Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E84 An Interview with Chris Raimo and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker
Transcript
- 0:14Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
- 0:18Profitable Connections, the podcast where we
- 0:21uncover the strategies, stories, and systems
- 0:25that turn relationships into real results. I'm
- 0:28your host, Michael Forman, and today's episode
- 0:31is going to challenge the way we think about
- 0:34career growth, collaboration, and connection.
- 0:37We're diving into three main doors into business,
- 0:41starting one, buying one, and stepping into the
- 0:44franchise world. My guest today knows these paths
- 0:49inside and out, and will explore how networking
- 0:53plays a pivotal role in each. Spoiler alert,
- 0:57franchising isn't just following a playbook.
- 1:00It's about building real, profitable, and local
- 1:03relationships. So let's get into it. I'd like
- 1:06to introduce Chris Ramo. He is my guest today.
- 1:10He's got really quite a background, but I'll
- 1:13let him tell you. Chris, welcome to the show.
- 1:17Thank you, Michael. It's a pleasure to be here.
- 1:19I have plenty to say about growing business.
- 1:23And the reason for that is we started really
- 1:26with an idea and built everything from... scratch
- 1:30and along that path, had other experiences, opportunities
- 1:34to buy, sell, eventually get into franchising.
- 1:38And while I may not be as, as experienced as
- 1:41some, I've been at this for about 20 years now
- 1:43and happy to share anything that I can with,
- 1:46with the audience. All right. So let's dive right
- 1:50in. You've worked across all three entry points
- 1:54into business startup acquisition and franchise.
- 1:58Which one requires requires the strongest network
- 2:02and why? I think the that's a tough one. Startup.
- 2:07Startup for sure. And the only other one that
- 2:10that may be neck and neck with that is is is
- 2:13franchising the startup. Though we'll focus on
- 2:16that for a moment. That's. Boy when you have
- 2:21nothing but an idea right you do need help you
- 2:24need help finding your way and There's so much
- 2:27to learn so many mistakes to be made and the
- 2:30more people that you can bring into your network
- 2:33to help you through those mistakes, help you
- 2:36not run into those trees. And if you do run into
- 2:39those trees, help you get reoriented and continue
- 2:42on. You can't do any of it by yourself. And so
- 2:45you absolutely need a network. And above all,
- 2:47I think a mentor or series of mentors in that
- 2:50startup realm, it's really hard, extremely hard.
- 2:53Look at the numbers, number of businesses that
- 2:56fail. after year one, after year two, after year
- 2:59five, after year 10, that's because it's really
- 3:01hard. And so you need people around you to help
- 3:03you do that. Wouldn't you agree that you really
- 3:08make the most progress from your failures than
- 3:12your successes? A hundred percent, at least for
- 3:16me. I've always long time ago, I saw the acronym
- 3:20FAIL. First attempt in learning. And I don't
- 3:24know if there's been a truer way to look at the
- 3:26situation. If you're if you're hell bent on accomplishing
- 3:33said goals, said feet, whether, you know, you're
- 3:35an Olympic swimmer in the pool or you're an entrepreneur
- 3:38trying to build a business. Each of those mistakes,
- 3:40each failure, each time you lose. Yes, you are
- 3:44walking. You got to lick your wounds. You got
- 3:46to walk away and you got to put that to good
- 3:47use. Don't waste that. Don't waste that loss,
- 3:50that experience and that education in that loss
- 3:53and not go back out there and use that to your
- 3:56advantage. That's terribly unfortunate when people
- 3:59lose and they just walk away, right? It is. And
- 4:02I 100 % totally agree with you. I'm a former
- 4:06business owner myself. brick and mortar business
- 4:09owner from pizzerias to restaurants to ice cream
- 4:13stores, graphic design studio. I've run the Gambit,
- 4:16but those were only my successful businesses
- 4:19and my businesses that flopped. I had, I learned,
- 4:24I went to the school of hard knocks. I had to
- 4:26learn everything the hard way, but that's all
- 4:28right. Okay. So in franchising. People often
- 4:33underestimate the power of relationships. How
- 4:37does a strong network influence franchise success?
