00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.500
When people come to me and they say I just wanna make more money," I challenge you to say yes.
00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:07.110
that goes along with income, but what else are you looking to change?
00:00:07.110 --> 00:00:07.849
And you know what?
00:00:07.870 --> 00:00:10.140
It may be a combination of more control.
00:00:10.150 --> 00:00:12.310
Maybe it's building equity and family time.
00:00:12.310 --> 00:00:16.190
It may be all of them, but it's good to really challenge yourself in any business.
00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:17.510
It doesn't have to be a franchise.
00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:19.859
It doesn't matter if it's a resale, a business.
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What are you looking to change?
00:00:20.989 --> 00:00:22.780
What's not working currently?
00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:23.989
What are you trying to create?
00:00:23.989 --> 00:00:26.730
What is your ideal life and outcome look like.
00:00:26.730 --> 00:00:27.460
Really important.
00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:36.987
Treating the first year, I talk about this all the time the builder year number one, and that builder year is work your butt off, get the business up and running, learn the business, find the right staff.
00:00:36.987 --> 00:00:42.323
And if you do walk away with some profit which is obviously the goal in that first year, reinvest it.
00:00:42.323 --> 00:00:46.182
It's like looking at a home for sale and telling the owner of the property, Love it.
00:00:46.182 --> 00:00:47.942
Definitely want to move forward with the purchase.
00:00:47.942 --> 00:00:50.893
But come back in a year to make that purchase." That's not going to work.
00:00:50.893 --> 00:00:52.546
Someone else is going to pick up that home.
00:00:52.546 --> 00:00:53.506
Same with a franchise.
00:00:55.191 --> 00:01:00.490
Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast, where you can escape the corporate trap through franchise ownership.
00:01:00.680 --> 00:01:03.860
Here's your host, Giuseppe Grammatico, the Franchise Guide.
00:01:08.493 --> 00:01:10.084
Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast.
00:01:10.114 --> 00:01:17.364
I'm your host, Giuseppe Grammatico, your franchise guide, the show where we help corporate executives experience time and financial freedom via franchising.
00:01:17.364 --> 00:01:18.664
Thanks for joining us today.
00:01:18.763 --> 00:01:20.873
We're recording today July 31st.
00:01:20.884 --> 00:01:22.813
It is really hot here in New Jersey.
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I hope you guys are enjoying your summer.
00:01:24.834 --> 00:01:37.216
Another month or so left wanted to take a step back for this episode, and looked at, comments engagements where we've seen the most interest, the most questions, both on the show and via our conversations.
00:01:37.216 --> 00:01:40.496
And we put together a show highlighting quite a few episodes.
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I would say about 12 episodes in total.
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as far as topics today, we're gonna talk about something that I think is gonna be greatly beneficial because this is gonna be really before diving into franchises and brands and things like that.
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This is the entry point.
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This is where most people are starting.
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I always talk to people and they tell me this is the very beginning of the process, and it's basically some important things to consider.
00:02:01.944 --> 00:02:15.669
Today's title for the show, Don't Buy a Franchise Until You Can Answer These Five Questions." Most people begin their franchise search by asking which franchise should I buy, and I challenge everyone to, have a different question, different mindset shift.
00:02:15.669 --> 00:02:27.727
I think this is the wrong question to be asking because before looking at which franchise to buy, you need to dig in a little bit and figure out, what is most important to you, and we're gonna touch on these five different areas.
00:02:27.747 --> 00:02:36.354
But my challenge to you is if you can't answer all five, take a step back, spend the time there before considering what franchises are available in your market.
00:02:36.354 --> 00:02:40.084
Number one of the five points, what do you want the business to change?
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That's a big one to me.
00:02:41.424 --> 00:02:43.264
This is almost like what is your why?
00:02:43.364 --> 00:02:46.063
Are you looking for, we'll call it more control?
