Franchise Canada Chats

In this episode, we talk to Piinpoint’s chief product officer, Sarah Steiner, and location specialist, Adrian Polidoro. Piinpoint uses location intelligence powered by AI to help businesses and retailers find the best locations for expansion.

Here, Sarah and Adrian share:

• How the company uses a variety of useful and unique data collection techniques to help business owners find prospective retail locations

• The many brands that Piinpoint has successfully worked with (including some fellow CFA members!)

• And the new Piinpoint Grant Program that Adrian introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the value it brings to business owners and franchisees looking to expand in their communities, among much more.

In this episode, we talk to d3h Hotels chief strategist, Carolyn Genest. d3h Hotels operate under the Realstar Hospitality brand, which is a property management company based out of Toronto, Ontario.

Carolyn explains how all 13 hotels in the chain have remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic and are still being reserved by guests.

Here, Carolyn shares:

• How Realstar Hospitality has supported d3h Hotels through regular calls for franchisees to normalize what’s happening during the pandemic

• How the brand has worked to help guests find places to visit in the vicinity of hotels that stayed open over the past year

• And the five key lessons she’s learned as a franchisor that can help franchisees find success within their business endeavours, among much more.

In this episode, we talk to Mad Science Group president and CEO Shafik Mina, and franchisee Kyle Upton, who has more than 20 years of experience in franchising as he owns two locations in St. Catharines and London, Ontario.

Mad Science Group is a science enrichment program for children that has 165 franchise locations in more than 20 countries worldwide.

Here, Shafik and Kyle share:

• Why franchisees having passion for the industry they join is so vital to their success and overall happiness as business owners

• The new Crayola Imagine Arts Academy franchising opportunity that Mad Science Group created to reach children with an interest in the arts

• And how the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the brand to transition from an in person and hands-on learning approach to an entirely virtual process that’s been implemented for the past year, among much more.

In this episode, we talk to Katelyn, Carly, and Paige Fulton, a trio of sisters who own a Century 21 franchise in Scarborough, Ontario. Century 21 is a Canadian owned and operated real estate company with more than 400 offices across the country.

The sisters explain how their family has been in franchising for decades with the Percy Fulton Century 21 franchise that’s been operating for more than 40 years.

Here, Katelyn, Carly, and Paige share:

• Why they each made the switch from corporate careers into the increasingly popular real estate industry, and how their father’s franchising experience helped support that career change

• The benefits of franchising with your family members, such as knowing each other’s strong suits and how to motivate each other

• And the best thing they did for their business before starting off, including conducting personality tests to learn their strengths and weaknesses as business owners, and much more.

In this episode, we talk to Clark Harrop, a partner at Dale & Lessmann LLP. The business law firm is a franchise support service/supplier that represents franchisors and franchisees in the franchise agreement and disclosure document process.

Clark has been in the franchising space since the year 2000, and has worked with brands including Tim Hortons and McDonald’s, where he says he learned how good franchise systems work and adapt to changes as necessary.

Here, Clark shares:

• Why he decided to take his decades of franchise experience to a private practice to work more closely with franchisors and franchisees

• How to best implement system change within a franchise system, including the challenges this poses for franchisors

• And the importance of communication between franchisors and their franchisees, especially as we continue to face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, among much more.

In this episode, we talk to Spiritleaf franchisee, Cara Rose-Brown, who opened a franchise in Stitsville, Ontario with her husband Tim in July 2020. The couple have been franchising together for more than 20 years.

Spiritleaf is a Canadian cannabis brand that currently has 68 franchise units across Canada. They operate with the goal of being the most knowledgeable and trusted retailer of recreational cannabis.

Here, Cara shares:

• Why she and Tim decided to open a Spiritleaf franchise to help bring cannabis to their small community in Ottawa

• How she and Tim won Spiritleaf’s Franchise Partners of the Year award in December 2020, just five months after opening their franchise

• And how the entrepreneurial spirit runs in the family, as the couple also introduced their son Mitch to franchising and hope to leave a legacy for him with their Spiritleaf franchise, and much more.

In this episode, we talk to Lice Squad.com franchisee, Malika Rezgani, who owns three territories and built three clinics that service Burlington-Hamilton, Niagara-St. Catharines, and Mississauga-Oakville in Ontario.

Malika explains how she discovered the Lice Squad.com opportunity through reading a Franchise Canada magazine, and how she spent about a year working for the franchise before deciding to purchase her own clinic.

Here, Malika shares:

• What she enjoys most about owning her own businesses with the Lice Squad.com system

• How she juggles being a mom of three who also operates three franchises, and what gave her that push to expand her business with Lice Squad.com

• And her advice for success to those interested in purchasing more than one franchise location as they expand their business, among much more.

In this episode, we talk to 30 Minute Hit franchisee, Jodie Peck, who owns two successful locations in Halifax and Bedford, Nova Scotia. 30 Minute Hit is a high intensity and empowering boxing and kickboxing circuit designed specifically for women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities.

Jodie is a military veteran who moved to Canada from the UK with her husband’s job. While there, she worked in the Royal Air Force as an engineering officer for 18 years. Jodie says she became a 30 Minute Hit trainer after moving to Canada and loved it and wanted more, then the opportunity to buy into the Halifax location popped up.

Here, Jodie shares:

• The huge learning curve she experienced when transitioning from being in the military to working in the service industry

• Why she decided to invest in a second franchise location following the success of her first

• And 30 Minute Hit’s new online training program that was launched during the pandemic, which offers an online library and mimics all training and techniques that would normally be done in person, and much more.

In this episode, we talk to EverLine Coatings and Services president John Evans and franchisee Simon Jawanda from Winnipeg, Manitoba. EverLine Coatings and Services provides pavement marking and parking lot maintenance services.

Here, John and Simon share:

- How the brand has achieved franchise growth even during the challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic

- How Simon keeps motivated as a triple threat, balancing his career and personal life as a franchisee, full-time firefighter, and a new dad

- The learning curve that EverLine Coatings and Services has given Simon, while John continues providing round the clock support for franchisees, among much more.

In this episode, we talk to WP Creations franchisor Jamie Berube and franchisee Rachel Seabrook from Airdrie, Alberta. WP Creations is a work from home franchise concept that allows women and moms to gain work-life balance while helping customers create life casting keepsakes of their children.

Here, Jamie and Rachel share:

• How COVID-19 changed Rachel’s training and entire business start up as she joined WP Creations in February 2020 just before the pandemic began

• Jamie’s key learnings that help her motivate and support her female franchisees

• How WP Creations quickly and effectively pivoted their business strategy from touching babies in person to an entirely virtual process where clients complete the life casting from their own homes using Zoom calls with franchisees to help out where needed, and much more.