Chris Hilgers on Franchising Insights, Business Strategies, and Building Generational Wealth

1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:06,719 This is the Beyond Business Podcast with your host, Catherine Martin Fisher, real 2 00:00:06,719 --> 00:00:10,480 entrepreneurs, real pressure, real decisions. 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:15,615 We unpack what helped them turn a company into a business worth having without losing the life 4 00:00:15,615 --> 00:00:16,734 they actually want. 5 00:00:17,214 --> 00:00:20,894 You'll leave each episode with practical takeaways and action steps you can use right 6 00:00:20,894 --> 00:00:21,375 now. 7 00:00:21,855 --> 00:00:23,375 Let's go beyond just the business. 8 00:00:26,910 --> 00:00:31,869 Welcome back to the Beyond Business Podcast, where we go beyond the surface of business 9 00:00:31,869 --> 00:00:37,390 success and talk about leadership, legacy, and what it really takes to build something that 10 00:00:37,390 --> 00:00:38,109 lasts. 11 00:00:38,189 --> 00:00:43,075 I'm your host, Catherine Martine Fischer, 10x Certified Business Coach and Founder of Rocket 12 00:00:43,075 --> 00:00:44,515 Growth Business Advisors. 13 00:00:45,234 --> 00:00:50,994 And today we are diving into a topic that so many entrepreneurs are curious about, 14 00:00:51,155 --> 00:00:51,795 franchising. 15 00:00:52,039 --> 00:00:54,200 Is it the fast track to scaling? 16 00:00:54,359 --> 00:00:56,760 Is it safer than starting from scratch? 17 00:00:57,079 --> 00:00:59,880 Or is it something completely misunderstood? 18 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:07,319 Well, so today we are joined by Chris Hilgers, who is deeply rooted in the franchise world. 19 00:01:07,855 --> 00:01:13,055 Chris understands what it takes to step into ownership, leverage systems, and build 20 00:01:13,055 --> 00:01:16,094 something scalable without reinventing the wheel. 21 00:01:16,495 --> 00:01:21,854 If you've ever wondered whether franchising could be a vehicle for growth, generational 22 00:01:21,854 --> 00:01:27,909 wealth, or even a pivot into business ownership, this episode is going to give you 23 00:01:27,909 --> 00:01:28,629 clarity. 24 00:01:28,870 --> 00:01:29,829 Welcome, Chris. 25 00:01:29,829 --> 00:01:32,230 Thank you so much for being here with us. 26 00:01:32,469 --> 00:01:33,430 Thank you, Katherine. 27 00:01:33,430 --> 00:01:34,469 I appreciate your time. 28 00:01:34,469 --> 00:01:40,655 Let's start from what got you into the franchise business? 29 00:01:40,655 --> 00:01:43,135 You know, Katherine, I grew up in family businesses. 30 00:01:43,135 --> 00:01:48,655 So I grew up in franchise type businesses, franchise businesses from a very early age. 31 00:01:48,655 --> 00:01:55,439 I grew up in retail family businesses, then I was in the corporate world with franchise type 32 00:01:55,439 --> 00:02:00,399 companies, Maytag, Toro, Electrolux, and kind of came full circle about fifteen years ago 33 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,959 where I became a franchise consultant. 34 00:02:02,959 --> 00:02:08,014 I started my own franchise consulting business where I work with a large group of companies 35 00:02:08,014 --> 00:02:10,895 and I help people find the right franchise business fits for them. 36 00:02:10,895 --> 00:02:17,775 So what attracted you to that versus starting your own completely from scratch? 37 00:02:18,175 --> 00:02:20,280 Well, here's the thing. 38 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:26,280 When it comes to franchise businesses, and I've done it both ways where I've worked with 39 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:30,840 independent businesses where you're starting from zero and then franchise businesses. 40 00:02:31,605 --> 00:02:35,365 And so when you start with a franchise business, you've got a business platform that's 41 00:02:35,365 --> 00:02:42,325 already in place that you can utilize to build the business and build it from a, you know, 42 00:02:43,379 --> 00:02:47,700 instead of starting on the goal line, so to speak, from a football perspective, you're 43 00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:52,260 starting at about the 25 yard line, where they have a business platform in place, systems in 44 00:02:52,260 --> 00:02:52,740 place. 45 00:02:52,740 --> 00:02:57,364 Ideally, you've got people that have already done this before, so that way you've got some 46 00:02:57,364 --> 00:03:03,284 leadership there in terms of the franchise company, the franchisor, or even franchisees, 47 00:03:03,284 --> 00:03:08,485 because these other people that are in the franchise businesses with you become colleagues 48 00:03:08,485 --> 00:03:14,219 and they also become a part of an infrastructure that helps you to build your 49 00:03:14,219 --> 00:03:17,900 business in a much faster way. 50 00:03:17,979 --> 00:03:21,020 You're kind of feeling like in the beginning when you're starting an independent business, 51 00:03:21,020 --> 00:03:25,885 you've got an idea, but then you're having to do all of these different things to get things 52 00:03:25,885 --> 00:03:28,525 set up and to have an infrastructure. 53 00:03:28,525 --> 00:03:31,885 Whereas in the franchise world, you've got an infrastructure that's already there that's 54 00:03:31,885 --> 00:03:37,980 already been proven to do good things, to build things. 55 00:03:37,980 --> 00:03:41,180 To me, it's all about scalability and sustainability of businesses. 56 00:03:41,180 --> 00:03:43,980 What's it gonna take for you to have to scale that business? 57 00:03:44,140 --> 00:03:46,860 And then what's it gonna take for you to keep it going? 58 00:03:46,860 --> 00:03:52,905 And just as important, when you've got a franchisor that's your partner, what are they 59 00:03:52,905 --> 00:03:53,465 doing? 60 00:03:53,544 --> 00:03:58,025 What have they done that already gets you in that mode and it gets you to a point where 61 00:03:58,025 --> 00:04:01,944 you're executing in a lot of cases a plan that they've already put in place? 62 00:04:01,944 --> 00:04:09,560 What would you say separates someone who wants a franchise from someone who truly is ready to 63 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:10,599 own a franchise? 64 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,879 I think a lot of people dream about owning their own business. 65 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,439 And, you know, it's one thing to dream about it, it's another thing to really want it. 66 00:04:19,544 --> 00:04:25,305 You see that and I'm a big sports fan and I've been involved in sports my whole life. 67 00:04:25,464 --> 00:04:30,264 And they talk about, we've got March Madness going on right now with basketball. 68 00:04:30,504 --> 00:04:35,519 And so you can see it, you know, everybody wants, it looks great and everybody's a fan 69 00:04:35,519 --> 00:04:36,240 right now. 70 00:04:36,399 --> 00:04:41,759 But it's like what are they doing behind the scenes when they're not out on the court? 71 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:43,680 And do they really want it then? 72 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:50,264 Because it's just like a lot of times coaches will say, no, it's not it's not what they see 73 00:04:50,264 --> 00:04:55,305 when you're performing, it's what they don't see when you're not performing the practice 74 00:04:55,305 --> 00:04:59,384 that you're doing and the heart and the soul that you put into owning your own business. 75 00:04:59,384 --> 00:05:03,810 And I think that's the big thing is because like when I talk to people that I place people 76 00:05:03,810 --> 00:05:08,850 in businesses, and the one thing that I tell everybody is that it's great to wanna own your 77 00:05:08,850 --> 00:05:12,129 own business, but the one thing I can't do for you is I can't make you want it. 78 00:05:12,129 --> 00:05:20,745 And so that's the big thing is that the desire to own your own business is the big difference 79 00:05:20,745 --> 00:05:25,225 between people that should be in a franchise business and the ones that maybe should think 80 00:05:25,225 --> 00:05:26,345 about it a little bit longer. 