How To Buy A Franchise Show | Dr. John Hayes provides insight on how to buy and operate a franchise

If history tells us anything, it is that during economic slowdowns a lot of people begin to take stock of their careers and look for ways to take more control of their financial future. One of the options that many turn to is franchising. Owning a franchise gives you a chance to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself. If you are among those whose career has been impacted by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 crisis and find yourself asking  “what do I do next?" or  "where do I go from here?” this podcast is for you. In it Dr. John P. Hayes discusses why franchising may be right solution for you, but, just as importantly, why it's not for everyone.

In this episode of the How To Buy A Franchise show, I talk with Jackie Pierce, franchise owner of Big Frog Custom T-Shirts. Jackie shares the story of her transition from accountant in corporate America to soccer mom to successful franchisee.

Dr. John Hayes talks with Justin Crandall, CEO and co-founder of Robin Autopilot, the world's first robotic lawn service now offering franchise opportunities in the U.S.  Crandall, who you may have seen pitching the idea on Shark Tank, explains that more than one million of the robotic mowers are in use in Europe and they plan to spread the concept in the U.S. through franchising. How does it work? Crandall says that Robin Autopilot combines proven robot mower technology with highly-professional human crews to create a more eco-friendly, reliable and affordable lawn care experience.  The company installs a robotic mower at the customer's home. The robot handles the repetitive mowing, while human crews come out periodically to handle the edging, trimming, weeding and other yard care needs. As a result, the customer never has to worry about an overgrown yard and crew members can focus their talents on higher-value, higher-margin activities. Robin Autopilot customers pay a set monthly fee based on their level of service and size of property. Because of the robots, the price is actually less than they'd pay traditional landscaping services while receiving a higher-quality and more reliable service. If you are interested in how technology is impacting the future of franchising, this interview is for you. Or you can visit the website at robinautopilotfranchise.com.

A money guy and a fitness guy met in Las Vegas one day and created a group fitness concept that provides Millennials with four studios under one roof! TruFusion franchises offer 240 classes per week in 65 fitness modalities. Want yoga? There are 16 types offered at TruFusion. More yoga, says Donald Averritt, vice president of development, than what any yoga franchise offers! Franchising for almost two years, TruFusion has sold 65 franchise units at an all in cost of about $1.2 million. Of the units sold, only three were open at the time of this interview because finding a location and building a unit is a nine to 12 month process. By year-end 2017 TruFusion anticipates having a dozen units open around the USA. Averritt says the "secret sauce” for this franchise is its monthly membership fee: $100. Each of the three open units has more than 2,000 members and most are Millennial females. If fitness is your idea of the perfect franchise, TruFusion may be your answer.

Pat Sculley and his wife always wanted to get into business together. Pat worked for EDS in Dallas for 23 years and his wife was working in HR. After Pat retired he spent some time working with non-profits but realized he wasn’t happy. "I had semi-retired, working 30 hours a week,” he explains, “and I didn’t enjoy not being full time and fully engaged. I knew what would make me happy was being back in the game and having fun with it.” So he and his wife got back in the game, but it wasn’t easy. At first they worked with a broker to find an appealing business but came up empty. When their broker recommended looking at franchises, the Sculleys said they didn’t want to be in the food industry! But with a little coaching the Sculleys learned about non-food franchise opportunities. The broker presented three franchises to them and they went about conducting their due diligence. At the end of the process, more than four years ago, they selected The Exercise Coach, a new franchise based in Chicago. The Sculleys decided to bring The Exercise Coach to Dallas, TX where they now operate three units. This is a business that personally appeals to the couple and they knew they could build the brand locally and sell it as an asset in the future. Pat shares his story with Dr. John Hayes on the How To Buy A Franchise Show.

Matt “Red” Boswell, chief growth officer for Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA), tells Dr. John Hayes that senior executives worldwide are joining ERA to become trusted advisors to multi-million dollar companies that hope to extract profit from their current expenses. There are two types of franchisees in ERA: the analyst who has spent a career studying one or more expense categories such as healthcare, telecommunications, printing, banking services, etc., (there are more than 40 expense categories) and knows how to save money in those categories, and the relationship building executive who can gain access to C-suite executives (especially CFOs) through referrals and networking. ERA franchisees collaborate as “trusted advisors” for the clients they serve. The kicker is that they make money only if they succeed at saving money for their clients! ERA is a worldwide consulting firm with more than 700 franchisees. The franchisor’s Item 19 looks extremely attractive. While the average franchisee (including some part-timers) earns $189,000 annually, the top 20% of franchisees earn between $323,000 and $760,000! If you like working with “world-class” caliber executives, ERA may be the franchise for you.

