We’re back for Season 2! Michelle Rowan and Allison Dudas sit down to discuss what makes a franchise brand forward-thinking? This is a conversation about the Most Innovative Franchise Brands of 2026.
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Host: Michelle Rowan, President of Franchise Business Review
Guest: Allison Dudas, Senior Marketing Manager of Franchise Business Review
What makes a franchise truly innovative, and how can you tell before you invest? Michelle and Allison Dudas break down FBR’s 50 Most Innovative Franchises of 2026 and reveal the signals that separate forward-thinking brands from the rest. They unpack the data behind the list, including why 96% of franchisees would recommend their brand, why innovation and creativity scores run 41% higher than benchmark, and why trust in franchisor leadership is 27% higher among these standout systems. If you are researching franchise opportunities, especially one with strong technology, support, and room to grow, this episode gives you a sharper way to evaluate what is actually happening behind the brand. You’ll discover what innovation really looks like in franchising – from product and service development to operational efficiency, marketing, employee training, flexibility, customer experience, and feedback loops that drive improvement. Michelle and Allison use real examples from several brands to show how innovation shows up in the real world. They also share the questions every prospective franchisee should ask the corporate team and current owners before signing anything: How do they roll out new tech? How do they respond when something fails? How do they use franchisee feedback to improve? Those answers can tell you whether a brand is built to adapt or just built to repeat. Essential listening if you want to buy a franchise that fits your personality, your goals, and your appetite for change – or if you want the confidence to spot a system that will keep evolving with the market.
Resources
- Listen: How To Spot A Recession-Resistant Franchise
- Listen: The American Franchise Act: Is It Good For Franchisees?
- The Most Innovative Franchises of 2026
- Read: Can A Proven System Still Be Innovative?
Transcript
Michelle (00:51)
All right, welcome back from A to Franchise Z, the podcast for franchise buyers. And today we’re gonna talk about our 50 most innovative franchises of 2026. We will be tackling what makes a franchise innovative and why should it matter to someone that’s looking to invest in a franchise brand. And today I have back Allison Dudas, and she’s gonna be chatting with us through the data. Thanks for joining us again today, Alison.
Allison Dudas (01:17)
Yeah,
love chatting with you about the data.
Michelle (01:20)
All right, so do you wanna start with what this list is and how we build it?
Allison Dudas (01:24)
Yeah, yes. So this is
Michelle (01:26)
Okay.
Allison Dudas (01:26)
going to be if you have been listening, this is repeat information, but here we go. we never tire of talking about our market research. So just a reminder, franchise business review, market research company that deals specifically with franchise brands. Every year we survey thousands, tens of thousands of franchisees across hundreds of brands. This past year we surveyed 29,000 plus franchise owners across
330 different brands. We ask them a series of 33 questions that are all the same across the board to get at leadership of the brand, financial opportunity within the brand, training, marketing, operational support, culture, et cetera. So we are just trying to get kind of a rubric by which to judge how how good a franchise system is. I guess that’s like the basic way to put it.
Michelle (02:21)
Absolutely. And I always think it’s important for us to mention that there’s no cost to participate in this research. We have a free version of it. we do that so that this list is not pay-to-play. We are not talking about brands that paid to be named on our podcast, on our lists. We invite every franchise brand to participate in this so that we can provide people with a benchmark of what’s happening in franchising, so that we can share that information with buyers. so I always think that that’s important to point out as well.
Allison Dudas (02:50)
It’s crucial, yes. And really, we always joke about this on the podcast. We’re just here to talk about franchise opportunities, not because we think you should buy a franchise. In fact, if you’re listening, you might be a terrible candidate to buy a franchise. You might be you might be the
Michelle (03:04)
We’re gonna help you figure that out.
Allison Dudas (03:07)
worst. But maybe by listening to us talk about this, you’ll discover that. And then we’ve saved you the headache of investing in a franchise. And alternatively, of course, you might discover.
Wow, this sounds just up my alley. And then maybe we can help you find a brand that suits your skills, your background, your hopes and dreams. And that would be really cool too. So whatever, whatever
Michelle (03:29)
Yeah. Yeah.
Allison Dudas (03:30)
the result we’re in.
