Hey everybody,
I often get people asking: “That franchise is growing really fast. Isn't that risky?”
It’s a reasonable concern. Rapid growth feels chaotic. It sounds like corners are being cut, support is stretched thin, and you're buying into a brand that hasn't figured itself out yet.
But here's my honest take: slow growth worries me a lot more than fast growth.
Let me explain.
By the way: next Wednesday, I’m having a free chat with Michael Girdley about The 7 Tradeoffs When Buying a Business. We’ll be taking your questions live - RSVP for free right here!
The case for fast growth
When a franchise is adding locations quickly, a few things are happening:
Brand recognition is compounding. More locations means more visibility, which means more customers walking through doors (like yours).
The franchisor has more resources. Opening units is expensive, so they’ve clearly got capital to use. Plus, more scale means more royalty revenue, which means better people, better tech, and better support. A stagnant brand can't afford any of that.
Every new location is a seed. Every new franchisee who opens a location today is someone who might want to sell in 3–5 years. So if you’re a smart buyer who’s looking at the long term, you’re looking at future deal flow for expansion through acquisition.
That’s not to say there aren’t risks.
As I mentioned last week, there will be growing pains. Support might lag. Systems might still be getting built.
So if you’re a person who likes momentum, and you can tolerate some messiness, then it still might be worth it. If that's not you, that's fine. But you need to know which one you are.
The hard take on slow growth
Here's where I might lose some people.
You see a lot of franchisors on LinkedIn talking about how they're "growing responsibly." We're not rushing. We're focused on quality over quantity.
In reality, it's often just a nice way of saying nobody's buying their franchise.
Because a franchise that isn't growing is dying.
If a brand isn't consistently adding units, it's not building scale. It's not investing in the infrastructure that benefits franchisees. And it's losing market share to competitors who are growing. That goes double for emerging industries where speed matters.
(I’ve seen this firsthand. I won’t tell the story publicly, but if we work together, feel free to ask me about it.)
So what do you do with this?
I'm not saying you should blindly chase the fastest-growing brand you can find. Growth rate alone is just one input in a bigger decision.
But don't let rapid growth scare you off, and don't let slow growth comfort you into a false sense of security.
The real question is the same one it always is: what are the trade-offs, and which ones can you live with?
If you want help sorting through that, book a call. That's literally what I do every day.
Talk soon,
Connor