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Rick Morgin, Franchise Consultant at The Franchise Consulting Company | Two Deals Out of 200 Leads · Reframe First

• Oleksij Rak: Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Reframe First. I'm Alexey and let me welcome our today's guest, Rick Morgan, consultant at the Franchise Consulting Company. Hi Rick, it's great having you here. Rick Morgin: Alexia, it's a privilege to be a guest on your podcast. I appreciate the invitation and the opportunity to communicate with you, answer any questions, tell a story, whatever you want. Oleksij Rak: Awesome, awesome. From what I learned, you will feel in franchise industry for many years. So you worked in the past, you worked with Fremnet. Nowadays you work with the franchise consulting company and you have a lot of other experiences in franchising. So could you tell a bit of the story and we will start from there. Rick Morgin: Well, let's go back to twenty fifteen and and Oleksij Rak: Good. Rick Morgin: I was in transition. I was laid off. I and then early in the early two thousands I also went through a job transition, thought about entrepreneurship, doing something for myself, but it wasn't in that mental framework. But now let's go back to let's go to two f twenty fifteen and I was in transition again, but that feeling of doing something for myself was stronger. But I had still had no idea what that would be. And I went to a network meeting for finance executives. And the the network group is called the Financial Executives Networking Group. It's an international networking group. and meetings were in person at the time, and I met a person who left her finance career and got into the consulting side of franchising and that just kind of really intrigued me and it intrigued me enough to follow up, have the conversation, and then start to dig in and do my research. And then all of a sudden take the leap, leave the W two world into entrepreneurship. now or since then I've been a part of the franchise consulting company since its inception. in twenty sixteen. And I've been and November will be my tenth year anniversary. The company is celebrating their tenth ann anniversary. I've seen the organization really evolved into covering multiple aspects of franchising. And that's where I was given the opportunity to help companies become a franchise. And I've I've helped a a few do that. I I continually look to work connect and work with try to find business owners who want to expand and perhaps franchising is the right growth path. And then about two and a half years ago, I worked with my son to help him find the right franchise to we invested. He runs it and is doing okay, doing well. It's a it's a continual daily trajectory to to continue to grow his business. And I y I guess you could say I'm his mentor. And I try to connect with the right people too. Oleksij Rak: Awesome. That's an interesting path. What got you intrigued in franchise consultants? You mentioned that you went to some meeting, to some gathering, and you got intrigued. What was that? What was that feeling? Rick Morgin: Well y you know, in my last corporate role, I had a daily interface. I was responsible for keeping the sales organization profitable. And so I I had a lot of differentiation in that role. And I wanted to find something that was similar, something that wouldn't be the same every single day. And that's how I felt. That the consulting role in franchising would fit my goals in finding something to do for myself. There were a couple of things that I knew I could bring into the consulting, franchise consulting, and that was I always had a concern for my director reports career path. And that was one. And then I had you know I had to explain numbers. I had to tell a story behind numbers. And that would help non-financial people understand the financials of the business. So that was one other aspect of my corporate experience that those brand new business owners who may have never had to manage a PL understand what that portion of the responsibility is and how they could. work with their team, the franchise team to help understand their numbers and then make the adjustments to continue that growth. So it was teaching the that type of responsibility of if when you investigate the franchise, you're gonna look through the franchise disclosure document. There could be financial information, and then you can this is how you would use that to to try to project your own strategic plan or financial plan and then then connect with franchise owners to help you validate that and see if you're on track, which all of that helps go into the decision of becoming a franchise owner or not. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It makes sense to transition from sales organization into basically doing sales for yourself. How does it feel to be a, it's kind of freedom because you work for yourself, but how else is it better like in terms of stability, in terms of financial income, I don't know, compared to corporate world that you came from? If 10 years ago you had your jobs stable, would you ever consider transitioning into franchise consulting? Rick Morgin: I I mean it certainly is different than getting a paycheck every two weeks, you know. And and that that Oleksij Rak: Yeah, yeah, it's freedom. Rick Morgin: that the my income is solely dependent on me. But Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: there's many things that support that. One, I have the potential to exceed any corporate income I ever made. You know, if if if I do things right, if my if I if my There there's a a great great saying or quote that I like, and it's from an athlete, NFL football star, quarterback, former with Stanford and then the Indianapolis Colts. His quote is the what I like from his saying was you trust