Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue I, 2016 | Page 70

MOVING TARGETS
“From the opening, we will cater to students who cannot
afford a private education or just want to be challenged
above and beyond our public schools.”—Tanmoy Kumar
and an adjunct professor at the University
of Houston. He hopes to reach lowerand middle-income families interested in
supplemental learning with price points
below those of other education centers,
which typically target upper-middleincome families.
“From the opening, we will cater to
students who cannot afford a private edu-

Tanmoy Kumar

cation or just want to be challenged above
and beyond our public schools,” says Kumar. “Eventually we would like to make
it affordable and be able to serve the underserved in the communities in the lower
income groups.”
Trucks to bricks
The Halal Guys built a cult-like following for their food carts over 25 years of
doing business on the streets of New York
City serving up platters of chicken, gyros,
and rice topped with a proprietary white
sauce. Now The Halal Guys are taking
their brand indoors—and global—in a
fast casual, quick-serve format. In their
first year of franchising, the company announced deals for 225 franchised units.
The brand has partnered with Fransmart
(the people who brought you Five Guys
Burgers & Fries) to zero in on top real estate opportunities in mass-gathering areas
such as airports, train stations, malls, and
neighborhoods with significant late night
demand. Development territories include
Houston, Austin, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Connecticut, and the entire state
of California, which sold out within the
first months of franchising. International
locations are planned for the Philippines,

Veronica Reyna
Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Ranked as a top 10 “most Yelped”
restaurant in the U.S., The Halal Guys
have even inspired a specialty sneaker
from Reebok. “You just look at the lines,
and it’s people from all walks of life. That
right there is a franchise,” said Fransmart
founder Dan Rowe in 2014.

HIRING FOR ENGAGEMENT

W

hile some companies have
recruited franchisees who
mirror their market and customers, franchisees are also finding it
makes good business sense to do the
same when hiring employees.
• Liberty Tax Service is targeting a
slice of the lucrative Hispanic market
with specialized services. In 2014, the national tax preparation franchise launched
SiempreTax+ as an independent brand
under the Liberty Tax umbrella. Franchisees offer tax preparation for Spanishspeaking customers, along with a wide
array of services in English or Spanish,
including driver’s licenses, immigration,
and state and federal applications for
benefits and services.
• At his Best in Class Education Cen-

68

ter, Houston-area franchisee Tanmoy
Kumar says he is looking for tutors who
not only will engage students, but also
who mirror the markets and customers
he’s trying to capture.
• The first person Tim Hershberger
hired to work at his Dickey’s Barbecue Pit was the daughter of an Air
Force member. In a recent job search
advertisement he included the phrase
“military spouses and family members
encouraged to apply.” Hershberger also
is working to get approval for a small
sandwich shop in the NAS Pensacola
flight line area to serve the large number
of personnel in that area, who include
flight training squadrons such as the
Blue Angels and maintenance personnel who must drive 2 miles or more

for food. “If we establish a location on
one of the bases we will attempt to hire
military members or members of their
family,” says Hershberger. “Generally,
we know military family members are
dependable, and most have a unique
outlook on life that make them flexible
and/or adaptable.”
• Iowa-based Pancheros franchisee
Dan Sacco says he looks to hire high
school and college-age employees and
has had great success by offering bounties
to his workers when they refer a friend
who is successfully hired. Customers can
also make a go of it behind the counter.
“We hired a young college freshman and
he was so easy to train,” Sacco says. “He
knew what to do because he’s been coming through the line five times a week.”

MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S UE I, 2016

muf4_changingmarkets.indd 68

1/11/16 11:26 AM