Why Post-MBA Grads Should Consider Franchising: A Review of Yale's A. J. Wasserstein's Article
Why Post-MBA Grads Should Consider Franchising: A Review of Yale's A. J. Wasserstein's Article
Professor Wasserstein is Yale's Senior Lecturer in the Practice of Management at the Yale School of Management. He has written countless articles on business, buying existing businesses, the psychology of a good CEO, and franchising. In Exploring Franchisees as a Post-MBA Entrepreneurial Path April 8 2022 , he examines why MBA grads don't consider franchising and why it can deliver the kind of risk-adjusted returns MBAs are seeking. He is clear that this isn't a path for everyone, but for a new CEO who is looking for excellent risk adjusted returns, this is a compelling path. An important element to remember is he isn't advocating owning a single unit- Professor Wasserstein envisions the MBA graduate going on to own dozens, even hundreds, of locations in one or many franchise brands.
The full article can be found here.
Please note, every quote in this article not explicitly linked to or mentioning another article is from A. J. Wasserstein's article referenced at the start of this article. Anything preceding or following quoted text is the author's perspective.
Quick Outline
Professor Wasserstein organizes the article into three distinct categories: introduction, why MBAs don't choose franchises, and why they should. Below is a quick outline of the last two sections.
Why MBA graduates don't consider franchising
Professor Wasserstein dives into each of following reasons MBA grads usually don't consider franchising.
Royalties are a large portion of revenue.
ETA searchers prefer to focus on B2B business with contractually obligated recurring revenue.
Scaling the business requires high capital costs.
The exit can be hampered by the franchisor.
I don't have total control over my business.
I don't want to employ the type of people most franchises hire.
A franchisor's interest is focused on maximizing revenue while mine is on maximizing net profit.
I will have a lower social impact in a franchise than I want.
Case Study
We will delve into a case study of a large investment firm who owns a significant amount of Taco Bells.
Why MBA graduates should consider franchising:
He then goes on to list the following reasons why owning franchises can be a compelling business proposition for MBA graduates.
Proven business model
Stable revenue and cash flow streams
Highly fragmented acquisition opportunities once in the system
Easier integration of acquisitions
Opportunity to rent the brand
Community of shared knowledge
Some banks have specialty lending units that focus on franchisees
Some systems have extremely compelling 4-wall ROIC and unit economics
Unique real estate economics
No need for a great idea
Shallow competitive talent pools
Franchisors might favor a professional, credentialed CEO
Case Study
We will delve into an MIT MBA graduate who started with 6 territories of a B2B trash smashing franchise.
What is Franchising
As a quick primer, franchising is a business model where one company licenses their business model, logo, and trade secrets to an operator in exchange for a percentage of revenue. In addition to just receiving an operating manual, great franchisors provide on-going support and training in order to maximize the performance of individual locations and owners.
There are over 4,000 franchised brands in the US so the level of sophistication and support will vary. Industries are not limited to just fast food, gyms, and oil changes. They span education, pets, home services, business services, beauty, wellness, and more. According to the 2025 Franchise Economic Report, Franchises businesses are projected to contribute $936 billion in economic output and provide 9 million direct jobs, and the industry as a whole is projected to grow more than twice as fast as US GDP.
Franchises fit within the search fund model when considering what most searchers are looking for: a proven model, low risk of failure, high potential returns, and a business with a track record of success. Unless you are buying an existing franchise, many of these characteristics apply to the system as a whole even though you are starting a new location. However, a business that has launched successfully in hundreds, sometimes thousands, of other locations has a higher chance of launching successfully in your market than a brand new business. Comparing a de novo franchise location to starting a brand new business is non an apples-to-apples comparison.
What is ETA
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) is a model of becoming a business owner through purchasing an ongoing concern vs starting a business from scratch. It became popular in 1984 and has exploded as a model for getting into business since then, especially for MBA graduates who are first time entrepreneurs. In fact, this mode of getting into business has become a force within MBA programs with entire investment strategies (Search Funds) built around it.
Franchise Ownership Among Harvard MBA Grads Focused on ETA
"Sharpe, an entrepreneur in residence at Harvard Business School and a commentator on all things search, estimates in a survey of 187 ETA businesses purchased by Harvard Business School graduates in the past decade that 19 (or 10%) purchased franchise operations – 10 immediately upon graduation and nine mid-career." These franchises include food, tax prep, staffing, education, and fitness. However, "In spite of these success stories, when most MBA students hear the word franchise, their reaction is visceral and pejorative."