the result to the process. You have a process of of finding clients and And doing the right thing and helping them through the process, the inc income will come. So it's that freedom of setting goals for myself and trying to reach them, you know, whether I reach them or not, that's a different story because circumstances are you know out of my control. But the Oleksij Rak: Yeah, depends. Rick Morgin: challenge of reaching them you know, makes me think that I wish I would have thought about entrepreneurship earlier. I I do Oleksij Rak: Okay. Rick Morgin: come family of entrepreneurs they were in in in farming. And so they they had their own business. It was a family business led by my grandfather. but my generation go to college, get the job, go up the corporate ladder. And I I I do when I every time I meet a young person looking at entrepreneurs entrepreneurship, I always mention that that I congratulate them for Recognizing this opportunity earlier in life. Though now what make keeps me going is that with the franchise consulting company, I'm I'm really part of a family. You know, I I have the Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: tools to succeed. I have the pure relationships to lean on. I have the leadership to lean on. so th so it it does provide me everything that I had with the corporate experience. of close colleagues, the systems and processes, the connections. The only thing missing in what I do now is the continual paycheck. I have to hunt. I have to find it. I have to work to to get the deals done. But that's part Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: of the challenge that I love. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, that's part of the risk. So we got the risk and you got the reward in the end. You have to risk being an entrepreneur if you got the risk. Rick Morgin: Exactly. I mean it it's in in our business it's one hundred percent commission. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: And and w with within the franchise consulting company. I mean or franchising in general. They're all they're all commissioned. so Oleksij Rak: Yeah, by mentioning you have to hunt. yeah, what takes you most time like being a consultant? Is it like finding the clients, the generation, or is it like walking through them through the consultancy process or reading all these FDDs? What's the most labor intensive for you? Rick Morgin: Now I do spend a great amount of time trying to find the next candidate, the next Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: top of my sales funnel full. Oleksij Rak: Boom. Rick Morgin: Once they're in the funnel and we start working our my process, it it it is time because it it's it's really the continual process of having their time have value. I think that's Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: Make sure that there's a value in the time they spend, whether it's completing the initial question questionnaire, going through an in-depth consultation, Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: and me writing up a personal business model about their goals, Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: and then starting to identify the right opportunities that line up with those goals. And then once we find the one, two, or three that we want to investigate, connecting them with the franchise companies and staying connected through that three-way conversation to address any challenges that they're they're feeling, any fears that they're feeling, any misunderstandings or great understandings, or or even the when when I understand that they've grasped the business model and see what they can do and and try to keep that momentum going. So that that does require time and it requires time on their part. But If my every day was was filled with that type of work, I I'd be extremely happy. I would, you know, but it's not. And then you know, I have to mix in trying to connect with the business owners who who may want to franchise. They may have never thought about it, but I'm bringing it up in a an idea. They want to grow, but okay, what's let's let's look at the difference between me adding more stores or more p employees or and and things like that versus franchising. So it's it's a mix, definite mix. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. By saying time, how much time does it usually take? Like the calendar time seems like client comes to you until they become a franchisee. And how much of time involvement from you it takes? Like in hours, in days, I don't know. Did you measure it? Just out of curiosity. Rick Morgin: Well the typically Oleksij Rak: I heard it's like two to three months to become a Frenchman. Rick Morgin: Yeah. It can take it eight to ten weeks for to for somebody to come Oleksij Rak: A to 10. Rick Morgin: to a decision. That's typical. Sometimes it takes longer and sometimes it can it can take sh shorter. You know, it's the the the mo most of my time is spent in the preparation and and conveyance of the franchise opportunities. Because Yeah, yeah. It's Oleksij Rak: It's probably initial burst and then you need to just guide them a bit. Rick Morgin: that in it's that initial three steps to understand their goals and them, present them with the right opportunities, then connect them. So that that's where the majority of my time is. And that that could be you know that it's takes it could be it takes them fifteen minutes, twenty minutes to complete the questionnaire, we have an hour conversation. It takes me a few hours to assemble the right ones. And then we do an hour Zoom call. you know, so now we're looking at six, seven, eight hours total by the and by the time we connect them to the franchise companies. And then from there, if we have a weekly cadence of checking in, and you know, what do we learn that what do we