BrandONE is marking its 10th anniversary at a time when emerging franchise brands face increasing pressure to demonstrate strong unit-level economics, repeatable operations, differentiated positioning, and the infrastructure required to support franchise owners beyond the initial franchise award through opening, operation, and long-term growth.
Over the past decade, BrandONE has evolved from a relationship-driven franchise development company into a broader growth platform serving founders, emerging and established franchise systems, private equity partners, and prospective franchise owners.
The anniversary follows the most active year for new brand partnerships in the company’s history. BrandONE added more concepts to its portfolio than in any previous 12-month period, with new brands spanning senior care, home services, child enrichment, beauty, recreation, and other resilient service sectors.
The company is also supporting concepts entering categories where a clear national leader has not yet emerged. Brands including Delta Crown and Epic Septic give BrandONE an opportunity to help shape emerging franchise categories from the ground up.
“A compelling founder story and one successful flagship operation are no longer enough,” said Michael Mudd, Partner and CEO of BrandONE. “Today’s strongest franchise opportunities must demonstrate credible unit-level economics, repeatable operations, differentiated positioning, proper capitalization, and the leadership capacity to support other business owners. The best founders understand that franchising is not simply a vehicle for selling more locations. It is a long-term commitment to helping franchise owners build successful businesses.”
From Franchise Sales to Franchise Recruitment
BrandONE was founded to address a gap on both sides of the franchise relationship. Many founders had proven concepts and ambitious growth plans but lacked the specialized infrastructure, industry relationships and development experience required to scale responsibly. Prospective franchise owners, meanwhile, needed a more transparent and disciplined process for evaluating opportunities and understanding what ownership would truly require.
BrandONE built its model around recruitment rather than transactional franchise sales, with an emphasis on education, due diligence and long-term alignment.
“We recruit, we don’t sell’ has guided our approach from the beginning,” Mudd said. “The goal is not to convince every candidate to move forward. It is to help the right candidates make a well-informed decision with a clear understanding of the opportunity, the financial and operational commitments involved and what will be required of them to succeed.
“Our responsibility is to create transparency throughout the process. Candidates should understand their obligations as franchise owners, the capabilities and support system behind the brand, and the realities of building and operating the business. At the same time, the franchisor must determine whether the candidate has the experience, capital, leadership ability, and commitment needed to represent the brand successfully.
“The strongest franchise relationships begin when both sides have the information and confidence to determine that the fit is right. That alignment creates a stronger foundation for the franchise owner, the brand, and the entire system.”
That approach has become increasingly important as franchise candidates gain access to more information and expect greater transparency, along with direct engagement with leadership teams, existing franchise owners, and the underlying economics of the business.
A More Selective Model for Emerging Brands
BrandONE evaluates prospective brand partners based on consumer demand, unit-level financial performance, operational simplicity, market potential, competitive differentiation and the ability to reproduce the customer experience across multiple markets.
The company also places significant weight on what it describes as “founder readiness”: whether the founder understands why the business works, can clearly communicate the vision and is prepared to build the systems and culture needed to support a franchise network.
“A founder’s role changes dramatically when the first franchise is awarded,” Mudd said. “The founder is no longer responsible only for building the original business. They are now supporting people who have invested their capital, careers, and families’ futures in the system. That requires a different level of discipline, communication, and leadership.”
For many emerging franchisors, that shift requires earlier investment in training, technology, field support, marketing, real estate, compliance, and operational infrastructure, often before a meaningful royalty stream has developed.
Turning Distinctive Concepts into Scalable Opportunities
Another Nine, a technology-enabled indoor golf concept, illustrates how BrandONE helps translate a differentiated business model into a scalable franchise platform.
The brand combines private simulator suites, 24/7 customer access and a remotely managed operating model. BrandONE supported the founders with brand positioning, development strategy, candidate education, and access to the franchise consultant community.
In September 2025, two brothers from Cincinnati visited the original location. By October, they and a longtime friend had committed to three franchise territories. Before opening their first location, the group added four more, expanding its commitment to seven territories.
“A founder’s vision may begin in one location, but the right franchise owners can carry it into markets the founder may never have reached alone,” Mudd said. “At its best, franchising creates opportunity for owners, employees, customers, and communities.”
Building the Next Decade Around Greater Depth
BrandONE’s next phase will be supported by an expanded ownership and leadership group, including JT Thiessen, CFE, Partner and Chief Growth Officer, who joined the ownership team as the company prepared for its second decade.
BrandONE plans to continue investing in technology, data, marketing infrastructure and systems for measuring lead quality, candidate engagement, conversion and long-term franchisee performance.
“The next decade is about greater depth, not simply greater volume,” Mudd said. “We want to partner with the right brands, build stronger systems around them, and create better outcomes for both founders and franchise owners. Sustainable franchise growth is not measured only by the number of agreements awarded. It should always be measured by the strength of the network that exists years later.”
You can find out more about the journey of these brands, the BrandONE team and more on episodes of the BrandONE-on-ONE podcast.
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