81 00:05:26,345 --> 00:05:30,345 What would you say would be the ideal franchise owner personality wise? 82 00:05:32,269 --> 00:05:34,350 Somebody that wants to be with people. 83 00:05:34,350 --> 00:05:40,029 I think out and about with people, communicating with people, the idea of wanting 84 00:05:40,029 --> 00:05:43,230 to help people, whatever that might be. 85 00:05:43,230 --> 00:05:47,745 You you could be more in a healthcare kind of a setting, or you could be in a setting where 86 00:05:47,745 --> 00:05:50,625 you're just helping and contributing to the community. 87 00:05:50,785 --> 00:05:57,665 I think that's a big start to it because we can always, we can chase after the financial aspect 88 00:05:57,665 --> 00:06:00,465 of it, and that's really important, obviously, when we're making investments. 89 00:06:01,139 --> 00:06:06,579 But really when it comes down to it, if we're doing things for the right reason and we do it 90 00:06:06,579 --> 00:06:10,419 the right way, those financial rewards often follow us there. 91 00:06:10,419 --> 00:06:15,725 So I think that the big thing is that we need to look inward and really look in the mirror 92 00:06:15,725 --> 00:06:18,444 and say, okay, so what do I want my life to look like? 93 00:06:18,444 --> 00:06:25,084 And how do I become bigger than what I am as a single person? 94 00:06:25,084 --> 00:06:28,365 So to me, it's like, it's building beyond ourselves. 95 00:06:28,909 --> 00:06:34,589 And then how do, you know, it's about community, it's about helping people develop. 96 00:06:34,589 --> 00:06:40,509 Those are things that need to be part of your DNA because it can't just be about chasing 97 00:06:40,509 --> 00:06:43,334 after a dollar, because that that's short lived. 98 00:06:43,334 --> 00:06:45,334 And people see that right through that kind of thing. 99 00:06:45,334 --> 00:06:48,535 So whenever you're when you're in business and if you do things for the right reason the right 100 00:06:48,535 --> 00:06:52,774 way, it comes back around and pays you back, and it pays the people around you and makes 101 00:06:52,774 --> 00:06:53,735 everybody around you better. 102 00:06:53,735 --> 00:06:59,440 And that's kinda what what I see as us being here to pay it forward in a better way than 103 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:01,600 what's been passed on to us. 104 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:02,960 I love that answer. 105 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:09,014 What would you say, Chris, that is one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they're 106 00:07:09,014 --> 00:07:11,574 evaluating franchise opportunities? 107 00:07:12,694 --> 00:07:21,334 I think the first thing is they don't take that step back and look at themselves in the mirror. 108 00:07:21,334 --> 00:07:25,139 They see a business and they say, Gosh, that's a great business. 109 00:07:25,139 --> 00:07:27,460 The question is, is this the right business for you or me? 110 00:07:27,460 --> 00:07:32,020 That's when you take a step back and say, Okay, so what are the things, what's in my skillset? 111 00:07:32,020 --> 00:07:33,139 What's in my background? 112 00:07:33,139 --> 00:07:38,154 What's in my beliefs that help to make a business the right one for you or me? 113 00:07:38,154 --> 00:07:41,194 There's many businesses out there that are great, great businesses, but they're not 114 00:07:41,194 --> 00:07:43,115 necessarily the right ones for you or me. 115 00:07:43,514 --> 00:07:49,194 So that's where if we take a step back and if we really evaluate ourselves and what we're 116 00:07:49,194 --> 00:07:53,980 after, then we start to connect the dots in terms of characteristics of businesses versus 117 00:07:53,980 --> 00:07:58,220 characteristics of what we're good at and what we want to be good at and what we want to do 118 00:07:58,220 --> 00:07:59,020 going forward. 119 00:07:59,259 --> 00:08:03,420 So I think the main thing is that we really want to customize what we're up to going 120 00:08:03,420 --> 00:08:06,074 forward based on who we are and who we wanna be. 121 00:08:06,074 --> 00:08:07,915 And it's all about stories, you know? 122 00:08:07,915 --> 00:08:09,194 What's our story been? 123 00:08:09,595 --> 00:08:10,394 What is it now? 124 00:08:10,394 --> 00:08:13,274 And what do we want our life story to be going forward? 125 00:08:13,274 --> 00:08:15,035 I love that. 126 00:08:15,274 --> 00:08:17,274 I do, I evaluate that all the time. 127 00:08:17,569 --> 00:08:21,089 What do I want my life story to be moving forward? 128 00:08:21,329 --> 00:08:24,129 And I love the quote. 129 00:08:24,129 --> 00:08:30,689 I'm not aware of who started to say this quote, but how you do one thing is how you do 130 00:08:30,689 --> 00:08:31,089 everything. 131 00:08:31,664 --> 00:08:32,945 And 132 00:08:33,584 --> 00:08:39,664 so I would say that when you're just making decisions like this, I love when you mentioned 133 00:08:39,664 --> 00:08:43,745 about looking yourself in the mirror, because how you do one thing is how you do everything. 134 00:08:43,745 --> 00:08:48,040 So the business model may be a great model, but you have to make sure that you're prepared for 135 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,000 all that goes along with that. 136 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:56,840 So with that, can you just explain what you feel personally in your experience in working 137 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,240 with people going into the franchise business? 138 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:03,735 Do you feel like they should have some leadership experience versus industry 139 00:09:03,735 --> 00:09:04,454 experience? 140 00:09:04,454 --> 00:09:05,975 I think it's a combination. 141 00:09:06,454 --> 00:09:11,894 But it's more the leadership experience because the thing is, is that it's become more so this 142 00:09:11,894 --> 00:09:17,029 way in recent times that people want you to have specific experiences with specific 143 00:09:17,029 --> 00:09:19,590 customers and specific products and things like that. 144 00:09:19,590 --> 00:09:20,950 It's not always been that way. 145 00:09:20,950 --> 00:09:24,950 And I'm not saying that that's not valuable because it is very valuable. 146 00:09:24,950 --> 00:09:29,429 But I think when you look at somebody that has leadership abilities, somebody that has 147 00:09:29,429 --> 00:09:31,665 leadership abilities is adaptable. 148 00:09:31,665 --> 00:09:37,184 They can read the room, so to speak, and they can see what's important, what needs to happen 149 00:09:37,184 --> 00:09:39,185 in order for something to be successful. 150 00:09:39,425 --> 00:09:44,865 And if they don't have the specific experiences, they have the ability to tap into 151 00:09:44,865 --> 00:09:49,909 and reach out to people that help them with those types of experiences and really kind of 152 00:09:49,909 --> 00:09:55,589 add in the value that maybe some specific information that's needed, but overall they get 153 00:09:55,589 --> 00:09:58,309 the big picture, they get what needs to be done. 154 00:09:58,845 --> 00:10:04,524 I may not know how to do everything that an engineer does to, like in my background, I 155 00:10:04,524 --> 00:10:09,324 worked with Maytag and Toro and Electrolux, and I had different business experiences before 156 00:10:09,324 --> 00:10:11,519 running brands and businesses for those companies. 157 00:10:11,519 --> 00:10:14,879 And I didn't have the engineering background, but I knew how to work with engineers, and I 158 00:10:14,879 --> 00:10:18,159 knew what was important to them to make things happen. 159 00:10:18,159 --> 00:10:24,414 I also knew what was important to my CFO as they were looking at what needed to happen in 160 00:10:24,414 --> 00:10:27,134 order for it to be successful on that front. 