October 25, 2025 • 41 mins
Franchise business coach Giuseppe Grammatico and his industry experts deliver the ultimate semi absentee franchise ownership masterclass! Learn the proven strategies to transition from the corporate grind to financial freedom. This episode covers high-profit models like Cost Intelligence, scaling with needs-based home services, the future of AI in franchising, and the non-negotiable due diligence checklist (FDD & Item 19) every serious candidate must use.
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DISCLAIMER: The information on this site is for general information purposes only. Franchising involves risk and careful consideration should be given before making any decisions.
01:30 The Cost Intelligence Model: A Hidden Franchise Gem
13:59 Scaling with Purpose: Emergency & Home Services Franchises
20:15 The Responsible Franchisor: Communication & Support
27:25 AI & Technology in Franchising: The Future is Now
36:07 The Non-Negotiable Due Diligence Checklist (FDD & Validation)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lisa Hennigar (00:00):
that's it.
(00:01):
And I can say this with a lot ofconfidence.
There isn't a business out theretoday that doesn't have
opportunities that we can helpwith.
Shannon Roderick (00:07):
I am not just here to take a royalty.
You know, I, I, we have alwayssaid that we want to, we want
these brands to change people'slives, right?
Giuseppe Grammatico (00:19):
if you can't handle validation and
research of a brand, how are yougoing to manage an entire
business?
Welcome to the Franchise FreedomPodcast, where you can escape
the corporate trap throughfranchise ownership.
Here's your host, Giuseppe gr,the franchise guide.
(00:39):
Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast.
I'm your host, GiuseppeGrammatico, your franchise guide
to show where we help corporateexecutives experience time and
financial freedom.
Thanks for joining us today.
We really appreciate it.
And don't forget, feel free tovisit our website,
ggthefranchiseguide.com Click onthat book a call.
I'd love to chat with you,answer your questions in regards
to business ownership, franchiseownership, if you're potentially
(01:01):
a good fit.
Book a 20 minute call with metoday.
There's no cost, no commitment,and I would love to help you out
in any, way we can.
today I'm joined by industryexperts who have helped
countless families buildfranchise empires that last.
Whether you're planning to passyour business to the next
generation or building yourfirst franchise with Legacy in
mind, you'll get real worldstories and expert insights
(01:23):
right here.
let's dive into what reallytakes to create a franchise that
just doesn't just survive, butthrives for generations.
speaking of areas of improvementfor small business tell us a
little bit about ERA group.
Who is ERA group?
What, what specifically whatservices do they offer?
I guess we'll start there.
Lisa Hennigar (01:41):
So we are the largest cost intelligence
consulting firm in the worldthat probably your guests have
never heard of.
And what we do, we specialize inreducing indirect costs and
improving profitability, savingthe people, because a lot of
companies go to the peoplefirst, and that's just
(02:02):
backwards.
we're focused on finding outefficiencies.
Through pricing process andpolicy.
And the beauty about our brandtoo is there's such an ecosystem
because as people are coming outof corporate world, which they
have just the most wisdom, themost experience, or they're
being pushed out today.
Which is why we've come incontact because you're able to,
(02:24):
to share our brand with them,but we're able to really take
that knowledge so that thatbusiness owner, those C-suite,
can focus on their corebusiness.
Well, we come alongside them, nopressure, no embarrassment, but
to improve their business, andwe happen to find a lot for them
that allows them to bring inmore people.
(02:46):
Maybe expand their business,increase their technology, so it
allows them to be more strategicand make better decisions on the
growth of their business fromour partnership.
Giuseppe Grammatico (02:57):
I like that.
I, I really, and and what, whatdid, what did you call it in the
beginning?
cause we've been workingtogether and I think that was
the first time I've heard this.
Did you say co costintelligence?
I, I, wow.
I, I like that.
I, I really like, how come Ihaven't heard that before?
Cost intelligence.
That's so cool.
Lisa Hennigar (03:12):
Funny story.
a year ago we changed ourbranding from expense reduction
analyst to ERA group.
For those who've been around awhile, it's been a hard, we
we're expense reductionanalysts, but we're not.
as part of the rebrand, it wasreally looking at what is it
that we do?
And here's the beauty.
We've been around for 32 years.
We're in 64 countries, athousand consultants.
(03:35):
Can you imagine the data pointsthat we've collected over
Giuseppe Grammatico (03:38):
Hmm.
Yeah,
Lisa Hennigar (03:39):
So we took those data points.
We took the benchmarking, theindexes, got ai, we've got
machine learning, and we builtthis machine.
where cost intelligence camefrom our CEO.
It was at our conference lastyear, and he was sitting in the
middle at the end.
(03:59):
Everyone had gone off either tothe room or to go socialize, and
I needed to chat with them andhe is just sitting there in the
room and I'm like, Charlie, hesays, I think we should be
talking about cost intelligence,because that's really what we
do.
And he went out and he ownedthat.
We own that URL and we've beenslow to it, but it, it's really
(04:22):
about what does that mean?
Well, it's, we built on value,our time, which is typical
consultancy work and, and thatis the essence of what ERA does.
Giuseppe Grammatico (04:38):
That fit, that fits a lot.
And this is definitely a peoplebusiness.
And this is conversation youwould think most small
businesses would be open tohaving, doing a full analysis of
their entire business, not justone key area to see where their
can be cut, cuts some costsavings, maybe some
consolidation and things likethat.
So you would think peoplebusiness owners would be.
(04:59):
Overly excited given the, thevalue proposition, the way that
the proposal, the consultationworks and things like that.
You know, one, one I know theanswer, but just for everyone
listening in, a lot of peoplehear this, and maybe it's the
way I'm describing it, butthey're like, you know what?
I am not an, I'm not anaccountant.
I don't, I don't run p and lsand balance sheets, and I'll
come back and say that this isnot accounting.
(05:21):
So talk to us a little bitabout.
the areas that you'repotentially able, the number of
areas, maybe some, some ideas,some, some i, some samples maybe
of, of areas you can potentiallysave a small business on.
Lisa Hennigar (05:32):
No, I love that question because you're right,
there's a lot of confusionaround our brand and
understanding, and many peoplethink it's a financial model.
Giuseppe Grammatico (05:43):
Right.
Lisa Hennigar (05:43):
not.
It's not.
It's a consulting model.
Giuseppe Grammatico (05:47):
Hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (05:47):
which a lot of people think because cost is in
there, we're looking at indirectcost of a business pricing
process and policy.
Okay.
And so when you look at thejoint venture model, because all
of the people who do the work inour business are joint venturing
together from their expertise.
And I'm just gonna give you theUS because that's where we are
(06:09):
and that's, that's what I'moverseeing is North Americas.
We have over 75 different areasof expertise here at era,
Giuseppe Grammatico (06:20):
Wow.
Lisa Hennigar (06:20):
and if you wanna get granular, which you can, I
would say it is between two and300 What do I mean by that?
Solar, you look at utilities, it
Giuseppe Grammatico (06:32):
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (06:33):
it could be electricity, it could be solar.
You look at healthcare, it couldbe senior, it could be
operations, it could beequipment, it could be dental,
and we have that breadth ofexpertise.
And you might have someone outthere who's coming from a
marketing background and they'relike, I cannot imagine getting
(06:54):
another job.
I'm just done.
They could be a great candidate.
might have someone who has beenin the SaaS area, they could be
a great candidate as long asthey enjoy talking with people
who's not the best candidate forus?
As someone who likesspreadsheets more than people.
Giuseppe Grammatico (07:14):
You don't need to be an expert.
It sounds like ERA will trainyou in all these areas.
The joint venture.
If I understood correctly,you're working with other
franchisees across the countryin order to help with those,
with those specific areas.
And I dunno if you can sharethis and if not, that's okay,
but are you able to share whatis this cost?
Is there even a cost for theanalysis?
(07:36):
Is there anything you can share?
Because yeah,
Lisa Hennigar (07:38):
you ask me
Giuseppe Grammatico (07:39):
let's do it.
Let's, let's share it.
Lisa Hennigar (07:41):
we're sharing.
No, that's the beauty.
We have a promise to ourpotential clients that we will
give you an assessment becausewe know there's a couple
exceptions and, and they're,they're very well known
nonprofits that we've looked at.
But that's it.
And I can say this with a lot ofconfidence.
(08:03):
There isn't a business out theretoday that doesn't have
opportunities that we can helpwith.
Giuseppe Grammatico (08:08):
Hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (08:08):
We're typically focused on that 10 million to
250 million all the way up intothe billions.
as we're looking at theirbusiness, we have all those data
points that I was talking to youabout.
all we need is their generalledger and P&L Now, of course,
there's some categorization andsometimes there's some back and
forth, but it's fairly easy.
(08:28):
We can put that into our machineand we can bring that back and
show them their business in away that they cannot.
Have all systems connecting andso we can have some great
dialogue with them.
And so it's not even a hard sellfor us Then it becomes, these
are the areas of the biggestopportunity we could get started
(08:50):
on them today.
going back to our expertises andwe just had a group validation
call.
We have a guy who doesingredients, food ingredients,
getting down, and we weretalking about bread.
And he was talking about aningredient that the, the client
was using was a pharmaceuticalgrade.
They didn't know that,
Giuseppe Grammatico (09:11):
Hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (09:11):
so they were always doing what they had
always done.
So he came in and said, thisproduct is equivalent and it
cost$2,000 less a barrel, Andthey were buying millions of
barrels.
Giuseppe Grammatico (09:26):
That's, yeah.
Sometimes you, you, you don'teven realize that something
you're missing that something assimple as that.
And that's just one area.
Lisa Hennigar (09:32):
To that level of expertise is what we can bring
to a client who thinks of aningredient expert in cost
intelligence, but that's thescope and the breadth that we
can bring.
