Approximately once per month, our support team and our top executives dedicate an entire day to welcoming the most promising prospects interested in pursuing a Shuckin' Shack Restaurant Franchise. Our franchise industry refers to these special meetings as a "Discovery Day" because it allows potential franchisees to fully "Discover" a business concept and get all of their questions answered across topics like operations, marketing, technology, financials and more, over the course of a business day. Mario PIccinin, our Vice President of Franchise Development, oversees these events and decides upon the handful of prospects invited each month. Below Mario spells out a few of the requirements to take an important and mandatory step in the process of being awarded a Shuckin' Shack franchise.
1. Market and Brand Alignment: While some companies eagerly expand to nearly any market where they can legally sell a franchise, Shuckin' Shack has been strategic about growth since we started franchising in 2014. Our target markets have consistently been in the Southeast, from Washington DC, down the Atlantic coast to Florida, and west over to Alabama. If you want to open a restaurant in Dallas or Chicago, odds are good you will not be invited to our Discovery Day next month or even next year: Your target market must align with the expansion strategy for our brand!
2. Financials Align with Market: While it's easy to say that it costs approximately $300,000 to open a Shuckin' Shack, that up front investment is one part of the picture. To successfully grow our brand, we make sure that larger markets, like Atlanta, GA or Jacksonville, FL or Charlotte, NC are awarded to well capitalized, multi-unit franchisees committed to opening three or more restaurants over a short period of time. While we do have smaller markets in the South ideal for a single-unit franchisee, our goal is to make sure that the financial ability and operational experience of each franchisee aligns with the market they have an interest in, experience with and awareness of.
3. Application Process: We call people invited to our Discovery Day "Applicants" because they must complete a franchise application as part of our vetting process. Believe it or not, 50% of the people who apply for a Shuckin' Shack restaurant are not awarded a franchise. Our franchise agreement is a 10 year legal commitment to a partnership between our team and that franchisee, and we take that commitment seriously. We collaborate internally to make sure that when we offer a market to an Applicant, that we can make that partnership work for at least a decade to come. That's why we think of Discovery Day like a job interview process, as much for them to learn about us, as it for us to learn about and identify future franchise partners.
Our next Discovery Day is scheduled for this Thursday, February 8th! If you have submitted financials and completed your franchise application but have NOT received an invite please call Mario Piccinin today at 910-200-3438 to discuss further.
If you have an interest and an ability to open one Shuckin' Shack Oyster Bar & Sports Pub, please CLICK HERE to get the details about our top target market for 2018, Greenville, NC! Greenville, and surrounding Pitt County, feature a large demographic of sports fans and seafood lovers that may be ideal for the Shuckin' Shack brand!
Mario Piccinin is the Vice President of Franchise Development for the Shuckin' Shack Restaurant Franchise and the man in charge of helping potential franchisees navigate our partner vetting process.
