Kika Wise On Saving Your Business: Black Box Consulting, Franchising Digital Products & Zee vs. Zor
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up. It's way up at Angela Yee and you
know what time it is. It's time for Wealth Wednesday.
I have my guests, well my real co host, but
she's here for Wealth Wednesday. Stacy Tisday.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Happy Wealth Wednesdays, everybody. We are very excited to talk
to you today about really how to scale your business
through franchising. And we have the queen of that whole thing.
We're so excited to have Kika Wise. Keika is the
founder of Kika Stretch Studios, which she scaled and through
franchising and then walked away from to start Black Box Studio.
(00:37):
Didn't walk away from it, just made it a run
it yourself kind of business. And she is the first
black franchiser in the country.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And she's also a mom and those her birthday, well
the day that's her birthday, so well, Keika, and I
actually am so happy that you're here because this is
an important conversation. So you know, I got a ton
of questions.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yes, I'm excited, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
We're so excited to have you from New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I'm from New Jersey.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Okay, which part.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I'm from Newark, so I have to claim Newark, but I.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Live in brick City.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Brick City.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So much is happening in Newark right now.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Too much, so many good things. It's just being redeveloped,
but the community is getting involved. So it's like a
city that's being redeveloped but with the community still in mind.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
So that's what's so special about it.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Okay girl, Yeah, yeah, Jersey girl.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So we have so many things to unpack with you,
and I wanted you to start by telling our audience
what is the difference between a franchise z Yeah, franchise
zor you're a franchiser tell the story.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Yes, So a franchise z or is the person who
owns the entire brand, who started the concept, who owns
all of the logos, the trademarks, all the intellectual property,
so they actually sell it to other people. Those other
people are called franchisees. So most people only know franchisees
like oh, I know somebody that owns five McDonald's ten subways,
(02:07):
but no one ever knows the franchise or. And so
what we do is focus on the franchise or and
help small business owners become that.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You know, it's interesting because when I open my coffee shop,
coffee up list people. I open it with the intention
of one day being a franchise or yes, and that
was really the goal of starting that business and then
being able to move into that business model. But it
also was just something I had in my head. I
didn't know that much about it. And so for people
who are franchise ese, what is the benefit of being
(02:37):
a franchisee instead of starting your own small business?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah, so all my small business owners out there know
what it's like to start something from scratch, and so
it's something I'm like, I'm never doing again. But it's like,
you have to go through so many learning curves. You
have to figure out what works. So the franchisee coming
into the model already has the game plan based off
what works and what doesn't work, so they can avoid
(03:03):
many of the mistakes that the person who started it made.
So if you're looking for a business to invest in
and make money faster than starting from scratch, that's why
you would become a franchise ye.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
But they said restrictions when you're a franchise Yeah, you
can't just do whatever.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
You Yeah, and that a lot of entrepreneurs want to franchise,
but they're like, what happens if they steal all my stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
It's impossible. They can't.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
There's so many restrictions that protect the brand creator. So
franchising is like very good for entrepreneurs, and they can't.
They have to follow everything, you you know, set up
when it comes to marketing everything, they can't do their
own thing.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
That gets us to black box. But if we take
a step back before that, your whole journey started with
kik a Stretch Studios. Yes, you had five hundred dollars
in your pocket. Yes, you wanted to start something to
take care of your son. And well it was a
quote that I saw that you didn't want to depend
on paycheck or permission. Yes, you since scaled that brand
(04:02):
to millions of dollars and put it on a run
it yourself model. What did that experience teach you? And
how did you get from there to hear? You're basically
just paying it forward what you learn?
Speaker 3 (04:13):
How much time do we have?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
You have time.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
That experience and people often say, wow, you didn't go
to school for business. Wow you didn't know much about
business almost like started business that way, And I did,
but there were so many painful lessons that I had
to learn the hard way. But so I suggest that
people do do their research instad You don't have to
go to school for business. But I did read several
(04:39):
business books to set me up for success before I started.
But the lessons and the obstacles that I've faced helped
me become an entrepreneur. I don't think I would have
become if it was easy for me, and so by
it being some hard in certain ways, I've found my
way around the obstacle and now I'm able to teach
that strategy to others. So it's funny because our journeys
(05:02):
are sometimes filled with so many obstacles and hard times,
and those moments become teachable lessons for other people. So
now that I survived, I'm happy that I went through
it so I can teach other people because that's what
they really value, that experience.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
And you don't want other people to have to go
through it. And that's part of what it is that
you've set up. And when I met you, you actually
were like, so have you thought.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
About I never thought about franchising.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
And I was like, absolutely all the time. It's definitely
like on the top of my list of things I
want to do. So you have a background in dance, right,
and so just even talk about starting initially your stretch studios.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
So I was a professional dancer actress in the city
television and film, and so I learned how to market
myself even though I didn't know the technical aspects of marketing.
I had to get the job, so I had to,
you know, play a certain role. So I was able
to use my marketing skills when it came to the
(06:01):
industry and apply it to business. So instead of promoting myself,
I was promoting the business. And so the five hundred
dollars was used to rent half of a space that
I shared with a real estate agent.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Literally is behalf of it is a real estate asiness seekers.
