“A lot of people go into franchising thinking there's the corporate structure of who you're franchising with, which is true and it's great, and franchising is a great model, but you still have this one problem you forget you have to deal with. It's called people. People are not easy. There's not a book that tells you exactly how to respond to every person, every day, every scenario. The biggest challenge I see is owners, franchisees, and entrepreneurs doing the same thing. I can do this. I'm a p...
Jun 26, 2025•29 min•Ep. 95
“We're so different. If you built us from the ground up right now, you couldn't make us any more different than we are. Yet, we make great business partners because we have a common goal. One of the things that I always try to coach people on, when I'm talking to them about leaving corporate America and considering owning a business, is their WHY. It seems kind of trite, but it is about the WHY. What are you trying to get to? What is your bigger goal, and what are your values? That's how we trie...
Jun 10, 2025•26 min•Ep. 94
“Our investment is $59,500.00. That’s for a 10-year franchise agreement. It gives you the rights to market anywhere in the U.S. Our franchisees are allowed to have 200 protected businesses at any one time in our CRM system, so that way they're protected. No other franchisee can target those prospects. Two hundred prospects will take you a few months to work through. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it is a lot. The way we operate with clients is that we share in the savings 50/50. For every thou...
May 28, 2025•29 min•Ep. 93
“I like to give everyone a checklist of the basics of marketing. I think you should have a one-liner. You should know how to talk about your business in a way that makes people shut up and listen. Everyone wears a sign that says, ‘Make me feel special.’ Rather than cramming your brand down someone's throat, talk about the problems that your company solves on behalf of your clients and make sure that they can understand the benefit of what it looks like to work with you. That leads to the next el...
May 13, 2025•31 min•Ep. 92
“We’re continuing to open up studios of our own. We just opened up a studio in Indianapolis that's ours. We're opening up a second one in Indianapolis this year. Courtney and Dustin, our first franchisees to sign on, opened their second studio the day after we opened our studio in Indianapolis. It was a great learning process and so much fun to go through this process shoulder to shoulder with them. We're constantly growing and modifying things to provide better support for our franchisees. This...
Apr 30, 2025•28 min•Ep. 91
“For almost two years, I had this constant back and forth of not feeling fulfilled. I didn't necessarily feel as happy as I once was growing my career in the corporate world. But then I had this other side of me thinking I had nothing to complain about. I had a fairly senior position. I was very well compensated. Then I'd say to myself, ‘Shut up, dummy. Tons of people would love to have your job.’ I was the primary breadwinner. I'm not right now, but I was the primary breadwinner for my wife and...
Apr 15, 2025•33 min•Ep. 90
“I think our biggest aha moment was when we were trying to figure out the right profile of candidates to join HOMEstretch. For us, it ultimately boiled down to the people themselves. Part of what we wanted to do at the outset was create a really dynamic culture where everybody believed in our mission of becoming the national leader in the home preparation space, and we got people in the door who truly wanted to create big businesses. I think that's what’s unique about HOMEstretch. It's a really ...
Mar 27, 2025•25 min•Ep. 89
“It is so long. But it was sure worth it. It's similar to taking a personality test where you’re trying to figure out what will work. Initially, I thought I would have to do something in insurance. That's what I have a background in. And then you said something to the effect that my new business may not be something I’ve done before. So, I thought ‘ok go big or go home! Let's see what the test questions and assessments will come up with.’” Many clients assume they should stay in their current in...
Mar 05, 2025•27 min•Ep. 88
“Talk to other business owners in your area to learn about permitting and their experiences. Understand your local fire code requirements and ADA regulations, as these vary by state. If you're in a hurricane-prone area like I am, you may need extra insurance coverage. I also planned for at least six extra months of operating capital. Get involved in local groups like the Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce to network with other business owners. Another valuable resource is the Small Business Deve...
Feb 19, 2025•31 min•Ep. 87
“What I love to share is that high success in franchising only happens when you pick the right business. Do the self-introspection first. Do the modeling. Very few people have purchased a business before. They don't know all the different things they need to consider. We take them through 10 to 14 different criteria. We look at their skill sets and seek to understand the transferable skills they enjoy. What are the things they don't like to do? And then we look at multiple businesses. You should...
