It’s a tricky transition to go from mom-and-pop retailer to branded franchise operation—one
that requires costly professional help.It certainly helps to have experience from both sides of the franchisor-franchisee relationship, says Solomon Choi, 30-year-old president of 16 Handles frozen yogurt shop in New York’s East Village. He’s drawing on experience working in his parents’ franchise restaurants as he starts the franchising process himself.He spoke recently to Smart Answers columnist Karen E. Klein; edited excerpts of their conversation follow.
Karen E. Klein: How did you get started as an entrepreneur?
Solomon Choi: I grew up in Southern California, where my parents were franchisee owners of a couple of Japanese seafood buffet restaurants called Todai. While I was at USC studying business, on weekends I worked for them as a busboy and then as a server. After I graduated as a marketing major and worked in Corporate America for a few years, my father reached out to me to help him run his restaurant in San Diego, where there was a lot of competition from the hotels. We turned around that business and sold it in 2005. During that time I saw how a business is run and how you report to franchise owners. Continue reading.