Are You Thinking About Franchising? (or just need to compete with those who are) 14 Steps to Polish and Perfect Your Brand and Business

1. Are You Thinking About Franchising?
(or just need to compete with those who are)
14 Steps to Polish and Perfect
Your Brand and Business
RESTAURANT BRANDING
Specializing in Brand Strategy & Development for the
RESTAURANT & LIFESTYLE INDUSTRIES
ph: 949.433.0728
InspiroBrands.com

2. RESTAURANT BRANDING
Is it Time to
FRANCHISE
or
Just Take Your
Concept to the
NEXT LEVEL?
Are you thinking about Franchising your restaurant or just trying
to compete with those who are? It is important to Polish &
Perfect Your Entire Concept including Branding, Operations,
Space & Team. And more importantly have a Plan to Manage
these items for the future.
We work with emerging brands wanting to Franchise or Expand.
Your business should always be an ongoing process of growth
and improvement. Do you have all of the proper pieces in
place to take it to the next level?
InspiroBrands.com

3. YOUR CONCEPT
InspiroBrands.com
In the past most companies wouldn’t even consider a franchise model until
they had a few restaurants. Today if even one location is doing well,
Franchise companies are quick to expand before their competition does.
It is important to treat your restaurant as if it were a larger entity whether it is
or not. You must manage all aspects such as food, staff, service, decor and
marketing as a part of your overall brand.
There are 3 main reasons to treat your restaurant as a franchise model.
1. PROFESSIONALISM - Allows you to WOW your guests as well as
compete against other larger players.
2. CONSISTENCY - Helps set up systems and standards to create a great
customer experience every time.
3. GROWTH - Provides an expansion plan for the future. It is always easier
to update on an ongoing basis than to fix things later.
1
WHAT ARE YOU
KNOWN FOR?
WHO ARE YOUR
IDEAL GUESTS?
HOW DO YOU
WOW THEM?

4. InspiroBrands.comInspiroBrands.com
WHAT IS A BRAND?
YOUR BRAND
IS WHAT YOUR
CUSTOMERS
SAY IT IS...
NOT WHAT YOU
SAY IT IS!
INTERIOR
Decor/Cleanliness
Receptionist/Hostess
Staff Presence
Voice Mail/Hold Music
Interior Music
Restrooms
MARKETING
Business Cards
Menus/Take Out
In-house Collateral
Email Newsletters
Website/Mobile
Brochures
Advertising YOUR
BRAND
EXTERIOR
Drive by Impression
Signage
Entry Way
NETWORKING
Online/Social Presence
Community Involvement
PRODUCT
Quality of Offering
Visual Presentation
LOGO
Quality & Relevance
Tagline/Modifier