Michelle (03:32)
Yes. Like everything in the world, there are amazing opportunities in franchising and there are horrible opportunities in franchising, just like any segment of business. So we’re gonna help you suss that out. and also too, in addition to the general research that we do and what we’re looking at and asking about, this list specifically is looking at franchise brands that were rated high in the innovative question that we ask. so again, we are
collecting all the data, but then we slice and dice it so that if you are looking to buy a franchise and an innovative franchise is most important or high on your list, we’re trying to help you kind of give you a list of fifty brands to start with.
Allison Dudas (04:10)
Yeah, and we’ll get into what it means to be innovative in a franchise system because obviously it has to do with creativity, it has to do with so many different factors, which we’ll get into. And we have specifically named fifty. and we will list the top ten later on in the podcast. So definitely stay tuned.
Michelle (04:28)
Yeah. So I want to start by sharing just some general data of these fifty brands that make up this list. Ninety six percent of the franchisees would recommend their brand to others.
Holy guacamole. That’s that’s a
Allison Dudas (04:39)
Wow. That’s
Michelle (04:41)
big one.
Allison Dudas (04:42)
that’s so cool. Like you’d actually recommend it to others. I don’t know. That makes me that makes me happy.
Michelle (04:46)
Yes. I love
it.
Allison Dudas (04:49)
so these brands on the top fifty most innovative lists overall rank forty one percent higher in innovation and creativity than other brands.
Michelle (05:00)
That’s awesome. Yeah. So we’ve we’ve nailed it with they’re doing something in these systems that the franchisees are recognizing as innovation. So we’ll get into that more. 50% of the franchisees that are part of these top brands rate their technology higher than other brands. So again, I think we’re seeing right here, we’re laying down there’s a link between technology that helps them run their business, helps their customers, and that connection of technology to innovation when we’re seeing that kind of difference.
for these fifty brands on this list, their franchisees are also rating trust of the franchise or twenty seven percent higher than we’re seeing across the industry.
Allison Dudas (05:40)
Yeah. Yes, that’s yeah, that that’s crazy. I mean, obviously you could you read franchise horror stories, right? Where franchise systems and franchisors are taking advantage and selling units that they shouldn’t and so on and so on. That’s that’s real. But to be in a system where you genuinely feel like you trust the leadership is everything. Because yeah, you’re owning your own business, but you also still are a part of a larger system. And if you
don’t trust the people leading the charge. I think that
Michelle (06:12)
Right.
Allison Dudas (06:13)
would I think that would be so stressful. cause you pitched your wagon to somebody that you’re like, what are they gonna do? What’s their next move? and if you’re like, no, I I think they really have like my best interest in mind, the other franchise owners best interest in mind, they have a good direction for the company. So I I love that we asked that question. Yeah.
Michelle (06:32)
Yeah, it’s always important. Okay.
All right. So I mean, again, these fifty brands are standing out for other reasons, not just innovation, but those are incredible stats we just shared. So they’re it’s a great list.
Allison Dudas (06:44)
Yeah.
Michelle (06:45)
okay. So let’s talk about what we really feel like is behind that innovation that we’re recognizing for these brands. So I think there’s definitely different ways that you can think about
the word innovation within a franchise system. So let’s start with you Allison, name the first thing that you think about around the topic of innovation within a franchise system.
Allison Dudas (07:05)
Well,
I think the first thing I think of is like product and service development. So like staying ahead of shifting customer preferences, offering things that are new and fresh, cutting edge. and it’s making me think of so with product and service development, being innovative in this space, it makes me think certainly of food. And I think about like Kona Ice, for example, which is on this list. Congratulations, Kona Ice.
they have a line now with no sugar added, that’s just made with juices. They also have dye-free options. And I think that’s such a response to the general like zeitgeist and even just kids discovering allergies to dye, people being more aware of their sugar intake, wanting to appeal to customers who aren’t gonna want like the dyed sugar rush that a Kona ice might provide. so
I know I really like that because that’s something that I would genuinely look for not just for myself but also for my kids if I was approaching a Kona ice truck
Michelle (08:07)
Yeah, and I think Kona Ice should also be called out because Tony Lamb, their founder, also exudes innovation because he launched Tom’s coffee trucks. So that’s another example of Kona Ice runs their model. It’s a truck model, they serve a product, and he went, Hey, let’s do this with coffee. And the first audience that he rolled that out to were his franchisees. So I think that’s another.
product innovation example, but it also benefited the franchisees because the existing network, who he knows can operate, had the opportunity to add these coffee trucks. So they’re getting a second
Allison Dudas (08:42)
Yeah, true.