The other half is the coffee shop.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
There's something about real estate and rantising exactly, and so
it was great. And I had I printed out brochures
and I passed them out on the sidewalk and.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
People were like wow, wow, wow.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
As soon as I sold my first package, it was
like at the time, four one hundred and fifty dollars,
I was like, I can't believe I just sold something
that I made up like.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And so I and I didn't even know how to
price it.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I didn't. I didn't.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
I just I don't even know, like how I was
just like four fifty I was. I was thinking, like
how much money do I need to make in order
to survive? Okay, well if I saw the do that? Yeah,
And I remember asking a lawyer. I was like, so
you can just make anything up and do it as
a business.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
He was like yeah. And that moment changed my life,
Like wow.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
So it's interesting because I see like stretch labs and
stuff like that popping up. But you did this a
lot earlier on.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Yes, And actually I was approached by them early in
my career to potentially like buy me out. But I
was smart enough to look at the what they were
presenting and I was like, that's not like enough, right,
And so I those numbers that I was offered, I
actually did, like by my second year in business.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Now see, And somebody might have been like, because some
people do build businesses and just want to sell it
and move on to the next thing, but you knew
that the value that you had and what you created
was much greater than that.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Yes, And it's crazy because it's something I really wanted bad,
Like it's a dream, like oh, someone wants to buy
me out. But when you look at the not I
was smart enough to look at the numbers like that's it,
And I wouldn't own the rights to the brand I created,
which happens all the time, and actually this is public
not but the two founders who founded that brand and
are like wiped off the face of the earth, like they're.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Just not Yeah. So it's a crazy yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Because I see them popping up, So I'm like, okay.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
What happened they?
Speaker 4 (08:11):
So if I were if they bought me out and
I had two locations, right, obviously I would hold onto
those two locations like okay, yay, but these are my locations.
And they said no, you have to franchise them. And
the creators were like, what these are ours? And so
they actually sued their creators for trademark infringement. Wow, so
the people who got bought out lost it all. And
(08:33):
so that's what we have to really, that's why franchising
is so great because you can buy yourself out without
selling it.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
If that makes sense, and you already moved, you moved
past that.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yes it's on a.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Kika stretch Labs is now you partner with Chiropractors so
that within their practices, so that you can focus full
time on black black Box consulting. Tell our audience what
that is.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Yeah, so black box franchising. We turned small businesses into
not no franchise brands, so we do all of the paperwork.
Shout out to Darren Hawthorne. He's like, tell Angela, I said, Hi.
And Jasims our other partner, but his family started Golden
Crust and so he is a lawyer by trade as well.
(09:16):
So we met at INVESTFST. We were speaking and I
was like, I want him to be my partner. Number
one he's a lawyer, and number two he's a second
generation franchise or so the wealth of knowledge, quite a
successful of quite a successful company.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah. And then my other partner, Jay is a marketing genius.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
So what I've learned is that if you're not the
best at something, find someone who's better at it and
then come together.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And so that's what makes partnerships so great.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
So we came together and now we have a heavy
emphasis on helping small businesses transform into franchises, but also
hyper focus on our community because this is not people
have no idea that they could be a franchise. We
spend a lot of time educating and allowing people to
know that there is access, you can just do it.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
And you really make franchising turnkey for people like what
are the service? It's amazing, what are the services that
you all are yesing.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
So most entrepreneurs, business owners are making money and they
just don't know how. I remember one of our clients
were like, Okay, how much do you make? And he
was like one hundred K a month and I was
like how much net did you have? How much did
you keep? He was like I don't know right, And
I was like wow. So it's like it's cool when
you're making money, but you have to understand the science
(10:36):
of how to keep it.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
And so we had to grow in the areas where
it's really working.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah yes, so yeah exactly.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
So we handle financial modeling. So we take their invoices,
we take all their numbers, and we fix it. We
plug in the gaps, do this, do that, and then
it becomes a playbook that they can give to the
person who buys into their brand, so that person knows
what numbers to strive for and how to get those numbers.
So we tell them how they got their numbers and
(11:04):
then we package it up so somebody else can learn.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah, that's interesting. I'm glad you said that, because you
do have to set up your business so that it
can be a franchise. It's not just like we're paying
people under the table. We're doing X, Y and z.
Everything has to really be in order because people need
to see how they're making money and how you made
your money.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Yes, and it's regulated by the government, like people call
themselves a franchise when they have two locations. No, there's
a process. It's regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. So
you have to set it up a certain way so
people have a good chance at succeeding. And so we
handle all the legal paperwork. We create the operations manual.
