Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / How to Get Started in the World of Franchising with Rebecca Monet

Transcript

How to Get Started in the World of Franchising with Rebecca Monet · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

• 0:00
  Kind of the tagline of franchising is you're in business for yourself, but you're not in
• 0:07
  business by yourself.
• 0:10
  So unlike a raw or real entrepreneur where you kinda have to know everything, right?
• 0:16
  You have to come up with the idea.
• 0:18
  You have to sell.
• 0:19
  You have to market.
• 0:20
  You gotta manage people.
• 0:21
  You gotta be strong in operations.
• 0:24
  In franchising, you don't have to have as much broad spectrum skills or as much experience as
• 0:32
  if you're thinking of going out on your own to be an entrepreneur.
• 0:37
  3, 2, 1, 0, ignition.
• 0:43
  Lift off.
• 0:45
  Ending small business failure.
• 0:48
  Welcome to the small biz chat podcast with the number one small business Burt, Melinda
• 0:53
  Emerson.
• 0:55
  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
• 0:59
  you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
• 1:03
  Now here's your host, the small Biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
• 1:09
  Hi, everybody.
• 1:10
  I'm Melinda Emerson, small bus lady.
• 1:12
  America's number one small business expert, and I'm so excited to welcome you to another
• 1:18
  edition of the small biz chat podcast.
• 1:21
  We have an amazing show today.
• 1:24
  Now here on the small biz chat podcast, We talk about how to start and grow successful small
• 1:31
  businesses, and my guests have amazing insight to share from multiple angles.
• 1:36
  Now We think of the small business chat podcast as a peer to peer mentoring opportunity for
• 1:44
  you.
• 1:44
  So I want you to listen close Take notes because my guests are going to give you
• 1:50
  invaluable advice that is going to help you take your business to the next level because
• 1:54
  here at the small biz chat podcast, our mission is to end small business failure.
• 2:01
  Now it's time for me to introduce my guest Rebecca Monet.
• 2:05
  She's the CEO and chief scientist of Zorko Profiles.
• 2:10
  She's fascinated with neuroscience and human performance As it relates to business success,
• 2:15
  Zorko profiles offers a suite of customizable, psychromatic assessments for brokers and
• 2:21
  franchisors.
• 2:23
  Zork will spot on.
• 2:24
  It's meta analysis that provides insight on a singular profile survey algorithm or any
• 2:31
  assessment can.
• 2:33
  Zorko's fine on determines franchisee franchise or compatibility and predicts performance.
• 2:40
  Circle's tool provides brokers a means to engage with and align buyers with businesses
• 2:45
  wherein they have the greatest likelihood of success Her website is zorocoprofiles.com.
• 2:53
  Rebecca, thank you so much for being here.
• 2:55
  Oh my gosh.
• 2:56
  I'm so excited to have a conversation with you, Melinda.
• 3:00
  Well, listen.
• 3:01
  You know everything about franchises and everything about how to be successful as a
• 3:06
  franchisee, so I wanna dive in.
• 3:08
  So tell me, why do you think that franchising is a good business idea?
• 3:14
  Versus just, you know, I got this idea.
• 3:16
  Let me start it from scratch.
• 3:18
  Well, first of all, franchising is a growth strategy and it really works for numerous
• 3:26
  reasons.
• 3:27
  1 of which, of course, is franchising is a proven system that a franchisee embraces and
• 3:36
  leverages to build their own business in their own marketplace.
• 3:41
  Secondly, franchising is all about brand recognition.
• 3:46
  So instead of creating your own business, having to do all the marketing and creating the
• 3:52
  brand yourself, now you have a brand that is an umbrella to you that already has some
• 3:58
  recognition out in the marketplace.
• 4:02
  Secondly, I mean, thirdly, I should say, There's a lower failure risk in franchising
• 4:08
  than if you start your own business.
• 4:12
  In fact, the failure rate for entrepreneurship is way higher than anyone would like.
• 4:18
  In fact, that's your mission is to prevent a lot of that and franchising is a solution to
• 4:24
  it.
