---
title: "Franchise Times: Young DQ Franchisee Finds Success Through Employee Empowerment"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/8d81ec1a-d47b-4d43-9464-19fdc57cef6c
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-young-dq-franchisee-finds-success-through-employee-empowerment-9053
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2017-01-05T20:15:01.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:33:09.732Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/1d0b3c38498311de4d8e98d27d97ac298832.jpg
---

# Franchise Times: Young DQ Franchisee Finds Success Through Employee Empowerment

**TL;DR:** Dairy Queen franchisee Matt Frauenshuh's company, Fourteen Foods, has grown to 180 locations across ten states through employee empowerment and strategic acquisitions. Frauenshuh credits his familiarity with the brand and purchasing existing units as key factors in his success.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-01-05. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-young-dq-franchisee-finds-success-through-employee-empowerment-9053).*

## Story

Through hardwork, acquisition and a little business savvy, Matt Frauenshuh and his company Fourteen Foods have been able to grow to become the largest franchisee of Dairy Queen, with 180 DQ Grill & Chill locations in ten states.

Frauenshuh credits his ability to grow so quickly for a few reasons, beginning with his familiarity with the brand. He took over several of his families DQ Grill & Chill locations after managing them in college, he quickly found that purchasing existing units was a recipe for success.

"I saw that there were not many multi-unit operators in the Dairy Queen system. So there was an opportunity to do that in the Upper Midwest here. I started buying and acquiring individual units and built a couple along the way," Frauenshuh told the publication.

Frauenshuh says keeping a close eye on cash flow to evaluate the viability of continued expansion is key while sticking to his family-owned roots and empowering talented team members help build a culture to be proud of and creates loyalty in your staff. Together, it's a winning franchising combination.

"We look for people who want to be with us not just because we have a job open but be a part of our culture," he added.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- franchise expansion (topic)
- Dairy Queen (company)
- multi-unit operators (topic)
- employee empowerment (topic)
- strategic acquisitions (topic)
- Upper Midwest (location)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-young-dq-franchisee-finds-success-through-employee-empowerment-9053). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/8d81ec1a-d47b-4d43-9464-19fdc57cef6c).