by UFG | Apr 25, 2025 | News
The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill is celebrating another year of remarkable growth in 2024 where it opened 19 new restaurants across the U.S. as well as its first international location in Canada and saw a 46 percent surge in systemwide sales year-over-year. The brand has more than doubled its footprint in just two years’ time and plans to open 40 new restaurants domestically and internationally in 2025, aiming to surpass 100 operational units by year-end.
Among the 40 new restaurants, The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill will open its first locations in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Wisconsin and strengthen its presence in states like Florida, California, and Texas. Additionally, with the signing of 27 franchise agreements along with master licenses for Western Canada and Egypt, the brand is positioned for sustained domestic and international growth in the coming years.
“2024 was a milestone year for The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill as we expanded our footprint in the U.S. and celebrated our first international opening in Canada. Our rapid growth and record-breaking sales are a testament to the strength of our brand, the passion of our franchise owners, and the growing demand for high-quality Mediterranean cuisine,” said Bob Andersen, President of The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill. “In 2025, we are excited to bring The Great Greek experience to new communities, and we remain committed to delivering exceptional food and hospitality wherever we go.”
At the heart of The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill’s success is its culinary-driven food experience, featuring authentic, high-quality ingredients and freshly prepared Mediterranean dishes made to order. Originally founded by a culinary-trained father and son duo, the brand has preserved the family’s recipes and delivers meals in a staged format with real plateware and utensils, creating an elevated fast-casual dining experience that rivals full-service restaurants.
Since franchising in 2019, The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill has seen exponential growth, reaching $73 million in systemwide sales in 2024. While the brand prides itself on its dine-in experience, the communal nature and quality of its food has translated to off-premises success as well, with catering sales up 43% last year and takeout orders through third-party delivery partners on the rise.
“The growing popularity of Mediterranean cuisine reflects a consumer shift toward fresh, flavorful, and healthier dining options, and The Great Greek is at the forefront of this movement,” said Ray Titus, CEO of United Franchise Group™ (UFG), of which The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill is an affiliated brand. “The brand’s sustained sales growth and rapid expansion underscore its position as a leading brand in the segment, making now the perfect time to join our thriving franchise family.”
This article was originally published by QSR Magazine
by UFG | Apr 25, 2025 | News
A charcuterie board can be a complete smorgasbord of delights that tantalize and titillate the tastebuds. A charcuterie board should deliver an aesthetically pleasing display that invites the onlooker to dive in and grab a bite, and when it comes to cheese, arranging your selections in different slices can add interest through shapes, textures, colors, and smells.
When building a charcuterie board, consider how many cheeses you will feature; we recommend choosing between two and five for the best impact. The key is to select different types of cheeses that can be displayed in different ways. Hard and semi-hard cheese can be cut into slices, matchsticks, ribbons, wedges, or fans. Soft cheeses like chevre can be rolled in herbs or wrapped in meats. Some cheeses like halloumi can be smothered in sesame seeds and deep-fried.
Don’t forget the accompaniments; they add color and flavor to the board. We recommend you include a range of dried, spreadable, and cured meats, like dry-cured salami or Spanish chorizo. Then, add a sweet element with fresh and dried fruits, like mango, pineapple, raspberries, sliced apples or cherries, or a few chunks of chocolate. Include a savory note with nuts and seeds and a touch of freshness with crudites such as cucumber, pepper, and carrots. Finally, don’t forget the crackers.
To help you create an incredible charcuterie board, we asked three experts for their charcuterie tips and techniques, focused on the best ways to slice and present cheese.
Standard slices
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A charcuterie board should be visually arresting, with an attractive display of different shapes, sizes, and colors. Therefore, it’s important not to forget simple solutions like a standard slice of cheese. Whole cheeses come in different sizes, which you can use to your advantage; you can cut them in half or quarters or slice them into thick slabs or the finest of shards. The trick is to ensure that whatever type of cheese you decide, all the slices are the same size.
We asked Kurt Beecher Dammeier, founder and CEO of Sugar Mountain and the award-winning Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, what his recommendations are for slicing cheese. He tells us, “Not all cheeses necessarily need to be cut to serve, but if you do plan to pre-cut your cheese, you are looking for uniformity and to cut each piece to be about 1 ounce — small enough to be bite-size and big enough to appreciate the flavor.” We recommend sticking to semi-soft and hard cheeses like cheddar, Gouda, and Swiss cheese for the perfect cheese slice.
