Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2017 | Page 20

MU LT I- BRA ND
BY DEBBIE SELINSKY
Master of Diversifi cation
B
A business built on passion, focus, and determination
ob Middleton heard or read some-
thing years ago that stuck with
him: Wealth is built by focusing
on one thing and doing it well;
wealth is preserved by diversifying. He
considers that the best piece of advice he’s
ever received. “I came around to diversi-
fying so that one brand didn’t determine
my success,” he says.
That philosophy led him to where he
is today, a successful franchisee for Jersey
Mike’s Subs, Little Caesars Pizza, Sonic
Drive-In, and Del Taco. With properties
in Michigan and Canada, he’s even diver-
sifi ed out of the country. After 25 years
in franchising and 35 years in the food
business, Middleton has not slowed down.
A self-made millionaire, he credits
Richard Mueller with teaching him opera-
tions. Hired early on by Mueller’s RPM
Pizza (Domino’s Pizza’s largest franchisee),
Middleton discovered his skill for turn-
ing around unprofi table stores and soon
found himself overseeing RPM’s restau-
rants in Canada and making a success of
them. Then things changed.
“There was a time when Domino’s
Pizza could do no wrong. Then it fell out
18
MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE I SS UE II , 2 01 7
of favor and the company just couldn’t do
anything right. I saw a lot of successful
people forced to sell,” he recalls. RPM
decided to get out of the Canadian mar-
ket and offered Middleton fi rst shot at its
nine stores there. He bought fi ve. Seven
years later, he sold those units with the
goal of building Domino’s in Michigan.
“Then Little Caesars contacted me and
wanted me to buy a bunch in Toronto.
I fi gured it was easier and faster to take
over and fi x these than to build one at a
time,” he says.
Middleton, who lives in Rochester,
Mich., says his brand and unit acquisitions
have followed something of a pattern.
“I only became a Domino’s franchisee
as a result of it crashing and burning. I
only became a Little Caesars franchisee
eight years later because they were going
through a diffi cult time,” he says. “When
I’m making money, I diversify and build
something else. I began with Del Taco
in Michigan with the idea of putting it
together with Sonic to get the best real
estate deals. It’s worked for me.”
Other business strategies have played a
role in his success as a multi-brand franchi-
see. “I stick with food because that’s what
I know. I was impressed by Warren Buffet
when, even in the late ’90s, he didn’t get
involved in technology because he said
he didn’t understand it. I, too, only get
involved in things I understand.”
Middleton, who with partners has
launched 15 employees as franchisees,
also has structured his four brands as
separate entities with four different eq-
NAME: Bob Middleton
TITLE: Multi-unit franchisee
COMPANY: OTB Pizza Company
(Little Caesars Pizza); Sharing the
Bread (Jersey Mike’s Subs); PRG-
SD (Sonic Drive-In); Providential
Restaurant Group (Del Taco)
NO. OF UNITS: 19 Little Caesars
Pizza; 15 Jersey Mike’s Subs; 3
Sonic Drive-In; 2 Del Taco
AGE: 56
FAMILY: Wife Dawn and sons
Ryan and Zach
YEARS IN FRANCHISING: 25
YEARS IN CURRENT POSITION: 25