Franchise Interviews

Silverback Self Defense is a professional self defense company that specializes in group, corporate, and individual

training classes. Founded and owned by Robert Webre, Silverback Self Defense is passionate

about helping people learn how to protect themselves and save lives. With solid leadership at our

back and proven operational practices propelling us forward, Silverback Self Defense is eager to

introduce the rest of the States to our customizable training programs through franchisement.  In part two, we play a clip from our popular Great Quotes in Franchising podcast.

If you want to be part of a healthcare brand that has built its success by putting patients first, explore the Pearle Vision franchise opportunity.Pearle Vision is one of the largest optical retailers in North America, with more than 500 EyeCare Centers across the United States and Canada, many owned and operated locally by franchise owners.

The brand has more than 30 years’ experience in franchising, and although Pearle Vision is a healthcare franchise, you do not need a medical background to own a franchise.

We are meeting with Alex Wilkes of Pearle Vision.  In 1981, Pearle Vision began offering franchises to optometrists, opticians and investors who were interested in using Pearle’s business model, brand and marketing muscle to build their own businesses. Today, the Pearle Vision franchise continues to grow by helping professionals profitably deliver quality eye care.

In part 1, we are meeting with entrepreneur and the founder of the BBQ Cleaner Jeffrey Krentzman. Jeff discusses the following:

What are some of the pros and cons you encounter as your own boss?

What is the hardest part of starting your own business?

In your own business, what are some of things you feel you have done right that can be applied to someone else looking to start a business?

What advice would you give to someone whose looking at being their own boss? Where should they even start?

In part 2, you will hear a clip from out Great Quotes in Franchising podcast with the great Warren Greshes.

There are two key elements you receive when buying a franchise: They include a system and a brand.  Today we have the honor of speaking with award winning marketing professional, lecturer and teacher, Dr. John Tantillo.  Dr. Tantillo (aka The Marketing Doctor) is a trained applied research psychologist who is internationally known for his expertise at diagnosing the factors that impact target markets. The Marketing Dr. wants to share his knowledge with individuals and businesses so they will benefit from his modern marketing principles.

Dr. Tantillo is also the author of the popular book, “People Buy Brands Not Companies,” and Udemy on-line Course: “Go Brand Yourself with Dr. John Tantillo: The secrets of branding for personal and professional success!” 

Dr. John Tantillo created the brand name, “O’Reilly Factor” and is currently a contributor for Newsmax TV (link to JT’s Newsmax Clips needs to be created) where he is seen each week on the popular Newsmax Now segment, Brand Power, https://www.newsmaxtv.com/Shows/Newsmax-Now  where his “take” on the issues of the day provide a lively discussion with Newsmax Now host John Bachman and his on-air interview partner, Alison Maloni.

This week we are discussing two must read books before Memorial  or Labor Day.  We begin the show with Danny Lyon, author of  The Colour of My Underwear is Blue.  With over 60 marathons and 20 years of business experience,Danny Lyon shares why people create such varying levels of business and personal success. Lyon reveals the secrets of the success "high-flyers", the "turnaround artists", the "comfort zone dwellers", and the "give-ups". No matter where you are in your life right now, Lyon sheds light on how you may be holding yourself back and what it takes to get out of your own way. 

Next, we meet with Steve Barnett, author of Gumption - Taking Bubba Gump from Movie to Restaurant.  Written in a cinematic style, this book is about the creation, growth, and sale of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The concept began when Paramount Pictures reached out to see if there was interest in creating a restaurant based on the movie Forrest Gump. It is also the personal story of the author’s growth as a CEO and creator of restaurant concepts. A host of situations are described such as restaurant concept creation, high stakes boardroom confrontations, and escaping corrupt officials in foreign lands. The narrative is partly an unvarnished peak behind the everyday scenes of restaurants, movie studios, and Wall Street. There is also an almost step-by-step recounting of how the Bubba Gump concept and others were created and operated. Lessons can be learned on unorthodox methods used in moving from traditional approaches to untried ways of doing business.