00:02:46.063 --> 00:02:49.223
When you have a job, you have no control whatsoever, right?
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You're reporting to a manager, you're given a role, you're made to go in the office, you have to work 9:00 to 5:00.
00:02:55.074 --> 00:02:58.710
So is it more control, just having control over the business?
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What exactly you're doing whether that be time, whether that be working from home, in an office or both.
00:03:04.469 --> 00:03:06.729
So control is something to think about.
00:03:06.729 --> 00:03:07.900
Is it additional income?
00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:12.347
Some people come to me and they just want another income source just to, as a backup.
00:03:12.347 --> 00:03:19.637
They have some money invested in the market, understand a business is gonna be much more hands-on, so they're looking for that additional income stream.
00:03:19.637 --> 00:03:23.259
Replacing a corporate job, I call this creating a safety net, right?
00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:39.843
In the event you were to lose your job or you're thinking of losing your job, can you create this safety net, this additional source of income, this other business that can protect you so that you are, going back to number one, in control to decide when you wanna leave that role and transition into business ownership.
00:03:39.843 --> 00:03:40.834
Is it building equity?
00:03:40.834 --> 00:03:45.533
A lot of people when they research franchises and businesses, they look at what can I make at the end of the year?
00:03:45.533 --> 00:03:48.887
And what I remind people is that you're also building equity in the business.
00:03:48.887 --> 00:03:53.657
Regardless of the investment, it may be a multiple of what you're selling your business for.
00:03:53.657 --> 00:03:57.396
So for my business, when I sold that years ago it was three X.
00:03:57.497 --> 00:04:00.986
The numbers go three, four, five are a good healthy range.
00:04:00.986 --> 00:04:05.294
Could be less, it could be a hell of a lot more but ultimately I see a lot of resales fall there.
00:04:05.294 --> 00:04:12.294
Building equity sometimes that's where you see the most value as far as the exit, as far as the the income being pulled from the business.
00:04:12.294 --> 00:04:13.473
Is it more family time?
00:04:13.473 --> 00:04:14.993
We mentioned time earlier.
00:04:14.993 --> 00:04:19.093
This is again, a priority is that, I created my business before the kids were born.
00:04:19.194 --> 00:04:24.314
I launched my business early in 2007, and my franchise business and my son was born at the end of the year.
00:04:24.314 --> 00:04:34.747
Did that to create that freedom to spend as much time as possible, understanding really the, the first one is obviously, The first year, I should say, is definitely you're not creating time freedom, you're working towards it.
00:04:34.747 --> 00:04:37.807
So I guess you are creating it, you just won't experience it that first year.
00:04:37.807 --> 00:04:43.079
And then going back to, building equity and/or a future exit is this something you're looking to eventually sell?
00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:46.680
When people come to me and they say I just wanna make more money," I challenge you to say yes.
00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:50.290
that goes along with income, but what else are you looking to change?
00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:50.689
And that may...
00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:51.529
And you know what?
00:04:51.550 --> 00:04:53.819
It may be a combination of more control.
00:04:53.829 --> 00:04:55.990
Maybe it's building equity and family time.
00:04:55.990 --> 00:04:59.870
It may be all of them, but it's good to really challenge yourself in any business.
00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:01.189
It doesn't have to be a franchise.
00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.540
It doesn't matter if it's a resale, a business.
00:05:03.540 --> 00:05:04.660
What are you looking to change?
00:05:04.670 --> 00:05:06.459
What's not working currently?
00:05:06.459 --> 00:05:07.670
What are you trying to create?
00:05:07.670 --> 00:05:10.410
What is your ideal life and outcome look like.
00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:11.139
Really important.
00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:13.726
What role will you actually perform in the business?
00:05:13.726 --> 00:05:17.406
I tell people there are, really two types of business ownership.
