Little Caesars franchisee Tara Charters has been running two stores in Canada for over a decade. She says the franchise system offers benefits that are hard to pass up.
Tara Charters didn't set out to become a Little Caesars franchisee. Her journey started as a stay-at-home mom after a career in Child Protective Services. She raised her children while her husband had a position that took them around the country.
They family settled in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada just above Maine, and Charters found herself ready to return to the workforce but wanted flexibility.
She had tried Little Caesars on the other side of the city and found her family liked it. Neighbors said they wanted a Little Caesars on their side of the city "so we decided to go ahead and do it, and it's been a great experience ever since," Charters said.
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Tara Charters, left, and her daughter, Lydia. Photo: Little Caesars |
Why Little Caesars? Charters said she loved the Hot N Ready concept. It was a product she was already using. When people ask her about getting into business for themselves, Charters said she tells them to pick something they're passionate about and they understand the need and want for.
She applied online first and flew to a Little Caesars to do a one-day training in store. "I think that really sold us on it," Charters said.
Next came financial approvals and interviews, and Charters did six weeks of training in Ontario. "From there it was opening the doors and enjoying the ride," Charter said.
Of course there were challenges in the beginning, such as learning how to manage staff and food costs and getting labor under control. Those still must be managed continuously.
The market
She's now been running the Moncton store for 14 years and has a second store in St. John about an hour and a half from the Moncton store. Charters said she stayed in the business because she likes what she does. "Everybody loves pizza," she said. "I love that we're providing a product that people associate with events, with good times in their lives."
When Charters spoke to Pizza Marketplace, it was prom and graduation season. On the days of our call, she'd had 80 pizzas go out the door in the first 45 minutes of opening.
The location works well because the Moncton store is centrally located in her community. The pizzeria is in a strip mall where there's a meat and produce shop, a bakery and local hairdresser, so it's a one-stop shop without having to go to the big strip malls in town.
Charters said her franchises are active in their respective communities: "People knew the brand, and they were excited to hear we were coming to the neighborhood. Before we were even open, they had social media countdowns for us. Since we opened, they've been nothing but supportive. We had lineups the day we opened. … We can't say how much we love the community and how much the community gives back to us."
Charters said she thinks there are two different types of franchisees: the franchisee who takes all their money and focus on one large community service event, while she prefers to focus on grassroots community service. She'd rather do 20 smaller events than one large event.
Every Wednesday, Charters helps pack supplies for children's backpacks. As a store, they're involved in everything from a Shark Tank type event for the local high schools to helping the Girl Guides of Canada and the Boy Scouts.
"There's so many small initiatives that we do on a day-to-day basis," she added.
Advantages of the franchise
Charters said Little Caesars is a product people are familiar with and want. "Everybody has good associations with pizza, and I think in Canada we have a corporate office that is tremendously supportive," she said. "Little Caesars has been in Canada a long time. It's established. The networks are established. You're not going with a new franchisor who is just trying to figure out the kinks themselves as they go."
Buying into a franchise, a franchisee gets the support of the corporate marketing department and a franchise business consultant who "is invaluable," Charters added. "He's like my right arm."
When something goes wrong in the store, there's the availability of corporate assistance to walk the franchisee through fixing it.
Charters said Little Caesars has always been innovative and the brand's recent Pizza Portal changed the trajectory of pick-up. The heated pick-up boxes in the lobby of Little Caesars stores are a technology that has pushed the brand to the forward of the carryout game.
To future franchisees, Charters said she would suggest that they come in wanting to be part of a system and that when they do get into that system that they utilize and develop good relationships with their corporate team, with their franchise business consultant and, most importantly, with other franchisees. "Developing those relationships can make or break you, especially within the franchise community," she said.