- 4:41Well, I think there's two streams there. There's
- 4:44the network as a franchisor, right? And franchising
- 4:48is a very unique business model. It's heavily
- 4:51regulated. It's extremely expensive, but it can
- 4:54be a model and a path that brings tremendous
- 4:59success to everybody involved. And so as a franchisor,
- 5:04similar to the startup, and that's why I felt
- 5:06like those two were really neck and neck. There
- 5:10are so many layers to doing it successfully.
- 5:15that you need you need mentors, you need coaches,
- 5:18you need lawyers, you need professionals with
- 5:22that with a franchise specialty to help you navigate
- 5:25those waters and including vendors and suppliers
- 5:28and people who are going to bring your franchise
- 5:30concept, their skills, talent and expertise.
- 5:33And so you have to you have to build a strong
- 5:36network to Help your franchise grow and what
- 5:40that's doing is bringing all of those same resources
- 5:43to your franchisees And that's the second part
- 5:47of the equation is building a network of franchisees
- 5:50and those franchisees building networks within
- 5:52their community right as a small business owner
- 5:55and Boy relationships are everything in franchising
- 6:02in my estimation primarily between the franchisor
- 6:06and the franchisee. A lot of the short talk language
- 6:09that goes on around franchising is profitability
- 6:12and AUV and it's numbers oriented and it's about
- 6:16growth and scalability and all of those things.
- 6:19And that's absolutely a huge part of what everyone's
- 6:25doing in franchising. There's an opportunity
- 6:26to scale a business here, but you cannot do it
- 6:29if you do not have strong relationships with
- 6:33your franchisees right because it is based entirely
- 6:37on trust and then from trust to validation right
- 6:41franchisees looking at a franchise concept they
- 6:44think they want to do it i like this brand i
- 6:46like what it's about i'm going to become a franchisee
- 6:50there's oftentimes a significant upfront investment
- 6:53especially if it's a brick and mortar right they've
- 6:56got to do go through a construction build out
- 6:58and renovations you can be talking about hundreds
- 7:01of thousands of dollars and whether that's through
- 7:03a bank loan or they're funding that themselves
- 7:05that's a separate part but at the end of the
- 7:09day they're putting their money where their mouth
- 7:13is right and they expect the same from the franchise
- 7:16or and You it's you have to be Open transparent
- 7:23honest you have to let them know we don't have
- 7:25resources for that yet. We're still working on
- 7:27that We're building that that or we do that well,
- 7:30and we know that well And here's what we're gonna
- 7:33tell you should do because we know this and so
- 7:36everything is relationship oriented It's essentially
- 7:38a marriage. It's a business marriage for five
- 7:41years or ten years however long your your agreement
- 7:44is and Through thick and thin and there is trust
- 7:48there is both thick and thin. A franchisor cannot
- 7:52protect. There's not a force field to challenge
- 7:55for the franchisees. That's not what it is. It
- 7:58is mentorship and guidance and coaching and resources.
- 8:01But those curve balls still come, right? We're
- 8:04not standing in front of the curve balls. They're
- 8:05still coming at you. And we're just trying to
- 8:07teach you how to swing. It is very deeply relationship
- 8:12oriented in a business setting. I agree a hundred
- 8:16percent. I've been a franchise owner as well.
- 8:19And I realized the relationships are so important
- 8:23between myself and the franchise or that relationship
- 8:28is so important, but my relationship with my
- 8:32customer base as well. And the days of building
- 8:36your customer list really is gone. The days of
- 8:40building relationships is there because you never
- 8:43know who, who knows who. Right. You're talking
- 8:46to not only those people, but those people networks.
- 8:50Right. So you're talking to a grand audience.
- 8:53And nowadays it's a, there's a digital network.
- 8:55Right. So if you don't have a great relationship
- 8:57with one of your customers or one of your clients,
- 8:59they're not just talking to their circle of friends
- 9:02during the dinner party. You're talking to 300
- 9:06million people via a Google review. Okay. Very
- 9:11good point. Very good point. Okay. So. What makes
- 9:15networking essential when someone is evaluating
- 9:19or buying a franchise? It goes back to the trust.