• 4:24
  So another great benefit of franchising is now you have other franchisees you're working with,
• 4:32
  and you can, have group buying power, whatever that is, whether it is French fries or printers
• 4:41
  or whatever it is, you have this group buying power that you're not gonna have if you have
• 4:47
  your own business.
• 4:48
  There's also consistently greater profits as a franchisee than if you're starting your own
• 4:57
  business.
• 4:58
  And, of course, less risk.
• 5:00
  Less risk because Others have gone before you.
• 5:03
  They've proven the concept.
• 5:05
  It's working.
• 5:06
  You're stepping in and you're embracing and you're leveraging what others have already
• 5:11
  learned and are already doing.
• 5:13
  And then the final to me benefit of getting involved in in franchising is, the financing.
• 5:21
  Finding financing for a franchise is much easier than if you come up with a wild hare
• 5:27
  idea decide to be a a franchisee, and now you're trying to get funding for your idea.
• 5:36
  Bankers, lenders, SPA are very welcoming to anyone that is a franchisee.
• 5:43
  Now tell me about how you gained all this knowledge.
• 5:46
  Like, how did you get into the franchise world?
• 5:49
  So it's kind of a a a god led process, in my opinion, I was actually a therapist, and my
• 5:56
  entire practice was working with entrepreneurs was working with business owners.
• 6:04
  My job was to discover what was preventing someone from growing a successful business,
• 6:12
  from going to that next level.
• 6:13
  What was it here in the gray matter that might prevent that.
• 6:18
  So that was my fascination.
• 6:20
  And then one kind of day, one of my clients said, Rebecca, all these things that you are
• 6:27
  teaching up teaching me as it relates to, you know, kinda getting out of my comfort zone,
• 6:32
  going to that next level, Can you teach this to a larger group, not just one to 1?
• 6:38
  And so he put together 3 100 entrepreneurs in a room, and it was the first time I got to speak
• 6:46
  in public, you know, obviously, it was a nervous wreck, but it was like I had done it a
• 6:52
  thousand times.
• 6:53
  I mean, it just went out and it just was a beautiful introduction to the world of, public
• 6:59
  speaking.
• 6:59
  And then from that, I started traveling all over world talking about the cycles of success
• 7:07
  and what prevents that from a values conflict, a belief system, you know, inconsistency
• 7:13
  strategies that weren't, working.
• 7:16
  And then one day, my, as a single parent, I had a couple of teenagers, and I was traveling so
• 7:23
  much, and I had one of my teenagers that I needed to have my eyes on a a little more often
• 7:30
  than what I was.
• 7:32
  And so I, knew I had to stop all this, travel.
• 7:37
  And so I went the bad one night, And I said, god, what next?
• 7:42
  I can't travel like this, anymore.
• 7:46
  And I woke up the next morning with two words and it was business broker.
• 7:51
  And at that time, we're talking 1993.
• 7:54
  I had no idea what a business broker is.
• 7:57
  I know Laurie probably does, but I sure it didn't.
• 8:00
  And so I looked it up in the yellow pages.
• 8:02
  Those yellow pages are top of the refrigerator is a real thick book in San Diego.
• 8:07
  And I found 3 business brokers called each one of them, and I said, You can think I'm crazy,
• 8:15
  but god told me to call you.
• 8:17
  I wanna learn everything that you do.
• 8:19
  You don't have to pay me.
• 8:21
  You know, just I'll follow you on at work.
• 8:23
  I'll do whatever.
• 8:24
  Anyway, long story short, one of those brokers was a franchise broker.
• 8:31
  In fact, he created the industry of franchise, brokering, and now it's quite popular.
• 8:38
  But back then, he was first to do just that.
• 8:41
  And he introduced me to franchising.
• 8:44
  I introduced him to the world of psychographics and human behavior, and what causes some people
• 8:49
  to succeed and what causes some people to fail.
• 8:52
  And I fell in love with the franchising model.
• 8:58
  Wow.
• 8:59
  That is an incredible story that I actually had never heard you tell before.
