You would think that Kevin Blackwell had enough on his mind while training for triathlons two decades ago in Southern California. But there’s a reason the old adage “one thing leads to another” has been around for so long. In Blackwell’s case, his experimentation with making smoothies to help with his training led him into the franchise business, opening the door for hundreds of people to make their self-employment dreams come true.

“My training buddies encouraged me to make a business out of these delicious smoothies I kept making, and I gave it a shot with a couple smoothie huts on the beaches in San Diego,” explains Blackwell. “From there, we opened our first Surf City Squeeze, started franchising it and have seen great success in the franchising world ever since.”

Blackwell and his wife, Kathryn, learned how to operate the franchises first-hand. “We did everything from managing employees to mopping the floors,” he recalls. “I’ve been in the shoes of franchisees and am very proud of the fact that over the years, we have both developed and acquired concepts that provide a complete portfolio of options for prospective and current franchisees.”

The couple has come a long way since those initial fruit smoothies and beach huts. Today, the Kahala family of brands is recognized throughout the franchising and restaurant industries as a category leader and innovator. Members of the Kahala portfolio include Cold Stone Creamery, Blimpie, Samurai Sam’s Teriyaki Grill, Cereality Cereal Bar & Café, Frullati Café & Bakery, Great Steak & Potato, Johnnie’s NY Pizzeria, Nrgize Lifestyle Café, Ranch 1, Rollerz, Surf City Squeeze and TacoTime – and Kahala franchises have won the following accolades:

Cold Stone Creamery

Samurai Sam’s Teriyaki Grill 

Each brand operates independently when it comes to servicing its image. “There is a brand president for each brand, with its own sales, marketing and operations team to support the brand and its specific franchise community,” explains Blackwell, who’s taken care to ensure that each distinct brand is instantly recognizable outside of the Kahala name.

While Kahala invests the money for these brand structures, the company achieves its synergy and cost-savings by bundling the “back-end” of the house so the entire franchise community benefits from a shared purchasing team for economies of scale, as well as shared legal, finance, IT and human resources teams. The cost of each franchise depends on the brand. “But,” says Blackwell, “one of the benefits of Kahala is the fact that we have a wide portfolio of brands that fit an array of different budgets; so within our portfolio, there is an option that is right for each potential franchisee.”

For anyone interested in owning a franchise, Blackwell says it’s important to understand that it’s like being in business “for yourself, but not by yourself.” While Kahala can provide training support, marketing resources and purchasing power, Blackwell says potential franchisees need to know before they make that move that it is no picnic, but rather very hard work. “As I always say,” notes Blackwell, “those franchisees who are present and active in their stores become the most successful business owners in our system.”

To help ensure success, every new franchisee attends a week of training at the Kahala Training and Education Center (KTEC). “The focus of KTEC is on critical business applications needed for franchisee success, including food safety, operational excellence, crew member management and P&L analysis – to name a few key areas,” Blackwell says. “After KTEC, new franchisees participate in an in-depth, in-store operations training.” From there, the adventure – and freedom – begins.

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