You think of sea freight, whenall those boats were sitting out
in California, we saw it on thenews in in 2020.
(09:55):
Our clients weren't dealing withthat because our experts knew
those things were coming beforethey were, and they knew how to
move around them.
So our clients that Eric'sclients did not have the
disruption that much of the restof the United States was dealing
with.
Giuseppe Grammatico (10:13):
Right.
That's amazing.
What, what are, what does itlook like for the, for the
client that is.
Open to that sounds like the, afree analysis and then what are,
can you share costs or, whatdoes that look like?
Lisa Hennigar (10:25):
So we share in the savings.
Giuseppe Grammatico (10:28):
Gotcha.
Right.
Lisa Hennigar (10:29):
save a business a million dollars a year, we share
50% of that.
And when I say we, I mean ourfranchise owners.
And they're collective a group.
That's how it works.
And so a good way to think aboutit's when we go in and work with
a client, here's their level ofexpenses.
You take all their line
Giuseppe Grammatico (10:49):
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (10:49):
and you group them.
Here's their expenses.
When we come in and we do ourwork, now their expenses are
here.
So we bill on that gap.
For the next three years, and weshare in that savings with that
client so they can take that 50%and push it into their business
in a very strategic manner toeither hire more people, invest
(11:10):
in technology, grow their
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:13):
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (11:14):
is their, takes them more profit, whatever is
their goal.
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:18):
Love that.
Yeah, that's huge.
And what business isn't lookingin a an up or down market
looking to, to save expenses andlower their costs.
So, I really like that.
Lisa Hennigar (11:27):
Add one more
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:28):
yeah, absolutely.
Lisa Hennigar (11:29):
back to your potential client.
This is the beauty too, becauseas we bill on value to our
client, franchisees benefit fromthe value to their bank account.
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:45):
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (11:47):
much time are they spending?
Are they grinding out a 40 hourweek for that?
No, they're not.
And we will monitor it, butthere's very little time that
gets invested into this on thelong term.
It's more heavy upfront, thenwe're staying there as a
continued advisor monitoring,and so this isn't a 40 hour a
(12:10):
week, grind it out, course.
I don't want to use that word.
Passive investment because wewant our owners to be in the
business, but they're notsitting at a desk for 40 hours a
week.
They're not doing it.
Giuseppe Grammatico (12:26):
And because you're essentially doing all the
work upfront and creating,correct me if I'm wrong, these
are annuities a way.
So you're saving a, if it'slowering, just to keep it simple
that that ingredient, and it's ahundred thousand every single
month, it may be a hundredthousand for however length,
length of time that the, theagreement is based upon.
So the work is done upfront, andthen you're essentially getting
(12:46):
those, as long as they'regetting the savings, you're,
you're getting half of that.
Lisa Hennigar (12:49):
of the joint venture, because someone else
that they've partnered with isdoing that work.
Giuseppe Grammatico (12:55):
Right.
Lisa Hennigar (12:56):
And then because they brought the client and they
own the relationship, they putthat team together, they're
benefiting from watching theirteam members.
And typically signing fiveprojects with every client or
more.
So you got five people doingwork that you, as the franchise
owner are benefiting from themdoing that work.
Shannon Roderick (13:18):
And it has really just taken this brand to,
to um, a different level in themarket.
We, like I had mentioned, westarted out, um, in May of 22
with six locations, and todaywe, we proudly are 125, um,
locations across 39 states andover 400 territories.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:40):
Wow, that is a absolutely amazing.
I didn't, I didn't realize, justsix in, in, uh, just basically
three years ago.
So that's, uh.
Shannon Roderick (13:47):
3 years ago.
I know.
Just had my anniversary lastweekend.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:50):
Yes.
Con well, congratulations.
So that, that, congratulations.
Happy Mother's Day.
You, you, you hit'em all thismonth.
So it's, uh, that is absolutelyamazing.
Um, what, um, I guess for theaudience, not, uh, not familiar
with Resto Pros, maybe just, uh,you know, who is Resto Pros,
what those, uh, resto Prosoffer?
Shannon Roderick (14:09):
Sure.
Resta Pros is, um, a mitigationcompany.
I.
so mitigation, meaning there wasdamage, it might have been
caused by water, fire, mold,smoke, storm damage, um, have
been, you know, a, a bathroomoverflow.
It is where it just cannot be,um, remediated with just a, a
(14:31):
house fan or a towel.
You're soaking up some damageor, or just removing it.
It is really where we have to goin, remove the damaged material,
whether it's commercial orresidential, into a safe
environment.
Um, and then some of ourlocations take that, that
service a little bit further.
Um, we always say we have tostart out with mitigation,
(14:53):
right?
We've gotta, we've gotta cleareverything out.
And some of our locations nowhave brought on rebuild to, to.
Make sure that that property canbe restored to its its original
condition.
Giuseppe Grammatico (15:06):
Gotcha.
And.
With Resto Pros, uh, there was,uh, I'm not sure of the date,
and this is a question I had foryou, but be rugged brands, uh,
tell us a little bit about thatand, and maybe any of the other
brands that fall into that, uh,parent company or that, that
umbrella.
Shannon Roderick (15:22):
So, um.
Because of the success withResta Pros and the team behind
that success, our founder is, isa very innovative, um,
individual and, and we reallydid.
You know, you, when you havesomething really good, you've
got the secret sauce.
We've got the boilerplate.
And more than anything, we hadthe vision of services and home
(15:44):
services we wanted to bring to,to our markets in the, in
surrounding communities.
And so Alex de developed acompany, um, a parent company.
Um, called B Rugged Brands, andthat is going to, um, house, um,
our home ser our different homeservices brands that we have.
(16:22):
They are.
you know, we're cleaning outdamage.
Um, we are sometimes in sewerand what we call in this
business category three.
Um, you would not drink it.
You would not wanna sit in it,you would not, it, it, it's bad.
It's contaminated.
We, you've gotta, gotta cleaneverything that it has touched.
The second brand that we have,that we have, um, recently, um,
(16:46):
launched is called ScoopBrothers.
And Scoop Brothers is going tobe a pet waste valet service.
We are going to be able toservice both residential and
commercial and along with, um.
Pet waste removal, scooping itif you, um, so, so inclined to,
you know, categories like that.
(17:08):
Um, we are able to put in, um,the, uh, commercial pods, you
know, that you see the petwaste, um, pods that go around
and, and we will be able toservice those also with
installation or, or maintenanceon'em.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:26):
Awesome.
And, and what, so what is the,uh, so with Be Rugged so that,
you know, what, what, what isthe plan, I guess going forward?
Is it to, you said.
Kind of keep it all, is it, isit gonna be jokingly, you said,
you know, the two brands aresimilarities between the two,
but
Shannon Roderick (17:39):
cleanliness.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:40):
uh, yeah, what, I guess, what does the
future, you know, for the brandlook like?
Shannon Roderick (17:45):
It does.
Um, we are gonna look at somemore home services brand, um,
brands that, that really are,um, more of a, of uh, either a
subscription based model, um,that it's reoccurring.
Um, and, and, or.
Needs based, you know, we reallyhave a niche in, um, in this
(18:06):
emergency services throughquality of work, reaction to in
response time and just how we,we deliver things to insurance
and to our customers.
Um, as far as estimates, qualityof work, um, and really it's
through documentation we have.
Just taken Resta in, in what wecan build onto it to with
(18:29):
technology.
You know, we've got Matterportwhere we scan the whole house
and the property, um, and.
Last time, when's the last timeyou did inventory of, of your
house?
Right.
It is just a, it's a leavebehind link that, um, I know I
haven't, um, you know, justbeing able, if something ever
happened, you know, we have sometechnology, if we did services
(18:53):
at your house, that we would beable scan, um, and, and be able
to store those, um, or send youthe link.
As a, as a homeowner, um, sothat you, you had it after we
were done.
Um, but really, you know, whenit comes to, um, B rugged, it
is, we, we really wanna attractbrands that are, are needs based
(19:15):
and that we can, um, have multi.
you know, with that.
And, and we've got some benefitsthat, that will also, as we use
one for one brand, we can use itin another.
We, we should see, um, some ofthose savings across the, the,
um, the whole company.
Giuseppe Grammatico (19:32):
I like that.
Yeah, because some, sometimespeople will ask, you know, is it
better to stick with one brand,add a complimentary brand?
And there's pros and cons,there's differences.
I don't even like to say prosand cons.
I like to say there'sdifferences and I.
Uh, sometimes the options maynot be there.
Maybe an instance where theterritory was sold around you,
uh, and now you're looking atat, at a complimentary brand.
(19:54):
So it's good to have thoseoptions because I always
encourage everyone to kind ofthink out what, what do the next
five or 10 years look like?
Are you looking for a quickerexit or you're looking to kind
of create a legacy for yourfamily?
So these are all things I havethem.
Maybe not necessarily decidingon day one, but just thinking
about as they, you kind of, uh,expand their business.
So.
Uh, that's a big one.
(20:15):
Um, in, in our lastconversation, you know, one
thing that really attracted meto Resto Pros and we've helped
quite a few people, uh, moveforward specifically with, with
Resto Pros, is the support.
And not only support, but youknow, you're, the lines of
communication are completelyopen.
(20:35):
Um, you know, checking in withfranchisees and things like
that, which I think is a majordifferentiator, we.
We, we speak with, you know,numerous brands and the level of
support is definitely, uh, youknow, on the high end knowing
kind of what's going on witheach franchisee.
What, what their thoughts, wheretheir, where their needs are,
what maybe what, what theirstruggles are.
Can you elaborate a little biton that?
