The Process to Become an Owner
The Once Upon a Child® Process
Over the last 25+ years, Winmark® has helped build Once Upon A Child into North America’s #1 children’s resale franchise. We've been able to do that because of the work, dedication, and passion of our franchise partners all over the U.S. and Canada. That's why Winmark understands how important it is to find the right people to bring our brands to a new community. We've established a vetting and orientation process that allows us not only to find the best individuals for the job, but our candidates to learn about us and our dynamic approach to franchising.
Get Qualified for Consideration
The first step on this journey is getting qualified. You can first fill out and submit our qualification form, which gives us your basic information and where you are interested in opening a location. Winmark will then get in touch with you to go over your financial information and answer any initial inquiries you may have about us.
The required finances for Once Upon A Child franchisee include:
- $400,000 – Net Worth
- Liquid assets (cash or stocks) of $75,000 to $105,000
If you don't quite meet these financial requirements, that's okay. Many of our franchisees take out loans to cover these initial costs or partner with family and friends to help them qualify with the banks. Our franchising track record here at Winmark not only means that most of our franchisees' loans are approved, but that they're capitalized properly from day one.
Do you have questions about this process or your candidacy? Contact our team today or call our team at (866) 593-0262 for answers.
Steps to Ownership
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1. Apply & Meet Requirements
Submit your application and we’ll review some basic information about you, including financials and the location you’re interested in. Financial requirements include $75,000 - $105,000 cash or liquid assets and $400,000 net worth.
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2. Get to Know Franchisees
Meet current retail resale franchise owners, where you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and learn about their experiences. -
3. Discovery Day
We’ll invite you to Discovery Day, where you’ll meet the team that will support you and your new franchise. You’ll get some insight into operations, training, marketing, and more.
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4. Join Once Upon A Child
After attending the Discovery Day and receiving final approval, you will officially join Winmark as a franchisee and begin building your new retail resale business.
Get to Know Winmark Franchising
Once your financing is confirmed, Winmark will help you coordinate visits with existing Once Upon A Child store owners either on the phone or in person. During these visits, you'll get to learn more about the brand, how they operate, and talk with the franchisees about what it's like to run the business.
Following your visits, you'll receive an invitation to Discovery Day. Discovery Day is your opportunity to meet our Once Upon A Child franchise team and learn about the training and support our franchise partners receive from Winmark. We'll have questions for all our candidates—but we expect our candidates to ask us questions, as well, to see if Winmark is the right fit for them.
Joining the Once Upon A Child Brand
Once we both have decided to move forward with your franchise store, you officially become part of the Once Upon A Child brand! We'll get all of the franchise agreement paperwork in order and enroll you in our training program. It will still take several months before your grand opening happens, but in the meantime, you will be given the knowledge, insight, and tools you need to make your Once Upon A Child store as successful as possible!