Movita Juice Bar Co-Founder and CEO Raul Rodriguez Shares Common Pitfalls

Starting a business is exhilarating and often challenging. Franchise ownership helps flatten the learning curve to some extent by offering advantages such as training and ongoing support, a proven business model and established brand recognition. But some mistakes new franchise owners make are part of their learning process, potentially contributing to growth. “Some mistakes are normal, and can be rectified with time, effort and guidance,” says Raul Rodriguez, Movita Juice Bar co-founder and CEO. “The goal is to avoid the big, dangerous mistakes that can hurt your business quickly and make it very hard to recover.”

Movita Juice Bar, founded in 2015 and franchising since 2023, now has 28 open locations with more than 11 in development. Based in Southern California and expanding throughout the state and into Texas and Florida, Movita offers all-natural juices, smoothies and functional teas, as well as bowls and healthy toasts. Everything is made fresh, and nothing is pasteurized or frozen. The juice bar’s innovative health-focused concept has caught on rapidly, mirroring the explosive growth in the global wellness economy, which was estimated by Precedence Research at $6.87 trillion in 2025 and projected to grow to $11 trillion by 2034.

Rodriguez, a longtime entrepreneur with a background in restaurant consulting, weighs in, below, on common mistakes new franchise owners make — and more importantly, how to avoid them.