What We Do?

FRANdata works with clients on their most challenging performance issues, investing significant time and effort in developing and renewing a knowledge base that offers unique perspectives and insights. We apply our understanding of market and industry forces to develop long-term macroeconomic perspectives.

We took a central role in developing performance standards around particular areas of the franchise model and set the bar based on those standards – because of this task, certain industry measurements and standards of reporting were born: true failure rate, unit time-to-breakeven, the Bank Credit report and the franchise continuity rate.

We enable our clients to achieve lasting success in franchising. Our work is founded on a rigorous understanding of every client’s  business context, industry dynamics, and market climate. We study franchise trends and emerging best practices because we believe that in order to serve our clients, we must stay ahead of the game.

Highlights

History

Remember the term UFOC? We started as a UFOC (now FDD) collection company, but soon customer inquiries came in asking us to compare them against their peers; so, we quickly became a data analysis company, expertly dissecting and analyzing data into understandable pieces of strategic information.  It was a natural transition to go from mastering the data found in the FDD to researching beyond publicly available sources. In the mid-1990s we were proudly commissioned by the IFA to create one of the earliest attempts to analyze the franchise industry as a whole, called the “Profile of Franchising” report. Shortly thereafter, as part of our entry into franchise capital access solutions, we launched the Franchise Registry.

40,000 FDDs later and more than 10,000 franchisor and supplier clients over the years, our market has embraced our robust analysis and has helped us usher in our current role as consultants and industry analysts. With our role as objective analysts comes the responsibility to have the analytical tools in place to correctly decipher and measure a franchise business’ true performance success and failure.

From the first UFOC collected over 25 years ago to the research and consulting projects of today, FRANdata has built our business from a culture of integrity and the desire to grow the industry we serve.

 

Meet our CEO

 

Darrell Johnson CEO FRANdata Franchise Economist

Darrell Johnson

(CEO)

I have been privileged to be CEO of FRANdata for over 15 years. Time and again I’m reminded that franchising doesn’t sit still, the franchise model changes with the waves of modern business practices and with that so does our business. What doesn’t change is the heart of FRANdata, our people. Our people shape the future of the company with their ideas, expertise and dedication. I’ve also been honored to work with some of the best minds in franchising, At FRANdata we are dedicated to the growth and evolution of the franchise model and the franchise industry as a whole. I am proud of what we have accomplished as a company and know that there is still much to do in driving the organization to the forefront of franchise intelligence.

Darrell Johnson

Meet Our Leaders

 

  • Edith Wiseman

    (PRESIDENT) Edith is a 15 year veteran of FRANdata. She has played a pivotal leadership role in the strategic growth of FRANdata’s Capital Access and Franchise Business Intelligence suite of solutions. As President of FRANdata, Wiseman is responsible for sales, product development, and market strategy.

  • Paul Wilbur

    As COO of FRANdata, Paul is instrumental in building the research and consulting framework at FRANdata. Paul manages the Research, Information Management, Marketing and IT departments and plays an integral role in the strategic development of FRANdata’s suite of franchise solutions.

Partnering With Thought Leaders in Franchising

IFA

FRANdata is proud to be a research partner of the International Franchise Association (IFA). the International Franchise Association is the world's oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations, and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the more than 733,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 7.6 million direct jobs, $674.3 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy, and 2.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees, and companies that support the industry in marketing, law, technology, and business development.

 

ISOF

The International Society of Franchising (ISoF) is the global association of academic scholars who conduct scientific research on franchising. ISoF's hallmark event is its annual conference where attendees share cutting-edge research findings. You can find more information about ISoF, past research paper abstracts, and how to register for the next annual conference at www.FranchiseSociety.com