Franchise Business Review

What Franchise Business Review does

Franchise Business Review (FBR) is an independent market research firm founded in 2005 and headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, specializing in franchise industry benchmarking. The company provides survey-based research solutions covering franchisee satisfaction, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, candidate experience, and diversity, equity & inclusion. FBR's analytical foundation is the proprietary Franchisee Satisfaction Index (FSI), which benchmarks results across 1,300+ franchise brands accumulated over 20+ years and is delivered through an interactive cloud-based analytics platform with heatmaps, custom reporting, and real-time filtering by location, role, and tenure.

FBR monetizes through a multi-stream model: subscription-based research programs (annual benchmarks and ongoing pulse surveys), a pay-per-lead franchise candidate matching program restricted to the top 200 ranked brands (starting at $85 per lead), sponsored content and branded email placements, brand exposure advertising, and franchise validation services that produce third-party credibility reports and badges. Survey projects are operationalized within 48 hours of list submission, with data collection and custom reporting delivered in approximately three weeks. The customer base spans enterprise franchise systems (e.g., Wendy's, Culver's, Häagen-Dazs, KOA, School of Rock) and SMB brands (e.g., 360clean), sold primarily through a sales-led motion targeting C-suite, operations, development, HR, and private equity buyers.

In February 2026, FBR was acquired by the International Franchise Professionals Group (IFPG) to integrate its benchmarking dataset into IFPG's franchise growth platform, with stated plans to develop an AI-enabled performance intelligence layer providing predictive insights for franchise development. The company continues to operate under the FBR brand and is led by CEO Eric Stites, President Michelle Rowan, and VP of Marketing Mariah Morgan.

Name

Franchise Business Review

Legal name

Franchise Business Review

Website

https://tour.franchisebusinessreview.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Franchise Business Review is an independent market research firm founded in 2005 that provides franchisee satisfaction, employee engagement, and customer experience surveys benchmarked across 1,300+ franchise brands, serving franchisors and franchise candidates with analytics, validation, and lead generation services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Portsmouth

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Franchisee Satisfaction Research Subscriptions: Annual subscription-based surveys with continuous feedback and benchmarking. Clients receive franchisee satisfaction surveys, real-time analytics, and industry comparisons against 1,300+ franchise brands. Package options include annual benchmarks and ongoing pulse surveys.
2. Lead Generation Program: Pay-per-lead program where franchise brands on FBR's top franchise lists receive qualified leads from candidates who submitted inquiries. Only top 200 ranked brands qualify. Pricing starts at $85/lead with no lead sharing and direct candidate contact.
3. Content Marketing: Sponsored articles, franchisee profiles, and branded email placements published on FBR's platform to reach qualified franchise buyers. Formats include featured articles, premium franchisee profiles, branded email sends, and franchisee insights webinars.
4. Franchise Validation Program: Third-party validation service that provides comprehensive satisfaction reports, brand presence on FBR's prospect-facing website, and marketing collateral. Creates 50% higher conversion rate and 78% of new leads come from validated brands.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Franchise Business Review is an independent market research firm that provides survey-based research, benchmarking, and validation services to franchise brands. Its core offerings include franchisee satisfaction, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, candidate experience, and DEI surveys benchmarked against the proprietary Franchisee Satisfaction Index covering 1,300+ brands, delivered via an interactive analytics platform. Supporting franchise development services include third-party Franchise Validation, pay-per-lead Lead Generation, Content Marketing, and Brand Exposure placements, complemented by annual awards and the FBR Summit conference.

