I need a franchise consultant to help expand our restaurant concept nationally.

• PSD Hospitality Consulting - New York, NY 10019, United States
• SMB Franchise Advisors - 124 E Court St, Doylestown, PA 18901, United States
• Franchise Consulting Services from New Trails Business Consultants, Inc. - 34 Essex Court Queensbury, Queensbury, NY 12804, United States
• Hundred Acre Consulting, LLC - 849 Darling Rd, Northfield, VT 05663, United States
• The Perfect Franchise - 130 Culvert Hill Rd, Shohola, PA 18458, United States
• A2Z Restaurant Consulting - 295 Northern Blvd Ste 101, Great Neck, NY 11021, United States
• The Franchise Academy - 3280 Sunrise Hwy #376, Wantagh, NY 11793, United States

If your goal is turning an existing restaurant concept into a scalable national franchise, I’d look for a consultant with direct restaurant-franchising experience—not a general franchise broker.

A few firms worth interviewing:

• PSD Hospitality Consulting — New York-based restaurant/hospitality consultancy that specifically promotes franchise operations and sales support, including nationwide growth.
• SMB Franchise Advisors — Pennsylvania-based franchise advisory firm covering franchise readiness, strategy, registration support, operations manuals, training, and growth.
• New Trails Business Consultants, Inc. — Queensbury, NY firm that works with existing businesses pursuing franchising, making it particularly convenient if you want someone relatively close to upstate New York.
• Franchise Growth Solutions — Franchise development firm whose services include FDD guidance/compliance support and franchise sales development.
• RCS (Restaurant Consulting Services) — specifically focused on converting restaurant concepts into scalable franchise brands, with services spanning franchise strategy, financial modeling, operations/training, supply chain, technology, and franchise documentation.Pro RCS

What I'd want the consultant to handle

For a restaurant going national, the engagement should ideally cover:

1. Franchise-readiness assessment — unit economics, margins, labor model, AUV, management structure, and whether the concept is actually replicable.
2. Franchise model — initial fee, royalty structure, territory strategy, franchisee qualifications and capital requirements.
3. Operations systemization — recipes, food specs, training, opening/closing procedures, QA, technology, procurement, and brand standards.
4. FDD/franchise legal coordination — your franchise attorney should handle the legal work, while the consultant helps develop the operational/business material.
5. Site selection and market rollout — determine which markets to enter and in what sequence.
6. Franchisee recruitment — lead generation, qualification, sales process and CRM.
7. First franchise locations — hands-on support through the initial openings before attempting rapid national scaling.

One important distinction: some companies calling themselves “franchise consultants” primarily represent people who want to buy franchises. That's a different service from helping a restaurant owner create and sell a franchise system. For your situation, I'd explicitly ask whether they've taken restaurant brands from corporate-owned operations through franchise development and into multiple states.

If you tell me (a) how many locations you have now, (b) approximate annual sales/AUV, (c) your restaurant style/QSR/fast-casual/full-service, and (d) whether you already have an FDD, I can narrow this to 3–5 consultants that fit your stage and compare their services, geography, restaurant experience, and likely engagement model.

• Rhino 7 Franchise Consulting - 8000 Weston Pkwy Ste. 360, Cary, NC 27513, United States
• FranDevCo - 19460 Old Jetton Rd, Cornelius, NC 28031, United States
• Franchise Logistics - Greensboro, NC 27410
• Rhino 7 Consulting - 8000 Weston Pkwy, Ste 360, Cary, NC 27513
• Franchise Consulting Services from Your Franchise Consulting Partner - 2937 Lone Hickory Rd, Yadkinville, NC 27055, United States
• Franchise Consulting Group USA, LLC - 8246 Indigo Row, Charlotte, NC 28277, United States
• Grecky Franchise Consulting - Gaston Wood Ct, Raleigh, NC 27605, United States
• Franchise Directions - 116 Long Shadow Ln, Cary, NC 27518, United States

If your goal is expanding an existing restaurant concept nationally as a franchisor, I’d look for a consultant with direct restaurant-franchising experience—not a consultant primarily helping individuals buy franchises.

