3 Recession-Proofing Strategies to Keep Your Breakfast Franchise Ownership Dreams Alive in 2023
Buckle up, everybody — according to financial experts, we may be in for a bit of a bumpy ride in 2023. If you’ve been dreaming of going into business for yourself by opening a trendy and delicious healthy restaurant in your community, you might think this means you need to put those goals on hold. We’re here to tell you to think again! Unlike other breakfast franchises and healthy franchises in the restaurant and hospitality space, Toastique’s Gourmet Toast & Juice Bar not only launched in 2020 during a global pandemic, but continued to grow and thrive as other concepts were shutting their doors for good.
Needless to say, the Toastique corporate leadership team knows a thing or two about how to ensure the organic juice bar or sandwich franchise of your dreams is equipped to weather just about any economic storm that blows its way, and they’ve agreed to share some of their top tips with prospective breakfast Franchise Owners like you. Let’s dive in!
A Bit of Background About Our Healthy Breakfast Franchise
As we mentioned above, Toastique got its franchising start during a period in history that was notoriously bad for the restaurant industry. Founder Brianna Keefe opened the doors to her first Toastique location in the bustling Wharf District of Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2018, just 40 days from the start of her organic juice bar’s buildout. With the constant foot traffic from hungry tourists and businesspeople in the area, Toastique quickly became a local hit, generating over $1 million in revenue in its first year, without a single penny spent on advertising! Buoyed by the immense success of her flagship location, Brianna opened two more Toastique cafés in the Washington, D.C. area and began looking into franchising her concept.
Then in 2020, tragedy struck the restaurant industry in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic. Restaurants across the country were forced to close their dine-in eating areas during lockdown, and those who were unable to successfully pivot their business model to carryout or delivery were not able to remain open at all. Fortunately, the grab-and-go nature of Toastique’s menu items, along with the simple, scalable operations that require only a couple of workers at minimum, allowed Brianna and company to continue earning revenue by serving gourmet toasts, juices, smoothies and more on a to-go basis.
Their natural ability to thrive during one of the worst things to happen to the restaurant industry in history helped Brianna and the rest of the Toastique team move forward with their plans for opening breakfast franchise locations across the United States, in a big way! In just three short years, Toastique went from one little location to a whopping 66 cafés nationwide, with more on the way. Because most of this impressive growth notably occurred during the pandemic, it’s safe to say the healthy franchise’s leadership team knows what it takes to not just survive but thrive in the face of a recession.
Now, let’s get to the team’s tips for entrepreneurs who are looking to make a big splash in the healthy franchise industry regardless of what the economy is doing:
Tip #1: Keep it Simple
When investing in a restaurant concept, it’s important to account for the overhead expenses you will be putting in before you start to turn a profit. For example, renting or buying a space for a large casual-dining type of restaurant with tens of tables, a full kitchen and more, can be extremely costly.
By opting for a restaurant concept that minimizes some of these overhead costs, you can get on the road to profitability faster. Two really easy ways to do this include investing in a concept that requires a much smaller footprint than an average restaurant, and keeping your menu simple. Sandwich franchises, for example, might have 15 different items on the menu, but all are made with roughly the same ingredients in various combinations and none of them require expensive, complex kitchen equipment to prepare. Additionally, by using fresh ingredients that are delivered regularly by local produce vendors, you can cut back on the need for storage space and eliminate other costly equipment such as freezers or industrial-size refrigerators.
Toastique’s breakfast franchise model accomplishes both of these things. The small footprint of our cafés means that our Franchise Owners can open in prime locations without the exorbitant cost of larger restaurant spaces. A Toastique café can comfortably fit in just about any strip mall or storefront in trendy locations with high foot traffic. Franchise Owners get the benefit of a highly visible café location with an enticing appearance and enjoyable atmosphere without the hefty monthly rent or mortgage that can accompany a larger restaurant.
Not only is our footprint about as big as an average coffee shop, but our business operations are nearly as simple! With the exception of a professional-grade juicer, our breakfast Franchise Owners are able to open their cafés with next to no special equipment. In addition to the gourmet toasts that have put us on the map, along with all-natural smoothies and juices, the Toastique menu contains few other items. Everything can be prepared on the counter, right in front of customers, with no need for a chef, line cooks or additional kitchen staff on the payroll. The grab-and-go nature of our breakfast franchise also eliminates the need to hire a wait staff, which helps put money back in your pocket.
Best of all, just about everything we make and serve is fresh, locally sourced and requires little to no long-term storage. This not only helps our Franchise Owners cut back on expensive overhead costs but also allows them to ensure they are using only the highest-quality ingredients for each menu item they prepare. It’s also a great feeling for our Franchise Owners to know they are helping to put money back into their own communities by supporting local vendors. It’s a win-win!