Michelle (08:43)
business model in their market. Great way to expand into being a multi-unit franchise owner. So I think we’re seeing that again, just that second brand or that second offering. another example too in this category is Fast Sign. So Fast Signs, traditional signage and
Printing for businesses. And when COVID hit, there we have an episode we can throw back to Mark Jameson. They started creating all of the signage that was needed in COVID. They started doing the party signs in the yards for people to celebrate during COVID in a different way where you couldn’t be together to celebrate big things like graduations and and birthdays. So I think those are that’s another example of that whole idea of how do we
Grab something that wasn’t popular before and now it’s an easy thing to add on to our services or products we offer.
Allison Dudas (09:33)
So true, and traveling toms and fast signs also happen to be on this list.
Michelle (09:38)
Yeah, great. Awesome.
so I think you’ve done the consumer side and I’m gonna focus on innovation behind the scenes. So what are franchisors doing around efficiency? So how do we help our franchisees make their day easier to run, make their delivery of the product or service to the f to the customer easier? So I think
and and I you know, we do this work with so many brands and when we wrap surveys up, I love talking to the teams that are behind these brands because I will talk to them about how much they actually do. So sometimes supporting franchisees can be a thankless job. Right? So business owners are in it. They are running their business and their hair is usually on fire with something. and it can be really hard to support those people because they tend to reach out when they’re in panic or emergency mode. So
The franchise or the corporate team, they’re there to service the franchisee. That that is their role. The franchisee is their customer. But they do so much and they’re not taking that time to share with the franchisees how much work is being done behind the scenes. So I always like to say that because your job as the franchisee is to run your business and your market. Your franchisor’s job is to make that job easier for you or to focus on the bigger picture things like innovation.
like better ways to be efficient or run your business. And they’re doing all this testing in the background. They’re doing this finding other vendors, finding other partners, finding better ways to do things. They do all that work behind the scenes while you’re just focused on your business. And then they roll out that change, that efficiency, that new tech product that makes your app easier for your customers to become loyalty members, which means they’re going to come back, which means you can market to them.
So they’re doing all that work for you and you don’t have to take the your eye off of your business. They’re gonna do that for you and roll it out to you when it makes sense. So not they don’t always roll it out well, they don’t always pick right, but there’s so much work that goes behind the scenes before they roll out that new way of doing things or that new tool to help you do things better.
Allison Dudas (11:44)
Right, right. And I was doing a little digging around because we do these franchisee satisfaction reports and many of the brands that do these surveys with their franchisees actually publish and share them on franchise businessreview dot com. New Again Houses is one of those brands and I was poking around and I saw a quote from a franchisee and I thought it kind of embodied operational efficiency as a
hallmark of innovation. So this franchisee and it’s anonymous said they are consistently working to improve the systems we use on a daily basis. They are also open to feedback from franchisees to help make the entire system better. and New Again Houses is on our list and has really happy franchisees. So I I think just like, it’s efficient and we can give feedback to make it more efficient. And you know, maybe things aren’t perfect to your to your point from before, but
they’re always working on it, they’re always testing it.
Michelle (12:40)
Yeah,
and and I think the best brands when they get this data back from their franchisees, even when they have have high scores, the best teams are looking at where are their opportunities to further delight the franchisee, I guess I’ll say. So like a lot of these right? To further
Allison Dudas (12:53)
I love that. It’s a further delight.
Michelle (12:55)
delight them. I mean, these these people are doing a great job servicing their franchisees, but they’re still like, okay, where’s my lowest score? Or where are those pain points that I can help solve for my franchise owners? So
Those are the things that we’re trying to help you think through this so that when you do talk to other franchisees in the system or you do talk to the corporate team, we’re giving you things to think about that you want to ask and how they address or do these things so that you know what kind of support you’ll be receiving, or you’ll know what kind of potential to make sure that your business is kind of staying ahead of the curve.
Allison Dudas (13:27)
Mm, yeah.
Michelle (13:28)
Yeah.
Allison Dudas (13:30)
another part of innovation that we have to talk about, which is a little stickier, I think, is marketing and branding. I feel like franchisees often have strong opinions on how corporate’s
Michelle (13:42)
What?