00:05:17.416 --> 00:05:38.024
You're an owner/operator, where you don't mind, rolling up those sleeves and running the business full-time the first year ramping the business up, keeping the costs low, and hopefully by the end of that first year, the builder year, you're able to take a step back and be more semi-active or semi-passive which is the next type of ownership, and that is more of the semi-passive, semi-active day one.
00:05:38.124 --> 00:05:40.213
These are for people that are looking to keep their job.
00:05:40.223 --> 00:05:41.613
Maybe they have health benefits.
00:05:41.613 --> 00:05:47.939
They're not comfortable leaving that current income, and so semi-passive, semi-active ownership, you hear about this quite a bit.
00:05:47.939 --> 00:05:51.053
Basically, it means keeping your job and running the business simultaneously.
00:05:51.053 --> 00:05:57.194
You typically have a key employee in charge maybe that's a general manager but you're providing essentially part-time oversight.
00:05:57.194 --> 00:06:02.434
You're reviewing the KPIs, meeting with the manager, making sure everything is working extremely important.
00:06:02.533 --> 00:06:05.163
There is no passive ownership in franchising.
00:06:05.163 --> 00:06:10.744
Passive would be more, investing in the stock market or mutual funds, where there really isn't much to actually do day-to-day.
00:06:10.744 --> 00:06:14.593
When you're considering a franchise, think about,"Hey, can I be full-time?
00:06:14.593 --> 00:06:19.423
Can I be part-time?" There's gonna be more costs with a semi-passive or semi-active franchise, right?
00:06:19.423 --> 00:06:26.127
You're gonna have that additional employee, whether that be the manager or key employee in place but you're also keeping your day job.
00:06:26.127 --> 00:06:27.447
I challenge everyone to say...
00:06:27.447 --> 00:06:30.836
I ran it full-time because I was trying to escape the long commute and job.
00:06:30.857 --> 00:06:31.723
The pain was there.
00:06:31.723 --> 00:06:44.720
The argument I would make for everyone is that if you're running it full-time I truly believe you'll scale and grow much faster because you'll probably perform every role wear every hat in the business to get it up and running, learn every role, hire the right staff before taking a step back.
00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:48.189
So if you can do that, I'd encourage you, but it's not that you must.
00:06:48.189 --> 00:06:51.189
What I will say is that when you do open it up to owner/operator...
00:06:51.209 --> 00:06:56.329
Which, by the way, owner/operator basically means the first six to 12 months, and then you can become semi-passive.
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This isn't indefinitely forever, right?
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That you're gonna be an owner/operator.
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the goal is to get you to the same spot.
00:07:01.454 --> 00:07:04.617
But if you can afford it I'd recommend trying to go the owner/operator route.
00:07:04.627 --> 00:07:12.673
It also opens up a much larger number of franchises we could take a look at, because not every franchise, believe it or not allows for semi-passive ownership.
00:07:12.673 --> 00:07:15.343
Number three Are you financially prepared for the builder year?
00:07:15.353 --> 00:07:22.233
This is where we go back and get the finances in order, making sure that, we first off just get a nice updated picture.
00:07:22.233 --> 00:07:28.673
So it goes to credit score, liquidity we wanna know all your assets, liabilities, is there equity in the home?
00:07:28.673 --> 00:07:31.163
Is there qualified retirement we can use for this?
00:07:31.264 --> 00:07:32.184
what's the net worth?
00:07:32.184 --> 00:07:35.793
Franchise companies are looking for liquidity, net worth, amongst other things.
00:07:35.793 --> 00:07:40.374
But you have to hit those numbers and meet those requirements in order to speak with the franchise company.
00:07:40.543 --> 00:07:41.843
Hey guys, thanks for listening.
00:07:41.843 --> 00:07:43.384
I hope you're enjoying the show.
00:07:43.713 --> 00:07:58.163
As a thank you for being a valued listener, wanted to offer you a free copy of my book,"Franchise Freedom." This book was written back in 2020, and it's my exact blueprint in helping you find that perfect franchise.