know now that we didn't know last week? And those could be shorter, fifteen to thirty minutes. you know, they in speaking with a business owner, It's it's a much shorter process. because there's less steps involved. You know, at first it's having the conversation to understand their business and and conveying that it's it is franchisable, if that's a word. I like using that word 'cause it sounds good, but it's not real word. Oleksij Rak: I will ask him about it. Rick Morgin: And and then I connect them to the are are my colleagues who are in charge of develop creating the new franchise. And then we do a 45 minute presentation. And then from there it's getting them information, answering questions, and then the them deciding whether they want to do it or not. And then from that point, I leave the process because the attorneys take over to write the FDD. the franchise Genesis team, that's our our sister company. They were they start working with a candidate that On their operations manual and training and marketing materials. Now, once they're legal legal franchise, then I come back in and work with them to launch them into the franchise world. Communicate their business model. Yeah, Oleksij Rak: and to bring French to this. It's a close loop. Rick Morgin: yeah, yeah, yeah. And then then if and then it's once they're launched and our my my peers understand how to communicate their business model and know who to look for, we can help them by marketing them. And so that that now now because they're a a candid b the original candidate or client, they get access to marketing programs for a full year. Help them increase the awareness of the franchise and help them r find the right franchisees. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, awesome. We will get to franchisers a bit later. I'd like to finish with franchises. And you mentioned goals. What kind of goals do you try to get from your clients? Because you mentioned you get their goals, what their goals are, and based on these goals, you try to match what was the right fit for them. What are the goals and how do you match? Rick Morgin: Well Oleksij Rak: Am I good fit for, I don't know, for retail or should I like buy a vending machine? Should I do some home services? Rick Morgin: Yeah, yeah, I mean it it's th those goals can be ex expressed in what you know understanding their career and what brought them to the point where they're looking at a business, looking at to make this change. And then it it's you know understanding some basic elements about finding the right fit. What is their interest and ability in sales? You know, that and and that that type of answer can direct me to certain types of franchise models. Is the image of the business important? You know, a great business model that happens to be with portable toilets may not be the best thing for them. It's a fantastic business. They have to get comfortable in talking to friends and family about the business that they've now leaped into. You know, have they led people? Have they managed people? Because franchise ours w want people who can develop teams. They're not looking for people to do the work. They're looking for for people to understand the marketplace, put in the right team in place, motivate them and lead them to scale. And then for the individual client, the next thing is if their spouse isn't involved, at least are they on board with the expl is exploration of franchise ownership. Because if it's separate and it was never brought together, you get to the end, all of a sudden the spouse kills the deal. You know, if they're not online, and if not if they're not both on board. And then we we we do talk about. you know money. What kind of money do they want to make? You know, if someone's if if someone's earnings range between 175 and $200,000 a year, you know, of course they'll want to try to replace that if they're going to be full time. Sometimes it's you know the the goal is to find the right business to that they can operate and develop while they keep their job. But what that means is that they've got to bring a manager in in place to to run the day-to-day. So those so that that that overhead is going to compress their earnings, but they still have to get there, but it may take a little bit longer. So th those are you know, and then we understand their motivation. I mean, it's I'm tired of corporate politics. I don't want to play that I know. people are being laid off. If I'm next. I really don't want to go have to go back and prove myself all over again to another company. Oleksij Rak: Yes. Rick Morgin: You know, and and I've always thought about taking my skill and experience and applying it to something di different. I just want to see if if I'm fit to run a business. So that that goes into this model, you know, about goals. Oleksij Rak: By the way, do you have a lot of families coming to you? Not individuals, but rather families. Like, a husband is working, but he is tired of his corporate job, and he's looking into maybe we, us as a family, should open some franchise. And my wife will pick it up, and if it goes well, I will just quit my job, and then we will start like as a family, working full-time. Is it something common, or am I just guessing? you Rick Morgin: It it is, it it is. I've I have a client who when we first met, you know, he said he and his he and his wife turned forty five Oleksij Rak: Mm-hmm. Rick Morgin: and they've taken a year sabbatical from work. They actually left their jobs and now they're looking to do something together for the next forty five years. You know, that that's that's a great story. I I've worked with father son teams, mother son teams, husband and wife teams. So it it does happen. You know, it's it's the common statement is my wife and I always wanted to start a business together, but we never knew where to start and we're glad we connected with you. You know, it it's it's those dynamics instead of an entire family. You know, they'll they they may the the husband and wife, father and son may use other family members who are experienced in business to help them validate their choice. But it it's that's my experience. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, also with regards to like franchisees, like potential clients come to you, but probably not all of them become franchisees because there is certain, definitely certain percentage that is not a good fit for being franchisee. My questions will be like, what's the percentage of like... get to the next level and what does it take? What psychology does it take to be a good franchisee? Because probably not everyone is a good fit. It's like you should be like an entrepreneur or you should like this entrepreneurship and at the same time you need to follow the system. So this is some kind of like mix of skills, some kind of psychology. So what's the psychology and what's average percentage that like is a good fit for franchisees? out of your clients. Rick Morgin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great great discussion here. So it's Oleksij Rak: Okay. Rick Morgin: you know, you know, when I'm setting my goals, it's a it's a flow of how many leads do I need to get a certain number of appointments to get Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: it to k to get people into the process to get a deal done. So it may be Two hundred leads to get fifty appointments. To to get 12 people in the sales process to get two deals. So it's one out of six, one out of seven, you know, something like Oleksij Rak: Okay, so that's that's love. Rick Morgin: that. You can see the continual effort to keep that top of the sales funnel full. Oleksij Rak: yeah. Rick Morgin: and and it's worth it's working through a lot of leads that just aren't interested. even those who get close don't necessarily follow through and become a franchise owner. so a lot of that has to be fear and not trusting themselves if they drop out. You know, and and I I try to say you've been successful in your career your entire you know, your entire life. Why are you doubting yourself now? Sometimes that doesn't doesn't keep them engaged to to cross that finish line. It it's Yeah. Oleksij Rak: It's something life changing, right? It's something life changing. So you need to be confident that you want to go down. Rick Morgin: Do you have to you have to be confident exactly, you have to be confident, you have to be motivated, you know. So when I s when I first connect with a client and I feel that high sense of motivation that I want to do this, I want to put it, I need help in finding the right thing. That's the one that usually ends up doing the deal and and becoming a franchise owner. So it's that motivation, the willingness to spend the time to understand the business model and ask the right questions, gather the right information, talk to franchise owners, talk to leadership, trust the that the that the trust their belief that the leadership knows what they're doing to move the business forward as a whole and support the franchisees. Those are the qualities that will end up having somebody do the deal and and become a franchise owner. You know, whether it's a single unit or multiple units or or multiple territories. The, you know, it it you're right. It's not for everybody. And there are many reasons for people dropping out. You know, the biggest risk is when people are looking for the next job and doing this franchise investigation in parallel to to Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: look for a job. And that's when fear can come over and they may take a lesser job than what they had at a lower pay. You know, without and you know, and understanding that if they made the the the leap to entrepreneurship that they could exceed their their their corporate pay. Oleksij Rak: No. Rick Morgin: But it's that risk of not doing it. It's that doubt and fear of failure that prevents them. You know, so it's it's Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: that's why it's one in six, one one in seven or eight to to get it done. because it it isn't for everybody. Oleksij Rak: That's a slow number actually. I thought like every second, every third, know, but one of six, one of seven. yeah, that's the whole. Okay. Rick Morgin: That that's why there there could be other consultants that have a a better ratio. You know, it's it's not that could happen. Oleksij Rak: It's probably not about, it's not about like your job is to help them, right? And to help them make the right decision. And so it's not about how you you perform it. It's rather about what, what's the average amongst people that come over. what's, what's the average rate of, of willingness and, and, know, ability to move further. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Interesting number. Rick Morgin: You're exactly exactly right on on that. It it it's I help them make their decision. Oleksij Rak: Yep. Rick Morgin: On a few times I've had to say tell you know, when they've been indecisive, could can't say yes, can't say no. I've had to to help them along with that decision and say because of these reasons, it really don't think this is gonna be right for you. Shall we close your file? And then they're they're relieved because they couldn't make the decision. They couldn't say no. And and in that conversation, I'll say, hey, don't ever be afraid to hurt my feelings. I'm not gonna my feelings aren't gonna be hurt if you say no. You know, that's and that that's that's something I have learned to absorb over time. I've had my feelings hurt when I first started, and people would say no, because we worked worked a long time. But Oleksij Rak: Yeah, this is a right approach because it will help you long term. Because if you really help these people, they will appreciate it. They will bring their friends to you. They will come back to you when they are ready. Otherwise, if you push them into franchise, they are not happy. Rick Morgin: Yeah. That that that is that is very true. Oleksij Rak: Also, and maybe one more about French Aziz is how long does it take to get to some decent return on investment, some decent ROI and to repeat your paycheck in the corporate world? Rick Morgin: That's that I I can't Oleksij Rak: Yeah Rick Morgin: think of any in you know, industry average because you know, franchise Oleksij Rak: depends on. Rick Morgin: there's so many different variables, you know. skill level. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: How how quickly can you put in a new team? How How quickly can you start to penetrate your territory? how quickly does it take to find a location? All of those very variables. Now there are some franchise models that have shown and put this into their FTD that you can start put to produce income within a short period of time. You know, it it's One one franchise that in during the first week of training, they get you your first customers. So you've got cash flow. Another business model that you know you order equipment, you go through training, you learn about the equipment, you learn to train others, so then you're able to get your first order in inside of sixty days. Others are going to take longer to build that client base. you know, if you're looking at a coaching type of franchise, business coaching, that's gonna have a longer ramp up because it takes time to to to get those clients, those paid clients. service-based businesses, with the marketing is done right, I think they can have a quicker ramp up. you know, education and fitness and wellness, that those you know, the marketing can can really help you re achieve Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: that break even point quicker because you know if it's especially if it's a membership model, you know you start to market to gain membership before you have your your soft opening. And then you know they may have a proven process by the time you have your grand opening. You're at break-even. Those are the other scenarios that can happen. It it's now it's prudent for the candidate to try to figure out through their own analysis if I do this, this, and this, I should be able to get to break-even by this point. That's my financial plan. You know, that's plant the planning part of it from the candidate side. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, I see. Switching to franchisors, you mentioned the term franchisable. What does it take to be a franchisable business? Because probably you got to have some system or playbook in place, but what else? Rick Morgin: The in in that initial conversation, you know, I I'll want to gauge the si how successful they are, and that means profitable. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: It it what if somebody goes through the process of becoming a franchise with our our company franchise Genesis, it's usually four months, three to four months. You know, and and a company who's not profitable is not gonna turn turn that around in that that period of time. Now there have been a in instances where concepts have been franchised. So that that that's a completely different scenario than is the business successful? Is it profitable? So, but more common, is it profitable? Okay. Next is how are have you protected your brand? Have you trademarked your brand? I I I was working with a a a client. This goes back to last year. They're they first they came to me, I thought, I got a new client. But they wanted me to help them evaluate the franchise that they've been looking at. And the big red flag was this franchise company had not trademarked your brand. And it was not a real complex or niche name. It was common. Somebody could take that over. And that was, you know, they ended up not doing it with them. But so have you protected your brand trademarked? What type of marketing plan are you executing in order to build your business? Do you have the resources to do this? So there's there's a upfront fee that they pay in order to engage with the lawyer and the team to develop the operations and manual and training modules and marketing materials. But beyond that, let's look at the first year. You know, and and in that first year, let's see if we, you know, what what will the if What will it take for you to get your first franchise? And then the maybe the first five. What are those expenses? And can we cover that? And then it's the last one is you as the owner, are you motivated to go through this process and then start to to build a team to help to house the franchise system that you're going to develop? And you as the owner can start to to move to a different role. as a CEO managing two components of your business. So the franchise Oleksij Rak: Basically running your business. You're running your initial business and second fund. Rick Morgin: Our business stays the same, it has to run. Now the franchise system is being developed. Can you as an owner can you devote time to have both grow still? So those those are the big basic components of me wanting to take the next step with that business owner to get start to get them the information so that they can make the decision of, yes, I want a franchise or no, it's it's it's not right for me. You know, I in twenty twenty-five I met the owner of a local ice cream shop. We're in the town I he owns two of two stores and in different towns. And the popularity of his and the profitability of his business would lead to a a great franchise. But you know, he wasn't motivated to do it. Said, I've got a great life