(11:44):
Most people have employees staff, but when you hire somebody else,
how do they learn. It's usually by verbal context, but
there's not a playbook that they can just follow.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
So we literally do.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
All of the hard work that people dread so that
they can be a franchise, and we teach them how
we did it as well.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
That's important too for lawsuit purposes, like if somebody tries
to sue you, you have to have everything written out
so that you can refer.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
To well, refer to item seventeen and they're like, oh,
I did sign that.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, that's exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
It's also complicated. Tell us a success story, like what
it actually looks like, looks like in real time.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Maybe somebody that you're like, I didn't know I could
franchise this business.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Yes, So there is a brand that I helped franchise
in twenty twenty, like before black Box, because I used
to help people on the side.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
And I was like, okay, we'll do it. We did it.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
He franchised and then a few years later he's like,
I have thirteen locations. I was like what, Like, he's
like yeah, and so he's our biggest success story because
he's franchised them and he's maintained them. Because you can franchise,
but then if you lose the locations, you know, it's
a little different. But then we have a digital service.
(13:01):
We were talking about that. People don't realize you can
franchise a digital product.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Yeah. People always think a brick and mortar like McDonald's
or something. That was very fascinating to learn digital online
companies can do this as well.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Yes, And so once I realized that there's there's like
five digital companies actually franchising. I'm like, oh what, There's
so much opportunity. So that surprised me just the just
the opportunity in franchising is so huge and no one's
doing it.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
You could actually franchise black Box studios.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Yeah, black Box franchise franchising.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Yeah, it is you could.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, they got they got their model down one of
your own.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Is anyone interested? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:42):
What's totally doing all that? What's totally doing all that?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
So most businesses, particularly in our community, the entrepreneurs get
burnt out, they run into financial challenges and we take
that personally or whatever. But I'm learning more and more
personally talking to people like you and everything. It's really strategy. Yeah,
and franchising is really how you see the path forward
(14:07):
for black businesses to go into stain and create generational wealth.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
And it's so funny. I was in the bank this
morning and this guy he had to be like eighty five,
and he had.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Perfect hair, he had gold all.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Over him, and he was talking about some person I
couldn't remember the name. He's like, yeah, he filed for bankruptcy,
he lost it all, and then he got it right back,
and I was like, just that little context was so
like motivating, because so many success stories come from failure,
and usually when people fail out, they're like, oh, it
didn't work. And I wish more people knew how many
(14:39):
times you have to fail in order to win. And
so it's so important for people. Businesses right now are
shuddering at an all time read.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Tell me about it. And Brenner has been out of control.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Everywhere, and so it's almost like I told the guys,
we have to run. We have to help as many
people possible before they all close, before they shutter, because
if they can understand the science of making money, then
they can build an asset, which is a franchise, and
then now their children can win off of their model.
Because if the business owner passes God forbid, there's no
(15:16):
Their business is a liability, it's not an asset. So
the franchise is the asset that can live past their lifetime.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Because you're getting it, you're getting money your child while
they sleep.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Even if your child doesn't want to run the franchise,
they can hire someone to run it and they still
get the residual income.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Now, as a franchise or quality control is also important,
and so I want to talk about that because sometimes
for people the business is their baby, and you want
to make sure that if I have a business, like
you have your say in Montclair, but what's happening with
the business and Hoboken so that I can make sure
that this is running according to the standard because word
of mouth travels and people will affiliate these franchises with
(15:54):
each other.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Yes, So that's such such a good point. So franchising,
you actually the main consistent at thing that keeps happening
is training, and so you're responsible for training staff. Your
team trains the staff. So if you allowed the franchise
e to train their own staff, after a while, it
(16:16):
would morph into something.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
That's different completely.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Yeah, So as a franchise or you actually have a
training team, it could be current employees who are really
good and their responsibility is to teach the newcomers how
to do what they're supposed to do. Most franchisors send
somebody out once a month, once a quarter, randomly, and
there's actually a checklist of things that they have to
make sure are like, you know, going the right way.
(16:41):
If there's not, then they have to change it. If
they don't there's fines penalties. So training is so important enfranchising.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
And to protect the brand.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
You have to protect the brand, and you help people
put together training manuals.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yes, hey, the operations manual is basic, the playbook. So
if I gave it to you, you'd be like, Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Let me read it, study it. Now you know how
to operate my business.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
So what's the checklist If somebody says, Okay, I have
an online business or I have a brick and mortar business,
I need to scale it, I need to franchise it.
I'm going to work with black Box. We've talked about
it conceptually, but what's the checklist of what you actually
do for them?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Yes, So we have a course integrated into our platform.
So the first thing is we give them access to
the course. The course is free and it teaches them
all about the franchise industry. Because if you're franchised without
knowing what that means, you're already set up for failure.
So we have a course and then it's self guided,
(17:42):
and then there's four success coaches that we have. One
does the financial modeling, so they upload all their financial
data and then it's looked at. And then there's a schedule,
there's a meeting scheduled and then we teach them what
we've learned and what they should do, and then the
second step is to package it up. So the same
is true for the business analytics. We have someone on
(18:05):
our team, Alex, and he creates heat maps based on
data based on your client avatar that tells you where
you should open based on your success at your current store,
so you don't have to guess, oh, let me open
up here, because if you open in the wrong.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
You know this, If you open in the wrong, it's
over for you.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Number One in a brick and mortar is location.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Yeah, So we take out all that guest work and
then Sheela does the operations manual and it's literally a
beautiful digital playbook that they can click and learn all
about the business, how to operate. And this is based
off all their own data, so they, the business owner,
uploads everything they have and we just fix it. And
then the final step is the franchise disclosure document, which
(18:46):
is the legal paperwork that makes you official. And so
once that's done, you're a legal franchise and you'll start.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Selling a lot of people think they have to be
a big, successful business to do this, you say that
to misconception.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
It's such a misconception, people like I have to make
millions a month. No, all it is is being honest
about your numbers. So even if somebodynuts the money, they
have leftovers two thousand dollars a month, fifteen hundred, there's
people who will want to buy just to get that
money so that they can pay their bills and survive.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
But if it's negative, Oh, if it's negative, people sell it.
