Justin Ford

About Justin Ford

I\'ve spent more than 20 years inside franchise restaurant operations — not advising from a distance, but actually in it.I started with Domino\'s International in the Netherlands, working across 8 countries in Europe and the Middle East before eventually coming back stateside to run 60 stores as COO for Noble Food Group. I\'ve opened markets, turned around underperformers, restructured organizations, and built teams that lasted long after I moved on.Today I consult 55 franchisees across Southern California for Inspire Brands. My portfolio ranks top 3 nationally in the Baskin-Robbins system across sales growth, loyalty signups, and operational excellence. Outside of my territory work, I sit on the OneInspire Ops Council, serve as an Ops Specialist to the brand\'s digital team, and am currently leading a project to overhaul how Baskin-Robbins calculates ideal food cost — something that affects every franchisee in the system.I\'m not a generalist. Franchise operations is my lane — franchisee relationships, field execution, P&L accountability, market development, and building the kind of trust with operators that actually moves numbers. If that\'s what you\'re looking for, let\'s talk.

Experience

1. Franchise Business Consultant

   Inspire

   Nov 2023 — Present · Long Beach, CA, US

   Consult a portfolio of 55 franchisees across Southern California, currently ranking top 3 nationally across key Baskin-Robbins brand metrics — sales growth, loyalty program signups, and operational excellence scores.Beyond core territory responsibilities, currently engaged in three brand-level initiatives:• Member of the OneInspire Ops Council, contributing to system-wide operational strategy across the Inspire Brands portfolio• Operations Specialist to the Baskin-Robbins digital team, providing field perspective to guide digital product development and in-store execution• Part of the redesign team rewriting brand\'s ideal food cost calculation methodology to build a more accurate and relevant benchmarking model for franchisees• AI Automation for Operations — Built and deployed AI-assisted workflows (retrieval-augmented tools) to streamline FBC reporting, franchisee communications, and field analysis. Piloting scalable approaches for system-wide adoption while applying data governance and AI-ethics standards appropriate for franchise data environments.Day-to-day work covers franchisee profitability, HR and staffing guidance, local marketing, KPI development, franchise compliance, market development, new unit growth, and above-store leadership coaching.

Education

• Harvard Business School Online

  Harvard ManageMentor Plus Certification

• Professional Development — Training Facilitation

  Subject Matter Expert

Skills

• Field Marketing
• Multi-Unit
• Local Marketing
• Labor Control
• Restaurants
• Hiring
• Restaurant Management
• Food
• Franchise Consulting
• Income Statement
• Franchising
• Food Service
• Food Safety
• Food & Beverage
• Customer Service