November 15, 2025 • 26 mins
Franchise business advisor Giuseppe Grammatico welcomes Mike Bahun (Founder & CEO of Fundraising U) to discuss his journey to 100 territories and the mindset shift required for franchise freedom.
We cover:
1) The unique digital service model of Fundraising U,
2) The unprecedented coaching and AI used for franchisee success,
3) Why being an employee is the TRUE risk, and
4) How to start investing in franchise ownership with the 4-Step Franchise Freedom Process.
Choose the right path at https://ggthefranchiseguide.com
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.
00:00 Introduction to Fundraising U
00:11 Escaping the Corporate Trap & The Fundraising U Origin
00:51 Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast
01:37 Meet Mike Bahun: The Coach and Entrepreneur
02:43 The Evolution of Fundraising U
04:12 Franchising Success and Expansion
05:15 The Fundraising U Business Model
05:26 The Unique Fundraising U Business Model & Success Metrics
09:38 Leveraging Technology and AI
09:57 Technology & Unprecedented Franchisee Coaching
11:37 Coaching and Development at Fundraising U
13:55 The Leap to Entrepreneurship
14:02 The TRUE Risk of Staying an Employee
17:39 Final Thoughts and Contact Information
22:36 Your Next Step: The Franchise Freedom Mindset Shift
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mike Bahun (00:00):
We do one week fundraisers, a hundred percent
(00:02):
digital, no order forms, nochecks, no cashing, all the
products are delivered home.
So we've el elevated the spaceto like an Amazon model for
sports and activity groups.
And so for me, people come allthe time and say, man, is it
scary?
What did you do?
And I respect and understandthat leap to entrepreneurship is
scary, but to me, being anemployee is way more scary
(00:23):
because now I've decided to putmy family's safety in the hands
of another person or into acircumstance or into a downsize
where I can be replaced'causeI've built up so much value they
can't afford me.
I don't think there's ever beena, an easier time to be
successful than right now.
There's more information to putyou on the pathway.
And unfortunately, and I onlymean this to be factual, there's
(00:47):
less effort than's ever been putin by society to be successful.
Welcome to the Franchise FreedomPodcast, where you can escape
the corporate trap throughfranchise ownership.
Here's your host, Giuseppe gr,the franchise guide.
Giuseppe Grammatico (01:06):
Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast.
I'm your host, GiuseppeGrammatico, your franchise
guide, the show where we helpcorporate executives experience
time and financial freedom.
Thanks for joining us today.
Uh, you guys asked for moreguests and we're, we're excited
to bring on my good friend, MikeBahun of Fundraising U.
Mike, welcome to the show.
Mike Bahun (01:23):
Thanks for having me, and I'm glad you said your
name first, so I didn't have totake that on, so thanks.
Giuseppe Grammatico (01:28):
It's G Everyone calls me G It's so much
easier.
It's even, it's even harder tospell.
I was doing a lot of soloepisodes.
We've been mixing it up.
We've had some awesome guestsand I've been looking forward to
this one.
If you can give the audience alittle bit of background, who
Mike is and, uh, we can get intoyou know, a little bit more on
Fundraising U.
Mike Bahun (01:44):
Yeah I'm a coach at heart.
Everything inside of what I doevery day and everything I'm a
passionate about is coachingbusiness owners, coaching in
sports, and so I'm from Omaha,Nebraska, originally spent the
first 35 years there.
Fell in love with athletics.
That was the springboard for ourbusiness.
Lived in Kansas City and nowmoved because of the growth of
the business.
I'm now in Arizona been marriedfor 20 years.
(02:06):
As of this October 7th, I've gottwin.
16-year-old girls and Iabsolutely love coaching people
and building teams and beingpart of that, and I love
entrepreneurship.
And so this brand is theemergence over time of the right
transactional opportunity withthe right transformational
day-to-day blending.
And I think our brand is uniquethere.
(02:28):
So essentially.
My passion is coaching peopleand building up athletics
because the net effect is, yournephew my niece, a cousin,
whoever you know, that gets tobe part of sports or activities
in schools.
We make a difference there.
Giuseppe Grammatico (02:42):
I love that.