- 9:25They, I think they need to see and know and understand
- 9:28that you have a network of resources available
- 9:32to them. That's part of what they are entering
- 9:35into that brand for. Hey, I have the gumption.
- 9:40I've got the tenacity to start and run a business,
- 9:42but I don't have the resources. I don't have
- 9:44the know -how. And this brand seems well prepared
- 9:47and they have, maybe they don't have all of the
- 9:50resources that will ever be needed, but they
- 9:52have a marketing team. They have accountants
- 9:56and bookkeepers that might be available to me,
- 9:58whether required or through a recommendation.
- 10:00Okay. I'm stepping into. network a system that
- 10:04already exists with all of these resources That
- 10:08that's a significant value. Otherwise, I have
- 10:10to go develop that and build that myself I'm
- 10:13gonna go through four accountants before I find
- 10:15the accountant. That's right for me I'm gonna
- 10:17go through six marketing agencies before I find
- 10:19the marketing agency That's right for me and
- 10:21these folks have done a lot of that and vetted
- 10:24that and so I'm almost It's not business in a
- 10:27box and a lot of people say that but it's not
- 10:30that it is You do and it's not turnkey, but you
- 10:34are turning the key and opening the door and
- 10:36you're walking into a lot of opportunities and
- 10:39a lot of networking opportunities and then on
- 10:41the other side in terms of That's once they become
- 10:45a franchisee, I think before they become a franchisee
- 10:50There's a part of that process that we refer
- 10:54to as validation And that's where existing franchisees
- 10:59are given the opportunity to speak to a candidate.
- 11:02And that is that can be no holds barred. Right.
- 11:05If they're happy, they're going to say good things
- 11:06about the franchise. And if they're not happy,
- 11:08they're not going to say good things about the
- 11:10franchise. And there's no limitations. They're
- 11:12an independent business. It's. has virtually
- 11:15nothing to do with us. And that network of franchisees,
- 11:20existing franchisees, is what the prospective
- 11:22franchisee is looking to build, right? To build
- 11:26with and learn from. And then they become a franchisee
- 11:28inevitably. And now, okay, these were the people
- 11:30who helped me make my decision or not make my
- 11:34decision, if that was the case, and they ended
- 11:36up doing something else. But it is so much relationship
- 11:41driven. Sometimes I'd argue before numbers driven.
- 11:45What's the family I'm stepping into here? Do
- 11:48you find that a lot of the franchisees communicate
- 11:52with one another and help them out? Yeah, we
- 11:57encourage it. Absolutely. And I think we I think
- 12:00it's easy for us to encourage it because we're
- 12:03very confident of the culture that we have here
- 12:06and that we've developed in our particular brand.
- 12:08But that's so important. And they'll cite that
- 12:11too. There's a, we have an internal communications
- 12:14hub that we, that we use to, to share information
- 12:18from franchises or franchisees and they have
- 12:20their own chats developed where they're problem
- 12:23solving and working with each other. The ones
- 12:26that are more senior are certainly passing down
- 12:28anything that they've learned, any of their takeaways.
- 12:31Don't let that contractor tell you this stuff
- 12:34like that. And, and it just, it just. It grows
- 12:38and it fosters a positive Culture and then if
- 12:41there's one that that just doesn't fit in and
- 12:44they don't want to participate and they want
- 12:46to do their own thing or whatever like The groups
- 12:50understand the group sees that group senses that
- 12:53right and it's always open doors because a franchisee
- 12:55is franchisee But we're gonna we're gonna continue
- 12:58helping each other over here And if you want
- 13:01to do your own thing over there, that's fine.
- 13:03The results are being driven through participating
- 13:06in the family and the network in the cohort,
- 13:10maybe would be the best term for it. OK, great.