At age 55, veteran franchise developer Gary Findley asked himself what type of business he’d like to own next if he were to buy a franchise. He knew the right franchise for him would require no bricks and mortar, low investment, low overhead, it would produce high margins and it would be recession resistant. All that, plus the opportunity to buy out the franchisor, led Gary to Restoration 1, a franchise that he has since grown from 20 units to 135 units in record time. With Gary’s background, he knew that operational systems were key to building a good franchise network. After adding systems, he recruited executive-level franchisees with the desire to build a business, but not necessarily to work in the business. In mid-2017, the franchise is on track to reach 200 franchise locations and within 5 years 500 locations. And, by the way, Gary owns 4 locations personally.

Andrew Millar of UBREAKIFIX recently visited with Dr. John P. Hayes on the How To Buy A Franchise Show and explained how UBREAKIFIX franchises are changing the lives of people across North America. Some 150 franchisees own the 311-plus UBREAKIFIX franchise outlets in the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico. However, those numbers are going to change rapidly — one area developer, for example, plans to open more than 230 stores just in the USA. And then there’s the wide-open international market. Millar says the company is already getting buy requests from across the world, but management plans to dominate North America first. The company is already the market leader in the $282 billion mobile phone industry, but Millar says there’s a huge growth curve ahead. Franchise-wide store revenues should top $140 million in 2017 but Millar points out that’s only 3.6% of the market! And lest you think all they do is repair phones, they repair anything with a power button. Their goal is to capture users of the tech space and keep them as customers for a lifetime. All-in investment for this dynamic franchise is about $150,000 including a $40,000 franchise fee. U.S. veterans get an $8,000 discount upon becoming franchisees. UBREAKIFIX is on track to be the next huge international franchise opportunity, at least in the tech/repair industry. Could it be the perfect franchise opportunity for you?

Nick Lopez studied business at Michigan State University and discovered franchising in the process. To cover the costs of tuition, books and living expenses, Lopez launched a residential and commercial painting business in Michigan and catered to custom home owners. Much to his surprise, he found a welcoming market and after three years of operating the business he decided it was time to get serious. That’s when he sought out mentors to help him develop a long-term business plan and that experience eventually led to franchising. After graduation he returned to his home state of Colorado and opened LIME Painting in Denver with every intention of building a national franchise company. He has since opened a second unit in Boulder and he plans to begin franchising the opportunity in fall 2017. Lopez visited with Dr. John P. Hayes during the 2017 International Franchise Expo in New York City.

What started as a corporate endeavor to provide employees with wellness options mushroomed into a franchise opportunity that is now being purchased by entrepreneurs and physicians. Reagan Clemensen visited the How To Buy A Franchise Show during the International Franchise Expo in New York City and shared news about Profile by Sanford, a franchise concept developed by Sanford Health, the largest rural healthcare company in the USA with 28,000 employees and millions of patients. At the time of this interview there were six open franchise units and 30 more in development. Clemensen explained that the franchise emphasizes weight loss but offers a menu of wellness options to members who pay $300 a year and buy products from the company. Cost to open a unit is in the $450,000 range and funding options are automatically extended to prospects who qualify to become franchisees. Multi-unit opportunities exist across the USA. If you’re committed to wellness and want to help others reach their wellness goals, this may be your ideal franchise opportunity.

Former food franchisee Sammy Aldeeb is now franchising Urban Bricks Pizza Co. and attracting leaders, motivators and “cool people” who can stand behind his franchise brand, which is quickly expanding in the buiild-your-own-pizza niche. Sammy says there’s lots of room to grow, but advises franchisees that it’s a 7 day a week job!

