Top 10 Franchises

European Wax Center
Hallandale, Fla.


No. 82

2010 Revenue: $5.8 million

Three-Year Growth: 2,924%



European Wax Center is a family-run franchise operation with locations in over a dozen states. David Coba, the company’s CEO says he and his siblings work together as “three extensions of one mind” and each have specific responsibilities that capitalize on their individual strengths and interests. “Building our company is not about opening many locations,” he says. “It’s about nurturing and developing a team who believes in our morals, our values, and our lifestyle of good business.”

Smashburger
Denver

No. 99
2010 Revenue: $39.4 million
Three-Year Growth: 2,673%

Smashburger was funded with $15 million from the private equity and concept development firm Consumer Capital Partners, and now has about 100 locations just a few years later. “From the start, we built our business on three simple principles: Be great for the consumer; Be simple to operate; and Create an industry leading business model,” says Dave Prokupek, Smashburger’s chairmen and CEO. “These three principles have allowed us to attract a loyal consumer following and top tier multi-unit franchisees.”

Real Property Management
Layton, Utah

No. 257
2010 Revenue: $11.4 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,252%

Real Property Management, like its name implies, offers full-service property management services for houses and apartment complexes around the country. “Investors are seeing the undervalued inventory on the market and recognize that buy-and-hold strategies are going to dominate while the assets appreciate,” says Kirk McGary, the company’s CEO. “At the same time, more Millennials are shying away from home ownership—they are part of a more mobile workforce who views a mortgage as more of a burden that restricts their freedom. These two factors have pushed the demand for professional property management services higher than ever, and the long-term outlook continues to favor a long-term rental strategy.”

Bach To Rock
Bethesda, Md.


No. 332
2010 Revenue: $3.3 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,000%

No, it’s not School of Rock, but it sure does look like it. Bach to Rock provides kids with music education—but from bands they actually listen to. “You really have to be committed to the success of others and don’t underestimate the amount of complexity, work and legal hurdles you’ll need to overcome to franchise your concept,” says Brian Gross, president of the company. “At the end of the day, your success is now determined by how well others do delivering your concept (and to that point, it may have been based on how well you did with it).”

Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery
Tempe, Ariz.

No. 385
2010 Revenue: $8.0 million
Three-Year Growth: 892%

“We’re different, a little tilted,” says Ron Lynch, founder of the Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery. “We purposefully try to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace.” Lynch founded the business in 2003, which has grown into a mini empire of pubs throughout nearly 20 states. Lynch’s advice to franchisors? “Seek to be different, don’t copy anyone and the consumer will reward you for being unique.”

Flip Flop Shops
Kennesaw, Ga.

No. 425
2010 Revenue: $6.2 million
Three-Year Growth: 810%

Flip Flop Shops is the one-stop-shop for sandals and flip-flops and sunglasses for men, women, and children and maintains franchise locations in the U.S., Canada, and St. Maarten. “We have a very passionate team that has focused on keeping the start-up costs down and unit economics at the top of the agenda,” says Darin Kraetsch, owner and CEO of Flip Flop Shops who writes “Size 10” in his e-mail signature. “The second part, and no less important, is that we have an unbelievable group of franchisees that all share a passion for the product, lifestyle and business.”

FranNet
Louisville

No. 442
2010 Revenue: $11.5 million
Three-Year Growth: 792%

FranNet helps franchises market themselves, in addition to being a franchise organization itself. Steve Rosen, the company’s CEO, says the success of FranNet is directly correlated to the sluggish economy and poor job prospects—in other words, people are turning towards entrepreneurship (and franchising) to earn a living. “For many people, going into business is the only option they would have,” he says. FranNet has about 60 locations throughout the United States and represents about 90 different companies.

BrightStar Care
Gurnee, Ill.

No. 475
2010 Revenue: $99.1 million
Three-Year Growth: 727%

BrightStar Care provides pediatric, newborn and elderly home care throughout 130 locations nationwide. Shelly Sun, the company’s CEO, says the success of BrightStar Care is due to “refining our selection criteria for franchisees based upon studying the franchisees we have selected in our first five years to select more with top-performer profiles and to use the study to help identify what specifically to coach each franchisee about how to improve their performance.”

Northwest—Vanguard Cleaning
Spokane Valley, Wash.

No. 477
2010 Revenue: $4.0 million
Three-Year Growth: 726%

Vanguard Cleaning provides cleaning services for over 9,000 businesses around the country. “Our No. 1 reason for success over the last three years has been our business model,” says James Uebelher (left), Vanguard’s Northwest president. “For individual franchisees, our model puts forth a strong profit motive with local ownership. Combine that with unlimited support to our franchisees and we have seen phenomenal growth.”

Stratus Building Solutions
St. Louis, Mo.

No. 494
2010 Revenue: $100.0 million
Three-Year Growth: 689%

Stratus Building Solutions offers soup-to-nuts office cleaning from restroom care, floor maintenance, power washing, and even security. “You can start small with Stratus and grow as large as you want as fast as you want,” says Dennis Jarrett, Stratus’ CEO, on the company’s success. “The unit franchisee is only limited by their vision and their work ethic. The sky is the limit.”

--Eric Markowitz