Starting my own business: Franchisee

[AAAgent]

Update:

Wanted to wait for more significant updates but figured i would just update now.


- (4 weeks) Design plans from corporate, we got back. first time we got the design plans, they looked fine. We asked for equipment list of the materials that were used in the design and also needed the 3D rendering so that local designer would optimize to fit local city/state regulations. Instead of providing the material, the design team came back with an even more complex, although very cool design. Unfortunately, this design decreased the instore space and likely would increase the cost. Not sure why they provided a brand new design when we didn't ask for this as this wasted 1 weeks worth of timing. We had them scale back the design which and make some changes. This took another week. Finally, after the design was done we needed to wait another week for the equipment list and 3D renderings. We just handed off the designs to 2 contractors this week. They are working on quotes as we speak.

- bad news, we just saw on their mobile app, that we are no longer the first store to open in our city. Although technically a different location about 11 miles away and a different demographic, we expected to be the first store to open in our city. The competitor bought an existing bubble tea shop (or maybe was their previous brand that they quit), this bypasses the whole construction and permitting process and saves them about 5 months of time. They will open about 5 months earlier than us now. This news hit us hard but we're still committed. Just means we will lose some of the thunder when opening.

- Still waiting on insurance decision. 1st recommended insurance provider took over a month to provide us a quote. We followed up by email and call. There wasn't any answer so we sought out a bunch of additional quotes. Should have done this anyway. Told the referrer that it's been about a month with no quote and they escalated to the owner, their friend. We got the quote back that night and it was twice the cost of the other company. Sorting out the insurance quotes still to ensure they meet landlord demands.

- Still need to change the locks.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Update:

Wanted to wait for more significant updates but figured i would just update now.


- (4 weeks) Design plans from corporate, we got back. first time we got the design plans, they looked fine. We asked for equipment list of the materials that were used in the design and also needed the 3D rendering so that local designer would optimize to fit local city/state regulations. Instead of providing the material, the design team came back with an even more complex, although very cool design. Unfortunately, this design decreased the instore space and likely would increase the cost. Not sure why they provided a brand new design when we didn't ask for this as this wasted 1 weeks worth of timing. We had them scale back the design which and make some changes. This took another week. Finally, after the design was done we needed to wait another week for the equipment list and 3D renderings. We just handed off the designs to 2 contractors this week. They are working on quotes as we speak.

- bad news, we just saw on their mobile app, that we are no longer the first store to open in our city. Although technically a different location about 11 miles away and a different demographic, we expected to be the first store to open in our city. The competitor bought an existing bubble tea shop (or maybe was their previous brand that they quit), this bypasses the whole construction and permitting process and saves them about 5 months of time. They will open about 5 months earlier than us now. This news hit us hard but we're still committed. Just means we will lose some of the thunder when opening.

- Still waiting on insurance decision. 1st recommended insurance provider took over a month to provide us a quote. We followed up by email and call. There wasn't any answer so we sought out a bunch of additional quotes. Should have done this anyway. Told the referrer that it's been about a month with no quote and they escalated to the owner, their friend. We got the quote back that night and it was twice the cost of the other company. Sorting out the insurance quotes still to ensure they meet landlord demands.

- Still need to change the locks.

Why I would never have agreed to go into a business with a franchise that wouldn't give you certain guarantees as the first one opening in an area.

 

[jaygreenb]

Update:

Wanted to wait for more significant updates but figured i would just update now.


- (4 weeks) Design plans from corporate, we got back. first time we got the design plans, they looked fine. We asked for equipment list of the materials that were used in the design and also needed the 3D rendering so that local designer would optimize to fit local city/state regulations. Instead of providing the material, the design team came back with an even more complex, although very cool design. Unfortunately, this design decreased the instore space and likely would increase the cost. Not sure why they provided a brand new design when we didn't ask for this as this wasted 1 weeks worth of timing. We had them scale back the design which and make some changes. This took another week. Finally, after the design was done we needed to wait another week for the equipment list and 3D renderings. We just handed off the designs to 2 contractors this week. They are working on quotes as we speak.

- bad news, we just saw on their mobile app, that we are no longer the first store to open in our city. Although technically a different location about 11 miles away and a different demographic, we expected to be the first store to open in our city. The competitor bought an existing bubble tea shop (or maybe was their previous brand that they quit), this bypasses the whole construction and permitting process and saves them about 5 months of time. They will open about 5 months earlier than us now. This news hit us hard but we're still committed. Just means we will lose some of the thunder when opening.