Chunks
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One of the simplest ways to cut cheese for charcuterie is to make it into chunks. This method is best suited to hard cheeses like cheddar and Asiago and semi-hard cheeses like Jarlsberg, Comté, and Gruyère. It’s important to bring your cheese to room temperature first, particularly if it’s inclined to crumble like an aged cheddar or Asiago. Our expert Kurt Beecher Dammeier says, “Depending on how warm your room is, remove your cheese 15 to 20 minutes before you serve it. Cheese has the best flavor when it is served at room temperature.” Getting your cheese to room temperature also makes it easier to slice without it falling apart and gives your cheese a fuller flavor.
Again, uniformity is imperative to creating a thoughtful and carefully assembled cheese board. To cut your cheese into chunks, cut 1-inch slices and then slice again so the pieces are 1 inch by one inch. You can upgrade your cheese chunks by placing them on small charcuterie skewers alone or with chunks of fruit, an olive, or a slice of cured meat. If you have a large cheese board, cut different-sized cheese chunks by making the cuts wider or shorter and putting them in different places throughout the board.
Julienne
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The julienne is a more unusual cheese cut. To julienne something means to cut it into long, thin strips. Julienne cuts are sometimes called matchstick cuts because the aim is to create uniform slices that resemble matches in a box. Chefs often julienne vegetables like cucumbers, peppers, carrots, or even potatoes to create interesting displays on the plate and to provide a bite-sized crunch as part of your meal.
Julienne your cheese by cutting it into thin slices approximately 5 millimeters wide and less than 2 centimeters long, then slice them again lengthways so they form long strips. The idea is to make them exactly the same shape and size. Julienning is quite fiddly, so it’s best to use hard cheeses that will not melt or crumble. We recommend cheddar, Manchego, or Emmental. Cheeses like Brie and Camembert are too soft, and many aged and blue cheeses are too crumbly. Ensure you chill your cheese before julienning, which will make it easier to cut into fine matchsticks.
Shredded
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The key to an impressive-looking charcuterie board is variety, color, shapes, and textures. We asked Julie Goodyke, owner of Graze Craze Charcuterie Boards, for her tips on creating the perfect-looking charcuterie board. She says, “I love to create variety by arranging cheeses in different shapes and textures — fanning out slices, stacking cubes, and leaving wedges whole with a knife for guests to cut. Pairing cheese with complementary items like honey, nuts, fruit, and artisan crackers enhances the flavors and makes the board look inviting. This allows your guests to find their perfect bite!”
Bearing Julie’s advice in mind, shredding your cheese is an excellent way to add shape and texture to your cheese board. It’s also a way to introduce color. Cheeses suitable for shredding include a vibrant red Leicester, a golden cheddar, lemony Gouda, or the pale ivory of a Manchego. To grate cheese for a charcuterie board, run your block of cheese through a grater and pile it on the board or place it in a pretty bowl. You can either mix the different colored cheeses together or create separate, differently hued piles.
Wedges
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The wedge is a classic cut often used with wheel-shaped cheeses like Brie, Camembert, or goat’s cheese, which can be sliced several times to create mini triangles or wedges. When slicing a soft cheese like a Camembert, chill it first; this will help it keep its shape, particularly if it has been aged and is slightly gooey. Note that very well-aged soft cheeses will simply collapse when sliced and are unsuitable for this cheese cut. Take any rounded cheese, slice it in half, then again to make quarters. Keep slicing in equal sections until the cheese wedges are the size you are looking for. Take your wedge game up a notch by alternating large and small wedges or placing them in a circle to mimic the natural shape of the cheese.
Julie Goodyke explains that the easiest way to slice soft cheeses is to use a wire cutter, but if you don’t have one available, use a sharp knife and wipe the blade between cuts. Molly Browne, education director with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, echoes Julie’s sentiments, telling us, “A cheese wire is a great way to make quick and even cuts on cheese of all kinds. The thin wire can handle soft, delicate cheeses (think super ripe Brie). Soft cheeses naturally stick to your utensils, so soft cheese knives are strategically built to minimize the surface area that cheese can stick to.”
