In 2004, Wade Brannon was coaching his son’s T-ball team when one other player’s mother asked, “You’re the ham guy, right?”
Well, he was Ham Guy: He founded Heavenly Ham, grew it to $150 million in revenue with greater than 200 franchises in 33 states, then sold it to Honey Baked Ham. But in 2004, his role was that of Mr. Mom, caring for a 5-year-old boy and younger twins while his wife worked as a real estate attorney near their Atlanta home.
Raising children was rewarding but difficult; his son had what he calls sensory issues (common in young children) that made some tasks difficult. “I’d take him to my barbershop, and he’d scream the whole time,” Brannon recalls. “We’d both come out sweaty, with our hair stuck to us.”
The T-ball mom, whose name was Nanette Adair, had a solution: She opened a kids’ salon called Pigtails & Crewcuts, and Brannon just took his son there. “He loved it,” Brannon says. “He watched movies, played with the train tables, interacted with the other kids.” So when Adair told him she had some questions (*80*) the franchise for Brannon, he was intrigued.
After several meetings, Brannon bought Pigtails & Crewcuts from Adair in late 2004. The company now has greater than 80 franchise locations and goals to reach 100 by the end of this yr. Here, he talks (*80*) turning a local business into a successful franchise.
How many pieces of the Pigtails & Crewcuts model were already accomplished when you bought it?
It was one salon here in Atlanta, it had a federally registered trademark and it had a look and feel. I got some of my old ham guys back together and we spent the next yr off and on putting systems in place.
Hair and ham are different industries. What made you think this could work?
I looked at two principal things. I asked if there was a need—and I believed there was, based on my son’s response when he experienced it. And then I asked, Can this be replicated? Can the average person with business acumen replicate this and do it accurately?
How did you manage to recreate this service?
We had to create a design package that might be replicated anywhere. We had to write operating manuals. We had to write franchise agreements and franchise disclosure documents. I talked to a lot of individuals in the hair industry. I didn’t realize how big the hair industry was until I began looking into it. Oh my God, it’s a $65 billion industry. But no one had taken the kids segment and turned it into a national brand.
What kind of franchisees work best with your brand?
We’ve had a lot of ladies with 2-year-olds. They have a baby and they feel like they’re ready to go back to work, so they arrive to us. We also have a lot of husband and wife teams. We’re not only for hairdressers. We’re for business people with people skills. You have to want to work in a team, be a part of your community, like people—kids and parents.
What advice would you give to future franchisors?
You have to be flexible. Markets change. Conditions change. Everything changes. We went through a recession and found that our business was recession-proof. We went through a pandemic that completely shut us down for periods of time. You just have to have a product or service that may survive the hard times that you simply don’t anticipate. You have to be ready for change.