Donut Bar
The Opportunity
Before Jewett Companies (JC) got 
involved, Donut Bar was a 2-location donut shop offering an ever-changing menu of the world’s most award-winning donuts. Donut Bar sells out of its creations almost every day, with long lines of locals and tourists alike down the street every morning. With tens of thousands of social media followers, Donut Bar has achieved fame and recognition worldwide.
Jewett Companies saw the worldwide attention received with the first two locations in San Diego and Las Vegas and felt that there was a huge opportunity for franchise success.
JC acquired controlling interest in Sweet Assets Franchise Group (SAFG) dba “Donut Bar” in 2016 and launched the franchise offering in September 2017. Donut Bar fit our portfolio because it:
- Had sold out of donuts every day over the previous 5 year
- Generated annual sales of over $1.8 million in a small, B-minus location
- Had a passionate social media following
- Occupied a premium donut niche where few competitors operated and the large players couldn’t feasibly enter
Pre-franchising, JC raised $575,000 in capital at a $3 million valuation using the funds to develop and launch the franchise program. The leading franchise development firm, a global franchise law firm, a franchise tax and audit firm and a demographics analysis firm were engaged to support establishing the franchise offering. The goal was to grow the valuation to at least a $27 million exit in 5 years.
The Audit
Jewett Companies performed an audit of all existing marketing channels and of the brand identity to determine areas for improvement. We identified the following weaknesses that needed addressing before launching a franchise lead generation effort:
- Lack of brand identity: Donut Bar had a strong brand, but it was inconsistent on each online platform. The brand imagery was also outdated, and had not been updated or refreshed in years.
- Outdated website: The website was not fully mobile-responsive, had broken elements, and was extremely outdated. In addition, it lacked the most important component for a food brand - photos of the food!
- Confused web presence: Donut Bar had achieved incredible amounts of press coverage and user-generated content. However, this content was not being monitored or updated for consistency, leaving the brand with hundreds of conflicting online listings, articles, and videos.
- No support team: In order for Donut Bar franchisees to succeed, they would need a strong support system including setup, marketing, and operations team members.
The Foundation
- Madeover brand: Donut Bar needed a refreshed logo and brand guidelines. We created a new logo with more vibrant colors and a stronger font, and implemented new brand graphics and an updated color palette.
- Held photo and video shoot: We conducted photoshoots to generate high-quality brand imagery, including detailed close-ups of the donuts, photos of the founder, and photos of the donut shop. We also shot a franchise marketing video.
- Rebuilt the website: We rebuilt the entire website on a new WordPress theme, optimizing for conversions, implementing SEO best practices, and creating a frictionless and simple user experience. We incorporated the new branding and imagery extensively to give visitors a feel for the Donut Bar experience. See website before and after images in Exhibits section below.
- Updated store design: We brought in a store design firm to update the stores to be aligned with our new branding.
- Updated website listings: We utilized software to scan and update hundreds of online listings with the correct store hours, website, phone number, menu, and more, and contacted the owners of high-ranking blog posts and articles to update content.
- Hired a strong team: JC filled all C-level management including finance, accounting, marketing, franchise lead generation, operations and franchise sales roles.
- Implemented sales processes: We implemented our proven sales software, training, and processes to be ready for incoming leads.
Logo Before
Logo After
Website Before
Website After
Franchise Marketing and Sales
Next, we started advertising the franchise offering. Our advertising specialists placed ads on Facebook, Instagram, Google and other platforms, and our sales team quickly responded to all incoming leads.
Through our proprietary audience targeting, marketing mix, and unique messaging and lead nurture campaigns, we achieved a high volume of qualified leads. Through our qualification, education, and closing processes we successfully onboarded dozens of high-quality franchisees.
The Results
Our results in the first 12 months after launch
Completed a 15-question qualifying survey indicating interest.
Increase in organic traffic for donut-shoppers coming to the website for existing locations
Spend on advertising to generate a sold franchise (less than 1/10th the industry average)
Double our target number of franchises sold within the first year
On the Franchise Opportunity Facebook video - plus thousands of likes, comments, and shares.
Our team doubled the growth goals for year one for Donut Bar, improved location marketing, updated branding, and built a strong franchise team.
See what we can do for your brand – contact us today.