(20:55):
Because, you know, you hear, andit's been, I believe in a way,
overused, responsiblefranchising.
Well, what is that?
And I've seen it kind of takeall these different directions,
but, uh, it really boils downto, to support and
communication.
So can you expand a little biton.
Uh, or elaborate a little biton, you know, what, you know how
you work with your franchisees.
Shannon Roderick (21:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
And, and I have to tell you,our, our level of support, um,
almost came by default i, Iprobably, um.
a little bit of a unicornbecause I had zero franchise
experience.
Alls I knew is that there was anowner, they invested money and
(21:37):
we needed to support'em.
Giuseppe Grammatico (21:38):
Right.
Shannon Roderick (21:39):
told me that, oh, we could suggest some
things.
Nobody said, Hey, you know, Icame from.
A business where we owned theseproperties.
You know, we, we owned theseentities and it was, you know,
over a hundred locations acrossthe us And so if, if something
(22:00):
didn't work out, you went tothat location, you supported the
team that was there, you putaction plans in place.
And, you know, we just kind ofsaid, Hey, we're gonna follow up
with you and, and we're gonnaright the ship and, and we're
gonna keep moving.
in franchising, you know, I, Isaid, well, we're just, we're
just, we're gonna go support'em.
(22:21):
We're gonna put people in, inthe market, we're gonna put
people in the field.
We're gonna have meaningfulconversations with our owners
because they just didn't buythis franchise to let it sit on
the shelf.
text message, or phones arealways, are always open.
Our doors are always open, butwe to become a better brand.
We need to hear from our owners,right, wrong or indifferent.
(22:43):
And, and as long as you canaccept openness and not know
that, you know, you're themaster of all the answers, I
think you're just, your brandcan continue to, to grow in, in
a positive manner, and then it,it leads, you know, really to
some ownership on our, on ourowners, right?
(23:04):
It, you know, for example,something came up and did you
let anybody know?
Well, no.
Why not?
Well, I, I didn't know if itwould really affect anybody.
Well, actually, let's, let's putit out there.
You know, you bring a problem tome.
I'm gonna ask our franchiseperformance directors.
A lot of people in this, thisworld call'em coaches, um, but
(23:27):
they are responsible, um, be.
For between, you know, 30 and 35locations per, um, FPD in, our
organization.
And they are there to just focuson those locations and, and
being able to help.
So I think the more that we cancommunicate to them, Hey, put
(23:49):
this out to your division or, oryour region, see if they're
having these same things, thenit's easier to move that needle
to correct anything that, thatwe need to address.
Giuseppe Grammatico (23:58):
Love it.
Yeah, that's, uh, I could,could, it, it sounds so basic
and so simple, but, uh, you guysdo a really good job and, and
even prior to that, it's just.
This is, this is, um, you know,the anxiety levels are really
high.
You don't know what you don'tknow.
I know when I started, uh, over20 years, uh, close to 20 years
ago in franchising, you know,there was all these things on my
(24:19):
mind.
Uh, who do I hire?
Who do I get for payroll?
When do I set up my legalentity?
You know, what about all theother legal, legal documents?
Do I need a franchise attorney?
There's so many moving parts andwe help.
Or we can, but I like that youkind of have that checklist, you
know, putting yourself, youknow, putting, putting, putting
yourself in their shoesbasically.
You know, the many of them havenever owned the business before.
So really giving'em kind of stepby step, as you mentioned, you
(24:43):
know, these are the things youhave to do.
And maybe not throwing'em all,throwing it all on their plate,
but just saying maybe the, theseare the first five things you
need to do.
And kind of break it downbecause it does become.
Uh, overwhelming if you've neverdone it before.
And some people may be stilltransitioning out of a job or,
you know, um, you know, maybethey just left their job, but
they, you know, they got, youknow, they're, they're, they're
kind of prioritizing everything.
(25:04):
When do I order the truck?
When do I start hiringemployees?
So that roadmap, that, thatguide, I think is, uh.
Um, is crucial and it definitelyhelps with the nerves and, you
know, helping them make betterdecisions in that, you know, we
kind of have a plan and this,the, these are the five items we
have to, uh, tackle this week.
So, uh, that's a big part.
And those are some of thequestions and, uh, that I get
(25:25):
concerns like, where, where theheck do I even start?
And I go, well, that thefranchisor will, will assist you
in, you know, in that process.
Um, what else, you know, standsout to you from a, a support
standpoint?
Uh, with Resto Pro, we'll,we'll, we'll call it b rugged,
um, because you have multiplebrands that, that really go over
and beyond.
(25:46):
Um, supporting franchise owners.
Uh, you know, they're, a lot of,a lot of, a lot of these owners
are first time owners.
So what else, uh, from a supportstandpoint are you offering to
kind of a system?
Shannon Roderick (25:57):
You know, I, I do think, um, I think what's,
what sets us apart and whatallows us to support is, is the,
the comradery in and the care.
Right.
I am not just here to take aroyalty.
You know, I, I, we have alwayssaid that we want to, we want
(26:18):
these brands to change people'slives, right?
They, they were doing what theywere doing, they invested their
money in something and we wannagive them the roadmap to, to be
able to be successful.
Um, and, know, I think.
A listening, um, b beinginnovative.
(26:40):
You know, I, I, I always tellpeople, they're like, wow, you
know, the, the training for whenwe started as an early adopter,
zero to 30 looks completelydifferent now at 1 0 5 and, and
one 10 and, and things likethat.
Kelly Macht (26:54):
I'll encourage my, my candidates like Google, blind
repair near me.
Right.
And, and it's very rare thatthey find a lot of options out
there.
So it does get us into morehomes.
And then lastly, technology,Kelsey touched on the idea that
the window coverings is just thewidget.
Well, the other piece of thebrand is that they are
technology heavy.
Anytime somebody who's jazzedabout technology, jazzed about
(27:16):
AI, this is a brand you shouldreally consider because it's a
simple widget, but thetechnology that is the engine
behind it is really significant.
And it's an area that thebrand's making significant
investments in.
Kelsey, you probably want toexpand on that a little bit
more.
Kelsey Stuart (27:30):
Well, on the technology side in particular
early last year, early 24.
We just kind of sat around inone of our leadership meetings
and we, the concept was like, dowe really believe that AI is
going to be the future?
Is there an opportunity to getthe brand ahead of the curve to
start adopting and bringing onthese pieces before the rest of
the world?
And, and can that get us in aposition where we can, where we
(27:52):
have like a defense as the worldshifts and, and Businesses go up
and down.
Anytime you can kind of create amote around you, like that,
that's an opportunity that hasto be evaluated.
So we, we dove in, but inparticular, we decided to build
out our own AI system.
So instead of renting, a lot ofpeople are using AI right now,
(28:13):
renting other people's businessor renting their models or their
information, that means theirprograms are getting smarter,
not yours.
So we partnered with Yeah.
Yeah.
So we partnered with a company.
We had our own AI built out ofour own data.
We're almost complete within a,a, a full tech stack that sits
on top of that.
So the AI is actually learningfrom virtually every twitch of
(28:34):
the business.
And that becomes the base on howthe franchisees operate their
business.
It also becomes the base on howthe clients interact with.
Us from a marketing standpointor in the house doing consults
and, and by continually growingour data set I firmly believe
it's going to put us in aposition where we can react and,
(28:57):
and improve upon data and arereally kind of comes down to
marketing and efficiency in away that even once everyone
decides that this is the rightpath, we'll already have a
headstart.
And so they, even when theystart moving as fast as we do.
They won't be able to catch upbecause we're then running at
the same speed.
We've just been doing it longer.
Giuseppe Grammatico (29:17):
I like that.
We the AI conversations havedefinitely hit home with people.
We've noticed a lot more, a lotmore views on those
conversations or those kind ofsegments or snippets.
And to your, to your pointowning it I think people don't
realize there's nothing free inthis world.
And when you're using free eye,I've tested some, some platforms
as well.
Friends of friends.
(29:38):
I'm basically almost like theguinea pig in a way I'm putting
my information and they'regathering it.
So although I'm not paying, I'mtechnically paying with my time
and not building something formyself.
So I do have somewhat of a freeservice, but I'm not building
anything.
And I think that is, that'sjust, is AI taking over?
I don't think it's taking over.
I think we all have to step upand use it somewhat in our
(29:58):
businesses.
I know we've, we've cut it,we've cut our marketing spend
down by using AI with a coupleof agencies that we've used.
I think it's a, it's a must touse, but I don't think AI is
going to replace everything.
So I like that.
Can you, can you talk a littlebit?
I mean, I know you said it's,it's being launched.
Can you talk specifically onany, on any aspects of it or is
that
Kelsey Stuart (30:17):
yeah, yeah, I, nothing I, in the long run, a
lot of it is the stuff.
that humans do, we're just doingit with either automation or
with more sensitivity and datais really kind of where AI gets
its superpower is when it'sfinally got enough data that it
can create what's calledpredictive analytics.
(30:38):
Most of the data in today'sworld is looking backwards.
It's what happened, how thathappened.
Now, how do I analyze?
and guess on how to make itbetter.
AI gets really valuable when italmost gets to a level where it
can almost predict at a highdegree of certainty what's going
to happen.
So a couple pieces that'll beactionable for the franchise
(30:58):
owners.
Our call center will be ran byAI voice agents.
We will have people in thebackground, so if the AI gets
stumped or doesn't know theanswer, I've got people sitting
there ready to pick up the phonelive, but it's going to allow us
to answer the phone 24/7 365snow days.
We're still answering the phone.
So that's the phone, right?
That's right.
(31:19):
Right now I've got seven peoplewho work in a call center.
They're taking phone phonecalls.