Ribbons
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Ribbons can be a contentious cheese cut; Molly Browne explains that when building a charcuterie board, “The key is to tailor the cuts to the type of cheese, aiming for bite-sized pieces with various shapes and textures. I encourage you to think beyond the slice! Most importantly, each piece of cheese should make a sufficient ‘bite’ — not too small or too large to be picked up and eaten by hand.” So, what’s the problem with ribbons? Well, ribbons of cheese are long, thin strips that don’t have much bite; however, twisting ribbons of cheese into spirals creates the ideal bite-sized morsel of our cheese. Not only that, it looks striking on a charcuterie board. The trick to getting the perfect spiral is picking a hard yet malleable cheese and using a vegetable peeler, a micro plane grater, or a sharp knife to create long, thin ribbons. You could choose a Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, which are both hard cheeses that can stand up to being sliced thinly and twisted, as long as they aren’t too aged. Try a Gruyère or a Manchego if you find the taste of these hard Italian cheeses too salty and strong.
Crumbles
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Some cheeses are so crumbly they fall apart when you try to slice them, but crumbles on a cheese board are a great aesthetic. Crumbly cheeses like feta, Stilton, Gorgonzola, Cotija, and Grana Padano can be crumbled directly onto your cheese board or placed into decorative bowls, where they can be scooped up and dolloped onto crackers. To crumble your cheese, begin by cutting it into slices or chunks — if it doesn’t crumble all by itself, then use your fingers to break it up. The trick is making the crumbles look rustic with large and small irregular shaped pieces. Molly Browne says, “Challenging preconceived notions regarding what is supposed to go with cheese or appear on a cheese board makes for great conversation, another essential ingredient in any gathering.” Molly suggests using nuts, dried fresh fruit, and olives as borders and dividers to frame your cheeses and charcuterie. This technique works well with crumbles, as you can use your accompaniment to buttress your cheese, ensuring it stays in place.
When we asked Molly more about accompaniments, she said to aim for “crunchy, sweet, spicy, salty, pickled, and fresh. An ideal assortment might include pistachios, cherry jam, hot honey, assorted olives, pickled beets, sliced radishes … and something unexpected, like miso, umeboshi plums, dark chocolate, and roasted chickpeas.”
Fan shapes
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Cutting your cheese into thin slices and fanning them out from a central point can create a stunning cheese display that could be the focus of any cheese board. The trick is to cut all the slices of cheese exactly the same. There are no restrictions on what form your cheese needs to take as long as it is thinly sliced — so carve your cheese into rectangles, squares, wedges, or cut rounds of rolled cheese like Chèvre. Once you have a series of uniform shapes, you can fan them in different patterns, think spirals, full circles, or half moons. To create a fan, simply lay the cheese slices next to each other in a line with each side slightly overlapping, then angle the slices outward until they form a fan shape.
Selecting the right cheese is essential for all cheese cuts. When choosing your cheese, it’s important to note that age can affect its texture and consistency. Cheese loses moisture as it matures, which means some cheeses, like Asiago, get more crumbly as they age. Tiny crystals can appear in others, like cheddar and Parmesan, which add to the texture but make them harder to slice into neat shapes.
Pro tip: It’s not just cheese that can be fanned on a charcuterie board; you can also fan your crackers–every element on the board can be used to create interest. Aside from visual appeal, we asked Kurt Beecher Dammeier for his tips on creating a cheese charcuterie board; he said he likes “to plate cheeses in the order which they should be tasted– left to right from the most mild flavor to the strongest flavor.”
Cooked cheese
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Cooking cheese causes the fat to melt, which changes the texture and enhances the flavor making giving it a softer, more umami mouthfeel. Some of the cooked cheeses that could be included on a charcuterie board include baked Brie, which can make a stunning center point, or halloumi, which can be cut into fingers and incorporated into the overall theme.
To include a baked Brie in a charcuterie board, you need to contain it once it is cooked. Brie liquefies when heated, so if your baked Brie isn’t placed in a pot, the gloopy cheese may run into the rest of the board running the aesthetic. To avoid this, simply place the Brie into an oven-proof container before cooking. Once ready, you can drizzle it with honey or decorate it with seeds, nuts, herbs, or fruits.