Wasserstein makes it clear that there are two factors a franchise investor must get right if they want to reap the benefits he outlines in the rest of the article:
You must select a quality franchise brand
You must select a territory that is a good fit for the specific franchise you chose
Without these two factors, you are almost guaranteed to fail. With these two, you can be more confident your experience will mirror the statistics of success others in the system have found.
Why MBA Grads Will Not Consider Owning a Franchise
In a September 2022 article published by Asset Manager Verdad, Daniel Rasmussen stated, "MBAs choose their industry based on its prestige, what they think they can earn, what they hope to learn, and where they think they can end up by ascending vertically within it or by exiting to a different one. What this data shows is that they often make that decision poorly, and that there are market inefficiencies to be exploited by MBAs who are interested in pursuing extreme wealth and willing to take less popular paths to get there." He demonstrated there is a clearly something besides pure economics pushing MBAs into careers where they don't have the highest possible chance of becoming very wealthy. His reasoning is because of social pressures to look "cool" MBA grads often choose prestige over wealth.
Beyond the lack of prestige, there are many other reasons commonly heard as to why MBA grads are not interested in owning a franchise. The most convincing of these are:
Royalties are a large portion of revenue.
ETA searchers prefer to focus on B2B business with contractually obligated recurring revenue.
Scaling the business requires high capital costs.
The exit can be hampered by the franchisor.
I don't have total control over my business.
Franchises have high staff turnover rates
A franchisor's interest is focused on maximizing revenue while mine is on maximizing net profit.
I will have a lower social impact in a franchise than I want.
What are the rebuttals to all eight of these arguments?
Royalties are a large portion of revenue.
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
What these cynical onlookers often discount, however, is the value that high-quality franchisors give their franchisees in return for their royalty investments. Of course, we do not assert that every franchisor earns its royalty, but the strongest franchisors have developed brand equity, operational routines and support, real estate know-how, technology solutions, and more that provide franchisees substantial value commensurate with (or in excess of) the amount of royalties invested.
ETA searchers prefer to focus on B2B business with contractually obligated recurring revenue.
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
Despite the business model realities of the B2C concepts, franchises of the enduring, classic, American consumer brands have been stable, cash-flowing annuities for their owners for decades, relatively unfazed by recessions or pandemics.
In addition to the stability of many franchise brands, there are a growing number of B2B franchises in both professional and blue collar services. There are also many franchises that strategically grow into commercial jobs. For example, many epoxy flooring franchises want their owners starting with residential since the complexity, cost, and consequences of messing up are much lower with residential jobs than commercial. However, their larger franchisees almost all have a significant portion of their revenue coming in from commercial jobs.
Furthermore, B2C contracts are often stable and provide some level of predictability which provide lucrative exits for business owners. The multiples on pool routes are a testament to this fact.
Scaling the business requires high capital costs.
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
The implication of underwhelming organic growth prospects at the individual unit level is that to grow requires adding more units, either through acquisition or new development (also referred to as de novo development). Both acquisitions and de novo development require investment capital that is internally generated, sourced from external debt providers, or garnered from outside equity providers. Growing quickly and consistently likely means accessing capital for new stores and fresh acquisitions – a potentially dilutive and expensive proposition.
However, gathering capital is a differentiated skill set in the franchising community. An enterprising entrepreneur who is comfortable with and excited by fundraising and engaging with capital markets may be able to quickly scale to a level it would take other self-funded franchisees in the system years to accomplish.
Due to the highly fragmented nature of a franchise and many owners having only a single location, the owners seeking to build a large portfolio will be able to purchase additional units at conservative EBITDA multiples. Furthermore, due to the intrinsic trust franchisees have with one another there are often opportunities for seller financing and other creative deal terms that wouldn't be possible in a non-franchise rollup.
The exit can be hampered by the franchisor.
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
Although this is certainly a valid concern for some entrepreneurs who have an exit in mind, it might be a non-issue for those operators who are focused on retaining the business indefinitely. We embrace the notion of holding assets for decades – especially when underlining businesses can be purchased for very attractive EBITDA multiples.
