Better Together

The question every serious franchise investor asks before writing a check is deceptively simple: is this the right brand, in the right market, at the right moment? When you search "Better Together franchise," you encounter one of the more genuinely complex situations in contemporary franchise research — a name that resonates deeply with consumers, that appears across multiple credible organizations, and that intersects with one of the most strategically sophisticated co-branding initiatives in the entire quick-service restaurant industry. Understanding what Better Together actually represents in a franchise context requires peeling back several distinct layers. The most commercially significant franchise application of the Better Together name belongs to Focus Brands, a multi-brand franchisor that operates Auntie Anne's, Carvel, Cinnabon, and Jamba, and which has deployed "Better Together" as the strategic framework for its co-branding initiative — a program that, as of August 2023, had produced approximately 550 co-branded sites globally, meaning more than 1,100 branded units are co-located or operating under shared rooftops. That is not a minor experiment; it is one of the largest co-branding rollouts in QSR history. Separately, several organizations using the Better Together name operate in workforce development, corporate training, executive coaching, nonprofit family services, and civic engagement, each with distinct leadership and missions. This independent analysis from PeerSense synthesizes the available intelligence across all of these dimensions so that franchise investors can make properly informed decisions rather than operating on incomplete or promotional information.

The franchise industry itself provides a powerful macroeconomic backdrop for evaluating any Better Together franchise opportunity. The global franchise market is projected to grow by USD 565.5 billion between 2025 and 2030, compounding at a rate of 10.0% annually, with a separate forecast modeling USD 2.24 billion in growth between 2024 and 2029 at a CAGR of 10.8%. In the United States alone, more than 811,000 franchise establishments collectively contribute an estimated $897 billion to the national economy, making franchising one of the most structurally important business models in the country. In Canada, franchising ranks as the twelfth-largest industry, generating over CAD 120 billion annually and employing nearly two million workers, with franchise unit counts predicted to reach 71,000 by end of 2022. Within the quick-service restaurant segment specifically — the arena most directly relevant to the Focus Brands co-branding application of Better Together — consumer demand for convenient food products continues to accelerate, driven by urbanization, dual-income households, and digital ordering adoption. Franchises that integrated digital ordering platforms and omnichannel retailing early have seen an average 25% increase in off-premise sales, a data point that underscores exactly why co-branding strategies matter: they expand the consumer value proposition under one roof, increase ticket frequency, and drive higher throughput from a fixed real estate cost. The consumer trend toward familiar, proven models during periods of economic uncertainty further reinforces the structural appeal of established multi-brand platforms. Against this backdrop, the Better Together co-branding framework operated by Focus Brands addresses a genuine market need — giving franchisees more revenue-generating surface area per square foot while giving consumers broader choice from brands they already trust.

Because specific franchise fee, royalty, advertising fund, total investment, liquid capital, and net worth data for a standalone Better Together franchise have not been published or disclosed through a dedicated Franchise Disclosure Document, prospective investors must frame their financial analysis around the broader parameters of the co-branding QSR context and general franchise industry benchmarks. In the franchise industry overall, initial franchise fees for established consumer brands typically range from $10,000 to $50,000 or more, with competitive emerging brand fees generally positioned between $35,000 and $45,000. Royalty rates across the industry most commonly fall in the range of 4% to 9% of gross sales, though professional services and specialized models can reach 8% to 12%. Advertising fund contributions typically run between 1% and 4% of net sales. Total investment for QSR and retail franchise formats routinely exceeds $100,000 once real estate, construction, equipment, inventory, employee payroll, working capital, and technology fees are incorporated — and for premium locations or multi-brand configurations, total investment can reach into seven figures. The Focus Brands co-branding model, which underpins the Better Together initiative, is specifically designed to generate cost savings on rent and shared operational expenses, which structurally improves the investment economics for franchisees willing to operate combined units. Kristen Hartman, who brings nearly 25 years of QSR industry experience and became president of Cinnabon and Carvel in 2018, has been a central figure in driving the co-branding strategy. Financing considerations for any franchise in this category typically involve SBA loan programs, which are widely used across the QSR sector given the asset-backed nature of buildout investments, and veteran incentive programs that many franchisors in this space maintain as part of their franchisee recruitment strategies.