now. You know, and you know, as I you know, he's he's in his sixties, he says, Yeah, what do I want to spend more time or do I want to enjoy my life? So he chose not to go down down the path of franchising. So that that checked off the he wasn't motivated, you know. So that that that happens. Oleksij Rak: Can you also do this kind of work to some manager, to some companies that help you build? Rick Morgin: Yeah. You can. And I mean if there's somebody within your current company that can move over, that'd Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: be best. Because it's it it it's you're not adding cost. You know. You know, you keep that that general manager in in your cur your core business and then hiring a new general manager. That you know, that that that can be that can happen. That that that but that's a risk. And but if there's somebody that that is strong that can keep their feet in both types of businesses, then that would be ideal. Oleksij Rak: Other companies in the market that are operating this kind of franchises, like in case of the ice cream shop, the owner of the ice cream shop, he doesn't want to run the second operation, right? Because he has initial operation with ice creams and the second one is selling the system, he doesn't want to do it. But it sounds like a great business niche to have a company that steps in, builds the system, builds all the trainings and... runs the franchise and they initially hope owners get some royalty for that some percentage you know. Rick Morgin: Yeah, yes. you know it's Oleksij Rak: Is there anything like that? Because it sounds like a good niche for some companies that do that at a scale with multiple different franchises. Rick Morgin: Well, you know, you're right. It it's that that owner that is dreaming big wants to f understand if I build a big franchise, what what I get out of it? You know, what's in it for me? Well, it's that royalty revenue stream. And you can do any type of math on on a napkin about If you get X number of franchises doing a million dollars and your royalty is eight percent, this is what happens. You know, you have an annual royalty revenue stream of eight million bucks. You've got a successful franchise, and now you attract the attention from a buyer, private equity, and they're gonna offer you ten times. Whatever the multiple is is is the market standard at the time. You know, is that the exit strategy you want versus selling a a three-store unit, you know, which is going to create more value. Now you've got to have the motivation to try to get to that point. And belief that you can you can do that with not on your own, because we're gonna stay with that owner through the the long term. You know, our their success is our our success, our success is their success. So it's it's You know, it it it it's again same with a a c a candidate buying a franchise. Not every fr business owner wants the franchise. So it's you gotta work through the number to the one that Oleksij Rak: Yeah, but you help them to succeed in their franchise, but I was rather asking about is there somebody who is doing that instead of them? Sounds like there is no. What are next challenges for franchise? So, okay, if you made this decision, you build this initial playbook system and you start getting your first franchisees. What are like next? breaking points. What breaks next? Rick Morgin: So the we'll always Tell communicate to the new franchise owner that your franchise fees is not the prize. You want to take that and reinvest that into back into the business to support your franchise franchisees and their needs and keep your business growing with the overall industry or the marketplace you're you're in. And you you want them to succeed so that you start developing your royalty stream. Which some the business will keep and some you'll put back into the business also, you know, whether it's implementing new technologies or div or coming up with a different equipment package or or better training, whatever it might be, to keep the success of your franchisees going so that New franchisees not only can follow the system, but they have peers that they can lean on and say, you did this and you follow the system. So if I f do what you did and follow the system, but have you as a support mechanism, I should succeed. So that that's that's the the next challenge is Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: reinvesting in the business. To support the franchisees. Oleksij Rak: It's not about immediate profits, it's about reinvesting and building the business. So it's probably investing into marketing either to help the brand overall. Rick Morgin: Yes, absolutely. You're right, you're right on that. Oleksij Rak: Do franchisers help franchisees get their clients by marketing, by bringing leads? For example, with franchise consulting company, do they generate your leads? But it's quite likely franchise by itself, Rick Morgin: yeah, yeah. I mean, the franchise company will give us the opportunity and present us with leads. Now, the franchise consulting company on the leads that they provide us, they'll they'll take a bigger percentage of the the commission when it closes, which is fine. You know, but you Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: have that with a combination of my own leads. Some franchise companies, yes, I mean, they will help you generate leads and teach you how to generate those leads. one freight brokerage company, the first week of training, they'll get you customers, two or three c couple customers, you know, and then you know you'll take what you learn and you start to go out in the marketplace and you know make some mistakes, but you get add additional customers. One coffee service and coffee wholesale distribution company, they've got a a a vet a vendor that will help you find your leads and make the appointments. There's a a restoration a cleaning and restoration company that they'll do all the all the digital marketing for you and and utilize a call center to put appointments. So that that stuff happens. And that's a common question from franchisees, is how do I get how do I get leads? How do we get customers? Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Rick Morgin: But you can't depend on the franchise or to always do that. It's We will help you, we'll get you a few, we'll train you how to do it, and then you have to go do do it. You know, it's it's like the athlete who trains and trains and trains and finally he's gotta go out and perform. You know, and and Oleksij Rak: Yeah, It makes sense for franchisor because if they got leads in certain territory, then they send this leads to the franchisee in that territory. But as a franchisee, you can expect to get some passive income of leads from franchisor. But if you want to scale and grow, you need to put your own efforts to generate leads in your territory. Sounds like that. Rick Morgin: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Oleksij Rak: Awesome. Rick Morgin: yeah. It it's the parent or the franchise or can't always do it for you. You know, that that's where your skill has has to take over and you start running the business. You know, but but there is kind of that nurturing and then the handoff. Oleksij Rak: What's next that breaks for franchisees? Quite likely there is something about the number of franchisees. Like any business breaks at a certain scale of this many people or this many employees. I think there should be something similar. Like this many franchisees and then everything works just differently. You just stop knowing all of them by name. Rick Morgin: Yeah, i it's there's no magic number, you know, the the franchise oars have different motivations. Some are are comfortable with a smaller number in in a certain region, others want to cr blanket the the country, blanket North America. I th I think the the danger that I've seen is growing too fast. You know, you you you get this flood of in inquiry, y you sign up many franchisees. But the number of franchisees has outpaced your ability to support them. That creates problems. So it that's the skill of the franchise or in following, you know, tr trying to reach their growth plan. And they're not gonna be alone in doing that. I'm I'm certainly helped by the franchise oars that I work with closely in managing that. So again, don't You a as a franchiser or and you have a specific specific growth plan, don't go alone. Find people who will support you and be a good sounding boy. Oleksij Rak: With regards to working with franchisors, supporting them, is it like... It's only the franchise consulting companies that I've noticed yet that does work with franchisors and does help them grow. other networks are just working with franchisees. Why do we have this kind of model? It's somewhat unique if you work with both sides of the franchise world. And from what I explained, it makes sense because you help franchisors establish and then bring franchisees to them. Rick Morgin: Yeah, yeah. It wasn't, you know, we're we the franchise consulting company isn't the first one to help businesses become a franchise. But, you know, it was a realization that there's demand and that we can do it better. So th that's that was the impetus of the drive and strategy of the the leadership of the franchise cons consulting company then which then came down to the consultants and allowed us to work with franchise ours to well help with business owners to become new franchise oars to help entrepreneurship. Yeah. Yeah. So it was hey, we c we can do it better. So let's do it. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, it makes sense because for me it already sounds like a flywheel, know, it's not a funnel, it's a flywheel. You help one side of the business to bring the guys from the other side of the business in and to know it just keeps turning. So it really makes sense. Awesome. That was a great discussion, Rigg. Before we wrap it up, is there anything else you would like to add? Rick Morgin: Well, just can I add how people can contact me? Oleksij Rak: Sure, we will put all the contact information in the video, sure. Rick Morgin: Yes, yeah. What about that then of of course. I just want to add is if if you're looking I always whenever do webinars, whether they're live in person or or on on Zoom, I always say if you're gonna take away one thing from this webinar is work with a consultant. How do you approach Four thousand franchise brands in the US on your own. Work with somebody who is should be unbiased. And we'll go through the work to understand where you're trying to get where are you trying to get to. And match up with the right opportunity. And of course, selfishly, I hope they choose me. You know. Oleksij Rak: up. Rick Morgin: Same with the business owner. you know, just just add that I'd love to work with anybody in your audience, old or new, who have thought about this, even a tiny thought. We can have a conversation. Oleksij Rak: It sense. Every person I meet from franchise industry is passionate about the industry. They call it family and in many ways, and with all the support and stuff like that. it really sounds like it does make sense. Rick Morgin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oleksij Rak: So yeah, awesome. Thanks a lot for this discussion and wish you best of luck. Rick Morgin: Well, hey, you w we should keep in touch. I I mean y I appreciate everything that that you've done to help to allow me to be a guest. it's an honor and a privilege and definitely want to keep in touch with you. You're a very interesting individual and I always appreciate Oleksij Rak: Thank you. Rick Morgin: your support.