161 00:10:27,134 --> 00:10:32,414 And then also, I was more consumer interfacing a lot of times, and so I knew what the consumer 162 00:10:32,414 --> 00:10:32,894 needed. 163 00:10:32,894 --> 00:10:38,360 So it's pulling everything together, and I think that leadership is what's needed there 164 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,279 because having the specific experiences is one thing. 165 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:48,360 But what happens when, in a specific example, when A doesn't go right to B, when A goes to C 166 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:49,000 or D? 167 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,759 How do we fill in the blanks in between? 168 00:10:51,105 --> 00:10:55,504 And I think by having the leadership experiences, that helps us to align things, and 169 00:10:55,504 --> 00:10:59,024 it helps us to make sure that still going in the right direction. 170 00:10:59,024 --> 00:11:02,784 And sometimes we need to regroup a little bit and make sure that we get our people in place 171 00:11:02,784 --> 00:11:04,304 in order to make it all happen. 172 00:11:04,580 --> 00:11:05,539 That's leadership. 173 00:11:05,539 --> 00:11:06,580 That's a good point. 174 00:11:06,580 --> 00:11:12,500 With the leadership, there's also the part of the business which is really being able to 175 00:11:12,500 --> 00:11:13,620 track KPIs. 176 00:11:13,620 --> 00:11:19,674 So would you say that when you're tracking the key performance indicators, should every 177 00:11:19,674 --> 00:11:22,315 franchise owner track from day one? 178 00:11:22,315 --> 00:11:26,714 Yeah, I think you need to be tracking all the time. 179 00:11:26,954 --> 00:11:30,794 I mean, there's a book that I believe in, it's called The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. 180 00:11:30,794 --> 00:11:35,240 That's a book that, it talks about all the little things, all the little steps. 181 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,600 Because another person that's a mentor of mine is Tony Robbins. 182 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:45,705 And they talk about having everything, you know, taking notes, taking very, very specific 183 00:11:45,705 --> 00:11:51,945 notes on where you're going and how you're tracking in your progress, because sometimes, 184 00:11:51,945 --> 00:11:53,225 you know, we're climbing a mountain. 185 00:11:53,225 --> 00:11:55,144 My business is called Peak Franchising. 186 00:11:55,144 --> 00:11:56,585 I live in the mountains in Colorado. 187 00:11:56,585 --> 00:12:02,720 For me, there's these fourteeners, there's these 14,000 foot Peak Mountains that you spend 188 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:04,320 a day on, you climb the mountain. 189 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:09,039 It's a long day and each step is a big deal. 190 00:12:09,039 --> 00:12:12,959 And then you get to the top and you look around and it's absolutely beautiful. 191 00:12:12,959 --> 00:12:19,394 And so when you think about what we're doing from a business perspective, every day is work, 192 00:12:19,394 --> 00:12:21,394 it's hard, and it's building. 193 00:12:21,634 --> 00:12:25,714 And some days we take a step back and some days we take two or three steps forward. 194 00:12:25,954 --> 00:12:30,690 And it's really important for us to understand that we're building all the time. 195 00:12:30,769 --> 00:12:31,970 We're always growing. 196 00:12:32,529 --> 00:12:37,009 That's the thing that as you look at these businesses, how we're gonna track our successes 197 00:12:37,009 --> 00:12:40,610 is making sure that we're doing what we're needing to do every day. 198 00:12:40,690 --> 00:12:45,975 And again, like I said, some days we make more progress than others, but we're always moving 199 00:12:45,975 --> 00:12:48,935 forward and we're always measuring what we're up to. 200 00:12:48,935 --> 00:12:56,320 So the KPIs are key performance indicators, but they're really, they're very, very important in 201 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:03,360 terms of us seeing our progress because are not always where we want to be right away in terms 202 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:04,720 of what our goals are. 203 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,519 And so we need to get a feel for, hey, we're making progress. 204 00:13:07,605 --> 00:13:11,605 And when we're making progress, we're growing and we're building. 205 00:13:11,684 --> 00:13:16,084 And then when we get to the peak, that feels really good because, you know, that's, then all 206 00:13:16,084 --> 00:13:21,340 of a sudden, that's one of those things where there's a hooray moment, and that's something 207 00:13:21,340 --> 00:13:23,660 that we're all striving for every day. 208 00:13:23,660 --> 00:13:29,420 So Chris, what would you say is, you know, this is probably an important question for our 209 00:13:29,500 --> 00:13:35,340 audience to know, what kind of capital should someone realistically have before entering a 210 00:13:35,340 --> 00:13:35,820 franchise? 211 00:13:36,554 --> 00:13:38,075 You know, it varies. 212 00:13:38,075 --> 00:13:44,154 I mean, you're going to see different investment levels depending on the different 213 00:13:44,154 --> 00:13:45,115 types of businesses. 214 00:13:45,115 --> 00:13:50,720 So if you look at businesses that are brick and mortar businesses, those businesses are, you 215 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,960 know, you've got an investment in terms of building out a location, a building. 216 00:13:54,960 --> 00:14:00,720 And other businesses you might have that are, they could be a from home business, work from 217 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:01,519 home business. 218 00:14:01,519 --> 00:14:06,264 You could also have businesses that have an office setting that you don't it doesn't it's 219 00:14:06,264 --> 00:14:08,024 not in a retail type of a setting. 220 00:14:08,264 --> 00:14:13,305 So you're going to see businesses at all different levels. 221 00:14:13,545 --> 00:14:20,149 Some were maybe they're $50,000 and above with you having to put in some equity. 222 00:14:20,149 --> 00:14:25,589 It depends on, it really depends on where you're at from a financial position, but, you 223 00:14:25,589 --> 00:14:31,509 know, there's times when you're, maybe it's a cash investment that you're making. 224 00:14:32,054 --> 00:14:37,975 It could be an investment that you're making with the help of some financing from a banker, 225 00:14:38,375 --> 00:14:43,014 or it could be SBA, it could be different types of products that are there. 226 00:14:43,174 --> 00:14:48,830 But I would tell you that, you know, say $50,000 and above, but then, but it really, 227 00:14:48,830 --> 00:14:52,029 it's going to depend, like if you're looking at brick and mortar businesses, it's quite a bit 228 00:14:52,029 --> 00:14:54,990 higher than that because of the build out, etcetera. 229 00:14:55,870 --> 00:14:59,754 I always, when I talk to people about investment levels, you definitely have to have 230 00:14:59,754 --> 00:15:02,714 a financial wherewithal to get into a business. 231 00:15:02,714 --> 00:15:07,195 And then what I look at is that you look at what your net worth is and you look at what 232 00:15:07,195 --> 00:15:11,195 your liquid capital ability is, because liquid capital is not just cash. 233 00:15:11,559 --> 00:15:16,920 Liquid capital can come from different areas, home equity, it can come from Ks, there's 234 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:21,960 different programs and things like that that you're able to utilize to leverage your 235 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,000 financial wherewithal to get into businesses. 236 00:15:25,804 --> 00:15:31,325 But what I would tell you, you know, dollars 50,000 and above is a start. 