They are still in discussions with several franchisers, as several longs here have proven (Jsee, Mountainman, etc)... they can only work with so many of them at a time, initially.
The early stages of a rollout like this takes a lot of planning, hiring, etc, but once the key pieces are in place the rollout starts accelerating. This is how it is for all types of franchises.
My messages contain many opinions. Please do your own research
and validation.