The operating model for a Better Together co-branded franchise unit reflects the core logic of the Focus Brands platform: shared labor, shared real estate, and complementary day-part coverage that keeps revenue flowing across more hours of the day. Auntie Anne's drives morning and afternoon snack traffic; Cinnabon captures breakfast and impulse dessert occasions; Jamba brings health-forward smoothie and juice demand; Carvel addresses frozen dessert craving cycles that peak in afternoon and evening periods. By stacking these demand patterns under one operator, the model reduces the dead periods that single-brand units frequently experience. As of August 2023, the four primary co-branded configurations include Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon and Carvel, Auntie Anne's and Jamba, and Cinnabon and Carvel — the latter operating under the Cinnabon Swirl identity, with the first fully integrated Cinnabon Swirl location set to open in late 2023. Staffing for co-branded units benefits from cross-training efficiencies, as team members capable of operating multiple brand stations reduce per-unit headcount requirements relative to operating two separate locations independently. Training programs in franchise systems of this caliber typically cover brand standards, food safety, equipment operation, and customer experience protocols, with research demonstrating that companies investing in comprehensive training see a 218% increase in income per employee and a 24% boost in profit margins — figures that give serious weight to the quality of onboarding infrastructure. Territory structure and site selection in the Focus Brands ecosystem is driven by geospatial mapping, demographic data, and market analysis, with non-traditional locations including travel centers, drive-thrus, and urban storefronts actively explored for co-branded expansion.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document for Better Together as a standalone franchise entity. Given that the Better Together franchise opportunity as a discrete, independently operating concept has not been formally established with a published FDD at the time of this analysis, revenue benchmarks must be evaluated through the lens of the Focus Brands co-branding platform and broader QSR industry comparables. Within the QSR sector, franchised units in high-traffic locations regularly generate annual revenues between $500,000 and $1.5 million depending on format, location quality, and brand mix. The fundamental financial thesis of the co-branding model is that combining two or more established brands under a single franchisee's operation should generate revenue that exceeds what either brand would produce independently in the same footprint, while simultaneously compressing per-unit fixed cost burdens including rent, utilities, and management overhead. The 550 co-branded sites globally that Focus Brands had assembled by August 2023 represent a substantial data set for unit-level financial performance, and investors conducting due diligence should request Item 19 disclosures from the individual brand FDDs — Auntie Anne's, Cinnabon, Carvel, and Jamba each file their own FDDs and may provide financial performance representations. Industry guidance consistently notes that Item 19 omissions can signal that a system is too new, that results are inconsistent across the franchise base, or that the franchisor prefers implied success over written accountability — none of which should be interpreted as a definitive negative, but all of which demand deeper due diligence. Profit margins across QSR franchise concepts vary considerably based on labor costs, food cost percentages, rent burdens, and royalty stacks, making location-specific proforma modeling an essential part of any serious investment analysis.

The growth trajectory of the Better Together co-branding initiative within Focus Brands is among the most aggressively scaled co-branding programs in the QSR franchise industry. Reaching 550 co-branded sites globally — representing more than 1,100 branded unit equivalents — reflects a multi-year strategic commitment by Focus Brands leadership to increase franchisee profitability and consumer convenience simultaneously. The development of the Cinnabon Swirl concept, which fully integrates Cinnabon and Carvel into a single purpose-built format rather than simply co-locating two separate brand footprints, signals a maturation of the strategy toward deeper operational integration. This kind of innovation, where two complementary brands are engineered into a unified consumer experience rather than simply sharing a wall, represents a meaningful competitive moat — it creates a format that independent operators and competing franchisors cannot easily replicate without controlling both underlying brand systems and their respective supply chains. Focus Brands' scale across Auntie Anne's, Cinnabon, Carvel, and Jamba also provides supply chain leverage that individual brand franchisees benefit from, particularly in commodity-exposed categories like dairy, flour, and fresh produce. The company's ongoing digital transformation investments — incorporating AI-powered scheduling, automated order processing, advanced data analytics for personalized marketing, and inventory optimization — position the co-branded units to capture the documented 25% average off-premise sales increase that early omnichannel adopters have achieved. Multi-unit franchising is a stated growth priority within this framework, with Area Development Agreements allowing franchisees to secure protected territories while committing to predetermined development schedules, creating a scalable path for investors seeking to build a portfolio rather than a single unit.

The ideal candidate for a Better Together franchise investment — whether approaching this through the Focus Brands co-branding platform or through any of the several Better Together organizations operating in corporate training, workforce development, or nonprofit services — shares a common profile: operational discipline, relationship-building capability, and sufficient capital reserves to sustain operations through the ramp period that all new franchise units experience. For the QSR co-branding context, prior food service or retail management experience is a meaningful advantage, as managing multiple brand standards simultaneously requires systematic thinking and strong team supervision capabilities. Multi-unit operators with existing QSR experience are particularly well-positioned to leverage Area Development Agreements that grant protected territories in exchange for committed development timelines. In the workforce development and corporate training context represented by organizations like Better Together Group — founded on Zig Ziglar's philosophy of helping others to achieve one's own goals and led by Dave MacDonald, whose passion for blue-collar workers grew from managing his family's maple syrup farm in Canada — the ideal profile skews toward professionals with human resources, organizational development, or consulting backgrounds. Michael Masih's Better Together corporate training entity, drawing on over 20 years of experience in training and facilitation across corporate, educational, and nonprofit sectors, targets buyers of leadership development services across Canada. Geographic focus for franchise expansion varies significantly by entity, but the QSR co-branding model benefits most from high-traffic retail corridors, airports, transportation hubs, and dense urban markets where foot traffic volume is sufficient to sustain multiple complementary brands under a shared roof.

The investment thesis surrounding Better Together — in its most commercially significant franchise expression through the Focus Brands co-branding platform — deserves rigorous due diligence precisely because the strategic logic is compelling, the scale is already validated at 550 co-branded sites globally, and the QSR industry tailwinds of digital adoption, off-premise growth, and consumer preference for familiar brands in uncertain economic environments are all pointing in the same direction. The global franchise market growing at a 10.0% CAGR through 2030, combined with the demonstrated 25% off-premise sales lift for digital-forward QSR operators, creates a macro environment that rewards well-capitalized franchisees who align with brands that have genuine operational infrastructure. At the same time, the absence of a consolidated Better Together FDD with full Item 19 financial disclosure means that investors cannot yet evaluate system-wide average unit volumes, median revenues, or quartile breakdowns from a single document — a gap that underscores the importance of independent research and comparative analysis. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark Better Together against every competing franchise opportunity in its category with data-driven precision rather than relying on franchisor marketing materials. The franchise industry rewards investors who do the work before signing, not after. Explore the complete Better Together franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.