disease.” (Business Developer Large Franchisor G)

Large Franchisor H

Unlike the other respondents, Large Franchisor H does not have a clear definition of success,
yet states that if success is measured it would be through economical terms such as sales, which
are reviewed every Sunday. Further the Business Developer Large Franchisor H explains that
campaigns and customer research is a good indicator of their performance. According to the
Business Developer Large Franchisor H, there are three main factors, which are important in
order to reach success for them: (1) a good location, (2) an ambitious, driven and service-
oriented franchisee, and (3) to have a unique concept and continuously to develop it.

“Continuous development of the concept is important and that you have a good
structure and intranet which allows you to easily replicate the franchise concept.”
(Business Developer Large Franchisor H)

Franchisor I

Large Franchisor 1 is currently in the process of expanding with more company owned units in
the capital cities of the Scandinavian countries. This is because of the importance company
owned units has for the franchisor to understand the local business completely for localizing the

42
concept and see the market from the franchisees point of view, and these units are also proof-
of-concept, to show that the franchise concept works well in that market. Company owned
proof-of-concept units are used by this chain to recruit franchisees in new markets outside of
Sweden. Further, the Business Developer Large Franchisor I explains that the success is
defined by how successful the brand is. This involves the service, the guests, the food, the
interior and the employees. The chain also makes use of innovative technology to lower costs.

The Business Developer Large Franchisor I explains that the success of the chain is all based
on whether the franchisee makes money or not. Due to this, Large Franchisor 1 has set a goal to
have all franchisees at a profit margin of 15-17% to ensure great profitability. Other factors
should aim to emphasize the goal of making money for the franchisees. The service should be
above the customers’ expectations, the brand should have a strong presence in the market and
the organization should be supportive to the franchisees.

“Normally location would be an important factor when opening a restaurant but for us
it is not. Our restaurants are destinations in themselves and people plan far in advance
to visit us. It is more important for us to have pre-booked tables, than drop-in guests, so
that our franchisees can plan their staff efficiently” (Business Developer Large
Franchisor I)

Franchisor J

Large Franchisor J says that the success of their franchise concept comes from controlling and
protecting the concept. The business model is to have a broad market appeal. The entire
industry is niched and segmented, but not this chain. They accept all customer segments in the
small and medium-sized cities they are located in. These are the pubs where everybody are
welcome. When we asked the business developer Large Franchisor J how they measure their
success, he said that all key ratios are monitored all the time. All sales and all costs. He also
used internet to check ratings of each franchisee carefully. Each year, they have eight mystery
shopper visits per pub. They drink and eat without the franchisees knowing about it. The most
important factors for expanding the chain successfully are constantly to control the concept and
never to deviate from the concept and the concept guidelines.

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The most important factors for having successful franchisees are the recruitment of franchisees.
Several “lazy people”, think they can run a chain restaurant. This franchisor essentially run a
recruitment agency for franchisees. They put a lot of work in recruiting franchisees. According
to the business developer Large Franchisor J, franchisees should have the following
characteristics:

"We are always talking about the three most important things a franchisee should have
(1) Responsibility (2) Joy (3) Drive." (Business developer, Large Franchisor J)

The most common recruitment problem is that franchisees cannot afford to finance the
construction of a restaurant, and:

"Many think the franchisor has thought of everything, but it does not work that way.
There must be a deep understanding that the franchisee must have his own drive.
Franchise today is the lazy entrepreneur's solution. We do not want lazy people. We
want Duracell rabbits with letter combinations.” (Business developer, Large Franchisor J)

The business developer Large Franchisor J concluded by saying that you should never forget to
manage the franchise concept, when you fail to control the concept and the regulations within
it, it will affect the brand and then everything will go wrong

4.2.3 Summary of CSFs

As demonstrated in Table 4, a total of 17 CSFs have been mentioned between the small and
large franchisors. 15 different CSFs have been mentioned by the small franchisors at a total of
31 times, while 16 different CSFs have been mentioned by the large franchisors at a total of 32
times. Operate own units is the most mentioned CSF by small franchisors, with 3 out of 5
mentioning it.

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Table 5: Summary of CSFs (Source: own).

Franchisee support and control is the most mentioned CSF by large franchisors, with all 5
respondents mentioning it. To always keep developing the concept is the only CSF that is
mentioned equally between small and large franchisors, with 2 from each group mentioning it
as a CSF. Other CSF that seems to be important to both small and large franchisors are:
location selection, characteristics of the franchisee, franchisee selection and franchisee support
and control. Access to capital through loans from banks and crowd-funding campaigns is only a
problem for small franchisors, while the creative use of technology and cost control is only
considered CSFs for large franchisors.

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5. Analysis
The analysis chapter compares the theoretical model with our findings from the study to find the
contribution that this study adds to previous literature. Our theoretical model can be found in
Figure 2 and is the theoretical model from our theory chapter. That model is based on previous
literature and is the foundation of our study. The model in Figure 2 is modified in the end of this
chapter according to the findings from our study.

5.1 Barriers and solutions

As demonstrated in Table 6, we found that there are 8 main barriers for restaurant franchisors in
the Swedish market. Small franchisors experience 7 barriers and large franchisors experience 5
barriers. According to Floyd and Fenwick (1999) there are 18 different barriers for franchisors.

Table 6: Contributions to barriers and solutions (Source: own).

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In our study we found 4 barriers that matched Floyd and Fenwick’s study, namely: capital for
infrastructure development, finding good franchisees, franchisor - franchisee relationship and
monitoring franchisee conformity to standards. These correspond to 4 out of the 8 barriers that
we found, which are: financing for the franchisee, franchisee selection, communication with the
franchisees, and work within the concept. The other four barriers of good location, market
fluctuation, high rent and characteristics of the franchisee does not correspond to previous
research.

Small and large franchisors only have 4 barriers in common and 2 barriers are only considered a
barrier for small franchisors (locations and market fluctuations). The reason for this seems to be
because the large franchisors occupy good locations and are not affected by changes in costs to
the same extent as small franchisor due to their size and access to capital. This corresponds to the
findings from Michael (2003) who researched first mover advantage and concluded that larger
chains reach economies of scale. In addition, these large franchisors have in our interviews more
long-term plans where first mover advantage and economies of scale are prioritized, which
according to (Michael, 2003) is essential in order to be successful as a franchisor. Further, it is
possible to see the large franchisors are better than small franchisors at coming up with solutions
to these barriers, which is possibly the reason why they have been so successful. In line with the
findings of Michael (2003), it is possible that since large franchisors have economies of scale and
follow long-term plans it could lead to them being more solution-oriented versus problem-
oriented and therefore are able to expand at a higher rate.

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5.2 Critical Success Factors

Table 7: Contributions to CSFs (Source: own).

As seen in Table 7, the CSFs that were found from this research corresponds to 7 CSFs found in
previous research (Alon, 2006; Camillo et al., 2008; Choo, 2003; Gikonyo et al., 2015)
including: marketing strategy, franchisee selection, relationship with franchisee, operate own
units, appealing concept, and to work within the concept, franchisor support and control.
However, this study did not find the CSFs from previous researchers (Alon, 2006; Camillo et al.,
2008; Choo, 2003; Gikonyo et al., 2015) such as: to franchise quickly, standardization of
products and processes, cultural adaptability, and host country risk management. to be CSFs in
the Swedish restaurant franchising sector. The reason for the difference in CSFs compared to
previous research could be due to that none of the previous research is done in the Swedish
market or in similar countries. According to (Asemi & Jazi, 2010; Bullen & Rockart, 1981;
Esteves, 2004) CSFs differ between markets and whatever works in one market might not work
in another. This could be the reason why CSFs of recruiting franchisees over all other things are

48
important which is in line with the findings of Lillis et al. (1976) who states that motivating
franchisees are important in all growth stages of franchising. Also, our study combines fast food
restaurants with casual food and cafes which other studies have not.

