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Joe Hetzer, Franchise Consultant at US Business Ventures | Why Great Franchisees Are Managers First · Reframe First

• Oleksij Rak: Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Reframe First. I'm Alexi and let me welcome our today's guest, Joe Heatzer, a certified franchise consultant at US Business Ventures. So hi Joe, it's great having you having you here. Joe Hetzer: Hey. Hey, well, first off, thanks for having me. appreciate being on your show here and I look forward to this conversation. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, thanks a lot for joining. So from what I learned, you are a certified franchise consultant and you're f for quite some time in franchising and so in in the pre-call you mentioned that you are a big believer of the industry itself. That's why you still stick around besides having some other businesses of your own. So could you tell a bit about your like path into franchising and why you like the industry and how you ended up here? Joe Hetzer: absolutely. So one of the first reasons I ended up here is I've I opened up a couple of businesses myself and I realized Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: the struggle that it is to open up a business. So there's a there's a big reason why there's such a failure. with opening up your own business. Eighty five percent failure versus I think it's like an eighty two percent success rate with franchises. And that's what caught my eye after I I had to be that one man band with all the hats. Sort of looking into the franchising and I realized that this could be an avenue for a lot of people in my industry, especially with operations, general management, and those kind of experiences that are familiar with processing. so I I decided that it would be a better path for me to help other people to you know realize their dreams of business ownership. And so we got into consulting and helping people find their journey. Oleksij Rak: You you're running some other business. Did you consider turning them into fr into franchise? Can you turn manufacturing into franchise? Joe Hetzer: No, that yeah, I I think you could. It it it it is a it is a process based business manufacturing. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Yeah. Joe Hetzer: but most people wouldn't wouldn't do that. They would just open up different plants, right? I've not heard of manufacturing in it, so I've never explored, you know, trying to do the manufacturing in it in in within the franchise. Yeah. So could it? Yeah. That's a that's a good idea. Right. Oleksij Rak: But you would compete with with yourself for it. Joe Hetzer: A lot. And and with mo most of your franchises, there's there's a lower cost of entry. and when something Oleksij Rak: Mm-hmm. Joe Hetzer: like manufacturing, you're you're talking a few million dollars of entry. So it would be low volume kind of stuff, but yeah, yeah. There's opportunity there, that's for sure. That's a great idea. Oleksij Rak: So you you've helped multiple people get into the industry and so what what does it take to be a good franchisee? What what what what like psychology should should there be? What what profile of should there be? Joe Hetzer: You know, hey, well, first and foremost y you need the people skills, right? So, you know, when you when you start off on the franchise, most of the time you you know, you're out there you know selling, right? You wanna be able to sell, right? So you gotta be able to have that that that conversation, the the sales that you don't sell really, right? Right. You you you present solutions, right? That's selling, right? Everybody's got a problem and you you you present re you present the solution. but you have to be detail oriented and process driven. all franchises are existing. Oleksij Rak: Because they would come up with a process. If you fold the bottom, you're going to get somebody, but you can use the base that Joe Hetzer: Because they were able to come up with a process and and multiply it and do it again and again and again. And that's what that's all about. So if you have if you can if you have people skills and you can follow a process, those are two of the main things that you're gonna have to have to be successful. Oleksij Rak: they have vehicle skills, you can form the process. Those are really the basics that you're going to have to say. Joe Hetzer: the less successful people that we've experienced are the the entrepreneurs, the people that want to change the recipe for success because they think they've got something better and it and it really tips the cart. You really do have to follow the process of a a franchise to be successful, in my opinion. Oleksij Rak: That's actually a great point because from what I heard before, to be successful in franchising you need to be entrepreneur. And right now you're saying and and it didn't match for me, you know, like being entrepreneur and being able to follow the system are a bit Opposite skills sometimes. Yeah. But Joe Hetzer: Very much. Very much. The entrepreneurs out there, they're they're looking for new ways. And and an entrepreneur is gonna have multiple businesses, right? Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: and a lot of time it's about really growing it and and getting out of it, right? It's about the exit plan for a lot of entrepreneurs. That's where the real money is for an entrepreneur. But now you can exit in franchises. There's no problem coming up with a three to five year exit plan. Everybody in a business should they're should be on their business plan to exit, right? But the entrepreneur is that creative person that's looking for something bigger, better and always, you know, evolving. Well, Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: the franchise, in order for that to be successful, if there's fifty franchises out there, you can't be the only one with that idea. All forty or nine of the other ones have to have the same thing because they're operating under the same under the same guidelines. So it's a it's a bit different. And if you have one franchise going rogue, you've got yourself a really big problem. There's a there's a brand problem at that point. Oleksij Rak: probably then the the younger br the emerging brands are looking for franchisees who are have this entrepreneurial like skill set because potentially they could help them evol like grow faster. Because Joe Hetzer: yeah. Oleksij Rak: when you when you're an established brand brand with like a couple hundred entities territory, Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Oleksij Rak: probably you you don't need entrepreneurs anymore. Joe Hetzer: Right. Yeah, in the early