Franchise Today

My guests this week are Jeremy Sorzano and Jason Webb, co-founders of Soccer Shots.  Jeremy and Jason talk about the process of adding executives to their corporate team, along with a third partner, one with strong franchise and soccer experience.  The result?  Accelerated and sustainable growth and unit level economic that work for their franchisees.      

Jeremy Sorzano and Jason Webb, coming up next, on Franchise Today.

Jason Anderson is the 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.

IFA President and CEO Robert Cresanti lifts the curtain and offers us a sneak preview of IFA Convention 2020, just weeks away.  He will also provide us with some BREAKING NEWS and a snapshot of the the State of the Franchise Union.  How did 2020 wrap up on key and critical issues from the perspective of Government Affairs and what can we look forward to, both in the year and decade ahead.

My guest today, is serial entrepreneur extraordinaire Steve Cody.  Steve is the founder of several companies, both in franchising and technology, but our conversation today will focus primarily on the Better Software Company.    

Designed to ensure that franchisees can utilize technology to carry out the vision of their franchisor’s concept, Better provides both zors and zees a deeper understanding of what is happening throughout franchise locations.  It also provides insights into what Zees are actually doing out in the field.

Better focuses predominantly on service brands and can customize and control a single product/service list with proper images, descriptions, and recommended pricing to Zees.  It will also create email templates, client attributes, automated alert templates, new services, and products in one place for everyone to have immediate access or set permissions to control who has access to what.  It will also provide scheduling and CRM tools for franchisees, to manage their relationships, appointments and touch points with their customers and even provide mechanisms for the production of estimates and workorders in the field, as franchisees are meeting with potential of existing clients.

I hope you've all had a safe and Happy New Year! Today, Cruise Planners Michelle Fee delivers an ENCORE Performance.  We'll be back next week though, to begin another new season of inciteful guest interviews for 2020!

Until then,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Stan

As we wrap up 2019, I thought I'd do my best, by taking a shot at political correctness, something I'm not terribly good at...  So, here I go!  I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Good Kwanza, Happy Ramadan or whatever it is that is YOUR reason, for celebrating the season.  Also, I'd like to share a little gift... the gift of music..This is an original piece of Christmas music that I hope you will enjoy, regardless of your religous persuasion.  It is written and performed by recording artist and friend, Mary-Kathryn. I hope you will enjoy listening to it, as much as I enjoy sharing it with you.

Until we meet again in 2020, please be safe and have a Happy New Year!

Stan

The HomeVestors idea began in Dallas, Texas in 1989, when real estate broker Ken D’Angelo bought so many homes, he decided to transform his real estate brokerage into a home-buying business. By 1996, he took his business even further, when he created HomeVestors and sold his first franchise in the Dallas area. He figured out how franchises could advertise together, share vendors, and route calls to each other through a phone system and he eventually expanded to Kansas City. When he had 20 offices up and running, he expanded to Atlanta. HomeVestors of America® is now comprised of more than 1,100 franchises spanning 46 states and D.C and is growing dramatically.  All of their independently owned and operated franchisees are supported centrally with mass advertising from their nationally-recognized “We Buy Ugly Houses®” brand, proprietary home evaluation, and lead management software, deep knowledge of the industry, and financial resources.  Today we are joined by their CEO David Hicks, who has doubled the size of the company from 500 franchisees in 2014, to more than a thousand today.

John Covilli is a veteran franchise and business development leader who has spent more than a decade supporting Dale Carnegie Training franchise owners and expanding the franchise brand. In his current role as Senior Vice President of Franchising, John oversees the franchise program for North and Latin America for Dale Carnegie Training. His insights and experience allows him to provide the Dale Carnegie Training franchise system the resources and tools to drive growth.

Dale Carnegie Training ignites workplace enthusiasm with middle market and large corporations, as well as organizations, to produce measurable business results by improving the performance of employees. The brand's workplace training solutions focus on leadership, sales, employee engagement, customer service, presentations and public speaking, process improvement and other essential management skills.

The Little Gym has been around since 1976 and has come a long way, since those early days.  Today, with more than 400 locations in the US and around the world, they offer programs for various age levels, beginning as young as four months and going all the way up to 12 year old’s.  These include Parent & Child, Developmental Gymnastics, Karate and Sports Skills Development.   The Little Gym locations also host birthday parties, summer camps, Creative Crafts Adventures and Parent's Survival Nights.  Today we're joined by Alex Bingham, their President and CEO, who was actually enrolled in "The Little Gym" as a kid, as we talk about the business of delivering "Serious Fun! "

When I return live next week, I will be joined by Alex Bingham, CEO of The Little Gym.  Until then, please have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.  I can't thank you all enough for continuing to tune in each Wednesday at noon ET, for another episode of Franchise Today. Until next week, let me quote my good friend Jim Fliss, as I encourage you to enjoy the downtime and most importantly, "Enjoy Your Turkey Daze!"  

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Stan Friedman