• 9:03
  So in in all that you know about franchising.
• 9:07
  What do people need to know before they jump in?
• 9:11
  Right?
• 9:11
  Because it's not for everybody either.
• 9:14
  I agree.
• 9:15
  A franchising, entrepreneurship, in general, is not, for everyone.
• 9:20
  So the thing I would suggest when you are considering franchising and you begin to look
• 9:26
  at various franchise concepts, it is First, you must make sure that you are in alignment with
• 9:34
  the values of that franchise organization.
• 9:38
  If you're in alignment with those values, you're gonna have common ground.
• 9:43
  You're gonna make similar decisions.
• 9:44
  You're gonna be more harmonious and you're gonna stay longer when you have similar kind of
• 9:50
  mindset from a values perspective.
• 9:53
  The next thing you wanna consider is where is that franchisor in terms of their stage of
• 10:01
  growth?
• 10:01
  There are 5 predictable stages of growth every business goes through, including franchisors,
• 10:09
  and you wanna know where they are because you're gonna fit in 1, and you're not gonna fit
• 10:13
  in another.
• 10:15
  Some of us, like me, kind of wild crazy entrepreneur, I fit really well in an early
• 10:19
  stage franchise system that's still dynamic, and there's not as many rules.
• 10:24
  And others fit when a franchisor is more further, along where they basically just
• 10:30
  embrace and leverage what we call plug and play organization.
• 10:34
  You also want to make sure you're a cultural fit.
• 10:40
  We've all had experiences in jobs or situations where it wasn't the company it wasn't us.
• 10:47
  It just wasn't a good cultural fit.
• 10:50
  We couldn't get on board with the way they did business.
• 10:54
  Their best practices, the methodologies, the environment, It just wasn't a good fit.
• 10:59
  So you wanna understand, the culture of an organization and if you're a good fit.
• 11:04
  And then, of course, you wanna make sure that your personality, or what I call a work style,
• 11:11
  is consistent with what high performing franchisees within that franchise concept, what
• 11:19
  their personalities are.
• 11:21
  So you need to look like and behave similar to what high performers within a franchise
• 11:27
  organization.
• 11:28
  And finally, of course, is the one that we always think about.
• 11:32
  Which is core competencies.
• 11:34
  Are your core competencies, your skills complimentary to the franchisor, and their,
• 11:43
  strategies and their value package and the way that they do business.
• 11:48
  Do you bring to the table the kind of business acumen that's necessary to be successful, in
• 11:54
  the business?
• 11:55
  And each of those need to be there to determine if a if a franchise or is a good fit.
• 12:02
  And if you're a good fit for franchising,
• 12:05
  So I there's a lot that you just said there, but I but I wanna unpack it just a little bit
• 12:10
  and say, well, How many different kinds of franchise opportunities are there?
• 12:16
  You'd be surprised.
• 12:17
  I mean, there's new franchise orders coming on.
• 12:20
  Every single, day.
• 12:22
  In the US alone, we have somewhere between 45,105,000 different types of franchises that a
• 12:31
  franchisee or prospective franchisee could take a look at.
• 12:34
  That's a lot to kinda sift through to decide what's right for you?
• 12:39
  Well, let's talk about the money, though.
• 12:41
  So, like, I mean, do you gotta be 3,000,000 liquid?
• 12:43
  Like, like, to buy into a franchise?
• 12:46
  You gotta be able to buy 3 McDonald's instead of 1.
• 12:48
  Like, what, you know, how does it work if you wanna buy into a franchise?
• 12:54
  You know, the the money part Melinda varies depending on what the franchise is.
• 13:01
  If it's a home based, man in the van kind of business, then you can get in sometimes for as
• 13:09
  low as $25,000.
• 13:12
  If it's a retail space, where you have to do a build out, and, you know, the brand is a highly
• 13:19
  recognizable brand, like you mentioned, with, McDonald's, now you're gonna spend in the
• 13:25
  millions to get there.
• 13:26
  So there's a franchise for any budget that someone, has.
• 13:33
  Now what about the people you need to help you do this.
