Franchise Today

Jeff Dudan is an author, founder, podcaster in his own right, Undercover Boss, Coach, YPO Regional Chapter Chair, Forbes Contributor and all around franchising executive and guru, with 25 years of experience founding, building, operating, and ultimately exiting a national franchise brand.

Jeff’Dudan's journey as an entrepreneur began as a college athlete who founded a business to paint student housing. After graduation, he assisted South Florida in recovering from Hurricane Andrew which led to the launch of AdvantaClean in 1994.

As a leading national restoration franchise AdvantaClean became a strategic partner with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital to support families in need, when they need it the most. In January of 2019, AdvantaClean was acquired by Home Franchise Concepts (HFC) to create a combined network with over 1,700 franchise territories operating in 11,000 cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

After the successful sale and his exit from AdvantaClean, Jeff has set out to help others build sustainable businesses and franchise systems. He's here this week, to share all of this and more.

Gary Goerke is one of the world's foremost experts at pinpointing emerging technologies that will make a difference in small and medium business profitability. A recognized entrepreneur, Gary combines his passion for technology and his commitment to free enterprise by serving the franchising, small business and auto dealer community. A leading evangelist for business VoIP, today Gary is focused on the success of independent franchise owners and their franchisor partners.

In 2005, he created Clarity Voice when he identified a technology gap between available and applied technologies, in communications services, used by small, medium, and franchised businesses.  As a company, we celebrate every time a business owner experiences the "A-HA Moment." It’s that moment when they realize we give them the extra edge over the competition.

With patented technology, Gary introduced Clarity’s FranchisePhones® service to the franchising world.  Clarity™ is also the parent to Phone System in a Box® a small and medium business VoIP service.

Peter Daly-Dickson is the co-founder and CEO of Macanta, a software company serving start-up and emerging franchise brands, in the UK.  One of his partners, a best-selling author, prior to the start of their joint venture, knew the value that having a book, could bring to a start-up, or emerging business.  So they thought about publishing a book centered upon their new business and its disciplines.  Then, Peter had a vision to take that a step further and to invite others to join in the creation of a collaborative, multi-author publication, that would not only lift their own new business, but also those of the contributors, as well.  Peter's thought was that more stakeholders, with shared purpose, would be better, in terms of assuring success. A rising tide lifts ALL SHIPS, is how he viewed it.  Well, Peter was right.  The book was released as an International Best Seller on Amazon Kindle and will soon be available in paperback.  Here to talk about it all, is Peter Daly Dickson…..

John Teza has served in senior executive management roles for several national restaurant companies including Corner Bakery, Jersey Mike’s and Quiznos.  Over the course of his career, John led several significant brand expansion campaigns and also served in senior level capacities in marketing, operations, IT, legal, and training. During John’s tenure, Jersey Mike’s was named the fastest growing restaurant company by NRN for three straight years John is also the founder of Janus Brands, a consulting firm he started in 2009, with a focus on multi-unit growth, development strategy and SMB business planning. John is an active member of the restaurant leadership and franchising communities, serves as Trustee of the IFA Foundation and Board Member for the National Restaurant Association and as a board member of the Franchise Leadership and Development Conference. John’s career in franchising began right out of college, when he graduated with a business degree from William and Mary, in 1997.

Originally conceived as a “meeting of the minds” executive group in 2013, Dave Pazgan has launched ZorForum into a one-of-a-kind peer sharing and networking platform, exclusively for franchise executives.  Members, are afforded unparalleled access to the best practices and the brightest minds within the franchising industry through regular meetings and dedicated communication platforms.

 “After a more than ten year run, building 101 Mobility, growing it to over 80 locations and propelling it to the next level with private equity, Dave Pazgan decided that the next chapter in his life would include giving back.  “So,with the encouragement of his personal peers and group members, Dave founded ZorForum, a community built specifically for franchisors and the unique challenges they face. Quote:  “I derived so much value from participation in my personal group, that I wanted this platform to the greater franchisor community, offering others, the opportunity to enjoy the same benefits.”

The need for shared learning and leadership development among franchisors of emerging businesses is more paramount now than ever, in our rapidly-changing, Post COVID, business environment.

Dave Pazgan is a great guy and has an incredible concept.  As some of you may know, each year, IFA Convention attendees score the Round Tables as the highest value ROI for their time and money spent.  And with that said, I believe that Zor Forum has the potential to dynamically build on that same type of energy, with each and every one of their monthly group meetings.  Through his expansive recruitment efforts, Dave expects ZorForum to eclipse 100 members, by as soon as January, 2021.