stage, hey, having having people with an entrepreneur mindset to help grow your brand and franchise is is great, but but you want them on the advisory team, you don't want them operating solo. Right. So if we can if we can get them on a team and we've we've put a couple in place like that that you know, you have a franchise that just starts off, they they've got three to five businesses already. Now they're saying, Okay, now let's be a franchise. That's a different concept from owning five businesses. Now we had an example is one of the my guys in St. Louis here in the US. They they wanted to turn into a franchise, so we guided them to that. So we have all the equipment and all the people and all the resources to take you from concept to franchise and then help sell those franchises for you. but we I I gave him the advice that he should put a manager in charge of his business while he focuses on these franchises because it's going to take a lot of work. And it was disturbing his his opinion or his reaction was that hey, it's really hard to find a manager out there that can manage your business the same passion and respect for the business that I do. So I'm kind of nervous about doing that. And my big concern was Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: Well, that's what franchising is. Like you're literally hiring managers to manage businesses and then you manage the managers. So if you can't hire somebody to manage your own business, you really don't have the right to go out there and risk somebody else's life savings and say, you know, you should be doing it this way. Right. So you you basically you are hiring managers constantly capable of running a business the same way you do it. Oleksij Rak: So franchisees are rather managers, they are not entrepreneurs, they are they are managers. To work Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Oleksij Rak: with people and follow the system. This is Joe Hetzer: Yes. Oleksij Rak: this different point that I compared to what I was hear hearing before, and I I do agree with this point. It it does Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Oleksij Rak: sound right because it it didn't sound like feel right for me that you should be entrepreneur to become a franchisee. It didn't Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Oleksij Rak: didn't feel right. I I'm an entrepreneur and I was c constantly asking myself, can I be a French e? and I doubt so I doubt so. So I Joe Hetzer: Well, if you if you look at it you could Oleksij Rak: Being entrepreneur, you know, I'm looking for opportunities. That that's the skill of entrepreneur. Con c constantly looking for some opportunities. Joe Hetzer: Right. Now listen, you can be successful at being an entrepreneur and a franchisee, but you have to adjust your focus. So your focus should be for success is expanding your franchise. So getting multiple territories. You can Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: get the same thrills out of it. So you can have you can have a business and say the maid service, right? And then you you you get your first territory. And then it's just start expanding your territories, right? You can even go to different states if you wanted to, but you expand those territories. And then what's a good bolt-on for a maid service? You know, right? So that's a home service. So maybe, maybe something that you you say, okay, hey, well, maybe I can go outside and do lawn service as well, and then start getting those territories. Now that's an entrepreneur mindset, right? But that's not the entrepreneur, traditional entrepreneur that's looking to find that unique business or finding ways to make that business better all the time. So that entrepreneur mindset for for e expanding and growing, that's great fit, but you gotta be able to follow the process still. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, yeah, awesome. with regards to choosing the franchise, how do you know which franchise is is good for me? It's like besides being able to work with people and and be being able to follow the system. Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Oleksij Rak: What skills are needed for different like franchise seg segments? What skills are different for I don't know, opening a restaurant or doing plumbing or whatever franchise kind of franchise? Joe Hetzer: Yeah, that's that's normally really based on your background, right? So I know a lot Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: of guys that that that really lean towards like health because they were in fitness themselves, so they can relate to it. So you really do wanna have something that you can relate to or have some passion to, right? So if you know, if you're into pets, there's there's tons of pet franchises and then you can explore that, right? You can you can you can you really don't need a ton of experience in any category because you are following that process and you got those basic skill sets, right? But for me, if you if you're doing something that you passionately like to do, you never work a day in your life. We know we know those those sayings, right? find something you love to do and never work a day in your life. So you would wanna either follow your passion, follow your experience, or follow a dream. Like if your dream has always been a restaurant, I'm I'm not I'm not particularly big on restaurant franchises myself. That's a really tough industry. and and and some of those big ones like McDonald's, they have first right of refusal for any great territory. Somebody already owns a McDonald's is going to get that one. So you're going to get bottom feeding Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: kind of stuff. So I try to stay away from those. but like if you're into health, like there's the You know, in here in America, we have baby boomers. There's 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day for the next 10 years, right? So home care service for for elderly, you know, those so if you're in like if you're a nurse and you're saying, I'm I'm done with the nursing thing, I want something bigger, I wanted my own business, Oleksij Rak: Yeah, that's similar to like if you're not a new thing that's extra manufacturing. Joe Hetzer: you start looking into stuff like that that that's in your field already that you have knowledge about and and and a passion about. If you have those two, I think Oleksij Rak: So it's Joe Hetzer: you're gonna be good. Oleksij Rak: So it's it's more about your your background and your passion and not that much about the skills you Joe Hetzer: I think so. I I think because of the fact that it's a it's a process and it's a already proven repeated process, I think if you go with your passion and skills that your your passion is really going to get you there. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, awesome. how do you choose the right franchise? So okay, you've you've identified like my passion is sports. I want to open a gym. there are like hundreds of gym franchises out there probably. How do you choose the right one? Joe Hetzer: Yeah, yeah. You definitely want to do your research, right? So that's where the F D D comes in, right? So you look at those performers, right? So you know, what's the average performer, what's the peak performer, and then what's those low performers? And you know, you when it comes to fitness and stuff like that, like a gym here, like a lot of people will move, you know, this guy's got a special, so they'll go there for that six months and then they'll jump here. They're not passionate to the facility. They're passionate to the deal. But then you'll get one of these franchises that are just slightly different. And for instance, we have one it's called Gym Guys. they they do mobile fitness where they put all the equipment in a gym and they'll go either to your house and train you solo Or they go to parks and train multiple people. Or Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: they go to businesses and they do corporate training for physical because everybody's doing that. the Japanese invented that early where everybody's doing these little exercises in the morning before you go. And so they'll get into there. So those are unique ways of just not sitting in and marketing static equipment and everybody come here. So that's I think that's what you want to look for is what's what's different, what's the catch and and what a unique. If not, you know, you can always find those those the ones that are really high performing and you you would choose it based off of performance. Oleksij Rak: By looking into FDD, what what what do you read? What are the red flags for you and what's the most important for you when when you read the FDDs? When you compare them. Joe Hetzer: Right. Every everybody's gonna jump to item nineteen, right? Item nineteen's gonna be the financials, right? That's what you're gonna see. And and and and I you Oleksij Rak: Yeah, yeah. Joe Hetzer: know, there's you you wanna look at how many franchises are already out there. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: How many are owned by the franchise versus how many are owned by the people, right? And if you if there's a way to find out how many are for sale, that's always a big tell too, right? So you could have a franchise that has a hundred franchisees and twenty-five of them are for sale, that would be a flag. You would say, Why are all this selling? You know, not everybody's exiting the same year. Twenty-five percent of your franchisees are exiting. You wanna you wanna look at that kind of stuff. they're Oleksij Rak: So you know, not giving money to X any saving or twenty-five percent of your project sort of X any point if you want to have that kind of stuff, their X F Joe Hetzer: One of the biggest steps that I say is validation process. Right. So if you go and you choose that, the validation process is when you can call other franchisees and say, Hey, how how well are you supported? How what was your what was your lead time to profit? You know, what Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: was your struggles? What was your strengths with this? So within the FDD, it's it's really item nineteen that's gonna tell you that and item thirteen that's gonna kinda tell you about the processes that you wanna start looking at. Oleksij Rak: How do you choose which franchise is to call? Because maybe a few ha few hundred Joe Hetzer: So you get a choice. So you're you're talking to the franchise or and I say, I tell my clients to do this. You want to talk to one of the most successful. So you want the top range successful. You want to talk to two in the middle, and then at least one fail that's that's falling short. And you want to talk to all three of those to understand how are you succeeding, what's your struggles, and then why are you failing? Those are the three that I I would hit. And I would hit I would hit three to five minimum. On those calls. Oleksij Rak: Would would you trust the franchise or to provide the list of franchisees or would you choose them from the document and just call them y yourself? Joe Hetzer: Well, they won't be on the document, so that they would they would have to tell you that stuff, right? So they would they would have to disclose that, right? and the trust it it's not in their best interest to not give you the right names because you're gonna have a conversation with those people real quick and then you're gonna find out. And if he says if they have predetermined names or anything like that, you when you're asking and breaking down these questions and they all seem like it's the same answer, you'll see that it there's They might not be aligned with what you're trying to do. And if you have one iota of a trust issue with a franchise or it's an exit time. Like it has to be full trust. You're putting most most of these people put up, you know, they're either shifting some 401k money through a Robbs program, but they're putting in a a an a lot of their personal finances and sometimes life savings into this. And you have Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: to have that trust and that partnership that that you trust these people with your life savings, right? So if there's any indication whatsoever that we're scamming or we're we're setting up something like that, validation Oleksij Rak: For a second or something like that. Joe Hetzer: should be pretty pure, right? So if you indicate that, I would I would say exit right away. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, I see yeah, it makes sense for sure. Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Oleksij Rak: If if I'm chatting with a franchise or as potential franchisee, what else should I pay attention to? Okay, I've got two two different gym networks and both of them seem good. Like what what else Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Oleksij Rak: should I expect from from the franchise or as yeah as a Joe Hetzer: Well, that's a great question. why are you better than everybody else would be one of the first things I would ask. You know, what Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Yeah, you're still selling me a system, like why should you buy your system, not somebody else's system? Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Yeah, what's what's your what's your advantage in the market and you know what what sets you apart from everybody else is one of the first questions that we'll be we'll be telling. And that should be a a pretty intense story. and it should make real obvious sense to you why why they they have that. you definitely wanna ask you know, what's the biggest struggles that you that you face? how do I how do you support all of your franchises, especially once you get above fifty franchises, right? You get Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: fifty franchises out there. How are you supporting them? Right? So if if I struggle, how are you gonna support me? What if your marketing isn't working for me? What do we do? You know, you wanna ask all those stuff you obviously understand the process now, and then you just go down that process list with your what-ifs. What if this happen? What if the negative happens? What do I do to overcome that? Right? and how'd you get started? Why did you become a franchise? What was their purpose in it? What are they money driven or are they really out there to help people? Now everybody's gonna have money driven, right? But if it's your sole purpose, you're in a lot of trouble. Because I I think I think if your purpose is helping people, you're gonna win, the money will follow. If your purpose is problem solving, like I've I've identified a problem that a lot of people have and I have a solution, your the money's gonna fall. It's it's it's just gonna fall into place. So money's at the top, you know, we all want the money, but the purpose has to be there for you. So you should be looking for their purpose as well. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, I see. And like b besides buying their system, you also need to be sure confident that you can execute the system so and that you will be supported on on your way. And Joe Hetzer: You definitely don't want to get into a a complicated system. That that could be trouble, right? it should be pretty clear and pretty easy to follow. This much in marketing, you have to be able to get this many people in front of you. this is how you do the quotes or whatever, whatever, whatever. It should be boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Pretty s pretty simple, right? Oleksij Rak: Awesome. with regards to franchisees, I'm hearing that from other industries a lot that because I've been interviewing other industries that clients come prepared nowadays. in travel when people come to book some trip, they already know everything about the trip. Maybe not everything, but you know, they do their homework, they do their research. How prepared are your clients nowadays? How prepared are potential franchisees when they come to? Joe Hetzer: Scale of one to ten, two. Because the Yeah. Oleksij Rak: Okay. Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Franchise for some reason has a bad name, right? The first Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: thing a person thinks is why would I wanna run a business and give eight percent away to somebody? Right? So they think right away that a a franchise is a bad thing, right? So the first thing I have to do is with I would say eighty percent of my clients is educate them to the benefits of the of a franchise and why there's that eighty-five percent success rate or eighty two percent success rate for a a franchise versus an eighty five percent failure rate for a business. And a lot of people are looking for existing businesses that they feel like they can buy, sit in the captain's seat and just start raking in the money. And it and it just doesn't work like that at first purchased a couple business. I've been in business turnaround for a a a while. And the layers of of what happens when when somebody buys a business is is different than what most people think. So I I try to educate them towards the franchise. What what they don't see is, you know, how loyal were the people to the people the person that owned it. How loyal were their customers to that person that owns it, because that person's gonna be gone and you're gonna be sitting there, and then you have a collapse in the system. And then how are you gonna recover that with a business that's non-franchise? But with a franchise, you we we we we go over that structure and we go over the fact that this is a repeatable process that's been successful 50, 60, 70, 80 times already, and it's the absolute safest way you can go. So Oleksij Rak: But it's since inch with a free inch. Joe Hetzer: I would say that they're not prepared. in a manner like they're inquisitive by far, but they're they're not prepared. And and most of my processes are education first. then we we put out a couple options based on their their background. Then we do a couple at introductions. And it's probably a three month process before we close and and they're on their way of owning their own business. but their Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: the preparation for the franchise is less than you would expect. Oleksij Rak: Okay, that's that's interesting. What exactly Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Well, you know, the the there's several steps within it, right? So Oleksij Rak: Yeah, for sure. Joe Hetzer: that introduction. First what it what what we try to do is a lot of times we try to offer options, right? We put three to four options on the table and then we investigate those. Well, they go back, they come back the next week after they investigate a little bit, and then we have another conversation, then we narrow it down to one, then we kind of dive into some some top level stuff with them and and go over it. That's another Oleksij Rak: Mm-hmm. Joe Hetzer: week. Then we do an introduction to the franchise or right. That Oleksij Rak: Mm-hmm. Joe Hetzer: the first one is a 15-minute just to get to know each other, make sure we're on the same page. Then they'll go back another week. Have that hour-long conversation with them to say, hey, we are a good fit. This is great. And then you go where you start learning their systems. Then there's Discovery Day, and you got to wait for them to be. A lot of the franchises only have Discovery Day once a month. So you got to wait for that Oleksij Rak: Mm-hmm. Joe Hetzer: to come in and then you join that class. Then you get your financing together, and then you're signing your paper, and then off you go. So most of the people are already working, so they're where they're working their job and they're looking for an exit plan, so they gotta exit out. There's a two week notice for that. So it adds up really Oleksij Rak: Yeah, it takes time. Joe Hetzer: quick. It adds up really quick where you think, Hey, let's let's reconnect next Wednesday, right? Well, that's four days away. That's four days of you know, not moving the needle and and and pause. So yeah, yeah. And then there's those detailed people that just They need confidence at every step. Like they are so nervous about going into this stuff that they they won't Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: if it to death, right? Which isn't bad. I if that's you, I mean you gotta trust but verify, right? so that they have a lot more questions and then and and then when they do their validation calls will go back to the franchise or with even more questions based off of the validation. So that's the process. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, if you work for twenty or thirty years to to earn this money. So three months is that long. Yeah. Joe Hetzer: Right. Yeah. Now you can I've seen close within three weeks. I've seen guys latch on, like, this is it, this is me. I didn't even know this kind of stuff was out there. I'll be making way more money within eight months than I was making after trying to twenty year career with somebody. How do I get this to happen right now? And we can get that going within three within three weeks, you could be a business owner. Oleksij Rak: So do do this leads do this candidates use chat chat GPT to to explore everything? No. Everybody's using Joe Hetzer: Yeah. That's coming up hard too. That is coming up hard. Oleksij Rak: Chat GP GPT. Does it do they put FDD in in and what what c what level of answers do th do they get from from AI tools? Joe Hetzer: Yeah, I'm I've not seen it hit in my market for for consulting Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: and stuff like that. but they can research they can research a lot about the business that they couldn't do before. You you pop a business into ChatGTP and you're gonna know the ins and outs of that business real quick, right? So that part of it's really good. But I haven't had a ton of clients come up and say, Hey man, I dropped that in a chat CTP and it says this is terrible, you know, or or great, right? So we haven't felt we haven't felt AI hit us quite yet. Oleksij Rak: Not yet. Yeah, yeah. It's it's Joe Hetzer: Mm-hmm. Oleksij Rak: quite a complicated industry and probably it makes sense. Joe Hetzer: Well, they would be more prepared then, right? So if they dropped it FC I put in chat GTP, why should I should I buy a existing business, start my own business or or buy a franchise? If they put that in there, which I might do that after this show, see what it says. But they would be a lot more prepared and educated and I think that would be a great step forward for clients to do so they understood the the franchise process and and the structure and security of a franchise. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, but anyways it's you know it's an emerging trend and the trend is is there it's not about franchise industry, it's about general trend and people start self educating in with these tools because it's quite easy. So Joe Hetzer: Yeah. And to that point, I I have ownership in three manufacturing companies as well. And Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: and we have morning meetings, well, our L ten meetings. So our we have EOS systems in place and we do L tens. And one of the first things you gotta answer is, How have I moved the business towards AI? it's it's becoming that big, right? So we're trying to we're trying to move it quickly into manufacturing and we may have had a late start. and the systems are all developing so quickly, you know, what's Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: the right system for that? I don't wanna get on too much of an AI kick. I think within the franchise, once you own a franchise, AI can really, really help you out. And it might save a lot of marketing costs too, because We have a lot of clients that are calling from the marketing, anything IT, you know, any anything within the computer industry, they're they're they're losing their jobs and they're thinking, What's next for me? Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: so AI within that franchise might help. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, for sure. With regards to to the roles, where does the role of consultant end and where do the franchisors should pick up? Because at cer a certain point you enter introduction of franchisee to the franchise and their sales team should pick up. So where is that split and where does your job end and their sales team? Joe Hetzer: Yeah. That's a great question too. it's individual dependent, right? Oleksij Rak: Okay. Joe Hetzer: I've I've I've had I got franchise Z that's owned a franchise that I still stay in contact with. and we share experiences and I can also share that experience with new clients. I try to coach them all the way through the process until they own it. But I try not to ask too many answer too many technical questions within the franchise because I don't I don't want to say, hey, this franchise, you they're they do one point two million dollars in revenue every year. and then when they fall short, they come back and somehow hold me accountable to that. So you gotta be really careful that you're representing the franchise and allowing them to answer those detailed questions. So I I've had people just I g I do the introduction and I never hear from them again and then I've had people that I've coached up to a year and a half after they've already owned the franchise. So it just depends on the individual. But you do have to walk that fine line to make sure that you're not going to be liable to the F D D. That's not what we wanna do. So any kind of technical question towards the franchise, you want the franchise or to answer those. Oleksij Rak: So so you you keep supporting your franchisees even after the the deal is closed. Joe Hetzer: Absolutely. I have, right? So I would say probably ten, fifteen percent that we still maintain contact. And and I and I think it's because I I had such a passion about helping people exit the corporate world and owning their own business. It's it's such a totally different lifestyle. It's such a totally different feeling that everything Oleksij Rak: Thank you. Joe Hetzer: is different. I and I and I say this In a in a way I tell my friends sometimes, like, if you're running late, if you hit some traffic on your way to work, you're running late. If I have if I hit traffic on the way to my business, I'm running behind schedule. And there's a huge Oleksij Rak: That's true. Absolutely Joe Hetzer: Yeah, I see. Oleksij Rak: absolutely hear you. I I left corporate like fifteen years ago and I n Joe Hetzer: Right? Oleksij Rak: I never regretted that. Joe Hetzer: It's it's it it's great. Now now obviously the pressure's all on you. You wear all the hats and all that kind of stuff. So there there's that. But the rewards are higher. The the s the pride is higher. You stick your chest out more, you have different conversations on the at the golf course. I think business ownership Is the greatest thing anybody can ever experience. And by the way, if you don't own a business here in the US, you are absolutely paying the highest taxes you can possibly pay. Because once you get that business, you are writing off a ton of stuff. So when you start writing off your phone or an office in your house, some of your electric, your your gas, your cravel, your clothes, it's a huge benefit. And it it's just a different lifestyle. It is you nothing can stop you sometimes. When you're in that when you own a business, you just feel so empowered and I recommend it for anybody that has the skill set and the confidence that you should you should test the waters one time. You'll love it. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. you mentioned the eight months ramp time that in eight months I will start making a lot of money more than I made in like in in my corporate career. Joe Hetzer: Mm-hmm. Oleksij Rak: What what's the what's the usual path? How long does it take since the moment that you sign the deal? How long does it usually take to to ramp up until at least break even? Joe Hetzer: Yeah, that's what that's that eight month mark. That six to eight month mark is usually when you start getting that break even and you get you get your momentum going and everything. So I I would say, you know, if I was to write my name on a contract, I would say eight months to a year, right? Expect eight months to a year. And I always say have a runway of whether you borrow working capital or whether you have it in a bank. Have yourself eight months to a year. Because what that does is it it's a different mindset there as well. So if you Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: are limited on cash and you didn't finance the working capital, or if you if you got limited access in your savings account, the pressure to sell is so much higher that your customers will feel it. They'll feel your desperation. And you want to just go out there with the absolute confidence that I have a great product. And I have a great solution and I'm here to help you. As soon as you get into any kind of sales mode or desperation mode, like I need this cash bad, help me out here. Like it it it's not gonna be there. You know, you want you want I'm I'm I'm a manifest kind of guy as well, and it and it and it's about vision and confidence. And you wanna you wanna go in there knowing Oleksij Rak: And it and it and it's not did you want to you want to go into Joe Hetzer: that you're already successful and you're out there to help somebody else and and and that's what just keeps drawing in the right vibrations, the right frequency, whatever you want to call it. But that's the mindset that you have to have that you're already successful and you're trying to help somebody else. And if that bank account says $1,700 left in it, it's hard to go out there and not sound desperate. So be prepared for your runway. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, yeah, it makes how much do you usually need for for your amp period c period compared to to initial investment? it's it's still the difference. Joe Hetzer: So, you know, you wanna look at the operating costs, right? You wanna look at your operating costs and then you wanna look at your home expenses. Do you have your home expenses too, right? So sometimes when you go to work look at working capital, you wanna finance in your paycheck. within that or your or your staff's paycheck. So you know that's coming and your paycheck should be able to take care of your bills. I know a lot of people that think of themselves last when it comes to the paycheck. Like, I'm gonna sacrifice this until you should be paycheck first. You got to be thinking of yourself first because that's what gets you in that state of mind. So I would look at the operating costs of the business. And I would do multiples of that operating cost and and that operating cost should include your your payment, your your paychecks to however many you staff, you know, depending on what you're getting into. Usually it's three to five, you know, early on. So you're not looking at, you know, eight hundred thousand dollars worth of pay, you know, you're not doing that. So but yeah. Oleksij Rak: But still compared if if you invest if your initial investment is, I don't know, two hundred, three hundred K into into into the franchise to for the franchise cost and then to to set it up. And how much do should you expect to to to have extra for for the for the RAM period to get to the break even? The same the the same to Joe Hetzer: I if I was to put you know, is that Oleksij Rak: the the same amount more or less? Joe Hetzer: I would I would have thought, you know, fifty thirty to fifty percent I think should get you there because you are gonna be generating money, right? we're talking Oleksij Rak: Yeah, yeah. Joe Hetzer: about break even and stuff. And it really depends too. So I have I have franchisees that pay cash and now that number is way lower. I have other franchisees that use their four one K, which is that Robb's program, and they shift it. There's no penalties or anything like that. So you can you can continue to draw from that if you want to, right? And that's less stressful and that's gonna take care of it. if you finance it in you know, with an SBA loan, you know, I would probably look at fifty to sixty percent if I did that, just because you want that safety net, just in case something does go wrong. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, that was okay. Thanks for the for the information. Joe Hetzer: The difference. Oleksij Rak: with regards to consultants, like what what what takes the most of your time? What what's the most labor intense? Joe Hetzer: Lead gener lead generation is one of the toughest things to write. Oleksij Rak: It's the same everywhere. Joe Hetzer: Yeah, I think so. Well we're we're pretty confident. We got a we got a really good team. Jason Prenzo is our our executive vice president. And you know that he's been you know, he came from the music industry. So the music industry is another one that that's dying now, right? So he he had a very successful business in the music industry getting top artists on the radio. That was That's what he did. and I'm talking Britney Spears, top artist, Lenny Kravitz. I don't know if you guys know them over there, but they're top artists over here, right? And then well, hey man, everybody's got MP3s and and download, no everybody's streaming music that's not there anymore. But he went around and he was constantly helping music talent and then constantly selling it to the radio, in a sense. problem solution and and supporting. and he's very talented with the people. Like he very confident. creates that trust right away. You you do that, you create that trust. And then knowledgeable. We have we work with over 630 franchises that we can offer in every category. There is not an industry Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: that we don't tap into. And so that confidence is there when when he goes into that as well. So we look for those type of people, A-type personalities. You know, if you're an introvert, it might be a little bit more difficult for you, right? Unless you get that spokesperson out there for you. but yeah, those those are the top consultants in my opinion. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. With regards to lead gen, how how how do how do you at all do the lead gen? It's like trade shows of what do Joe Hetzer: Mm-hmm. Oleksij Rak: marketing how how how does it work? Joe Hetzer: Yeah, yeah. So we we get a few different ones. So we we have some people that work through like a LinkedIn. We have some of our some of our lead generators, they work through like BizBy Sell and and places that sell those businesses. we have experience at DIP in in those. I d I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's you know today's times, the water or whatever, but you know, traffic through some of those has has dipped. So you you have to have a backup plan. And then we have other lead generators that will go out there and and discover talent, have a first conversation with you to make sure that they're interested in a biz a franchise and then they'll they'll hand them off for X amount of money. So there's several different ones and And you do have to be really careful. If I if I tell you as a consultant to a consultant, be careful with the lead generators. There's a lot of promises and and you would you Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: we we had we had we had one lead generator that would send you leads and you would get on the phone with them and they're like, you almost had to explain what a franchise was and why'd you call me? Like, well, didn't you speak with Mark about you know, wanting to own a business. Like, well, no, Mark called me and he asked me if I'd be interested, but that was the end of it. So it was they they weren't ready. They weren't looking for a business. They were just random people calling, I think. So gotta be really careful. Oleksij Rak: Did you try to did you consider leads from for from these online platforms like Gator, Franchise Gator and others? They all are built like to to to collect leads from from the internet. Do they even make Joe Hetzer: Yeah, it it's saturated. Like Oleksij Rak: sense? Joe Hetzer: you know, they would, but you you gotta also think like this. You're you're gonna be new. There's gonna be people that's been with them for a long time and those guys are gonna get those top ones, so you're gonna have to earn it. And that's usually Oleksij Rak: yeah. Joe Hetzer: financially, right? So I would I I I would say that test all the waters once, right? Find find that source and then and then feed that source. We've had some really good ones. We we have. We've also had some good product as well to to put out there for for people. Like I said, six hundred and thirty different franchises and we meet with all of We have conversations with all of them. I would never introduce somebody to a franchise that I haven't met. The the vice president or president myself had conversations and understood that this was a good franchise, a good fit. and we've had some really big franchises that have eight hundred franchisees. And I thought they were just absolutely terrible franchise oars. I think they let go after a while, right? And they almost almost too cocky to really introduce them to any of my clients. Cause I we Jason's another one. He's just like me. We passionately, passionately want to help people out. It's a it's such a rewarding thing to get somebody into this position that we're not going to introduce that somebody that's not as passionate as us. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, it makes sense. yeah, with with regards to franchisees still I I want to explore a Joe Hetzer: Yeah, it's fun. Yeah. Oleksij Rak: bit deeper. some to some decent discussion. Like and how how many of s of them then l later later on close five percent get to some discussion and Joe Hetzer: that's five percent, five percent yeah. Oleksij Rak: and how many of them do do do close in the end? Because they they do fall off. Joe Hetzer: Yeah, yeah. There's a high rate of fall off. Normally once you get to discovery days and stuff like that, you're you're it's pretty solid. But I would Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: say out of if I did a hundred introductions, I would say fifteen of them. Oleksij Rak: Would convert. Joe Hetzer: Yeah, twelve to fifteen percent would probably convert to deeper conversations about it and probably three percent of them would be a franchise owner. Oleksij Rak: On the wow. Yeah. So out of a hundred introductions Joe Hetzer: We talked to a lot of people. Oleksij Rak: to the franchise, I mean. Joe Hetzer: Yeah. And and that's because the the realization sets in, right? It's a dream until you put an action to it, right? And once you put an action to it, now it's a plan. And then the reality sets in. We get cold feet, right? So that week to week paycheck, I mean it's a dream killer, right? It'll kill your dream, but it is such a comfort level that Once they get to that reality of, hey, listen, I I'm right here. I can ch I got a chance to buy this business. And I go to tell my boss. My boss says, Well, I'll give you a five percent raise to stay. And that that warm Oleksij Rak: Ha ha. Joe Hetzer: feeling kicks in again. there's a lot of people that can change their mind right there. or they have a conversation Oleksij Rak: But yeah, it's a it's a it's a tough job for you. It's a tough job for a consultant. Out of like a hundred introductions, so you introduce a hundred people to to Francis Or and only like three to five percent of them become the for the the franchise and Joe Hetzer: Yeah, it's a numbers game sometimes. You know, if you want to break it down, it it's it's going to be a numbers game. And I and I think the hardest part is literally I'll have five or six calls in a day and almost Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: have to take a nap afterwards because I I'm so passionate about it. And I want to help so bad