They still sell it. I'm telling you people, we don't,
we don't. We don't set people up like that.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
But sometimes people will like, well this happened, this happened,
Like when COVID happened, everybody was negative, so you had
to sell and tell.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
People no, it was because of a pandemic.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
But there's a lot of research that they do to say,
all right, this is for me, but the goal is
to not be negative five hundred dollars. Like people will
buy your franchise to make five hundred dollars. It sounds crazy,
but people are looking for opportunity to stay at home,
to have a flexible schedule, and they're looking to replace
their income. So if your opportunity replaces their twenty thousand
(19:56):
a year thirty forty whatever, though they'll buy it amazing.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Wow, And how it's not for you to completely set
a business up like this. I know it's not cheap.
How do people work with you? And how much does
that cost?
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Yes, it's so we are less than all the competitors
because I was actually developed by a franchise company for
the same costs years ago, and they didn't teach me
how to be a franchise store. They're just like, here's
your paperwork, and I'm like okay, and it's like a
kid in a candy store. You're like, all right, bye,
you just start picking up all the candy. So the
(20:30):
total cost is forty five thousand. However, we've partnered with
a firm to make it really easy, so you can
get started for as low as seven hundred dollars a
month and actually have your franchise developed. And so we
do that upfront, so in two to three months you're
a franchise and by the time you get your first
franchise ee, you just pay off your balance with a
firm and it's almost like you got it maybe for free,
(20:53):
because you got the person who bought it.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Where can people sign up for this.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Yes, let me make sure I get this right. So
black Box actually surprise, I have a special treat for
everyone for you ladies. So if you go to intro
dot black Boxfranchising dot com slash Wealth Wednesdays, you will
see these two beautiful women's faces on it, and you
(21:19):
can sign up there and we'll have a group call.
There's actually a webinar that you can watch. And watch
the webinar, you'll learn more about it and then we'll
do a one on one and set you up to
get started. So intro dot, black Boxfranchising dot com.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I'm doing it well.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Wednesdays, Well, you're gonna have a Wealth Wednesday franchise yea.
And to make that easy for everybody, if you go
to Teamwealth Wednesdays dot com, we're gonna put that link there.
And if you go to Wealth Wednesdays on Instagram, which
you should all be following anyway, we'll drop that link
in the bio.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I feel like this is very self serving for me
us to have you up here, because this is something
that I've been, you know, trying to manifest for myself.
So we got you.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
As soon as I saw the concept, I was like, oh,
my god. When I saw the logo, I was like,
it's a franchise.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah, we love our will do it and we'll follow
that journey. And well Wednesdays is a great example of
an online exactly is going to franchise us.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
We're going to show you and we're going to show
you guys how to do it. And the franchise girls.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Can I just say the tacos.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Today's yeah, Taco Tuesdays, And can I just throw that
out there, listen, she needs to franchise that two girls shop.
Yeah by by itself because amazing tacos. When we started,
when we finally got our liquor license, so we're open
later at the coffee shop. The first thing I did
was hit was hit up Shelley and be like, we
(22:49):
gotta do Taco Tuesdays every week. And it's been amazing.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Yeah, I mean their.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Tacos is perfect.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, promise me you'll come back. And we're we are
working on some exciting projects together that are going to
help entrepreneurs. And I know we want to hear more
about the You've done some great things with I know
Baron Davis, NBA player just real quick tells us yeah,
he did with him.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
It's crazy, Oh so amazing. So we met Baron.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
He was very into the franchising work that we did,
so we would do his summits, we would speak on
his panels, and then one day he's like, oh, I
actually opened up the podcast studio slash Coffee Shop. And
I'm like, what you did? Like it's it's open. He's
like yeah, and it's funny. You know what I said
(23:36):
to him, have you ever thought about franchising? And he
was like, actually yeah, And then he called me and
then a week later we signed up to do his development,
so we're actually helping him franchise his company.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Oh, his new concepts. I like that.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
He's always into some creative entrepreneurship. Black Santa he does.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
Blacky Yeah, and it's so funny. He's gonna kill me.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
One day we were sitting eating dinner, he's like black
saying that. I'm like, did you trademarket? He's like yeah,
and I go to uspt O dot.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Go I think he did.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
I was like at that moment, I was like, he's
a genius, but he owns all the rights, so super
super excited about that.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Okay, we'll follow your journey, his journey. Follow Wealth Wednesdays
on Instagram. We'll have all the links in the bio
and also on Teamwealth wednesdays dot com. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Thank you so much for joining, much for having me.
