Stanford to NFL to Acai Bowl Franchising with Henry Anderson

On December 10, 2024, Henry Anderson officially retired from the NFL after playing for the Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, New England Patriots, and Carolina Panthers. Henry is now launching 14+ Playa Bowls stores across the Nashville region. We asked Henry about his journey.

NFL To Franchising?

Henry was always interested in the business world and secured private equity internships during his time at Stanford. As his career in the league developed and his family grew, Henry realized that he wouldn’t want to climb the finance ranks. He needed something that would motivate him every day and allow him to spend time with his young children.

“You don’t want to be done with football and not have a game plan,” Henry shared. So long before this December, he’s been diligently researching different opportunities and talking to as many people as possible, such as a franchisee of Hardee’s and Taco Bell he met while golfing. “The more I thought about it, the more it appealed to me. I don’t feel creative, but I am excited to execute on a playbook, like I did for years in the NFL.”

A few months after this retirement, his first store in Murfreesboro is ready to launch.

Here’s what to do when still playing:
1. Think of ways to transition out of the league before you have to.
2. Humble yourself. You will enter a new field where you will be back to being a rookie.
3. Use the off-season well. Attend programs. Talk to people. Be a sponge.

Henry playing for the Carolina Panthers

How to go about Franchising?

Many think acquiring an existing franchise is the easiest way to get started. You don’t have to mess with construction, buildouts, hiring, and onboarding. Instead, you buy a functioning cash-flowing business. Yet, “good deals are often scooped up by existing franchisees. So, if you see an opportunity, the question is, “Why am I seeing this?”.

With capital and time, you can enter a strong brand by opening new stores. The brand, Henry stresses, is the most important factor: “You don’t want to be stuck with a bad brand.”

After considering home services, health & fitness, and QSR, Henry landed on healthy QSR, particularly Playa Bowls.”I couldn’t see myself running a service company. Fitness tends to be prone to trends, but people always eat three meals daily.”

How to pick a franchise brand:
1. Watch out for fads.
2. A brand with ~100 stores is a perfect target: large enough to have been proven, small enough to welcome franchisees without restaurant experience
3. Pick a brand you can identify with. Henry wanted to pick a healthier option that fits his lifestyle.

Henry with his wife Saryn and daughter

What does it take?

The crux of running a QSR franchise is managing hourly employees. Henry worked as a cashier at McDonalds back in the day, so he’s now bringing his empathy and experience as a leader to set up 14+ stores.

“I don’t want to be the absent owner no one knows about. It was important for me to be local to my stores.” Like in the NFL, seeing the team’s owner would add motivation to players, and feeling directly supported by the operator is essential for growing your stores.

Henry at corporate training at Playa’s HQ in New Jersey

Why Nashville?

“I visited Nashville for the first time back in 2016 when the Indianapolis Colts, the team Henry was currently on, played the Tennessee Titans. I fell in love,” Henry’s wife Saryn shared. After moving around for so many years, Henry and Saryn chose Nashville as the place to call home for its lifestyle and the prospects of a growing Tier-1 franchise market.

With a growing brand like Playa Bowls, Henry secured territory rights for the entire Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Bowling Green DMAs.