For 26 years Happy & Healthy has been developing national accounts (Wholefoods, Lifetime Fitness, food service companies that cater to hospitals, supermarkets, etc.) and selling to franchisees to service those and other accounts. Entrepreneur magazine says this is one of the best franchise investments under $50,000. Most franchisees begin part-time (sometimes keeping their full-time job) and build the business. Prospects are invited to a 3-hour workshop to learn more about the business. Linda Kamm, founder, encourages prospects to call franchisees to learn more about how the business works.

Jorge Férreaz, publisher of Latino Leaders Magazine, organizes the Latino Franchise Symposium in Plano, Texas where franchisors looking to expand into the Latino markets, and Hispanic and Latino entrepreneurs and investors looking for franchise opportunities come together for a series of 2-day meetings and discussions. "There's a lack of information about how to expand a franchise business into the Latino markets," explains Férreaz, thus creating an opportunity for this symposium.

Remember when you (or someone you knew) combined baking soda and vinegar to create a homemade volcano? Little Beakers has taken off with that idea and developed a retail franchise opportunity that provides a controlled environment for children to learn basic science principles. And yes, most of these principles are taught by combining ingredients that have an “exciting” reaction or turn into something the children can play with.

This week on the How to Buy a Franchise Show our guest is Anand Karia, who is the Master Franchisee of UCMAS in the United States, Canada, Mexico and India. UCMAS has over 6,000 locations in 58 countries and has just opened its first location in the United States. As a Master Franchisee, Karia and his company own the rights to sell franchises in all fifty states. In addition, Karia is also looking for Master Franchisees to purchase the rights to specific states. For example, a qualified candidate could purchase the licensing rights for the entire state of Texas and then be responsible for selling and maintaining franchisees in that market.

When Eric Stites founded Franchise Business Review (FBR) in 2005, franchisors weren’t accustomed to an independent party surveying their franchisees. Stites explains that the greatest improvement in franchising during the last decade is transparency: People have access to more verifiable information about a franchise company than ever before. And much of this transparency is a result of the work that’s been done by Franchise Business Review.

7-Eleven has such as established presence in the United States -- over 7,000 locations -- that you might assume the market is saturated and there aren’t any available franchise locations to acquire. But that assumption would be incorrect. Alvino Rosales, franchise sales rep for 7-Eleven in the San Antonio, TX market, is our guest this week on the How to Buy a Franchise Show, and in his market alone there are 10 new stores slated to open in 2017.

Dallas Kerley, president and COO of Benetrends Financial, is our guest this week on the How to Buy a Franchise Show. Benetrends has been a leader in the financial sector of the franchise market since 1983, and the company pioneered the 401k Rollover, a financial tool that allows franchise prospects to utilize their existing retirement funds to buy a franchise. The 401k Rollover comes with the approval of the IRS.

The Seniors’ Answer, based in Miami, FL, is offering to sell its first franchise for only $15,000, a discount of $5,000. In addition, royalty fees are held flat for the first two years starting at $100/month. Ultimately the fee rises to 5% of gross. Founded by a Harvard MBA with experience in franchising, Corrine Markey sold franchises for The Entrepreneur’s Source and The Maids. When she recognized the ever-increasing need among seniors for services, she created The Seniors’ Answer three years ago. The franchise provides senior services, not homecare. “We go from soup to nuts, says Markey. “If the family needs homecare, we bring it in . . . if the senior’s physician dies, we get another physician. We are concierges . . . “ Markey decided to franchise just eight months into starting her business. She explains, “the need is so great . . . it’s a huge market . . . in this country if you have a need and fill the need that’s the American Dream.” Because it’s not homecare the market is wide open for this franchise. Markey says franchisees should be good at multi-tasking. Looking for a groundbreaking franchise opportunity? This could be the franchise business for you.

Colleen Pyle describes herself as a construction brat and learned “how to do things” and “fix things” herself. Coincidentally she married a guy who had the same skills. Before they knew it, they were overseeing six locations of Just Let Me Do It in six states. That’s when they decided it would be better to franchise their business. Today, it costs between $64,000 and $180,000 to get started with a Just Let Me Do It franchise. Startup costs vary by the size of the franchisee’s market. The franchise requires an 8% royalty fee but no advertising fee. Colleen explains that the business has developed “house accounts” which are national clients that prefer Just Let Me Do It franchisees. As a result of these relationships, franchisees do not have to invest in advertising and they get work immediately upon opening a unit. These national accounts include Walmart, T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, many fast food restaurants and also convenience stories such as 7-Eleven. An ideal franchisee is someone who’s “handy” and knows the trades. However, Colleen says some franchisees prefer to run the office and hire the helpers to do the work. She points out that Just Let Me Do It does not handle major plumbing or electrical work, but rather light plumbing, electrical, flooring, painting, etc.