Allison Dudas (13:42)
handling marketing and branding. Branding. I know. And it’s one of
Michelle (13:46)
Yeah, yeah. I’m just
gonna back you up there. Marketing and technology consistently are the two bottom scores. They kind of hover back and forth. The
Allison Dudas (13:55)
What? If you’re if you’re watching this rather than listening to this, balloons just appeared on Michelle’s screen. I don’t know. I guess. Yeah. my god,
Michelle (14:02)
I just I said two, I did two fingers and balloons appeared. I’m I’m magic.
Allison Dudas (14:07)
there it goes again. Okay. That’s really funny. I want to see if I can get it done. We’re gonna
have to cut this out because nobody knows.
Michelle (14:11)
Okay.
yeah, but I think yeah, knowing that those are such big investments and such time sucks in people’s businesses,
Allison Dudas (14:21)
Yeah.
Michelle (14:21)
I think it makes sense. So now continue with what you were saying, ’cause I totally agree.
Allison Dudas (14:26)
Yeah, so creative data driven strategies that build a distinct brand presence. That’s what we’re talking about with marketing and and branding. And I’m thinking of a brand that where the franchisees are pretty happy about this. I would say probably Wild Birds Unlimited.
Michelle (14:41)
That’s a good one. Yeah.
Allison Dudas (14:42)
Yeah.
Yeah. I think just such a strong brand presence. And you know, if you open up a retail location of Wild Birds Unlimited, you know that you’re stepping into such a great reputation and then you can kind of take like a deep breath that like so much of that initial work is is being done for you.
Michelle (15:01)
Yes,
yes. I mean, I think marketing and technology are probably some of the biggest reasons people join a franchise system, right? That
Allison Dudas (15:07)
Yeah.
Michelle (15:08)
you’re trying to accelerate your success or your speed
Allison Dudas (15:10)
Yeah.
Michelle (15:11)
to to revenue really. So I think
Allison Dudas (15:14)
Yeah.
Michelle (15:14)
that’s good. so along the lines I already mentioned operational efficiency, but I think specifically franchisee support. And I think we’re gonna see a lot of innovation in this area going forward.
so I know we’re gonna do other episodes or talk more about it because the biggest challenges for business owners are around hiring and retaining employees. It’s just really, really hard.
Allison Dudas (15:35)
It’s and
it’s right now, it’s really hard. That is like the number
Michelle (15:39)
Yes.
Allison Dudas (15:39)
one thing. gosh. Yeah.
Michelle (15:42)
Yeah. So I think I think about innovation around how how clever, how involved are franchisers getting in helping the franchisees train their employees. And if we have any franchise listening to this, some of them might have their hackles going up right now to say, Michelle. we don’t help our franchisees train employees, and I would challenge them to that. So historically there has been a concern about joint employer, which is where
The employee of the franchisee could be considered an employee of the franchise or which they are not. but there’s legislation that is in the works to clearly define that the employee belongs to the franchisee’s organization, which will allow franchisors to do more around this area. So let’s create training that the franchisee can choose to use with their employees, not mandate, but choose to use with their employees. And what that’s gonna do is that’s gonna create a better, consistent.
brand experience for your customers in every location. that is that is franchising, right? Is that I can walk into a I’m trying to think of like a a McDonald’s. I can walk into a McDonald’s in any town and I’m gonna have the same experience. and I don’t know that that’s always the case. I think that your product, your service could be very similar, but I
Allison Dudas (17:03)
Yeah.
Michelle (17:03)
think this is an opportunity of how do we create more consistent
customer service. And that’s one example of franchisee support. So I think we’re
Allison Dudas (17:09)
Right. Yep.
Michelle (17:12)
gonna see some more innovation around here of like how can we help our franchisees get that higher right? How can we help them create a great culture in their organization that people don’t want to leave? And if they do leave, that they are going to say wonderful things about their experience in that brand. So I think that is that is a huge piece of innovation and we’re gonna see more of that in in the next year as
franchisees should and could expect more from their franchise or on how to be a great employer.
Allison Dudas (17:40)
Very interesting. Yes. And we have a whole episode about the American Franchise Act. So I will definitely link it in the show notes so you can go back and listen to it. I also let’s see. So of course, like training of employees, so, so critical. but when it comes to franchisee support, the franchisees are always looking for resources, for tools that help them succeed in their market. And I I have a I have a fun quote from a cruise planners franchisee.
