The 6 Key Metrics Successful Franchise Restaurants Use to Measure Potential Here are six metrics that top franchise restaurants use — that you can use as well — to determine the potential of a new project and whether it's worth their time.

When it comes to measuring potential, it often feels a lot like guessing. We use vague sayings like, "Go big or go home," or "You can either be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond." It's either big or small. Successful or not. Worth it or worthless.

How come we're only measuring potential like it's purely black or white?

For under-appreciated small giants with limited resources, this is too simplistic. If you have limited resources, time and energy, scaling takes thoughtful strategy — something that franchise restaurants have long learned the hard way.

There are six key metrics that ace franchise restaurants use to determine the potential of a new project, a new opportunity, a new location and whether it's worth their time.

These metrics go by the acronym VPASTA. Which stands for Visibility, Parking, Accessibility, Signage, Traffic and Activity. If you look carefully, you can apply similar metrics on a smaller scale.

Related: How to Evaluate Whether a Franchise Opportunity is Right for You

1. Visibility for memory association

We have a tendency to think of visibility as finite — like a campaign that serves short-term purposes. But big restaurant brands know this isn't the case. Choosing where to be visible has a lot to do with what it does in the long run.

To them, it's not enough to be visible to road traffic. It's more about memory-association.

If they are visible in places that their customers often remember — like daily visits to grocery stores, coffee shops, banks, hair services — the likelihood of their brand having memory-visibility gets elevated.

The potential of a project can just be "OK." But it can be great if there is visibility that lends to extended memory associations.

With franchise restaurants like Chick-fil-A, you may notice that they often select approximately one-acre freestanding sites — otherwise known as pad sites — near a national grocer. This is not only because freestanding sites draw the sightlines more clearly. It's also because buying groceries is high on consumers' priority — and therefore memory — list.

As a general rule, the deeper the frequency of memory associations, the better. The key here is the quality of frequency, not quantity. Focus on finding visibility opportunities that deepen the quality of your customers' lives.

2. Parking ratio for lingering capacity

Many restaurants would not bother entertaining a location that has a lower parking ratio than what they need.

This ratio isn't random. If there isn't enough parking, people simply won't come. And they definitely can't linger, either. And if they can't linger, they just won't buy.

The potential of a project can be measured by how long it allows people to linger.

In the U.S., as an example, many franchise restaurants like Starbucks often require a minimum of 1:5 parking ratio (five parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet of space). Ideally, they prefer a 1:10 ratio or even a 1:15 parking ratio (10 to 15 parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet).

Don't just measure if a project can succeed. Measure how deeply and how long it can sustain the success.

3. Accessibility for first availability

When a restaurant is accessible from the street, it doesn't always mean it's easily accessible. To maximize its potential, it has to be easily accessible, with the first available turn a vehicle can take.

In site selection, this means ace franchise restaurants typically avoid intersections with only left-in or only right-out curb cuts. They want each curb cut to allow both sides of the traffic to go in and out.

If it sounds impossible that drivers can be so quickly demotivated by inconvenience — it's not. This is the exact same psychology ecommerce brands use to increase their sales — by making it as convenient as possible with one-click purchases and other techniques we see today.

Measuring potential is the same. A project has to allow for the highest possible degree of accessibility to the offering.

Related: Measure Up to These 5 Standards and Watch Your Franchise Business Skyrocket

4. Signage for speed of recognition

When cars drive at 30 to 70 miles per hour, franchise restaurants know that they have only seconds to grab attention. The size of their signage matters, as well as the colors, height and orientation.

As an example, many restaurants have found that the colors red and yellow seem to stand out more easily.

When we are looking to see if an opportunity has potential, signage and speed of recognition shouldn't be ignored.

In the online space, this has a lot to do with measuring the ease of user interfaces.

Questions you can ask include:

1. How many steps do the users need to take before they arrive at the signage/brand?

2. How many seconds does it take for them to do so?

3. What is the optimal typeface this opportunity can accommodate?

5. Traffic count and intersection speed

Many major highways have a traffic count of 120,000 or more cars per day. If cars are at a speed of 70 or more miles per hour, it can be difficult for them to stop and turn in time.

This is why successful franchise brands often select signalized (with a traffic light) four-way intersections with traffic counts of just 40,000 - 50,000 cars per day, with roads that have speed limits of 35 miles per hour to 55 miles per hour. At this speed and this amount of cars, they have found that they can capture a significant buy-in.

Potential should be measured with the same respect. It's not always about going for the biggest. It's almost always about serving the right people in the best possible way, which may or may not involve the biggest group of people.

Related: 7 Things You Need to Know Before Becoming a Franchise Owner

6. Activity and ambient liveliness

This metric is the most difficult to measure because it has more to do with external perception. Franchise restaurants like to select locations that are buzzing with activity. You can define "buzzing" as the background sound you hear when you dine at a busy restaurant. When the place is lacking liveliness, even if the intersection checks all the other metrics, this gives reason to pause.

Potential can be measured by activity in the same way. If there is robust activity from other providers and vendors, it's usually a good sign.

Of course, the danger of going only by this variable is that we might fail to recognize when the potential has already been saturated.

Ace restaurant franchises usually have a non-compete clause per site. If Chipotle is interested in an intersection, it will do what it can to maintain ownership of the quadrant by being the only Mexican or Tex-Mex concept allowed.

It's worth being the first to recognize potential and to gain ownership of it.