Product overview

Franchise Business Review operates as a market research platform specializing in franchisee satisfaction and employee engagement measurement. The core product portfolio consists of survey-based research solutions (Franchisee Satisfaction Surveys, Employee Engagement Surveys, Customer Satisfaction Surveys, Candidate Experience Surveys, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Surveys) that collect feedback across franchise stakeholders and benchmark results against the Franchisee Satisfaction Index covering 1,300+ franchise brands. These research capabilities are supported by the FBR Analytics Platform, an interactive cloud-based reporting tool with real-time dashboards and benchmarking features. The company also offers franchise development services including Franchise Validation (third-party validation for candidates), Lead Generation (pay-per-lead program), Content Marketing (sponsored content), and Brand Exposure (advertising placements). Recognition programs include the annual Franchisee Satisfaction Awards (Top 200 Franchises, Culture100, Top Franchises for Women, Most Innovative Franchises) and the FBR Summit annual conference. The platform is positioned as independent, third-party research trusted by franchise brands for validation and development purposes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Franchisee Satisfaction Surveys The primary survey product that measures franchisee satisfaction and engagement across franchise systems, providing benchmarks against 1,300+ franchise brands using the proprietary Franchisee Satisfaction Index (FSI). Used by franchise executives and operations leaders to assess system health and guide decisions.
• Employee Engagement Surveys Survey product that captures employee feedback at corporate and unit levels, providing heatmaps, trend analysis, manager scorecards, and industry benchmarks for retention and performance improvement. Targeted at franchise HR teams.
• Customer Satisfaction Surveys Customer feedback solution that tracks satisfaction at local unit levels with NPS, CSAT metrics, customer loyalty alerts, and reputation management guidance. Targeted at franchise marketing and operations teams.
• Candidate Experience Surveys Sales audit and candidate feedback product that identifies disconnects in franchise development processes, including mystery shopping, sales team audits, and non-buyer surveys. Used by franchise sales and development leaders.
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Surveys

Quantifiable outcome

• 70% contact rate through FBR lead generation vs ~30% from typical franchise portals
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Qualtrics: Enterprise experience management platform offering survey, analytics, and benchmarking tools across employee, customer, and brand experience. Overlaps with FBR on franchisee/employee engagement measurement but operates across all industries and at much larger scale.
• SurveyMonkey: General-purpose survey platform with enterprise tier used by businesses for customer, employee, and market research. Competes with FBR on the technology layer but lacks FBR's franchise-specific benchmarking (FSI) and lead-gen marketplace.
• Glassdoor: Employee review and employer-research platform providing third-party workplace satisfaction data consumed by candidates, HR teams, and researchers. Comparable to FBR's employee engagement and candidate experience products, with a similar independent-data positioning, but across all employers rather than franchises.
• InMoment: Customer experience (CX) and voice-of-customer platform with surveys, analytics, and benchmarking. Directly overlaps with FBR's Customer Satisfaction Surveys product and broader franchise stakeholder feedback analytics, but operates across verticals.

Direct peers

• Great Place to Work: Independent research and certification firm measuring employee satisfaction and producing 'Best Workplaces' rankings. Closest direct analog to FBR's employee engagement surveys and Culture100/awards programs, with a comparable independent-research-then-recognize business model.
• Franchise Times: Leading franchise industry trade publication producing the Franchise Times Top 400 rankings, news, and research. Directly comparable in franchise-industry focus, audience (franchisors/development teams), and ranking/awards content; competes for franchise marketing budgets and mindshare.
• Entrepreneur Media (Franchise 500): Publisher of the Franchise 500 ranking and the Top Franchise Supplier awards that FBR itself has won. Competes with FBR's Top 200/Culture100 awards for franchise brand recognition and candidate attention, while also serving as a partner/recognition body for FBR.

Emerging players

• Forsta: Market research and customer/employee experience platform formed from the merger of Confirmit and FocusVision. Comparable technology stack for multi-stakeholder surveys and analytics; smaller and more specialized than Qualtrics, making it a closer feature-overlap peer to FBR.
• TrustRadius: B2B software review and research platform with paid research products for vendors. Comparable as a third-party independent review/benchmarking business serving B2B buyers, though focused on software rather than franchises.
• Comparably: Employer branding and workplace culture platform providing employee satisfaction data, awards (Best Places to Work), and candidate research. Closely analogous to FBR's employee engagement + awards + candidate experience bundle, but at broader employer scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FranchiseReview

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Franchise Business Review