ACT I – The Situation
Franchise Ready was contacted by a Sydney Franchising law firm that had been asked to give them advice about Milky Lane’s desire to franchise their brand. With one store at Bondi Beach, no systems or documented procedures but a huge following on Social media and with people travelling from all over Sydney to enjoy the Milky Lane experience, the lawyers believed there was something in this concept but they needed help with their strategy, documentation and business model.
What started as one person’s dream to open a burger bar ended with a group of four guys opening Sydney’s best burger experience in the iconic Bondi Beach.
The plan with Milky Lane was to combine all elements that are required for a fun evening out with friends – the food, the service, the decor, the music and the atmosphere. They were not just a burger or a cocktail bar, they are a complete experience.
The business was successful, transforming a former restaurant doing $600k into a $3m business which created challenges with service and capacity as the restaurant and concept wasn’t designed for that sort of volume.
This was made even harder by not having documented systems and procedures that could ensure consistency and scalability. The four founders worked in the business. They needed to develop a model that wasn’t about them but about replicating the experience all over the world.
One of the founders had been a franchisee in other systems but had never been a franchisor nor had ever created a franchise business model and the other three founders were exceptional technicians in their area of expertise.
ACT II – Enters Franchise Ready
The business needed someone with franchising experience to develop the systems and develop the franchise model so it could be scaled.
We identified the market potential and what we would need to grow to that level and we then set about implementing our strategy and streamlining operations.
Many of the functions of the business were manual and included onerous tasks like a 12 hour ‘mis en place’ and preparation of most products in house, which was simply not scalable.
We set up supply chain and streamlined operations, so the model was profitable, scalable and franchisable,
Franchise Ready worked on the business model focussing on supply chain efficiencies, site identification, franchise recruitment activities and documenting every aspect of the business operations so a new franchise business owner could replicate the successful Bondi Beach business.
Franchise Ready recruited franchisees, identified and negotiated sites and then onboarded new franchise partners administering their training program and providing ongoing operational support.
ACT III – Success As Franchisors
After initial engagement the business was able to open the first two franchise restaurants within the first 6 months and then grew steadily to 12 restaurants, In the first half of 2021 the will grown to more than 16 restaurants, with master franchise territories sold in South Australia and Western Australia, the next step is international and the brand already has a number of interested parties.
“Working with Doug Downer from Franchise Ready changed the direction from our small restaurant into a national franchise company. Learning how to systemise our business processes to operate with higher profit margins and real scalability has led to the success that Milky lane is today.”
– Pete Haselhurst, Milky Lane Founder and Managing Director