- Still waiting on insurance decision. 1st recommended insurance provider took over a month to provide us a quote. We followed up by email and call. There wasn't any answer so we sought out a bunch of additional quotes. Should have done this anyway. Told the referrer that it's been about a month with no quote and they escalated to the owner, their friend. We got the quote back that night and it was twice the cost of the other company. Sorting out the insurance quotes still to ensure they meet landlord demands.

- Still need to change the locks.

If you need a good insurance broker I can give you a referral, I have dealt with a lot of them, he is good

 

[AAAgent]

Why I would never have agreed to go into a business with a franchise that wouldn't give you certain guarantees as the first one opening in an area.

This is actually not a thing, although I wish it were. The only way you have bargaining power is if you are willing to open 5 locations at the same time and sign the franchise agreement stating this.

If you need a good insurance broker I can give you a referral, I have dealt with a lot of them, he is good

I'll see how this week goes. We have calls to clarify the quotes this week. If they don't turn out well, then definitely will hit you up on this.

 

[AAAgent]

Holy cow, these times are fun.

Architect/MEP - contracted
Contractor - waiting on contract to sign
Landlord - asked for 1 month rent forgiveness/free due to delays (still waiting to hear back. should be soon)

Corporate design team - pushed back on changing ceiling to save money even though they made it seem like this would be possible for us. We pushed back again making them aware of the cost. Still fighting this and will likely make a decision next week. This is like a $80k cost increase so prefer not to do it just to be "fancy". Current design is already interesting enough without a fancy ceiling.

Corporate had some restructuring due to their extremely aggressive and fast expansion. All further expansions in the US that don't have their franchise agreements signed are halted. Our competition that was opening in our city is no longer a concern in the foreseeable future. All of our previous contacts were booted out of our group chats and we had to find the new contacts. I checked with some friends at corporate as well, rough times.

 

[tomdav]

It’s inspiring to see how you turned experience and foresight into action. Moving often and seeing economic instability motivated you to create a stable plan B, and your corporate experience gave you an edge in identifying opportunities. Starting with a bubble tea franchise in an underserved area was smart - you combined market research, connections, and timing to make it work, and going through the proper screening helped set you up for success. Also, if you plan to expand or operate in multiple states, it’s important to understand “foreign qualification,” which lets a business legally operate outside its home state.

 

[AAAgent]

It’s inspiring to see how you turned experience and foresight into action. Moving often and seeing economic instability motivated you to create a stable plan B, and your corporate experience gave you an edge in identifying opportunities. Starting with a bubble tea franchise in an underserved area was smart - you combined market research, connections, and timing to make it work, and going through the proper screening helped set you up for success. Also, if you plan to expand or operate in multiple states, it’s important to understand “foreign qualification,” which lets a business legally operate outside its home state.

recommend you remove those - markers. Immediate AI tell.

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I was originally planning on opening the franchise, but it fell through. Got all my money back. Lost a tiny bit due to legal fees.

Basically, franchise fired their entire US corporate team for expanding too fast and cannibalizing franchisee's. I made friends with the lead girl who got fired and her entire team, I got a partnership with her new brand and my previous job in big tech but basically what happened is they had quota's to hit given from China HQ, it was nearly impossible to hit them without cannibalizing their own territories as all the interested parties were asians that lived and wanted to open within a small radius. My friend approved them, and the brand got a really bad rep and eventually fired the entire team. They rescinded a bunch of the approved locations and immediately everyone threatened to sue.

I didn't want to sue as i just started my other company which is now Raya.ai. I didn't have time for this BS.

They rejected our location and our landlord threatened to sue us as he wasn't willing to allow me out of the 8 year lease. Said it's my problem. I offered $30k break fee and he rejected. I had to find a subtenant which i luckily did. This was around december 2024. Landlord then charged me a $30k break fee just even though I got him a subtenant. Pretty scummy move but I'd rather get out of them than be stuck in it. I drafted the agreement and sent it to him to review. He rejected it and said he didn't want any of my counsel/legal/real estate, etc. involved.

They sent me a new agreement, but this agreement mentioned that they would pay me $30k. I doubled checked and even sent the agreement back to them to review twice, which they ultimately agreed to and we mutually signed/executed the agreement. They then said it was a mistake and threatened to sue me into oblivion. As they rejected my counsel, changed the version where i would pay them $30k, into an agreement where they would pay me $30k, rejected changes to the agreement I suggested twice after i sent it back to them, they were SOL. They kept harassing me for 6 months until I hired a lawyer to tell them to sue me or pound dirt. They left me alone after June of 2025.

They had low odds of winning the case, and much more to lose than to gain.

Didn't realize how scummy lawyers were. So many threats and unprofessional words thrown around in threads with multiple people. It was like a shouting match in an email where I just responded kindly each time. Pretty hilarious though that a $100m+ company lost to a single individual.