Best of the Best in Franchising

In this episode, I talk with Frank Fiume, founder of i9 Sports about the start of his franchise, how he grew his business, lessons he learned from challenging times in the business, and key lessons that he shares in his excellent book Running with My Head Down. This is a fascinating discussion about what it takes to be successful in franchising and lessons from a veteran franchise leader who now hosts the Emerging Franchise Brands Podcast.

In this episode, I talk with Dr. John Hayes, Titus Chair for Franchise Leadership at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida. Dr. Hayes talks about his background in journalism and how he got involved with franchising.

Dr. Hayes was introduced to the franchise community in 1979 while an assistant professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After he was asked to provide marketing and public relations services for a local franchisor, he co-authored Franchising: The Inside Story, the first book written about how to buy a franchise.

Since then, Dr. Hayes has been a franchisee of several concepts, a franchisor of a major American franchise company, and a consultant for franchisors in the U.S. and abroad. For more than 25 years he has taught The A to Zs of Buying a Franchise, the most popular symposium at the International Franchise Expo, sponsored by the International Franchise Association. Each year he speaks and trains at numerous franchise events across the globe.

Dr. Hayes has written several books with franchisors, including You Can't Teach A Kid To Ride A Bike At A Seminar, with David Sandler, founder of Sandler Sales System, and Start Small, Finish Big, Fifteen Key Lessons to Start-and-Run Your Own Successful Business, with Fred DeLuca, the co-founder of Subway Restaurants.

He is the author of several e-books devoted to franchising, including Take the Fear Out of Franchising, Buy "Hot" Franchises Without Getting Burned, and 101 Questions To Ask Before You Invest in a Franchise.

Dr. Hayes earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Kent State University in Ohio, and a doctorate in American Studies at Temple University in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Hayes shares his wisdom on how franchising has changed over the years, the biggest challenges facing franchisors and franchisees, and lessons he has learned from his extensive experience.

In this episode, I talk with Larry and Svetlana Fussell of the Gotcha Covered franchise, which they started in Winter Garden, Florida. They talk about their experiences of getting into franchising (which Svetlana did first with a tutoring franchise which she later sold) once Larry's Gotcha Covered franchise got started. They share lessons they've learned as they've grown their business, the value of collaborating with other franchises, the benefits they've received from being a part of franchising, and what they like most about the Gotcha Covered brand.

In this episode, I talk with Terri Reiff, who started her first Stretch Zone franchise in 2017. She has owned as many as 11 franchise locations and recently has sold several locations so that she can focus on her granddaughter. Terri's story is an inspiring example of the power of franchising and growing a successful operation across multiple locations in multiple states. She shares best practices for scaling and growing a business, how she decides when to open a new location, and lessons that she has learned along the way through franchising with Stretch Zone.

In this episode, I talk with Ryan Laird, who started the association pillar with Property Management Inc. (PMI) with his father Paul Laird in early 2020. Ryan shares their story about how they got started, what they've like most about working with PMI as they've grown, lessons they've learned, and the advantages to starting a business with a franchise.

In this episode, I talk with Mike Nonelle with the Fibrenew franchise in Hollywood, Florida. Mike shares his story about his background in the film and TV industry and why he chose to join Fibrenew of the different business concepts that he considered. He discusses how he got started in March of 2020, what he loves most about the franchise, how the training helped him get started, and the freedom and control that business ownership has given to him.

In this episode, we talk with with Eduardo Esquivel and Gabriela Cerrillo in Cincinnati, Ohio and the northern Kentucky area who joined the 360° Painting franchise with Premium Service Brands in July of 2020. They talk about how they discovered 360° Painting and why they chose to join them and Premium Service Brands, how their business has grown since they started, lessons they've learned, how the franchise has supported them, and the thing they love most about being a part of a growing franchise brand.

In this episode, I talk with Bart Williams, who has been a House Doctors franchisee for 18 years. Bart talks about his decision to get into franchising with House Doctors and what he has loved most since Premium Service Brands purchased House Doctors. He also shares lessons that he has learned in leadership and retention and how he was able to increase his sales, profitability, and scale his business with the help of his franchise business coach with Premium Service Brands over the past several years. Bart also talks about his decision to stack on the Window Gang franchise from Premium Service Brands and what he likes about Nesto and what Premium Service Brands is doing to help new franchisees go through training and scale quicker into success.

In this episode, I talk with Scott Tobin of Burn Boot Camp, who has built twelve locations (and getting ready to open his thirteenth this year), after being Burn Boot Camp's head trainer. He has seen the growth of Burn Brands since a few franchise locations to 400+ locations now across the country. Scott shares lessons he has learned in leadership, how he decides to expand to another location, and his exciting vision for growth for one of the most exciting fitness brands in the country.

In this episode, we talk with Scott Goodger, who started his KitchenWise / ClosetWise franchise in The Villages, Florida in early 2021 and shares his experiences with starting the brand, his growth, and his perspective on the benefits that he has found in joining a franchise with Premium Service Brands.