Franchise Today

Scott Greenberg knows franchises. For more than ten years he ran a thriving multiunit Edible Arrangements enterprise that won the “Best Customer Service” and “Manager of the Year” awards out of more than 1000 locations worldwide. He’s presented keynotes and workshops to countless franchise systems. He’s seen the best, the worst and learned what it takes make a franchise operation prosper. Scott will help your franchisees get more from their business and perform at much higher levels, in service to their brands, their employees and of course, the customer experiences that they deliver in their communities.

Art Coley has been passionate about small business ownership since he opened his first burger stand at age 15.  It was that early-stage business that sparked his interest in franchising.  Art’s various career endeavors have all centered upon making small business ownership accessible for entrepreneurs around the world.

In 2015, Art noticed an anomaly in the franchising space.  While many franchise concepts from start-up to mature, might have a good business model and initial success in unit-growth, there seemed to be a lack of structure and discipline around their ongoing franchise development processes and procedures, slowing growth and even stalling the brand out.  Using decades of experience driving system-wide revenues for Top 200 brands, Art saw this as his calling and formed CGI Franchise, where his mission is to close that gap for CGI’s brand partners and provide their development teams with systems and processes for that deliver thriving, successful franchise development and onboarding. The system is called the Recruitment Operating System®.

Paul Wolbert is a straightforward, out of the box thinker who believes in himself and others. With four decades of experience in franchise operations and administration, he has a balanced perspective, with vision from both the franchisor and franchisee paradigms. He began his franchise career working with the most extensive franchise system in the world, has served on several executive teams during periods of rapid growth, and has co-founded several franchise concepts.

Paul has a passion for developing new concepts and working with start-ups and early stage franchise concepts and has passion for taking an active and hands-on role, advising early-stage franchisors on how to build a successful franchise system from the ground up.

He is an accomplished and recognized franchise expert and a frequent speaker at industry events. I am proud to call him my friend and to have him here as my guest.

HomeTeam has over a quarter century of experience successfully training new owners how to develop their powerful team approach to home inspections and how to dominate their territories.  HomeTeam's industry-leading four-step training, vastly increases revenue potential and teaches franchisees how to establish a true business that will create equity as it grows.  ​

HomeTeam pays for and sets up initial technical franchisee training which, upon completion, will lead to a franchisee earning his/her home inspection license, or state certification.  They also help prospective franchisees set up their legal entity, insurance, banking accounts, etc.  Something seldom, if ever seen.  

HomeTeam provides true technical training and certification, small business coursework, and then actual field experience before franchisees ever open their doors for business.

Mike Bidwell is President and CEO of Neighborly, formerly known as the Dwyer Group.  Last year during the height of Coronavirus, Neighborly ended the year with 382 new franchises awarded across their 2 dozen plus brands.  They also managed to add five new franchised brands to their corporate portfolio and generate more than $2 billion in global sales.  Mike will tell us that none of this came easy, in fact it didn’t come at all… they chased it.  They did what they have done since their humble beginnings.  They strategized, they adjusted, made many necessary pivots and they went after it.  Mike's own story is inspiring and he shares that along with the history of the Dwyer Group and Neighborly.         

Moreover, he is chock full of take-home value, applicable to any and all in franchising.  From his start in franchising, as a single unit franchisee, to leading the charge for all of Neighborly, Mike Bidwell is now responsible for 26 franchised brands, more than 4,500 franchises and 1,000 employees, at 8 corporate support centers throughout North America, the U.K. and Germany.

Jimmy Weeks is a Google Analytics and Adwords-certifed professional who has spoken across the nation on topics related to Internet marketing, social media strategy and advanced analytics.  He is the Founder and CEO of Internet Strategy Labs and has created analytic dashboards that mash and track data from leads generated, to really tell the tale of the tape about where your leads come from and which sources are truly effective. His platforms are all cloud-based reporting platforms, that enable businesses to improve their overall marketing strategy by providing a better understanding of website, social, phone and paid campaign analytics.

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…..

This week, I’ll be talking with John Ramsay, Vice President of Franchising for the iconic Noodles and Company.  John’s background spans over 28 years of experience in restaurant franchise development, with such icons as TGI Friday, Jack in the Box, Marco’s Pizza and Bruxie International.  John joined Noodles & Company in November of 2020, as vice president of franchise development. While many restaurant concepts in this Covid/Post COVID era have been hitting the brakes, Noodles and Company has actually doubled down, as the Colorado chain with John leading the franchise development charge, hits the gas, driving Noodles' restaurant growth initiatives.  John’s history includes positions in both franchise and restaurant development and he is extremely excited to have the opportunity to grow and further develop a proven concept like Noodles and Co.  As we will discuss, Noodles has innovated and adapted quickly to the off-premise experience and offers attractive unit-level economics for franchisees."

Noodles & Company offers the world’s favorite noodle dishes, salads and soups, all in one restaurant. Each dish is carefully hand-made to the guests’ specifications, using only the freshest ingredients. Noodles proudly uses REAL Food and REAL Cooking for REAL Flavors.

Their dishes are inspired by the individuality, creativity and cultural heritage of cuisines from around the globe. From Penne Rosa to Japanese Pan Noodles, The Med Salad, and of course our famous Wisconsin Mac & Cheese, only the most authentic ingredients make the cut.  There's quite the story behind this award winning brand and here to tell it, is John Ramsay.

Walter Bond is different than most pro athletes, because he played pro ball as an interim career, on the way to the rest of his life.  He did NOT treat his NBA career, as his life's main event.   As Walter will tell you in his own words today, playing pro ball was always his desire, but it was never intended to be his final destination.  

For the past 19 years Walter Bond has specialized in making the thinking patterns, strategies, and behavior of top performers across a multitude of industries easier to learn and apply. Through keynotes viewed by millions, best-selling books, and life-changing coaching programs, Walter Bond has helped countless business leaders, diverse teams, and dreamers become the peak performers they were destined to be.  How does he do it?  He’s here to tell us.

Coming from a family who has been in the industry since 1929, Gina Rivera, was destined to pursue a career in the world of beauty. From her early roots of sweeping hair from the floors of her parent’s salon, Gina attended beauty school and later moved to a booth renter salon where she quickly established a winning reputation. Clients loved her as she never let anyone leave without feeling amazing.

And, the staff adored her because she was so open about sharing her knowledge and offering support where needed. Based on her learnings behind the chair, Gina realized not all salons are created equal and a majority of booth renters are usually provided very little support to ensure their success. With a passion for the industry, Gina became a fierce advocate for supporting the goals of Lifestyle Professionals who had the desire to operate their own salons, but perhaps lacked the financial resources. Gina realized that she had the opportunity to redefine the options available for sole proprietors in the beauty industry. With this, Phenix Salon Suites was born, establishing a new experience and opportunity for Lifestyle Professionals to own and operate a business at a fraction of the cost of traditional salon settings. 

Gina is a wife and a mom, a national seminar speaker, addressing both the artistic and business side of the beauty industry for the American Association of Hair Care Professionals and others. She is also a seasoned columnist, featured in well-known publications such as Fashion & Style, Modern Salon, the Huffington Post, Glamour, Today.com, Oprah’s O Magazine and a little closer to home for this audience, the Franchise Times.  With more than 500,000 social media followers tracking her “Tip of the Week” this Undercover Boss has quickly become one of the most well-read columnists on the web, providing advice on how to succeed in business and life to fans and beauty enthusiasts.