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Roll’d takes on franchising

Sarah Stowe

Melbourne based Vietnamese food outlet Roll’d is set to enter the world of franchising in the coming months. 

In May last year, Bao Hoang, Tin Ly and Ray Esquiries opened the first Roll’d in Melbourne’s CBD.

The concept proved popular with city workers, and the trio soon opened another three stores in the CBD.

Keen to expand on their success, they have decided to franchise the concept.

Hoang says “we have just got our franchise agreement and we are officially starting in about a month’s time or so with three or four franchisees signing up to do the stores in Melbourne.”

He explains the focus will be on Melbourne for at least the next three to four months, and they will move on to establishing the brand in Brisbane “later this year.”

“Sydney, Canberra and Perth are probably the next three and then Adelaide,” adds Hoang.

He explains they decided on franchising for a number of reasons.

“I have been a franchisee with the Back in Motion health group. As a franchisee I felt the learning you can get out being in a franchise system is phenomenal in terms of being able to learn from others and grow as a group.

“From another perspective we want to be able to help people but we also realise in our industry the customer experience is so important, and providing that customer experience from company store managers I feel can sometimes be restrictive.”

Because franchisees own the store and have a vested interest in it, they are more likely to want to deliver a great customer experience.

“The ability for the franchisee to really build a relationship with their customers I think in our industry will be really important for us to grow our brand,” he adds.

Hoang says the team are very selective with their franchisees, and they will ideally possess a number of qualities.

“A relational person is really important for us; we don’t really mind what their professional background is, as long as they have a work ethic.  

“Like most franchises you need to put the time and effort into the business to really get the rewards out of it, so we are looking for someone who is willing to put that time and effort in and build relationships with their staff and customers and obviously us as the franchisor,” he says.

While Hoang says Roll’d is no McDonald’s and does not provide a year-long training program, it does offer franchisees a thorough six week training program.

“We go through about ten theoretical modules which cover anything from our vision all the way through to goal setting, budgeting and the financial aspect of it. A big part of that is also customer service.

“During the six weeks around the theoretical modules franchisees will go through in store training. From opening to closing we want them to experience the whole gamut.”

Potential franchisees will be required to commit to the company for an initial five year term, and Hoang explains a further three five year options are available after that.

He says the capital required varies from $150,000 to $200,000 “because we have been sought out by a lot of Westfield shopping centres and landlords.”

Roll’d charges a seven percent royalty fee, but apart from that “anything we get we will give back to the franchisee, there are no rebates and no commissions in anything we do,” explains Hoang.

Hoang insists he understands franchisees because he was one for eight years.

“I’ve come from the other side of the franchise spectrum and I know being a franchisee what made it difficult for me sometimes.”

Roll’d specialises in traditional hawker-style Vietnamese fare such as rice paper rolls, pho, Vietnamese salads and banh mi.

It is currently looking to recruit franchisees in Brisbane. If you are interested in becoming a Roll’d franchisee, submit an enquiry via the company’s website