I mean, this is like in myoffice 30 ft behind me.
But what happens when there'seight phone calls?
Somebody's got to wait.
And this thing it's programmedto take up to 250 calls at once.
It can do some amazing, yeah, tobe able to do smart scheduling.
So like we're very route basedor geographically based drive.
(31:41):
Time is a waste for us.
And so being able to presentoptions to customers in like a
basically a very smart routingsuggestion, like we only give
customers options that aregeographically appropriate for
us with the right people withthe right skill sets.
(32:02):
My favorite example, and I'vealready seen this in action, is
we use iPads.
We're not using, I mean, itcan't build AI and still use a
notepad.
We're on iPads and as thecustomer is, or as we're having
a conversation about how theywant the room dark at 7.
30 on a summer night because thekid's got to go to bed, but they
(32:22):
don't want strings and they wantto be able to push a button to
make it go up and down, the AIsystem is listening to these
descriptions and beginning topopulate the products and the
manufacturers and the follow upquestions.
That match that activeconversation.
So in real time, the AI ispresenting the products and the
(32:43):
real value that the homeowner isgoing to think it's cool, but
for a new franchise owner or anew employee who hasn't yet
learned all the variables andhasn't really mastered the, the,
the trade yet, we can give themthe ability to feel and look
like an expert because theydon't have to have all that
knowledge in their mind.
They like, we're going topresent it to them so that they
(33:05):
can just.
Work with the information that'salready in front of them.
Giuseppe Grammatico (33:09):
That's that's impressive.
This is, this is this is itguys.
This is what the future islooking like.
And AI doesn't need, as youmentioned, snow days, not
feeling well.
We lost power.
My AI it's, I'm also setting upsomething on my end.
If we lose power, it doesn'tmatter.
It's not running from my home.
Kelsey Stuart (33:24):
Like, what do they get?
What, what support is there kindof, so to go back on that,
because I think that's a reallyimportant topic.
We kind of build all the systemswith the overarching concept.
There's going to be a lot to do,but you're not gonna have to
figure out what to do.
And, and by that, again, we, wedo really enjoy that first time
business owner.
(33:45):
And so we know that, in thatenvironment, there's a lot of
questions on like, how do I getthis set up?
How do I do my marketing?
Who do I talk to?
What do I say?
And for one reason or another,we've just really gravitated
toward that coaching role ofwalking people through that
stage.
The business setup, theinfrastructure of it, the
(34:06):
business checking account, howdo I, all these little elements
of setting up a business, wewalk candidates through that.
The marketing can be broken upinto two categories.
You have your digital presence.
And then you have like yourcommunity interaction, the
digital side.
We pretty well automate that forthe owners.
In fact, we've got AI runningSEO and PPC for owners.
(34:27):
Pretty effective there on theground level.
We'll tell you exactly where togo, who to talk to, how to get
engaged, how to become known inthe room.
You're going to have to go doit, but you're not gonna have to
figure out what to do.
And that's really kind of thetheme throughout the first,
probably first year of thebusiness is most of these things
are going to be brand new to youand you're going to have someone
(34:50):
who's excited and willing andwanting to walk with you during
that kind of saying, Hey, goover here now, go over here and
now do this thing and now dothat thing you have to execute
on it, but we will walk with youand kind of point you in the way
so that you can at least headforward with some confidence.
knowing where you're supposed togo and what it's supposed to
look like when you get there.
Giuseppe Grammatico (35:12):
I like that.
And that's, and that's whatpeople are looking for.
I think that, I had someone justsay, I'm overwhelmed.
I'm overwhelmed and They wereonly on after the second call
and, and I said, well, thefranchise or is, and you have to
ask these questions, what isincluded, what, what they will
help you with kind of step bystep.
These are the questions to beasking.
We haven't made a decision onthe brand yet, but you want to
(35:33):
find out the support.
And as we mentioned, first timebusiness owner, it is extremely
overwhelming because you don'tknow what you don't know.
You don't even know thequestions to ask or the things
to do.
What are these legal entitiesdoing?
How do I set them up?
Who does that?
Do I do them online and theattorney so I get it but there
you go.
Yeah, that'll be, that'll be mylast interview.
(35:55):
Yeah, it's it's great.
It's great.
I mean, just for someone to saythat, that really kind of, that
really bothered me.
I mean, I'm sure hemisunderstood, but.
It's kind of bothersome if thatactually was said or maybe it
was taken out of context, whoknows, but
Kelly Macht (36:07):
having said all that, I think there's one point
that I want to bring up onBlumen, and there's, in the, in
the FDD, which I just mentioned,which is the Franchise
Disclosure Document, the verylarge legal reading that every
brand has, there's a section inthat called the Item 19, and
that's financial performancerepresentations on that specific
brand.
And when you, they're not allcreated equal, right?
(36:28):
The amount of information afranchise system wants to put in
there can be varying widely.
And I think I'm really blessedto work on a brand that Kelsey
and his family have decided toput a tremendous amount of
information.
There's 13 tables ofinformation.
There's seven different P& Ls.
We show you consolidated P& Lsfor a single van owner versus a
multi van owner.
So you can say, Hey, why would Inot want to scale my business
(36:51):
down the road?
Right?
We even show you a consolidatedP& L for our owners.
For whom in that calendar year,that was their first full year
of operation with us.
So you can see what brand newowners are doing with us.
Giuseppe Grammatico (37:02):
not executing for you.
You need to follow theblueprint, the process.
And I think some people don't,they, they just think they
invest and the business kind ofruns on itself.
I haven't found that businessyet, but I'll keep looking, but
to my, to my knowledge, itdoesn't exist.
Kelly Macht (37:18):
I think Kelsey brings up a good point when
you're talking about some of ourfranchisees and some of our
success stories.
One of the important things thatyou should be doing when you're
vetting any franchiseopportunity is having an
opportunity, not only to.
Speak to the leadership team.
You've got to get to know peoplelike Kelsey and his brothers.
And, we put them up every weekon calls that our candidates can
join in on, but we do the samething with our franchisees.
(37:39):
Then Blumen is very fortunate tohave a wide variety of
franchisees on our validationcalls is what we call them.
Giuseppe.
And so each week we hold onehour zoom calls, open format, Q
and a, for them to just talk toa franchisee.
Like, what are your pain points?
What are the things that you'vehad challenges?
Would you do this all overagain?
Where are you having success?
(38:00):
What are your growth planslooking like?
Are you meeting those?
If not, how is anybody helpingyou with that?
Right?
Bring those questions.
But we put brand new owners.
We've got two owners that justopened with us in 2024.
So people can talk about like,what does it look like the last
few months for you?
We've got legacy owners, some ofour most successful owners that
are in the system.
(38:20):
The gentleman that Kelsey justmentioned validates with us and
can talk about, scaling hisbusiness.
So we've got people that havecome from all walks of life and
they've got all differentstories.
They've got different territorysizes, some are in big major
metros, some are in smaller.
So there's really, you can seeyourself in a little bit of, of
different franchisees, but wehighly encourage, like, you've
(38:41):
got to talk to franchisees tounderstand.
From their perspective, is thissomething that you really want
to dive into and do?
And I, I often say, if you'renot on those validation calls,
or at least making some calls ofyour own, like, you don't really
look at you as a seriouscandidate, because without
validation, you can't reallydetermine if the vision you have
(39:03):
in your head or the stories thatwe've shared with you really
make sense for you, and validatethat this is the opportunity
that you want to move forwardwith.
It also gives us a chance to getto know the franchise candidates
on a very different level aswell.
They get time to spend with theleadership team and they, along
with myself, can kind of pre vetthem before we have them out to
(39:23):
Dallas to meet the teameventually, right?
Giuseppe Grammatico (39:26):
You would think that's common sense.
I know for me it was completecommon sense to speak with other
franchisees, but it's not.
You need to, you need to remind,I, I've been shocked that people
come with that so hard.
It's what I wouldn't do.
Yeah, yeah,
Kelly Macht (39:42):
yeah.
I tell my candidates quitefrankly, look, if you're a
couple of weeks in, you're noton any validation or leadership
calls, I'm going to assumeyou're not interested in this
brand.
Right.
And I get it.
Life happens.
There's all kinds of things thatwill happen that prevent people
from being on calls.
But you know, the fact thatyou're working or the fact that
you've got kids in the eveningor the fact that like none of
those are enough, you're goingto, you're looking at being a
business owner.
(40:03):
You, you're going to have tojuggle responsibilities.
You're going to be investingyour time.
You can't do that now.
Giuseppe Grammatico (40:10):
This is the easy part.
Running a business is going tobe a lot.
If you can't, if you can'thandle validation and research
of a brand, how are you going tomanage an entire business?
So yeah, it's the three stages.
I always say you talk with thefranchise or you learn about the
brand.
You talk to the franchiseesvalidation.
And then stage three is you talkto the captain steering the
(40:31):
ship.
You talk to the franchise ordirectly virtually in person at
a discovery meet the team day.
Or some, some brands aren't evendoing that.
They're doing that within theirdue diligence calls and just
asking where, where is the shipgoing?
What are we adding revenuestreams?
What others, talking about AI,this is something new that we're
going to be adding on.
(40:51):
There's no, there's an addedcost.
There isn't a cost.
This is included here or we'rechanging something else up, but
you have to have that completepicture.
In my opinion, to be comfortablewith it and to make the best
informed decision.
All stages equally important.
Yeah,
Kelly Macht (41:06):
at the end of the day, you as the consultant and
myself as the franchisedevelopment person are not going
to be part of the picture.
The relationship lies with thefranchise system, with the
franchisor.
If you haven't invested in them,if that's not where you're
making your decision based on.
that interaction, that potentialrelationship, that's
problematic.
