Laura Michaels, Franchise Times, May 23, 2024
Return on invested capital. That’s the financial metric that matters to Aziz Hashim, and its emphasis within the franchise model is lacking.
“I’ve got to get my money back. I can’t bank percentages, that’s not a currency,” Hashim said. “So if you have an X amount of cash investment into a facility, then how soon do you get it back?”
It’s the same approach private equity firms take—how quickly is money returned to investors and with what profit—and one Hashim honed as the founder of his own PE firm, NRD Capital. The thinking likewise underpins his latest venture, SocialBites Food Hub
Creted within NRD’s Experiential Brands portfolio, SocialBites evolved from four separate brands—The Original Hot Chicken, Inked Tacos, Flametown Burgers and Pinsa Roman Pizza—designed on their own to deliver compelling unit-level economics. Put them together, said Hashim, and the result is an ideal conversion opportunity for larger casual dining spaces or buffet restaurants. The social component comes in the form of hosted activities such as trivia night, Bingo, karaoke or the occasional live band, which help drive traffic and sales.
But wait, a franchisee might be thinking, isn’t this simply akin to a food hall? While some of the characteristics are similar—multiple food brands under one roof—the typical food hall is not practical as a franchise, Hashim said. It requires a much larger site, carries higher buildout and operational costs to execute menus with varying equipment needs, and usually necessitates dealing with different business owners who lease stalls with separate point-of-sale systems and their own staff.
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