Duck Donuts is an American doughnut shop chain based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Duck Donuts was founded in 2006 in Duck, North Carolina, by Russ DiGilio and Robin Griffith, and has since expanded to over 100 locations in the United States. Duck Donuts is known for its made-to-order donuts in a variety of unique flavors. It recently opened a location in Thailand. Managing growth is something that Duck Donuts (and many franchises) pays careful attention to. The training program for franchisees includes an emphasis on consistent branding and quality. Duck Donuts franchisees typically own just a few locations and often work on a daily basis in the locations they own. The custom, made-to-order model is what differentiates Duck Donuts from its competitors. Duck Donuts is testing kiosks in stores and grab-and-go opportunities for customers who might not want to wait for donuts.  QUOTES “(Managing growth) is challenging. We try to set franchisees up for success in the beginning from a training standpoint and teaching them how we do things.” (Betsy) “We have smaller franchisees. A lot of them have two or three locations and come from different backgrounds.” (Betsy)“What really makes a franchisee successful is someone who has a small business mentality. They’re accountable for their success or failure and we’ll give them all the tools and resources they need to succeed.” (Betsy) “It’s a lot of work and it’s constant. Franchisees have to be in the store and know what’s going on. Having that ability to work ON the business and not just IN the business is important.” (Betsy)“We do try to make (the ordering process) easier because it can be overwhelming for some people. The ability is still there if they want to customize their donut, but if they don’t want to think about it and they want 12 suggestions, here you go, here’s a couple to pick from.” (Betsy) “We’re in growth mode. We opened 32 shops last year and we’ll open 45 this year.” (Betsty) “Donuts are happiness and the world needs more happiness.” (Michael)  TRANSCRIPT 00:00.00vigorbrandingGreat hello I’m joined today by someone I’ve always wanted to have on this show. Betsy ham is our guest. She’s the Ceo of duck donuts and it’s one of the fastest growing donut franchises in the nation betsy. Thanks for joining us. 00:12.88Betsy HammThank you so much for having me. 00:17.00vigorbrandingSo I want to hear all about your story but the duck story. It’s it’s amazing to me and and kind of maybe fortuitous. The the idea I guess actually grew up in my neighborhood. My neighbor Russ was the is the founder and ah. 00:30.67Betsy HammYep. 00:31.37vigorbrandingIf you would tell us the story. You know how it comes from a little neighborhood and in in Pennsylvania and turns into this international and international business. What was the idea behind it how to come come about. 00:38.78Betsy HammSure so it’s crazy. It really didn’t stem out of your neighborhood right? Um, so as you mentioned Russ who’s the founder of rused gilio um had a beach house in the outer banks and these to go down there and you know one night they were sitting around. He emits drinking some wine and raminiscing about these warm donuts that they used to get and the boardwalk is kids growing up. And at the time in 2007 outer banks was um, pretty much a little sleepy town. There wasn’t really even any donut shops that were there. Um, so what started out as a whim when they the next day decided like hey this really has some leg