Helgerson Franchise Group

Your Franchise System Has More Potential

Strategic consulting for emerging and established franchise brands — from system audits to growth planning.

The Challenge

Most Franchise Systems Underperform for the Same Reasons

Franchising is a different business than most executives expect. The systems, relationships, and disciplines required to build a high-performing franchise brand are specific — and the cost of getting them wrong compounds quickly.

After 35+ years building and consulting franchise systems, Lonnie Helgerson has seen the same patterns repeat across brands of every size. The good news: most of these problems are correctable — if you catch them early and address them with the right framework.

“A franchisor’s wealth and success are by-products of having wealthy and successful franchisees.”

— Lonnie Helgerson, CFE | Five Pennies

That principle drives every consulting engagement at HFG. When franchisee profitability is protected and growing, everything else follows. When it isn’t — no amount of unit growth will save the system.

Who This Is For

Does Any of This Sound Familiar?

Emerging brands under 50 units

You’ve validated the concept and have early franchisees — but you’re building the plane while flying it. The foundation needs to be right before scale creates problems you can’t unwind. If your sold-to-open ratio is growing, the clock is already ticking.

Mid-size brands ready to scale

Growth is happening but infrastructure, support systems, or franchisee performance haven’t kept pace. Scaling a broken system just creates more of the same problems at greater expense.

Franchisors with underperforming units

Low franchisee profitability is a system problem, not just an operator problem. If more than a handful of locations are struggling, the answer isn’t more field visits — it’s a system audit.

Brands with franchisee relations issues

Franchisee discontent rarely starts with one person. When relationships sour across a system, there’s almost always a structural cause — and a structural fix. Legal battles are expensive. Fixing the root cause isn’t.

The Framework

Ten Rules. Every Engagement.

Every HFG consulting engagement is grounded in the Ten Rules from Five Pennies — Lonnie’s framework for building franchise Mega-Brands. Here’s how each rule maps to a specific service area.

Tee up your franchisees for mega-success, not failure

Nothing matters more than franchisee unit profitability. Without it, the system has no foundation.

System Audit & Unit Economics Review

Franchising is a mega-relationship business

Great franchisee relations are the stitches that hold the brand together. When they weaken, the entire system starts to unravel.

Franchisee Relations Assessment

Franchising is not a drag race — it’s the 24 Hours of Daytona

Fast-track growth without proper planning causes problems that may not be fixable. Endurance beats speed.

Growth Planning & Scaling Strategy

Don’t have an accountant remove a brain tumor

A lack of franchise-specific knowledge is one of the top reasons systems fail. Get educated or get experienced guidance.

Franchise Education & Leadership Development

Plant, cultivate, and harvest system best practices

Build a continuous loop of unit improvement that cascades tools and efficiencies back through the entire system.

Operations & Support Structure

Stack the entire deck with strong franchise owners

The goal of recruiting isn’t volume — it’s minimizing incompatible owners and maximizing the acceptance of superstars.

Franchisee Recruitment Strategy

Focus on where the rubber hits the racetrack

Royalties are earned when the franchisee cash register rings. Never lose sight of store operations and driving sales.

Field Support & Sales Operations

Create partners in growth

Develop national partnerships, accounts, and macro-level programs that lift the entire system — not just individual locations.

National Accounts & Macro-Growth Programs

Manage your system like NASA would

Invest in the technology and systems that keep your brand at the front of the pack — now and for the long term.

Technology & Systems Review

Manage resources and understand financial requirements

A vibrant franchisor equals a vibrant system. Diligently manage human, operating, and capital resources to stay agile.

Financial Planning & Capital Management

The Source Material

Built on 35 Years. Written Down in One Book.

Five Pennies: Ten Rules to Successfully Build a Franchise MegaBrand is the strategic framework behind every HFG consulting engagement. It’s not a step-by-step guide to franchising — it’s a field manual for building a system that actually works at scale.

“Franchisee profitability is the most important mission of the franchisor!”— Fred DeLuca, President & Co-Founder, SUBWAY® Restaurants

Why HFG

Few People Have Sat on as Many Sides of the Franchise Table

Lonnie Helgerson has been a franchisee, a franchisor, a broker, and a consultant — across 35+ years and 6+ franchise systems he founded himself. That’s a different perspective than most consultants can offer.

Founder of 6+ franchise systems, including Computer Doctor®, Expetec® Technology Services, and IslandTime Treasures
Former President & COO, Ident-A-Kid Services of America® — the largest child safety franchise in the U.S.
Member, IFA Board of Directors; 2-time Past Chairman, VetFran Committee
Certified Franchise Executive (CFE); three-time graduate, Institute of Franchise Management MBA, University of St. Thomas
Featured in USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNBC, and more

Ready to Build a Stronger System?

Schedule a complimentary consultation and let’s talk through where your brand is today — and what it could become.

Get in Touch

Start the Conversation

Tell us about your brand and where you want to go. We’ll be in touch within one business day.