The major differences between small and large franchisors could possibly lie in their different
life cycles as a franchisor. Small franchisors do not have a stable franchisor organization with all
the support and control functions that larger ones have. Furthermore, small franchisors are still
experimenting with their concepts to improve their profitability. Small franchisors also focus on
being unique in the marketplace and express their uniqueness as a marketing strategy to attract
franchisees. Large franchisors on the other hand focus on protecting their brand by using
extensive support and control functions. They generally have no problems in attracting
franchisees, and focus more on evaluating the franchisees, than on marketing the opportunity of
being a franchisee in their chain. Common to all large franchisors is also the focus they put on
standardization and on matching their competitors. They are big enough to rely on their brand to
attract customers, and not on having a unique offering. Profitability and a well-known brand is
also the main arguments for the large franchisors to become a franchisee in any of their
chains.

The use of technology is an upcoming CSF. The franchisor with the fastest growing chain uses
technology successfully to standardize the operations of the chain, to control and support their
franchisees, and to appeal to millennials who seems to appreciate the use of technology.

5.3 Modified Theoretical Model

Figure 4 demonstrates our modified theoretical framework, which summarizes the most
important observations, similarities and differences between small and large franchisors. Table
6 and 7 summarizes the contributions of this study, and have been added to figure 4 based on
our theoretical framework. Small franchisors appear to focus mainly on the creation and the
learning of the business in order to promote their chain.

49
Figure 4: Modified theoretical framework based on empirical findings (Source: own).

This happens by first learning the business from the inside by operating own units and testing
different concepts but also by focusing on having suitable franchisees and selecting the best
location with limited financing. Large franchisors on the other hand do not have a problem
attracting franchisees or with financing and they instead focus on building their brand by
matching the offering of their competitors by continuously developing their concept, and by both
supporting and controlling their franchisees, and also by removing franchisees that are
underperforming, to protect the quality of their chain.

The reason for the differences between small and large franchisors could possibly been seen as a
reason for the difference in the life cycle as the majority of the small franchisors have been in
business shorter time than the large franchisors have. However, our findings of the differences
between small and large franchisors do not correspond to the findings from previous research
(Lillis et al., 1976) within franchise life cycle. In general, Small franchisors have barriers that

50
concerns managerial knowledge of owner, financing and low brand recognition, their solutions
are concept development, franchising and franchisee recruitment, and their main CSFs are to
operate own units, have suitable franchisees, have access to financing and good locations, and
have a unique concept. Large franchisors have barriers to strengthen their brand, quality, and
getting franchisees to work within the concept, their solutions to these barriers are
standardization, control and removing underperforming franchisees. Large franchisors’ main
CSFs are customer orientation, profitable concept, and controlling the franchisees and costs of
the business. Although, according to Lillis et al (1976) small franchisors should have a
competitive advantage when it comes to access to markets and motivated franchisees.

According to Lillis et al. (1976), a franchisor in the early stages finds rapid access to markets and
highly motivated owner-operators important competitive advantages. Highly motivated
franchisees were regarded as important in all growth stages. At later growth stages reduced cost
of capital becomes less important. There was also a noticeable increased use of own units as the
franchisors grew in size.

51
6. Conclusions

In this chapter, the results of the study are presented. We present our conclusions to fulfill the
studies purpose, by answering the research questions. At the end of this chapter we present the
limitations and ethical considerations, suggestions for further research, contributions and
managerial implications.

6.1 Fulfilment of purpose and research questions

We used three research questions as the basis of our study. The first question aimed to find out
the main barriers and the solutions a franchisor has, while the aim of the second question was to
find the main CSFs for a Swedish restaurant franchisor. The third question aimed to find the
similarities and differences between CSFs dependent on the franchisor size.

For the first question, we found out that franchisors have common barriers in finding and
evaluating franchisees. However, since small franchisors are unknown they have problems with
attracting both franchisees and locations. Most of the franchisors require top locations with high
foot traffic, which is a high barrier since these locations are scarce in any market. Since large
franchisors are known in the market, both among customers and landlords, they don’t usually
have the same basic barriers as smaller ones, such as finding locations and attracting franchisees.
However, they have other barriers to expand, such as, getting franchisees to work within the
franchise concept, quality control and growing the franchisor organization to cope with the
expansion. Both small and large franchisors have the general problem of trying to figure out if a
franchisee will be successful or not. The general solution was to take more time in recruitments,
and once the franchisees have signed the agreement the franchisors must support and control the
franchisees. Regarding the main CSFs for a restaurant franchisor, we found that the top CSFs
was to have profitable and satisfied franchisees, and to expand the chains to increase the brand
presence in the market. With a known brand a franchisor can attract franchisees instead of having
to market themselves to them.

For the third research question, we found that small and large franchisors have in common
barrier of evaluating how well a franchisee will perform. However, there are more differences
than similarities. Small franchisees have CSFs, such as to grow the business by being unique,

52
developing their concept, and to focus on recruiting competent and driven franchisees. Whereas
large franchisors more focus on protecting their brand by using a control and support system for
their franchisees because they must keep their concept standardized in order to see continuous
growth. Large franchisors generally do not have a problem attracting franchisees, instead they
focus more on evaluating them, and to even remove underperforming franchisees. Large
franchisors also do not need to be as unique in their marketplace due to their size and strong
brands, but instead they seem to be focusing on matching their competitor’s offerings.

We believe that the aim of the research and all of the research questions have been properly
answered in this study, thanks to a well-planned research design with well suited respondents
and well-executed interviews. We have from the interviews found both barriers, solutions and
CSFs which matches findings from previous research, as well as new ones which are specific
for the Swedish market. CSFs can differ substantially when size of the franchisor is taken into
account. The reason for this might be that Sweden is a small market and may have special
market conditions and/or cultural characteristics.

Our main conclusion is that in order to study CSFs in restaurant franchisors you need to take a
broad perspective and plan for the future expansion of the chain. It is also important to realize
that what is important today for success in the marketplace, may not be important in a few
years’ time due, to the expansion of the chain having created new barriers, solutions and CSFs.
The expansion of the restaurant franchise system is seen as a challenging managerial task that
needs constant reevaluation of the factors having influence on CSF.

6.2 Theoretical & Managerial contributions

Our study contributes to previous research of CSFs since those did not analyze CSFs based on
the franchisor’s size, and our study shows that the CSFs for small and large franchisors differ.

Our results reveal that our most successful respondent overcame the typical barriers for
expansion in the Swedish franchised restaurant sector by the use of innovative technology and
automation, and thereby succeeding in providing superior profitability in all of their units. This
respondent managed to grow from a small franchisor to a large franchisor in around 8 years, and

53
their founders have successfully managed to transition the different growth phases of a franchise
system. The App is the key technology that provides the foundation for this chain to reengineer
their restaurant experience to fit millennials. The App handles table bookings, ordering of food,
payment, and bonuses. The customer even picks up the food and beverages directly from the
kitchen counter and the bar count.