• 13:37
  Like, you you do need a franchise attorney.
• 13:39
  Right?
• 13:40
  Your cousin that's an attorney isn't the right attorney.
• 13:42
  Right?
• 13:43
  I agree.
• 13:44
  I I agree.
• 13:45
  I think when you're pondering, the idea of going into business, especially into
• 13:50
  franchising, you should have onboard an adviser, both a good CPA and a franchise
• 13:59
  attorney.
• 13:59
  And I'm gonna suggest franchise attorney because they understand the business model.
• 14:05
  They understand the contracts.
• 14:07
  They understand this, relationship between the brand and and you as an independent owner.
• 14:15
  So find a franchise attorney that can help you along the way and an accountant that also
• 14:23
  understands, the business model.
• 14:27
  Now I know I've often heard and seen advertisements for franchise where they say no
• 14:33
  experience required.
• 14:34
  We're gonna teach you everything.
• 14:37
  I mean, Rebecca, is that legit?
• 14:40
  Like, is it I mean, if you have no business experience at all, do you have any business
• 14:44
  buying into a franchise?
• 14:46
  You know, you gotta have some business acumen.
• 14:48
  There's there's no doubt, but the kind of the tagline of franchising is You're in business
• 14:55
  for yourself, but you're not in business by yourself.
• 15:00
  So unlike a raw or real entrepreneur where you kind of have to know everything, right?
• 15:06
  You have to come up with the idea.
• 15:08
  You have to sell.
• 15:09
  You have to market.
• 15:10
  You gotta manage people.
• 15:11
  You gotta be strong in operations.
• 15:14
  In franchising, you don't have to have as much broad spectrum skills or as much experience as
• 15:22
  if you're thinking of going out on your own to be an entrepreneur.
• 15:26
  And then again, it it depends on which business you're going in.
• 15:30
  Right?
• 15:30
  Some businesses, some franchises require that you're earning credible sales and marketing
• 15:36
  person.
• 15:37
  Other businesses are more management business or operational businesses or businesses where
• 15:44
  you need to be a good transferable skills from other careers or situations you've been in
• 15:56
  where you can transfer those skills into a business, but it is definitely a business model
• 16:04
  that you don't necessarily have to be great at everything because a franchisor is gonna be
• 16:10
  complimentary to you.
• 16:12
  They're going to offload some of the responsibility through their marketing, through
• 16:16
  their systems, and through their processes to help you succeed.
• 16:20
  That's their job is to help you succeed.
• 16:23
  Alright.
• 16:24
  Now do you suggest calling several franchisees in talking to them before making your final
• 16:29
  decision to sign on
• 16:30
  the dotted line?
• 16:32
  I do.
• 16:33
  I recommend as you start in the process of considering franchising that you have another
• 16:39
  adviser come alongside you, and that's a good franchise broker.
• 16:45
  These franchise brokers can help you look through that 4500 different franchise concept
• 16:53
  and using tools like what we offer at Zoroco Profiles help you narrow down the concepts
• 16:59
  where you are a good fit.
• 17:02
  You share the values.
• 17:03
  You fit in a stage of growth.
• 17:04
  You fit in the culture.
• 17:05
  You have the right skills.
• 17:07
  You have the right personality.
• 17:08
  They'll be able to narrow down those options.
• 17:12
  So I always recommend that you get a broker to come alongside of you, and the broker will tell
• 17:20
  you as you're talking to various franchisors to speak with a handful of franchisees, and each
• 17:28
  of the concepts that you are researching.
• 17:32
  The franchisees can give you great insight as to what they do this again and what support are
• 17:37
  they getting?
• 17:38
  And what's the, you know, greatest difficulty that they've had?
• 17:42
  So, yes, I recommend everyone considering franchise ownership, talk to other franchisees
• 17:50
  to get their feedback.
• 17:52
  Alright, Rebecca.
• 17:54
  What is the best business advice you've ever gotten?
• 17:58
  You know, as an entrepreneur myself, I'm an inventor.
• 18:01
  I'm a scientist.