Halloumi is a spectacular cheese that only reveals its depth of flavor when cooked. Serve halloumi on a cheese charcuterie board by slicing it into 1-inch-thick fingers and deep-frying. Level up by coating the halloumi fingers in flour and egg before rolling them in sesame seeds. The halloumi can then be fried to create the most incredible crunchy, crispy, soft treat. Stack the halloumi sticks in Jenga fashion for the greatest visual impact.
Rolls and wraps
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Soft cheeses like chèvre, ricotta, and cream cheese are ideal for creating little rolls, wraps, or parcels. You can wrap your soft cheese in cured meat; think prosciutto, parma ham, salami, or fresh herbs like thyme or basil. Alternatively, you can roll your cheese in dried herbs, crushed nuts, seeds, or spices like paprika or pepper.
The key to the perfect cheese roll or wrap is to chill the cheese first. Place your cheese in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes, then place it on some cling wrap or parchment paper and roll it into a log shape. Place the roll back in the fridge until you are ready to use it. At this point, you can either place the entire roll on the charcuterie board or cut it into rounds.
The process is similar when adding cured meats, herbs, or nuts. You simply need to ensure that you place them on the plastic cling wrap first. With loose ingredients like dried herbs or spices, you can roll the cheese around before wrapping. With cured meat or fresh herbs like basil, wrap them around the cheese first.
Burrata
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Burrata is such an incredible cheese that you could dedicate an entire charcuterie or cheese board to it alone. This glorious cheese comes from Italy. It’s a cross between mozzarella and creamy curd cheese — it has a slightly rigid ball-shaped exterior that explodes with a river of creamy curds when cut into.
Burrata is often served by itself with little more than a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt, and it is perfectly acceptable to serve it like this on your charcuterie board. For a sweet twist, burrata pairs very well with fruits like peaches, nectarines, and figs. Present your burrata surrounded by sliced peaches or halves of figs drizzled with some honey and scattered pistachio. For a savory concept, the classic combination of tomato and basil never fails–place a whole burrata on a bed of fresh basil and sliced tomatoes with a glug of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar.
Burrata is a show-stopping cheese. While it is possible to cut it into chunks, it looks best when served whole. The first cut and release of the cream and curds are part of the ritual of eating burrata. Remember, burrata tastes best when served at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge beforehand.
This article was originally published by Tasting Table
by UFG | Apr 25, 2025 | News
Most owners wait too long or fail to create a plan for exiting their business. There’s a common misconception that leaving or selling your company is a one-time event, the last stage of a business’ life. But if you want to get out what you’ve put into your company for the last 10, 20, or 30 years, you have to treat your exit like a multi-phase period, and you have to give it the time it needs, not treat it as like a single event that happens to you. Often, business owners are put in a position to sell it sooner than they expected, leaving them unprepared to exit and their businesses undervalued.
How much time is enough to build and implement an exit plan?
The right date to start working toward your exit strategy is the day you start your business. But since you’re probably a few years past that, let’s figure out yours by reverse-engineering it. As you are about to discover, you should expect the process to take at least five years from the time you start planning.
The Five-Year Exit Strategy
From the day the business is sold, you need about a year to make your actual exit. You’ll work with a business broker and an investment banker to get through this final period.
Before that year, plan on at least three years of getting your financials in shape.
- Years Two Through Four: Financial History
To get the maximum value before the sale, you’ll have to show your last three years of financial history, at minimum. Any buyer, even if you’re selling to a family member, will want to see at least that. If you don’t have that history or you’re not satisfied with your numbers, you’ll have to spend at least three years building them up.
Say, for example, you want to get the business to a net profit of $500,000 per year and sell at four times that. Then, say in year three, it gets to $500,000 in net profit and is assessed at four times that. You want to get the numbers for three consecutive years. Once you see $500,000 on the bottom line for three years, that’s when you go to market and sell.
- Year One: Setting the Foundation
You will probably need a year prior to those three years to get the foundation right. This is the time to look at stabilizing the business, optimizing profitability, and getting the processes in place.