So let, let's dive into toFundraising U.
This is, uh, definitely a uniquetype of business.
Uh, I really like it.
It stands out, it checks off alot of boxes when it comes to,
you know, really helping thecommunity giving back.
So talk to us a little bit aboutthe model.
You know, how you, you know,when you started and kind of
where you're at today.
Mike Bahun (03:01):
Yeah.
It started in 1999 when I gotreleased from playing baseball.
I went back to my high schooland it was, I was handed the
keys to run my high schoolbaseball program, and the guy
said, you get two dozenbaseballs and the rest of the
money you have to come up withyourself.
And so that was my firstexperience with fundraising.
And so as a high school baseballcoach in 1999, that's where this
started.
So 26 years now, fundraisingUniversity has been evolving and
(03:24):
emerging to get to this point.
And I saw a need.
I got excited about the idea ofusing my, entrepreneurial
background and being in sportsand the more that I could be
around the student athlete andthe activity experience, the
more I wanted that to happen.
And so we started out like a lotof brands, we just had a
territory.
Then just through meeting,coaches that liked what we did,
(03:45):
athletes, we started expandingand then we had 10 locations.
By 2016, and then I went to atwo year course called the
Wealth Factory.
And it's a, it's anentrepreneurial finance course
and I went through that.
At the very end of it, thegentleman presented the idea of
about it being a franchise, andI had never looked at it that
way.
And I was part of a nationalnetwork called the C 12, and
(04:07):
they had tons of franchisees andfranchisors.
So for two years, I studied theidea about the model.
And then in 2018 we spent thetwo years to become compliant,
real validation, a realoperations manual, a real FDD,
and we launched in March of 20as a franchise system.
Cool, I was holding this backfor this call'cause I was
excited.
(04:27):
So those 10 locations in 2016here this morning we just
brought on our a hundredterritories.
Giuseppe Grammatico (04:33):
Wow.
That is, uh, I mean, that's,that's a, an amazing feat.
I, I, I don't know the stat, youmay know the stat, but the
percentage of franchisecompanies that actually make it
to a hundred locations orterritories.
Mike Bahun (04:44):
I didn't Google this on Wikipedia or anything, but I
heard someone present this, that6.4 percent of all the brands
actually get to a hundred units.
Giuseppe Grammatico (04:53):
That is really amazing.
That's not an easy feat and asyou're growing it's helping,
right?
It's helping all the ffranchisees with national
presence.
Making the marketing a lot moreefficient economies of scale.
So that's a, that's awesome.
Congrats.
So great business model,obviously, a lot of people,
especially if you have families,you don't have to have a family,
but the kids there, there'salways various fundraising and I
(05:13):
feel like there's noconsistencies.
Sometimes there's you gotinventory, you gotta buy stuff,
you gotta hand it out later.
Talk to us a little bit morespecific on the model and
specifically, who is that rightfit and what is their role in
the business.
Mike Bahun (05:26):
Yeah.
No, you nailed it.
You know when people hearfundraising, we think of right
away what we've experienced.
The candy bars, the order formfor the magazine, just the mercy
sale from your nephew and theynever stop.
And you're right, there's neverconsistency.
And so the challenge with itwas, schools do the best they
can, but they're not resourcedon the business acumen side.
(05:48):
And there is no structure tofundraising, right?
People see it as a commodity ora product in the way that you
just explained it, and that isthe first impression people get
with this.
But the right way to havesuccess is it's a service brand.
And so we're approaching this asa service brand.
And what I mean by that, whatthe coaches and the schools and
the activities want is they wantsomething fast.
(06:11):
And they want obviously the mostamount of money they can get.
So we do one week fundraisers, ahundred percent digital, no
order forms, no checks, nocashing, all the products are
delivered home.
So we've el elevated the spaceto like an Amazon model for
sports and activity groups.
So we've given the tools to theschools that they don't have,
including technology.
And so why people come toFundraising U is because we have
(06:33):
a system that's fast, it's safe.
We own our own technology.
And to this point, this is acertified number in our ERP.
We're averaging over$400 perstudent that engages us, which
is three times the norm and mostfundraisers are six to eight
weeks.
