Franchising · Private Equity · AI Strategy

Clarity in
complexity.

Strategic advisory for private equity firms evaluating franchise acquisitions, emerging franchisors building their systems, and leadership teams putting AI to work. Led by a founder who built and exited a franchise brand, then built the AI platform that reads the industry’s disclosure documents.

Amy Nichols leading a roundtable discussion
20+
Years in franchising
Founder, operator, advisor
Dogtopia
Founded, franchised, exited
Built from the inside
1,900+
Franchise brands on Clearly
Every figure cited to Item and page
AI
Built, not borrowed
Advice from shipping real product

How We Help

Where we focus.

Three kinds of work, one common thread: decisions in franchising and technology that are expensive to get wrong.

Franchise M&A Diligence

For private equity firms and investors evaluating franchisor acquisitions. An operator’s read on the system — unit economics as disclosed, outlet openings and closures, franchisee health, support infrastructure, and what several years of filings say about where the brand is headed — backed by structured data across 1,900+ brands.

Diligence Benchmarking Value creation

AI Strategy

For leadership teams that know AI matters and want a grounded plan. Having built Clearly’s AI platform hands-on, the advice comes from shipping, not slideware: where AI creates real leverage, where it doesn’t, and how to put it to work while keeping the trust of the people you serve.

Roadmap Build vs. buy Adoption

Emerging Franchisors

For new and emerging franchisors who aren’t sure where to start. What the first years actually require — the operating system, the support model, the disclosure — from someone who built a franchise brand from the ground up, with Clearly as a window into how comparable brands are structured.

Foundations Systems Growth

Engagements are scoped to the decision in front of you: a focused diligence sprint, a defined project, or an ongoing advisory relationship.

About Aiery

Experience that
runs deep.

I founded Dogtopia, grew it into a franchise system, and exited. In the two decades since, I’ve worked on the questions that matter most in franchising — how systems grow, how they’re valued, and how the people inside them make decisions. Today that work runs on two tracks: advising investors, franchisors, and leadership teams through Aiery, and building Clearly, the AI platform that turns franchise disclosure documents into answers people can verify.

  • Strategic Advisor To private equity firms, franchisors, and leadership teams on acquisitions, growth, and AI
  • Founder & Builder Dogtopia, and now Clearly — product, data, and AI built hands-on
  • Board Member & Mentor Serving non-profit and national organizations, and a thought partner to hundreds of entrepreneurs — open to select new board roles
linkedin.com/in/amynichols →
Amy Nichols
"The work has always been about helping people make smarter decisions at pivotal moments — in their businesses and in their lives." Amy Nichols · Founder, Aiery

An Aiery Venture

Franchise disclosure,
clearly read.

The average Franchise Disclosure Document runs 267 pages. Clearly® turns each one into an interactive Workspace: the Clearly Report, the source filing, and Clara — an AI assistant that answers only from that filing and cites every answer to the Item and page. No scores, no opinions, no guesswork.

Built by a former franchisor who wrote these documents, Clearly now covers 1,900+ brands, with year-over-year comparisons, side-by-side brand comparison, and answers in Spanish, Gujarati, and other languages.

For investors, consultants, attorneys, suppliers, and franchisors, Clearly Professional opens the full library at once: structured data across every filing, category trends, and year-over-year change, each figure traced to its source. It’s also the data foundation behind Aiery’s diligence work.

1,900+
Franchise brands
Item & page
Every answer cited
Clearly®
Federally registered mark

Connect

Bring the
complexity.

And we’ll figure it out together. Whether you’re evaluating an acquisition, launching a franchise system, or working out what AI should mean for your business, start with a conversation.

Thank you — we'll be in touch soon.