Turn Your Successful Business Into a Franchise System
Expert franchise development from concept validation to multi-location growth.
Built Ben & Florentine from 1 location to 51 franchises — sold to TSX-listed Imvescor.
Expert franchise development from concept validation to multi-location growth.
Built Ben & Florentine from 1 location to 51 franchises — sold to TSX-listed Imvescor.
Years Experience
Locations Built
Exit to Public Company
2-Hour Consultation
From initial concept validation through to franchisee recruitment and launch support — comprehensive advisory for entrepreneurs ready to scale through franchising.
Is your business franchisable? We assess unit economics, market demand, competitive positioning, and replicability before you invest in development.
Franchise agreements, disclosure documents (FDD), territory definitions, and compliance with Canadian franchise law. Coordination with specialized franchise legal counsel.
Complete operations manuals documenting every process, system, and standard. The foundation of consistent franchisee performance and brand integrity.
Location criteria, demographic analysis, lease negotiation frameworks, and territory planning to position franchisees for success.
Candidate sourcing, assessment processes, financial qualification criteria, and selection systems to attract the right franchisee partners.
Initial training programs, grand opening support, ongoing coaching systems, and field operations structure for franchisee success.
In 2008, Lorne Cassoff took over a single breakfast restaurant location in Montreal. Over the next decade, he built Ben & Florentine into one of Canada's largest breakfast franchise brands — growing to 51 locations across Quebec and Ontario.
This wasn't consulting from the outside — it was building, scaling, and exiting a franchise system firsthand. That experience is what informs every franchise development engagement today.
Most entrepreneurs considering franchising skip the most important step — an honest evaluation of their current single-location operation. Before investing in franchise development, you need to understand what works, what doesn't, and whether your business model can succeed without you running it personally every day.
Many successful single-location businesses depend entirely on the owner's personal involvement — their relationships with suppliers, their presence on-site, their ability to solve problems in real time, their willingness to work 70-hour weeks. That model doesn't franchise.
Franchising requires transferable systems — documented processes that work without the founder in the building. If your business only succeeds because you're there managing every detail, franchising will fail. Your franchisees won't have your experience, relationships, or work ethic.
The first exercise is brutal honesty: What are the real pros and cons of your current operation? Which parts depend on you personally? Which systems actually exist in writing? What would happen if you weren't there for a month?
You get special pricing, delivery terms, or product access because suppliers know and trust you personally — not because of documented contracts or volume commitments a franchisee could replicate.
Inventory ordering, staff scheduling, quality control, customer complaints — all managed by feel and experience rather than documented systems a franchisee could follow.
The business makes money because you take a below-market salary, work unpaid overtime, or don't account for your management time. A franchisee paying market wages wouldn't be profitable.
Your business works because of unique local factors — a specific landlord deal, proximity to an anchor tenant, or demographics that won't exist in other markets.
Quality varies depending on who's working that day. There are no recipes, procedures, or standards written down — people just learn by watching you.
You're successful at the current scale but uncomfortable with growth, delegation, or the complexity of managing multiple locations. Franchising requires letting go.
Franchise development is expensive — $75,000 to $150,000+ in legal fees, operations manuals, training systems, and marketing. If your business model isn't genuinely replicable, that investment is wasted.
More importantly, selling franchises to people who can't succeed destroys your reputation, generates legal risk, and creates failed franchisees who lose their life savings.
The honest assessment protects both you and your future franchisees. If the evaluation reveals fundamental problems, we fix those first — or we acknowledge franchising isn't the right path and explore alternatives like licensing, joint ventures, or simply building company-owned locations with hired management.
We walk through your current operation honestly — what works, what doesn't, and whether franchising is viable. If it is, we map out the development process. If it's not, we identify what needs to change first or recommend better alternatives.
Book Your Honest AssessmentWe evaluate your business model, unit economics, and market positioning to determine franchise viability.
Build operations manuals, training materials, and franchisee support systems that ensure replicability.
Work with franchise legal counsel to create compliant franchise agreements and disclosure documents.
Test the franchise model with one or two initial franchisees, refine systems based on real-world performance.
Launch recruitment, build field operations support, and scale strategically with the right franchisee partners.
"Lorne brought immediate structure to a complex evaluation process. We are looking at multiple scenarios — from franchisee resale to a full head office transaction — and the level of due diligence he applied gave us a clarity we simply did not have before. He thinks like an operator, not just an advisor."
Ihab Kolta — Rock'N Deli, Montreal QC · Franchise Restaurant Group"Lorne has been a trusted coach and advisor to our business for many years. He brings a rare combination of business experience and structured thinking that has consistently helped us see our own organization more clearly."
David Applebaum — Bocar, St-Laurent QC · Wholesale Automotive ProductsA franchisable business typically has: proven unit economics (profitability at the single-location level), replicable systems and processes, a clear value proposition, and a business model that doesn't depend entirely on the owner's personal relationships or expertise. The free 2-hour consultation assesses these factors.
Development costs vary based on scope — legal fees, operations manual development, training systems, and marketing materials. A typical franchise development project ranges from $75,000 to $150,000+ depending on complexity. We provide a detailed scope and budget during the initial consultation.
From concept validation to signing your first franchisee typically takes 9-18 months. This includes legal documentation (3-6 months), operations manual development (4-8 months), and franchisee recruitment and qualification (3-6 months). Timelines vary based on business complexity and readiness.
Licensing typically grants permission to use a brand or product with minimal operational control. Franchising is a complete business model transfer — operations manuals, training, site selection, ongoing support, and brand standards enforcement. Franchising provides greater control and consistency but requires more infrastructure.
Yes — part of franchise development includes establishing relationships with lenders familiar with franchise financing, creating financial projections that support franchisee loan applications, and structuring franchise fees and royalty models that lenders recognize as viable.
Absolutely. Many engagements involve improving existing franchise systems — updating operations manuals, strengthening franchisee recruitment, improving field support structures, or preparing for institutional investment or sale. The Ben & Florentine experience covers both building and scaling franchise organizations.
A Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is a legal document required in most of Canada under provincial franchise legislation — notably Ontario's Arthur Wishart Act, Alberta's Franchises Act, and similar laws in other provinces. Quebec is the exception and does not require an FDD, though many franchisors operating in Quebec still prepare one for consistency across Canada. The FDD must be provided to prospective franchisees at least 14 days before they sign any franchise agreement or make any payment. It contains detailed information about the franchisor's business, financial performance, litigation history, franchise fees and costs, territory rights, franchisee obligations, termination conditions, and list of current and former franchisees. The FDD protects both parties — it ensures franchisees make informed decisions and establishes clear expectations from the start. Development of a compliant FDD requires specialized franchise legal counsel.
Legally, you only need one franchised unit to be considered a franchise system — the moment you grant your first franchise agreement, you are a franchisor. However, from a practical brand and operational perspective, 10+ units are typically required to establish real momentum. With fewer than 10 locations, you're still proving the concept and refining systems. At 10+ units, you have enough franchisees to validate the model, build brand recognition in the market, achieve purchasing efficiencies, and justify the infrastructure investment in field support, training systems, and ongoing development. Many institutional investors or acquisition partners won't seriously consider a franchise system until it reaches 15-20+ units with consistent performance across multiple operators.
No cost. No obligation. We assess your franchise readiness and map out the path forward together.