The concept is thanks to its use of technology easily replicable. This respondent exemplifies how
a restaurant franchisor can solve the barriers to expansion that, according to our study, other
franchisors have continuous problems with. Therefore, our managerial recommendations would
be to embrace the new technology. This can cut staff costs and appeal to millennials and also be
used as a support and control tool for the franchises system.

6.3 Societal implications

When interviewing the franchisors in this study we met experienced and knowledgeable
professionals who were determined to expand their chains by providing strong franchise
concepts. It is difficult for non-franchised restaurants to compete with the resources of more
well-established chains, especially in getting access to the best locations, and to compete for the
customers. Franchise chains might on one hand be good for the customers, the customers
receive standardized products with a uniform quality, i. e., they know what to expect. On the
other hand, one could also argue that variety will be lost if more and more restaurants will be
operated under different chains. In the end, the customer might be worse off, with a less diverse
offering of food choices, and the local cuisine might be replaced by choices that are more
generic. On the other hand, one can also argue that there are plenty of new restaurant
franchisors entering the restaurant sector and these concepts are usually unique and add variety
and, not to forget, managerial knowledge, to the local society.

6.4 Limitations & Ethical considerations

Since our study only had ten interviews, its results cannot be generalized to the full population
of franchisors. Another limitation of our study is that it is limited in time over 10 weeks.
Further analysis and follow-up questions would have revealed more themes and a deeper

54
understanding of the issues at hand. Other limitations concern our method. Our sample frame
could probably have been bigger if we would have spent more time researching more restaurant
chains in Sweden who use franchising. The chains we found were the ones available at the two
most popular franchisor websites. In addition, due to this being a qualitative study with
interpretation of interviews, we, the researchers, tried to be neutral, and dispassionately to study
the data without any bias. These are limitations that we are aware of and have been trying
actively to minimize.

As researchers we have an obligation to both present our empirical data and to discuss our
findings in a trustworthy and detailed manner, but also to not expose any trade secrets or
personal opinions of any of the respondents. This is at most times not a difficult task but it
requires constant monitoring and discussions on where to draw the line. Our study is therefore
anonymized in its entirety, even though all the respondents agreed to not being anonymous.
According to Kaiser (2009) there might still be a problem that the “community,” in this case the
franchisors, can most likely identify the other respondents due to their deep knowledge of each
other. Most other readers will however find it difficult to exactly identify the respondents.
Interviewing ten respondents with similar upper management positions who are more or less
competitors provided us with an incredible insight into the respondent’s companies, and
enabled us to study the trends, similarities and differences between the companies. After having
performed the interviews we saw why companies have more successful CSFs than other
companies. The ethical consideration has therefore been that most of this sensitive information
have not been quoted directly but have been a part of our observation and background
information in the analysis of the data. Any information that we may have noticed or gained
insight into that may be harmful for the respondent’s company have been left out of the study
(Kaiser, 2009). After considering the limitations and the ethical considerations of our study we
believe that the study is valid and reliable.

6.5 Suggestions for future research

First, we believe that further research would be beneficial for managers within franchising, since
there is a lack of studies about CSFs for franchisors, especially in the restaurant industry

55
worldwide, including Sweden. Second, our aim was to study the CSFs from a franchisor’s
perspective. Future research could therefore be done from both the franchisor’s perspective, as
well as the franchisee’s perspective. Third, we would suggest to study the development of
franchise systems more longitudinally, to study how the CSFs differ over time, and over the
different phases of a franchisor’s life cycle. Fourth, another research approach could be to rank
the CSFs by using a quantitative method and work with a larger population of franchisors. Fifth,
we found a successful franchise concept that stood out from the rest of the respondents in terms
of expansion rate and being able to solve expansion barriers with innovative use of CSFs, such as
the use of technology. This fast-casual restaurant would be an interesting company to study, both
in depth, from both the franchisor and franchisee perspective, and longitudinally.

56
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Appendix 1 - CSF Categorization
Category Subcategory Gikonyo et al. (2015) Camillo et al. (2008) Choo (2003) Alon (2006)
Promotion Brand Brand power concept
External Competitors Competitor environment
Host country risk
External Regulations Governmental policies management
Franchisee Distance Distance
Mgmt management Distance management management
Cultural
Promotion Appeal Cultural appeal adaptability

Franchisee Franchisee Excellent selection of Competent

Mgmt selection franchisees management
Location
Growth selection Good site selection, location
Franchisee Relationships Good relationship with Partnership
Mgmt franchisee franchisees management
Franchisee Contract Contract
Mgmt management Proper contract management enforcement
Franchisee
N/A cost-cutting Manage cost
Proactive Stay focused, act, not
N/A franchisee react.
Balance between price,
Value to value, service, product
Promotion customers quality
Chain
expansion
Growth speed Franchising speed
internationaliz Internationalize
Growth ation quickly
Standardizatio
Growth n Standardize method
Franchise vs Grow franchising vs
Learning owned units owned
Operate a sufficient
Operate own amount of company
Learning stores owned stores
Continuous
Learning learning Continuous learning

Unique Sell a unique concept,

Promotion concept not you ego

Keep your creative

Learning Creativity emotions high
Franchisee Work-Life Balance between
Mgmt balance family and work-life
Franchisee
Mgmt Clear vision Have a vision
Marketing Marketing
Promotion strategy approach
Notes: Summary of CSFs from Gikonyo et al. (2015), Camillo et al. (2008), Choo (2003) and
Alon (2006), Own.

62
Appendix 2 – Summary of answers from interviews (Swedish)
Small Franchisor A
General Questions
What are the CSFs for a
restaurant franchise system
in the Swedish market from
the franchisor’s
perspective?
Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?
AS: konsult inom franchise, jobbat med det i 10 år, innan det operative och drev
franchisekedjor inom bygg och småhusbranchen, civilekonom.
Zocalo: Backpackade i Syd America och vidare till Kalifornien, ser kombinationen
av mexico och Cali (mission district), startade på Island Serano, drev vidare i
Stockholm år 2010 (inte franchise från början), Serano i Sverige relaterat till
skinka, döpte om till Zocalo efter ett torg i Mexico City (2012-2013), började få
bättre lägen i stockholm och började kontakten med konsult och driva vidare idén
som franchise. Anledningen för att växa snabbare, tjäna mer, bättre kvalité, 2015
rullade de ut franchising samtidigt som man fick bättre lägen inom köpcentrum
som K25 pga att de hade tröttnat på liknande restauranger inom gallerian.
Vilken roll har du i kedjan?
Konsult
Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter driver ni
själva i Sverige?
5 franchisetagare med 1 som har två restauranger, 7st är egna men 3 av dom ska bli
innan sommaren . målet är att bara ha en egen kvar.
Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och var?
4 per år är målet, med 40 enheter innan 2023 eller 2024 inom Sverige
Har även kollat på att expandera till Frankrike Tyskland Holland (mest Frankrike)
Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Zocalo: Ja, kedjan är ung och då vill man ha en enhet där man kan testköra, som
maträtter och koncept. Detta är för att inte riskera någon annan ekonomi.
Klarabergsgatan är bra för det då det har en bred publik. K25 är mycket AW,
Scandinavia är Event
Generellt: Andra kan vilja ha flera ägda för de tjänar mer på det istället för att dela
på pengarna.
Konsult: minst en egen för test och ekonomiskt. Visar att man tror på konceptet och
att man riskerar sina egna pengar. Visar positivt för franchisetagare.
Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?)
Zocalo: se varumärket på fler ställen och se det växa
Generellt: ha nöjda franchisetagare och kunna åka omkring och träffa kollegor,
genom att känna att de gillar en och att man trivs ihop och de tjänar pengar.
Grundar sig i lagkänslan ska vara bra, genom att det ekonomiska funkar.
Magkänslan och att ha ett uppskattat koncept.
Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal ni följer
upp?)
Mäter det i ekonomiska termer.
63
 Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera kedjan
framgångsrikt? 20.25
Nöjda franchisetagare eller så kan man inte lyckas, ringer man till franchisetagare
som framtida franchisetagare så måste man få bra respons. Måste finnas ett sug för
att bli franchisetagare för företag. Annars kan man aldrig lyftas som företag. Positiv
aura runt konceptet. Åtminstone 7 av 10 nöjda och 1 till 2 som är riktigt nöjda.

Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika franchisetagare?

22.45
Personligt engagemang och entreprenörskap för att driva ett företag.
Bruttomarginal, fungerar logistiken, hyra så som affärskritiska faktorer – lätta att
checka av då flera som göra samma sak. Dessa har därför mindre inverkan på om
det är framgångsrikt eller inte få de går att kontrolleras. CITAT: det finns inga
självspelande pianon. Behöver INTE ha lång erfarenhet av att driva företag.
Hantera människor och kunder, personal, speciellt unga människor för att se till att
de stannar längre för att ytterligare rekrytera kompisar. Kunna bygga relationer och
hantera direkt kundkontakt här och nu, därför måste man gilla det istället för långa
relationer. Det är generellt i restaurangbranschen. Tappade kunder är svåra att få
tillbaka. Skapa trivsel

Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de dåligt? 27.50
Alla restauranger är konkurrenter för vi som kunder är inte trogna till restauranger.
Finns inga i samma nish….
Tacobar: går bra, skillnaden är sammansättningen av maten och hälsoperspektivet
Konkurrenter gör bra enligt deras förutsättningar

Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan? 30.35

Brist i att få tag i bra franchisetagare, finns bra människor men förstår inte
franchise och kunskapen om franchise är helt enkelt för liten i Sverige. 6 av 10
gillar inte sitt jobb men byter inte. Vet inte om att franchising är en möjlighet.
Italien Frankrike, Asien Kina Australien, känner man igen franchising för det är en
naturlig del av företagande. Är ett självklart alternative.
Brist på bra lägen för väldigt beroende av det. Det finns inte så många och de som
finns är alldeles för dyra. Gallerier och fastighetsägare har för höga hyror. En
restaurang klarar max 10+12 % av omsättningen i kostnader för hyra. 60+75 i
marginaler men funkar inte med för höga hyror. Måste få rimliga priser.

Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar? (svarat tidigare)

Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er franchisekedja?

(Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara framgångsrika?) (svarat tidigare)

Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller vid driften
av kedjan? 36.00
Se hur drivkraften är att starta eget, dom som går in första gången

What are the solutions to Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare? (svarat
overcome the most tidigare)
important barriers to
franchisor success?

64
 Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
Rekrytera noggrant, säga nej till många först innan man säger ja. Dålig på att
rekrytera som franchisegivare, har för bråttom för att få in pengar. Anställer
franchisetagare utan drivkraften. Dessa kommer ikapp som problem, som inte
lönsamma och gnäller. Skapar konflikt mellan parterna och tar mycket kraft, tid
och pengar för franchisegivare. Många är 8-10 Franchisetagare, med ingen tillväxt.
Förklaringen är att man rekryterar för snabbt och får massa problem, vilket leder
till att man inte tjänar pengar och tar kraft. Framgångssaga blev till kvarnsten. 5-8
första franchisetagare måste man säga nej till för att få en bra.

Wrap-up Questions Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du anser vara
en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja? 42.55
Tillgång till kapital, franchise är lönsamt när man får det att lyfta. Innan man får
det att lyfta så är det dyrt. Då måste man ha kapital. Zocalo hade svårt med detta
genom att missbedöma hur mycket kapital som behövdes. Räknar bara på intäkter
och inte på kostnader som kan uppkomma under tiden.
Svårt att få finansiering hos banker. Detta beror på att de inte förstår franchising.
Också riskkapitalister kan inte definiera franchising. (Frankrike har bankerna
förståelse för verksamheten). Börjar bli bättre sista åren. Tillgång till kapital.

Anonymity Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?

Nej!

Small Franchisor B

General Questions Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?

2005 Subway i Haninge, area developer i Sverige, öppnade 49
restauranger på 7 år och sålde agenturen, har varit 1.5 med sushirullen

Vilken roll har du i kedjan?

Utvecklare och delägare (development manager)

Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter

driver ni själva i Sverige?
18 restauranger, 5 ägda själva, 5 totalt i Finland

Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och

var?
Innan årets slut minst 30 enheter, mest inom Sverige men också Finland.
Inom 5 år så är planen 150-200

Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Ja för att veta vad som funkar genom att testa själv. Då ser man
möjligheter

What are the CSFs for a restaurant Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?) 18.40
franchise system in the Swedish Att alla inom kedjan tjänar pengar, att alla mår bra och trivs (så som
market from the franchisor’s personal och franchisetagare, Area developer)

65
perspective?
What are the solutions to overcome
the most important barriers to
franchisor success?
Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal
ni följer upp?)
1. omsättning sen mäts de andra utefter detta. Ex. hur stor hyra i % är av
omsättningen, löner i % av omsättning och 2. om man har en uppåt eller
nedåtgående trend.
Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera kedjan
framgångsrikt?
Att alla mår bra inklusive att kundens välmående, relationer med
hyresvärden är viktiga
Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika
franchisetagare?
Engagerade och bryr sig, har kunden i fokus. Ha bra support från
Franchisegivare och bra relationer däremellan.
Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de
dåligt?
Snabbmat som McD, Burger King, Max – gör det bra utefter deras
förutsättningar och deras nisch. Dock har de svårt att standardisera för att
de inte ändrar och inte är anpassningsbar och är för globala– företag från
USA.
Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan?
Få in bra folk genom rekrytering så som franchisetagare och
restaurangchefer.
Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar?
Läge – ska vara nära till kontor och synas, vara bra strömning runt om
och vara ett bra ställe för lunch.
Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er
franchisekedja? (Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara
framgångsrika?)
Hitta rätt personer och lägen för rätt förutsättningar. Vara tuff i
förhandlingar och tacka nej om det behövs för att det är för dyrt.
Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller
vid driften av kedjan?
Svårt att bedöma hur franchisetagaren jobbar, hantering av personal (kan
ha för mycket kontrollbehov), klickar och personlig kemi, svårt att se
hela personligheten från intervju.
Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare?
Hur marknaden är som finanskris, råvaror som påverkar marginalerna
Ex. haft problem med lax och sjögräs som gick upp i pris då man
behövde köpa in från Norge då all annan lax hade löss. Sjögräset hade
svårt att växa pga. Väder som förstör
Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
Ha bra dialoger med leverantörer, alltid ha en back-up plan om nåt
händer, och förutse saker som kan hända
66
Wrap-up Questions
Anonymity
Small Franchisor C
General Questions
What are the CSFs for a
restaurant franchise system
in the Swedish market from
the franchisor’s
perspective?
Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du
anser vara en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja?
Marknadsföring – bara lokal nivå först så som tidning kuponger (sthlm).
Efter det TV, radio och bygga varumärket. Behöver 4-5 till restauranger
för att dom ska börja annonsera vid metro och tunnelbana. Kanske 2019.
Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?
Nej!
Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?
Jobbade på McDonalds, öppnade butiker och varit franchisetagare i 10 år hoppade
av skolan. Har inte gått utbildningar hela livet, slutade gymnasiet, började på
McDonald’s och fick utbildning inom franchise och ledarskap. Efter det började
han på Sova butikerna som anställd i 2 år. Han fick chansen att bli franchisetagare
på Sova och öppnade under 10 år flera Sova butiker.
Vilken roll har du i kedjan?
VD och huvudägare
Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter driver ni
själva i Sverige?
7 hela franchisetagare, 3 som de är delägare och en som de äger själv
Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och var?
5 detta år och 10 st per år därefter i Sverige. Inga tankar på internationell expansion
Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Ja men inte jätteviktigt om man äger det själv eller delvis.
Test och visa exempel, visa att konceptet fungerar, man får bra ledaregenskaper.
Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?)
Jobba med rätt människor, motiverade och trivs. Viktigaste framgångsfaktorer är
människor och att de har driv
Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal ni följer
upp?)
“Vi arbetar med nyckeltal, precis som de flesta gör, t ex food cost, både teoretisk
och verklig food cost” försöker komma så nära som möjligt till den teoretiska food
cost kostnaden. Lönekostnader är svårare att mäta eftersom de som driver är egna
företagare och det beror på deras löneuttag och när de tar ut lön under året. De
använder mystery shopper där de mäter gästens upplevelse.
Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera kedjan
framgångsrikt?
“Människor, pengar och lägen”
67
 Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika franchisetagare?
Förutom att hitta rätt människor - att de känner sig viktiga och får vara med och
bestämma och delaktiga. Sammanhållning är också viktigt.

Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de dåligt?
Om man ser på Espresso House och Starbucks så är de så stora och starka
finansiellt att de inte behöver franchisetagare. De kan driva ledarskap på ett helt
annat sätt. Fram tills dess man är stor är det tufft. Teknik är väldigt viktigt
framöver, man ser att MAX har börjat köra med det. Förenkla allt det. Self service
kiosker och appar Det blir viktigare att maten smakar bättre och att köerna sköts
per automatik. Det gäller att förenkla allting.

Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan?

Pengar, lönsamheten. Det gäller att ha pengar även under dåliga år för att kunna
vidareutveckla kedjan. Där har de stora kedjorna stora fördelar, de köper in enheter
för 5 årsvinster och tar banklån, medan vi måste köpa utan banklån och till en lägre
värdering på 3-4 årsvinster. Vi kan inte köpa in de bästa enheterna som blir till salu
på marknaden, utan får nöja oss med dem de stora kedjorna inte köper.

Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar?

Läge och partners, i den ordningen. Dåligt läge med bra partner fungerar inte, men
läge och dålig partner går att styra upp, alternativt köpa upp enheten själv.

Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er franchisekedja?

(Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara framgångsrika?)
Anställa bra folk och vidareutveckla konceptet. När vi når 30 enheter så kan vi ha
en som bara jobbar med våra enheter och åker runt, nu har vi inte det.

Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller vid driften
av kedjan?
De ska vara egenföretagare, du ska ha uthållighet som franchisetagare och inte
köpa en dyr klocka och bil. Det är en livsstil man måste ha.

What are the solutions to Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare?
overcome the most Omvärlden, fluktuerande råvarupriser, om priserna ändras, kan vi då ändra
important barriers to utpriserna? Inte alltid.
franchisor success?

Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
Förhandla om allt, importera lite själv runtom i europa och inte bara i sverige,
skaffa kontakter

Wrap-up Questions Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du anser vara
en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja?
Nej, men skicka gärna uppsatsen till oss

Anonymity Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?

Behöver inte vara anonym, går bra att nämna.

Small Franchisor D

68
General Questions Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?
Akademiker, doktor i historia, startade konceptet 1995, som franchise sedan 2002.
Nådde målet om 10 enheter innan 2006

Vilken roll har du i kedjan?

Delägare.

Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter driver ni

själva i Sverige?
26 enheter, tagit bort 14 enheter och tog tillbaka 2. 6 egna enheter.

Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och var?
4 enheter om året

Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Självklart! Inte så många som dom gör. Man kan visa sidor, och kan visa att
nyckeltalen håller för franchisetagare. Visa vilka nyckeltal som är viktiga.

What are the CSFs for a Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?)
restaurant franchise system Började för 5 år sen när han lämnade sin tjänst inom universitetet. Gästerna ska
in the Swedish market from känna igen sig i miljön överallt, förbättra vinsten, villkor, finns ett kalkylerande
the franchisor’s perspective? tänkandet.

Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal ni följer
upp?)

Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera kedjan

framgångsrikt?
Hitta bra franchisetagare, som förstår sig på franchising, för att kunna förmedla
franchise kulturen i kedjan. Hitta finansiering till tillväxt (banker), för kan handla
om 3-6 miljoner. 300kvm 100-120 sittplatser.

Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika franchisetagare?

Att vara lyhörd och att lyssna på franchisetagare kan konceptet. Hitta inte på egna
lösningar, följa handboken och följa franchiseavtalet. Dom som gör det har
mycket bättre nyckeltal. Om de inte gör det så har de sämre nyckeltal och
marginaler. Fyller upp sin fritid med att få ner kostnaderna istället för att bara
följa instruktionerna. (work-life balance??)

Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de dåligt?
Följer inte vad andra gör så mycket. Handbok och avtal är framtaget utefter
grekiska kolbarsgrillens förutsättningar. Ica och citygross är konkurrent med
färdiga maträtter.

Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan?

Byggs så mycket fastigheter och lokaler för butiker och restauranger, och
konkurrensen har hårdnat. Därför är ett hinder att kunna växa och därför inte
samma utvecklingspotential som för 10 år sen. Svårt att rekrytera personal, och
hitta duktiga franchisetagare. Så många kedjor som utvecklas inom franchising,
både svenska och utländska.
1. byggs så mycket utveckling – digitalisering av allt
2. hitta personal
3. hitta duktiga franchisetagare

69
 Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar? (svarat tidigare)

Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er franchisekedja?

(Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara framgångsrika?)

Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller vid driften
av kedjan?
Kan spela bra teater under samtal och provtid.

What are the solutions to Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare? (svarat
overcome the most important tidigare)
barriers to franchisor
success?

Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
När man har tecknat ett franchiseavtal så utbildar man franchisetagaren.

Wrap-up Questions Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du anser vara
en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja?
Ha tydliga målsättningar och handligskraft, såsom öka bruttomarginalvinsten från
65 till 75.

Anonymity Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?

Nej!

Small Franchisor E

General Questions Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?

IT konsult i 20 år, lämnade för ungefär 1 år sen. Sålde allt inom
IT och började tillsammans med sin bror för ungefär 1.5 år sen
med detta.

Vilken roll har du i kedjan?

VD som franchisegivare.

Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många

enheter driver ni själva i Sverige?
1 franchisetagare och en som öppnas själv snart.

Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år

och var?
Under 2019, 15 enheter och 5 år 40-50 inom hela Sverige.

Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Ja, för att lära oss om konceptet och veta allt hur det fungerar.
Detta är för att kunna bidra med bättre franchiseupplevelse.