Today’s podcast features a roundtable session with three franchise experts.  You will hear from franchise expert Jim Coen. Jim suggested most people know what they like but they don’t necessarily know what would be a good franchise opportunity for themselves. He explains why.  In addition, we have franchise expert and veteran Craig Slavin. Craig has 5 decades of experience in all aspects of the franchising. Craig suggests, “Just because you can afford the airplane doesn't mean you should be the pilot." He eloquently explains how this pertains to buying a franchise.  We also have Gary Ochiogrosso who answers a common question that we have been asked hundreds of times and that is, “What is the best franchise?” Gary also talks about the three-legged stool of a successful franchise.

Swimming with the Sharks

Today we are going to play clips from two franchises that appeared on one of our favorite shows…Shark Tank.  When Michael and Babz Barnett saw a tweet from ABC scouting contestants for new TV show, Shark Tank, six years ago, they had no idea what they’d be walking into. In fact, they saw the premier episode in their hotel room the night before their own taping. But despite the lack of familiarity with the sharks entrepreneurs have today, they presented their concept, Romp n’ Roll – a modernized kids gym perfecting the intersection of entertainment and education for kids ages 3 months to 5 years, and were offered a deal. Which they declined.

Next, we meet with Jerry Hancock, the founder of Sub Zero Ice Cream and former guest on Shark Tank.  Sub Zero Ice Cream uses negative 321-degree liquid nitrogen to freeze and hand mix each customized order with a unique patented process. Besides its unique and highly visual freezing method, Sub Zero Ice Cream caters to a variety of dietary needs. The brand offers six bases including a classic premium custard, low-fat custard and yogurt, as well as lactose free, vegan and sugar free options. After selecting a base, guests can customize with their own mix-ins, creating limitless options when building custom ice cream creations.

One of the most frequent questions I get is what is our most popular podcast to date. Interestingly, it came from our Great Quotes in Franchising podcast with Tony Lutfi…over 44,000 views to date. His advice to our listeners was priceless.  We are going to play our whole interview with Tony Lutfi who achieved the American dream through franchising.

Several years ago, I was inspired to conduct a study on women in franchising based on my interview with Gigi Butler.  The study was titled, “Women Entrepreneurs and the Influence of Gender on Successful Franchising".  The study was published in the Global Journal of Entrepreneurship.  This study explores the influence of gender on franchise business ownership.  Here is a link to the study. 

https://www.igbr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/GJE_Vol_2_No_1_2018.pdf

Today you will hear our interview with Gigi Butler.  Gigi Butler, is the founder of Gigi's Cupcakes. People across the country know Gigi from her appearance on "Undercover Boss" on CBS, and her journey is the American Dream come true. Soon after opening, Gigi's Cupcakes became a Nashville delicacy dessert of choice and now, nine years later, it has expanded across the country...making Gigi's the largest cupcake franchise in the country!

It recently occurred to me I haven’t shared with our listeners what else I do in addition to Franchise Interviews.  I am a full-time professor and course leader for several marketing courses at Purdue University Global.  I am excited to share some exciting news.  For the last several years, I have been working on a paper that was published in The Qualitative Report Journal.  The Qualitative Report is a Q1 ranked journal on Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR). Q1 to Q4 refer to journal ranking quartiles within a subdiscipline using the SJR citation index. Thus, a first quartile journal (i.e., Q1) has an SJR in the top 25% of journals for at least one of its classified subdisciplines.  The name of the study is called A Qualitative Study: Military Veterans and Franchise Ownership.  This study focuses on the military experience and motivation to become a franchise business owner. You can download a copy of the study on the following link:

https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol25/iss3/14/

I would love to hear your thoughts on the study. 

I thought a great interview to play for today’s show is with JDog Junk Removal franchise.  JDog Junk Removal, a full-service junk removal franchise, which is taking veteran employment assistance to new heights with the creation of a franchise opportunity, offered exclusively to veterans and active-duty members of the United States Military. The concept was created by an Army veteran in response to the excessively high unemployment rate for returning service members.