237 00:15:31,804 --> 00:15:35,644 There's some businesses that, you know, they'll talk about 10,000 to $15,000 to get in. 238 00:15:35,725 --> 00:15:38,524 That's not really the overall investment getting into it. 239 00:15:38,764 --> 00:15:39,565 It's greater than that. 240 00:15:39,565 --> 00:15:45,889 And people, when you start looking at this, the companies will have, they share in what they 241 00:15:45,889 --> 00:15:47,570 call franchise disclosure documents. 242 00:15:47,570 --> 00:15:49,329 It's like a prospectus of the companies. 243 00:15:49,490 --> 00:15:53,495 They'll share by line item what it's going to cost to get into the businesses. 244 00:15:53,495 --> 00:15:57,495 And that's really the foundation of where you're going to look when you start to look at 245 00:15:57,495 --> 00:15:59,095 what's my investment going to be. 246 00:15:59,095 --> 00:16:03,335 And then many of these companies are going to have what they call financial performance 247 00:16:03,335 --> 00:16:07,899 declarations in their franchise disclosure documents, too, where you can get a feel for, 248 00:16:07,899 --> 00:16:11,019 okay, what's an average revenue of a business? 249 00:16:11,019 --> 00:16:14,860 What's the average EBITDA or cash flow in a business and things like that? 250 00:16:15,019 --> 00:16:20,804 Those are things that are really important that the information is there within the franchise 251 00:16:20,804 --> 00:16:22,164 investigation process. 252 00:16:22,245 --> 00:16:30,564 It's also there, when you look at the franchise companies, you'll talk to franchisees within 253 00:16:30,564 --> 00:16:34,164 that business that will share their experiences. 254 00:16:34,164 --> 00:16:38,560 Because to me, when I'm talking to somebody about a business and the company's talking to 255 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:43,120 them about the opportunity, the company will share those numbers, but then what's really 256 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,040 important to me is that I want you to validate that by talking to people that are in the 257 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,920 business, because usually what they're doing is they're giving you averages. 258 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,394 You wanna know what people are doing better than that average. 259 00:16:52,394 --> 00:16:54,955 You wanna talk to people that are still working at it. 260 00:16:54,955 --> 00:16:59,195 Sometimes it's their new, sometimes they're struggling because and you need to understand 261 00:16:59,434 --> 00:17:02,555 what it is that they might be struggling with or why they're successful. 262 00:17:02,555 --> 00:17:08,009 Validation on anything that you do when it comes to franchising or any other independent 263 00:17:08,009 --> 00:17:09,690 businesses, validation is key. 264 00:17:09,690 --> 00:17:13,769 And then then you take a step back and you look at it in terms of, okay, so I just learned this 265 00:17:13,769 --> 00:17:15,769 from somebody that's in that business. 266 00:17:15,930 --> 00:17:20,205 Now what I'm gonna do is I I need to I need to I need to put it in the framework of how does 267 00:17:20,205 --> 00:17:21,085 that work for me? 268 00:17:21,325 --> 00:17:25,884 You know, you're driving, if you're behind the wheel of the car, you you wanna make sure that 269 00:17:25,884 --> 00:17:29,484 you understand what you're driving, and that's a key. 270 00:17:30,285 --> 00:17:37,259 Numbers are super important, and there was ways to learn about those numbers, but then most 271 00:17:37,259 --> 00:17:39,659 importantly, you wanna validate those numbers. 272 00:17:40,220 --> 00:17:43,579 But just because there's numbers that are stated, you wanna understand the scalability 273 00:17:43,579 --> 00:17:45,099 and the sustainability of the businesses. 274 00:17:45,099 --> 00:17:49,444 What's it gonna take to build to those numbers, the KPIs, the different things? 275 00:17:49,684 --> 00:17:54,484 Does my skillset lend me to be in a position that I have that opportunity to be successful 276 00:17:54,484 --> 00:17:55,924 in this particular business? 277 00:17:56,005 --> 00:17:57,445 It's about partnership there. 278 00:17:57,445 --> 00:18:01,730 And I think the biggest thing for people to realize is when it comes to franchising, not 279 00:18:01,730 --> 00:18:07,170 only is it a platform for somebody to build a business from, it's also, you're looking for 280 00:18:07,170 --> 00:18:08,289 business partners there. 281 00:18:08,289 --> 00:18:12,450 You own the business in the area that you're in, they own the brand. 282 00:18:12,609 --> 00:18:16,305 And what you're looking for is, and just like they are, they're looking for partners, and it 283 00:18:16,305 --> 00:18:17,985 has to be a win win situation. 284 00:18:17,985 --> 00:18:20,865 Otherwise, it's not a win for either any party involved. 285 00:18:20,865 --> 00:18:25,839 So that's why it's so important when you're looking at businesses to, you know, that's 286 00:18:25,839 --> 00:18:26,639 where I help you. 287 00:18:26,639 --> 00:18:30,960 That's where I help you kind of, and I hold you back when I think you need to dig deeper and 288 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,440 ask more questions and dig in a little bit deeper. 289 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,575 Now I'll remind you of, you know, you've got three daughters at home and you decided that 290 00:18:38,575 --> 00:18:42,255 you didn't want to travel anymore, but then you're looking at a business that might take 291 00:18:42,255 --> 00:18:44,015 seventy, eighty hours a week to get it started. 292 00:18:44,015 --> 00:18:45,295 Is that really what you want? 293 00:18:45,455 --> 00:18:50,654 And it's just, it's really, you want people to have their eyes wide open to the opportunities 294 00:18:50,654 --> 00:18:52,255 and then learn specifically. 295 00:18:52,255 --> 00:18:57,619 And the franchise world is great for having specific information that can help you validate 296 00:18:57,619 --> 00:18:58,500 the opportunity. 297 00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:04,659 Chris, what would you say is typically, you know, how long does it take for a new franchise 298 00:19:04,659 --> 00:19:06,099 owner to break even? 299 00:19:06,099 --> 00:19:12,325 It depends on the business, and I think you have to be, we have to be really careful in the 300 00:19:12,325 --> 00:19:20,965 franchise world to, the numbers are so the numbers are there, but it's so important that 301 00:19:20,965 --> 00:19:25,650 when somebody goes into a business to understand that just because somebody else is 302 00:19:25,650 --> 00:19:28,849 doing those numbers doesn't guarantee you that you're gonna do those numbers. 303 00:19:28,849 --> 00:19:34,609 So when it comes down to it is that that's why when you talk to people that help you to 304 00:19:34,609 --> 00:19:35,329 validate. 305 00:19:35,730 --> 00:19:39,444 So when it comes to breaking even, it varies based on the business. 306 00:19:39,444 --> 00:19:45,924 There are some businesses that can break even when they open because of the way they start 307 00:19:45,924 --> 00:19:52,164 their business, they do what they call presales and they're acquiring customers before the 308 00:19:52,164 --> 00:19:52,964 business even opens. 309 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:57,160 There are some businesses that take a year, maybe even two years sometimes, but then maybe 310 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:03,720 when you start looking at the overall financial opportunity, then maybe it's a lot greater at 311 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:04,679 that point in time. 312 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:10,595 What I tell people is that when you get into a business like this, you need to plan that first 313 00:20:10,595 --> 00:20:13,634 year, at least that first year, it's gonna be tough. 314 00:20:13,955 --> 00:20:15,715 And you need to work hard at it. 315 00:20:15,715 --> 00:20:19,555 I'm not gonna say that you're not gonna do well in that first year, but you just have to, it's 316 00:20:19,555 --> 00:20:22,920 really important that people have their eyes wide open to the opportunity. 