- 13:14OK, so tell me about a time when a single relationship
- 13:19changed the trajectory of a business purchase
- 13:24or franchise opportunity. I would I think I would
- 13:28cite there's really two that come to mind. One
- 13:31is upon meeting our attorney. Our franchise attorney
- 13:37we had been with a couple of attorneys throughout
- 13:40the Previous two years of setup and development
- 13:43and and that probably doesn't sound good. Like
- 13:46we got fired from two attorney No, that wasn't
- 13:47the case. The first one created our initial documents
- 13:50retired shortly thereafter. So we had to go find
- 13:53a new group to work with and That wasn't it just
- 13:57was not a good fit and so then we moved on from
- 14:00there and found our current attorney and once
- 14:03that happened boy everything fell into place
- 14:07and Just because he understood our place in the
- 14:11world as a micro emerging franchise or as a startup
- 14:13franchise or certainly confident with his legal
- 14:17advice and so on and so forth. But a lot of good
- 14:19franchise business advice as well. And to this
- 14:22day, before we make a big decision, we turn to
- 14:25him and say, hey, bouncing this off you, what
- 14:27do you think? What do you see out there? Is this
- 14:29something franchises are doing? And and it's
- 14:32just it's good general all around counsel. And
- 14:34so what that did was once we were in alignment.
- 14:38We it opened the doors to how are we going to
- 14:41really develop this this brand for ourselves?
- 14:45And the other one I think is our probably our
- 14:47first franchisee when they came into the picture
- 14:50and they had inquired We I mean it took it was
- 14:55about a year. So they inquired at the very February
- 14:58of 2020 So there's something starting to develop
- 15:02around that time across the globe February of
- 15:042020 and and so there was a lot going on we Liked
- 15:11them a lot what they and they were Looking at
- 15:15becoming our first franchisees and that took
- 15:18there were a lot of challenges as you can imagine
- 15:20and that took the better part of that year, all
- 15:24of 2020, to work on that relationship, work on
- 15:28what's going on in the world, what is this going
- 15:29to mean? How are we going to proceed? It was
- 15:33a registration state. We had to figure that out.
- 15:35There were things and it all came together end
- 15:38of year. December, I think they signed December
- 15:4028th of 2020. And that changed everything for
- 15:47us. had done it. We had our first franchisee.
- 15:51They were completely bought in. They saw how
- 15:54we handled the pandemic from a business perspective.
- 15:58That gave them the confidence that like, look,
- 16:01no matter what challenges may be around the corner,
- 16:03we're with the right people, the right brand.
- 16:06And that opened the doors for number two, three,
- 16:09four, five, six. They all came based on the validation,
- 16:13right? Going back to that validation question.
- 16:15of those first franchisees and everything that
- 16:17they had to say and share in their experience
- 16:21with us as the first ones through the door. Wow,
- 16:24that was great. That was a great story, by the
- 16:26way. OK, you had mentioned turnkey. That's really
- 16:30not turnkey. There's a myth that franchises are
- 16:34just plug and play. Where does networking still
- 16:38come into play post purchase? Lot of two -part
- 16:45answers. I feel like today to answer one. I think
- 16:48the strongest Network that the franchisee post
- 16:52post Franchise signing post agreement is with
- 16:56the other franchisees which we touched on a moment
- 16:58ago that that is far and away the number one
- 17:01Network they rely on each other Validate for
- 17:04each other even sometimes it's emotional right
- 17:07man. This buildup process is really challenging
- 17:10and hey, I've been there. That's the You're going
- 17:13through what everyone goes through and here are
- 17:15some things that I learned and so on and so forth
- 17:18so that that network is number one and I think
- 17:21for the franchisee and we have a lot of conversations
- 17:25about this on the front end There's that personal
- 17:28network for them because whether they're stepping
- 17:31into a franchise or Starting something on their
- 17:34own their friends their family their partners
- 17:37in home their spouse their children They're about
- 17:41to step into a life with a franchise with an
- 17:44entrepreneur. I'll put it that way and in our
- 17:46case. It's a franchise or so When they're When
- 17:53they're considering Joining the franchise we
- 17:57require that at the very least even if your partner
- 18:00whoever You know is closest to you in your life.
- 18:03Usually it's a spouse or a living partner domestic
- 18:07partner They have to at least get one, maybe
- 18:11two calls with us. Oh, no, they're not going
- 18:14to be involved. This is my endeavor. We understand.
