Starting a Franchise as an Absentee Owner

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April 22, 2025

by a searcher from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, USA

Has anyone here had any experience starting franchises from scratch as an absentee owner? My business partner and I both have full time jobs and are hoping to hire a part-time / full-time owner operator to help us get things started. Is this possible / realistic? Would be great to hear from some of you folks! Thank you!
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Reply by a searcher
from The University of Chicago in Chicago, IL, USA
It's really hard. Franchise playbooks still require lots of work to implement. You're effectively hiring for something that doesn't exist and that you don't know how to do. Many franchisors pitch the absentee model, but often the pitch is overstated to get you into the system. Most absentee owners still spend years in the business before hiring out, usually after they have built multiple units and have the scale to hire an operator. You have to talk to other franchisees to see if it's possible - they'll give you a straight answer. Franchisors will give you intros to Zees if you show you are serious.
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Reply by an intermediary
from Vanderbilt University in Dallas, TX, USA
Agree with Marko. You need to grow the thing for 1-2 years then hire someone to run it once it's stabilized. You'll be smarter about the best person to manage it once you've been there/done that. You'll also (hopefully!) have the cash flow to pay the person. You will have to get extremely lucky with your hire to pull it off. The semi-absentee franchise claim is rarely feasible until you're firing on all cylinders.
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