So, at the bare minimum, that gets us to five years of planning and preparation, so nothing is left on the table. However, many buyers want at least five years of financial history, not three, which could take our timeline to seven years. Then, it might take two years, not one, to get the fundamentals right, so the most realistic timeline may be more like five to ten years.
Analyze, Optimize, Strategize
Like any journey, a smart business exit begins by figuring out where you are, where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there. There are three basic phases to work through.
In Phase 1, do an assessment of the business and see what’s working and what isn’t. Decide your goals for the future of the company.
In Phase 2, look at optimizing the financial business model. Focus on profit improvement, making sure your margins are higher than your competitors and that you have a good, profitable enterprise.
In Phase 3, take an honest look at the management structure, starting at the top – that’s you. How involved are you in the business, and what key roles does the leadership play? If all the power is concentrated in a single person, you must look at making it more of a team that can continue functioning seamlessly after the all-powerful owner (that’s you) is gone.
Once the numbers have stabilized, it’s time to look at growth. How can you grow at the newly optimized level? This is also the time to plan the exit itself: deciding whether to sell to a third party, internal employee, family member, or other entity. Decide how you will execute the strategy and who needs to help you get to the finish line.
All these things are equally important, and they build off each other; you can’t do them out of order, and this is no time to multitask. For instance, if you try to grow the business before you optimize your margins, you’re growing your business at a lower margin,n and the results will be less than they could be.
Profit Matters
It really comes down to profit margins, which come down to expenses. While many business owners think their operations are lean, I have found that several of them are overspending on their overhead or operating costs like marketing, staffing and rent. I find that when compared to other businesses in their industry, 90 percent of the time, their profit margins are much lower than the average.
The businesses I see have not increased their prices at the same rate of inflation that’s hitting their costs; most of them will increase prices five percent while inflation was closer to 10 percent. Many of them don’t realize the impact inflation has had on the business. If you don’t have a good system in place to give you a solid financial picture, you’re going to get caught up in the vanity of revenue – and revenue doesn’t matter in business valuation. What matters is profit. You can have piles of revenue, but if you have mountains of expenses, your profitability will only disappoint.
One of my clients didn’t raise her fees to cover her skyrocketing transportation costs for employees working offsite in her customers’ offices. She didn’t realize the impact that was having on her overhead. Her net margin was going down year by year, so we came up with a different pricing structure for off-site business owners that would cover the expense.
Those profit margins are very important in the sale. If someone looks at your numbers and sees that you’re not really charging the true cost of business, that’s going to lower the value of the business. A new owner doesn’t want to have to come in and implement the change that would fix that.
Take Your Time
Of all the mistakes business owners make in engineering their departure, a significant one is simply not devoting enough time to it. They let real-time activities dominate their days, neglecting the important matters that are essential to long-term success. Make a point to carve out enough time for things like exit strategy and planning.
A successful exit depends as much on the time you devote to it as the financial and management details you work out. Create a time block of one to two hours a week to work on your long-term exit strategy.
You have a 10-year horizon for this entire process to come together. Use it – starting now.
This article was originally published by Mentors Collective Success Magazine
by UFG | Apr 25, 2025 | News
The coworking sector is set for a dynamic 2025 due to further adoption of hybrid work models and more businesses embracing in-person work. But this doesn’t mean there won’t be any bumps along the way as the sector cannot operate in a vacuum.
“The worst of commercial office real estate is not past us, so while coworking may offer an opportunity, the underlying headwinds that commercial office real estate faces—expensive capital and stagnant physical occupancy—persist,” said CommercialEdge Associate Director Peter Kolaczynski.
To adapt to these unceasing challenges, office operators have been right-sizing their portfolios to include more flex offerings. This has not only transformed the physical environment of traditional offices, but also altered lease terms, as tenants today expect more flexibility in how and when they use their space.
Key trends in the coworking space
High demand for flexible offerings and mounting return-to-office mandates are two of the most prominent trends in the sector today. A recent WeWork survey found that 59 percent of companies plan to adopt flexible solutions over traditional offices to expand their workspaces over the next two years. Notably, 95 percent of remote companies looking to increase their office space favor flexible options.