- 18:17But we want to talk to them and we want them
- 18:19to ask us questions. And we want to all be on
- 18:21the same page because they're about to be the
- 18:25partner of an entrepreneur. And that's a completely
- 18:28different life. And if they're not on board,
- 18:32that's going to come to roost at some point.
- 18:38Why are you working so late? Why are you working
- 18:40so many days? Can't we you haven't been around
- 18:42and that's going to wear on you and that's going
- 18:45to stress you and the division can start to to
- 18:48creep in and so that personal network is Extremely
- 18:52important after the signing as well, right? So
- 18:55going up to getting through the finish line and
- 18:57then post franchise agreement because they're
- 19:00going to need continued support emotional and
- 19:04otherwise and Just like we were talking about
- 19:08at the onset. You can't do it by yourself We
- 19:10can't do it within the franchise system by yourself
- 19:12or the business system by itself, but you can't
- 19:14do it personally either It takes a lot to be
- 19:18a business owner and you have to have a strong
- 19:22Personal network that's going to support you
- 19:25through thick and thin Yeah, no listen being
- 19:30a for business owner. I worked eight days a week.
- 19:34I worked 25 hours a day. I worked 366 days a
- 19:38year. That's what, and my wife understood that.
- 19:41She said, look, you're just starting a business.
- 19:43You've got to put the time in. But I didn't really
- 19:47realize how much time I need to put in until
- 19:51I got in there. Yeah. And then it all happened.
- 19:54But it was all, it was good for the most part.
- 19:57That's the duck. That's the duck meme, right?
- 20:00Or the ducks, the duck video. So I think people
- 20:02who are not familiar with business ownership
- 20:05and they see the duck, that's the business owner
- 20:07gliding across the water, right? Oh, they get
- 20:10everything in life they wanted. And what's happening
- 20:12underneath the surface of the water, paddling
- 20:15like a mad person. Absolutely. Absolutely. And
- 20:22that's all that I can remember. Okay. So how
- 20:26should someone who's buying a business network
- 20:30differently from someone starting from scratch?
- 20:33So in, in a business purchase, I think the network
- 20:38really starts with how are you finding, how are
- 20:41you finding that business and how are you vetting
- 20:43that, that business, right? A lot of times a
- 20:47transaction like that will be represented by
- 20:48a business broker. And that broker is bringing
- 20:52the network of available businesses to your table
- 20:56for consideration. And so finding the right business
- 21:00broker, business consultant to do that and trusting
- 21:03that, hey, you and that person are in alignment
- 21:06with what you're looking for. Do you want to
- 21:08be in manufacturing? You want to be in service?
- 21:10Do you want to be in the restaurant industry?
- 21:12And what can you afford to do? And what's your
- 21:14experience? And are they bringing you a complicated
- 21:17business that you shouldn't be? Getting involved
- 21:20in if you're if this is your first time through
- 21:22through the process Can they find something simpler
- 21:25that might be available and find finding that
- 21:28right? Consultant to to help you through that
- 21:31journey is probably step number one That's probably
- 21:33the most important part of that that network
- 21:36outside of that are the other people who are
- 21:38going to vet That opportunity right your accountant
- 21:42certainly your legal counsel again, we can go
- 21:45back to to your personal network, right? What
- 21:49are the requirements of this new business that
- 21:51you're thinking about buying? What does that
- 21:53look like? And so, because it's established,
- 21:58there are, like, when we talk about the accounting
- 22:00part, there's already numbers flowing through,
- 22:03right? So you need hard analysis on that. Is
- 22:05this viable? Does it make sense? Whereas when
- 22:08you're a startup, There are no numbers. It's
- 22:10all conceptual and any accountant that you work
- 22:13with, network with, they're not going to have,
- 22:16they might have some general guidance. Hey, just
- 22:18make sure your profit margins here and make sure
- 22:20your expenses don't go above this general consensus
- 22:24number, but they can't really give you any deep
- 22:27analysis because there's nothing to analyze.
- 22:30So you're starting that process. You're going
- 22:31to build that business and you're going to work
- 22:33with them as it develops. When you're buying
- 22:36a business, all that stuff exists and you need
- 22:38hard eyes to help you work through, does this
- 22:42make sense? And there's so many different components,
- 22:44right? The team, the existing labor, what kind
- 22:46of technologies, what is the reputation of the
- 22:49business out in the world? You need a network
- 22:52of good analysts to help you through that process.