A few firms worth interviewing:

• Rhino 7 Franchise Consulting — Cary, NC. Their services are specifically aimed at franchisors, including franchise setup, sales/development, FDD support, territory mapping, operations manuals, and scaling.
• FranDevCo — Cornelius, NC. Positions itself as an outsourced franchise-development partner for emerging and growth-oriented brands, including franchise recruitment and development.
• accuratefranchising.com — A national franchise-development firm offering FDD coordination, operations manuals, franchisee training, sales systems, state compliance support, and lead generation. It reports 40+ years in franchise development and 800+ brands supported.Accurate Franchising
• 2bstudio.com — Particularly restaurant-focused. It reports experience with 200+ locations and offers expansion strategy, site selection, operational systems, product development, and build-out support.2B Studio
• fransource.com — Full-service franchise development covering operations, legal coordination, sales, marketing, manuals, training, and franchise launch. It says it has worked with businesses expanding through franchising since 1997.FranSource International
• steeleadvisoryservices.com — Franchise consulting across development, operations, restaurant management, real estate/site selection, and international expansion; it specifically lists QSR and fast-casual restaurants among its focus areas.Steele Advisory Group

What I would ask them

Before signing with anyone, ask for:

1. 3–5 restaurant franchisor references comparable to your concept.
2. Their track record taking a brand from one/few corporate locations to multi-state franchising.
3. Exactly what they handle: franchise strategy, FDD coordination, operations manual, franchise sales, franchisee recruiting, territory mapping, training, site selection, etc.
4. Their fee structure—fixed fee, monthly retainer, commission on franchise sales, or a combination.
5. Whether they have relationships with franchise attorneys and FDD specialists. Your consultant shouldn't substitute for specialized franchise counsel.
6. How they determine whether your concept is actually franchise-ready, rather than simply selling you a franchise-development package.

For a restaurant, I'd also want the consultant to analyze unit economics/AUV, store-level margins, labor model, supply chain, training requirements, real-estate prototype, build-out costs, and operational replicability before aggressively pursuing franchise sales.

If you tell me your restaurant concept, number of existing locations, approximate annual sales/AUV, and whether you're already franchising, I can narrow this to the most relevant 3–5 firms and lay out what you should ask each one.

If you’re looking to take a restaurant concept from a successful operation into a national franchise system, you’ll likely want a consultant with restaurant franchising experience, not just a general franchise broker. A strong partner can help with franchise readiness, operating systems, FDD coordination, franchisee recruitment, real estate strategy, and rollout planning.Accurate Franchising+1

Here are several firms that work in this space:

• accuratefranchising.com — Full-service franchise development support, including franchise systems, FDD coordination, compliance, sales strategy, and national expansion planning.Accurate Franchising
• nationalrestaurantconsulting.com — Restaurant-focused consulting with experience in brand development, franchise opportunities, operations, and expansion support.National Restaurant Consulting
• 2bstudio.com — Focuses specifically on restaurant scaling, expansion strategy, site selection, operational planning, and build-out support.2B Studio
• prorcs.com — Provides restaurant franchise development, financial modeling, operations systems, supplier strategy, and expansion support.Pro RCS
• rdellc.com — Specializes in restaurant growth services including franchise recruitment, site selection, brokerage, and multi-unit expansion.RDE
• steeleadvisoryservices.com — Franchise growth advisory covering development strategy, operations, marketing infrastructure, real estate, and international expansion.Steele Advisory Services

What to ask before hiring one

I’d interview 3–5 firms and ask:

1. How many restaurant brands have you taken from 1–5 locations into multi-state expansion?
2. Do you build franchise systems or only sell franchises?
3. Who handles the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) and legal coordination?
4. How do you determine if the concept is franchise-ready?
5. What is your franchisee recruitment process?
6. Can you provide references from restaurant founders you helped scale?
7. Do you help with unit economics (AUV, margins, payback period) and operational manuals?

