16 Handles Franchising vs Papa Murphy's

Papa Murphy’s is the stronger opportunity by a wide margin—sheer TAM wins. With 965 franchised units against 29, the addressable base is 33x larger, which means even a middling penetration rate puts meaningful recurring revenue on the board. The procurement model is an unsung multiplier: approved-supplier means franchisees control more of their tech stack and vendor relationships, so a software sale doesn’t have to survive a franchisor-wide gatekeeper veto. That’s terrain where an ISV can land-and-expand location by location without waiting for a corporate mandate that never comes.

The tradeoff is unit economics in reverse. Papa Murphy’s is shrinking at –3.6% unit growth, so you’re selling into a fleet that is contracting, while 16 Handles is flat but stable and carries a higher AUV—larger per-store revenue means more transaction volume and scheduling complexity that justifies software spend. But in the near term, budget matters more: Papa Murphy’s higher total investment and lower royalty put marginally more cash and operating flexibility in the franchisee’s pocket, and a current FDD means the system is actively recruiting, so new blood keeps entering the pipeline for fresh deployments.

Verdict: Papa Murphy’s gives you a big, open-procurement base with ongoing new-unit churn to feed the top of funnel, and the small contraction risk is easily offset by the scale of the installed opportunity.