Steve Eddleston is an immigrant from New Zealand. After a successful career in Customer Support for High Tech, he now owns and operates a New England territory for Planet Fitness - the leading general fitness health club chain in the USA. He owns 15 location throughout the New England area.

On this episode of Small Business Edge, Steve not only shares a lot of practical wisdom about how to get started in the franchising world, and how to navigate a lot of the challenges that come up along the way, but Steve has a unique ability of humour and storytelling to not only cope with challenges and inspire others.

If you’re someone who is looking to start a small business or get started in the franchising world, what you’ll from Steve is that you don’t have to know all the answers to all the questions about how things are going to be okay in order to know that they’ll be okay, and that you have the power to make it so.

Discussed on this episode:

• Why Steve left tech to run his own business
• The reactions from his friends and family when he decided he wanted to open a gym
• Why Planet Fitness was a good investment
• How Steve went from owning 1 Planet Fitness to 15 in the New England area
• Every franchise location is a completely different business even when it’s a part of the same company
• What Steve learned about selling businesses and how to determine when it’s the right time to sell

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com.

Amanda Kingsmith is a Praxis Advisor, a yoga studio manager, a yoga teacher, a yoga business coach, a podcast host, and a world traveler.

After transitioning from the corporate world into teaching yoga, Amanda experienced that the rates for yoga classes were high, yet yoga teachers were consistently not making a sustainable income. She recognized that the business acumen in the yoga world wasn’t there, and decided to bridge that gap with her podcast on the business of yoga, M.B.Om.

On this episode, Amanda and T.K. talk about the business of yoga, as well as dive into Amanda’s workflow, how she manages a number of different jobs at once, and is able to balance working with traveling the world.

Amanda shares the resources that have helped her most to set up a productive workday, and tips for anyone who wants to dive into remote entrepreneurship.

Discussed in this episode:

• How Amanda got into the yoga industry and began to learn about the business side of yoga
• How to go from a part-time yoga teacher to a full-time yoga teacher
• Shifting the mindset of asking for yoga for free and when it’s appropriate to work for free
• How Amanda organizes her schedule
• The importance of self-care as an entrepreneur
• How Amanda balances travel with work
• When you want to dive into entrepreneurship, make sure that you love what you’re doing because it’s going to be hard

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com.

Jane Banheman is the owner and founder of Blue Nectar Yoga in Falls Church, Virginia.

Jane has been practicing and teaching yoga for nearly two decades, and after working for many different organizations around the world, she decided to combine everything that she had learned to open her own studio.

The yoga industry is incredibly saturated and being in the Northern Virginia / DC area, it’s important to have a specific niche, avatar, and something that sets you apart from the competition.

On this episode, Jane shares what makes Blue Nectar Yoga unique, how to run a successful business in a saturated industry, how she prioritizes self-care in her life, and much more.

Discussed in this episode:

• Why it’s important to love what you do everyday, and why work doesn’t have to be something that we hate  
• How Jane got into yoga and what inspired her to open Blue Nectar Yoga
• The challenges of the yoga industry and being a small business owner in a saturated market  
• The transition from yoga teacher to yoga studio owner and what Jane learned through that process
• How your competition can make you great
• Why it’s important to get clear on your mission, who you’re trying to serve, and what you’re trying to achieve
• What sets Blue Nectar apart from other yoga studios
• Why self-care is key for success as a business owner

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com.

Jeremy Bollington is a multi-franchise partner and area representative for Blo Blow Dry Bar and Waxing the City, based out of Charleston, South Carolina.

Before Blo, Jeremy spent 25+ years as a banker in cities around the world like London, Hong Kong and New York. He has built big and successful teams over the last 10 years at two different institutions, but in 2015, he decided it was time to explore something different.

Today, we discuss Jeremy’s journey of entrepreneurship and franchise ownership. We also talk about the failures and insights that Jeremy accrued along the way, the do’s and don’ts of marketing, the importance of hiring great people, and more.

If you are considering entering into the franchise world or you want to level up your game, don’t miss this episode!

Discussed in this Episode:

• What it has been like to grow a career while living and working around the world
• Why Jeremy decided to become a Blo franchise owner
• What Blo is and what they offer
• What Waxing the City is and what they offer
• What Jeremy’s average day looks like
• How Jeremy has built a great team of people that can support him
• The danger of complacency and how to refocus
• Marketing do’s and don’ts for entrepreneurs and franchise owners
• Jeremy’s advice for new entrepreneurs

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com.

Joe Zentmyer is the co-founder and CFO at First Ascent Climbing & Fitness. 

On this episode of Small Business Edge, Joe shares how the climbing community in Chicago was in need of a climbing gym for 20 years, and the founders of First Ascent were the first who were to do it successfully. 

Joe shares what sets First Ascent apart from other climbing gyms, and how they have successfully grown the business to multiple locations. 

Like any entrepreneur, Joe doesn't have a "standard" workday. He talks about what his typical week looks like, how he spends his weekends, and the importance of having his own fitness routine in his life. 

Discussed in this episode:

• How First Ascent was able to successfully fill a need in Chicago
• Finding a good location for a business can really impact success
• The importance of knowing who is in your community and catering your offerings to them
• The workflow as the CFO at First Ascent - what the weeks and weekends look like
• How to balance personal care with work 
• Failures, challenges, and what it’s really like to found a startup
• Advice for following your passion

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com

Liz Naber is an owner at Pure Barre. Pure Barre is a total body workout that uses the ballet bar to perform movements that help burn fat and create long, lean physiques.