Thank you, yes, thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Happy Wealth Wednesdays everybody
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Way.
What's up. It's way up at Angela Yee and you
know what time it is. It's time for Wealth Wednesday.
I have my guests, well my real co host, but
she's here for Wealth Wednesday. Stacy Tisday.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Happy Wealth Wednesdays, everybody. We are very excited to talk
to you today about really how to scale your business
through franchising. And we have the queen of that whole thing.
We're so excited to have Kika Wise. Keika is the
founder of Kika Stretch Studios, which she scaled and through
franchising and then walked away from to start Black Box Studio.
(00:37):
Didn't walk away from it, just made it a run
it yourself kind of business. And she is the first
black franchiser in the country.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And she's also a mom and those her birthday, well
the day that's her birthday, so well, Keika, and I
actually am so happy that you're here because this is
an important conversation. So you know, I got a ton
of questions.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yes, I'm excited, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
We're so excited to have you from New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I'm from New Jersey.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Okay, which part.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I'm from Newark, so I have to claim Newark, but I.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Live in brick City.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Brick City.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So much is happening in Newark right now.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Too much, so many good things. It's just being redeveloped,
but the community is getting involved. So it's like a
city that's being redeveloped but with the community still in mind.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
So that's what's so special about it.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Okay girl, Yeah, yeah, Jersey girl.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So we have so many things to unpack with you,
and I wanted you to start by telling our audience
what is the difference between a franchise z Yeah, franchise
zor you're a franchiser tell the story.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Yes, So a franchise z or is the person who
owns the entire brand, who started the concept, who owns
all of the logos, the trademarks, all the intellectual property,
so they actually sell it to other people. Those other
people are called franchisees. So most people only know franchisees
like oh, I know somebody that owns five McDonald's ten subways,
(02:07):
but no one ever knows the franchise or. And so
what we do is focus on the franchise or and
help small business owners become that.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You know, it's interesting because when I open my coffee shop,
coffee up list people. I open it with the intention
of one day being a franchise or yes, and that
was really the goal of starting that business and then
being able to move into that business model. But it
also was just something I had in my head. I
didn't know that much about it. And so for people
who are franchise ese, what is the benefit of being
(02:37):
a franchisee instead of starting your own small business?
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah, so all my small business owners out there know
what it's like to start something from scratch, and so
it's something I'm like, I'm never doing again. But it's like,
you have to go through so many learning curves. You
have to figure out what works. So the franchisee coming
into the model already has the game plan based off
what works and what doesn't work, so they can avoid
(03:03):
many of the mistakes that the person who started it made.
So if you're looking for a business to invest in
and make money faster than starting from scratch, that's why
you would become a franchise ye.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
But they said restrictions when you're a franchise Yeah, you
can't just do whatever.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
You Yeah, and that a lot of entrepreneurs want to franchise,
but they're like, what happens if they steal all my stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
It's impossible. They can't.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
There's so many restrictions that protect the brand creator. So
franchising is like very good for entrepreneurs, and they can't.
They have to follow everything, you you know, set up
when it comes to marketing everything, they can't do their
own thing.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
That gets us to black box. But if we take
a step back before that, your whole journey started with
kik a Stretch Studios. Yes, you had five hundred dollars
in your pocket. Yes, you wanted to start something to
take care of your son. And well it was a
quote that I saw that you didn't want to depend
on paycheck or permission. Yes, you since scaled that brand
(04:02):
to millions of dollars and put it on a run
it yourself model. What did that experience teach you? And
how did you get from there to hear? You're basically
just paying it forward what you learn?
Speaker 3 (04:13):
How much time do we have?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
You have time.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
That experience and people often say, wow, you didn't go
to school for business. Wow you didn't know much about
business almost like started business that way, And I did,
but there were so many painful lessons that I had
to learn the hard way. But so I suggest that
people do do their research instad You don't have to
go to school for business. But I did read several
(04:39):
business books to set me up for success before I started.
But the lessons and the obstacles that I've faced helped
me become an entrepreneur. I don't think I would have
become if it was easy for me, and so by
it being some hard in certain ways, I've found my
way around the obstacle and now I'm able to teach
that strategy to others. So it's funny because our journeys
(05:02):
are sometimes filled with so many obstacles and hard times,
and those moments become teachable lessons for other people. So
now that I survived, I'm happy that I went through
it so I can teach other people because that's what
they really value, that experience.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
And you don't want other people to have to go
through it. And that's part of what it is that
you've set up. And when I met you, you actually
were like, so have you thought.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
About I never thought about franchising.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
And I was like, absolutely all the time. It's definitely
like on the top of my list of things I
want to do. So you have a background in dance, right,
and so just even talk about starting initially your stretch studios.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
So I was a professional dancer actress in the city
television and film, and so I learned how to market
myself even though I didn't know the technical aspects of marketing.
I had to get the job, so I had to,
you know, play a certain role. So I was able
to use my marketing skills when it came to the
(06:01):
industry and apply it to business. So instead of promoting myself,
I was promoting the business. And so the five hundred
dollars was used to rent half of a space that
I shared with a real estate agent.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Literally is behalf of it is a real estate asiness seekers.
