--- title: "Why Franchise Brands Need to Study Their Near Misses" url: https://burnaze.com/article/6365ed78-af3b-4a74-bbd3-0985f270ce52 source: "Franchise Magazine USA" original_url: https://franchisemagazineusa.com/why-franchise-brands-need-to-study-their-near-misses/ author: "David Gibb" category: "Franchise Industry" industry: "Franchise Industry" topics: ["Emerging brands"] published: 2026-10-13T11:00:34.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T21:42:15.856Z image: https://franchisemagazineusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Why-Franchise-Brands-Need-to-Study-Near-Misses-Featured.jpg --- # Why Franchise Brands Need to Study Their Near Misses **TL;DR:** Franchise brands should study their near misses to identify areas for improvement and stimulate growth among underperforming units. By examining near misses, franchisors can gain insights into small holes in their overall approach and opportunities to improve. *By David Gibb, originally published in Franchise Magazine USA on 2026-10-13. [Read the original](https://franchisemagazineusa.com/why-franchise-brands-need-to-study-their-near-misses/).* ## Key facts - Franchise brands can learn from near-miss locations - Near-miss units provide qualitative data and feedback - Studying near misses is action oriented ## Story When franchise brands dive deep into their own unit economics looking for takeaways, it can be tempting to stay focused on the top third of performers across the system. Those operators are the ones exemplifying success, so it’s natural to want to uncover what they’re doing right and figure out how it can be replicated across other units. However, a franchisor studying only the habits of its highest-performing locations is akin to a teacher focusing only on the outcomes of the highest-performing students. That approach can teach you a lot about what success looks like but does little to stimulate improvement among the cohort that needs it most. ## Near miss analysis When franchisors assess their network’s health and potential with an eye toward identifying the pivots it will take to drive success across the entire system, those brands often overlook a key source of potentially enlightening data: the units in their network that didn’t quite make it. Abject failures can teach a development team about what not to do (where not to build, which kinds of owner-operators to avoid, etc.) and major successes can help a brand understand just how much is possible, but it’s the near misses that often have a story to tell about where a system’s approach can improve in ways that will support further growth and prevent the failure of future units that could succeed. A near-miss location might present in a couple of different ways. It could be a unit that’s struggled to establish business even though locations in demographically comparable markets are thriving. It could be a unit operated by an owner the development team was extremely excited to work with whose early results simply aren’t aligning with expectations. It could even be a closed storefront that couldn’t keep the doors open long enough to see the crest of the wave. Each near-miss location has something specific to tell its franchise system about the small holes in the overall approach and opportunities to do better. Unlocking those insights is all about looking at the lifecycle of the near-miss unit and scoping the gaps between expected performance and reality. If a business unit did not succeed in a setting in which many factors pointed toward potential success, which individual performance and operational variables were different? Where was the leak in the boat, and why did it go unpatched? Which intervention(s) timed when might have prevented failure? ## Qualitative data insights It’s important to stress that, ideally, studying near-miss franchise locations isn’t just about poring over the books with a magnifying glass and looking for numbers that tell stories. One of the most important data sources during these exercises is that near-miss franchise operator themself. They were there for every day of that business’ existence, from before you signed the agreement to the moment it just didn’t work out. Their experiences and narratives provide a wealth of qualifiable data and feedback that brands can use to zero in on the challenges or pain points that undermined the success of that particular unit. Understandably, those conversations can be tricky. Near-miss franchisees exiting your system or feeling like their exit could be impending are likely to be disappointed, even angry, about the way things turned out. With that said, it’s still crucial to find ways to bring them to the table to have a substantive discussion about what went wrong. While it may be too late to forge a successful, long-lasting partnership with that particular franchisee, getting a clear picture of their pain points and how your system might’ve helped bridge those challenges more effectively is key to supporting all the franchise candidates and future recruits you haven’t met yet. ## Action oriented learning Studying near misses within your franchise system can be challenging and uncomfortable because it forces you to confront that rubber-hits-the-road moment where your brand didn’t resonate with a community or your proven methodologically fell short of delivering business success. With that said, the entire point of franchising is to provide a replicable approach that local owner-operators can leverage to open a thriving business quickly and in a richly supported manner. If you’re not carefully examining the times the system isn’t providing a clean, successful launch, then you’re not growing your network in ways that are focused on franchisee success. Studying near misses across your network is powerful because it’s inherently action oriented. When you profile your successes, you’re creating just that: a largely static exemplar profile that tells you what perfection looks like. When you examine clear failures, you’re framing up what you want to avoid. What neither of those exercises does is shine a light in the dark, specific corners of a business unit where success and failure are made to provide you with clear line item “this, not that” guidance that can be passed along to others. When franchise brands become true students of their near-miss units, the industry will be able to grow in stronger, healthier, more predictable ways, and early-stage operators will be better-supported than ever. ## Entities - franchise growth (topic) - Franchise Magazine USA (publication) - Emerging (sector) - David Gibb (person) - unit performance (topic) - Franchise Brands (company) - operational improvement (topic) --- Originally reported by David Gibb, Franchise Magazine USA (https://franchisemagazineusa.com/why-franchise-brands-need-to-study-their-near-misses/). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/6365ed78-af3b-4a74-bbd3-0985f270ce52).