HERNDON, Va., Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — FranConnect, the leading provider of franchise management solutions for driving success in franchise sales, operations, and marketing, announced record sales growth in 2021. FranConnect welcomed over 125 franchise brands and multi-location businesses to its client roster, celebrating its highest-ever bookings year and expanded partnerships with more than 100 brands to triple its annual sales from 2020. FranConnect proudly counts approximately 900 franchise brands and over 300,000 units worldwide among its client base and is quickly becoming the âgold standardâ for technology in the franchise industry.
âOver the last two years, we made an unwavering commitment to solve the hardest problems faced by the franchise industry and to support our customers during considerable market volatility,â said Gabby Wong, CEO of FranConnect. âWe fundamentally believe that the operational challenges faced by franchise brands are unique and require franchise-specific enterprise technology to achieve scaled growth. Brands not only require applications that support specific processes like franchise sales, field operations, and royalty collection, but also need a clearer view of the performance of the franchise system as a whole and standardized methods for engaging with owners.â
FranConnect reported that increased adoption of its Operations solution, launched in 2020, drove over one-third of the companyâs sales growth in 2021, largely due to customers seeking technology that automates support of unit-level operational needs. The growing challenges of labor shortages, continuously-evolving regulatory and health requirements, and greater pressure for unit-level profitability means that Brands are looking for solutions that help drive better results. As a result, FranConnect expects continued growth in market adoption of its Operations solution in 2022.
âWorking with FranConnect has been a real blessing. Itâs given us data at our fingertips and it’s allowed us to take the data to manage the business.â said Chris Dull, CEO of Freddyâs Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, a fast casual franchise concept with more than 400 locations across 34 states. âComing into Freddyâs organization, we had dozens of spreadsheets and other data assets around the company that all operated in silos. And we were able to take all of that data and aggregate it into the FranConnect system, which created one source of truth.â
For the coming year, FranConnect has a focused market expansion plan and an ambitious technology, solutions, and experience management roadmap as it continues its push toward reaching over 1,000 customers and a half million locations worldwide. After growing its employee base by 20% last year, FranConnect is continuing to hire across all functions as part of the companyâs growth plans. FranConnect was recently named one of the 2022 âBest Places to Work in Virginiaâ by Virginia Business. In the coming weeks, FranConnect will open an office in the United Kingdom, its first office in Europe, to better serve the EMEA market and will continue to grow its strategic partnership program, including the Consulting Alliance Partnership Program launched in April 2021.
âWe continue to heavily invest in our multi-year growth strategy across all areas of our business, including our product, people, and customer experience and will look to expand our partnership capabilities to provide broader reach,â said Wong. âThe success of our customers and the broader franchise market over the last two years demonstrates the strength of the franchise business model and its ability to continue to drive economic growth and recovery. We look forward to continuing to be a premier vendor and partner in this market.â
About FranConnect
FranConnect is the leading franchise management software provider. For 20 years, the FranConnect platform has served as the sales, operations, and marketing backbone for approximately 1500 brands worldwide. Nine of the Franchise Times Top 10 Fastest-Growing franchise businesses rely on FranConnect to drive growth, improve profitability, and streamline operational performance. FranConnect customers span all sizes, growth phases, and industries and they grow 44% faster on average than the broader franchising market. Backed by private-equity investor Serent Capital, FranConnect is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with global follow-the-sun operations. For more information on FranConnect, visit www.franconnect.com.