The other half is the coffee shop.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
There's something about real estate and rantising exactly, and so
it was great. And I had I printed out brochures
and I passed them out on the sidewalk and.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
People were like wow, wow, wow.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
As soon as I sold my first package, it was
like at the time, four one hundred and fifty dollars,
I was like, I can't believe I just sold something
that I made up like.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And so I and I didn't even know how to
price it.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I didn't. I didn't.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
I just I don't even know, like how I was
just like four fifty I was. I was thinking, like
how much money do I need to make in order
to survive? Okay, well if I saw the do that? Yeah,
And I remember asking a lawyer. I was like, so
you can just make anything up and do it as
a business.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
He was like yeah. And that moment changed my life,
Like wow.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
So it's interesting because I see like stretch labs and
stuff like that popping up. But you did this a
lot earlier on.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Yes, And actually I was approached by them early in
my career to potentially like buy me out. But I
was smart enough to look at the what they were
presenting and I was like, that's not like enough, right,
And so I those numbers that I was offered, I
actually did, like by my second year in business.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Now see, And somebody might have been like, because some
people do build businesses and just want to sell it
and move on to the next thing, but you knew
that the value that you had and what you created
was much greater than that.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Yes, And it's crazy because it's something I really wanted bad,
Like it's a dream, like oh, someone wants to buy
me out. But when you look at the not I
was smart enough to look at the numbers like that's it,
And I wouldn't own the rights to the brand I created,
which happens all the time, and actually this is public
not but the two founders who founded that brand and
are like wiped off the face of the earth, like they're.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Just not Yeah. So it's a crazy yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Because I see them popping up, So I'm like, okay.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
What happened they?
Speaker 4 (08:11):
So if I were if they bought me out and
I had two locations, right, obviously I would hold onto
those two locations like okay, yay, but these are my locations.
And they said no, you have to franchise them. And
the creators were like, what these are ours? And so
they actually sued their creators for trademark infringement. Wow, so
the people who got bought out lost it all. And
(08:33):
so that's what we have to really, that's why franchising
is so great because you can buy yourself out without
selling it.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
If that makes sense, and you already moved, you moved
past that.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yes it's on a.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Kika stretch Labs is now you partner with Chiropractors so
that within their practices, so that you can focus full
time on black black Box consulting. Tell our audience what
that is.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Yeah, so black box franchising. We turned small businesses into
not no franchise brands, so we do all of the paperwork.
Shout out to Darren Hawthorne. He's like, tell Angela, I said, Hi.
And Jasims our other partner, but his family started Golden
Crust and so he is a lawyer by trade as well.
(09:16):
So we met at INVESTFST. We were speaking and I
was like, I want him to be my partner. Number
one he's a lawyer, and number two he's a second
generation franchise or so the wealth of knowledge, quite a
successful of quite a successful company.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah. And then my other partner, Jay is a marketing genius.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
So what I've learned is that if you're not the
best at something, find someone who's better at it and
then come together.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And so that's what makes partnerships so great.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
So we came together and now we have a heavy
emphasis on helping small businesses transform into franchises, but also
hyper focus on our community because this is not people
have no idea that they could be a franchise. We
spend a lot of time educating and allowing people to
know that there is access, you can just do it.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
And you really make franchising turnkey for people like what
are the service? It's amazing, what are the services that
you all are yesing.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
So most entrepreneurs, business owners are making money and they
just don't know how. I remember one of our clients
were like, Okay, how much do you make? And he
was like one hundred K a month and I was
like how much net did you have? How much did
you keep? He was like I don't know right, And
I was like wow. So it's like it's cool when
you're making money, but you have to understand the science
(10:36):
of how to keep it.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
And so we had to grow in the areas where
it's really working.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah yes, so yeah exactly.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
So we handle financial modeling. So we take their invoices,
we take all their numbers, and we fix it. We
plug in the gaps, do this, do that, and then
it becomes a playbook that they can give to the
person who buys into their brand, so that person knows
what numbers to strive for and how to get those numbers.
So we tell them how they got their numbers and
(11:04):
then we package it up so somebody else can learn.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah, that's interesting. I'm glad you said that, because you
do have to set up your business so that it
can be a franchise. It's not just like we're paying
people under the table. We're doing X, Y and z.
Everything has to really be in order because people need
to see how they're making money and how you made
your money.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Yes, and it's regulated by the government, like people call
themselves a franchise when they have two locations. No, there's
a process. It's regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. So
you have to set it up a certain way so
people have a good chance at succeeding. And so we
handle all the legal paperwork. We create the operations manual.
(11:44):
Most people have employees staff, but when you hire somebody else,
how do they learn. It's usually by verbal context, but
there's not a playbook that they can just follow.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
So we literally do.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
All of the hard work that people dread so that
they can be a franchise, and we teach them how
we did it as well.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
That's important too for lawsuit purposes, like if somebody tries
to sue you, you have to have everything written out
so that you can refer.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
To well, refer to item seventeen and they're like, oh,
I did sign that.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, that's exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
It's also complicated. Tell us a success story, like what
it actually looks like, looks like in real time.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Maybe somebody that you're like, I didn't know I could
franchise this business.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Yes, So there is a brand that I helped franchise
in twenty twenty, like before black Box, because I used
to help people on the side.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
And I was like, okay, we'll do it. We did it.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
He franchised and then a few years later he's like,
I have thirteen locations. I was like what, Like, he's
like yeah, and so he's our biggest success story because
he's franchised them and he's maintained them. Because you can franchise,
but then if you lose the locations, you know, it's
a little different. But then we have a digital service.
