Water ice franchisor is hot for more stores
Wendy’s, Chuck E. Cheese, Church’s Fried Chicken, Baskin-Robbins: You name it, Jim Rudolph has franchised it.
With decades of experience under his belt as a franchisee, in May 2005 he moved to the other side of the table, becoming a franchisor for the first time with the purchase of Rita’s Water Ice. He plans to grow the 349-store frozen-dessert operation, based here, by at least 70 stores this year. Rudolph says his experience as a franchisee puts him in a unique position to succeed.
For a franchise operation to thrive, he said, “the franchisor needs to work with the franchisee to understand what is going on with the company, and how you can do things differently. It’s about communication, it’s about being accessible, it’s about listening.”
Rita’s franchisees give Rudolph high marks for his early efforts to keep the chatter lively. “He is physically out in the stores. He has become a presence on the front line,” said Mitch Cove, owner of seven Rita’s stores in the area. “It demonstrates his level of commitment. It shows this is not something that is just an investment for him.
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