United Defense Tactical Targets Expansion of Self-defense Concept | January

A random and frightening encounter with a would-be mugger convinced Elyas and Stephanie Peshtaz they needed to do more to protect themselves.

The incident motivated the southern California couple to take firearms and self-defense classes at United Defense Tactical. Their positive experiences led them to invest in the brand, becoming its first franchisees.

For the Peshtazes, their entry into franchising began in a parking lot near their home in Newport Beach, California, when they were assaulted while on their way to a birthday celebration for Stephanie.

“The assailant did not have a weapon, but he was a big guy and charged both myself and my wife,” Elyas Peshtaz said. “He took a swipe at my wife, who was the closest to him, and knocked the cell phone out of her hand before he backed off as I approached him along with other bystanders and we called the police.

“If he had a knife or another weapon, this would have been a completely different story,” said Peshtaz, also the CEO of QDL, a digital advertising and technology firm in Calabasas, California. Stephanie Peshtaz is the company’s chief financial officer.

Founder Wes Fox, also chief instructor at his flagship United Defense Tactical center in Costa Mesa, said he has about 1,300 civilians and professionals, including law enforcement officers, signed up at his location. Members pay on average $200 per month for classes.

“The last thing we want our members to do is draw a weapon, but if that’s the only the option, we want them to be properly trained,” Fox said.

Fox, who opened the Costa Mesa location four years ago, launched a franchise program for United Defense Tactical in 2023. He said Item 19 financial information will be added to the company’s franchise disclosure document this year. At the end of November, Fox said he’d signed agreements to open eight United Defense Tactical franchise locations—three in Las Vegas, two in Orange County, California, with the three others in Long Beach, Thousand Oaks and Temecula, California. He said the brand is close to signing franchise agreements in Texas and Florida.

The estimated investment range to open a United Defense Tactical franchise is $250,000 to $500,000, according to the company’s FDD.

To ensure the success of his franchise platform, Fox hired what he referred to as a “franchise dream team” with Chris Meibers as director of franchisee onboarding, James Luy as director of franchisee support and Tara Beseda as marketing director. Meibers and Luy held executive roles at CycleBar, Pure Sweet Studios and GoSaga. Beseda previously held lead marketing roles at UFC Gym and Xponential Fitness.

The Peshtazes plan to open their first location this winter in Thousand Oaks as a 4,400-square-foot training facility in a newly constructed building that will feature several simulator rooms where students will be trained in a variety of scenarios. Some of the rooms will be used for virtual firearms target training, while others will have students firing rubber projectiles to re-enact close-quarters combat and home invasion scenarios.

“We will also have a gym and a general purpose area where we will have martial arts training, like Jujitsu, and also offer other classes, like medical training, emergency preparedness, etcetera,” said Elyas Peshtaz. “We are also working on field trip locations for live fire, and even teaching people how to survive, evade, etcetera, in urban areas or the wilderness.”

The Peshtazes said they will continue working at their digital marketing company while they get their franchise location up and running. They anticipate hiring a general manager, one or two front desk receptionists, a sales manager and two or three trainers.

Elyas said he will manage the business operations and help train the students, while Stephanie will oversee HR and accounting responsibilities.

“We are opening our own United Defense Tactical to help our community be properly trained for unprecedented situations,” Elyas Peshtaz said.