by Erik Hartung – Director, Franchise Development, Dog Haus
It goes without saying that the pandemic was brutal for the restaurant industry on many levels. But there’s a bright side. The massive changes brought about by COVID are likely to inject new energy into the franchise industry, especially for brands like Dog Haus.
The demand for hospitality franchises is on the rise as consumers continue to regain confidence in the industry. According to the International Franchise Association’s annual Economic Outlook Report, “overall franchising contribution to the economy is forecast to grow by 7% in 2021, reaching pre-pandemic levels of economic output by the end of the year.”
So, while it’s a good time to franchise in general right now, very few restaurant brands are as well positioned as Dog Haus to excel in the post-pandemic environment. Here’s why:
Successful franchisees.
At Dog Haus, our success over the years can be attributed to meaningful partnerships with our franchisees. Their success is our number one concern and it’s through them that we will continue to grow. We’re fortunate to have a significant number of franchisees who, after the past year, have decided to “double down” with us. This is validation that what we’re doing is working and that we have happy and successful franchise partners. While we will always welcome new franchisees, the rocket fuel for our growth is the folks who are already in the system.
Dog Haus is a well-established brand.
Economic downturns are known to fuel franchise sales. And, as people realize the importance of being associated with a well-known concept, Dog Haus is a strong bet. Dog Haus continues to garner critical acclaim, national media attention and legions of followers because we’re different. Our proprietary dogs and sausages are the industry’s gold standard, and the Dog Haus experience emphasizes fun, personal connections and community engagement. Once a potential franchisee steps into our restaurant, the concept does the talking for us. Our franchisees don’t have to worry about carving out a niche for themselves because we’ve already done that. When you start franchising with Dog Haus, you’re already set up with a dynamic and innovative brand that has a track record of accomplishments, accolades and amazing food. This provides confidence that your location will make an impact in the market, even during unstable economic conditions.
Dog Haus continues to experience rapid growth and shows no sign of slowing down. Our restaurants are outperforming competitors. Our sales were actually up during COVID and continue to get stronger as things reopen. We haven’t reached our ceiling yet. Simply put, there’s no other restaurant brand quite like Dog Haus.
We’re nimble, and we act quick.
At the start of the pandemic, we knew we needed to evolve in order to survive and hopefully emerge stronger. Our leadership team acted quickly on an idea we had been kicking around for about a year, and launched an entirely new business model – The Absolute Brands – which proved to be a significant lifeline for our franchisees. With dining rooms closed, The Absolute Brands – our delivery-only sub-brand concepts – created additional revenue streams for each of our restaurants. Each one of these brands represents a separate and incremental sales increase for the overall business. Simply put, they are a wild success and are a glimpse into what the future of restaurants will look like. The real beauty of this new system is that it’s only a single franchise fee. Our Dog Haus franchisees are able to function as though they operate multiple restaurants with the costs, operations and fees of a single franchise.
One of the most fascinating things has been to watch these brands emerge from the pandemic. We launched The Absolute Brands right as delivery started booming. For the most part, restaurants have reopened, yet our delivery sales have stayed the same. Now our dining rooms are opening to pre-pandemic levels, which has vaulted total sales above and beyond the industry average. Our resilience and ability to quickly adapt enables us to stay one step ahead. We will never stop our innovative thinking, especially when it comes to helping our franchisees succeed.
Dog Haus offers high-quality support.
One of the most important elements for the success of your business is the support and training you receive from the franchisor. And at Dog Haus, we’re with you every step of the way. To start, we offer an incredibly robust training program, which includes sending every new location an operational training team that’s solely dedicated to your success. Each of our franchisees also have full access to our social and marketing teams, and to say those teams are best-in-class is an understatement. They have perfected the formula for creating buzz, so you never have to worry about attracting media or driving traffic. Our teams work hand-in-hand with franchisees on an ongoing basis in order to execute every campaign, giving each location its own customized game plan. The result? Our franchisees can confidently expect a full Haus the day that their new restaurant opens.
This past year has made it all the more necessary to make wise investment decisions and Dog Haus is exactly that and more. To learn more about franchising with Dog Haus, visit https://doghaus.com/franchise.html.