5. InspiroBrands.com
BRAND PERSONALITY2
Accessible
Accommodating
Accomplished
Active
Adaptable
Admirable
Adorable
Affectionate
Agreeable
Alive
Alluring
Ambitious
Amorous
Appreciative
Approachable
Appropriate
Artistic
Assured
Astute
Athletic
Attentive
Attractive
Authentic
Authoritative
Balanced
Beautiful
Believable
Big-hearted
Blessed
Blissful
Bold
Brainy
Brave
Bright
Brilliant
Calm
Captivating
Caring
Casual
Cerebral
Charming
Cheerful
Chic
Clearheaded
Colorful
Comedic
Comfortable
Compassionate
Compatible
Competent
Complex
Concise
Confident
Considerate
Consistent
Constant
Content
Convincing
Cordial
Courageous
Courteous
Creative
Credible
Cute
Daring
Decent
Decisive
Dedicated
Deep
Defined
Delectable
Deliberate
Delightful
Democratic
Dependable
Desirable
Determined
Devoted
Dignified
Diligent
Diplomatic
Direct
Discerning
Discrete
Distinctive
Dramatic
Easy-going
Economical
Ecstatic
Efficient
Elated
Elegant
Eloquent
Enchanted
Encouraging
Energetic
Engaging
Enlightened
Enterprising
Entertaining
Enthusiastic
Established
Ethical
Exact
Excellent
Extraordinary
Fabulous
Faithful
Fantastic
Fascinating
Fashionable
Flexible
Focused
Forgiving
Fresh
Free
Fun
Funny
Generous
Gentle
Genuine
Good
Good looking
Good-hearted
Good-natured
Gorgeous
Gracious
Grateful
Great
Gregarious
Grounded
Handy
Happy
Harmonious
Healthy
Helpful
Hilarious
Hopeful
Hospitable
Humorous
Imaginative
Immaculate
Impartial
Important
Impressive
Independent
Influential
Ingenious
Innovative
Inspired
Intelligent
Intuitive
Inventive
Jolly
Joyful
Jubilant
Knowledgeable
Liberal
Light
Likable
Lively
Logical
Lovely
Loyal
Lucid
Lucky
Luminous
Magnetic
Mature
Mild
Miraculous
Moderate
Modest
Moral
Natural
Nice
Noble
Nourishing
Open-minded
Original
Passionate
Peaceful
Personable
Persuasive
Philosophical
Playful
Pleasant
Poetic
Polished
Positive
Powerful
Practical
Precious
Proactive
Productive
Professional
Profound
Progressive
Prolific
Prompt
Proper
Prudent
Purposeful
Radiant
Real
Reasonable
Refined
Reflective
Relaxed
Reliable
Remarkable
Respectful
Responsive
Reverent
Rich
Righteous
Robust
Romantic
Satisfied
Scholarly
Sensible
Sensual
Sentimental
Serene
Sexy
Sharp
Sincere
Simple
Sociable
Solid
Sophisticated
Soulful
Sparkling
Spirited
Spiritual
Splendid
Spontaneous
Stable
Steady
Strong
Studious
Stylish
Suave
Subtle
Successful
Sunny
Superb
Sweet
Sympathetic
Systematic
Tender
Terrific
Thankful
Thorough
Thoughtful
Tolerant
Tough
Tranquil
Truthful
Understanding
Unique
Upright
Valiant
Versatile
Vigorous
Virtuous
Visionary
Vivacious
Warm
Well-rounded
Whimsical
Wise
Witty
Wonderful
Worldly
Zealous
B R A N D W O R D S T A R T E R K I T
Scan quickly without thinking too much and circle any and all words that may apply:
List any others that come to mind: _________________________________________________________________________
DEFINING YOUR
BRAND PERSONALITY
Step 1
Building your brand words
Select your 3 brand words that describe
how you would like to be perceived:
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Your Power Brand Word
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Support Brand Word
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Support Brand Word
Step 2
Managing your brand words
Step 3
Create & manage your brand touch-points
WHO ARE YOU?
HOW DO
PEOPLE
DESCRIBE
YOUR
COMPANY?
Download Your Brand
Personality Starter Kit

6. InspiroBrands.com
BRAND POSITIONING
DO WHAT YOU DO BEST AND
LET EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT IT!
You need to have great food, great service
and a good atmosphere but that is a
given in todays market.
What you really need to do is have
something that makes you UNIQUE
and a perfect fit for YOUR GUESTS.
If they love you - they will help spread
the word.
3
WHAT MAKES
YOU UNIQUE?
HOW CAN YOU
COMPETE
AGAINST YOUR
COMPETITION?

7. InspiroBrands.com
TARGET AUDIENCE
What do your guests want from you?
Once you think about expanding, it is important to know that what works
one place may not work for all. It is mandatory that you understand your
target market and find that audience. Or perhaps you may need to adjust
for those who are in the new location you select.
Our Concept Requires This Target Audience:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
The New Location we are Considering has:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
4
% Male/Female
Age
Married/single
Kids
Income
Lifestyle
Education
Lunch/Dinner