317 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,759 Those key performance indicators, the milestones that they need to achieve, the 318 00:20:26,759 --> 00:20:27,960 things that need to happen. 319 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:34,279 The one thing that I'll tell you that helps everybody, and I'm gonna steal it, it's from 320 00:20:34,279 --> 00:20:40,095 Tony Robbins, he talks about the quality of my life is my ability to be able to deal with 321 00:20:40,095 --> 00:20:40,974 uncertainty. 322 00:20:41,454 --> 00:20:43,535 And so that's where leadership comes in. 323 00:20:43,535 --> 00:20:47,855 That's where it's just, it's kind of like when I talk to people that I'm working with, like I 324 00:20:47,855 --> 00:20:51,454 spoke with a young man today that done extremely well for himself. 325 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:58,680 Looking at the next, he's been in the corporate world, has had family members that have been in 326 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:03,559 business for themselves, etcetera, and he's decided to make a move from the corporate 327 00:21:03,559 --> 00:21:03,960 world. 328 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:09,015 And so the big thing right now is that, you know, I talked to him about it, is that, you 329 00:21:09,015 --> 00:21:15,335 know what, you've been successful to this point in your career because you've been able to play 330 00:21:15,335 --> 00:21:17,654 on the rainy days just like you can play on the sunny days. 331 00:21:18,029 --> 00:21:24,990 And so working through challenges, working through problems is something that really is 332 00:21:24,990 --> 00:21:25,630 important. 333 00:21:25,630 --> 00:21:32,154 And I think the big thing is just being able to see that picture. 334 00:21:32,154 --> 00:21:37,115 You know, I give another example of, you know, when you're driving down the road and you see, 335 00:21:37,115 --> 00:21:41,674 and you're driving towards this beautiful picture, it could be the mountains, it could be 336 00:21:41,674 --> 00:21:47,440 the ocean, it could be the forest, whatever might be, If you can see it and you hit a 337 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,919 little bump on the road, it maybe shifts you off course a little bit, but you keep 338 00:21:51,919 --> 00:21:53,440 gravitating towards that. 339 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,400 If you don't know where you're going in the first place, if you don't even have dreams of 340 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,605 where you're going in the first place, you get stuck. 341 00:21:58,605 --> 00:22:02,765 And we all get stuck some days because some days are hard, but we have to just keep plowing 342 00:22:02,765 --> 00:22:05,005 forward and we have to have an idea of where we're going. 343 00:22:05,085 --> 00:22:07,005 And I think that's the biggest thing. 344 00:22:07,005 --> 00:22:11,730 And then it's about aligning ourselves with the right people that can help us to do that. 345 00:22:11,730 --> 00:22:13,730 And that's a big part of leadership as well. 346 00:22:13,730 --> 00:22:19,009 What would you say are things that someone would need to think about to protect themselves 347 00:22:19,170 --> 00:22:22,130 legally and financially when buying a franchise? 348 00:22:22,450 --> 00:22:28,865 I think that the big thing when you look at it legally and financially, legally, when you look 349 00:22:28,865 --> 00:22:36,065 at a franchise agreement, a franchise agreement is there, it protects the brand. 350 00:22:36,065 --> 00:22:38,305 It's something and you want it to be that way. 351 00:22:38,305 --> 00:22:43,200 What I would tell you is that when you look at franchise agreements, they're protecting the 352 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:43,759 brand. 353 00:22:43,759 --> 00:22:47,039 You're looking for that. 354 00:22:47,039 --> 00:22:52,079 There's things there that I would say that, you know, I came out of the corporate world and 355 00:22:52,234 --> 00:22:56,794 every contract was unique and it was negotiated. 356 00:22:57,035 --> 00:23:01,755 What happens in the franchise world is that every franchise company is approved through the 357 00:23:01,755 --> 00:23:03,035 Federal Trade Commission. 358 00:23:03,275 --> 00:23:10,080 So what happens is that there's a lot of legal things that happen before the companies 359 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:13,119 actually even get approved through the Federal Trade Commission. 360 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:18,720 So those franchise agreements are, what you have in Pennsylvania is the same agreement that 361 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:23,355 I have in Colorado, with the exception of maybe some territories and things like that. 362 00:23:24,154 --> 00:23:30,315 There's not, you don't see a lot of negotiations done when it comes to the core 363 00:23:30,315 --> 00:23:31,275 contract itself. 364 00:23:31,529 --> 00:23:36,009 So you have to know, going into that, you need to look at the business part of it. 365 00:23:36,330 --> 00:23:40,970 There's a legal part of it that you're all kind of on a similar grounds. 366 00:23:40,970 --> 00:23:45,130 Like franchise companies have to share if they have litigation, if they have failures. 367 00:23:45,369 --> 00:23:51,154 So what that does is that makes them play nice in the sandbox with people, and it makes them 368 00:23:51,154 --> 00:23:52,355 work with you. 369 00:23:52,515 --> 00:23:59,154 So even when you have an agreement in place with a company, and they also are successful 370 00:23:59,154 --> 00:24:00,275 when you're successful. 371 00:24:00,275 --> 00:24:02,355 So it's not about just getting you into a business. 372 00:24:02,730 --> 00:24:08,490 And so that's why it's so important to make sure that we have these partnerships that 373 00:24:08,490 --> 00:24:09,929 they're win win. 374 00:24:09,929 --> 00:24:15,105 And so to me, first part of it, the legal part of it is pretty straightforward when it comes 375 00:24:15,105 --> 00:24:18,065 to franchising because they're not gonna negotiate much on the contract. 376 00:24:18,065 --> 00:24:22,625 They might negotiate little bit on territories or something like that, but there's not a lot 377 00:24:22,625 --> 00:24:23,585 of negotiation there. 378 00:24:23,585 --> 00:24:27,265 So you have to go into it thinking, okay, I need to feel comfortable with this. 379 00:24:27,265 --> 00:24:31,549 And the reason why I'm feeling comfortable with this is because I know it protects my brand in 380 00:24:31,549 --> 00:24:33,230 my area, and that's what I own. 381 00:24:33,309 --> 00:24:39,230 And that's a legal asset that you have that you can sell at some point in time. 382 00:24:39,390 --> 00:24:40,990 So that's on the legal side of it. 383 00:24:40,990 --> 00:24:45,934 On the financial part of it, what you're going to do is you're gonna do, just like people that 384 00:24:45,934 --> 00:24:52,015 are in the corporate world when they're looking at marketing or commercializing a business or 385 00:24:52,015 --> 00:24:56,734 product or brand, etcetera, you're going to look at what that opportunity is. 386 00:24:56,894 --> 00:24:58,414 And they're going to help you to find that. 387 00:24:58,809 --> 00:25:03,130 But then what you're going to do is that they're going to share number, they'll share 388 00:25:03,130 --> 00:25:04,329 information with you. 389 00:25:04,570 --> 00:25:08,170 Plus what you're going to do, just like you do in the corporate world, you're going to 390 00:25:08,170 --> 00:25:08,809 benchmark. 391 00:25:08,809 --> 00:25:10,650 You're going to look at competitors. 392 00:25:10,650 --> 00:25:17,554 There's information that's available that you can benchmark a particular company versus what 393 00:25:17,554 --> 00:25:21,714 their competitors are doing, just like you do, like when I was in the corporate world, Maytag, 394 00:25:21,714 --> 00:25:25,474 in the appliance world, we knew our competitors through and through. 