Also, you can find out if franchisees have exited to PE in the past. If they have, you can be confident you can too. This can also allow you to set expectations properly around exit multiples and timelines. Furthermore, there are franchises that don't allow PE in any form. If you want to build something big and exit quickly, you should avoid these. However, if your time horizon is forever then you will be able to buy the largest owners that are exiting the system are attractive multiples since there won't be a PE company bidding up the price.
I don't have total control over my business
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
Despite the inherent limitations on operating freedom, many franchise entrepreneurs report very much feeling like an owner and an operator of their business. Furthermore, with many decisions established by the franchisor, the CEO can immerse themselves in operations and execution – which is a distinct advantage for first-time and inexperienced CEOs. Entrepreneurs in franchising need to channel their strategic energy into operational excellence within their 4-walls, unit growth, and collaboration with the franchisor on topics that are the franchisor’s responsibility. Finally, well-regarded franchisee operators can have input with the franchisor. Franchisors often establish a franchise advisory council, which is a formal communication channel for certain operators to transmit and provide feedback to the franchisor.
Franchises have high staff turnover
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
The burden of high turnover on a first-time CEO can be catastrophic, particularly if an acquisition transition catalyzes elevated turnover and raise requests en masse. However, given the staff profile, an ETA entrepreneur in franchising may provide professional growth opportunities that would otherwise never have been available. Still, most businesses have a choke point that is the CEO’s bane – no business is easy or perfectly smooth. In franchise ownership, human capital management is the conundrum that needs to be solved, which can be common in non-franchise ETA acquisitions as well. Aspiring CEOs considering the franchise route should reflect on whether they are comfortable managing and interacting with blue-collar, low-wage labor segments and all of the attendant challenges.
This is only partly true. Many franchises, especially in food, have part-time staff and high turnover rates, but there are some franchises that do have full time employees who stay for years. These employees are usually blue collar or salespeople. Additionally, there are a handful of franchises that offer white collar services- Urgent Care, Payroll, Tax prep, and Business Analysis Services to name a few.
A franchisor's interest is focused on maximizing revenue while mine is on maximizing net profit.
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
The franchisor’s interests are not always perfectly aligned with franchisees’, given that their economics are levered to be system revenue centric, and franchisees’ economics are synced to operating unit profits. This can create the perverse incentive of building the system as broadly as possible to maximize system-wide sales, even if at the micro level, new units are cannibalizing the economics of existing units (which is what franchisees care about).
The aspiring entrepreneur thus has to understand the franchisor’s growth ambitions in the market they intend to operate in and has to evaluate whether they believe the market can support that scale without dismantling the economics the entrepreneur is underwriting in their acquisition. To mitigate this risk, many states have laws that assist in protecting franchisees.
To protect yourself from a franchise cannibalizing territories, you need to ensure there are strong protections in the Franchise Agreement (the contract franchisees sign when opening a location). You should have a lawyer review these documents and if the wording isn't strong enough, you can negotiate it.
Ultimately, the best way to know if the franchisor is always acting in your best interest is to speak with franchisees. Those who have been in the system for a significant amount of time will have seen the evolution of the franchise system and are best situated to assess if the decisions of the franchisor are helping or hampering franchisee profitability.
I will have a lower social impact in a franchise than I want.
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
The mission statements of top MBA programs describe the purpose of these schools as being to train leaders for futures spent changing the world, making a difference, and positively impacting their communities.
On the surface, success in franchising accomplishes none of the impact goals MBAs care about. In many cases, franchises sell low-quality consumer goods that are not even very healthy for their consumers. However, reality is a bit more nuanced. While we will not argue that owning Applebee’s franchises is akin to democratizing access to high-speed broadband internet in underserved markets in terms of societal impact, we will argue that some franchises bring to the mass market products and services that are otherwise only accessible to affluent demographics.
Examples of this include some health and wellness concepts (e.g., Planet Fitness and Massage Envy) and some educational services tutoring concepts like Kumon. Given the prevalence of low-wage, low-skill labor in the category, franchise businesses can also be fantastic early- career launching pads for young workers. Furthermore, QSR franchisees might not serve the healthiest food to customers, but they do offer affordable choices to economically disadvantaged groups who might not have the time or resources to source or prepare healthier food.
Finally, growing franchises create jobs. Although these jobs might not be the very best quality jobs, they provide economic opportunity for many people who otherwise do not have access to jobs without specific educational and skill requirements. According to the 2022 International Franchise Association Franchising Economic Outlook, with 775,000 establishments in the U.S., franchises support nearly 8.2 million jobs. The report indicates franchise jobs grew by 3.1% from 2021.