Clarifying the non-sense of political and governmental murkiness.

As summer races by, the focus now  is on fall and if, when and how schools will reopen, if, how and when professional and college sports can safely be resumed and games played, if how and when we can reclaim our lives and trade this new normal back, for some semblance of the world as we once knew it and imperfect as it might have been, it beat the hell out of these past few months, if you ask me. 

I don't know about you, but government has really worn me out.They continue doing little more than what government does best, which amounts to little more than incessant finger pointing and assignment of blame.  It’s almost like in a game of ping pong, each side bouncing the ball over the net, back and forth, Left, right, give, take.  The ball keeps bouncing, the volley contunues, back and forth and we get to keep score, regarding who we like less?  The House or the Senate?  The Republicans or the Democrats?   The Liberals or Conservatives. 

Well, this week’s episode should prove fascinating and shed some light on the process, as I speak with Bruce Mehlman,  founder and CEO of Washington DC based, bipartisan, government relations firm, Mehlman, Castignetti, Rosen & Thomas Bruce founded the firm after serving in leadership positions in politics, policy and business. His firm helps Fortune 500 companies and innovative startups understand, anticipate and navigate the ever-evolving policy environment and trends likely to impact the global marketplace.

Bruce's quarterly updates on political trends are widely read by business leaders and political observers across the country and have been frequently covered in leading publications, including the Washington Post, Axios, Politico, CNN, Fortune, and the Daily Caller.  This week, we add Franchise Today, to that list.

Brian Sanders, CEO and Chairman of the Board at i9 Sports joins us this week.  With over 2.5 million registrations in communities across the country, i9 Sports® is the nation’s largest multi-sport provider focused solely on high-quality, community-based youth sports programs. They offer youth sports leagues, camps and clinics for boys and girls ages 3 and up in today’s most popular sports such as flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball and ZIP Lacrosse™. To achieve their mission of helping kids succeed in life through sports, i9 Sports provides a youth sports experience unlike any other, teaching the importance of good sportsmanship on the field and in life. They are committed to providing age-appropriate instruction making sports fun for kids and convenient for today’s busy families. i9 Sports, It’s The Way Youth Sports Should Be®

In this encore performance, we hear from Jason Anderson, President of United Franchise Group's Venture X.  This rapidly rising concept is experiencing meteoric growth... growth though that is measured, calculated and intentional.  Like everything at UFG, there is a rhyme to the reason.  Jason explains some of the magic behind this, at Venture X.  

Much can be attributed to the concept, but more, much more is tfound in the calculus.  Right people, right chairs, right place, right time.  Jason Anderson, the "X Factor," at Venture X.  

Next week, I return live, with Brian Sanders, President and CEO of i9 Sports.  

COMMENTS

After 10 solid episodes of Franchise Today, related exclusively to Covid-19 and it's impact on franchsing, we pivoted with the news cycle, producing 3 back-to-back episodes on civil unrest and reacial inequality in our country.  Then, last week's story about Martha Matilda Harper, America's first hair salon owner and the mother of modern day "retail franchising"  was a bit of a break from the heavier news of the prior weeks, when Jane Plitt Martha's biographer stopped in to tell the story.  This week, we stay in that genre, as we talk with another pioneer:  Paul Segreto.  Some 11 years ago, Paul was a podcasting pioneer, when he began the Franchise Essentials Podcast, which shortly thereafter, morphed into Franchise Today.  Paul hosted Franchise Today on a solo basis for quite some time, before I joined him as his co-host and co-producer, for several years, before Paul ultimately turned the reigns over to me completely, more than a year and a half ago.   

Well, this week, Paul is back!  He's here to pay us a visit, reflect on the news of the day and catch us up on what he has been doing ever since.  Paul Segreto, this week, on Franchise Today.

Jane Plitt is a fascinating biographer, who has made it her life’s work, to uncover and share the lessons we can all learn, from the life of yet another fascinating woman: Martha Matilda Harper.  Harper was a very early stage entrepreneur and is credited with being the mother of retail franchising in America.  

Plitt will reveal how this immigrant entrepreneur dared to succeed, using business for social change and also share the business lessons learned from Martha Matilda Harper.  

Plitt’s writings have appeared in many publications including the Chicago Sun Times, Wall Street Journal, and one was even a featured cover story of Franchising World.