- 22:57Okay. What's a small networking action a new
- 23:02franchisee could take that leads to big long
- 23:06-term gains? So know that some of that answer
- 23:11is going to be dependent on the brand, right?
- 23:14So we have a pet oriented brand and for us networking
- 23:18with veterinarians is far and away one of the
- 23:21most beneficial. relationships that you can start
- 23:25to develop as a franchisee of our brand. Whereas
- 23:29another brand, it could be a very different group
- 23:32or subset of professionals. But in general, it
- 23:37is finding the top, we'll call it one, two, maybe
- 23:41three referral sources for yourself, right? So
- 23:44you always want to network with customers, but
- 23:47that's one relationship for each customer. It's
- 23:50one to one the whole way through. If you can
- 23:54find that B2B relationship, you know, is there
- 23:57another professional industry that kind of accentuates
- 24:01your business? There's some synchronicity there.
- 24:05So we're in the pet care field. So what doesn't
- 24:08it make sense? Veterinarians. And so finding
- 24:11that B2B and working your network through those
- 24:15other connections can bring a it's almost like
- 24:18a pyramid, right? You have the one referral source,
- 24:21that B2B referral source at the top, and you're
- 24:24benefiting with all of the referral opportunities
- 24:26from just that one relationship. You made one
- 24:28relationship, you get all those referrals. It's
- 24:30exponential versus having to go through one one
- 24:33by one with each individual customer. That's
- 24:37where where stoking your relationship really
- 24:41comes in handy. It's not just a customer. You're
- 24:44not selling widgets. I have three for a dollar,
- 24:46you want to buy it good. It's very transactional,
- 24:48right? What we're doing, both you and I in different
- 24:51ways, is we're building relationships and you
- 24:55don't know what type of relationship you're building
- 24:58because not only building a relationship with
- 25:01that person, but you're building a relationship
- 25:03with all... of their relationships so it can
- 25:06go even longer. Yeah. And people hold that tightly,
- 25:11right? Like a recommendation. If I'm going to
- 25:13make a recommendation, I want to know that recommendation
- 25:17is going to work well. And if it doesn't or it
- 25:22hasn't, I feel horrible. And it may not even
- 25:24have been in my control or whatever. That's something
- 25:29that people hold dear pretty dear to them is
- 25:32their reputation because it's what's carried
- 25:34through that recommendation and so if you can
- 25:37Build positive relationships where people are
- 25:40opening up and yeah, I have a guy for that. Yeah,
- 25:41I have a woman for that Sure. I got I have a
- 25:44professional for that. You're well on your way
- 25:46now working is Nine -tenths of the equation of
- 25:51success. There's no question crucial. I believe
- 25:54that networking is the base or basis of all businesses.
- 25:59Everyone, whether it's digital or in person or
- 26:02both, probably both, you just have to go out
- 26:06there. They have to see your face, see you, feel
- 26:09you, touch you. You have that whole networking
- 26:13mantra, know you, like you, trust you. They'll
- 26:16do business with you. Everything has to come
- 26:18to pass in order for you just to Go to the next
- 26:22step. And that's part of what I do, but that
- 26:26is all inclusive. So let's bring this podcast
- 26:30full circle. How has your personal network evolved
- 26:35as you've moved through these three models? What
- 26:38do you lean on most today? Really dependent for
- 26:46me to continue my entrepreneurial journey, I
- 26:49really have to rely heavily on on instincts and
- 26:54those instincts. Certainly they're a part of
- 26:57DNA. That's what's instinctual about them. But
- 26:59as you go through life, journey, challenges,
- 27:02successes, all of that, it certainly gets refined.
- 27:05And from a human to human networking perspective,
- 27:09it's relying on the people who are walking that
- 27:14path with you. for you, but they also have to
- 27:18be doing it for themselves. And that means that
- 27:20they believe in what we're doing here. Right.