“We are continuing to see very strong demand off the back of this shift toward flexibility and that’s why we’re seeing our network grow at its fastest-ever rates,” said Mark Dixon, CEO of International Workplace Group. Over the past year, the company added nearly 900 new locations globally under its Regus, Spaces, HQ and Signature brands. Most expansions were in suburban and community-focused markets such as the Red Bank borough in New Jersey, but also in Milwaukee, and Boca Raton, Fla.
Until now, although 80 percent of organizations have return-to-office policies put in place, only 17 percent of them really enforce them, CBRE’s research found. But that number is anticipated to increase going forward.
“The biggest shift I expect to see is companies following the lead of recent RTO mandates and deciding to increase the amount of time they spend in-office, with more opting to go full-time,” said WeWork Vice President & Head of USC Sales Luke Robinson. “This will require flexible space providers to offer an ample variety of workspaces that can accommodate employees up to five days a week.”
More employees in the office means more conference rooms, communal areas and private phone booths, among others. Operators are already making changes to their office layouts as the focus rapidly shifts from where employees work to how they work.
“In 2025, we anticipate an evolution of business priorities with the conversation moving beyond the physical location of employees with companies requiring everyone to be in a single building to the productivity of workers and retention of talent instead,” said Dixon.
To respond to the increased demand for specific amenities and services that support teamwork and collaboration, operators are increasingly adding spaces that foster connection.
“(Employers) want workspaces that bring people together and they need amenities like technology-powered meeting rooms, flexible spaces designed to support diverse workstyles and event programming to help achieve that goal,” Robinson said.
Private offices, smaller conference rooms and virtual mailboxes are also increasingly popular, catering to businesses that seek professional environments without long-term commitments, according to Jason Anderson, president of Vast Coworking Group. Additionally, assistant services such as customizable call answering services allow business owners to focus less on admin work and more on their growth and customers, all while keeping that human element.
Shifting business models
To cater to the increasing number of clients, coworking operators have also been adapting their business models while keeping their focus on providing flexible, scalable and customer-centric solutions. Over the past few years, they have been more open to collaboration and networking. WeWork launched Coworking Partner Network, a partnership with Vast Coworking Group that allows tenants to access spaces across both brands.
“Our partnership with WeWork has been an industry first,” said Anderson. “I look at it as the beginning of a change in global coworking operations, modeled like the Oneworld Alliance in the airline industry.”
This strategic approach further reinforces the idea that operators need to leverage each other’s strengths to provide members with access to a broader number of locations and services. By combining suburban-focused partners with WeWork’s urban stronghold, these networks create more opportunities for hybrid and distributed teams, reflecting the sector’s pivot toward greater accessibility and choice.
“Franchising is the vehicle driving our expansion and we have always focused our growth on underserved suburban markets instead of hyper-growth CBDs, which complemented WeWork’s portfolio and solidified our partnership,” Anderson added.
Another way coworking operators have been catering to members’ latest needs is by adapting their membership options. For example, WeWork launched two digital products: WeWork All Access and WeWork On Demand. The first one provides access to 450 locations worldwide, whereas the second one has a pay-as-you-go model that allows tenants to book spaces and meeting rooms at 300 locations instantly.
On the leasing side, coworking operators have been embracing non-traditional agreements to provide companies with more control over their office footprint. From shorter lease terms to flexible capacity models, these changes are helping businesses remain agile in uncertain times.
“We had a tech company who designed their workplace strategy with 100 All Access passes and WeWork Workplace instead of a traditional private office, supporting their commitment to flexible work while giving employees the ability to access in-person space as they need it,” Robinson said.
As of November, Manhattan, Chicago and Los Angeles were the top metros for coworking space, with the latter emerging as the largest market for locations, with 277 spaces, CommercialEdge data shows. International Workplace Group’s Regus and HQ brands were the top operators, followed by WeWork, Industrious and Spaces.
Vast Coworking Group was one of the companies that expanded significantly in 2024. After acquiring Intelligent Office and adding 54 locations across the U.S. and Canada, Vast later opened 19 new locations across its franchise brands. International Workplace Group also added to its network, signing 200 new locations across the country. Industrious—which was recently acquired by CBRE—expanded its portfolio in major markets, adding two locations in Los Angeles: a 19,000-square-foot space in Century City, Calif., and a 20,752-square-foot space in Westwood, Calif. The company also doubled its lease at 860 Broadway in Manhattan.
