Thanks to pop culture and movies like “Top Gun,” most everyone knows what it means to have a “wingman.” Put simply, a wingman looks out for you – they handle the hard stuff, they have your back no matter what. So maybe it’s more than a coincidence that Wingman Wings chose to name its cartoon superhero chicken mascot Wingman. Because that’s exactly what the people at Wingman Wings do – they look out for their franchisees.

Long before the Wingman concept became airborne, the company was just an idea in the head of Karl Kigerl, an area manager for Captain D’s restaurant in Alabama. In 1989, Kigerl relocated to Colorado where he continued his food service career working the line at Woody’s Wings. Kigerl saw so much potential for the Woody’s concept that he ended up purchasing the business in 1992, and after years of development and perfecting everything from top-secret recipes to top-of-the-line service, he turned it into the Wingman Wings franchise in 2002.

Today, Wingman Wings is a franchise concept on the cusp of becoming an industry leader. While it’s almost a wing restaurant cliché to say that success is “all in the sauce,” Kigerl attributes Wingman’s success to a lot more. “There are a number of reasons why we’re different from other franchise opportunities,” Kigerl says. “And those reasons make us better.” The fiery sauce is not only well worth bragging about, but it’s still the essential ingredient that keeps customers coming back. In fact, Wingman’s wings have won best traditional hot sauce in two National Buffalo Wing Festivals in Buffalo, N.Y. – the undisputed home of the chicken wing. Wingman has put other trophies on the shelf as well, including ones for best lunch spot, best wings and, believe it or not, best hamburger.

“Ultimately, our concept caters to everyone,” says Kigerl. “Of course there are the wings, but we have an extensive, delicious menu that goes way beyond wings, including hamburgers, chicken breast sandwiches, Philly cheese steaks, fried mushrooms, zucchini and even funnel cakes.” All this variety helps keep Wingman at the forefront of customers’ minds when they’re in the mood for more than just a spicy meal. And while the food is great, there’s a lot more to gain for potential Wingman franchisees than just satisfied customers. “We’re not one of those franchises that’s just trying to bust out and conglomerate so we can retire,” says Kigerl of Wingman’s business approach. “We’re growing at a pace that we’re comfortable with and one that is most beneficial to each new franchisee.” In fact, the Wingman franchise makes the franchisor-franchisee relationship a priority, offering outstanding support to their franchisees at every step in the process. “I feel it would be a disservice to potential franchisees to spend any less than the maximum amount of time preparing them for success,” says Kigerl. “And we’ve structured our concept accordingly.”

“We do all our franchisee training right at Karl’s store,” says director of franchising, Jim Rowell. “We only train one franchisee at a time, and we train them well – in every position in the restaurant. After we train them, we go right to their store and get them up and running. We support our franchisees in all facets of the franchise process, from site selection, lease negotiations, construction management and sign production, all the way to interior décor.”

One of the truest testaments to the training and startup methods embraced by Kigerl and Rowell is the type of background commonly shared by their franchisees – or, perhaps, the lack thereof. “So far, not a single one of our franchisees has come to us with restaurant experience,” says Karl. “When we say anyone can be successful with Wingman, we mean it.”

For the fledgling wing entrepreneur, there are three ways to become an owner. These three ownership levels are single-unit operator, area developer and regional developer. As a single unit franchisee, one owns and operates their own restaurant, while area developers are able to purchase the rights to three or more in a given territory. Once an entrepreneur expresses interest in 10 units or more, they become a regional developer with the rights to train and expand from their own training facility.

The total average costs for Wingman investments vary considerably due to a number of factors but usually range from $150,000 to $400,000. Still, always with the franchisee in mind, Kigerl and Rowell have worked out a number of investment options and veteran discounts – all in the interest of getting more stores into more franchisees’ hands.

“Ultimately, it’s the franchisees that are going to make this company great,” says Kigerl. “We feel we’ve done what we can to give them that opportunity. We have a superior product, a superior concept and we have superior support.” All they need now, are a few good Wingmen.

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