Giuseppe Grammatico (41:26):
Absolutely.
Kelly Macht (41:27):
You and I are going to be gone.
Giuseppe Grammatico (41:29):
Yes.
Yeah.
Right.
Thanks for tuning in if you wantto learn how to make the
transition from corporate toowning your franchise.
Join Giuseppe on the nextepisode.
You can also follow on allsocial media platforms and
achieve financial and timefreedom today.
that's it.
(00:01):
And I can say this with a lot ofconfidence.
There isn't a business out theretoday that doesn't have
opportunities that we can helpwith.
Shannon Roderick (00:07):
I am not just here to take a royalty.
You know, I, I, we have alwayssaid that we want to, we want
these brands to change people'slives, right?
Giuseppe Grammatico (00:19):
if you can't handle validation and
research of a brand, how are yougoing to manage an entire
business?
Welcome to the Franchise FreedomPodcast, where you can escape
the corporate trap throughfranchise ownership.
Here's your host, Giuseppe gr,the franchise guide.
(00:39):
Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast.
I'm your host, GiuseppeGrammatico, your franchise guide
to show where we help corporateexecutives experience time and
financial freedom.
Thanks for joining us today.
We really appreciate it.
And don't forget, feel free tovisit our website,
ggthefranchiseguide.com Click onthat book a call.
I'd love to chat with you,answer your questions in regards
to business ownership, franchiseownership, if you're potentially
(01:01):
a good fit.
Book a 20 minute call with metoday.
There's no cost, no commitment,and I would love to help you out
in any, way we can.
today I'm joined by industryexperts who have helped
countless families buildfranchise empires that last.
Whether you're planning to passyour business to the next
generation or building yourfirst franchise with Legacy in
mind, you'll get real worldstories and expert insights
(01:23):
right here.
let's dive into what reallytakes to create a franchise that
just doesn't just survive, butthrives for generations.
speaking of areas of improvementfor small business tell us a
little bit about ERA group.
Who is ERA group?
What, what specifically whatservices do they offer?
I guess we'll start there.
Lisa Hennigar (01:41):
So we are the largest cost intelligence
consulting firm in the worldthat probably your guests have
never heard of.
And what we do, we specialize inreducing indirect costs and
improving profitability, savingthe people, because a lot of
companies go to the peoplefirst, and that's just
(02:02):
backwards.
we're focused on finding outefficiencies.
Through pricing process andpolicy.
And the beauty about our brandtoo is there's such an ecosystem
because as people are coming outof corporate world, which they
have just the most wisdom, themost experience, or they're
being pushed out today.
Which is why we've come incontact because you're able to,
(02:24):
to share our brand with them,but we're able to really take
that knowledge so that thatbusiness owner, those C-suite,
can focus on their corebusiness.
Well, we come alongside them, nopressure, no embarrassment, but
to improve their business, andwe happen to find a lot for them
that allows them to bring inmore people.
(02:46):
Maybe expand their business,increase their technology, so it
allows them to be more strategicand make better decisions on the
growth of their business fromour partnership.
Giuseppe Grammatico (02:57):
I like that.
I, I really, and and what, whatdid, what did you call it in the
beginning?
cause we've been workingtogether and I think that was
the first time I've heard this.
Did you say co costintelligence?
I, I, wow.
I, I like that.
I, I really like, how come Ihaven't heard that before?
Cost intelligence.
That's so cool.
Lisa Hennigar (03:12):
Funny story.
a year ago we changed ourbranding from expense reduction
analyst to ERA group.
For those who've been around awhile, it's been a hard, we
we're expense reductionanalysts, but we're not.
as part of the rebrand, it wasreally looking at what is it
that we do?
And here's the beauty.
We've been around for 32 years.
We're in 64 countries, athousand consultants.
(03:35):
Can you imagine the data pointsthat we've collected over
Giuseppe Grammatico (03:38):
Hmm.
Yeah,
Lisa Hennigar (03:39):
So we took those data points.
We took the benchmarking, theindexes, got ai, we've got
machine learning, and we builtthis machine.
where cost intelligence camefrom our CEO.
It was at our conference lastyear, and he was sitting in the
middle at the end.
(03:59):
Everyone had gone off either tothe room or to go socialize, and
I needed to chat with them andhe is just sitting there in the
room and I'm like, Charlie, hesays, I think we should be
talking about cost intelligence,because that's really what we
do.
And he went out and he ownedthat.
We own that URL and we've beenslow to it, but it, it's really
(04:22):
about what does that mean?
Well, it's, we built on value,our time, which is typical
consultancy work and, and thatis the essence of what ERA does.
Giuseppe Grammatico (04:38):
That fit, that fits a lot.
And this is definitely a peoplebusiness.
And this is conversation youwould think most small
businesses would be open tohaving, doing a full analysis of
their entire business, not justone key area to see where their
can be cut, cuts some costsavings, maybe some
consolidation and things likethat.
So you would think peoplebusiness owners would be.
(04:59):
Overly excited given the, thevalue proposition, the way that
the proposal, the consultationworks and things like that.
You know, one, one I know theanswer, but just for everyone
listening in, a lot of peoplehear this, and maybe it's the
way I'm describing it, butthey're like, you know what?
I am not an, I'm not anaccountant.
I don't, I don't run p and lsand balance sheets, and I'll
come back and say that this isnot accounting.
(05:21):
So talk to us a little bitabout.
the areas that you'repotentially able, the number of
areas, maybe some, some ideas,some, some i, some samples maybe
of, of areas you can potentiallysave a small business on.
Lisa Hennigar (05:32):
No, I love that question because you're right,
there's a lot of confusionaround our brand and
understanding, and many peoplethink it's a financial model.
Giuseppe Grammatico (05:43):
Right.
Lisa Hennigar (05:43):
not.
It's not.
It's a consulting model.
Giuseppe Grammatico (05:47):
Hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (05:47):
which a lot of people think because cost is in
there, we're looking at indirectcost of a business pricing
process and policy.
Okay.
And so when you look at thejoint venture model, because all
of the people who do the work inour business are joint venturing
together from their expertise.
And I'm just gonna give you theUS because that's where we are
(06:09):
and that's, that's what I'moverseeing is North Americas.
We have over 75 different areasof expertise here at era,
Giuseppe Grammatico (06:20):
Wow.
Lisa Hennigar (06:20):
and if you wanna get granular, which you can, I
would say it is between two and300 What do I mean by that?
Solar, you look at utilities, it
Giuseppe Grammatico (06:32):
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (06:33):
it could be electricity, it could be solar.
You look at healthcare, it couldbe senior, it could be
operations, it could beequipment, it could be dental,
and we have that breadth ofexpertise.
And you might have someone outthere who's coming from a
marketing background and they'relike, I cannot imagine getting
(06:54):
another job.
I'm just done.
They could be a great candidate.
might have someone who has beenin the SaaS area, they could be
a great candidate as long asthey enjoy talking with people
who's not the best candidate forus?
As someone who likesspreadsheets more than people.
Giuseppe Grammatico (07:14):
You don't need to be an expert.
It sounds like ERA will trainyou in all these areas.
The joint venture.
If I understood correctly,you're working with other
franchisees across the countryin order to help with those,
with those specific areas.
And I dunno if you can sharethis and if not, that's okay,
but are you able to share whatis this cost?
Is there even a cost for theanalysis?
(07:36):
Is there anything you can share?
Because yeah,
Lisa Hennigar (07:38):
you ask me
Giuseppe Grammatico (07:39):
let's do it.
Let's, let's share it.
Lisa Hennigar (07:41):
we're sharing.
No, that's the beauty.
We have a promise to ourpotential clients that we will
give you an assessment becausewe know there's a couple
exceptions and, and they're,they're very well known
nonprofits that we've looked at.
But that's it.
And I can say this with a lot ofconfidence.
(08:03):
There isn't a business out theretoday that doesn't have
opportunities that we can helpwith.
Giuseppe Grammatico (08:08):
Hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (08:08):
We're typically focused on that 10 million to
250 million all the way up intothe billions.
as we're looking at theirbusiness, we have all those data
points that I was talking to youabout.
all we need is their generalledger and P&L Now, of course,
there's some categorization andsometimes there's some back and
forth, but it's fairly easy.
(08:28):
We can put that into our machineand we can bring that back and
show them their business in away that they cannot.
Have all systems connecting andso we can have some great
dialogue with them.
And so it's not even a hard sellfor us Then it becomes, these
are the areas of the biggestopportunity we could get started
(08:50):
on them today.
going back to our expertises andwe just had a group validation
call.
We have a guy who doesingredients, food ingredients,
getting down, and we weretalking about bread.
And he was talking about aningredient that the, the client
was using was a pharmaceuticalgrade.
They didn't know that,
Giuseppe Grammatico (09:11):
Hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (09:11):
so they were always doing what they had
always done.
So he came in and said, thisproduct is equivalent and it
cost$2,000 less a barrel, Andthey were buying millions of
barrels.
Giuseppe Grammatico (09:26):
That's, yeah.
Sometimes you, you, you don'teven realize that something
you're missing that something assimple as that.
And that's just one area.
Lisa Hennigar (09:32):
To that level of expertise is what we can bring
to a client who thinks of aningredient expert in cost
intelligence, but that's thescope and the breadth that we
can bring.
You think of sea freight, whenall those boats were sitting out
in California, we saw it on thenews in in 2020.
(09:55):
Our clients weren't dealing withthat because our experts knew
those things were coming beforethey were, and they knew how to
move around them.
So our clients that Eric'sclients did not have the
disruption that much of the restof the United States was dealing
with.
Giuseppe Grammatico (10:13):
Right.
That's amazing.
