Why I Never Wanted to Franchise… And Why We Did It Anyway.

I was always against the idea of franchising Wolf Down. I’m very protective of our brand and was worried about giving up control. It would also be a huge responsibility and add a lot of pressure. Why do this to myself?

So, what made me change my mind? Despite my skepticism, deep down, I know we built something truly special, and that our concept (and our döner) is too good not to share. Besides, nothing inspires or fulfills me more than creating opportunities for others — what better way than to literally give them our playbook? Add the fact that franchising allows me to share the joy of wolfing down döner with as many people as possible… and well, I was forced to reconsider my stance. Strong opinions, weakly held.

It didn’t happen overnight. To be honest, it’s our diehard supporters that caused me to second guess myself. I often get messages from people begging us to open a Wolf Down in their city: from Montreal to Vancouver, Seattle to West Palm Beach, even Dubai and Sydney (Wolf Down Down Under?). I never expected such widespread love. It’s always heartwarming, but the emotion that really strikes me is empathy: this is exactly how I felt after discovering döner in Germany and returning home… to no döner. I feel you. For years, I hoped and prayed someone would open a döner shop here in Ottawa. No one did. I craved it so bad I finally just opened my own.

It suddenly occurred to me that I could help others do the same — open their own döner shop — and make it so much easier for them. Not gonna lie, getting started was tough. I had no clue what I was doing and had to figure it all out by myself. I made plenty of mistakes and learned a lot the hard way. But over the past few years, I can proudly say that we’ve built a strong brand and successful business that customers love. I now have all the tools to help people like me feed their own cravings and run their own business.

When people initially inquired if we franchised, I was flattered, but unsure. It took me a while to recognize what I see now: they want to be business owners (I respect the hell out of that) and see the potential in Wolf Down. They are asking for an opportunity — and for my help. How could I ignore that? Our Ottawa location crushes. Not only is it profitable, but feeding people this highly addictive Berlin street food is remarkably fulfilling. I would love for others to enjoy this feeling — and share our success. Well guess what? The franchising business model is literally built for this. Despite my initial resistance, the more research I did, the more it became painfully obvious this was the right move.

“My youngest told me, that when she is big, she will be an entrepreneur and open up a Wolf Down wherever we live.” — Sally Bachman

But wait. Hold up. Wtf is franchising anyway? I realized pretty quickly when we announced our franchise opportunities that many don’t actually have any clue how it works. Totally fair. Some think it’s a job, when in fact, you’d be the boss. We help and work with you, but you work for yourself. We don’t pay you, we show you how to make your own money and pay yourself. Teach a man to fish…

How does it work exactly? Hustlers who want to run and own their own Wolf Down apply to become franchisees. If selected, they get to buy into a strong brand and proven concept: effectively shortening the learning curve, reducing risk, and increasing the odds of success. Franchisees set up their own locations (with our guidance), and pay a franchise fee along with on-going royalties. In return, we provide the playbook with all of our secret sauce, hands-on training, mentoring, and much more.

Many of the world’s top restaurant chains are franchises: McDonald’s, Subway, KFC, Burger King… their success is largely contributed by franchisees. It’s thanks to franchisees who believe in the model and join forces to build something bigger together. The scale of these brands is impressive, and though we likewise have ambitions of taking Wolf Down world wide, we strive to do things a differently.

First of all, the one thing I will always stand by is quality over quantity (as you can tell from our simple, focused menu). We don’t need to be on every corner — this not only dilutes the brand, it dilutes the value for franchisees. I feel just as strongly about fiercely protecting our brand as I do about safeguarding franchisees’ profit. That’s an integral part of our wolf pack mentality — we take care of our own.

Secondly, most franchisors are motivated strictly by money and too often get greedy. What motivates me, is two things. First, is seeing franchisees be successful. Second, is the feeling I get when I meet someone that raves about Wolf Down how much they love it. That’s what drives me. I want to build a brand I’m proud of. A brand that my (now 1 yr old) son can grow up and be proud to say ‘mommy built that’. The way I achieve this is by putting franchisees first—by recognizing that they are the ones making the magic happen every day. We want to work with the best franchisees, so we need to be the best franchisors. That’s on us. Beyond that, I know if we focus on franchisees, the money will take care of itself.

“Be in business for yourself, but not by yourself.”

But still, why Wolf Down? Why not just start your own thing? What’s in it for you? That’s the key question I spent months obsessing over to make sure I had a damn good answer. So here it is:

• We built a sexy brand that stands out and gets attention
• We found all the best suppliers to build our supply chain
• We have the most addictive sauces and you’ll get the secret recipes
• We invented the first ever tofu döner that inspires a cult following
• We have creative and innovative marketing strategies
• We streamlined our menu and operations to be hyper efficient
• We built a strong relationship with Uber Eats that you can piggy back on
• We will coach and mentor you to give you a huge head start
• We work as a pack and always have each others back

Wolf Down isn’t your typical döner shop. We don’t just do things the way they’ve always been done, we do it better — and we’ll show you all of our tips and tricks. I’ve been heads down for the past few months creating the ultimate playbook with all our cheat codes for franchisees. From highly addictive food that creates constant cravings (and high frequency repeat customers) to exclusive menu items like our tofu döner & hyped limited time offers and more… we arm you with our secret sauce — literally.

I would never even attempt this if I didn’t have complete confidence in our concept and our pack. Wolf Down is a strong brand and our food speaks for itself. We not only survived COVID, we thrived. And we just keep breaking our own sales records. Many of our regulars have come in almost every day since we opened. I think that’s a pretty good sign. It’s no fluke, we’re clearly onto something.

Just as importantly: my pack is ready. These young guys have been with me pretty much from Day 1. The amount they’ve learned is remarkable and it’s been a pleasure to watch them grow. They know the ins and outs of running the wolf den better than anyone (myself included) and are eager to share, train and coach. Any franchisee that gets to study the art of Wolf Down under them is lucky to learn from the best and experience the wolf pack culture at it’s finest.

What about protecting my brand? Like my fur baby wolf dog, Wolf Down is my baby. I’m extremely protective of my wolf pup. But I also need to let it live and grow. Like any business, it comes down to finding the right people and taking a chance on them.

You know what scares me most now? To have a franchisee fail. But we can’t let fear of failure stop us from trying. There is always a risk. There are no guarantees. It is intimidating. It takes courage. Humans naturally prefer to avoid risks. Entrepreneurs need the adrenaline. We crave the chaos. Sure, stress sucks. But boredom? That’s the worst.

Ultimately, something this good needs to be shared. So I went against my own rules and decided to embrace franchising to enable and empower fellow entrepreneurs. I’ve been so fortunate to have such incredible mentors help me along the way. I learned so much from them and from my personal experiences. It’s time to pay it forward.

If you’d like to find out more about Wolf Down’s franchising opportunities, check out our website and don’t be shy to reach out — I’d be happy to chat.