• 18:03
  I love to solve problems using psychographics, using technology.
• 18:10
  So someone could throw me a problem.
• 18:12
  I go, okay.
• 18:12
  How can we solve this problem using technology and using, science?
• 18:18
  And because I'm a natural inventor, I was frequently reinventing the wheel.
• 18:24
  I was frequently customizing our software and doing things that way.
• 18:28
  So the best advice I got was from franchising itself, and one of my early investors in a
• 18:35
  company that I sold in 2012, And franchising is all about replicating and scaling, replicating
• 18:44
  and scaling.
• 18:45
  So I began to look at my business as what can I replicate and what can I scale, and that in
• 18:53
  turn means What can I do to have reoccurring revenue?
• 18:58
  Where I'm not thinking wham bam.
• 19:00
  I gotta get another client, what can I do to replicate scale and create reoccurring revenue?
• 19:08
  Not only does it stabilize the business but it makes it a more sellable business when I'm
• 19:15
  ready to exit that business.
• 19:18
  Rebecca, what's your favorite podcast?
• 19:21
  I'm a little OCD.
• 19:22
  So it's franchise today.
• 19:25
  Where the interviews are super successful franchisors, franchisees, and franchise
• 19:33
  executives.
• 19:34
  I want to hear their story.
• 19:35
  I'm always curious about people's story.
• 19:38
  Love it.
• 19:39
  Love it.
• 19:40
  Alright.
• 19:40
  Rebecca, what's your favorite business at?
• 19:42
  Well, there's a few of them out there, but specifically it's an app that allows you to
• 19:47
  record tiny little, messages that then you send through an email, I find that when I use my
• 19:56
  voice instead of typing someone, especially for busy executives, They're gonna open up a 15
• 20:02
  minute voice message from me rather than an email saying the exact same thing.
• 20:09
  What's the name of the app?
• 20:10
  I think it's called JetBot, but I think there's others out there.
• 20:13
  Yes.
• 20:15
  Okay.
• 20:15
  Love it.
• 20:17
  Tell me, what is your favorite old school marketing tip.
• 20:21
  Reputation.
• 20:22
  Right?
• 20:22
  Reputation and referral relationships.
• 20:25
  Our entire business is based on resellers and referral partners.
• 20:30
  So it's a griller marketing, which is building relationships and let others do the speaking
• 20:35
  for us.
• 20:37
  Alright, Rebecca.
• 20:39
  What is your favorite business book?
• 20:41
  Oh, it's between 2.
• 20:43
  But I think it is, another Kim Blanchard book called Lead Like Jesus.
• 20:51
  No better leader in my mind.
• 20:54
  I I love it.
• 20:54
  I love it.
• 20:55
  I haven't, read that one, but you've made me interested in it.
• 21:00
  My favorite business book is Disrupt You by Jay Samet because he says if you wanna disrupt the
• 21:05
  world, start by disrupting yourself.
• 21:08
  Thank you to chief scientist, Rebecca Monet from Zurich profiles.
• 21:12
  If you are interested in a franchise or just wanna find out what kind of business might be
• 21:17
  good for you.
• 21:18
  Head over to boss quiz.com, her product, and you're gonna get an opportunity to get a
• 21:24
  complete business profile.
• 21:26
  To determine the right business opportunity for you.
• 21:29
  And thank you all for joining me for this episode of the small fish chat podcast If
• 21:34
  you're still working on your digital pivot, please check out all of our offerings over at
• 21:38
  Small Bizlating University.
• 21:40
  You deserve to make the money that you need to make online, and we've got all the tools over
• 21:44
  there to help you with it.
• 21:46
  And the last thing I wanna tell you is I wanna leave you with this.
• 21:49
  You never lose in business, either you win or you learn.
• 21:53
  Thank you so much, everybody.
• 21:57
  Thanks for listening to the small biz podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 22:01
  Subscribe to this podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts, and join us next Wednesday for
• 22:06
  more fantastic information and interviews.
• 22:09
  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
• 22:14
  website succeed as your own boss dot com.
• 22:17
  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.