00:07:58.584 --> 00:08:02.624
I wrote it based off my experiences and wanted to pass that along to you.
00:08:02.923 --> 00:08:03.863
Wanna chat today?
00:08:03.863 --> 00:08:10.613
You can book a call directly on our website, top right side of that screen, and you can schedule a 20-minute call.
00:08:10.613 --> 00:08:18.134
We'll dive into if a franchise is a good fit, help you get qualified, and figure out what that perfect franchise match may be.
00:08:18.163 --> 00:08:20.134
So I hope you take me up on my offer.
00:08:20.134 --> 00:08:23.543
Once again,"Franchise Freedom," download the book today for free.
00:08:23.963 --> 00:08:29.744
Or book a call with me directly and we'll help you bypass all that information you find online.
00:08:29.744 --> 00:08:36.433
Most importantly, figuring out if a franchise is the right fit, and then figuring out what that perfect franchise looks like.
00:08:36.433 --> 00:08:39.374
So thanks again for listening to the show, and back to the show
00:08:39.374 --> 00:08:41.423
What I tell everyone is speak with a funding company.
00:08:41.433 --> 00:09:01.144
They'll be able to walk you through all your options SBA loans, government-backed loans 20 to 30% down retirement rollovers traditional IRAs previous 401from a from a previous employer, that you're able to create a rollover business startup, essentially creating a corporation and investing in and buying shares in the new business, the new entity.
00:09:01.144 --> 00:09:04.214
there are plenty of options out there that you should explore.
00:09:04.214 --> 00:09:11.256
And I just challenge everyone, just going back to number two, run a couple pro formas, full-time versus a part-time ownership.
00:09:11.256 --> 00:09:12.736
Look at all your financials.
00:09:12.777 --> 00:09:14.636
Do you have equity in the home or not?
00:09:14.736 --> 00:09:15.147
Excuse me.
00:09:15.246 --> 00:09:16.736
And looking at those different options.
00:09:16.836 --> 00:09:18.136
And then having that buffer.
00:09:18.136 --> 00:09:25.346
The business itself, once you sign that franchise agreement, if it's a non-brick-and-mortar business, you're up and running in one to three or four months.
00:09:25.346 --> 00:09:35.903
If it is brick and mortar, you're looking at seven to 12 months even greater if you're getting into more of a s-standalone location, or it's a brand-new building that you're putting up versus just renovating the interior.
00:09:35.903 --> 00:09:40.134
But, take into consideration, number one, all your personal and living expenses.
00:09:40.134 --> 00:09:44.634
If you do leave your job full-time, who's paying your rent or your mortgage or your student loans and groceries?
00:09:44.634 --> 00:09:48.173
Is your spouse whoever in the household contributing as well?
00:09:48.173 --> 00:09:55.903
You wanna give yourself a buffer, six months buffer living expense so that if the business takes a little bit longer to get up and running, you do have that buffer.
00:09:55.903 --> 00:10:05.624
Treating the first year, I talk about this all the time the builder year number one, and that builder year is work your butt off, get the business up and running, learn the business, find the right staff.
00:10:05.624 --> 00:10:10.960
And if you do walk away with some profit which is obviously the goal in that first year, reinvest it.
00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:15.190
You will grow exponentially by reinvesting in the business, the infrastructure.
00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.669
Maybe it's another van, maybe it's equipment, maybe it's doubling down on the marketing.
00:10:18.669 --> 00:10:21.549
But, reinvesting and making sure you have that buffer and everything covered.
00:10:21.549 --> 00:10:22.980
We'll move on to number four.
00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:25.330
Can you make a decision within six months?
00:10:25.429 --> 00:10:29.639
In looking at a franchise we're looking at brands that are currently available.
00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:36.679
You, amongst other individuals, are potentially looking at the same brand in the same market, whether it's a territory or specific location.
00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:41.620
So if you can't make a decision within six months, I would hold off on looking at brands.