Keeping your operations simple is a great way to be sure you aren’t biting off more than you can chew when following your dream of restaurant ownership. Toastique has perfected the art of opening cafés that are head and shoulders above other breakfast franchises in terms of quality and atmosphere without breaking the bank, and we’re happy to show you how to do it in your community when you pre-qualify for our Franchise Discovery Process. Check it out now.
Tip #2: Tap Into a Niche Market
Let’s face it: this country is overrun with fast-food franchises. It’s hard to walk a full block without running into a burger joint or fried chicken place. However, the public demand for healthy franchises in their areas has grown steadily over the past decade, and is projected to continue growing through the 2020s. With nearly half of consumers across all demographics stating they planned to start eating healthier in a 2022 study, it’s clear that people are clamoring for quick, easy and convenient ways to accomplish their health goals, yet the need for quick-serve healthy franchises remains largely unmet. Instead of hopping on the tired fast-food bandwagon, why not pursue your restaurant ownership dreams by opening a café that caters to health-minded individuals? If you do, you might just be the only place in town that can offer them delicious gourmet toasts, juices, smoothies and more on the go.
By tapping into an underserved market like healthy franchises, you’re eliminating a great deal of competition, which can help give your sales a boost, especially when you’re first starting out.
Think about it: what kind of restaurant is going to get the people in your neighborhood more excited — another typical fast-food franchise or a unique place that offers healthy, fresh foods prepared and served with care?
The Toastique leadership team can tell you that our Franchise Owners are met with enthusiasm, excitement and great anticipation in every market we’ve opened so far. At our recent grand openings in Hoboken, New Jersey and Colorado Springs, Colorado, the line to get in stretched around the block — that’s how eager people were to try everything Toastique’s Gourmet Toast & Juice Bar has to offer. You’re not likely to see that kind of reaction for the grand opening of a run-of-the-mill franchise that only offers burgers and fries.
In fact, way back in 2018 when the first Toastique opened, our highly Instagrammable gourmet toast creations, juices and smoothies created such a stir in the Washington, D.C. area that Brianna Keefe and company were able to build brand awareness and generate excitement without spending a single penny on advertising! When people saw the healthy, delicious menu choices we offered, they were hooked. No need for catchy jingles, slogans or ads to get Toastique into people’s brains — they just wanted what they saw being made fresh to order: unique toast creations that are as good to eat as they are good for you!
By opening a healthy franchise like Toastique, you can stand out from the rest of the pack and tap into something that’s still sadly lacking in many suburban communities — good, healthy food that puts the focus on wellness without taking away the flavor. That standout presence in your community can translate to continued healthy revenue regardless of the economy.
Tip #3: Have a Strong Support System
Opening a restaurant on your own isn’t easy; in fact, a number of independent restaurateurs can tell you that it’s a series of headaches, hard work and stress that never really goes away, no matter how many years you’ve been in business.
To get Toastique off the ground, our own Brianna Keefe put hours upon hours of hard work into making her healthy café a success. Going through the typical struggles of opening and operating a restaurant helped her and her partner, Kyle Izett, learn to effectively troubleshoot common pain points and discover workable solutions for a more streamlined experience for their Franchise Owners. Knowing what could go wrong at a restaurant and using their experience to help them perfect their breakfast franchise model has created a better experience for their investors.
Today’s Toastique healthy franchise investors undergo a comprehensive training program including classroom learning and onsite training to get a hands-on feel for operations. That’s not all — while other breakfast franchises might leave their new owners in the dust after their grand opening has come and gone, your Toastique Franchise Owner support team is there for the long run with bi-weekly phone calls to ensure smooth sailing. See for yourself how Toastique helps Franchise Owners run their breakfast franchises with confidence in this video.
Having the support of seasoned restaurant industry professionals in your corner can make all the difference between success and failure in your market. By investing in a healthy franchise concept like Toastique, you can rest assured that you’ve got the right kind of support to help you through virtually any issue you encounter, which is something independent restaurant owners just don’t have. With a dedicated leadership team to help Franchise Owners with marketing, operations, construction and buildout and so much more, Toastique can help aspiring restaurateurs get off on the right foot for success and give them the tools and support they need to continue operating a thriving breakfast franchise for years to come.
DON’T PUT YOUR RESTAURANT OWNERSHIP DREAMS ON THE SHELF: MAKE 2023 YOUR YEAR TO OWN A TOASTIQUE BREAKFAST FRANCHISE
With a growing demand but still largely unmet need for convenient, grab-and-go healthy food in many suburban and urban neighborhoods, now is the time to invest in a Toastique Breakfast Franchise! With our robust support network to help you get off to a great start, along with our proven healthy breakfast franchise model featuring simple operations, low overhead expenses and built-in feasibility for to-go and delivery orders, Toastique can help you make your mark and stand out against other breakfast franchises, sandwich franchises and healthy franchises in your market. Visit our franchise website today to find out how you can get started.