What, what are, what does itlook like for the, for the
client that is.
Open to that sounds like the, afree analysis and then what are,
can you share costs or, whatdoes that look like?
Lisa Hennigar (10:25):
So we share in the savings.
Giuseppe Grammatico (10:28):
Gotcha.
Right.
Lisa Hennigar (10:29):
save a business a million dollars a year, we share
50% of that.
And when I say we, I mean ourfranchise owners.
And they're collective a group.
That's how it works.
And so a good way to think aboutit's when we go in and work with
a client, here's their level ofexpenses.
You take all their line
Giuseppe Grammatico (10:49):
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (10:49):
and you group them.
Here's their expenses.
When we come in and we do ourwork, now their expenses are
here.
So we bill on that gap.
For the next three years, and weshare in that savings with that
client so they can take that 50%and push it into their business
in a very strategic manner toeither hire more people, invest
(11:10):
in technology, grow their
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:13):
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (11:14):
is their, takes them more profit, whatever is
their goal.
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:18):
Love that.
Yeah, that's huge.
And what business isn't lookingin a an up or down market
looking to, to save expenses andlower their costs.
So, I really like that.
Lisa Hennigar (11:27):
Add one more
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:28):
yeah, absolutely.
Lisa Hennigar (11:29):
back to your potential client.
This is the beauty too, becauseas we bill on value to our
client, franchisees benefit fromthe value to their bank account.
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:45):
Mm-hmm.
Lisa Hennigar (11:47):
much time are they spending?
Are they grinding out a 40 hourweek for that?
No, they're not.
And we will monitor it, butthere's very little time that
gets invested into this on thelong term.
It's more heavy upfront, thenwe're staying there as a
continued advisor monitoring,and so this isn't a 40 hour a
(12:10):
week, grind it out, course.
I don't want to use that word.
Passive investment because wewant our owners to be in the
business, but they're notsitting at a desk for 40 hours a
week.
They're not doing it.
Giuseppe Grammatico (12:26):
And because you're essentially doing all the
work upfront and creating,correct me if I'm wrong, these
are annuities a way.
So you're saving a, if it'slowering, just to keep it simple
that that ingredient, and it's ahundred thousand every single
month, it may be a hundredthousand for however length,
length of time that the, theagreement is based upon.
So the work is done upfront, andthen you're essentially getting
(12:46):
those, as long as they'regetting the savings, you're,
you're getting half of that.
Lisa Hennigar (12:49):
of the joint venture, because someone else
that they've partnered with isdoing that work.
Giuseppe Grammatico (12:55):
Right.
Lisa Hennigar (12:56):
And then because they brought the client and they
own the relationship, they putthat team together, they're
benefiting from watching theirteam members.
And typically signing fiveprojects with every client or
more.
So you got five people doingwork that you, as the franchise
owner are benefiting from themdoing that work.
Shannon Roderick (13:18):
And it has really just taken this brand to,
to um, a different level in themarket.
We, like I had mentioned, westarted out, um, in May of 22
with six locations, and todaywe, we proudly are 125, um,
locations across 39 states andover 400 territories.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:40):
Wow, that is a absolutely amazing.
I didn't, I didn't realize, justsix in, in, uh, just basically
three years ago.
So that's, uh.
Shannon Roderick (13:47):
3 years ago.
I know.
Just had my anniversary lastweekend.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:50):
Yes.
Con well, congratulations.
So that, that, congratulations.
Happy Mother's Day.
You, you, you hit'em all thismonth.
So it's, uh, that is absolutelyamazing.
Um, what, um, I guess for theaudience, not, uh, not familiar
with Resto Pros, maybe just, uh,you know, who is Resto Pros,
what those, uh, resto Prosoffer?
Shannon Roderick (14:09):
Sure.
Resta Pros is, um, a mitigationcompany.
I.
so mitigation, meaning there wasdamage, it might have been
caused by water, fire, mold,smoke, storm damage, um, have
been, you know, a, a bathroomoverflow.
It is where it just cannot be,um, remediated with just a, a
(14:31):
house fan or a towel.
You're soaking up some damageor, or just removing it.
It is really where we have to goin, remove the damaged material,
whether it's commercial orresidential, into a safe
environment.
Um, and then some of ourlocations take that, that
service a little bit further.
Um, we always say we have tostart out with mitigation,
(14:53):
right?
We've gotta, we've gotta cleareverything out.
And some of our locations nowhave brought on rebuild to, to.
Make sure that that property canbe restored to its its original
condition.
Giuseppe Grammatico (15:06):
Gotcha.
And.
With Resto Pros, uh, there was,uh, I'm not sure of the date,
and this is a question I had foryou, but be rugged brands, uh,
tell us a little bit about thatand, and maybe any of the other
brands that fall into that, uh,parent company or that, that
umbrella.
Shannon Roderick (15:22):
So, um.
Because of the success withResta Pros and the team behind
that success, our founder is, isa very innovative, um,
individual and, and we reallydid.
You know, you, when you havesomething really good, you've
got the secret sauce.
We've got the boilerplate.
And more than anything, we hadthe vision of services and home
(15:44):
services we wanted to bring to,to our markets in the, in
surrounding communities.
And so Alex de developed acompany, um, a parent company.
Um, called B Rugged Brands, andthat is going to, um, house, um,
our home ser our different homeservices brands that we have.
(16:22):
They are.
you know, we're cleaning outdamage.
Um, we are sometimes in sewerand what we call in this
business category three.
Um, you would not drink it.
You would not wanna sit in it,you would not, it, it, it's bad.
It's contaminated.
We, you've gotta, gotta cleaneverything that it has touched.
The second brand that we have,that we have, um, recently, um,
(16:46):
launched is called ScoopBrothers.
And Scoop Brothers is going tobe a pet waste valet service.
We are going to be able toservice both residential and
commercial and along with, um.
Pet waste removal, scooping itif you, um, so, so inclined to,
you know, categories like that.
(17:08):
Um, we are able to put in, um,the, uh, commercial pods, you
know, that you see the petwaste, um, pods that go around
and, and we will be able toservice those also with
installation or, or maintenanceon'em.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:26):
Awesome.
And, and what, so what is the,uh, so with Be Rugged so that,
you know, what, what, what isthe plan, I guess going forward?
Is it to, you said.
Kind of keep it all, is it, isit gonna be jokingly, you said,
you know, the two brands aresimilarities between the two,
but
Shannon Roderick (17:39):
cleanliness.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:40):
uh, yeah, what, I guess, what does the
future, you know, for the brandlook like?
Shannon Roderick (17:45):
It does.
Um, we are gonna look at somemore home services brand, um,
brands that, that really are,um, more of a, of uh, either a
subscription based model, um,that it's reoccurring.
Um, and, and, or.
Needs based, you know, we reallyhave a niche in, um, in this
(18:06):
emergency services throughquality of work, reaction to in
response time and just how we,we deliver things to insurance
and to our customers.
Um, as far as estimates, qualityof work, um, and really it's
through documentation we have.
Just taken Resta in, in what wecan build onto it to with
(18:29):
technology.
You know, we've got Matterportwhere we scan the whole house
and the property, um, and.
Last time, when's the last timeyou did inventory of, of your
house?
Right.
It is just a, it's a leavebehind link that, um, I know I
haven't, um, you know, justbeing able, if something ever
happened, you know, we have sometechnology, if we did services
(18:53):
at your house, that we would beable scan, um, and, and be able
to store those, um, or send youthe link.
As a, as a homeowner, um, sothat you, you had it after we
were done.
Um, but really, you know, whenit comes to, um, B rugged, it
is, we, we really wanna attractbrands that are, are needs based
(19:15):
and that we can, um, have multi.
you know, with that.
And, and we've got some benefitsthat, that will also, as we use
one for one brand, we can use itin another.
We, we should see, um, some ofthose savings across the, the,
um, the whole company.
Giuseppe Grammatico (19:32):
I like that.
Yeah, because some, sometimespeople will ask, you know, is it
better to stick with one brand,add a complimentary brand?
And there's pros and cons,there's differences.
I don't even like to say prosand cons.
I like to say there'sdifferences and I.
Uh, sometimes the options maynot be there.
Maybe an instance where theterritory was sold around you,
uh, and now you're looking atat, at a complimentary brand.
(19:54):
So it's good to have thoseoptions because I always
encourage everyone to kind ofthink out what, what do the next
five or 10 years look like?
Are you looking for a quickerexit or you're looking to kind
of create a legacy for yourfamily?
So these are all things I havethem.
Maybe not necessarily decidingon day one, but just thinking
about as they, you kind of, uh,expand their business.
So.
Uh, that's a big one.
(20:15):
Um, in, in our lastconversation, you know, one
thing that really attracted meto Resto Pros and we've helped
quite a few people, uh, moveforward specifically with, with
Resto Pros, is the support.
And not only support, but youknow, you're, the lines of
communication are completelyopen.
(20:35):
Um, you know, checking in withfranchisees and things like
that, which I think is a majordifferentiator, we.
We, we speak with, you know,numerous brands and the level of
support is definitely, uh, youknow, on the high end knowing
kind of what's going on witheach franchisee.
What, what their thoughts, wheretheir, where their needs are,
what maybe what, what theirstruggles are.
Can you elaborate a little biton that?
(20:55):
Because, you know, you hear, andit's been, I believe in a way,
overused, responsiblefranchising.
Well, what is that?
And I've seen it kind of takeall these different directions,
but, uh, it really boils downto, to support and
communication.
So can you expand a little biton.
Uh, or elaborate a little biton, you know, what, you know how
you work with your franchisees.
Shannon Roderick (21:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
And, and I have to tell you,our, our level of support, um,
almost came by default i, Iprobably, um.
a little bit of a unicornbecause I had zero franchise
experience.