And so that's where we sit in adifferent place.
Our ideal franchise owner reallysometimes people think it's
(06:54):
narrow and they think it'ssports or they think it's
something they do in addition totheir role.
And this is a real business thathas real margins in a way above
average on it.
And we have a 92% reoccurringrate on our customer which is
huge.
And so our person, first andforemost is somebody that cares
and has high empathy and wantsto make a difference.
We've seen that come from, wehave engineers and lawyers and
(07:17):
former NFL players all the wayover to teachers and coaches
that want to stay in the space,but want to have more.
And so I think our avatar issomebody who cares, wants to
make a difference.
Um, they, want to control their,their time a lot more.
It is a very friendly lifestylerole.
We all know when a schoolcalendar is, so we all know what
you're gonna be doing and when.
And and then they also obviouslywant to determine their own, I
(07:40):
guess value by the success ofthe business.
And so I, we think it's verybroad.
If you care about people and youwanna make a difference, and you
want to control your time andyour value.
Those people fit inside of that,right?
And then obviously, ourcharacteristics of success are
no different than any other one,right?
You gotta be competitive, yougotta be coachable, gotta be
organized.
And in this model, because we'reworking with the best people in
(08:02):
the world, in my opinion, whoare coaches, there's gotta be
true empathy for what'shappening.
Giuseppe Grammatico (08:06):
Absolutely.
And there's a, you know, there'sa need for it and it just needs
to be, I think, simplified.
So, you know, why, why just, uh,work with the soccer team when
you can work with all the sport,organizations and teams?
I don't, I don't know whatpercentage that they typically
have to fundraise for.
'cause obviously they, they'regetting funds from the school
and this is kind of over andbeyond, but there's always gonna
be a need.
This isn't, going away.
(08:26):
And I think, uh, keeping itsimple, you know, that's why
people are.
Or scared to volunteer is thatthey don't know what they're
getting into, or, or they'regonna have to make, uh, millions
of deliveries or have their, youknow, garage full of, uh, peanut
m and ms or something like that.
I remember in Little League, weused to just have boxes of, of
candy just piling to theceiling.
So, yeah, this is, uh, you know,the, the fits there and it
sounds, it sounds as if, as youmentioned, the, the experience
(08:49):
necessary isn't needed infundraising or even working with
schools or even being a coach.
It's more of just being able to,to network, uh, you know,
relationship building and, andworking with the schools.
Because naturally as we weresaying, like it's, you know,
it's gonna go from one sport tothe next, or, or one
organization doesn't have to bejust, uh, sports, if I
understood that correctly.
Mike Bahun (09:07):
Yeah, no there's a simple but great opportunity,
and this is the easiest way tosee it.
So in each school, and the sizesare different, but on average
there's about 25 teachers orcoaches in that school that
could use help anyway frombasketball to band, choir,
music, orchestra flags, cheer,dance.
And so think about theopportunity that you have 25
customers in the same buildingthat all are trying to solve the
(09:29):
same problem that they alreadyknow they have, and that's where
it's tremendous, and that's whywe see it as an outbound service
rather than a commodity orproduct.
Giuseppe Grammatico (09:37):
Love that.
The, um, buzzwords that we hearin the news that we hear in
conversation, and it's affectedobviously many people's jobs,
is, is AI.
Can you talk about thetechnology that, that's being
utilized as well as if, uh, AIis, um, being invested in, in
any of the technology and makingthe franchisees more efficient?
Mike Bahun (09:57):
Yeah.
You're the merchant you've got amerchant processor, you've got
the agreement, you've got yourproform.
Anything you can do in the phonein our ERP.
And because of that, we're veryagile in the fact that we can
evolve and change on any level.
So AI is a great example ofthat, right?
So when our reps go out and theywant to learn to build the
conversation to have withcoaches, we're using AI and we
plug that right in and they cango out and every one of their
(10:20):
conversations is not justrecorded.
So we can give them feedback,but it takes the ideal script
and it grades them and givesthem next steps.
Then that's automated and goesinto the CRM and it's all kept
track of.
So that's one way we're usingAI.
We also use it forfunctionality.
Same example in our CRM orQuickBooks.