70
What are the CSFs for a restaurant franchise
system in the Swedish market from the
franchisor’s perspective?
What are the solutions to overcome the most
important barriers to franchisor success?
Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni
framgång?) 18.40
Kan leva på det här och då behöver 3+5 enheter. Bidra till
jobbtillfällen, nyanlända speciellt, entreprenörskap genom att ha
franchisetagare.
Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella
nyckeltal ni följer upp?)
Lätt att mäta nummer som genom nystartade enheter,
marginaler, kalkyler, hur mäter man om man gör nåt vettigt??
Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna
expandera kedjan framgångsrikt?
Bra koncept, bra franchisetagare, hele tiden utveckla konceptet.
Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika
franchisetagare?
Öppen och ärlig konversation. Tjänar dom pengar så tjänar vi
pengar.
Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör
de dåligt?
Anser vara egna. Toppklass genom burgaren och ska vara
snabba och lättfotade.
Andra har dålig kvalité eller för dyrt.
Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan? (svarat
tidigare)
Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar?
Läge, läge, läge! Måste inte ha super centrum. Flödet av
människor, skolor, butiker. även om hyran är hög så kan det
väga upp om det är bra läge.
Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er
franchisekedja? (Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara
framgångsrika?)
Konversation öppen med franchisetagare, för förändringar, slipa
på konceptet
Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare
eller vid driften av kedjan?
Rekrytering som man tror är klockren sen är den inte det,
personundersökningar säger bara en del och därför svåra att
förutse.
Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som
franchisegivare? (svarat tidigare)
Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som
franchisegivare?
Var noggrann i rekryteringsprocessen, slarva inte, ställ tuffa
71

Wrap-up Questions
Anonymity
Large Franchisor F
General Questions
What are the CSFs for a
restaurant franchise system
in the Swedish market from
the franchisor’s
perspective?
frågor, referenser, ta lång tid.
Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men
som du anser vara en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja?
Sociala medier, har fungerat att varit öppna i sociala medier och
många vet om dom pga. det.
Marknadsföring
Lokalpressen och sociala medier. Har nu samarbete med
konsulter som jobbar med sociala medier.
Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?
Nej!
Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?
2004 började han jobba på olearys som projektledare (utbilda och planera och
drift), 2016 blev han VD. Bakgrund inom restaurang, och KTH utbildning som inte
är klart inom väg och vatten.
Vilken roll har du i kedjan?
VD
Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter driver ni
själva i Sverige?
70 tal FT med 130 enheter och 2 själva. Fram till förra året 100procent franchising.
Expanderar närmaste först ch mellanöster också.
Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och var?
20plus enheter per år. 17 ska vara inom egen regi innan 2023. Kombination av FT
och area developer, master FT, men mer area developer bla. I Mellanöster.
Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Ja, för är en utmaning att komma in på nya territorier. Konceptuella anpassningar,
utbildningar på restaurangerna, och hålla med personalstyrka som kan utbilda på
plats var det än är i världen. Utveckla produkt och koncept, träffsäkerhet och
snabbhet genom tester. Utbildningsdelen är viktigast och ha full kontroll över
informationen de får och kunna hålla med personalstyrka.
Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?)
Attraktivt koncept och framgångsrika FT
Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal ni följer
upp?)
Lönsamhet, FT om kostnadsnivån,
B2B – FT, hur hanterar vi vårt koncept till FT, lönsamhet, relation.
B2C - vad tycker de om oss, sociala medier, och kvalitativa undersökningar,
MrShopping bla.
72
 Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera kedjan
framgångsrikt?
Rätt partners och utbud som andra. Och andra grejer kommer sen som kan variera
från tillfälle till tillfälle.

Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika franchisetagare?

Att FT har glöd och driv, att driva affärer och gillar att göra Olearys. Och att
Franchisemodellen passar. Ha ett bra supportsystem, ett supportsystem norden och
ett internationell. Norden mer utvecklat, avtal, produkt, hela SC, manualer,
checklistor, utbildningar under årens gång, och hur vi driver vår marknadsföring
och hur kan de bita in i det.

Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de dåligt?
Vapiano bra internationellt, har samarbeten. Bra att välja partners och
anpassningsbara i sin etableringsstrategi i olika marknader, har valt
multilandsstrategi med många samtidigt.
HardRock duktiga brandar upp sina butiker och deras utbildningsplatform och
skolor, kvalitetssäkrar.

Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan?

Få hinder konceptuellt för det är väldigt skalbart. Resursfråga och
organisationsfråga, ha en organisation som hänger med i utvecklingen. Ha en
strategi på alla marknader som man ska in på.

Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar?

Läge är alltid viktigt, detta i kombination med rätt partner och tajming. Tajming
handlar om utvecklingen om stad och kommun, ombyggnader där.

Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er franchisekedja?

(Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara framgångsrika?)
De som följer konceptet bäst är framgångsrika. Fokuserar på rätt saker och
marknadsföring, gästrelationer och trivsel, levererar till konceptets fulla potential.
fokusera på rätt saker.
Problem: Handla upp saker som är redan upphandlat, anpassa konceptet på ett
felaktigt sätt (för mycket), utbudsfråga med att hitta nya saker.

Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller vid driften
av kedjan?
Relationer och gäster som ska besöka och svårt att förutse alla delar.

What are the solutions to Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare?
overcome the most Bra kommunikation, vill ha trygghet och då måste man ha tydlig kommunikation.
important barriers to Koncepten och skapa fördelar för FT, och svara på vad och varför och hur. Måste
franchisor success? svara på frågan Whats in it for them? CITAT

Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
Kommunikationen hur: strukturerad kommunikation, xtranät där finns all
dokumentation så som handbok, riktilinjer, policys, löpande kommunikation. Årlig
ägarkonferans, årliga driftskonferanser (ägare, köksmästare, restaurangchefer) som
träffas regionalt där man pratar driftsfrågor. Utöver det så finns det forum,
köksmästarträffar, och area managers som åker ut till restauranger minst 4 gånger
per år. Bildar en viktig länk mellan HQ och FT. Svarar på mejl och telefon i daglig
verksamhet.

73
Wrap-up Questions
Anonymity
Large Franchisor G
General Questions
What are the CSFs for a
restaurant franchise system in the
Swedish market from the
franchisor’s perspective?
Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du anser vara
en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja?
Bra affärsutveckling är att ta fram nytt men också att ta tillvara på det man har.
Detta har Olearys blivit bättre på. Ex. öppna 2 stänga en.
Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?
nej
Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?
Ekonomisk utbildad, jobbat inom 30 branchen, 23 år inom MAX, 6 år i
Sibylla,
Vilken roll har du i kedjan?
Konceptchef, affärsutveckling
Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter driver ni
själva i Sverige?
1 själv i Solna men vill sälja, 160 enheter drygt, 145 FT. Mål att ha multiunit
för att ge bästa förutsättningars. Nån som kan jobba mer på operativ nivå så is
the sky limit.
Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och var?
6 till 10 per år, i år blir det i år och nästa år. I hela landet.
Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Skulle vilja driva fler själv, säkerhetsställa koncept, testa, visningar möte och
utbildningar. Inte mycket negativt mer än att det är ännu en grej att göra.
Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?)
Svårt att svara med enkelt svar. Startade 1932, fördelar men också nackdelar.
Faktorer som funkade förr men inte nu, koncept är svåra att ändra som har
hållit så länge.
Satt ett antal saker på värdekartan och nu är det kedjan. Har hittills inte varit
en jämn meny och lokala avvikelser, styrka lokalt men inte ur
varumärkesperspektiv. Folk ska veta vad dom får. Likrikta bolaget men ändå
behålla den lokala touchen, det är framgångsfaktor.
Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal ni
följer upp?)
Flertal undersökningar, kampanjmatningar, varumätningsmätningar, en sak.
Utvecklingen på vår försäljning och gäster. Andra som är flummiga, märker
och känner av utvecklingen av vad som behövs för att bygga en kedja.
74