00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:45.580
It's like looking at a home for sale and telling the owner of the property, Love it.
00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:47.340
Definitely want to move forward with the purchase.
00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:50.389
But come back in a year to make that purchase." That's not going to work.
00:10:50.389 --> 00:10:52.043
Someone else is going to pick up that home.
00:10:52.043 --> 00:10:53.003
Same with a franchise.
00:10:53.013 --> 00:10:58.179
if you can't make a decision for at least six months or less, I would hold off looking at the specific brands.
00:10:58.179 --> 00:10:59.759
Again, you don't have to open in six.
00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:08.100
Realistically, if you had six months, made a decision, you're given another six months for a service-based brand and up to a year for a brick-and-mortar brand to get up and running.
00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:09.970
So the-these are some things to consider.
00:11:09.970 --> 00:11:11.590
It's not a sales tactic.
00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:17.283
It's not to rush people, but we're talking about six months for a decision and then up to another six months.
00:11:17.283 --> 00:11:19.023
Keep in mind, due diligence takes time.
00:11:19.023 --> 00:11:24.393
It may require you to fly out for, to meet the franchisor for a confirmation day and fly out for training.
00:11:24.393 --> 00:11:27.523
So you have to factor all that into the the time projection.
00:11:27.523 --> 00:11:37.767
And then number five, this is as, as basic as this sounds I hear this all the time, that this is something that people go off the rails or forget, and that's, are you willing to follow a proven system?
00:11:37.767 --> 00:11:38.427
What does that mean?
00:11:38.447 --> 00:11:39.297
Are you coachable?
00:11:39.297 --> 00:11:44.017
Are you able to follow the system in place, or are you going to go in and redesign everything?
00:11:44.017 --> 00:11:46.256
Are you listening to current franchisees?
00:11:46.256 --> 00:11:50.937
Did you go through and do all your due diligence to really truly understand, the business itself?
00:11:50.937 --> 00:11:57.759
A big part of that is that, you're going to have autonomy in the business, in how you market it and run it, the role you'll play in the business, the hours.
00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:07.106
For marketing, you may use whatever the franchisor is doing on the marketing side, and you're reviewing KPIs, but you'll get to change up the budgets, change how you go about showing on ads.
00:12:07.206 --> 00:12:12.726
Maybe you put together a podcast because it's in home services and you want to talk everything home services.
00:12:12.726 --> 00:12:14.067
You'll have some autonomy there.
00:12:14.067 --> 00:12:20.106
But the point in buying the system, the support, and everything else that comes along with it is the system and the franchise.
00:12:20.106 --> 00:12:20.864
You're paying for that.
00:12:20.874 --> 00:12:24.374
You're paying a franchise fee and an ongoing royalty for the coaching and everything.
00:12:24.374 --> 00:12:31.594
If you're going off the rails and changing things, it's going to be harder and harder for the coach to assist you if you're doing things over and beyond what's included in the franchise.
00:12:31.594 --> 00:12:34.024
you also want to stay along the lines of the franchise.
00:12:34.024 --> 00:12:40.274
If it's a tree removal service and now you're offering painting, you're gonna have to separate those entities, as basic and as simple as that sounds.
00:12:40.283 --> 00:12:43.144
So those are the five questions I tell everyone.
00:12:43.144 --> 00:12:45.374
Don't buy a franchise until you can answer these five.
00:12:45.374 --> 00:12:46.464
So let's revisit these.
00:12:46.474 --> 00:12:48.886
So number one, what do you want the business to change?
00:12:48.886 --> 00:12:50.996
What role will you actually perform?
00:12:51.006 --> 00:12:53.144
Are you financially prepared for the build of year?
00:12:53.144 --> 00:12:55.464
Can you make a decision within six months?
00:12:55.464 --> 00:13:01.096
And are you willing to follow a proven system I always jokingly say, jokingly wrote this It is what it is.