Linda,
she d decided not to remain anonymous, said, I can barely keep up with everything they offer. Recently, we asked for more support for our associates, so that so they are now providing that too. and I it’s funny, Cruise Planners is on our most innovative list and I hear a lot from clue cruise planners franchisees that there’s so much training and so many resources available to them.
So it’s almost like a choose your own adventure. Like you could dive in and you could do everything or you could sort of specialize and be like, actually I’m just gonna focus on maybe a Alaska or I’m just gonna focus on, you know, high end luxury. And then you might like really delve in and kind of find an angle and then, but it seems like whatever you decide to do that cruise planners has the resources to port to support the franchisees, which is which is great. Love that.
Michelle (19:00)
Yeah, awesome.
I love that. I love that. Okay. So this next one I want to talk about is a gray area is is around flexibility. so by by its nature, a franchise system is, hey, here’s the guardrails and you d need to stay within them. So we’re pr creating a consistent experience. The other side of that is that things change, right?
that either something is different in a local market or I brought up the fast signs example of, hey, we do this one thing and then COVID happens, and you have to, you have to be flexible. You have to give your franchisees room, or you don’t have to. You should give your franchise room to to navigate outside of those guardrails when it makes sense. So again, this is not saying, hey, I’m a pizza company and I’ve decided I really need to have cotton candy in my store.
That is like outside of what we’re talking about here. But what so the fast signs example we talked about was they were able to create the sign, the signs that businesses needed, the stay this far apart, the we need to have a mask on when we’re in here. I think those kinds of things of where there’s room for the franchisee to do what’s right for their business and know that they’re still trying to stay within the brand rules.
Allison Dudas (20:22)
Right.
Right.
Michelle (20:24)
that
is I think different systems offer different amounts of flexibility. but I think that that’s one way that you can be innovative is to recognize that there’s a shift in what your customers need or something drastically has changed in our world. How can we help you keep your lights on? How can we keep revenue coming in? So I think that’s one
Allison Dudas (20:44)
Right. And Fast
Science literally got government contracts to make sure. I mean, which is really incredible. So talk about talk about a hustle from the corporate team of Fast signs to make that happen. So that Fast Signs franchise locations were thriving, were able to thrive during a really rough time.
Michelle (21:04)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that’s one way to think of flexibility. The other is, and I know we can talk about this in different ways, but I think that most franchisors know that new things might be happening out in the market. So w I’m gonna use I have I have an I have two examples, but the first I’m gonna use is I had the pleasure of being at one of our clients always best senior care at their convention and I met this
Awesome franchisee, one of their top performers who has been with them for years and years and years. so always best senior care is non-medical senior care to help a senior stay in the home. So they can help, they can do whatever they need to do in the home. Well, this franchise owner had the opportunity to purchase a business that was medical. So this is like what do they call it? Like concierge health care, right? So I want to stay at home, but I need a nurse to come and do the things. I don’t want to be in a home. And he had a chance to buy a business, and then he was like, you know what?
I could build this and do this within it. And the franchise or kind of made space for them to do that. And it’s been extremely successful. And now they’re figuring out how can we roll this out to other locations. So I think that’s
Allison Dudas (22:16)
Incredible.
Michelle (22:17)
an example of, hey, that’s not our business model, but it certainly is complementary. Let’s
Allison Dudas (22:21)
Yep. Yep.
Michelle (22:23)
let’s support you while you run with it and see if there’s something there that would be good for the rest of the network.
So I think that’s another example of adaptation, flexibility. Like the franchisee didn’t go rogue and do this all on their own and then go by the way. They approached their franchisor, said, Hey, there’s this opportunity and I see these synergies or this market that we’re not capturing. How did the franchisor show up to support them? Or did they say, Nope, you can’t do that? We’re not gonna allow that, you know, banging their fists and saying, Do it our way. Some some systems are more rigid and don’t allow for that. But I think if it’s important to you to have a little bit more of that.
ab ability to play with something, I think that would be something that I would consider of more of an innovative brand than a traditional franchise model of like, hey, we sell pizza and you cannot add that cotton candy.