Alls I knew is that there was anowner, they invested money and
(21:37):
we needed to support'em.
Giuseppe Grammatico (21:38):
Right.
Shannon Roderick (21:39):
told me that, oh, we could suggest some
things.
Nobody said, Hey, you know, Icame from.
A business where we owned theseproperties.
You know, we, we owned theseentities and it was, you know,
over a hundred locations acrossthe us And so if, if something
(22:00):
didn't work out, you went tothat location, you supported the
team that was there, you putaction plans in place.
And, you know, we just kind ofsaid, Hey, we're gonna follow up
with you and, and we're gonnaright the ship and, and we're
gonna keep moving.
in franchising, you know, I, Isaid, well, we're just, we're
just, we're gonna go support'em.
(22:21):
We're gonna put people in, inthe market, we're gonna put
people in the field.
We're gonna have meaningfulconversations with our owners
because they just didn't buythis franchise to let it sit on
the shelf.
text message, or phones arealways, are always open.
Our doors are always open, butwe to become a better brand.
We need to hear from our owners,right, wrong or indifferent.
(22:43):
And, and as long as you canaccept openness and not know
that, you know, you're themaster of all the answers, I
think you're just, your brandcan continue to, to grow in, in
a positive manner, and then it,it leads, you know, really to
some ownership on our, on ourowners, right?
(23:04):
It, you know, for example,something came up and did you
let anybody know?
Well, no.
Why not?
Well, I, I didn't know if itwould really affect anybody.
Well, actually, let's, let's putit out there.
You know, you bring a problem tome.
I'm gonna ask our franchiseperformance directors.
A lot of people in this, thisworld call'em coaches, um, but
(23:27):
they are responsible, um, be.
For between, you know, 30 and 35locations per, um, FPD in, our
organization.
And they are there to just focuson those locations and, and
being able to help.
So I think the more that we cancommunicate to them, Hey, put
(23:49):
this out to your division or, oryour region, see if they're
having these same things, thenit's easier to move that needle
to correct anything that, thatwe need to address.
Giuseppe Grammatico (23:58):
Love it.
Yeah, that's, uh, I could,could, it, it sounds so basic
and so simple, but, uh, you guysdo a really good job and, and
even prior to that, it's just.
This is, this is, um, you know,the anxiety levels are really
high.
You don't know what you don'tknow.
I know when I started, uh, over20 years, uh, close to 20 years
ago in franchising, you know,there was all these things on my
(24:19):
mind.
Uh, who do I hire?
Who do I get for payroll?
When do I set up my legalentity?
You know, what about all theother legal, legal documents?
Do I need a franchise attorney?
There's so many moving parts andwe help.
Or we can, but I like that youkind of have that checklist, you
know, putting yourself, youknow, putting, putting, putting
yourself in their shoesbasically.
You know, the many of them havenever owned the business before.
So really giving'em kind of stepby step, as you mentioned, you
(24:43):
know, these are the things youhave to do.
And maybe not throwing'em all,throwing it all on their plate,
but just saying maybe the, theseare the first five things you
need to do.
And kind of break it downbecause it does become.
Uh, overwhelming if you've neverdone it before.
And some people may be stilltransitioning out of a job or,
you know, um, you know, maybethey just left their job, but
they, you know, they got, youknow, they're, they're, they're
kind of prioritizing everything.
(25:04):
When do I order the truck?
When do I start hiringemployees?
So that roadmap, that, thatguide, I think is, uh.
Um, is crucial and it definitelyhelps with the nerves and, you
know, helping them make betterdecisions in that, you know, we
kind of have a plan and this,the, these are the five items we
have to, uh, tackle this week.
So, uh, that's a big part.
And those are some of thequestions and, uh, that I get
(25:25):
concerns like, where, where theheck do I even start?
And I go, well, that thefranchisor will, will assist you
in, you know, in that process.
Um, what else, you know, standsout to you from a, a support
standpoint?
Uh, with Resto Pro, we'll,we'll, we'll call it b rugged,
um, because you have multiplebrands that, that really go over
and beyond.
(25:46):
Um, supporting franchise owners.
Uh, you know, they're, a lot of,a lot of, a lot of these owners
are first time owners.
So what else, uh, from a supportstandpoint are you offering to
kind of a system?
Shannon Roderick (25:57):
You know, I, I do think, um, I think what's,
what sets us apart and whatallows us to support is, is the,
the comradery in and the care.
Right.
I am not just here to take aroyalty.
You know, I, I, we have alwayssaid that we want to, we want
(26:18):
these brands to change people'slives, right?
They, they were doing what theywere doing, they invested their
money in something and we wannagive them the roadmap to, to be
able to be successful.
Um, and, know, I think.
A listening, um, b beinginnovative.
(26:40):
You know, I, I, I always tellpeople, they're like, wow, you
know, the, the training for whenwe started as an early adopter,
zero to 30 looks completelydifferent now at 1 0 5 and, and
one 10 and, and things likethat.
Kelly Macht (26:54):
I'll encourage my, my candidates like Google, blind
repair near me.
Right.
And, and it's very rare thatthey find a lot of options out
there.
So it does get us into morehomes.
And then lastly, technology,Kelsey touched on the idea that
the window coverings is just thewidget.
Well, the other piece of thebrand is that they are
technology heavy.
Anytime somebody who's jazzedabout technology, jazzed about
(27:16):
AI, this is a brand you shouldreally consider because it's a
simple widget, but thetechnology that is the engine
behind it is really significant.
And it's an area that thebrand's making significant
investments in.
Kelsey, you probably want toexpand on that a little bit
more.
Kelsey Stuart (27:30):
Well, on the technology side in particular
early last year, early 24.
We just kind of sat around inone of our leadership meetings
and we, the concept was like, dowe really believe that AI is
going to be the future?
Is there an opportunity to getthe brand ahead of the curve to
start adopting and bringing onthese pieces before the rest of
the world?
And, and can that get us in aposition where we can, where we
(27:52):
have like a defense as the worldshifts and, and Businesses go up
and down.
Anytime you can kind of create amote around you, like that,
that's an opportunity that hasto be evaluated.
So we, we dove in, but inparticular, we decided to build
out our own AI system.
So instead of renting, a lot ofpeople are using AI right now,
(28:13):
renting other people's businessor renting their models or their
information, that means theirprograms are getting smarter,
not yours.
So we partnered with Yeah.
Yeah.
So we partnered with a company.
We had our own AI built out ofour own data.
We're almost complete within a,a, a full tech stack that sits
on top of that.
So the AI is actually learningfrom virtually every twitch of
(28:34):
the business.
And that becomes the base on howthe franchisees operate their
business.
It also becomes the base on howthe clients interact with.
Us from a marketing standpointor in the house doing consults
and, and by continually growingour data set I firmly believe
it's going to put us in aposition where we can react and,
(28:57):
and improve upon data and arereally kind of comes down to
marketing and efficiency in away that even once everyone
decides that this is the rightpath, we'll already have a
headstart.
And so they, even when theystart moving as fast as we do.
They won't be able to catch upbecause we're then running at
the same speed.
We've just been doing it longer.
Giuseppe Grammatico (29:17):
I like that.
We the AI conversations havedefinitely hit home with people.
We've noticed a lot more, a lotmore views on those
conversations or those kind ofsegments or snippets.
And to your, to your pointowning it I think people don't
realize there's nothing free inthis world.
And when you're using free eye,I've tested some, some platforms
as well.
Friends of friends.
(29:38):
I'm basically almost like theguinea pig in a way I'm putting
my information and they'regathering it.
So although I'm not paying, I'mtechnically paying with my time
and not building something formyself.
So I do have somewhat of a freeservice, but I'm not building
anything.
And I think that is, that'sjust, is AI taking over?
I don't think it's taking over.
I think we all have to step upand use it somewhat in our
(29:58):
businesses.
I know we've, we've cut it,we've cut our marketing spend
down by using AI with a coupleof agencies that we've used.
I think it's a, it's a must touse, but I don't think AI is
going to replace everything.
So I like that.
Can you, can you talk a littlebit?
I mean, I know you said it's,it's being launched.
Can you talk specifically onany, on any aspects of it or is
that
Kelsey Stuart (30:17):
yeah, yeah, I, nothing I, in the long run, a
lot of it is the stuff.
that humans do, we're just doingit with either automation or
with more sensitivity and datais really kind of where AI gets
its superpower is when it'sfinally got enough data that it
can create what's calledpredictive analytics.
(30:38):
Most of the data in today'sworld is looking backwards.
It's what happened, how thathappened.
Now, how do I analyze?
and guess on how to make itbetter.
AI gets really valuable when italmost gets to a level where it
can almost predict at a highdegree of certainty what's going
to happen.
So a couple pieces that'll beactionable for the franchise
(30:58):
owners.
Our call center will be ran byAI voice agents.
We will have people in thebackground, so if the AI gets
stumped or doesn't know theanswer, I've got people sitting
there ready to pick up the phonelive, but it's going to allow us
to answer the phone 24/7 365snow days.
We're still answering the phone.
So that's the phone, right?
That's right.
(31:19):
Right now I've got seven peoplewho work in a call center.
They're taking phone phonecalls.
I mean, this is like in myoffice 30 ft behind me.
But what happens when there'seight phone calls?
Somebody's got to wait.
And this thing it's programmedto take up to 250 calls at once.
It can do some amazing, yeah, tobe able to do smart scheduling.
So like we're very route basedor geographically based drive.
(31:41):
Time is a waste for us.
And so being able to presentoptions to customers in like a
basically a very smart routingsuggestion, like we only give
customers options that aregeographically appropriate for
us with the right people withthe right skill sets.