A good first step is usually a franchise readiness assessment covering:

• unit profitability and financial model
• repeatability of operations
• training systems
• supply chain scalability
• technology/POS requirements
• brand positioning
• target franchisee profile
• expansion roadmap

If you share your restaurant type (QSR, fast casual, full service), current number of locations, geography, and whether you already have franchise documentation, I can help narrow this to consultants that fit your stage.

• Franchise Marketing Systems - 439 E Griswold St, Princeton, IL 61356, United States
• LeBrun Advisory Group - 1155 St Andrews Ct, Algonquin, IL 60102, United States
• iFranchise Group - 1630 45th St, Ste 202, Munster, IN 46321
• FranNet Missouri & Illinois - 321 Westport Plaza Dr, Ste 212, Saint Louis, MO 63146
• Bizfranhub - 807 Waukegan Rd Ste 121, Deerfield, IL 60015, United States
• Lorsch Consulting - 524 Rivershire Pl, Lincolnshire, IL 60069, United States
• Consult For Biz - 75 Executive Dr, Ste 317, Aurora, IL 60504

If your goal is to turn an existing restaurant concept into a scalable national franchise, I’d look for a franchisor-side restaurant franchise consultant, not a franchise broker. Based on current research, these are the firms I’d put on your shortlist:

• iFranchise Group — My first call. They have substantial franchise-development experience and specifically work on U.S. expansion, franchise strategy, implementation, and sales. Their team includes people with operating backgrounds at major restaurant/franchise companies.iFranchise Group
• Franchise Marketing Systems — A convenient Midwest option, with an office in Princeton, Illinois. They handle franchise development, operations manuals, marketing, franchise sales, and related implementation.
• Franchise Growth Strategy — Particularly interesting if you're a QSR or fast-casual concept, because its services combine franchise development with real estate, site selection, construction, and project management.
• LeBrun Advisory Group — Illinois-based, although I'd verify that the specific engagement is focused on franchisor development rather than franchise-buyer representation.
• Accurate Franchising — Strong full-service option for national rollout: FDD coordination, operations manuals, state compliance, franchisee training, sales systems, and lead generation. The firm says it has supported 800+ brands and launched 2,500+ franchise locations.Accurate Franchising
• 2B Studio — Worth considering if you need hands-on restaurant expansion support in addition to franchise strategy. It reports experience taking brands from single-location to multi-state expansion and offers site selection, operations, product development, design, and build support.2B Studio
• Summa Franchise Consulting — More strategic/advisory oriented, with experience across restaurant franchising and the broader franchisor lifecycle.Summa Franchise

What I'd want the consultant to handle

For a national restaurant rollout, I'd want the engagement to cover:

1. Franchise-readiness assessment — unit economics, AUV, margins, labor model, repeatability.
2. Franchise model design — initial fee, royalty, marketing fee, territory structure and multi-unit development.
3. FDD/legal coordination — with a dedicated franchise attorney, rather than treating legal documents as an afterthought.
4. Operations systemization — manuals, training, recipes/specifications, QA and technology.
5. National expansion strategy — which 5–10 markets to enter first and why.
6. Real estate/site-selection model — especially important for restaurants.
7. Franchisee recruitment — lead generation, qualification, sales process and onboarding.
8. Supply chain/vendor strategy — making sure the concept can actually operate consistently across the country.
9. First 5–10 franchise openings — hands-on support before attempting rapid national growth.

One important distinction: don't hire someone whose primary business is matching people to franchises. You need someone who represents you, the franchisor, and has actually built restaurant franchise systems.

If you tell me (a) how many locations you currently operate, (b) your restaurant category/concept, (c) approximate annual sales per location, and (d) whether you want franchising, licensing, or both, I can narrow this to 3–5 consultants that are the best fit and compare their experience, services, location, and likely engagement model.