Anecdotally, we love to hear stories about disadvantaged employees who work at a franchisee in an hourly-wage, entry-level job who rise to be salaried regional-manager leaders. Franchisees create viable jobs and economic opportunities.
Conclusion
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
We want to acknowledge that every business model and format has unappealing characteristics – no pattern is perfect and without encumbrances, including franchises. Therefore, we encourage search fund entrepreneurs to scrutinize the franchise opportunity through a risk-adjusted, return-adjusted lens. As a young, first-time, inexperienced CEO, it is important to assess whether the franchise paradigm facilitates achieving the entrepreneur’s professional and personal ambitions with an attractive risk–reward profile.
We believe franchises offer a lower risk proposition on multiple dimensions than a non-franchise business and, for that reason, can be an actionable choice for ETA entrepreneurs.
To be clear, we do not envision post-MBA entrepreneurs owning and operating a single franchise unit. Rather, we visualize these entrepreneurs owning dozens or hundreds of units in a single brand or multiple brands while building fully professionalized and institutionalized enterprises.
The biggest risks of franchising can be overcome with the aspiring owner objectively assessing their skills, goals, and preferences in a business then being matched to franchises that are a great fit. Once the searcher has 5-6 brands in mind, a rigorous and systematic research process (with a heavy emphasis on speaking to franchisees) will conclude with a franchise selection that ticks all the boxes of being a great investment. Many people have found franchise systems where they feel the royalties are justified, the business model is sound, the return is exciting, and the impact is great. The below case study highlight one of these stories.
Case Study
Justin Kaplan is a partner at Balance Point Capital Partners, a $1.7 billion Westport, Connecticut–based private credit and equity asset management firm. Balance Point is an investor and significant shareholder in one of the largest Taco Bell franchisee groups in the Mid-Atlantic. He states: ”We have gotten to know the franchisee model over a few years and are quite enthusiastic about it. There are three compelling ways to grow; all have attractive capital return opportunities. We are growing through new store openings and love the unit economics there. Additionally, we are making add-on acquisitions within the brand and can purchase stores at attractive multiples. Finally, we are working on growing same-store sales within existing stores, and that has powerful incremental EBITDA contribution with no additional capital requirements. We are partners with very talented executives who know QSR and the brand and are a delight to work with. These businesses have pretty stable cash flow streams and grow at a moderate pace. We think franchise investments in the right brand with the right leaders present a compelling risk-adjusted return profile.
The 12 reasons Professor Wasserstein thinks Post MBA grads should consider franchising
Proven business model
Stable revenue and cash flow streams
Highly fragmented acquisition opportunities once in the system
Easier integration of acquisitions
Opportunity to rent the brand
Community of shared knowledge
Some banks have specialty lending units that focus on franchisees
Some systems have extremely compelling 4-wall ROIC and unit economics
Unique real estate economics
No need for a great idea
Shallow competitive talent pools
Franchisors might favor a professional, credentialed CEO
Proven business model
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
ETA is centered on purchasing something that works and then amplifying the business through various growth initiatives. Being a franchisee takes this concept to a further degree.
It is encouraged to find a franchise that has at least 100 open locations or is part of a large platform that has successfully launched numerous other brands. Although it can be exciting to be franchisee number 10 in "the next big thing," maintaining a focus on finding a proven business model is usually the best course of action long term.
Stable revenue and cash flow streams
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
Many franchise systems lack the hallmark characteristic of contractual recurring revenue that we all crave in a search fund acquisition. Despite this absence, franchise operations tend to have actuarially stable revenue and cash flow streams. What we mean by this is that once a franchise store is running at full operation, the derived revenue and attendant cash flow tends to persist – even without contractually recurring revenue with customers.
If there is cyclicality in the franchise, it is usually in line with the general industry and should be uncovered when you speak to franchisees.
Highly fragmented acquisition opportunities once in the system
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
Once entrenched in a franchise system, an entrepreneur can magnify their business through new store openings – a form of organic growth – or through acquisitions of other operators within the same franchise brand. These activities will likely make the CEO feel like a capital allocator – a role everybody in the search fund ecosystem wants to embrace. In the franchise world, acquisition candidates are provided in a tidy manner.