8. InspiroBrands.com
LOGO5
IMAGE IS
EVERYTHING
WHAT DOES
YOUR LOGO &
BRANDING SAY
ABOUT YOU?

9. InspiroBrands.com
BRAND EVALUATION6
How Does Your
Current Concepts
Branding &
Environment
Match Your
VISION for the
FUTURE?
Download Our Brand
Touch-point Evaluation
INSPIRO BRAND TOUCH-POINT EVALUATION
RESTAURANT EDITION
Ratings: 5=highest 1=lowest;
5 excellent • 4 good • 3 just okay • 2 needs improvement • 1 probably hurting business
* These are the most important so if time is limited - do a mini evaluation using these.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quality Consistency Last Action Needed
Updated
BRAND IDENTITY
Logo * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Tagline * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
BRANDED MATERIALS
Menus * (main/kids/takeout etc...) _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Internal Marketing Items _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Gift Cards/Holders _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
To-Go Packaging _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Staff Uniforms _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Wall Art/Story Graphics _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
INTERNAL IMPRESSIONS
Overall Interior Space * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Tabletops/Seating _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Hostess Stand - First Impression _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Restrooms * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Lighting/Sound _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
EXTERNAL IMPRESSIONS
Signage * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Exterior Look * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Overall Drive By Appearance * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Vehicles/Catering _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Phone Message * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Website * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Social Media - Facebook/Twitter * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Mobile _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Email Newsletters _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Advertising * - mailers/promos/ads _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Business Cards * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
FOOD & SERVICE
Food Quality *
Food Appearance * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Service * _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Operational Organization _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Other________________________ _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Other________________________ _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
Other________________________ _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
OVERALL SCORE _______ _______ _______ ___________________________ ________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
©Inspiro Brands 2017 - Reproduction permitted for individual personal use only.
www.InspiroBrands.com • 949.433.0728 • Gina@InspiroBrands.com
Now that you have
established your
BRAND PERSONALITY,
POSITIONING and
TARGET AUDIENCE,
it is time to take a
in-depth look at the your
COMPLETE BRAND
as it currently stands
by doing a BRAND
TOUCH-POINT
EVALUATION

10. InspiroBrands.com
TRADEMARK
PROTECT YOURSELF
You don’t want to be on the road to expansion with everything in
motion and realize that you are not able to grow into other territories.
Or even worse have someone stop you from using your name.
As a start go to
uspto.gov and
do a preliminary
trademark search.
You may also file there
but we recommend
getting an attorney.
7
BEFORE
FRANCHISING
MAKE SURE TO
TRADEMARK
YOUR NAME
AND LOGO

11. InspiroBrands.com
WEBSITE & URL
ARE YOU STAYING RELEVANT
Many people find restaurants via web and mobile devices.
To compete you must make sure you website works on all
platforms and people can find you EVERYWHERE
• Home - About You
• Location w/ map
• Menus
• Social Media Links
• Events
• Newsletter Sign Up
• Franchise Information
Create links for submission
or downloadable pdf
8
MAKE SURE
YOUR
WEBSITE
IS UPDATED
ON ALL
PLATFORMS

12. InspiroBrands.com
MARKETING
DON’T TRY TO DO EVERYTHING
Try a few and track your results. Then choose your favorites that work for
you and CREATE A PLAN and IMPLEMENT ON A REGULAR BASIS.
Like it or not, you MUST have a Social Media
presence as part of your Marketing Plan.
To compete with other companies
we suggest that you hire someone
to be your Marketing/Social media
person to handle these tasks for you
if you do not have the time or
enjoy them.
9
PICK THE
MARKETING
METHODS
THAT WORK
BEST FOR YOU
• Social Media
• Email Blasts
• Print Ads
• SEO
• In Store Promos
• Direct Mail
• Radio/TV
• Local/Charity Events

13. InspiroBrands.com
BRAND STANDARDS
Create a Style Guide for Better Consistency of your Brand
10
BRAND STYLE
GUIDES
• Logos
• Fonts
• Colors
• Textures
• Graphics
• Photos
• Marketing
• Signage
• Wall Graphics
• Etc...
An average style guide will contain 10-20 pages
Neutra Text
To be used Upper/Lower case for all sentences and body copy.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh
Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq
Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
0123456789!@#$&*()
Accent FontAccent Font
Accent Font
Body Copy
NEUTRA TEXT BOLD
NEUTRA TEXT DEMI BOLD
Bold or Demi in Green or Black to be used for headers only.
Used in All Caps. Can be green, black or reversed in white on black.
HEADERS
HEADERS
Subheads Subheads
SUBHEADS SUBHEADS
Joe Hand 2
To be used to highlight. To be used as Header 4 words or less.
Can be used in orange or green
Neutra Text Bold
Primary Sans-Serif typeface used for emphasis
bodies of copy. Can be set-in Bold and/or Caps.
Can be green, black or reversed in white on black.
SIGN AGE
ALL NATU RAL
AMERICANKO BE BEEF
WALL ARTWEARABLES
KRAVEKOBE BURGER GRILL
THE