Liz was a soccer player all her life and didn’t believe in group fitness classes. It wasn’t until she tore her ACL that a friend suggested that she try barre. She loved it!

After a year of doing barre regularly, the company that Liz worked for was going in a different direction and she decided to make the leap into becoming a franchise owner.

On this episode of Small Business Edge, Liz shares what it’s like to be a franchise owner and how it differed from what she expected. She also shares her day-to-day routine and some of the rituals and routines that help her sustain a high level of performance, as well as advice on finding good talent.

Discussed on this episode:

• How Liz became a Pure Barre franchise owner
• What being a franchise owner is actually like
• What surprised Liz about being a franchise owner
• Day to day life for Liz
• Rituals and routines that help Liz sustain a high level of performance
• How to find good talent
• How to know when to take the leap into entrepreneurship

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com.

Steve and Lynn Biddle met at a conference while they were both working at McDonald’s. Both Steve and Lynn worked their way up in McDonald’s, starting as crew kids and making their way into management, to the point that they decided to purchase McDonald’s franchises together. Steve and Lynn share what it was like to be McDonald’s Franchise owners, what they learned as franchisees, and how to build a successful franchise.

Steve and Lynn share the importance of hardwork, having great mentors, why it’s important to have fun at work, how they have been able to successfully hire great people and keep them on, what they’ve learned from working together as a couple, and how to make an impact in your community as a franchise owner.

Whether you are a current franchise owner or thinking about purchasing a franchise, you don’t want to miss this episode!

Discussed in this episode:

• How Steve worked his way up in McDonald’s
• When you’re in a partnership, divide the work based on your strengths
• How to get your employees motivated
• What it’s like to work with your spouse, and how to be successful doing so
• “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough”
• How to find great people to purchase your franchise
• Why it’s important to give back to your community

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com.

Nick Olson is the founder and CEO of Sandwich Math. After owning Jimmy John’s and realizing there was no good solution for accounting and bookkeeping, he started Sandwich Math, which was acquired by Ceterus in late 2017. Nick now works with Ceterus to bring a tailored accounting solution to the Jimmy John’s franchise.

On this episode of the podcast, Nick shares how he was able to run a successful Jimmy John’s franchise while starting Sandwich Math, and what he’s learned about being a successful franchise owner. He shares the most common struggles for new franchise owners, what franchisees often overlook, the challenges of where to focus your energy as a busy entrepreneur, and much more.

Discussed in this episode:

• Slow and steady growth can help you to scale your business more easily
• Build your network before you try and sell
• How to get your creative ideas approved
• Deal with problems as they come, and focus on creating a really great product or service
• The most common struggles for new franchise owners
• The power of advertising
• How to choose a franchise
• Nick’s history with Jimmy John’s
• The challenge of figuring out where to focus your energy when you have a lot on the go
• What franchisees often overlook

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com.

Helaine Knapp joins Small Business Edge for the first episode of season 2.

Helaine is the CEO and founder of City Row, a boutique fitness studio that combines row intervals on sexy, water machines with dynamic sculpting exercises. City Row has been open since 2014 and has grown immensely since then.

Helaine Knapp didn’t always know that she would be the founder of a successful startup in the boutique fitness industry though. Before that, she worked in high fashion, advertising, publishing and eventually the tech start up industry, and she always spent her evenings in the gym. 

After getting a back injury at 25 years old, a friend suggested rowing for an amazing workout that is low impact. Helaine wasn’t into it at all! But, Helaine saw an opportunity in the industry for a great low-impact workout, and despite her negative connotations about rowing, she couldn’t get away from it.

She found a sexy, water rowing machine and paired it with weight training. She put up a website and with the help of a friend, did a pop up class to see if anyone was interested in the idea. From there, it completely took off.

Discussed in this episode:

• How City Row was developed and why it was so successful right off the get go
• The challenges of working full-time and building a business on the side 
• The biggest lessons that Helaine has learned through founding City Row
• The consistent struggles as a founder of a small business in a competitive industry 

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com

Jamie was a guest on Small Business Edge in Season 1. At that time, he owned and operated over a dozen Orangetheory fitnesses. Since Jamie was on the podcast last, he has won Orangetheory fitness franchisee of the year and sold majority stakeholdership of his company.

Jamie discovered Orangetheory after spending a number of years taking classes at Flywheel and discovering a passion for group fitness classes. When he started taking classes at Orangetheory, he knew that the company was doing some revolutionary in the group fitness world. After purchasing one Orangetheory franchise, he realized that he was fulfilling a passion, while doing well financially, and he continued to grow his business, buying multiple franchises in the southern US.

On this episode of the podcast, Jamie shares why he decided to sell majority stakeholdership of his company, what that process was like, and what he learned from it. Jamie shares how he has been able to be so successful in the fitness industry, and the keys to success as a franchise and business owner, including the importance of valuing human capital and putting your members first, how to hire and retain great managers, and more.

Discussed in this episode:

• The secret to success is 2 shots of espresso everyday!
• Why Jamie invested in Orangetheory, and why he’s decided to sell
• How to successfully sell a business and the importance of staying organized right off the get go
• Having a good accountant is really important for a successful business
• Having a great team is key to success with a business, and it doesn’t feel like work when you work with great people
• Why it’s important to keep your employees happy, and how to do so
• How to structure equity for your business and employees
• What Jamie is currently working on - Motion Stretch Studios based around the recovery aspect of fitness
• The importance of making new studio members feel comfortable and making the members of the studio feel like they are a part of a community
• The 3 keys to success

Learn more about Ceterus at Ceterus.com.