Easier integration of acquisitions
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
In a non-franchised programmatic acquisition scheme, the acquirer confronts the challenges of assimilating, integrating, and optimizing multiple brands, accounting systems, enterprise software solutions, and operating systems. It is incredibly challenging, and every acquisition has an element of being the first time. This is not true when pursuing multiple acquisitions in an identical franchise system where the franchisor has established a single brand logo, standardized service and product offerings, consistent operating best practices, identical technology stacks, and a unified approach to running the business.
Opportunity to rent the brand
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
We acknowledge that a high single-digit percentage of revenue is indeed a lot to pay a franchisor, but those fees have great value. In addition to gaining access to all of the successful operating policies and procedures, support from the franchisor, education, and training, the entrepreneur obtains the right to use a valuable and established brand name and access to improved cash flow from geographically focused marketing.
Community of shared knowledge
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
Franchisee owners within a brand can help new operators and share guidance on best practices and how to scale a group of units. This community of shared knowledge can help a search fund entrepreneur get to a stable operating rhythm more quickly and with more confidence.
Some banks have specialty lending units that focus on franchisees
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
It is common in the franchising world for banks to have units dedicated to lending to franchise owners. Furthermore, franchise systems themselves often build strong relationships with a specific bank that believes in the concept.
Some systems have extremely compelling 4-wall ROIC and unit economics
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
We are mathematically and financially oriented, and part of what we find so appealing about franchises is the numbers. Some franchisee systems have an extraordinarily high 4-wall return on invested capital (ROIC) and unit economics. We define the 4-wall math as the field-level model (or SLEBITDA) for a single franchise store before any shared services costs. This is a proxy for the unit economics for a solitary location.
When we teach this math to students in class, we expect unbridled enthusiasm and curiosity; we get crickets instead. This puzzles us because this is a capital allocator’s fantasy. Furthermore, because franchises have a high probability of succeeding, we like to consider the risk-adjusted ROIC. Since many franchise systems have a less than 3% annual store closure rate, the ROIC becomes even more appealing. We have a cynical and pessimistic streak and look at these returns with skepticism at times, but regardless of the factor by which we increase the capital investments or decrease the SLEBITDA, there is plenty of room to be incorrect while still earning enviable returns. Furthermore, franchise acquisitions can provide lucrative returns as well. Our research indicates that small groupings of franchisees can be acquired in the 3–6x SLEBITDA range, implying mid-teens to low thirty percent returns prior to leverage and taxes, maintenance capital expenditures, and centralized shared service costs. There are very attractive returns here.
The paper analyzes the economics of a number of specific franchises across the health and wellness, automotive, food, and education sectors (see pages 22 and 23).
Unique real estate economics
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
When purchasing a franchisee that owns its real estate in a free-standing location, there are opportunities to create value through the real estate. If a seller has a comingled asset of an operating business and real assets, the acquirer might be able to disaggregate the assets post-acquisition and realize economic value by shedding the real estate into the highly liquid triple net lease real estate market.
There are also instances of de novo owners buying land, building the franchise, and then executing a sale lease back on the property. The cost of unimproved land vs improved land with a triple net lease in place allows for an outsized return on the investment of the land and has been used to fund the cash injection for more locations. For example, this strategy allowed a new owner of an oil change franchise grow a portfolio of 5+ locations using the capital from each sale lease back to fund the land acquisition and buildout of the next location.
No need for a great idea
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
We enjoy teasing our students about how perfect the search fund model is for them. They all want to be immediate CEOs; they just do not have capital, experience, a business, or a great idea. A search fund solves all of those dilemmas. A franchise also delivers on the absence of an earth-shattering and innovative idea.
Shallow competitive talent pools
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
We are always confounded when students share their desire to work at hedge funds, consulting firms, and investment banks after graduation. Of course, we understand their interest in glamorous, prestigious, and high-compensation professional arcs, but these are also incredibly competitive fields stocked with a plethora of brilliant people who are willing to work endless hours. Despite the intellectual stimulation and financial rewards, this is a gruelingly fierce environment. In contrast, the world of franchises is not stockpiled with highly educated elite MBA grads who are willing to work one hundred–hour weeks. The talent pools in the franchise world are shallower. It is not our intention to sound dismissive or condescending when we assert this, but the very reason why we are writing this case note is that our smart and ambitious students are not going into franchises. We believe that there is a wonderful opportunity for clever, diligent search fund entrepreneurs to enter a business community where they can truly excel and distinguish themselves partially because they will be amongst the smartest, hardest-working folks in the business. Furthermore, post-MBA types will bring a degree of inquisitiveness, sophistication, and analytical rigor that might not be typically found in franchisee operators. In general, we would rather play in a market with weaker competition than stiffer competition – franchisees might be an avenue for this dynamic
This is an aspect of franchising that is understated. Many top franchisees had no formal business or financial training when they started their first location and were forced to learn these skills while building their business. Someone being able to build financial models, plan for growth, and understand the key elements of business will be at a distinct advantage. Combine that with the support and experience of a great franchisor and you have a potent recipe for success.