This week on the How to Buy a Franchise Show our guest is Dan Bennett, founder of Izsam, a construction cleanup franchise opportunity. Izsam franchisees enjoy five income streams: They provide temporary workers during construction. They handle final construction site cleanup and make-ready. During construction they clean the construction trailers and bathrooms. They provide ongoing janitorial services. They provide window cleaning services. With a franchise fee of $25,000, and operating costs of $40,000-50,000 for the first six months, this is a low-cost franchise opportunity. There’s a two-week training program at the corporate location in Nebraska. Since launching the franchise a year ago, Izsam has sold seven franchises. If you’d like more information about the Izsam franchise opportunity, please contact us here.

Dan Taglia, president of American Robotics Academy, is this week’s guest on the How To Buy A Franchise Show. American Robotics Academy is a franchise opportunity to teach robotics technology to children of all ages. While summer camps and birthday parties are profitable, the majority of business comes from after-school programs organized directly with school districts. The founding franchise location in Houston, TX is networked with 45 schools where they provide on-site robotics workshops to a variety of age groups.

Charles Levinson, president and CEO of SMART Drinks & Nutrition, is this week’s guest on the How To Buy A Franchise Show. SMART Drinks & Nutrition is a retail franchise opportunity offering fresh fruit smoothies, natural vegetable juices, vitamins and supplements. This franchise distinguishes itself from competitors by not using syrups, powders or pre-mixes in any of its products.

Will Miller, CEO of WingNutz, is this week’s guest on the How To Buy A Franchise Show. WingNutz is an emerging franchise establishing itself as the healthy option in the crowded quick-service chicken-wing restaurant arena.

Jeff Connally, president and CEO of CMIT Solutions, a franchise that provides IT services to small and mid-sized businesses, is this week’s guest on the How To Buy A Franchise Show. CMIT Solutions supports more than 130 franchisees in almost 170 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Connally describes the business as “low cost, high margin” and prospective franchisees are not required to have any technology experience whatsoever. Furthermore, franchisees are encouraged to establish and build relationships with small and mid-sized businesses in their market and not to handle IT service calls! The “all-in” cost to open a CMIT franchise is just shy of $200,000. In Entrepreneur’s 2017 Franchise 500, CMIT Solutions ranked #117 and Connally says he’s proudly watched his company improve on that list year after year. For more information about CMIT Solutions, please contact us and we’ll get you in touch. Meanwhile, enjoy Connally’s interview with Dr. John P. Hayes.

RoboThink’s General Manager, Danny Park, is our guest this week on the How To Buy A Franchise Show. Just when you think there is already a franchise for everything, yet another brand comes along to provide a unique service. RoboThink is based on the STEM curriculum, training students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Targeting kindergarten through 6th graders, the RoboThink curriculum is specifically designed to be intuitive for children. Instead of just seeing their work on an iPad or computer screen, RoboThink provides robotics that children can program.

Kevin Johnson, CEO of Over the Top Cake Supplies, is our guest this week on the How To Buy A Franchise Show. This franchise is unique not only for the products it sells and the services it supplies, but for the fact that it doesn’t neatly fit into one category or industry. First, it’s a specialty cake decorating supply store. Second, it’s a party store! Over the Top Cake Supplies locations host parties for a variety of ages: birthday parties for young children, beginner decorating lessons for home-bakers, and more advanced courses where celebrity decorators teach the classes. This franchise is social! Most marketing is conducted on social media; networking with local cake clubs is vital for exposure; hosting a variety of classes: girls’ night out (similar to paint and sip parties), daytime classes for adults, and weekend birthday parties for children. According to Johnson, “No one leaves a party without buying supplies afterwards.” This retail franchise will cost between $150,000 and $200,000 and all of the existing franchisees were able to get financial assistance. The franchise is SBA approved, training takes two weeks at corporate headquarters and two weeks in the store, and this is a service-in-demand thanks to programming on the Food Network and similar channels. For more information, contact us here and we’ll connect you with the franchisor.