What are the solutions to
overcome the most important
barriers to franchisor success?
Wrap-up Questions
Anonymity
Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera kedjan
framgångsrikt?
Varumärket, bygga långsiktigt och strategiskt. Skapa förtroende för vad
marknaden vill ha, kan vara miljö. I nutid och framtid.
Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika
franchisetagare?
Delaktighet.
Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de dåligt?
MAX har allt till sin fördel. Hälsa, kvalite, byggnation, inredning, service.
McD tillgänglighet, alltid avgörande. Snabbrörlighet, driver inifrån och ut.
BK hamnat i prisfällan, kör mycket lågpris nu. En karusell som inte är bra på
sikt.
Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan?
Varumärket, måste korrigera värdet i det. Max 1994 fick man jaga läge,
MAX 2002 då står de i kö för att få de.
Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar?
Läget om det är drive-in. säkerhetsställa öppningen, marknadsföra, lokala
förutsättningar, bra FT
Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er franchisekedja?
(Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara framgångsrika?)
Matsäkerhet, köket i största allmänhet. Har större meny än konkurrenter så
blir en flaskhals att fixa.
Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller vid
driften av kedjan?
Personal är ett dygnet runt ansvar, ungdomar speciellt. Milleniers mer
medvetna nu, avtal, lagar och omvärlden och hur man kan göra ändringar.
Svårt att se igenom allt i intervjuer. Var noga, och tydlig i rekrytering av FT.
Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare?
Lagstiftningar vid mat, allergiker är ett hot så som korskontamineringar.
Mindre anläggningar har problem. Personalproblem så som FT som inte
funkar, vikande försäljningar, leda i motgång är svårt.
Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
Aldrig vara rädd för snabba puckar, var på alerten och redo att ändra. Så som
snabb försäljning, prissänkningar, ODR (oadresserad direkt reklam), lokalt
tidningsannonser, bilar, inom de fyradörrarna, öka snittnotan.
Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du anser
vara en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja?
Som serviceorganisation ha ansvar och våga vilja vinna genom att gör
konsekvensanalyser, både positivt och negativt, alltid ha koll. Ha koll på
marknaden, så som galna kosjukan.
Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?
Nej
75
Large Franchisor H

General Questions Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?

Varit inom Waynes i 5 år, innan det Extors och Åhlens i 17 år som VD
och även McDonalds.

Vilken roll har du i kedjan?

VD sen i mars, innan det vice VD

Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter

driver ni själva i Sverige?
64-65 i Sverige och 84 kafeer. Äger 3 själva och 6 är i andra länder
såsom norge, finland, jordanien, saudarabien, cypern.

Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och

var?
Hemligt.

Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Ja för att testa själva och utbilda franchisetagare och medarbetare.

What are the CSFs for a restaurant Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?) 18.40
franchise system in the Swedish Har ingen riktigt definition. De har en position som ekologisk,
market from the franchisor’s planeträddare och att träffas och vara med varandra – swedish fika. Så
perspective? att folk trivs och att det utvecklas.

Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal

ni följer upp?)
Ser försäljning genom mobilen varje söndag och granskar. Genom
kampanjer och gästundersökningar.

Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera

kedjan framgångsrikt?
Att man hela tiden utvecklar konceptet, och att man har bra struktur och
infranär för att enkelt kunna kopiera.

Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika

franchisetagare?
Driv för franchisetagaren, att de älskar människor och service. Har ett
affärssinne, och kan leda människor och i synnerhet hantera unga. Inte
lika viktigt med pengar och bakgrunden för franchisetagaren.

Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de

dåligt?
Vill inte prata om konkurrenter.

Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan?

Kostnaderna så som hyran som inte gör det lönsamt.

76
 Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar?
Lägen – bra flöden av människor till kafeerna.

Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er

franchisekedja? (Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara
framgångsrika?)
Bra lägen, engagerade franchisetagare och att man hela tiden utvecklar
konceptet.

Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller

vid driften av kedjan?
Hinner inte lära känna franchisetagaren

What are the solutions to overcome the Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare?
most important barriers to franchisor (svarat tidigare)
success?

Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
Extern företag som kontrollerar referenser.

Wrap-up Questions Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du
anser vara en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja?
Måste vara annorlunda – dom är ekologiska

Anonymity Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?

Nej!

Large Franchisor I

General Questions Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?

Entreprenör som ar provat mycket med egna företag. Önskemålet var att ha
mer lyckade. Har jobbat inom restaurangbranschen länge men slutade pga
dålig ersättning. Sen när det digitala kom så blev jag intresserad för då
kunde man få bättre marginaler.

Vilken roll har du i kedjan?

Grundare och VD

Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter driver

ni själva i Sverige?
Driver dem i huvudstäderna själva och har 52 restauranger med ett 30 tal
franchisetagare

Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och var?
Planerar för 2 öppningar i månader, dvs. 24 per år. Är i fas med detta i år
och nästa år i alla fall.

77
 Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Ja för att hålla koll och få förståelse över franchisetagaren. Vill själv öka
antalet egenägda i huvudstäderna i norden.

What are the CSFs for a Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?) 18.40
restaurant franchise system in the Genom att ha ett framgångsrikt koncept. Vi har det genom beställning
Swedish market from the genom appen, gästern, maten och inredningen. Men främst handlar
franchisor’s perspective? framgång om mjukvaran.

Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal ni

följer upp?)
Snittmarginal då ingen ska vara under 15-17%

Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera kedjan

framgångsrikt? 20.25
Se till att franchisetagarna tjänar pengar är nummer 1.

Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika

franchisetagare? 22.45
Ha ett starkt varumärke och en stadig organisation vilket get trygghet for
franchisetagaren vilket är det viktigaste.

Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de dåligt?
27.50
Har ingen i samma nisch. Andra liknande riktar in sig på killar medan vi
riktar in oss på tjejer i synnerhet.

Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan? 30.35

Finansiering kan vara ett problem tills nu för nu har man etablerat sig och
har varumärke så finns inga hinder för att etablera sig. för många är det
lägen men för oss måste det vara lokalt men inte topp A ställen vilket gör att
det inte är ett problem.

Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar?

Normalt är det läge men vi är en destination så kunder planerar långt innan
för att komma hit. Planeringen för oss är viktig så vi vet hur mycket
personal vi behöver för personal kostnader.

Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er

franchisekedja? (Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara
framgångsrika?)
Servicenivån, ska vara bättre än vad kunden förväntar sig

Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller vid
driften av kedjan? 36.00
Hitta kockar är svårt, tar in sina från Grekland och Spanien och utbildar dom
själva. För de behöver inte vara utbildade bara de har en chef som sätter
smaker och kan det.

What are the solutions to Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare?
overcome the most important Vissa franchisetagare håller sig ej till konceptet och hittar på eget, så länge
barriers to franchisor success? de tjänar pengar så är detta inget problem.