that like I dump everything into that call to just make sure that they they're receiving the best product possible and that I'm answering every question and I'm and I feel their excitement and I match that excitement and and you know, who knows where it's gonna go, right? Like we said, we Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: we got a great failure rate too, right? But after that call, you do four or five of those a day and you just sink your heart into really trying to help somebody out. you're mentally and emotionally exhausted, you know, it it's It can be tough. Oleksij Rak: That's true. Joe Hetzer: but like I'm I'm I'm about to close on a deal with a lady that had been recently divorced from a like an abusive relationship. She's trying to find her what next and we found the perfect it took me fourteen months. So we've had a couple of introductions and didn't work out, didn't work out, this isn't for me. Now she found her one. And to know that that person is going to be out there that was under the thumb of somebody that didn't appreciate her and she's going to blossom on her own and own her own business and it's going to be a new world, new person, and you were part of it, there is there's just no better reward that like you the the money doesn't even matter after that. The fact that you've taken somebody from from that situation to their own individual personality and their own future and the sun is shining bright. I I can't explain it. There's no better feeling. There really isn't. The money's good too, but like it's not the driver. we're pretty proud of stuff like that. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, I hear it. I I really appreciate it. So that's a great Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Thanks. Oleksij Rak: one. if you could have some I'm running software company, no, if you had has have some piece of software, some tool, some AI tool, whatever, that would help your make your life easier, what would it be? Joe Hetzer: I think today, I think today AI, you can find a lot more customers with AI than you can with a billboard, for instance. Right. So marketing is going to change dramatically here with AI. As a matter of fact, we're putting together a program right now that is going to be AI driven. And it's it's going to be a tool I think everybody would be able to use. And it's going to be on our lead generation. So we if we take a tool like this and we say, okay. AI identify the top businesses in the tech industry and all that that are having layoffs, right? Then tap into LinkedIn, find those companies under the people and then be able to shoot them, hey, we got we got your what's next, right? Don't don't be worried, like You know, you're hitting the your VPs, your your general managers, your operational managers, people that have money for investment and and are blindly like my brother was blind. Like he how do where do you go after a music industry? What's your niche? Everybody was going they were they were going to become people that It would sell houses or something, use cars or whatever. They didn't even know what their next was. So these people are going to be wondering what their next is. And I think AI as a tool is going to make those connections for us. so anytime you can find AI as a as a as a tool, I I would think that would be one of your biggest tools that you're gonna wanna utilize. It it's it's every day it's getting bigger and better. Oleksij Rak: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, market Joe Hetzer: Mm-hmm. Oleksij Rak: marketing is gonna change. It's it's already changing quite Joe Hetzer: Marketing, yeah, yeah. and then to Oleksij Rak: Mm-hmm. Joe Hetzer: finding the finding the right people. Finding the right people to work for you too, right? That's a different landscape for hiring people right now too. It's a I've Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Joe Hetzer: I've had interviews set up, I've had conversations with people, multiple people, and multiple conversations and then they don't show up for the interview. it's another one. If you can figure that one out, you're you got a strong tool there. Oleksij Rak: Awesome. Maybe my last one would be in your opinion, with all these advancements and changes and the trends, how how do you think that the industry will look like in a couple of years? Two, three, five years. Maybe five years is too far with this current technological Joe Hetzer: Well the way AI's growing, right? There's there's gonna be a lot. Look at service based industries. Look at those service based industries. always look at everything that you're gonna look at, think to yourself, can can AI take over and then stay away, right? That's why I I always say to service, you know, you know dumpsters, that kind of stuff. AI can't do anything for a dumpster. AI's not going to mow your lawn. AI is not going to put a new kitchen in for you, a new remodeled bath or anything like that. So those service industries are going to be those bigger ones. And then look for the the the recurring stuff. The grass is always going to grow so you don't have to look for the next customer. I think the landscape is going to change in a way that I think it's going to be unpredictable. I I'd I'd be a fool if I sat here and said that I have a clear vision of the next three years because AI is on a scary level right now. and then you you have Tesla building these robots now that are gonna be coming out, and then you gotta say, what can those what are they gonna be taking over? So the franchise industry I say grows all the time because it's it's so successful. It it it's proven. It might change what the franchise is. it might change how the franchise operates, but it's always gonna be the safest investment if you wanna ever own your own business. So I don't think that changes. Oleksij Rak: Yeah. Awesome. Th thanks Joe for for great discussion. And it's it was Joe Hetzer: wow, thanks for having. I love this stuff. Oleksij Rak: it was insightful and I learned something new today. And thanks for thanks Joe Hetzer: Yeah. Oleksij Rak: for sharing your passion. It it was inspiring. Before we wrap Joe Hetzer: Yeah, thanks. Oleksij Rak: it up, is there anything else you would like to add on top of that? Joe Hetzer: Well, hey, US business ventures, you want passion, you want support, there's look us up, we can help you out passionately. We we really do love to help people. So go out there, I say try it. If you've ever dreamt it, try it. Trust yourself. You'll find the answers. Trust yourself. You can do it. All right. Oleksij Rak: Thanks. So thanks a lot for for being here and best of luck for you. Joe Hetzer: I appreciate that. Best of luck to you too.