Allison Dudas (23:11)
Right, right, great point. Great point. Another aspect of innovation, I would say, is customer experience. So really making sure that your customers are experiencing a personal personal touch, something that drives retention. So what are some examples that you can think of, Michelle, where a brand has been innovative in this area?
Michelle (23:35)
Yeah,
I think I mean specifically it’s traditionally when I look at the the areas of the survey that franchisees complain about, it’s the app for the the how easy am I making the customer to be loyal to me, to order things, to get what they need fast, to understand where to go to get things. I think that’s a common one. And now what I’m seeing around this is how are brands embracing AI to make that experience better? How can I respond to my customers quicker? How can I
know who they are when they when that call is answered so that I can make it more personal to them and they feel that they’re important to me. So I think that’s what we’re seeing more around this now than just beyond the app. But like how easy is your website to navigate? Or
Allison Dudas (24:15)
Yeah.
Michelle (24:16)
if you are a physical location, how easy do you make it for your for your customer to get through your drive through, to walk through your store and get what they need. So those are the kinds of things that customer experience I think
can be can make or break whether that person comes back to your f to your your location, your business. So how is the franchise worth supporting you in that?
Allison Dudas (24:37)
Absolutely. And I think coupled with that, just to your point of app and apps and things like that is digital digital transformation, like how as a as an aspect of innovation, like how quickly is this corporate brand choosing to adopt these new tools that are at our disposal? You know, are they with the times? Are they lagging way behind? and that is those are great questions to ask. And again, to your point of technology being one of the lowest rated.
if if you are somebody who is fairly tech savvy, you want to buy into a system that is also tech savvy. Otherwise, you’re gonna just be banging your head against a wall. so I would think about that kind of stuff if I were you and I was thinking about investing in a franchise. If you are very comfortable in the world of technology, if you are
totally already using AI and you’re expecting all of that those kind of bells and whistles, make sure you are paying attention in your franchise research to what the franchiser is saying about this. Because otherwise
Michelle (25:41)
Yeah.
Allison Dudas (25:42)
you might be sorely disappointed.
Michelle (25:44)
Yeah,
yeah. I mean, I think we’ve what we’ve seen is customers wanna be able to customize everything to what their need is. So how easy do you make that happen? Is it a one size fits all or is it like like a the the juiceries, the smoothie bars, the bowl places where you build it the way you want it ’cause that’s what people want today. And then of course it’s how easy can you make this? Can you
get it to me fast? Can you make it easy for it to show up at my door? I mean you all of you, no matter what you’re doing, are competing with an Amazon world. I want it
Allison Dudas (26:18)
Yep.
Michelle (26:18)
cheap, I want it fast, and I want it my way. So like I know people say you can’t have all three of those things, but consumers want all those things. So how are they addressing that? Yeah.
Allison Dudas (26:28)
Yep. Yep.
All right. The last aspect I would say that we consider when it comes to innovation is how much a franchise system is receiving feedback and then improving upon that feedback. So what’s that kind of feedback loop like?
Michelle (26:43)
Yeah, and I think that’s important because you know, I think most franchisors today, and I will say it was not this way twenty years ago, I think most franchisors today will own it when they make a mistake, when they don’t get the new product right, when they don’t get the the new vendor that they’ve chosen and it goes wrong, which it will. I mean, you can do all the best research you want and until it rolls out you won’t really know. so I think that
Do they recognize when something hasn’t gone right? Do they help make it right? you don’t I mean, if it’s if innovation’s important to you, you don’t want them to be afraid to try new things or to make changes. So th give them a little bit of grace to try things that don’t always work. So some of those things are easier or more painful than others, but I think
How are they tuned into is this working in the local market? Or again, and this is I think a big discrepancy between franchisees and franchisors, is franchisees might say, it’s not working in my market. I need it this way. And I hear that and understand that, but the franchisor’s role is to make sure that it works for the most people. So it could be a one-off in your local market, and they’re really looking at the lens of like what makes the most sense for all of our units, all of our locations.
they should still be communicating that with the franchisee. But I think that constant feedback of like, hey, how’s this working in your market? Or you know, can can they use that feedback to adapt or shift any of the things? and
Allison Dudas (28:12)
Right.
Michelle (28:13)
then the I was gonna say the most classic example of listening to what’s happening in the market is McDonald’s is that the Big Mac was invented by a franchisee. Those ingredients were in the store, they put that that sandwich together.
