Today I am speaking Shelly Mills a successful Dogtopia Franchisee. Before becoming a Franchisee Shelly ran a successful online business from her house. After growing and building that business, Shelly and her husband were ready for their next venture. 

They went on Forbes magazine and searched for the top 500 franchises. Shelly took a similar approach that I did, she talked with existing franchisees and went to quite a few discovery days. After about 2 years of searching and vetting a lot of different franchise options they landed on Dogtopia. 

May of 2017 is when their franchise journey began. They had a lot of challenges to face with construction and their city. Shelly shares with me how she was able to afford an unexpected $40,000 additional cost for construction. 

We talk about how she was able to recruit and retain employees as she got her business off the ground, advice she would give a new franchisee, and how she was able to market her location. 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com

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Today I am speaking with Alex Samios Vice President of Franchise Development. If you haven’t heard about Dogtopia yet, don’t worry you will soon. With a total of 400 locations to be open by the end of 2023 Dogtopia is leading the way in the pet care space.  

If the name didn’t already give it away Dogtopia  is offering an enhanced joy of dog parenthood with a doggie daycare, boarding, and spa (and not to mention a fun place for any dog to go hangout). Alex says that dogs are viewed and treated like children by their pet parents (I couldn’t agree more with this statement, my dogs are my children). 

Alex shares with me that he is in his dream role, combining his love for franchising with his even greater love of dogs. We discuss how Dogtopia got its start and where the Franchise is today. Alex shares with me what Dogtopia is offering to prospective franchisees and what they are looking for in a franchisee. And he even shares with me how Dogtopia has doggie day care down to a science! 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com

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Today I am speaking with Calvin McNeely President of Running Boards Marketing. 

I met Calvin at the International Franchise Expo in New York, well I actually met his truck first. DAV (pronounced DAVE) caught my eye immediately. I remember reading “if you’re reading this so are they!” My instant reaction was OMG this would be amazing to run adds on for the tax season. 

I started to talk to Calvin and realized he had a great business opportunity to share. Calvin and I talk about how he got Running Boards Marketing off the ground,  how user friendly DAV is, and what he is hoping to achieve by franchising this business. 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com

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Today I am speaking with Stacey and Steve Hitzemann successful StretchLab Franchisees. Stacey had a background in Nutrition before leaving her job to raise her 3 kids. Steve works full time as a banker and neither of them had any intention to open a business until Steve pulled his back.

During Steve’s recovery process he started stretching, and things started to change. They realized the benefits of stretching and fate would have it that the cover of the Wall Street Journal ran an article on StretchLabs. There was nothing like it in their hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. 

After going to StretchLab’s discovery day Steve said he was sold. Steve and Stacey originally purchased 3 territories but after seeing success with their first location they subsequently purchased 3 more territories. 

Stacey and Steve share with me what it was like to open up their first business and the ups and downs that come with that and we talk about how to find the right employees. 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com

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Today I am speaking with Angie Cohen a successful StretchLab Franchisee. Angie worked for 15 years in the pharmaceutical sales industry and spent the last 5 years traveling over 5 days a week. She realized she wanted to start her own business and was passionate about spin (indoor cycling) and started down the route to look for a cycling franchise. 

At this same time she hired a franchise consultant who sat down with her and gave her a great piece of advice. She told her to look at concepts other than cycling, just to make sure she was keeping her options open and so she could actually find a franchise that was in line with her goals. 

Her franchise journey involved spin concepts, health food concepts, and StretchLabs. Obviously, we know how the story ends but it was after she got her first stretch that everything fell into place. 

Angie and I speak about how she was able to gain 200 members before her doors even opened. How she educated her community on the benefits of the business. We talk about the challenges she faces as her business matures and what she is looking forward to, to keep her client retention up. 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com

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Today I am speaking with Lou DeFrancisco president of StretchLab. If you haven’t heard about StretchLab yet, don’t worry you will soon. With over 160 locations sold and a goal of having 150 locations open up across the U.S. by 2020 StretchLab is leading the way in this unique business. 

If the name didn’t already give it away StretchLab is offering one on one assisted stretching. Sounds a little crazy right? Lou says this business is for everybody, literally EVERY BODY!

Lou shares with me why he decided to open up a corporate location in the early stages of growing StretchLabs (it’s subsequently been sold to a franchisee). How being under the exponential fitness brand has impacted their business and helped franchisees. 

Lou shares with me what he is looking for in a franchisee, how StretchLab helps franchisees grow their business, and what gives StretchLab and its reflexologists the competitive edge in the boutique fitness space. 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com

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Today I am speaking with Dan Spano a successful GYMGUYZ Franchisee. Dan had a lot of experience in the fitness space before becoming a GYMGUYZ franchisee. He worked in a big box gym and said he was tired of having to answer to someone. He was looking to get into the business for himself and found the opportunity through his two friends who were seeing success with the GYMGUYZ franchise.

Dan says he saw how revolutionary the concept was and there was a lot of potential in his home town of Southern Fairfield County, Connecticut. 

Dan shares with me what it was like to market his business in the beginning and how he expanded from a one man show to 3 vans and 5 trainers. We talk about his hiring process and what he looks for in a trainer. 

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Today I am speaking with Sam Langer a successful franchisee GYMGUYZ.  Sam’s father ran into GYMGUYZ founder and CEO Josh York while on vacation in 2013. He let Sam know about the opportunity and the rest is history. 

Sam and his business partner (and childhood friend James) checked GYMGUYZ out and liked what they heard. A low cost, low overhead, and scalable way to get into fitness business. 

Since they were the first franchisees Sam says it was a little like being a guinea pig. They had to work hard on marketing themselves and the concept. They attended a lot of street fairs and saw a lot of success. They have been able to expand since buying their first van 2014. 

We talk about the sales process of getting new clients, what he expects from his trainer, and his thought process on expansion. 

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Today I am speaking with Leslie Dempsey a successful franchisee GYMGUYZ. Leslie had a career as a Marriage Family Therapist, she took 5 years off to spend time raising her 2 children. When it was time to get back to work Leslie says she was looking for a work-life balance and wasn’t able to find it. So Brian (her husband) and Amy started looking at business opportunities and fell in love with the GYMGUYZ concept. 

Leslie said she saw a huge need for the in home personal training where she lived in Marin County. Leslie went all in and purchased 3 territories in 2016. 

We talk about what it took to build brand awareness in her territories and how she markets her business. Leslie shares with me how long it took for her to break even and the key to profitability. 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com

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Today I am speaking with Josh York CEO and Founder of GYMGUYZ. If you haven’t heard about GYMGUYZ yet, don’t worry you will soon. With a total of 265 locations in 32 states ad 3 countries GYMGUYZ is leading the way in In Home Personal Training. 

If the name didn’t already give it away GYMGUYZ is offering personal training brought to you (wherever that is). Josh says “we save our clients TIME” they don’t need to drive to the gym we go to them. Josh’s goal is to make GYMGUYZ the largest fitness franchise in the world. 

Josh shares with me where he got the idea for GYMGUYZ and how he got the business started. He says you have to think like there is no box and there is no limit. 

Josh has a lot of passion for his business and treats his franchisees like family members. We talk about the support he offers his franchisees, qualities he is looking for in a potential franchisee (and no, a fitness background isn’t one of them), and what it takes to get into the GYMGUYZ Franchise. 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com 

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