Upon his research of companies, the New Jersey native noticed rave reviews online for Morano Gelato, a New England-based company started by Morgan Morano. After the company told Dayan it was looking to franchise soon, he trekked to New England for a two-day road trip, where he sampled the product and ultimately fell in love with the brand.

“I was blown away by the product quality of Morano Gelato, and very impressed by the décor of her store, and how much brand definition there was for a company that had only two locations,” Dayan said. “I mean, the brand definition, the progress, the work that’s been done is more — you’d expect it of a company that had 20 or 30 locations, not two,” he added.