00:13:01.096 --> 00:13:15.226
I tell everyone,"But, before you ask me for a list of franchises, answer these five questions." If your finances, your timeframe desired role expectations are aligned, then we can start identifying right business characteristics and that perfect franchise model for you.
00:13:15.226 --> 00:13:22.080
But until these questions are answered and if you just wanna dive into brands, I encourage you to feel free to contact the brands directly.
00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.090
You'll notice it's not easy getting ahold of franchise companies.
00:13:25.090 --> 00:13:28.559
They're getting a lot of inquiries and your market may not be available.
00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:30.214
They may not be registered in your state.
00:13:30.214 --> 00:13:35.354
They may not be able, this is the most popular one, not be able to rerun semi-passive or semi-active.
00:13:35.403 --> 00:13:39.854
Working together we'll figure all that out and rule out all the brands that don't match that franchise model.
00:13:39.854 --> 00:13:41.397
I'm here to help in any way possible.
00:13:41.397 --> 00:13:45.519
People say aren't you compensated if someone buys a franchise?" And my answer is yes.
00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.970
But our process is ethical, our process is thorough.
00:13:48.980 --> 00:14:04.740
if we can't answer these five questions, I would challenge you to say, Pump the brakes on owning a franchise, owning a business, figure this out." And then we go into the next step, and that's diving into those ideal characteristics brick-and-mortar, service-based, W2 verse 1099 contractor, and the list goes on.
00:14:04.740 --> 00:14:11.039
We'll dive much deeper there, and then we'll go and look at those specific brands that are available in the market that you want to develop.
00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:12.354
Hope you found this helpful.
00:14:12.354 --> 00:14:15.269
Really appreciate your feedback and questions on this.
00:14:15.269 --> 00:14:16.580
We're trying to get very direct.
00:14:16.580 --> 00:14:22.110
We're trying to hit some of the hot points and the questions we're getting the shows that had the most views and engagement.
00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:25.919
We're going back and revisiting some of these because there's a lot of information.
00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:27.220
People get really overwhelmed.
00:14:27.230 --> 00:14:36.960
But you gotta start somewhere and you gotta go back to the foundational blocks the important stuff before getting bombarded with different franchises and really confusing and overwhelming yourself.
00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:38.799
So guys I appreciate everything.
00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:40.149
That's a wrap for today.
00:14:40.250 --> 00:14:43.049
Comments, everything, you name it I read them all.
00:14:43.049 --> 00:14:49.049
Best way if you wanna just dive in and have a conversation, go to my website, ggthefranchiseguide.com.
00:14:49.049 --> 00:14:49.820
Book a call.
00:14:49.830 --> 00:14:51.490
We'll spend 20 minutes together.
00:14:51.490 --> 00:14:53.379
We'll go through these five questions.
00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:55.730
We'll figure out together if a franchise is a good fit.
00:14:55.730 --> 00:15:00.480
And if it is, we'll go to step two, and that's our second call, and that's the deep dive into the franchise model.
00:15:00.490 --> 00:15:01.649
enjoy the rest of your summer.
00:15:01.649 --> 00:15:02.929
Thanks for joining us today.
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If you think of someone that may benefit from this show, feel free to send them over the link my information.
00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:09.519
Would love to help them out as well.
00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:15.149
Just ask, my one ask is to really spread the word and really help people through this very overwhelming process.
00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:24.320
So if you can share this however you're digesting this, through YouTube through audio, through iTunes, or even through my newsletter that we email once a month, feel free to forward this to someone.
00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.879
Greatly appreciate it, and looking forward to chatting with you guys soon.
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Take care.
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Bye-bye.
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Thanks for tuning in.
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If you want to learn how to make the transition from corporate to owning your franchise, join Giuseppe on the next episode.
00:15:37.503 --> 00:15:42.743
You can also follow on all social media platforms and achieve financial and time freedom today