A PizzaWorld franchise opened near us, so my husband and I started eating there. We found the owners friendly and the food excellent, if slightly overpriced. They were in a good location in a growing area of town, and we were thrilled to find a good pizza place, particulary at lunchtime. If you go to the PizzaWorld website, you’ll see the owners giving one of the tesimonials for the franchise (she is the lady in the blue sweater).
Sadly, yesterday my husband went there for lunch and found only the realtor sign and nothing else. They were gone. So, my question is, who is to blame? The franchisor or the franchisees?
Since I haven’t talked to them, I don’t know for sure, but this is what I observed:
1. Too many employees. On a Friday night they had at 7 high schoolers there. One went out on a delivery and came back. We were the only people in the place. Why they needed 7 children to work on a slow night was beyond me. Was that number recommended by the franchisor or were the people just too kind to tell the children to go home?
2. Massive portions. I ordered a salad one time that easily could have fed me for 3 meals, and it was loaded with all kinds of good stuff. The calzones were humungous. Did the franchisor set the size or did these people not know about portion control?
3. Prices high. Pizza is a highly competitive business. For a new pizza place to make it, they have to have fantastic pizza and low prices. People can pay less at one of the major franchises.
4. Breathtaking competition. In addition to the normal super-competitiveness of pizza places in general, just a couple of miles away was an old pizza place that has been in town for generations and makes unarguably the ideal pizzas in the world. People will stand in line for an hour at this place just to get a table. So the tiny PizzaWorld place had to convince people it was worth it to come down the road to them. Did the franchisor not check out the competition? Were these people new in town and didn’t realize that the local mecca was going to be impossible to overcome?
As I said, I don’t know the answers to these questions. I do know one thing:
Even if you are buying a franchise, do your homework. Learn about the area and the competition. Keep your expenses low. I’m not saying to skimp on sizes, but if something sounds like it’s not right, check it out. In other words, don’t rely on the fact that you are buying a franchise and not do the work.
If you have been in this situation, with a failed business, what advice would you give to others?
Tags: baby boomers, franchises, pizza, PizzaWorld, small businesses
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