(13:01):
We were talking about that. People don't realize you can
franchise a digital product.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Yeah. People always think a brick and mortar like McDonald's
or something. That was very fascinating to learn digital online
companies can do this as well.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Yes, And so once I realized that there's there's like
five digital companies actually franchising. I'm like, oh what, There's
so much opportunity. So that surprised me just the just
the opportunity in franchising is so huge and no one's
doing it.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
You could actually franchise black Box studios.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Yeah, black Box franchise franchising.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Yeah, it is you could.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, they got they got their model down one of
your own.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Is anyone interested? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:42):
What's totally doing all that? What's totally doing all that?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
So most businesses, particularly in our community, the entrepreneurs get
burnt out, they run into financial challenges and we take
that personally or whatever. But I'm learning more and more
personally talking to people like you and everything. It's really strategy. Yeah,
and franchising is really how you see the path forward
(14:07):
for black businesses to go into stain and create generational wealth.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
And it's so funny. I was in the bank this
morning and this guy he had to be like eighty five,
and he had.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Perfect hair, he had gold all.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Over him, and he was talking about some person I
couldn't remember the name. He's like, yeah, he filed for bankruptcy,
he lost it all, and then he got it right back,
and I was like, just that little context was so
like motivating, because so many success stories come from failure,
and usually when people fail out, they're like, oh, it
didn't work. And I wish more people knew how many
(14:39):
times you have to fail in order to win. And
so it's so important for people. Businesses right now are
shuddering at an all time read.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Tell me about it. And Brenner has been out of control.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Everywhere, and so it's almost like I told the guys,
we have to run. We have to help as many
people possible before they all close, before they shutter, because
if they can understand the science of making money, then
they can build an asset, which is a franchise, and
then now their children can win off of their model.
Because if the business owner passes God forbid, there's no
(15:16):
Their business is a liability, it's not an asset. So
the franchise is the asset that can live past their lifetime.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Because you're getting it, you're getting money your child while
they sleep.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Even if your child doesn't want to run the franchise,
they can hire someone to run it and they still
get the residual income.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Now, as a franchise or quality control is also important,
and so I want to talk about that because sometimes
for people the business is their baby, and you want
to make sure that if I have a business, like
you have your say in Montclair, but what's happening with
the business and Hoboken so that I can make sure
that this is running according to the standard because word
of mouth travels and people will affiliate these franchises with
(15:54):
each other.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Yes, So that's such such a good point. So franchising,
you actually the main consistent at thing that keeps happening
is training, and so you're responsible for training staff. Your
team trains the staff. So if you allowed the franchise
e to train their own staff, after a while, it
(16:16):
would morph into something.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
That's different completely.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Yeah, So as a franchise or you actually have a
training team, it could be current employees who are really
good and their responsibility is to teach the newcomers how
to do what they're supposed to do. Most franchisors send
somebody out once a month, once a quarter, randomly, and
there's actually a checklist of things that they have to
make sure are like, you know, going the right way.
(16:41):
If there's not, then they have to change it. If
they don't there's fines penalties. So training is so important enfranchising.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
And to protect the brand.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
You have to protect the brand, and you help people
put together training manuals.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yes, hey, the operations manual is basic, the playbook. So
if I gave it to you, you'd be like, Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Let me read it, study it. Now you know how
to operate my business.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
So what's the checklist If somebody says, Okay, I have
an online business or I have a brick and mortar business,
I need to scale it, I need to franchise it.
I'm going to work with black Box. We've talked about
it conceptually, but what's the checklist of what you actually
do for them?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Yes, So we have a course integrated into our platform.
So the first thing is we give them access to
the course. The course is free and it teaches them
all about the franchise industry. Because if you're franchised without
knowing what that means, you're already set up for failure.
So we have a course and then it's self guided,
(17:42):
and then there's four success coaches that we have. One
does the financial modeling, so they upload all their financial
data and then it's looked at. And then there's a schedule,
there's a meeting scheduled and then we teach them what
we've learned and what they should do, and then the
second step is to package it up. So the same
is true for the business analytics. We have someone on
(18:05):
our team, Alex, and he creates heat maps based on
data based on your client avatar that tells you where
you should open based on your success at your current store,
so you don't have to guess, oh, let me open
up here, because if you open in the wrong.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
You know this, If you open in the wrong, it's
over for you.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Number One in a brick and mortar is location.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Yeah, So we take out all that guest work and
then Sheela does the operations manual and it's literally a
beautiful digital playbook that they can click and learn all
about the business, how to operate. And this is based
off all their own data, so they, the business owner,
uploads everything they have and we just fix it. And
then the final step is the franchise disclosure document, which
(18:46):
is the legal paperwork that makes you official. And so
once that's done, you're a legal franchise and you'll start.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Selling a lot of people think they have to be
a big, successful business to do this, you say that
to misconception.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
It's such a misconception, people like I have to make
millions a month. No, all it is is being honest
about your numbers. So even if somebodynuts the money, they
have leftovers two thousand dollars a month, fifteen hundred, there's
people who will want to buy just to get that
money so that they can pay their bills and survive.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
But if it's negative, Oh, if it's negative, people sell it.
