How to Survive the Hell Zone

One franchise can be fun to run. Three can feel like hell-until you figure out how to navigate that treacherous stretch of growth, and build a truly thriving business.

- by DAVID BARR

There's a magical stage of growth that every franchisee dreams of reaching. It's the point where your business has enough scale and momentum to run without your hand on the wheel every minute of the day. Finally, you get to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Unfortunately, between the comfort of your first successful location and the stability of true scale, there lies a brutal and unglamorous stretch of growth. I call it the Hell Zone.

As a former chair of the International Franchise Association board, I've advised many franchisees through the Hell Zone. I've also experienced it myself.

My entrepreneurial journey began when I bought two KFC franchise locations. It was manageable and generally enjoyable, and the units made money. I knew every employee, every number, and every problem. Then I opened a third location, and my life became a whirlwind of chaos. Constant work. The business was too big to do everything myself and too small to afford the structure of larger organizations—area managers, HR, finance, marketing. Instead of me controlling the business, the business was controlling me.