After taking a four-year degree in law, commerce, and management, Lauren McAuslin had plenty of options on where to take her career.

Most of her coursemates ended up in the legal profession or working in finance, but McAuslin chose an unusual route, selling Big Macs and milkshakes at McDonald's in Blenheim.

But McDonald's is a family business for McAuslin. She took over management of the Blenheim franchise from her parents at just 22 after her father became ill, and eventually bought the franchise aged 30. She did not want to disclose what it cost her.

At 34, she is the youngest McDonald's franchisee in New Zealand, and owns a successful New Plymouth restaurant that rakes in about $10 million a year.

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"I remember being at friends' birthday parties and people from law school would ask 'which firm do you work for?'. I'd say, 'I'm working at McDonald's,'" McAuslin says. "They'd say, 'really?' But I choose what I do, and I have control over my work life." she adds.

McAuslin is a second-generation franchisee, and remembers the difficult early days of running her parents' business in Blenheim.

"I was young and suddenly had lots of responsibility," she says. "I was 22, and that was the toughest part. People were suddenly looking to me for advice, and that can be pretty difficult when you don't have a lot of life skills."

Her hard work in Blenheim caught the eye of senior executives at McDonald's NZ, who offered her the chance to take over in New Plymouth in 2017. The restaurant is now one of the top five revenue earners in Australasia.

Being a franchise can be a lucrative business, and owners come from all walks of life.

McDonald's has 171 restaurants across New Zealand, with more than 90 per cent owned by 52 franchisees. The rest, owned by the company, are used to test new ideas and concepts. With earnings of between $7m and $10m a year for a large, well-situated restaurant, franchisees are the secret power brokers of the nation's food sector.

So what does it take to become a top McDonald's franchisee like McAuslin? How do you acquire your own franchise? What goes on in the average week of a franchise owner? And how does the relationship work between the Kiwis running our restaurants and the $225 billion American fast-food giant?

Competition to buy a McDonald's franchise is fierce. Aside from a long waiting list of would-be first-time buyers, existing franchisees are often also keen to snap up another restaurant. Of the 52 franchise owners in New Zealand, most own more than two restaurants, and the company's biggest franchisee owns eight restaurants. While McDonald's still opens new outlets in New Zealand, opportunities to buy are relatively rare.

Would-be buyers need to go through a lengthy application process. They undergo full training from the store floor up and go through checks to ensure they are a fit and proper buyer.

ANDY JACKSON/STUFF Lauren McAuslin is the youngest McDonald's franchise owner in New Zealand.

Experience running a retail or restaurant business is welcomed, while financing power is also assessed. Once on the hallowed waiting list, buyers will eventually get the chance to buy a franchise, usually from another owner selling up.

"About 95 per cent of sales processes involve another franchisee," McAuslin says. "McDonald's doesn't like to get involved. There's no set price so it can be quite a drawn-out process. You negotiate and go through the valuation with the person you're buying from, you get financing, and you pay for it."

McDonald's has built its empire on property assets, and its New Zealand strategy is no different. McDonald's owns the land and property, and franchisees buy the right to operate and use the brand. Franchisees pay a rental and royalty fee and marketing levy to McDonald's Restaurants NZ, a subsidiary of the US parent. Franchisees also pay for food, running costs, utilities, wages, uniforms, legal and accounting fees, and take the profits from what is left.

McDonald's Restaurants NZ earned revenues of $252.3m in the 2018 financial year, making a post-tax profit of $66.3m. The New Zealand business is a wholly-owned subsidiary of US giant McDonald's Corporation. It pays New Zealand tax and sometimes pays the parent company a dividend. It last paid a $65m dividend to the US corporation in 2017.

While owning a McDonald's franchise can be a path to big bucks, it also requires huge levels of investment. Over the course of a 20-year franchise agreement, franchise owners foot most of the bill for the interior and equipment, upgrades, and refurbishments of sites. Renovations of large restaurants can cost up to $2m a time, and most are revamped every ten years.

SUPPLIED With earnings of between $7 million and $10 million a year for a large, well-situated restaurant, McDonald's franchisees are the secret power brokers of the nation's food sector.

Running a franchise is also hard work. McAuslin says she's regularly "head down" on the restaurant floor, meeting local suppliers and contractors, working with the head office on marketing, and ensuring her two restaurants in New Plymouth run smoothly as a 24/7 operation.

Do franchisee owners get much autonomy working for one of the world's biggest companies?

McAuslin works with McDonald's on the design and development of its sites and the introduction of new technology, such as touch screen terminals. McDonald's works with a franchisee executive committee on marketing ideas, while it has a "consultative" relationship with franchisees who make up a separate New Zealand leadership group.

Over a busy Christmas and New Year period, McAuslin will be back on the restaurant floor nearly every day. However frantic it gets, she doesn't regret following her family into the McDonald's business.

"I watched them [former coursemates] take jobs to sit in desks, go into work at 6am and leave at 11pm, working under intense pressure," McAuslin says. "They didn't seem to be having a lot of fun. But I can come into work, laugh with the crew and have a good time. There's nothing like working on a Friday night when you're really busy. It's backs to the wall, but you're just going for it. That's much more fun than sitting at a desk all day."

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