395 00:25:25,474 --> 00:25:27,634 Same thing with Toro, same thing with Electrolux. 396 00:25:27,930 --> 00:25:30,970 Those are consumer branded products, and those are ones that people know. 397 00:25:30,970 --> 00:25:35,049 And so that's the same, you're gonna do the same thing when it comes to franchising and 398 00:25:35,049 --> 00:25:36,410 looking at a business there. 399 00:25:36,490 --> 00:25:38,650 Now, not all businesses are consumer facing. 400 00:25:38,650 --> 00:25:41,289 Some of them are business to business, some of them are business to consumer. 401 00:25:41,734 --> 00:25:45,095 And so what you're gonna do is that you're gonna do your homework there. 402 00:25:45,095 --> 00:25:49,335 They're going to help you because one of the things that you need to really have a comfort 403 00:25:49,335 --> 00:25:53,575 level with, and this is the thing that was really important for me when I was in my 404 00:25:53,575 --> 00:25:59,730 corporate career running brands for instance the Jenn Air brand or the Maytag, with Maytag 405 00:25:59,730 --> 00:26:07,490 or with Toro, people needed to know that we were different, that we were paving new paths 406 00:26:07,490 --> 00:26:08,690 within the marketplace. 407 00:26:08,690 --> 00:26:14,214 We wanted people to see that we were innovative and we were creating differentiation in the 408 00:26:14,214 --> 00:26:14,855 marketplace. 409 00:26:15,174 --> 00:26:17,174 You still need to see that with these companies. 410 00:26:17,174 --> 00:26:20,454 You need to see the value that they bring to the table. 411 00:26:20,694 --> 00:26:26,369 Those are the things that I help people do in terms of looking at an opportunity and saying, 412 00:26:26,369 --> 00:26:30,769 okay, so yes, there's a lot of competition in this marketplace because we should assume that 413 00:26:30,769 --> 00:26:32,049 everybody has competition. 414 00:26:32,450 --> 00:26:34,369 And how are we gonna differentiate that? 415 00:26:34,369 --> 00:26:39,825 And that's gonna be a key for you to help you to decide if this is a good investment from a 416 00:26:39,825 --> 00:26:41,424 monetary perspective, too. 417 00:26:41,505 --> 00:26:45,265 Then you start looking at, you know, you'll pull numbers together, you'll put performance 418 00:26:45,265 --> 00:26:45,984 together. 419 00:26:46,785 --> 00:26:50,465 That helps you to look at this and say, Gosh, this is the right opportunity for me. 420 00:26:50,465 --> 00:26:55,149 You know, the other thing, the intangible part of it is, is that I really trust and I like the 421 00:26:55,149 --> 00:26:56,269 people that I'm working with. 422 00:26:56,269 --> 00:27:02,269 So from a legal perspective, I've mitigated things from a legality, legalities, and also 423 00:27:02,269 --> 00:27:03,950 from a financial perspective. 424 00:27:03,950 --> 00:27:06,109 I know I don't know exactly what's gonna happen. 425 00:27:06,694 --> 00:27:11,494 I wish I did, but I don't, but that's that, you know, dealing with the uncertainty. 426 00:27:11,494 --> 00:27:14,775 But then if you're doing your homework and you're working with the right people, it's 427 00:27:14,775 --> 00:27:16,375 gonna help, it's gonna drive you. 428 00:27:16,375 --> 00:27:21,494 Well, how would you say that franchising can help create generational wealth? 429 00:27:22,220 --> 00:27:27,740 Well, think a big thing is that it's just the first thing is understanding how to be in 430 00:27:27,740 --> 00:27:28,220 business. 431 00:27:28,299 --> 00:27:31,740 I was four years old when my parents bought a business. 432 00:27:31,740 --> 00:27:35,820 We were hardware and appliance and TV stores and a plumbing and heating business as well. 433 00:27:36,535 --> 00:27:40,535 For me, I tell people I still know how to hold a flashlight for somebody and I still know how 434 00:27:40,535 --> 00:27:43,335 to push a broom, excuse me. 435 00:27:43,414 --> 00:27:49,335 But I also know how to present to a board and I also know how to get money that I need for my 436 00:27:49,335 --> 00:27:50,855 business, for my companies, etcetera. 437 00:27:51,690 --> 00:27:56,649 That's the, the first thing is understanding business, just what it takes to turn the lights 438 00:27:56,649 --> 00:27:59,369 on every day because every business needs that. 439 00:27:59,529 --> 00:28:05,369 And so then it's about learning about things that you like, things you don't like, and 440 00:28:06,565 --> 00:28:07,765 things that you're good at. 441 00:28:08,244 --> 00:28:09,605 And then it's aligning yourself. 442 00:28:09,605 --> 00:28:16,884 To me, you know, think another big thing is that, you know, there's sometimes, and I have 443 00:28:16,884 --> 00:28:21,605 to do this with myself every day, is that limiting beliefs, blow them away. 444 00:28:22,140 --> 00:28:23,259 Because you know what? 445 00:28:23,259 --> 00:28:26,619 There's so many things that are out there that we think that are in our way that aren't in our 446 00:28:26,619 --> 00:28:26,859 way. 447 00:28:26,859 --> 00:28:29,259 They're just a path towards where we need to go. 448 00:28:29,259 --> 00:28:31,579 And I think limiting beliefs is a big thing. 449 00:28:31,820 --> 00:28:35,980 Another thing is proximity, aligning ourselves around the right people. 450 00:28:35,980 --> 00:28:42,404 You know, you might be in a healthcare business, but then there's somebody that's in a 451 00:28:42,404 --> 00:28:43,365 plumbing business. 452 00:28:43,605 --> 00:28:44,244 And guess what? 453 00:28:44,244 --> 00:28:46,164 You might have a lot of things in common there. 454 00:28:46,325 --> 00:28:54,130 And so it's proximity and really kind of working together helping to align ourselves to 455 00:28:54,130 --> 00:28:55,250 get to where we wanna go. 456 00:28:55,250 --> 00:29:00,210 And I think that the big thing too is dream and dream big because, you know, we only have one 457 00:29:00,210 --> 00:29:03,569 life, you know, and it's just, and we don't know how long it's gonna be and let's maximize 458 00:29:03,890 --> 00:29:04,369 it. 459 00:29:04,609 --> 00:29:11,184 You know, and I think that's a big deal and that's something that, you know, like I said 460 00:29:11,184 --> 00:29:16,224 before, it's climbing that mountain and it's, you know, one step at a time, but we have to 461 00:29:16,224 --> 00:29:17,025 see where we're going. 462 00:29:17,025 --> 00:29:18,304 And I think that's a big thing. 463 00:29:18,304 --> 00:29:22,429 And getting into business for yourself, the first thing is, is most people I work with, 464 00:29:22,589 --> 00:29:24,829 they don't have any idea what kind of business they want. 465 00:29:24,829 --> 00:29:30,109 And then all of a sudden, I'm talking to them about something they had no idea. 466 00:29:30,109 --> 00:29:35,304 I mean, was working with an oil and gas person about six months ago. 467 00:29:35,784 --> 00:29:41,544 He and his wife, his wife's a pharmacist, and he was running a well known company, moved on 468 00:29:41,544 --> 00:29:44,984 from that company, and was trying to figure out what the next step was. 469 00:29:45,304 --> 00:29:51,269 And so, and so all of a sudden, I'm talking to him and her, and, you know, she wasn't really 470 00:29:51,269 --> 00:29:52,549 looking to do something different. 471 00:29:52,549 --> 00:29:56,950 And all of a sudden, you know, they're opening up a plumbing business and five pilates 472 00:29:56,950 --> 00:29:57,590 studios. 473 00:29:57,590 --> 00:30:01,670 And so, you know, it's, and so all of a sudden, you know, their life has completely changed, 474 00:30:02,494 --> 00:30:08,255 but they're able to apply, you know, what they've been doing and their skillset, what 475 00:30:08,255 --> 00:30:14,494 they, you know, leadership part of it and the things, and really the desires that they have. 476 00:30:14,894 --> 00:30:19,519 You know, a big thing was is that, you know, corporate life is not always good for family 477 00:30:19,519 --> 00:30:20,079 life. 478 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:25,759 Mean, and so my last role in the corporate world, I live in Colorado and I was working and 479 00:30:25,759 --> 00:30:27,599 I have an office in West Haven, Connecticut. 