Coffee Entrepreneur Discusses How He Has Helped Establish One of the Most Popular Chains in the Midwest

The co-CEO and co-founder of Biggby Coffee, Mike McFall, talked
with host Barbara Castiglia of the podcast “The Main Course,”
about the rise of his coffee chain. Founded in Lansing, Michigan
over 27 years ago, today Biggby Coffee is one of the most popular
coffee chains in the Midwest region. McFall said decades ago he
took a leap into an industry that was fairly new. Brewing a
coffee business from the ground up took a lot of work, and more
importantly, it took even more for two business partners to know
they could expand and operate their company under the franchise
model.


“It was a natural fit for my partner and I. We both tend to lean
into being teachers, we love working with other people as
partners, and the franchise business model is very much that,”
said McFall.


Under the mentorship of Fred Deluca, the founder of Subway
franchise, McFall added that they were able to see the positive
benefits of franchising, and why the framework allowed them to
significantly grow. Owners of Biggby Coffee franchises are
equipped with their own skill sets in the making of a thriving
business, and McFall said he favors that above all.


“Franchise owners, locally, they’re not your employees, that is
for certain, and they’re independent business people … all of
them come with some degree of success in another arena,” said
McFall. “They’re very experienced people and we really like that.
There’s a lot of energy in the franchise business model that
way.”


Another highlight of Biggby Coffee’s success was their take on
menu item names, opting for creative terms for their lattes that
often incorporate pop culture terms, such as Caramel Marvel. But
a major highlight for the company came at the height of their
business boom. Initially called Beaner’s Coffee, about a decade
into operations, McFall and his partner realized they needed to
change the entire company’s name. Unfortunately, the former
portion of the original business name is also an ethnic slur for
Mexican-Americans.


“It was something that we obviously weren't aware of originally
right when we formed it, we became aware of it very quickly.


After much discussion between himself and his partner, McFall
decided that the name change would occur and every location they
had would become Biggby Coffee. He said his eyes were opened and
“it just became very apparent that you don't want to have a name
in any way derogatory toward anybody,” McFall said.


However, the name change process contractually required the
franchise owners to foot the bill of the cost of the change that
needed to be reflected in signage, and the price tag was quite
hefty. But it was a commitment he was willing to abide by and
McFall shelled out almost $1 million to ensure that all Biggby
Coffee franchises were under the new name.


McFall stated that the franchise business model was the best
decision for his company. Although he claims not every franchise
owner can have a positive experience, and has had some challenges
in the past, he added that to guarantee a lucrative franchise
company is knowing the best types of partners to collaborate
with.