The rep just talks to theirphone and it populates the
customer experience.
(10:41):
And I mean because of thefoundation of it, having an ERP.
We are set up to bring inanything.
But on the other side of it,where people are afraid of AI,
not as a tool where they'reafraid to be replaced, that's
why I intentionally built aservice, because you're not
vulnerable to being, as aproduct or a commodity.
And that service can only beexecuted by a human in person.
(11:01):
We have it all the time.
People try to provide theproduct or the technology to the
school, and there's veryspecific dynamics that make it
faster, safer, and more moneythat's gonna require somebody
there.
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:11):
In regards, you know, when, when people look
at owning a franchise they'relooking for obviously the
system.
I call it a, um, a business ontraining wheels.
They're getting support, butthey're also getting that
additional coaching, uh, notjust this is the best way to, to
run your business, or let's,let's get an account together.
Can you talk to us a little bitmore about, you know, the
(11:31):
different coaching that'sinvolved in, in the business to
make them, uh, you know,extremely effective within their
communities?
Mike Bahun (11:37):
Yeah, I'm glad you asked that.
It's actually my favorite thing.
You know me, I've been a coachfor 30 years baseball.
I've coached at Ohio State,Creighton, I've been a high
school coach.
I've ran a youth academy, so Ialways say I've seen'em from
eight when they start.
And then I've got six guys thatI've coached somewhere along the
way that were on an opening day,major league baseball roster,
and currently I'm the mentalperformance coach for the
(11:58):
University of Houston baseball.
So coaching is, it's just who weare and it's what we love to do.
I love to build teams and I loveto coach people and I've
invested in myself.
To be developed to do that, andthere's constant investment into
our leadership to develop theirskills.
We have anything from a personwho's an operations person with
franchise experience that'straining on the ERP to a
(12:21):
business manager who's been aNASA engineer that's teaching
them how to build a proforma allthe way over to, we have a
mental performance coach that'sa current UFC fighter.
We're literally coaching themindset of an entrepreneur and
we have a physical fitnessperson that's available to them
as well that's gonna help themwith a healthy lifestyle.
'cause we believe that if youbuild the best person, whether
that's baseball whether that'sbeing an attorney, whether that
(12:44):
if you build the best person,you're gonna get the best
results.
And so we have a very, we don'tcall it training or we don't
call it support.
We call it development becausethat's an active, ongoing thing.
I think it's probably thestrength of Fundraising U
outside of the need that's outthere is our passion to coach
people.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:00):
That is amazing that, that I've yet to
hear.
I mean, you know, franchisor areproviding support and training,
but that, that level oftraining, because right, I mean
your, your physical, yournutrition, your, your physical
activity, your workouts, that,that all affects every, affects
your attitude.
It affects everything.
So that is, uh, very unique and,and I like to, you know, talk
about those and have thoseconversations on how brands are,
(13:21):
are unique from one another.
So that is very interesting.
I don't hear a lot of that.
I'm trying to think.
A lot of people listening in onthe show first time
entrepreneurs, or will be firsttime entrepreneurs, right?
That maybe they're at their job,they've, or maybe they were
recently downsized.
Maybe they're expecting to bedownsized and they're looking
for what's next.
We, we talk quite a bit on theshow about creating a safety
net, being proactive in theevent of the next, um, uh,
(13:44):
downsizing at, at theorganization.
Just being proactive in that,you know, hey, maybe I'm not
downsized, but I have theability now to leave my
employer, because I did build upthis, this business.
Uh, what advice would you give?
So this is more in general termsto someone that is looking to
make it the leap into owning abusiness, into owning a
franchise.
Mike Bahun (14:02):
Yeah, so we have a saying that it's a start that
stops most people and thereality of the situation is all
of us it's a natural, again, onthe mental performance stuff,
it's a natural instinct that'sbuilt into all of us that we
want comfort, safety, andpredictability.
You're always going to be givingthat up in some way or another.
And so for me, people come allthe time and say, man, is it
(14:24):
scary?
What did you do?