(32:02):
My favorite example, and I'vealready seen this in action, is
we use iPads.
We're not using, I mean, itcan't build AI and still use a
notepad.
We're on iPads and as thecustomer is, or as we're having
a conversation about how theywant the room dark at 7.
30 on a summer night because thekid's got to go to bed, but they
(32:22):
don't want strings and they wantto be able to push a button to
make it go up and down, the AIsystem is listening to these
descriptions and beginning topopulate the products and the
manufacturers and the follow upquestions.
That match that activeconversation.
So in real time, the AI ispresenting the products and the
(32:43):
real value that the homeowner isgoing to think it's cool, but
for a new franchise owner or anew employee who hasn't yet
learned all the variables andhasn't really mastered the, the,
the trade yet, we can give themthe ability to feel and look
like an expert because theydon't have to have all that
knowledge in their mind.
They like, we're going topresent it to them so that they
(33:05):
can just.
Work with the information that'salready in front of them.
Giuseppe Grammatico (33:09):
That's that's impressive.
This is, this is this is itguys.
This is what the future islooking like.
And AI doesn't need, as youmentioned, snow days, not
feeling well.
We lost power.
My AI it's, I'm also setting upsomething on my end.
If we lose power, it doesn'tmatter.
It's not running from my home.
Kelsey Stuart (33:24):
Like, what do they get?
What, what support is there kindof, so to go back on that,
because I think that's a reallyimportant topic.
We kind of build all the systemswith the overarching concept.
There's going to be a lot to do,but you're not gonna have to
figure out what to do.
And, and by that, again, we, wedo really enjoy that first time
business owner.
(33:45):
And so we know that, in thatenvironment, there's a lot of
questions on like, how do I getthis set up?
How do I do my marketing?
Who do I talk to?
What do I say?
And for one reason or another,we've just really gravitated
toward that coaching role ofwalking people through that
stage.
The business setup, theinfrastructure of it, the
(34:06):
business checking account, howdo I, all these little elements
of setting up a business, wewalk candidates through that.
The marketing can be broken upinto two categories.
You have your digital presence.
And then you have like yourcommunity interaction, the
digital side.
We pretty well automate that forthe owners.
In fact, we've got AI runningSEO and PPC for owners.
(34:27):
Pretty effective there on theground level.
We'll tell you exactly where togo, who to talk to, how to get
engaged, how to become known inthe room.
You're going to have to go doit, but you're not gonna have to
figure out what to do.
And that's really kind of thetheme throughout the first,
probably first year of thebusiness is most of these things
are going to be brand new to youand you're going to have someone
(34:50):
who's excited and willing andwanting to walk with you during
that kind of saying, Hey, goover here now, go over here and
now do this thing and now dothat thing you have to execute
on it, but we will walk with youand kind of point you in the way
so that you can at least headforward with some confidence.
knowing where you're supposed togo and what it's supposed to
look like when you get there.
Giuseppe Grammatico (35:12):
I like that.
And that's, and that's whatpeople are looking for.
I think that, I had someone justsay, I'm overwhelmed.
I'm overwhelmed and They wereonly on after the second call
and, and I said, well, thefranchise or is, and you have to
ask these questions, what isincluded, what, what they will
help you with kind of step bystep.
These are the questions to beasking.
We haven't made a decision onthe brand yet, but you want to
(35:33):
find out the support.
And as we mentioned, first timebusiness owner, it is extremely
overwhelming because you don'tknow what you don't know.
You don't even know thequestions to ask or the things
to do.
What are these legal entitiesdoing?
How do I set them up?
Who does that?
Do I do them online and theattorney so I get it but there
you go.
Yeah, that'll be, that'll be mylast interview.
(35:55):
Yeah, it's it's great.
It's great.
I mean, just for someone to saythat, that really kind of, that
really bothered me.
I mean, I'm sure hemisunderstood, but.
It's kind of bothersome if thatactually was said or maybe it
was taken out of context, whoknows, but
Kelly Macht (36:07):
having said all that, I think there's one point
that I want to bring up onBlumen, and there's, in the, in
the FDD, which I just mentioned,which is the Franchise
Disclosure Document, the verylarge legal reading that every
brand has, there's a section inthat called the Item 19, and
that's financial performancerepresentations on that specific
brand.
And when you, they're not allcreated equal, right?
(36:28):
The amount of information afranchise system wants to put in
there can be varying widely.
And I think I'm really blessedto work on a brand that Kelsey
and his family have decided toput a tremendous amount of
information.
There's 13 tables ofinformation.
There's seven different P& Ls.
We show you consolidated P& Lsfor a single van owner versus a
multi van owner.
So you can say, Hey, why would Inot want to scale my business
(36:51):
down the road?
Right?
We even show you a consolidatedP& L for our owners.
For whom in that calendar year,that was their first full year
of operation with us.
So you can see what brand newowners are doing with us.
Giuseppe Grammatico (37:02):
not executing for you.
You need to follow theblueprint, the process.
And I think some people don't,they, they just think they
invest and the business kind ofruns on itself.
I haven't found that businessyet, but I'll keep looking, but
to my, to my knowledge, itdoesn't exist.
Kelly Macht (37:18):
I think Kelsey brings up a good point when
you're talking about some of ourfranchisees and some of our
success stories.
One of the important things thatyou should be doing when you're
vetting any franchiseopportunity is having an
opportunity, not only to.
Speak to the leadership team.
You've got to get to know peoplelike Kelsey and his brothers.
And, we put them up every weekon calls that our candidates can
join in on, but we do the samething with our franchisees.
(37:39):
Then Blumen is very fortunate tohave a wide variety of
franchisees on our validationcalls is what we call them.
Giuseppe.
And so each week we hold onehour zoom calls, open format, Q
and a, for them to just talk toa franchisee.
Like, what are your pain points?
What are the things that you'vehad challenges?
Would you do this all overagain?
Where are you having success?
(38:00):
What are your growth planslooking like?
Are you meeting those?
If not, how is anybody helpingyou with that?
Right?
Bring those questions.
But we put brand new owners.
We've got two owners that justopened with us in 2024.
So people can talk about like,what does it look like the last
few months for you?
We've got legacy owners, some ofour most successful owners that
are in the system.
(38:20):
The gentleman that Kelsey justmentioned validates with us and
can talk about, scaling hisbusiness.
So we've got people that havecome from all walks of life and
they've got all differentstories.
They've got different territorysizes, some are in big major
metros, some are in smaller.
So there's really, you can seeyourself in a little bit of, of
different franchisees, but wehighly encourage, like, you've
(38:41):
got to talk to franchisees tounderstand.
From their perspective, is thissomething that you really want
to dive into and do?
And I, I often say, if you'renot on those validation calls,
or at least making some calls ofyour own, like, you don't really
look at you as a seriouscandidate, because without
validation, you can't reallydetermine if the vision you have
(39:03):
in your head or the stories thatwe've shared with you really
make sense for you, and validatethat this is the opportunity
that you want to move forwardwith.
It also gives us a chance to getto know the franchise candidates
on a very different level aswell.
They get time to spend with theleadership team and they, along
with myself, can kind of pre vetthem before we have them out to
(39:23):
Dallas to meet the teameventually, right?
Giuseppe Grammatico (39:26):
You would think that's common sense.
I know for me it was completecommon sense to speak with other
franchisees, but it's not.
You need to, you need to remind,I, I've been shocked that people
come with that so hard.
It's what I wouldn't do.
Yeah, yeah,
Kelly Macht (39:42):
yeah.
I tell my candidates quitefrankly, look, if you're a
couple of weeks in, you're noton any validation or leadership
calls, I'm going to assumeyou're not interested in this
brand.
Right.
And I get it.
Life happens.
There's all kinds of things thatwill happen that prevent people
from being on calls.
But you know, the fact thatyou're working or the fact that
you've got kids in the eveningor the fact that like none of
those are enough, you're goingto, you're looking at being a
business owner.
(40:03):
You, you're going to have tojuggle responsibilities.
You're going to be investingyour time.
You can't do that now.
Giuseppe Grammatico (40:10):
This is the easy part.
Running a business is going tobe a lot.
If you can't, if you can'thandle validation and research
of a brand, how are you going tomanage an entire business?
So yeah, it's the three stages.
I always say you talk with thefranchise or you learn about the
brand.
You talk to the franchiseesvalidation.
And then stage three is you talkto the captain steering the
(40:31):
ship.
You talk to the franchise ordirectly virtually in person at
a discovery meet the team day.
Or some, some brands aren't evendoing that.
They're doing that within theirdue diligence calls and just
asking where, where is the shipgoing?
What are we adding revenuestreams?
What others, talking about AI,this is something new that we're
going to be adding on.
(40:51):
There's no, there's an addedcost.
There isn't a cost.
This is included here or we'rechanging something else up, but
you have to have that completepicture.
In my opinion, to be comfortablewith it and to make the best
informed decision.
All stages equally important.
Yeah,
Kelly Macht (41:06):
at the end of the day, you as the consultant and
myself as the franchisedevelopment person are not going
to be part of the picture.
The relationship lies with thefranchise system, with the
franchisor.
If you haven't invested in them,if that's not where you're
making your decision based on.
that interaction, that potentialrelationship, that's
problematic.
Giuseppe Grammatico (41:26):
Absolutely.
Kelly Macht (41:27):
You and I are going to be gone.
Giuseppe Grammatico (41:29):
Yes.
Yeah.
Right.
Thanks for tuning in if you wantto learn how to make the
transition from corporate toowning your franchise.
Join Giuseppe on the nextepisode.
You can also follow on allsocial media platforms and
achieve financial and timefreedom today.
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