- 27:23So whether it's my CEO, my ops director, our
- 27:27managing or I'm sorry, our marketing director,
- 27:30whether it's investors, whether it's the franchisees,
- 27:34it's it is relying on them to a degree to do
- 27:38what they do best. And in in that delegation
- 27:44of that sort of that responsibility, they're
- 27:46bringing the organization to a level that I could
- 27:49not possibly do myself. And you build that network,
- 27:55internally, externally, whatever both sides really,
- 27:58and you have to rely on it, you have to trust
- 28:01it. And there's, there's only blind trust at
- 28:05the very beginning, right, but those instincts
- 28:08kind of bridge that gap. And then from there,
- 28:11the trust is developed because you see the results.
- 28:16Absolutely. Chris, I can probably talk to you
- 28:19for another hour about all of this because I've
- 28:22learned so much and it makes me rethink everything
- 28:26with networking itself, especially with a brick
- 28:30and mortar and everything else. But networking,
- 28:33I still believe, is the basis of all businesses.
- 28:37And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter
- 28:40if there's a monitor in front of us and 3000
- 28:43miles between us, there's still a human on either
- 28:47end of that connection. And so I think business,
- 28:51we're worried about AI. We're worried about what
- 28:54does technology mean for things? And we're going
- 28:56to have to figure that out as a species. But
- 28:58as, as long as we're here. Businesses is transacted
- 29:05between. to humans and it always will and forever
- 29:09till we're not here anymore. Very good. As a
- 29:12matter of fact, if you don't mind, I'm going
- 29:13to steal that because I like that. Have at it.
- 29:19Chris, this has been great. If somebody wanted
- 29:22to get hold of you, either to talk about a franchise,
- 29:26to talk about business or just anything, just
- 29:28to wave hello, how would they get hold of you?
- 29:31Primarily the, our franchise websites, great
- 29:34place to start. So it's happy cat franchising
- 29:37.com. Happy cat is our, our franchise brands,
- 29:40a luxury cat boarding and grooming concept. So
- 29:43if you're pet oriented, have at it there, there's
- 29:46a, an online form. You can fill that out and
- 29:48it'll go to the necessary party. If you put a
- 29:50note in there trying to reach me, I'll certainly
- 29:52get it. And then we do a podcast of our own actually.
- 29:56And I do that. separate from happy cat, but that's
- 29:59really for small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs
- 30:03primarily. And so if your audience is listening
- 30:06because they're trying to learn, that's a, that's
- 30:09another avenue. It's at the end of the day podcast.
- 30:12They can catch us over there. That's great. Chris,
- 30:15thank you very much for coming on today. And
- 30:17I hope to speak with you soon. You got it, Michael.
- 30:20Anytime. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Well,
- 30:27hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let's hear
- 30:31from our sponsors. David Neal, co -founder Rev'd
- 30:34Up Kids. Rev'd Up Kids is on a mission to protect
- 30:38children and teens from sexual abuse, exploitation,
- 30:42and trafficking. They provide prevention training
- 30:45programs for children, teens, and adults. To
- 30:49learn more, go to rev'dupkids .org. Henry Kaplan,
- 30:54Century 21. When it comes to making the biggest
- 30:57financial decision of your life, leave it in
- 30:59the hands of a proven professional, Henry Kaplan.
- 31:03Henry is a global real estate agent with Century
- 31:0621, celebrating his 41st year in business. No
- 31:10matter where you're moving, Henry has the right
- 31:13connections for you. You can contact Henry at
- 31:16561 -427 -4888. insights today. And of course,
- 31:27a big shout out to you, our amazing listeners,
- 31:30for tuning in and spending your time with us.
- 31:33If you're interested in my digital courses, being
- 31:36coached, or having me come and talk to your company,
- 31:40just go to Michael and fill out the request form.
- 31:43Remember, networking isn't about being perfect.
- 31:47It's about being present. So take what you've
- 31:50learned today, get out there, and make some meaningful
- 31:53connections. If you've enjoyed this episode,
- 31:56please don't forget to subscribe, leave us a
- 31:59review, and share it with someone who could use
- 32:01a little networking inspiration. Let's keep the
- 32:04conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
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- 32:12.com slash podcasts.