And it was such a success that McDonald’s, which is a monster system and certainly doesn’t have to take one off in a one local market product, but they recognized that there was something special there and did the work to then eventually roll it out nationwide.
Allison Dudas (28:44)
Yep. Yeah. What a feedback loop, right? For something so something so large.
Michelle (28:47)
Yeah. Right. Yeah.
And it’s I mean, it makes sense. You have a community of people, you have these brains, and the more brains that are involved with something, you have opportunity. So are they getting the feedback? Do they they know what’s happening in that local market and do they make space for it to be tried in other places?
Allison Dudas (29:06)
Yes, great point. So I think all of these aspects are really what you need to consider when you’re looking at whether or not a franchise system is innovative. Are they gonna be creative? Are they gonna adapt? Are they going to listen to you? Are they gonna support you? Are they gonna use technology in ways to support you and the customer? Ask these questions. You’ll be so much happier if you ask them and find out.
what
these franchise systems are doing before you invest. So n hopefully nothing should be a surprise to you. But let’s let’s get to the top 10 most innovative on our list of 50.
Michelle (29:39)
That
Yeah, I think that’s why people are here.
Allison Dudas (29:43)
I know, let’s do it. So I’m
gonna start, I’m gonna start with number 10, a
Michelle (29:47)
Okay.
Allison Dudas (29:47)
brand we’ve already talked about. So number 10 is Fast Signs. Yay!
Michelle (29:51)
Yay. They’re top ten.
Love that. yeah. And I mean they they pop up on a lot of lists. So that’s not a surprise.
Allison Dudas (29:57)
Yeah. No.
Michelle (29:59)
Rhea Lanas So I mean, very innovative. I think that that Rhea Lana’s not a brick and mortar location. They are doing they’re marketing these large events and their consignment. So people they market these events and people show up and they’re getting used items and it’s like it’s it’s such an experience, but definitely, I mean
that that encompasses innovation just in itself. That there’s no brick and mortar static location that you go to do your shopping. It is a a an event and it’s a big to do.
Allison Dudas (30:31)
Number eight, spray net.
which is a home services franchise that offers painting and they have a whole system that’s completely innovative, which is I’m sure why they’re on this list.
Michelle (30:47)
That’s right. That’s right. so their innovation is in the way they deliver the paint. I get it. Okay. new again houses, you’ve mentioned them before, but I think that they are I would put them in real estate. I would put them in home services, but definitely I think this this whole category got really popular with H G T V and all the flipping. So I think that it’s definitely innovative.
Allison Dudas (31:11)
so number six, travel and toms, which we’ve already mentioned, a coffee truck. And these coffee trucks are really incredible. There are these small trucks where I just got a virtual tour of one the other day and it was really, really neat. And the woman who owns her truck in Mystic, Connecticut can do the whole thing on her own ’cause it’s this small, very efficient space.
so no surprise the travel and toms is on.
Michelle (31:36)
Yeah, I love that. Number five, visiting angels. So we’ve already talked about their category, that non medical senior care model. Extremely popular, because we have an aging population. But I think again, thinking about the just the innovation of how do we keep seniors in their homes longer if that’s where they want to be. So I think they’re addressing that with their franchisees for sure.
Allison Dudas (31:58)
Number four is cruise planners, which I mentioned. And again, so not surprised that they’re on this list. The franchisees have access to so many resources and the technology of cruise planners is really top notch and always always improving, always adapting.
Michelle (32:13)
All right, number three on our list is Anago Cleaning. So this is a tiered model, which you’ll find a lot in the janitorial cleaning space. So we survey their masters. So that is the franchisee that that takes on an agreement for a certain area and then they’re finding the franchisees to build out their market. So
Those master franchisees have rated the brand really innovative. So that support would be around how they are building the franchisees in their market or supporting those franchisees and doing the the janitorial services.
Allison Dudas (32:47)
Number two is next home, which is real estate. Again, very unsurprising to see them on this list. They are hugely popular with their franchisees. yeah, yeah. So
Michelle (32:57)
Very technology driven. Very, very
very easy model to run. That is their whole thing o of just like how focused they are on making things easy for the franchisees to do their business.
Allison Dudas (33:08)
Yeah. Yeah. So again, that congrats. Nice nice job next home.