And the strawberry pie is still on the menu. That hasn’t changed. But “this isn’t your grandma’s Shoney’s,” jokes Terri Harof, Director of Development for Shoney’s, now in its 70th year. The entire look of the restaurant has changed: they added a patio for outdoor eating, contemporized the décor and added a full bar. Years ago, 90 percent of customers chose Shoney’s buffet; now, Harof estimates it’s about a 50/50 split with customers ordering entrees from the menu. Shoney’s is nostalgic for many Americans and the company’s emphasis for franchise operations is on maintaining that feeling and continuing to create lasting memories. Free-standing full-service restaurants aren’t inexpensive to build. Occasionally, existing restaurants can be transferred, but buying a Shoney’s is always going to require a significant amount of capital. However, financing can be arranged and Harof has preferred vendors that are very enthusiastic about opening more Shoney’s locations. The company has an Item 19, has undergone an extreme makeover and is planning on selling 15 new franchises in 2017!

CruiseOne Dream Vacations (formerly CruiseOne) is a unique franchise in many ways. First off, total upfront costs are just under $10,000, you can work from home, and the only requirements are a dedicated computer and phone line. Royalty fees are 3%, capped at an annual $22,500, and monthly support fees are no more than $150. Not only is this franchise easy on the finances, but Military Times has ranked CruiseOne Dream Vacations the No. 1 franchise for veterans! Here’s the catch: It’s a competitive, price-sensitive market. A sales-minded personality is a must! As a franchisee, marketing will be your primary expense, especially while establishing a base clientele. The top producers might spend less on marketing, but that’s only because they’ve developed a network of repeat customers. Starting out, you should expect to spend $12,000 to $50,000 annually on marketing. CruiseOne Dream Vacations is owned by World Travel Holdings, the largest cruise distributor in the world! Thus, franchisees have access to travel packages and promotions that competitors can’t match. If you’d like a stay-at-home franchise business that doesn’t cost much to start and maintain, and you like to sell, then this might be the franchise for you!

In addition to real estate development, Matt Jones has owned and operated a successful orthodontics office in Lawton, Oklahoma. However, after a friend piqued his interest, he discovered his true passion involves artisan pizza. Jones hired restaurant consultants to appraise existing pizza shops and detail what these restaurants were doing right and what needed work. In addition, Jones travelled to Florence, Italy to discover the craft of making gelato, the dessert that he thought best complements pizza. In a crowded franchise pizza market, Jones believes there is always room for exceptional food. Firo Pizza doesn’t compete with the industry leaders, Pizza Hut and the others; instead, it is a family-friendly environment which after two years has been ranked first out of 149 restaurants in Lawton. Rather than deterring families by selling alcohol, the business relies on the margins of gelato sales to replace that lost revenue. Firo Fire Kissed Pizza headquarters is moving to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex to dramatically increase accessibility, and with some prospects in his pipeline, Jones expects to open his brand’s first franchised location in the near future.

United Franchise Group started over three decades ago and currently offers eight franchise brands and supports more than 1,500 franchisees in nearly 80 countries. While some franchisors have trouble selling one, or a dozen franchises annually, UFG awarded a franchise for every day in 2016! The franchisor sold more than 400 franchises in 2016 and intends to double that number in 2017! I think you get the point . . . this company knows franchising! And now, UFG helps small businesses franchise their concepts. Jason Anderson, president of UFG-owned Accurate Franchising, fluently explains the process of becoming a franchisor. While many think hiring a lawyer to draft a Franchise Disclosure Document is all it takes, Anderson explains the FDD is just the beginning. New franchisors “underestimate the sales nature of the franchise sales process,” he explains. Not only that, but after a new franchisor sells a unit or several units, another often unforeseen issue is supporting franchisees. Sooner or later, every franchisor has to make this distinction: Am I in the widget business or am I a franchisor that supports franchisees who sell widgets? When a small business evolves into a franchisor, the entire scope of work – and obligations -- changes. No longer does the small business operator just sell a product or provide a service; instead, the franchisor sells franchises and supports franchisees. Accurate Franchising is not in a league of its own; there are multiple businesses that promise to turn businesses into franchisors. But as part of the UFG conglomerate, UFG is unique because none of its competitors is owned by a franchisor . . . and not just any franchisor, but one that knows how to sell and support a network of 1,500-plus franchises! Why would one go anywhere else for this service? If you have a small business and you’re thinking of franchising, contact Jason Anderson: janderson@ufgcorp.com