78

Wrap-up Questions
Anonymity
Large Franchisor J
General Questions
What are the CSFs for a
restaurant franchise system
in the Swedish market from
the franchisor’s
perspective?
Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
Måste ha ett stadig HQ, duktiga area managers som är ute och stöttar och är
ute och ser att alla följer samma riktlinjer.
Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du anser
vara en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja? 42.55
Måste vara tydligt vad man står för. Så länge franchisetagaren tjänar pengar
så har man inga problem. Måste ha ett positivt varumärke som man hela
tiden utvecklar.
Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?
Nej!
Kan du berätta om din bakgrund?
Dagligvaruhandeln tio år, på Orcla, dvs, Abba. Marknadsföring i olika roller. Sista
tio åren franchise och marknadsansvarig på harrys, marknad och sälj ansvarig
Vilken roll har du i kedjan?
Franchise och marknadschef
Hur många franchisetagare har ni i kedjan, hur många enheter driver ni
själva i Sverige?
33. Driver bara två själva, göteborg och linköping, har för avsikt att utveckla sig
inom bara franchising
Hur många enheter planerar ni att öppna inom 1 år och 5 år och var?
Var är hemligt, men vi har en ganska offensiv plan. En del kedjor öppnar för många
enheter, så de måste även stänga en del. Vi försöker hitta bra krögare, för att
undvika att stänga enheter, och som tror på att leva inom ramen av ett koncept. Det
är lätt att tro att det är enkelt att arbeta i ett koncept, men det är svårare än man tror
Är det viktigt att driva egna enheter, varför eller varför inte?
Nej, men, det är inte viktigt att driva många, för oss räcker det egentligen med att
driva en. Syftet är att få förståelse för driftsfrågor, men det äter upp mycket av vår
tid som franchisegivare. Vi kan inte ta bort att driva egna enheter helt. Olearys har
köpt in två av sina franchisetagare, tror jag, för att testa mer själva.
Vad är framgång för er kedja? (hur definierar ni framgång?)
Det är ju konceptet och förmågan till styrning av konceptet, det är det som är
framgången för all franchise, att man styr och värnar om konceptet, hårt. Harrys är
det som alla andra i branschen inte är. Hela branschen är nischad och segmenterad
och det är vi inte, vi accepterar alla kunder i små och mellanstora städer, vi är
stället dit alla går.
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Hur mäter du framgången för din kedja? (Några speciella nyckeltal ni följer
upp?)
Vi följer nyckeltal hela tiden. All försäljning, alla kostnader, vi följer noga
omdömen på nätet. Varje år gör vi åtta stycken mystery shopper besök på varje
krog, där vi prov äter och dricker utan att krogarna vet om det. Mystery shopper är
till för att mäta en krog och förhoppningsvis få en hög och jämn prestation och för
att ge feedback till franchisetagaren. Som franchisegivare är vår kund FT så hur FT
ser på kedjan mäter vi också, men bara en gång om året, det är egentligen kvittot på
vårt jobb. Vi ser även på matsajter o dyl, förutom sociala medier o dyl.

Vilka faktorer tycker du är viktigast för att kunna expandera kedjan

framgångsrikt?
Konceptuell styrning, att aldrig tulla på konceptet och dess riktlinjer.

Vilka är de viktigaste faktorerna för att ha framgångsrika franchisetagare?

Rekryteringen av franchisetagare är helt avgörande, det finns alldeles för många
lycksökare som tror att det är enkelt att driva en kedjerestaurang. Det är som en
rekryteringsbyrå verksamhet, vi lägger massor med arbete på att rekrytera
franchisetagare. De ska vara hela och rena och inga lik i garderoben, sen ska de ha
rätt inställning. Det vill säga, en stor portion ansvar, de ska gilla att jobba på golvet
och ha ett djävla driv. Vi brukar prata om de tre viktigaste sakerna en
franchisetagare ska ha (1) ansvar (2) glädje och (3) driv.
Rekryteringar brukar falla på att franchisetagare inte har råd att bygga en restaurang
eftersom det kostar mycket pengar att bygga en av våra restauranger.

Om vi ser på era konkurrenter, vad gör de bra och vad gör de dåligt?
Vi tycker att våra konkurrenter är duktiga. Konkurrenterna är mer nischade än oss, t
ex, O’Llearys, Pinchos och Vapianos och även alla framväxande cafekedjor. De är
bra.

Vilka är de största hindren till att expandera kedjan?

Det är en bra fråga. Hitta folk och sen vill vi hålla nere kostnaderna för att bygga
krogarna. Kostnaderna har ökat, så det är fel. vi vill kunna bygga billigare och
billigare. Vi ser inga stora hinder, förutom att hitta nya personer.

Vilka faktorer är viktigast vid nyetableringar?

Läget och krögaren själv och sen bör krögaren ha ett extremt brett nätverk. Många
tror att franchisegivaren har tänkt på allt, men det fungerar inte så utan det måste
finnas en djup förståelse för att man själv som franchisetagare måste ha ett driv.
Franchise idag är den late företagarens lösning, vi vill inte ha lata personer, vi vill
ha duracellkaniner med bokstavskombinationer

Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna vid drift av er franchisekedja?

(Vilka faktorer är viktigast för att vara framgångsrika?)
Att hålla koll på sina kostnader, vilket är det allra svåraste och även personalsidan
just nu är en jätteutmaning i restaurangbranschen, en superutmaning är det. Det är
superviktigt att man följer sina kostnader för personal och råvaror slaviskt.

Vilka problem är svåra att förutse vid val av franchisetagare eller vid driften
av kedjan?
Personligheterna. Vi försöker träffa krögarna intensivt och försöker förstå dem,
men det är väldigt svårt att förutspå hur de är egentligen. När det kommer till drift,
att vara företagare, ledare. Det är jättesvårt att förutse och det är oftast
rekryteringen av franchisetagaren som kan gå fel. Men i takt med att vi blir mer och

80
 mer processstyrda och får rutiner för rekryteringsprocessen blir vi bättre på att
hantera detta. Man blir bättre och bättre helt enkelt.

What are the solutions to Vilka andra problem kan uppstå för dig som franchisegivare?
overcome the most Uppföljning av att franchisetagaren följer konceptet. Där kan det uppstå rätt mycket
important barriers to problem.
franchisor success? Många franchisetagare har åsikter om menyer och om vi handlar från rätt
leverantörer och sen försöker de hitta på egna saker och lösningar och då kan det
bli rätt stora diskussioner huruvida de får göra det eller inte. Ibland måste man ta
till den tråkiga lösningen och gå via advokat för att de inte är lojala mot konceptet
och så där, det är inte helt ovanligt.
Följdfråga från oss “går det att se någon trend om detta sker i början eller senare i
relationen med FT? Svar: Nej, det kan hända när som helst.

Hur gör man för att lösa dessa problem, som franchisegivare?
Jobba nära dem, det är hela grejen. De ska känna att vi har service och kontroll. Det
är bara att jobba nära dem hela tiden så att de känner att man är på dem hela tiden
helt enkelt och det är vi!
Man kan gå ner i detalj om hur vi sköter det här och hur man följer upp problemen,
men det blir lite väl internt och det vill jag inte gå in på.

Wrap-up Questions Har du något att tillägga som vi missat att fråga om, men som du anser vara
en kritisk framgångsfaktor för din kedja?
Största lärdomen att vara franchisegivare är att man får aldrig missa att styra
konceptet, så fort man missar konceptstyrningen och regelverket och det påverkar
varumärket så spricker hela skiten.

Anonymity Vill du vara anonym i undersökningen?

Nej

81