Joining a franchise
BuddyStall has features built specifically for running a franchise store. When you create your account — or at any point later — you can connect to a franchise brand that has already partnered with BuddyStall.
Connecting links your store to the brand's franchisor, and both sides gain from it:
For you, the owner
Start instantly — connecting loads the brand's menu, inventory, and recipes into your store, so your setup is done the moment your account is.
One-button updates — when the franchise catalog changes, sync it into your store with a single tap.
Smooth franchise ordering — order inventory from the franchisor and track receiving, status, and cost, all inside BuddyStall.
For the franchisor
See how stores perform — sales by store and by menu item, to refine the menu, analyze locations, and keep improving the brand.
Manage incoming orders — handle inventory orders from connected stores efficiently in one place.
Once you connect, sales of the franchise-brand menu items are sent to the franchisor as data. Menu items you add yourself — anything outside the franchise menu — are never sent to the franchisor.
Here's an overview of each part of a franchise connection. Each section below is a quick summary — follow the link for the full how-to.
Connecting to a franchise
You connect from Settings → Franchise Connections — pick the franchise to link your store to its franchisor. You can do this when you first set up your account, or at any time later. Everything else on this page switches on only once you're connected.
See Connect & sync for the step-by-step — connecting at sign-up or later, and pulling updates afterwards.
Loading the preset
The franchisor's catalog reaches you as a preset — menu items, inventory, and recipes you load into your own master data in one step, so your setup is done the moment you connect. The app first compares the preset against what you already have, then lets you load it field by field; some inventory fields stay locked by the franchisor. When the catalog changes later, you re-run the same compare-and-load flow to pull the updates, and preset items carry a franchise badge in your master menu and inventory.
See Inventory master and Master menu for what the badge means and which fields you can still change.
Ordering through the franchise
Once connected, two more sources join your own suppliers on every order: the franchisor's central stockhouse, and partner suppliers the franchisor has set up for the whole franchise (you request access per partner). Receiving a franchise order restocks your inventory and logs the expense, exactly like any other order.
See Franchise ordering for the step-by-step flow.
Reporting to the franchisor
Sales of franchise-menu items flow up to the franchisor automatically, so they can see how each store and each menu item is performing. Items you added yourself stay private — see What the franchisor sees above.