Alan Gallup
”I’m going to do some work in music composition,” National Franchise Sales Partner Alan Gallup said of his retirement goals.
“I play a lot of instruments—maybe 20—and I tinkered with that over the years. And, I started a book eight or nine years ago, and it’s about 90 percent done. I’ll finish that up next year.”
But after five decades in the restaurant industry, it won’t be easy to give it all up at the end of the year.
“I got into working for Burger Chef for hourly employment, and that’s when I fell in love with the restaurant industry,” Gallup said. He transitioned into management with a smaller California burger chain, Crocker’s, and became a franchisee in 1971. After acquiring some units, he and a partner sold them to the franchisor and joined that corporate business.
“I loved the operations part of it,” he said. “And what I learned is that if you do a few simple things right,” and work hard, it all comes together. “I liked that success.”
He especially enjoyed the impact he had as a franchisee of Crocker’s: “You had a lot of freedom, and when I did something that other franchisees copied, I loved that. It was another outlet for me to succeed.”
He did find it hard to compete as a small burger chain. There was a Wienerschnitzel across the street from one of his restaurants, “and I learned they had better purchasing power.” At the end of the day, “we found the leases we had were more valuable than the actual restaurants. We spun them off and I went to work at Wienerschnitzel.”
During his 16 years there, he worked everywhere from R&D and purchasing to franchise operations and franchise sales. But in 1994, “things were looking grim for the brand, and I thought, ‘it’s time.’ So, I left.”
Gallup worked with National Franchise Sales founder Jerry Thissen on franchise sales while at Wienerschnitzel; the two met to talk about Gallup’s next chapter.
“Jerry said, ‘why don’t you come do this?’ I had always loved the franchise side of the business—for one thing, weighing entrepreneurship versus following the rules of the brand,” he explained. “It was an easy decision to come to NFS.”
NFS is a franchise business brokerage that helps franchisees and franchisors buy and sell their restaurant locations. Gallup said he’s had a hand in more than 1,000 transactions since joining the firm 30-plus years ago.
He loved “providing advice to clients that they can grasp and utilize,” he said. “When we talk with a buyer or seller, and we get through to what they are trying to achieve and then giving them counsel that will be useful to them, that is a big challenge. But I like that challenge.”
Gallup also enjoyed digging into the information.
“We have close relationships with so many brands, and we dialog with key individuals from both the franchisors and franchisees. And then there’s the community of lenders—all are a really great resource,” he said. “I like having that knowledge and being able to share it, when it’s possible, with others. It’s like a gift.”
But he’s most proud his clients and what they’ve done with the opportunities presented to them. “I had a small hand in their journey.”