Michelle (33:12)
And then number one is no surprise because they are number one on our overall list, but they’re showing up here on the innovation list is Kona Ice. so technically they have two brands on this top ten list, which is pretty impressive.
Allison Dudas (33:26)
Yeah, yeah, love to see it. Love to see it. all right, so I think we’ve really gone through like why these why brands would be named innovative, what it takes to be innovative, looking at these different pillars that make a brand worth worth noting in this in this area.
Michelle (33:47)
let’s give people some some good ideas of questions to ask when they’re talking to franchisees or they’re talking to the corporate team members to kind of get at this innovation. So if you’ve recognized that this is important to you, you’re going to be talking to people on their team internally and franchisees. And so I think some questions that can really help you suss out how innovative a brand is is to ask the corporate team, what are they doing behind the scenes?
To make sure that they stay ahead of competitors or how do they look at new products and services? What is that process that they have? Have they rolled out any new products or services or ways of doing business that they can give you examples of? So I think asking them to just kind of show what historically has been done or who’s on their team will allow them to tell you some more stories around things they’ve done. and then on the franchisee side, asking those same things of like,
What has the franchise or done recently that’s been a big change for you? And I think even asking the questions of how it rolled out is great. But again, it’s not easy to roll out changes in a franchise system. So they can be bumpy. But I think what you wanna understand is how well is the franchiseor supporting the franchisee through these changes and what has the impact been on the franchisee’s business. So finding that out as well is just like,
A great way to to understand if innovation is top of mind for the team and the brand.
Allison Dudas (35:12)
Yes, yes. And continuing, I think even to ask about failures is such a good idea. Like asking a franchisee and a franchise or you know what happened? What’s an example of a product rollout or a tech rollout that totally bombed, that made franchisees really unhappy? And then and then how did corporate respond? What’s that feedback loop like? Or if a marketing if a marketing endeavor
if a marketing initiative was unsuccessful, you know, what what kind of happened there and how did how did things get improved? Because that’s I think the biggest thing is how how are things being improved consistently? And I think that’s what I would want to know. Like are we am I buying into a system that’s just gonna keep going, same old, same old, keep trying the same things over and over again in marketing, in tech, etc., in products that they offer, or
Am I buying into a system that’s like strategically improving? And it shouldn’t be willy-nilly, it should be within feedback, both in the market and the franchisees. But there should be movement, there should be change.
Michelle (36:23)
Yeah, I love that. Well, if that’s important to you, you know, like Krispy Kreme, coffee and donuts, right? That’s that’s it. Coffee and donuts. So if again, if that’s
Allison Dudas (36:29)
Yeah. That’s true. Yeah, if you wanna sell a classic
Michelle (36:35)
yeah, yeah, if change scares you, you might want to do a little bit more. Yeah, that’s right.
Allison Dudas (36:39)
Franchise systems could also be right for you. That’s so
actually. That is so true, Michelle. my gosh. It does so depend on your personality. Like if you’re somebody that’s like, I want the new thing, I wanna adapt, I wanna pivot. pivot,
Michelle (36:54)
Yeah.
Allison Dudas (36:55)
I wanna blah blah blah. Like Fran you got there’s a franchise system for that. If you’re somebody that’s like,
Michelle (36:59)
Absolutely.
Allison Dudas (37:00)
if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I want consistency, I want a product that sells, I want a system that works.
Michelle (37:08)
That’s right.
Allison Dudas (37:09)
Then
there’s a franchise system for you, for sure.
Michelle (37:11)
Absolutely.
Yeah. Those questions will help you figure it out. Okay. So
Allison Dudas (37:14)
Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle (37:16)
you can see the whole list of our fifty top innovative franchises on franchisebusinessreview.com. We have so much content for anyone that’s considering joining a franchise system. We have our new franchise academy, lots of content in there. We have some amazing podcast episodes that will walk you through a lot of the stuff we’ve talked about today, questions to ask in due diligence.
understanding at FDD. We have so much. We want to help you make the right choice. So check out our other episodes, visit our site. As Allison mentioned earlier in this episode, several of the brands actually share a summary version of the data that we collect, which can really help you understand more about the brand before you pick up the phone and work directly with the brand. But we are always here as a resource and please reach out to us if we can help you in your journey on discovering if franchising’s right for you.
Allison Dudas (38:10)
Best of luck, everybody.