Former franchisee Dave Claflin cold-called a client who influenced him to examine the drug-screening industry. By eliminating the medical portion and specializing in drug-screening, Claflin developed Fastest Labs to compete against the existing providers, such as Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp. By eliminating the industry standard wait-time and collecting the sample and reporting to the employer within 10 minutes, Fastest Labs is able to outperform competitors.

This week on the How to Buy a Franchise Show, Dr. Hayes interviews finance specialist Paul Bosley of Business Finance Depot. Because Bosley is the preferred lender for United Franchise Group, the “hot” retail franchise, Experimac, is used as an example of how the financing process works. It costs approximately $300,000 to open an Experimac, but you can finance the majority of that cost with the help of Business Finance. You’ll need to have at least $50,000 to $100,000 to qualify for financing, plus a good credit score, some liquid assets, and experience in managing or owning a small business. If you meet those qualifications, this interview will interest you regardless of which franchise brand you want to buy!  

Chris Covelli, founder of #getfried, is creating a network of food units that serve made-to-order topped French fries. Franchising for about a year at the time of this interview, Covelli has sold units in New York and Texas. His first Texas franchisee, based in San Antonio, acquired rights to the entire state! Franchisees invest from $100,000 (for a mobile unit) to $275,000 (for a bricks and mortar unit). Mobile units can be parked and operated, or moved from site to site. College campuses are popular, but so are entertainment districts. Training for a #getfried franchisee consists of four days in Buffalo and then on-site training. Covelli says food experience is not necessary to buy a franchise, but you must be passionate about producing fried food!

No business owner wants to worry about cutting payroll checks while also remaining compliant with ever-increasing rules and regulations from federal and state agencies. And every small business owner eventually realizes that doing payroll in-house just doesn’t make sense. It’s more cost-effective and safer to outsource the service. Enter Payroll Vault, a new franchise opportunity that doesn’t require a storefront and operates 9 to 5, five days a week. No financial background is needed and small to large territories are available beginning with an investment of about $50,000. Franchisees provide payroll services as well as timekeeping, labor posters and HR components that keep small business operators out of hot water with the IRS and other agencies. If you’re looking for a business-to-business business, Payroll Vault may be your answer.

The “wellness industry” is valued at over one trillion dollars, surpassing pharmaceuticals. Popular businesses that exist in this industry include gyms, chiropractic centers, and massage parlors, but there’s only one franchise business that provides hypnosis, life coaching, skills building and mindful meditation training, and that’s Positive Changes. Laura Brunner is this week's guest to tell us more about the company. 

Many people who visit HowToBuyAFranchise.com are further along on the journey of becoming a franchisee than was franchisee Mark Brownstein a year ago. Nearing the age of 60, with a lifetime experience of running successful small businesses, Brownstein admits that he didn’t know much about franchising when he purchased a My Elder Advocate franchise. And what he did know, he discovered, wasn’t always true!

Prospective franchisees across the world are discovering SuperGreen Solutions, the market leader in advising, supplying and installing domestic and commercial energy efficient solutions. The business has rapidly become the United Franchise Group’s (UFG) leading brand internationally. Tipton Shonkwiler, who oversees SuperGreen Solutions, as well as UFG’s international development, explains that the world is focused on energy efficiency, and thus SuperGreen now operates in 11 countries.

No one, Jim Tatem explains, grew up saying they wanted to be a signmaker. But then people discover Signarama at a franchise expo and if they take time to learn about the opportunity, they’ll later drive away from the expo and all they’ll see are signs, because they’re everywhere! “You’ve been bitten by the bug when you start touching the signs,” says Tatem, who is Signarama’s brand leader.