Feb 11, 2025•27 min•Ep. 86
“Every moment of my life, from being a practicing lawyer to coming here and working in a gas station where I was breaking down boxes, cleaning and stocking the shelves, I was never bummed out. I knew this was a learning opportunity for me. I learned about the community and building customer relationships. I also learned the details of working hard. Every moment presented to you in your life - get something out of it. Your many experiences will add up to help you become who you want to be and get...
Jan 23, 2025•28 min•Ep. 85
“During that time, we didn't just build out Massage Envy. The free cash flow allowed us to make other real estate and private equity investments. I firmly believe that a business is a vehicle to help you generate other income-producing assets. Some people aim to simply replace working for the man by running their own business. I get that. The reality is you can do so much more when you build a business, and by diversifying and getting other income-producing assets with it as well.” Investing in ...
Jan 08, 2025•31 min•Ep. 84
“After 25 years of working for some pretty big global corporations, you’re working for a business, but they're more like institutions than they are businesses. It sometimes feels like you're dealing with a lot of conceptual aspects of how this giant machine operates, and you're pretty far away from seeing the value it creates for individual consumers. In the case of a small business like this, it's all about the business and the value it creates for its customers. An example is when we recently ...
Dec 18, 2024•29 min•Ep. 83
“You mentioned the SCORE Methodology. Can you give us a brief overview of what that is? Back to the notion of a symphony. Every family we work with is different. We work with a lot of entrepreneurial families and all of those businesses run a little bit differently on their cashflow schedules, variability, all of these things. S is for understanding their story, what they do, how their life works, and who the key players are in their family; things we need to be mindful of. C gets into cash and ...
Dec 11, 2024•24 min•Ep. 82
“I worked for Corporate America for approximately 10 years. I started as an accountant, and a senior financial analyst auditor, working salary-based. I kept seeing everyone else that I would train get certain promotions. I would ask why I wasn’t being considered for a promotion. The response was that I was too good at training people and they wanted me in that seat. So, I figured I’d learn as much as I could so I could eventually go out on my own. They needed me in that role. But it's tough when...
Nov 20, 2024•33 min•Ep. 81
“We ended up with a much larger facility than the model called for. It was one of the earlier locations. I think it was the third location in the system. The facility has a grandiose look and feel with a lot of cut glass. One of the attractive things was that a typical facility today has the capacity for about 32 students for any given class period, and our facility has the capacity for almost 60 students. I thought if we could just fill this place up, then everything would be great. But that pr...
Nov 06, 2024•31 min•Ep. 80
“When someone you’re seeking advice from gives it to you, listen to what they're saying. Be willing to listen. Being in this industry, I’ve learned people really want to help. They want to help and they want to see you grow. I want all of my business owners to be in the multimillion-dollar range because then, all boats are lifted. I'll be able to make more money because they're making more money. It’s a win for all. When I speak with my clients, I listen to what they're saying, I give them advic...
Oct 23, 2024•33 min•Ep. 79
“I would recommend looking at multiple different business opportunities so you get a basis for comparison, particularly if you're new to owning a franchise or a small business. If this is something you haven't spent an extensive amount of time on, you have no basis for comparison. It’s important to interview multiple concepts even if something immediately jumps off the page and you think that’s it, still look at additional opportunities so you have a better comparison point.” It’s crucial to com...
Oct 09, 2024•33 min•Ep. 78
“In the first year, I did $1.3 million in revenue with a 37% net profit. So I was somewhat patting myself on the back, but behind the scenes, I was working 19-20 hours a day, six days a week, I'd work half a day on a Sunday, sleep in a little bit, get some rest and do it all over again. I grew the business very quickly and I thought that's what being an entrepreneur was supposed to be like. You start a business then you just grind and grind. In my mind, it was supposed to hurt and be really, rea...
Sep 25, 2024•40 min•Ep. 77
“I want to point out something in regards to what you were just saying about the consumer and what you look for as a consumer. I believe this is important for any stay-at-home parent who’s listening. I think a lot of times people who've been home with their kids might assume that since they’ve been out of the workforce for a period of time, they might not have the skills to run a business. You are a perfect example of somebody who took what you learned being a consumer, managing contractors or w...
