Description

Get in Touch

Interested in buying a franchise?
https://www.empirespod.com/buy-a-franchise

Are you a multi-unit franchise owner considering selling your business? https://www.fdcapitalgroup.com/ 

Partnership Opportunities

https://www.empirespod.com/about#about-footer

Frozen yogurt was written off as a dead category.

Neil Hershman didn’t buy that.

After leaving finance, Neil became a franchisee of 16 Handles, fixed broken operations at the store level, doubled profits, and eventually acquired the entire brand. Today, 16 Handles has ~40 locations open, dozens more in development, and multiple million-dollar frozen yogurt stores - while competitors stagnate.

In this episode, we break down:

• Why frozen yogurt was never actually dead

• The unit economics behind 20%+ margins

• How Neil turned underperforming corporate stores into cash-flowing assets

• Why owning stores as a franchisor keeps incentives aligned

• How COVID created the best real-estate opportunities of his career

• And what most franchise brands get wrong about growth, PE, and operators

This is a masterclass in operator-led brand revival, smart franchising, and building community-driven businesses that actually work.

• From finance job → franchisee → franchisor

• Turning legacy brands into growth machines

• Frozen yogurt unit economics (rent, labor, margins)

• Why self-serve = automation before AI

• Urban vs suburban store performance

• Scaling without private equity

• Million-dollar dessert stores

• Buying brands when founders are “checked out”