And I respect and understandthat leap to entrepreneurship is
scary, but to me, being anemployee is way more scary
because now I've decided to putmy family's safety in the hands
of another person or into acircumstance or into a downsize
where I can be replaced'causeI've built up so much value they
can't afford me.
(14:44):
And so I think actually, ifyou're looking for safety
predictability, I think it istaking a six to eight teen month
leap to be an entrepreneurbecause not only now are you
creating safety by takingactivity, you're also building
an asset and you're not aliability.
And so I would just encouragepeople.
And so that's on the businesspart.
I'll go in a differentdirection.
There's no greater experience inthe world than standing on your
(15:07):
own and taking care of yourself.
You'll never understand whatyour true potential is unless
you get out of that place andget there and sure, it's scary.
But there is absolutely nothingbetter for me than when I see
people get past that point andmake that realization that, hey,
I can do this on my own.
I've earned this, I've done it.
And that sense of ownership andpride is one of the coolest
(15:28):
things that you can realize inlife.
I get goosebumps as you weresaying that because I absolutely
agree.
You know, it does take, uh,there is this leap, right?
I mean, there, there'sdefinitely, um, this, uh, what
we call it, I guess,uncertainty.
Uh, you're not going in blind,obviously, you're doing your
research, but you wanna makesure everything works out.
But going back to your originalpoint.
Working for an an employer is,people feel it, it's safe.
(15:49):
It technically isn't.
I've been through three roundsof, of layoffs with the last
three companies prior to leavingcorporate life 20 years ago.
Uh, you never know.
And, and really my promotions,my commissions, I remember we
were in sales, was dictated bymy manager who had another 20
managers above her.
And I felt like I had nocontrol.
And then not only that, but Igot my money.
Threw it into a a 401k plan thatI didn't control as well, aside
(16:13):
from the percentage and theinvestments, but I didn't
control the mutual funds andwhat I was investing in.
So really I had my fate in ineveryone else's hands.
Hope, hopefully crossing myfingers, obviously, that it
worked out because I wasn'tmaking any big decisions at the
firm.
I worked for one of the largestfinancial service firms, uh, to
ever exist.
So, no control whatsoever.
You know, hope, hoping thateveryone's making good decisions
(16:35):
and, and following through, butto really experience like, I'm
gonna control this.
Yes, there, there's risk.
Yes.
You know, it, it could be anemotional rollercoaster.
I've been there, I'm 20 years infull-time as a business owner.
The experience when, whensomeone asks me was it, is it,
and was it worth it?
The answer is yes.
I've never missed a soccer gameor, or any of the kids or family
(16:56):
events due to work.
It, it is, some people, it's allabout money and I think it's
because.
It's not done intentionally, butmoney could be measured, right?
I have a million dollars in thebank.
I have a$2 million home.
But how do you measurehappiness?
How do you measure, you know,the quality time you have with
kids?
You can't really it's hard toactually measure and put a
number on it, if that makessense.
That's the way someone explainedit to me years ago.
(17:16):
So.
I think the financials is justbecause that's, that's how you
measure things.
So, you know, really, you know,you don't control it.
If you are doing well, maybeyour income's up, but you still
have to show up 50 weeks a yearto get your two, two weeks of
vacation.
So, I hate to talk so much aboutthat, but it comes up over and
over again now how businessownership is risky.
And I go, you gotta change themind.
You gotta take a step back andlook at it for what it truly is.
(17:38):
Anything else you wanna add?
What I would say there for thelisteners and'cause you're
listening, you're exploring,you're thinking about this.
Number one, ask yourself, howlong have you been thinking
about this?
And quick story.
My first job when I was playingprofessional baseball and
working on some school, I hadmet this wonderful man that was
a mentor.
And every time someone wouldcome into the gym, he wouldn't
go around to the treadmills, hewouldn't go to the daycare, he
(17:59):
would look him in the eye withcare and say, how long have you
been thinking about coming in?
And they would say two years andhe would say I am gonna put all
the pressure I can on you tojoin today.
cause if you don't, you won't beback for three years.
Here's what I would say to thoselisteners that are listening
right now.
We always look at what happensif we do it, right?
So let me challenge you to lookat this and reframe this, to
look at it a completelydifferent way.