Franchisors might favor a professional, credentialed CEO
What Professor Wasserstein had to say:
Building on the preceding core issue, franchisors might be keenly interested in working with and helping franchisee operators who have the profile of a post-MBA search funder. Franchisors are moving towards seeking and supporting franchisees who have access to equity and debt capital, are committed to scaling a professionalized business, and can execute this strategy.
Case Study
Adam Wilver (The MIT Sloan School of Management 2022) started two and acquired four units in the Smash My Trash franchise system, which provides mobile dumpster compaction services to construction, manufacturing, and distribution businesses, immediately after his graduation. Prior to business school, Wilver worked at The Carlyle Group in Manhattan as a private equity professional and as an investment banker at Bank of America.
While at Sloan, Wilver was the co-founder and president of the ETA club. When I was in business school, I knew I wanted to do something more entrepreneurial after graduation. I enjoyed and learned a lot in private equity and investment banking, but I did not want to go back to that world. At Sloan, I became very interested and engrossed in the ETA world. I quickly lasered in on doing a self-funded search.
While exploring potential businesses, I randomly tripped on the franchise concept. I immediately wrote off franchising as a serious prospect because I had a negative perception that franchises were all QSR and not real entrepreneurial ventures. Later in my search exploration, I connected with a former private equity investor who was operating a portfolio of franchise brands. This opened my eyes to the opportunities within the franchise world, and I started looking at the path through a new lens.
To further explore the franchise world, I worked with a franchise consultant who introduced me to many brands and concepts based on my selection and search criteria. I was looking for something with fairly typical search fund criteria: contractually recurring revenue, high returns on invested capital, clear value proposition, sticky customers, and B2B services. I was still skeptical, but then the consultant showed me Smash My Trash, and it surprisingly ticked all my boxes. I started to get pretty curious and excited.
I liked the clear value proposition to customers – selling savings and green initiatives. The business is straightforward operationally and not real estate intensive like QSRs. Franchises are an incredible opportunity for the post-MBA crowd. You get a business in a box with a proven playbook. The model allows me to focus on exactly what I want: people development, operations, and growth. I get to learn the guts of a business and the fundamentals of ownership with a product or brand that is already established and perfected.
I get the small company feel with the support of a large organization, procuring national contracts, and executing a fantastic marketing program that I could never achieve independently. I love that there is a social stigma with franchises – it drives a better and bigger opportunity for me. I am delighted with my decision to be a franchisee. I am having fun and being challenged, and the business is growing more than I ever imagined.
Nearly a year in, the thesis remains intact. I see a clear path towards building a large, professionalized organization and acquiring many other operators in the system who are focused on developing single units.
I strongly believe that more MBAs should consider franchising.
Conclusion
At one point, search funds were scorned as faux entrepreneurship and looked down upon as low-brow like franchises are currently. However, search funds are now completely normalized and mainstream at prestigious MBA schools. We think there is an opportunity for franchise entrepreneurs to be viewed in a similar manner.
If you’re serious about owning a business, you need to define exactly what you want: the income, the lifestyle, the growth curve, and the level of risk you’re willing to take. For some, that leads to a start-up or a large acquisition. But for a select group, the answer is clear: a proven franchise system that can scale into dozens of locations and deliver strong risk-adjusted returns.
We’ve helped high-achieving professionals, including recent MBA grads and ETA searchers, identify brands where they can leverage their skills, accelerate growth, and build multi-unit empires. The process is fast, data-driven, and free to you, because the franchises pay us like recruiters.
If you want to explore the best franchise opportunities before they’re gone, the first step is simple: schedule a 30-minute strategy call at tracerfranchising.com or take our AI matching quiz today. The right brand is out there- let’s find it before someone else does.