480 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,440 You know, Sundays and Fridays I was in and out of LaGuardia Airport. 481 00:30:32,404 --> 00:30:37,204 Know, LaGuardia is a fine airport and West Haven Kinnett's a fine place, but it's hard to 482 00:30:37,204 --> 00:30:39,844 live in two different places at the same time. 483 00:30:40,244 --> 00:30:44,990 So I think when people start to manage, they look at their life and they say, okay, so I 484 00:30:44,990 --> 00:30:49,710 need to make sure I have these things covered in order for me to check the boxes to go 485 00:30:49,710 --> 00:30:51,230 forward on a particular business. 486 00:30:51,230 --> 00:30:54,750 And it's not just the business, it's the characteristics of the business as well. 487 00:30:54,750 --> 00:30:59,230 You know what, since you gave us the example of the person who was doing the five Pilates 488 00:31:00,285 --> 00:31:01,164 locations. 489 00:31:01,325 --> 00:31:06,285 I'd love to ask you how, when you have that many locations, how do you keep the culture 490 00:31:06,285 --> 00:31:09,404 across those multiple franchise locations? 491 00:31:09,644 --> 00:31:10,845 One at a time. 492 00:31:12,169 --> 00:31:13,929 Yeah, First, it's the first one. 493 00:31:14,089 --> 00:31:17,609 First one builds on the second one, which builds on the third one, builds on the fourth 494 00:31:17,609 --> 00:31:17,849 one. 495 00:31:17,849 --> 00:31:19,450 They're just on their first one right now. 496 00:31:19,450 --> 00:31:26,025 You know, first of all, it's them and who they are in terms of, you know, their integrity, you 497 00:31:26,025 --> 00:31:26,904 know, what they wanna do. 498 00:31:26,904 --> 00:31:30,744 They've already matched themselves up with companies that they feel like they're in 499 00:31:30,744 --> 00:31:31,624 alignment with. 500 00:31:32,025 --> 00:31:37,384 And so that's first and foremost, because if you're not in alignment from day one, it's kind 501 00:31:37,384 --> 00:31:41,940 of like when you start a new job and you get there and you're like, Gosh, is this what I 502 00:31:41,940 --> 00:31:43,299 thought I was getting into? 503 00:31:43,380 --> 00:31:44,980 And maybe it is, maybe it isn't. 504 00:31:44,980 --> 00:31:46,580 And then you evolve. 505 00:31:46,580 --> 00:31:50,660 And so like with the businesses, you're doing your homework up front. 506 00:31:50,660 --> 00:31:55,194 And that's like what I do with you is that the first thing I'm talking to you about is what do 507 00:31:55,194 --> 00:31:56,394 you want life to look like? 508 00:31:56,394 --> 00:32:04,234 Because it doesn't really matter what, you know, it doesn't matter what the business is if 509 00:32:04,234 --> 00:32:06,474 it doesn't align with what you want your life to look like. 510 00:32:06,474 --> 00:32:09,140 And that's what I think is is the key. 511 00:32:09,140 --> 00:32:09,539 You know? 512 00:32:09,539 --> 00:32:10,500 That's awesome. 513 00:32:10,980 --> 00:32:14,420 What would you say if someone wanted to explore franchising? 514 00:32:14,420 --> 00:32:17,059 What's the very first smart step to take? 515 00:32:17,059 --> 00:32:21,940 You you you ask yourself, why would I wanna do this in the first place? 516 00:32:22,884 --> 00:32:23,285 You know? 517 00:32:23,285 --> 00:32:24,484 What drives me? 518 00:32:24,484 --> 00:32:25,444 What what is it? 519 00:32:25,605 --> 00:32:29,204 Why I mean, because because I because I I promise you you're gonna have headaches. 520 00:32:29,204 --> 00:32:33,605 I promise you it's gonna be challenges, but I also promise you that you're gonna reap rewards 521 00:32:33,605 --> 00:32:34,244 too. 522 00:32:34,244 --> 00:32:34,484 You know? 523 00:32:34,484 --> 00:32:38,829 Because it's just do you how you know, do you like do you wanna win? 524 00:32:38,990 --> 00:32:39,789 Do you wanna win? 525 00:32:39,789 --> 00:32:40,269 Do you you know? 526 00:32:40,269 --> 00:32:42,109 And and it's not just winning the game. 527 00:32:42,349 --> 00:32:46,109 It's winning, you know, in I feel fulfilled? 528 00:32:46,109 --> 00:32:48,269 And and I think that's that's the big thing. 529 00:32:48,509 --> 00:32:53,695 There's there's there's something, Catherine, that I did a lot of, I've done a lot of 530 00:32:53,695 --> 00:32:59,214 leadership training throughout the years, and one of the first programs that I was a part of, 531 00:32:59,295 --> 00:33:03,775 it was really an intense program, it was spirited, and in the heat of the moment 532 00:33:03,775 --> 00:33:07,750 somebody asked me time they said, What's your dash gonna say? 533 00:33:07,830 --> 00:33:10,390 I'm like, What do you mean what's my dash gonna say? 534 00:33:10,549 --> 00:33:16,069 And they said, Well, on your gravestone, it's gonna have your day where you were born, the 535 00:33:15,990 --> 00:33:19,269 died, you die, but the most important thing is that dash. 536 00:33:19,269 --> 00:33:20,869 What did your life say? 537 00:33:21,214 --> 00:33:26,255 And that's the thing that drives me, and that's what I hope that drives people, you know, 538 00:33:26,255 --> 00:33:28,894 because it's just, we can make a difference. 539 00:33:29,454 --> 00:33:36,160 I do feel that in our generation, once you get to this age, we start to consider what is that 540 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:36,640 dash? 541 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:37,599 What does it look like? 542 00:33:37,599 --> 00:33:43,279 You take all the wisdom from all the years that you have done business, that you have been in 543 00:33:43,279 --> 00:33:47,840 your community, and you would hope that you start to really evaluate. 544 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:51,724 And I feel like that's something when you're younger, you're not really considering. 545 00:33:51,724 --> 00:33:58,445 But when you do, the earlier you do that, I feel that you're really working in that 546 00:33:58,445 --> 00:34:00,765 direction of knowing what it looks like from the end. 547 00:34:00,765 --> 00:34:07,700 And Stephen Covey said that, mentioned that a lot sometimes when I'm podcasting is is looking 548 00:34:07,700 --> 00:34:08,980 at things from the end. 549 00:34:09,219 --> 00:34:11,780 And that was something I learned very early on. 550 00:34:12,340 --> 00:34:16,500 What does it look like in your eightieth birthday? 551 00:34:16,500 --> 00:34:21,835 What do you people to be saying about you and the difference that you've made in your 552 00:34:21,835 --> 00:34:22,635 lifetime? 553 00:34:23,835 --> 00:34:25,835 So thank you for sharing that. 554 00:34:25,835 --> 00:34:28,875 What are some things that you've had to pivot from in your life? 555 00:34:28,875 --> 00:34:33,750 I mean, I think life is always pivoting, and I and I think it's always you know, because to 556 00:34:33,750 --> 00:34:38,869 me, if you're not, you know, if you're not out there on on the skinny branches a little bit 557 00:34:38,869 --> 00:34:44,264 and just kinda getting out there, I think that's that means that you're just staying, 558 00:34:44,264 --> 00:34:45,864 you're not pushing it. 559 00:34:45,864 --> 00:34:53,945 And think for me, different things in life, different jobs, sometimes different challenges 560 00:34:53,945 --> 00:34:59,949 with, you know, you lose a customer, you know, a project doesn't work the way you want it to 561 00:34:59,949 --> 00:35:00,510 work. 562 00:35:00,510 --> 00:35:04,590 Maybe, you know, maybe you got sideways with somebody that was a friend of yours that you're 563 00:35:04,590 --> 00:35:07,150 like, oh gosh, this shouldn't have happened this way. 564 00:35:07,150 --> 00:35:14,855 And so to me, it's being able to continue to pivot and to continue to be able to respond. 565 00:35:14,855 --> 00:35:20,214 I mean, my son played college baseball, for me, and I think one of the things I always talk to 566 00:35:20,214 --> 00:35:23,175 him about, and I coached him early on until he didn't wanna listen to me anymore. 