Franchise-As-A-Service
Re-purposing the digital transformation of restaurants in franchise models.
Transforming the franchisor into a "as-a-service" provider.
The digital transformation of restaurants has generated a long list of operational efficiencies from point of sale eco-systems to automating employee scheduling. The restaurant location has become a hub of information technology, leading advances in digital signage and wireless access, and while a lot of these advances have generated cost benefits little of it adds directly to system revenues. Certainly no one disputes that interactive digital signage or online ordering removes check out frictions and in some way contributes to product persistence and competitiveness, but is there a way to take advantage of all of this digital transformation that would generate additional location revenue for the franchisor? One way to do this is to build engagement models around a “as-a-service”. The restaurant location outputs data, and lots of it, but to say that there is business value in data is not enough. What creates value is the process of transforming data and delivering it as a business relevant service. A relevant service a franchisor can deliver “as-a-service” to its franchisees. Franchisors are no stranger to these types of engagement models, royalties, management fees, franchise fees, upfront fees, renewal fees, renovation, and rent are all service fees that add to system revenues. Creating a “as-a-service” model would be second nature, and the best way to do this is to engage with a fully managed IOT solution provider.
A POS system that secures the premises "as-a-service".
Utenzl is powered by an internally developed IOT application engine (IOT Platform). This is a fully managed platform that securely connects globally dispersed devices (called things) to the Internet and then integrates these connections to cloud services. The platform allows us to accelerate the delivery of “as-a-service” solutions. A discreet alerting system is an effective way to alert restaurant managers of small emergencies before they become big ones. For example, cold storage malfunction, cash room breach, facilities flooding, water leakage, backdoor breach, flaming events, ventilation malfunction, etc. These events are reported in real-time, and logged with analytics to improve operational efficiencies. The biggest advantage is the alerting system can be seamlessly integrated with an existing POS platform, extending the platform’s use and leveraging an existing installed base (CAPEX). This is a service that can be implemented using Utenzl’s value stack and offered by the franchisor “as-a-service” to its franchisees, putting into effect the “franchise-as-a-service” engagement model. Utenzl’s value stack is: The DEVICE GATEWAY automating sensor (thing) on-boarding, securing all thing connections, and building all retro-fit kits, and The APP CONTAINER a containerized way to create the app that sends alerts to smart phones and integrates with the POS eco-system.
Restaurant Equipment "as-a-service".
The biggest obstacle of a restaurant franchise engagement is the franchisee’s initial capital investment, typically made up of working capital, the franchise fee, construction costs and restaurant equipment. There are various ways to finance this initial capital of purchasing a franchise and some of these methods do contribute to the franchisor’s system revenue like rent and construction revenue. Our objective at Utenzl is to work with our customers and find new ways to generate recurring revenue for them using our technology. Restaurant equipment “as-a-service” is one way how we use our IOT application engine (Internet of Things) and professional services to reduce the friction costs of franchise engagement and at the same time generate system revenues for our customers. Using our technology it is possible to accurately determine the usage profiles of restaurant equipment, this would allow franchisors to provide equipment to their franchisees “as-a-service” and charge usage fees based on utilization rates. The benefits of such a model is obvious, the franchisor reduces the initial cost of engagement and at the same time is able to recognize utilization as system revenue. This is not a lease, a lease will eventually expire and has tax disadvantages when compared to recognizing service revenue.