14. InspiroBrands.com
MATERIALS STANDARDS11
MATERIALS
STYLE GUIDE
• Floor Plan
• Elevation
• Seating flow
• Paint Colors
• Flooring
• Counters
• Booth Material
• Tables/Chairs
• Lighting
BIRCH WOODS TABLE TOP
STAINED CONCRETE FLOORING B&W MATERIAL BOOTH
BLACK FORMICA COUNTER SUBWAY TILE IN BATHROOM
BRUSHED ALUMINUM COUNTER FRONT
INTERIOR MATERIALS
CHARCOAL CEILING LIME RICKY SOFFIT PEACE YELLOW WALLS
PAINT
SAMPLE FLOOR PLAN

15. InspiroBrands.com
BRAND PACKAGE
KEEP YOUR FILES ON THE CLOUD
Once Your Brand Package is Complete,
MAKE SURE YOU OWN IT and
Keep it where you can easily get to it.
12
STORE BRAND
COLLATERAL
AND EASILY
ACCESS IT
WHEN YOU
OPEN YOUR
NEXT LOCATION
LOGOS FONTS/COLORS SIGNAGE PACKAGING MENUS

16. InspiroBrands.com
GET IT DOWN IN WRITING
Before you register your franchise you will need to have your manuals to
secure your FDD.
Even if you never go
to a franchise model
you should have clear
PRACTICES AND
PROCEDURES
in place.
OPERATION MANUALS13
OPERATIONS
& TRAINING
• Food Prep
• Service
• Purchasing
• Receiving
• Storage
• Preparation
• Cleaning
• Shift Change
• Opening/Closing

17. InspiroBrands.com
YOUR TEAM
WHO WILL HELP TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
Your Company - Having a defined team is key. Your internal team should
all know their roles and responsibilities without any gray areas.
Contractors - If you are thinking of expanding it is crucial to have all of your
vendors in place and ready to jump into action once you find a new location.
Franchise Company - There are many
franchise companies out there ready to
promise to take you to the next level.
Sometimes these can be quite costly
so make sure you do your homework
and choose an expansion plan that
WORKS BEST FOR YOU!
14
KEY PLAYERS
• Financial/CFO
• Operations
• Training
• Real Estate
• Branding/Design
• Marketing/PR
• Equipment
• Construction
• Franchise Sales

18. InspiroBrands.com
RESTAURANT CHECKLIST
Concept - Do you need improvement on Food, Space, Operations, Etc?
Brand Personality - What do you stand for? What do people say about you?
Brand Positioning - How are you Unique from your Competition?
Brand Collateral Evaluation - Does your brand & graphics package need updating?
Target Audience Defined - Who will you serve, what do they need?
Logo - Is it updated and relevant?
Trademark - Have you Trademarked your Name and Logo?
URL & Website - Have you purchased all similar urls and updated your website?
Marketing Plan - Have you created a marketing plan w/ branded social media accounts?
Do you have someone in place to manage your marketing efforts?
Brand Standards Manuals - Do you have a Usage Guide for others to follow?
Materials Standards - Are materials documented and ready for future locations?
Brand Package - Are all items packaged and available and ready to go when
you find a new location?
Operations & Training Manuals - Are Recipes, Processes & Procedures documented?
Team in Place - Who will help take you to the Next Level?
WHAT ARE
THE
NEXT STEPS
FOR
THE FUTURE?

19. RESTAURANT BRANDING
Owner
Strategy + Design
Inspiro Brands provides brand strategy and design guiding emerging concepts to create, develop and
provide a memorable guest experience. With over 20 years working with the restaurant industry, Gina has
developed identities for over 100 dining destinations as well as experiential food based events.
Gina works as a consultant with several Franchise Sales companies to polish and perfect brands to
prepare for franchise expansion. She attends The Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo and Franchise
Expo annually in order to keep current with upcoming trends.
Services include brand strategy and design development of mood boards, logos, menus, marketing
collateral, advertising, websites, packaging, promotional materials, franchise brochures, operations
manuals, brand style guides and investor books.
Specializing in Brand Strategy & Development for the
RESTAURANT & LIFESTYLE INDUSTRIES
ph: 949.433.0728
InspiroBrands.com