We set the bar high for ourselves

What is behind this success? We asked both sides of the model – the franchisee, Karolina Sokół, and the franchisor’s representative, Marcin Bonicki, Franchisee Business Partner of McDonald’s Polska, who supports entrepreneurs in running their businesses under the Golden Arches on a daily basis.

There are currently 600 restaurants in Poland, 91% of which are run by over 110 franchise organizations. Each licensee has its own advisor, called a Franchisee Business Partner, who helps achieve success and achieve business goals.

The fact that McDonald’s franchising is effective is best proven by data: in over three decades of operation in Poland, no franchisee has terminated cooperation with the brand due to unsatisfactory business results. On average, one franchisee runs about 5 restaurants and employs nearly 300 employees in his organization. In 2024 alone, entrepreneurs creating the McDonald’s ecosystem paid PLN 75 million in corporate income tax.

Cooperation for years

Franchise agreements for running restaurants under the Złote Łuki brand are usually signed for 20 years. Franchisees are expected to have business experience, including team management, and an understanding of the importance of the guest and employee experience. In addition, there are formal conditions and financial requirements, but they are not decisive – what counts is the matching of the candidate’s profile to the role of a franchisee and shared values.

We are not looking for passive investors. We are looking for leaders, people involved in the daily operation of the restaurant, who will build and lead their team. We have high expectations towards our partners and we give a lot of ourselves at every stage of cooperation.

We approach each franchise agreement with great responsibility, adds Marcin Bonicki, Franchisee Business Partner of McDonald’s Polska, who cooperates with 20 franchisees from central, eastern and north-eastern Poland on a daily basis.

After passing the first stage of recruitment, candidates begin training to prepare for their new role. It lasts from 9 to 12 months. During this time, they work at every position and learn the procedures and restaurants from the inside. They also receive transparent information about the brand’s strategy and values, allowing them to understand the business. This is the stage when a potential franchisee can find out whether this is the direction for him.

Recruitment to McDonald’s is a multi-stage process. And there is nothing strange about it – both parties must be sure that they want to be bound together for the next 20 years.

When I started my journey with the brand, training was a big challenge for me because I was still professionally associated with my previous employer. Today, however, I know that without the basics I learned in restaurants, I would not be able to effectively run my own – emphasizes Karolina Sokół, who currently runs 7 restaurants and has been cooperating with Marcin Bonicki for years.

Business based on people

New franchisees start their adventure by taking over an existing restaurant. The advantage of this solution is an experienced crew and greater predictability resulting from the history of a given restaurant. They receive the know-how of a global company, proven operational procedures and access to tools, as well as ongoing support. Each new franchisee is also assigned a mentor from among more experienced operators. On the other hand, franchisees bring their own experience to the network, which allows them to work effectively in thematic working groups and build the competitive advantage of the entire network through jointly developed solutions.

A key role in the cooperation process is played by Franchisee Business Partners, who have groups of entrepreneurs from specific regions under their wing. They are their first contact and daily support, helping in the following areas: operational, employee, marketing, IT and financial analytics. Together with representatives of other departments of the McDonald’s office, they form an expert and business support team, known as the One Field Team.

Marcin Bonicki, as a Franchisee Business Partner, participates in creating a development strategy for franchisee organizations in his region. Based on daily contact and periodic evaluations of cooperation, he knows the situation of individual entrepreneurs very well, thanks to which he can effectively advise them, support them in difficult situations and strengthen their development ambitions. As he explains, his role is also to coordinate and ensure coherence of activities of representatives of individual departments of the company’s headquarters in Poland.

McDonald’s is a people-based business. We all understand perfectly well that only together, with full partnership and trust, can we achieve success.

– We, franchisees, know that we can count on support and proven solutions, and the corporation knows that every day we will take care of the experience of guests, employees and local communities – adds Karolina Sokół.

McDonald’s has ambitious development plans in Poland, assuming the opening of approximately 130 new restaurants by 2027. To achieve them, the chain invests in further improvement of cooperation with existing franchisees and recruits new ones. When developing a group of partners, McDonald’s Polska relies on several decades of experience of a global corporation that is a pioneer of franchising, but also on good practices collected in the European Franchising Code of Ethics and the Code of Good Practices for the Franchise Market in Poland. Since its establishment, McDonald’s has been a member of the Polish Franchise Organization. This approach is the key to success – 97%. franchisees assess cooperation with the company as satisfactory in internal surveys.