While Jim Muir loved selling automobiles for 25 years, that career came to an abrupt end when the economy crashed in 2008 and took auto sales down with it. Since no one expected the economy or auto sales to bounce back any time soon, Muir decided he needed a new profession. Meanwhile, he went to “play” in his garage where his 20-year hobby provided a welcomed distraction. He collected, repaired, and sold Apple computers to customers who found him via eBay and Amazon. No one – including Muir – expected that he’d generate enough money to replace his full-time salary, but after one month of “playing” he had generated $8,000 in sales!

Gregory Carafello and his wife owned a thriving multi-unit printing business, but after 9/11 they lost 70 percent of their contracts. One day, looking for ways to recover, he answered an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal soliciting prospective franchisees and master franchisees for a business called Cartridge World. He had never been a franchisee and he had no idea what was meant by “master franchisee.”

Meet Chad Hames, owner of two complementary franchises, Boulder Designs and Border Magic. Hames wakes up every morning loving his career! A decade ago, just shy of his 28th birthday, Hames became a multi-concept franchisee when he purchased a Boulder Designs franchise, and a Border Magic franchise.

There aren’t many franchise opportunities for people who want to keep their day job because most franchisors prefer full-time, on-site, hands-on franchisees. But Colorado-based Camp Bow Wow attracts mostly absentee franchise owners, and there’s room for many more. There are, however, some qualifiers that you won’t find with other franchise opportunities beginning with “you only need apply if you love dogs,” explains Renuka Salinger. 

At the 2016 International Franchise Expo, Dr. John P. Hayes had the pleasure of interviewing Tony Foley, who for many years has sold master franchises for the United Franchise Group (UFG) globally. The focus of the interview was international development, but Foley, a veteran of franchise expos, shared a piece of advice that applied to all attendees, whether they were looking for a master license or a single unit franchise opportunity: “I hope they’re not here to buy a franchise,” he said. Rather, “I hope they’re here to gather info, collect data, and then do their own due diligence.”

Roasting whole turkeys and beef on a daily basis gives a Capriotti’s sandwich a taste profile that customers can’t find elsewhere, and while that’s a tempting reason to consider buying a Capriotti’s franchise, the Item 19 in Capriotti’s disclosure document is even more enticing! Listen to Bruce Evans explain why. 

One of the advantages of buying a FASTSIGNS franchise is that franchise prospects get the opportunity to prove in advance of buying a franchise that existing franchisees make money. As CEO Catherine Monson explains, FASTSIGNS is one of less than 5% of franchisors that files a financial performance representation, or Item 19, in the federally-mandated disclosure document.

“Putting fruit in baskets” is a unique aspect of the $12-billion gifting industry, and because it’s new and different, it gets lots of interest from prospective franchisees because they can easily see themselves operating the business. That’s the first step in a franchise sale, says Tariq Farid. CEO of Edible Arrangements. The prospect has to feel he or she can operate the business.

Franchise prospects aren’t the only people doing due diligence before a franchise sale is consummated. Good franchisors are also doing their due diligence by spending critically important time to vet their franchise prospects. With 30 years of experience developing franchise brands, Ray Titus, CEO of United Franchise Group, has a ton of experience vetting franchise prospects. The company includes eight brands with more than 1,400 franchisees in 80 countries.

Existing franchises for sale by their owners. What’s wrong with that? In the United Kingdom, reports Johnny Sellyn, a founder of FranchiseResales.com, a third of all franchise sales are resales. In the United States, however, franchise resales account for merely a small fraction of total franchise sales. Why? Sellyn says that American franchise buyers seem to think there’s something wrong with an existing franchise business if it’s for sale.  

Craig Slavin has devoted a career to developing the Franchise Navigator and using it as a resource to help people determine if they should buy a franchise, and if so, which franchise to buy. Everyone is “wired” differently, explains Slavin, and each person has a different value system. If you understand why you do what you do, this information could be extremely important when you decide to buy a franchise. And it may save you from buying the wrong franchise!

Curiosity about franchising led Christy Wilson Delk to a 15-year career as a franchisee of an early childhood education business. After losing a corporate job (more than once, she points out), she decided she wanted to do something for herself. At the time, she didn’t know anything about franchising, but when a friend mentioned the concept to her, she decided to explore options and opportunities. As the mother of a young child, it was important to her to find a job that matched her lifestyle requirements.