What’s next?
Collaborations, portfolio expansions and the wider adoption of hybrid work models reflect the coworking sector’s resilience. Last year, most operators saw improvements across several metrics. After emerging from bankruptcy, WeWork registered a 9 percent annual increase for on-demand bookings as of October, while International Workplace Group recorded the highest revenue in the company’s 35-year history.
As operators continue to prioritize bringing offices closer to employees, particularly in high-demand suburban markets, Kolaczynski expects continued coworking growth in these areas. Meanwhile, traditional office owners in business districts will look to adopt more flexible options, either by creating their in-house coworking brands or by entering into partnerships with experienced operators.
“I predict that flexibility will remain key in 2025,” Robinson said. “This year’s return-to-office mandates have shown that companies see the office as critical to their success, but they have not made final decisions on how many days they will be in person.”
Besides partnering with each other more often, coworking providers must keep innovating to support evolving workstyles, and offer solutions that cater to both individual employees and large teams.
“Occupancy should increase given the recent consolidation by operators,” said JLL Head of Property Sectors Research for the Americas Scott Homa. “Management agreements will remain popular given capital constraints and the high cost of interior construction. We could see continued M&A activity and more franchising.”
This article was originally published by Commercial Property Executive
by UFG | Apr 25, 2025 | News
A pair of Counselor Top 40 executives detail what leadership means to them and how to keep growing as a motivator.
How do you motivate a team and inspire them to reach a collective goal? Leadership. But though often discussed, what’s the key to successful leadership? Two C-suiters of Counselor Top 40 companies – Ray Titus, a decorated entrepreneur who has launched several thriving franchising companies, and Jeanelle Harris, a seasoned executive with two decades of top roles in the consumer packaged goods and promo products industries – share their views.
Ray Titus
Counselor Power 50 member and CEO of United Franchise Group, parent company of Counselor Top 40 distributor Fully Promoted (asi/384000)
Jeanelle Harris
President & CEO, Counselor Top 40 supplier Outdoor Cap (asi/75420)
Q: How do you define leadership?
RT: Leadership is the cornerstone of being an effective boss – whether you’re leading other people or managing a team of one (yourself). Whatever you ask of those you lead, you have to be willing to do the same. You can’t just stand on the sidelines giving orders; you must get into the arena with the rest of the team. If that sounds more like being a coach than a boss, it is.
JH: Leadership is more than a title; it’s about influence, guidance and the ability to inspire others toward a common goal. Appointed leadership may provide structure and guidance, while leadership by influence taps into trust, respect and vision, creating a powerful dynamic where everyone is empowered to contribute.
Q: What’s the top quality you look for in a leader?
RT: Confidence. Nobody follows an unsure leader. Confidence is necessary in taking risks and accomplishing goals, and it trickles down to your team. If you’re a confident leader, your team will feel comfortable, empowered and have a more positive mindset, which in turn will make them more adaptable and resilient when they need to be.
JH: Leaders must embody essential qualities like integrity, competence, adaptability, and ability to build relationships and influence others. Yet, in my years of leadership, I have found that humility is a quality that sets exceptional leaders apart. A confident, competent leader who recognizes they don’t have all the answers, values the contributions of others and is open to growth is a leader I would follow regardless of title – and one I aspire to be myself.
Q: What’s one tactic you’ve taken to improve your leadership?
RT: Lifelong learning and embracing change. I’m a student of life, and I’m always looking to improve myself not just as a leader but as a person. The world keeps changing faster and faster, so I read 30-40 books a year to keep up and write at least one of my own. I believe it is equally as important to share knowledge and wisdom as it is acquiring it and staying relevant.
JH: One tactic I have embraced is a commitment to continuous learning and self-improvement. Throughout the years, I’ve made my share of mistakes – some I would like to undo or approach differently. To grow from those experiences, I have sought counsel, read and listened to experts, conducted 360-degree reviews and relied heavily on my established peer group for outside perspectives.
Q: In a company, what undermines leaders?