They still sell it. I'm telling you people, we don't,
we don't. We don't set people up like that.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
But sometimes people will like, well this happened, this happened,
Like when COVID happened, everybody was negative, so you had
to sell and tell.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
People no, it was because of a pandemic.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
But there's a lot of research that they do to say,
all right, this is for me, but the goal is
to not be negative five hundred dollars. Like people will
buy your franchise to make five hundred dollars. It sounds crazy,
but people are looking for opportunity to stay at home,
to have a flexible schedule, and they're looking to replace
their income. So if your opportunity replaces their twenty thousand
(19:56):
a year thirty forty whatever, though they'll buy it amazing.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Wow, And how it's not for you to completely set
a business up like this. I know it's not cheap.
How do people work with you? And how much does
that cost?
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Yes, it's so we are less than all the competitors
because I was actually developed by a franchise company for
the same costs years ago, and they didn't teach me
how to be a franchise store. They're just like, here's
your paperwork, and I'm like okay, and it's like a
kid in a candy store. You're like, all right, bye,
you just start picking up all the candy. So the
(20:30):
total cost is forty five thousand. However, we've partnered with
a firm to make it really easy, so you can
get started for as low as seven hundred dollars a
month and actually have your franchise developed. And so we
do that upfront, so in two to three months you're
a franchise and by the time you get your first
franchise ee, you just pay off your balance with a
firm and it's almost like you got it maybe for free,
(20:53):
because you got the person who bought it.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Where can people sign up for this.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Yes, let me make sure I get this right. So
black Box actually surprise, I have a special treat for
everyone for you ladies. So if you go to intro
dot black Boxfranchising dot com slash Wealth Wednesdays, you will
see these two beautiful women's faces on it, and you
(21:19):
can sign up there and we'll have a group call.
There's actually a webinar that you can watch. And watch
the webinar, you'll learn more about it and then we'll
do a one on one and set you up to
get started. So intro dot, black Boxfranchising dot com.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I'm doing it well.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Wednesdays, Well, you're gonna have a Wealth Wednesday franchise yea.
And to make that easy for everybody, if you go
to Teamwealth Wednesdays dot com, we're gonna put that link there.
And if you go to Wealth Wednesdays on Instagram, which
you should all be following anyway, we'll drop that link
in the bio.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I feel like this is very self serving for me
us to have you up here, because this is something
that I've been, you know, trying to manifest for myself.
So we got you.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
As soon as I saw the concept, I was like, oh,
my god. When I saw the logo, I was like,
it's a franchise.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah, we love our will do it and we'll follow
that journey. And well Wednesdays is a great example of
an online exactly is going to franchise us.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
We're going to show you and we're going to show
you guys how to do it. And the franchise girls.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Can I just say the tacos.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Today's yeah, Taco Tuesdays, And can I just throw that
out there, listen, she needs to franchise that two girls shop.
Yeah by by itself because amazing tacos. When we started,
when we finally got our liquor license, so we're open
later at the coffee shop. The first thing I did
was hit was hit up Shelley and be like, we
(22:49):
gotta do Taco Tuesdays every week. And it's been amazing.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Yeah, I mean their.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Tacos is perfect.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, promise me you'll come back. And we're we are
working on some exciting projects together that are going to
help entrepreneurs. And I know we want to hear more
about the You've done some great things with I know
Baron Davis, NBA player just real quick tells us yeah,
he did with him.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
It's crazy, Oh so amazing. So we met Baron.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
He was very into the franchising work that we did,
so we would do his summits, we would speak on
his panels, and then one day he's like, oh, I
actually opened up the podcast studio slash Coffee Shop. And
I'm like, what you did? Like it's it's open. He's
like yeah, and it's funny. You know what I said
(23:36):
to him, have you ever thought about franchising? And he
was like, actually yeah, And then he called me and
then a week later we signed up to do his development,
so we're actually helping him franchise his company.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Oh, his new concepts. I like that.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
He's always into some creative entrepreneurship. Black Santa he does.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
Blacky Yeah, and it's so funny. He's gonna kill me.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
One day we were sitting eating dinner, he's like black
saying that. I'm like, did you trademarket? He's like yeah,
and I go to uspt O dot.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Go I think he did.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
I was like at that moment, I was like, he's
a genius, but he owns all the rights, so super
super excited about that.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Okay, we'll follow your journey, his journey. Follow Wealth Wednesdays
on Instagram. We'll have all the links in the bio
and also on Teamwealth wednesdays dot com. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Thank you so much for joining, much for having me.
Thank you, yes, thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Happy Wealth Wednesdays everybody
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Way.
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