YouMeSushi has grown from one London site to 29 locations, with plans for many more openings in 2026. Founded in 2008 and franchising since 2021, it built its growth around control, consistency and repeatable rollout.

In our latest Growth Collective webinar, Tim Circus, Head of Franchise at YouMeSushi, sat down with Vita Mojo to share what scaling QSR growth through franchising actually takes. Tim brings 30 years across Burger King, Subway, Papa Johns and German Doner Kebab, and has overseen hundreds of restaurant openings.

Here are five lessons from the conversation.

1. The biggest growth killer is the wrong franchisee

When asked the biggest mistake franchisors make, Tim did not hesitate.

“Partnering with the wrong partner. Franchisee selection, the number one.”

It is easy to confuse enthusiasm with capability. Capital matters, but it is rarely the deciding factor.

“Excitement and keenness don’t always equal good operators.”

What Tim looks for instead is alignment and grip on the day-to-day. The best franchisees are involved in their stores, even if they are not personally making sushi.

Cultural fit with head office is non-negotiable. As he put it, “we’d rather get the right locations so our operators are successful” than chase site count.

2. Training is where franchise success is won or lost

YouMeSushi supports franchisees across site selection, fit-out, recruitment, training, and ongoing field support. Asked which of those has the biggest impact, Tim was clear:

“Training. You’ve got to get operations right from day one.”

Tim started his career as a trainer at Burger King 30 years ago, and the conviction has stuck. YouMeSushi field teams hand-hold operators before and after launch, so franchisees open with operations dialled in rather than playing catch-up from week one.

The takeaway for multi-site operators is straightforward. Training is rarely the cost line that gets celebrated, but it is the one that protects every other number on the P&L.

3. Location beats operator, every time

Site selection at YouMeSushi runs a three-stage sign-off. Property agents, Tim, and the founder each weigh in. Demographic data sits alongside repeated in-person visits across weekends, evenings and weekdays.

The reason is simple:

“You can have an amazing operator, but if they’re in the wrong location, they will fail.”

Tim shared a small example that captures the discipline. On a recent site visit, walking out of the station and turning right looked promising. Standing on the other side of the road revealed the higher footfall. Detail at that level decides whether a store survives.

For operators considering franchising, his parting advice tied straight back to this point: “Get the right location. And be involved in your business, that’s two things.”

4. When performance drifts, run: ‘skill, will, obstacle’

Once the estate grows past the mid-20s, gut feel is not enough to spot a slipping store. YouMeSushi reviews sales and operational data weekly, and acts quickly when something starts to drift.

Tim’s diagnostic is worth memorising.

“I always say things happen for three reasons. It can be a lack of skill, a lack of will, or they have obstacles in the way, whether it’s a tool that they don’t have, they need to invest in to help drive the business.”

If the issue is skill or obstacle, head office leans in: on-site training, coaching, daily data sharing where needed. If the issue is will, the conversation changes. The brand has to be protected, and so do the other franchisees who are getting it right.

As Tim noted, “franchisee A doesn’t want franchisee C affecting their business.”

5. Make the mistakes for them, not with them

Every menu change, process tweak and tech rollout starts in YouMeSushi corporate stores before any of it reaches a franchisee.

“If you trial something and you launch in the whole estate or the franchise estate, you’re kind of putting them under pressure. So we make the mistakes, we take the learnings before we roll something out.”

That discipline does two things. It lets franchisees focus on running their store rather than absorbing rollout risk. And it builds the trust that drives reinvestment.

Recent YouMeSushi openings were delivered by existing partners opening their second and third sites, a reliable signal that the model is working.

What had to change as the estate grew

Tim was honest about where things got harder. Operations, supplier management and reporting started to strain as the brand moved through the mid-20s site count.

The supplier list was rationalised from around 11 down to four: fish, frozen, packaging, oil. External food safety partners were brought in. An internal field team was built to coach at store level.

Technology now sits at the centre of the next phase. Live data on sales channels and customer accounts is starting to give head office and franchisees the visibility they both need, without piling complexity onto store teams.

The pattern across all five lessons is the same. Repeatable franchise growth is not the result of moving faster. It comes from getting the foundations right earlier, then refusing to compromise on them as the estate expands.

Watch the full conversation

Tim covered more than we could fit here, including how YouMeSushi balances national marketing with local franchisee activity, the Capex profile that makes a site fundable, where the brand sees its next markets, and the rivalry between franchisees that quietly drives performance up across the network.

Watch the full Growth Collective session with Tim Circus to hear the rest. Sign up below…