RT: Negativity is the gateway to a host of other challenges that can undermine leaders because it can spread like a weed to your team and compromise everything. It can significantly tarnish morale, disrupt creativity, tank productivity, break trust – the list goes on. Having a negative mindset can also cloud your judgement and leaves a margin for poor decision-making and missed opportunities for growth.
JH: Alignment to mission, vision and values is essential to an organization and acts as an accelerator for progress. Misalignment, on the other hand, can undermine individual leaders and destabilize the company’s momentum.
Q: Where do training and mentorship fit in?
RT: If you really care about something, you want it to last long after you’re gone. The mentor learns as much as the mentee. I love it when the next generation does it better. A solid mentoring program can be the backbone of any company if it is done right. It should be a give-and-take relationship centered around knowledge, not status, with honest feedback that goes both ways. And as I’ve found, it has rewards for both sides.
JH: Too often, individual high performers are promoted into leadership roles without the right training on how to lead, manage and supervise effectively. In fact, that’s exactly how I began my leadership career. Because of that experience, I believe in providing training to equip leaders preemptively, creating space for peer-to-peer learning, and encouraging leaders to explore the value of seeking guidance and perspective from others both inside and outside of work.
This article was originally published by ASI Central
by UFG | Apr 25, 2025 | News
Ray Titus is CEO of United Franchise Group (UFG), a global leader for entrepreneurs with brands in over 1,800 locations in 80 countries.
Every business has to wrestle with their budget now and then. Profits will dip even when you think you’re doing all you can to keep them rising. It’s rarely easy, but it can be simple.
There are only two ways to raise profits, after all: Increase sales revenue or cut costs. It’s always easier to increase sales, but if you can’t, it may be time to trim down your spending.
If you’re not sure where to start, I recommend you look into a financial advisor to help you evaluate spending and suggest areas to cut. A certified public accountant (CPA) is a great place to start. Make it a short-term contract, but have them advise you on long-term strategies you can use in the future.
To Cut Or Not To Cut
Slicing the budget requires a scalpel, not a chainsaw. Look carefully at all expenses and be strategic when deciding what to let go.
Start with the low-hanging fruit, like travel and large executive perks. If you can’t eliminate travel, consider more budget-friendly arrangements than first-class airfare or top-tier hotels.
If you decide you must lay people off, avoid cutting valuable employees. You can’t afford to lose workers with special skills or knowledge, for instance, or whose client connections consistently feed your bottom line. You should also try to hold off on letting go of any sales-producing employees.
Instead, are there any workers who aren’t pulling their weight or whose efforts don’t bring results? Even if they aren’t in sales—maybe they’re in a creative department or they make the products you sell—their work should eventually lead to sales. If it’s poorly executed or they consistently miss deadlines, it may be time for them to go.
But don’t be too quick to go for short-term solutions. Advertising and training are essential investments in your company’s success and should be last resorts.
Cost-cutting is trickier for a franchise business. You can’t decrease costs that negatively impact the brand and the individual businesses. Instead, I recommend you focus on adding technology that can increase communications but decrease costs, like Zoom.
That’s how my company was able to thrive during the pandemic when sales slowed down and travel was greatly restricted. We invested in a local studio so our webinars and Zoom calls would look professional. Our franchise owners liked this even better than personal meetings, and it saved us a lot of money.
Some expenses can be adjusted rather than eliminated. Can you get a better deal for your cash-flow contracts, for instance? Renegotiating a 30-day payment to 60 days can free up some short-term cash—so can getting rid of deposits against future purchases.
Keeping The Frugality Going
The secret to effective cost-cutting is to adopt a long-term approach, even if you’re enacting short-term cuts. When things turn around, can your smaller staff continue giving you the desired results? Do you need to resume your old travel schedule, or has virtual conferencing been effective for most off-site meetings?
You should review all costs at least quarterly, especially if you are concerned about profit. Have a monthly profit and loss review and a yearly review of vendors and their competitive pricing.
But don’t take it all on yourself. The best approach is to get your whole team looking for ways to cut costs and save money. Don’t “nickel and dime” them on every pencil and pen, but get them in the habit of questioning whether an expense is necessary.
Make everyone responsible for the costs, and they’ll share in the profits.
This article was originally published by Forbes
