How Commercial Furniture Can Support Franchise Expansion—From Restaurants to Golf and Bowling

Franchise expansion can look relatively simple from the outside: secure a location, build it, furnish it, and open the doors. In reality, rapid expansion involves many moving pieces. Legal paperwork, lease negotiations, different building sizes and layouts, construction schedules, equipment installation, and furniture production all have to come together before opening day.

Having seen the challenges that franchises experience during quick expansion, three physical components consistently become critical to the schedule: construction, equipment, and Commercial Furniture.

Planning all three early can help prevent one unfinished component from delaying an otherwise completed location.

Different Franchises, Similar Expansion Challenges

For restaurant franchises, legal requirements and leases generally come first. Once a location is secured, construction begins and restaurant equipment must be coordinated with plumbing, electrical, ventilation, and other building requirements.

Furniture should be planned at the same time. Restaurant Booths and Chairs may need to fit locations with completely different dimensions while maintaining the franchise's established appearance and specifications.

A golf simulator franchise faces a surprisingly similar situation. The lease and legal process comes first, followed by construction and installation of specialized simulator equipment. Golf Simulator Furniture may be one of the final elements installed, but it should not be one of the final elements ordered.

Bowling and entertainment centers follow the same principle. Construction and specialized equipment require careful scheduling, while Bowling Furniture must be ready for installation as the facility approaches completion.

The concept also applies to schools, training centers and other expanding educational organizations where Educational Furniture must accommodate different classrooms, collaborative areas and facility layouts.

Plan Furniture Four to Six Weeks Ahead

One simple key to successful expansion is getting projects scheduled for production ahead of time with U.S. Manufacturers.

Whenever possible, furniture quantities, drawings, materials, colors, finishes and specifications should be completed at least four to six weeks before the anticipated grand opening, subject to the manufacturer's actual production schedule.

This allows the factory to coordinate materials and production instead of receiving an urgent furniture order when construction is already approaching completion.

Questions Franchises Should Ask the Manufacturer

Before committing to a furniture supplier for multiple locations, franchise operators should speak directly with a factory representative and ask important questions:

Can we use the materials required by our corporate franchise booklet or catalog?

Can you match those materials with products you regularly stock and supply?

Can we receive a sample for approval before moving forward with production?

Can you build the product according to our specifications?

Dimensions, upholstery, foam, laminates, stitching, frames, finishes and other construction details may all be important parts of a franchise standard.

Can you guarantee delivery to each location after the first order?

Opening one successful location is different from supporting an expansion program involving multiple projects in different states.

Can you consistently manufacture the same product so the furniture at future locations has the same style, dimensions and overall appearance?

Consistency becomes increasingly important as a franchise grows. A chair, booth or table approved today may need to be reproduced for another location several years later.

Franchises should also ask whether specifications, drawings and material selections can remain on file for future orders and whether individual replacement pieces can be produced when needed.

One Less Thing to Worry About

With positive answers to these questions, franchise operators can sleep a little better at night knowing that at least one major part of their expansion program is organized.

The furniture manufacturer understands the specifications. Samples have been approved. Materials have been established. Production has been scheduled. And there is a plan for delivering consistent furniture to future locations.

Whether expanding restaurants, golf simulator facilities, bowling centers, educational concepts or other franchise businesses, furniture should never become a last-minute decision.

The best time to establish a commercial furniture program is while expansion is being planned—not when the next location is already waiting to open.

Source: Commercial Furniture Solutions