Sep 11, 2024•28 min•Ep. 76
“I had zero business background when I was starting out. I went to a number of people and asked them for their book list. I let them know I was starting my own law firm and I asked for the top books they’d recommend. If a book was recommended more than once, it went to the top of the list. I read a ton of books. I also networked and met some amazing attorneys and amazing business owners. A more senior attorney recommended I contact Great Legal Marketing. I eventually ended up with my business co...
Aug 28, 2024•35 min•Ep. 75
“The 212 Degree concept probably entered my life a decade before I started my business. I remember being in Las Vegas getting some copies made at Kinko’s for a trade show and saw this book called 212 Degrees. I thought it looked interesting and picked it up. The name of my company is Image 212. 212 Degrees is really all about the extra degree. At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. Boiling water turns to steam and steam can power a train and a train changed the world. So that on...
Aug 14, 2024•34 min•Ep. 74
“I am absolutely passionate about the pet space because of Mercedes and Bugatti. I love technology and what I have built. I absolutely love coming to work every day. I think that that's the core difference - I love it! I love working with our franchise owners. I love the creativity they come up with. I love the daily challenges, looking at those challenges, and then coming up with a technology solution for them versus just saying, ‘Oh, well, let's hire somebody, or let's get a different person’....
Jul 31, 2024•36 min•Ep. 73
“There's a group of about eight of us that try and get together once or twice a month on a Zoom call. We discuss our frustrations, what's working, what's not working, where we're finding new opportunities, everything business-related. It's great because you can feel like a lone ranger as a franchise owner, and I love having other franchisees to bounce ideas off. It’s nice to have someone to check in with you so you don't feel so alone. This is something one of our franchisees organized that we d...
Jul 19, 2024•29 min•Ep. 72
“In my view as an entrepreneur, the key is not just accumulating wealth, but keeping it. Both the ROBS and the RAP can help you accumulate, accelerate, and protect wealth while reducing taxes. These programs can cut your taxes by 40-50% annually and exempt you from capital gains tax indefinitely. Their appeal lies in their ability to shield you from future financial risks, including income tax." Our lending partners offer full suites of small business funding options to help entrepreneurs get th...
Jul 19, 2024•21 min•Ep. 71
“One of the other franchisees was amazing. He went through and introduced me to contacts in my territory that he’d been working with. Once you own a territory, it's your territory. He was really selfless. Everybody in the Donut Envy family has been incredibly selfless. We have a WhatsApp chat with all of the North DFW owners, and then we have a WhatsApp chat with all the Texas owners. We have a family page on Facebook with all owners. They call it a family. A lot of times people use that as a bu...
Jul 19, 2024•30 min•Ep. 70
“One of my favorite topics to talk about is what I believe are the five common characteristics of all highly successful people. And the great thing is they're all learned skills. It isn't how you were born or what your parents were. They are: a positive mental attitude goal-directed behavior self-motivation a sense of urgency and never stop learning It is really about self-determination. I can remember in the sixties, the big thing was to say, ‘You’ve got to find yourself’. I don't think you fin...
Jul 19, 2024•29 min•Ep. 69
“The technology we started using from the very beginning has evolved over time, but it’s really brought a lot of transparency to the families we work with. They can log in and see what caregiver is coming, what they did on their last shift, and what the care plan looks like. All of that information is available at their fingertips to help them keep track. We’ve worked with a lot of families where the adult children live out of state and we're caring for their mom or dad. They can't always be her...
May 15, 2024•24 min•Ep. 68
“One of the things the franchisor explained to us is, in bad economic times, you're not going to have this huge amount of people who are going to be interested in what you offer like in normal times. You have to double down on your marketing because those people don’t all go away, there’s just a smaller amount of them who are willing to and still have the financial abilities to buy what we offer. So I doubled down on my marketing and I survived it. It was a struggle, but it wasn't like I was eve...
Apr 24, 2024•33 min•Ep. 67
“Don't fall in love with a business or industry, or whatever it is, early on. If you’re looking at franchises, make sure you take the time to talk to other franchisees in the system and talk to a lot of them. Ask the tough questions about worst-case scenarios as well as the positive aspects of the business. Make sure you think about your potential customer base and how that might be evolving because things don't just stay the same in any industry. Keep an open mind.” It’s normal to feel exciteme...
Apr 10, 2024•30 min•Ep. 66