567 00:35:23,414 --> 00:35:28,650 And then what happened was, and I always say to him after he went zero for four, I'd say, So 568 00:35:28,650 --> 00:35:33,690 it's not about going zero for four, it's what you're gonna do the next day and how you're 569 00:35:33,690 --> 00:35:34,570 gonna respond. 570 00:35:34,570 --> 00:35:41,614 And I think that's the biggest thing for me is how do you respond to tough times and difficult 571 00:35:41,614 --> 00:35:42,494 circumstances? 572 00:35:42,494 --> 00:35:48,894 Sometimes you deserved a job, you deserved an opportunity at some business and you didn't get 573 00:35:48,894 --> 00:35:49,375 it. 574 00:35:49,534 --> 00:35:52,655 And you can be frustrated, but what are you gonna do about it next? 575 00:35:52,655 --> 00:35:54,655 And I think that's the biggest thing for me. 576 00:35:54,655 --> 00:36:01,420 Like, I'll steal another one from someone, and it's kind of like when you're stuck, it's not 577 00:36:01,420 --> 00:36:05,180 because you can't do it, it's just because you're not resourceful enough yet. 578 00:36:05,420 --> 00:36:09,340 And so you need to dig deep and you need to figure it out because that's one of the things. 579 00:36:09,340 --> 00:36:13,684 Sometimes we feel sorry for ourselves a little bit, and we need to look in the mirror and we 580 00:36:13,684 --> 00:36:18,485 need to be real about things in terms of, hey, maybe I haven't figured it out yet. 581 00:36:18,485 --> 00:36:23,925 Maybe I haven't taken another look at or another angle looking at it. 582 00:36:23,925 --> 00:36:25,845 So for me, it's been different jobs. 583 00:36:25,845 --> 00:36:30,230 It's, you know, I've had, everybody has different personal circumstances at times in 584 00:36:30,230 --> 00:36:30,710 their life. 585 00:36:30,710 --> 00:36:35,349 For me, I got out the corporate world, I went through a divorce, and it was, wish that on 586 00:36:35,349 --> 00:36:35,829 anybody. 587 00:36:35,829 --> 00:36:41,269 And it's hard, you make the most of it, and I think that when I work with people now, that 588 00:36:41,269 --> 00:36:46,045 was something that really was a determining factor for me to move out of the corporate 589 00:36:46,045 --> 00:36:49,724 world because it was kind of like, needed to take a step back and say, okay, so what do I 590 00:36:49,724 --> 00:36:51,085 want my life to look like? 591 00:36:51,244 --> 00:36:53,484 And what are the things that are important to me? 592 00:36:53,644 --> 00:36:59,809 And so that's where, when you look at being resourceful, life doesn't happen to us, it 593 00:36:59,809 --> 00:37:00,769 happens for us. 594 00:37:00,769 --> 00:37:06,210 And so those are things that, stuff happens and you make the most of it and you hold your head 595 00:37:07,010 --> 00:37:11,575 high and proud because every day that we live is something that we should be proud of, and 596 00:37:11,575 --> 00:37:13,015 even when it's a hard day. 597 00:37:13,015 --> 00:37:17,095 So working forward and things like that, and that's for me like being a dad, that's so 598 00:37:17,095 --> 00:37:17,494 important. 599 00:37:17,494 --> 00:37:19,335 Being a husband is important. 600 00:37:19,335 --> 00:37:23,175 Even being an ex husband is important too, because you still do things for the right 601 00:37:23,175 --> 00:37:27,550 reason, you treat people the right way, and that's the way you should live life. 602 00:37:27,630 --> 00:37:29,710 And to me, that's the thing that's important. 603 00:37:29,949 --> 00:37:32,269 You know, it's okay to struggle. 604 00:37:32,269 --> 00:37:38,909 Again, it's about working through that in overcoming struggles, being more resourceful. 605 00:37:38,909 --> 00:37:44,074 That's the thing where Tony Robbins, program I was in, he said, you know, that's just an 606 00:37:44,074 --> 00:37:44,554 excuse. 607 00:37:44,554 --> 00:37:48,954 And he hits you right between the eyes and says, you need to be more resourceful. 608 00:37:49,275 --> 00:37:54,900 And when you are and when you approach it that way, a lot of good things happen. 609 00:37:54,900 --> 00:37:56,019 That's really good. 610 00:37:56,339 --> 00:38:03,380 So Chris, you've talked to us about franchising and all of the benefits and just what's all 611 00:38:03,380 --> 00:38:04,179 involved. 612 00:38:04,260 --> 00:38:11,144 If somebody was interested and they'd want to start seeking out ways in which to, you know, 613 00:38:11,144 --> 00:38:14,664 whether they have franchises for them or not, how would they seek you out? 614 00:38:14,664 --> 00:38:16,345 How would they find you? 615 00:38:16,744 --> 00:38:21,865 Well, they can find me at www.peakfranchising.com. 616 00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:29,679 There's also one that will be a landing page for this particular podcast, it's 617 00:38:29,679 --> 00:38:35,440 www.podcast.peakfranchising.com/tbb. 618 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:41,155 So that will be, you can reach me there, and I'd love to have a conversation with you. 619 00:38:41,155 --> 00:38:46,034 There's three offers that we have with this particular podcast, and that is, is one, we'll 620 00:38:46,034 --> 00:38:48,675 do a franchise investigating readiness survey with you. 621 00:38:48,675 --> 00:38:50,355 You can click on that. 622 00:38:50,434 --> 00:38:54,890 You can also look at it in terms of a free personal model and a plan that we build to give 623 00:38:54,890 --> 00:38:57,690 you a feel for what opportunities there might be for you. 624 00:38:57,769 --> 00:39:03,210 And then there's a franchise model fit quiz, and just saying, is this the right fit for me 625 00:39:03,210 --> 00:39:03,769 as well? 626 00:39:03,930 --> 00:39:06,730 You could do all three of them if you'd like, or one of the three. 627 00:39:06,730 --> 00:39:12,275 After you do those, that'll come directly to me, and it'll suggest if you wanna have a 628 00:39:12,275 --> 00:39:15,875 conversation to discuss things further, and I'd love to have that with you. 629 00:39:15,875 --> 00:39:16,675 Awesome. 630 00:39:17,074 --> 00:39:21,554 And so just for our audience sake, we wanna make sure that you know that all this 631 00:39:21,554 --> 00:39:26,759 information is gonna be in the additional show notes so that you can go ahead and look in 632 00:39:26,759 --> 00:39:28,359 there and seek that out. 633 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:34,039 If you, you know what, Chris, I just want to thank you so much for being here with us, for 634 00:39:34,039 --> 00:39:35,880 giving us just so much information. 635 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:39,724 And I think there were some things that I learned even about the franchise world that I 636 00:39:39,724 --> 00:39:41,405 wasn't all aware of. 637 00:39:41,724 --> 00:39:45,164 So thank you so much for the value that you've added to our audience today. 638 00:39:45,164 --> 00:39:46,525 Thank you, Katherine. 639 00:39:46,525 --> 00:39:47,324 I really appreciate it. 640 00:39:47,324 --> 00:39:50,849 And I really, really appreciate anybody that has an interest here. 641 00:39:50,849 --> 00:39:51,650 So take care. 642 00:39:51,650 --> 00:39:57,409 So if you want clarity around your next step, please go ahead and reach out, whether it's 643 00:39:57,409 --> 00:40:00,690 franchising, scaling systems or leadership. 644 00:40:00,849 --> 00:40:05,675 And I'd love for you to just go ahead and reach out to Chris, or you can reach out to myself at 645 00:40:05,675 --> 00:40:11,355 Rocket Growth Business Advisors because you're not just building business, you're building 646 00:40:11,355 --> 00:40:15,195 impact, freedom, and you're building legacy. 647 00:40:15,355 --> 00:40:20,420 So here on the Beyond Business Podcast, we believe your voice, your life, and your 648 00:40:20,420 --> 00:40:23,300 business and your dream, they matter. 649 00:40:23,539 --> 00:40:25,219 So thank you so much. 650 00:40:25,219 --> 00:40:29,139 Again, this is your host, Katherine, with the Beyond Business Podcast. 651 00:40:29,219 --> 00:40:30,339 Have an amazing day.