(18:20):
Let's assume you don't doanything and it's 10 years from
now.
What happens if you don't do it?
What is the cost?
What is the cost of risk?
What is the cost of yourfulfillment?
And what is the cost of regret?
Because that's the big thing.
It's not the money, it's not theperception.
You're not gonna care in 15years.
I've never met somebody late inlife that I've coached me that
said, man, I wish I would'vedone less.
(18:41):
And so if that strikes you, youshould pick up the phone and
call G tomorrow, because themost special thing you can do
for yourself is commit toyourself and the radiance that
you have for your family, foryour friends.
It is unbelievable the impactyou make on people around you.
Giuseppe Grammatico (18:58):
I couldn't agree more.
And I think you, you, you nailedit the way you kind of explained
it sometimes.
I'll go into stories and I'llkind of go all over the map, but
that you really nailed it.
It's really simplifying, youknow, it's, you know, I, I
reverse engineer everything.
What do you want in life?
Forget about the who.
Forget about the how, what isthe ideal situation?
Is it working from home?
Is it, you know, helping thecommunity, but being home, you
(19:19):
know, being done by five.
So you can go to the the kids'events and, and family events or
wherever you are, you know,whatever state you are in life.
It's really figuring what itlooks like and then figuring
out, okay, not only how, but whocan help me get there.
The how could be a vehicle, itcould be a franchise, it could
be a startup.
Obviously there's lots ofadvantages if, if a a, a
franchise is a good fit with thecommunity.
(19:39):
Correct me if I'm wrong, I pay afranchise fee today, I get full
access to all the, uh, you know,all the different various
coaching, the, all thetechnology, the marketing, the
coaching, the, the training, thesystems, everything.
It's essentially turnkey.
It's basically, it's like you'regetting the key, you got this
engine.
Obviously you have to followthrough with the system, but you
got coaches, you got Mike, yougot other franchisees in the
(20:00):
area truly helping you.
So it's not, okay.
I got a great system.
Now I, let me go see if itworks.
You have everyone rooting foryou and helping you out.
I mean, I did.
I is, is that, is that anaccurate, you know, if I, if I
had to describe Fundraising Uand what you're getting, you got
that team really rooting you onand, and supporting you.
Mike Bahun (20:16):
Yeah, no, I, I love baseball, so I'll just simplify
it down into baseball terms.
You're gonna walk into thedugout.
Your jersey and your equipmentare gonna be sitting right
there.
You're gonna have somebody thatshows you the game plan about
how to face that pitcher.
You're gonna grab the bat,you're gonna have somebody coach
you all the way along the way,you're gonna have a whole team
of people supporting you in thedugout.
You've got the best quality batin your hand, and we're gonna
(20:37):
take you right up to home plate.
And then even if it doesn't workout, we're gonna absorb you and
coach you.
So the only thing you have to dois go through the sequence and
the experience to take action.
To me, that's de-riskingeverything that you can.
And so we do on every singlelevel.
That's what you love aboutfranchising, right?
Is it's taking the perceivedrisk of business and it's taking
out the main things and it'sde-risking it.
(20:59):
And all it is you've gotta askyourself is do I feel like I
have the ability to go out andbe successful?
Like for us, we know the schoolsneed money and we know what to
do to help'em.
So what's the only thingmissing?
The person going out and doingthe activity That's an
opportunity that is out therefor hundreds of franchises.
And so I just want to encouragepeople,'cause I care about
entrepreneurship and I careabout seeing people take their
(21:20):
chances make the move, call Gand it'll change your life.
Giuseppe Grammatico (21:24):
That's what I tell everyone on, on the
calls.
I'm, I'm here to help.
We're here to figure out whichis the, the right fit.
Uh, we also wanna make sure thatif we find you the right fit, we
wanna make sure that the areathat you're looking at is
available as well.
So that's where we spend a lotof time as we, you know, it, it
has to make sense if you'regonna be driving five hours, uh,
to get to the office, probablynot gonna work.
That was my, uh, and I, I sayfive hours specifically because
(21:46):
that was my round trip commuteto New York City, uh, at my last
corporate job.
So, uh, that was not a door todoor commute.
That was not fun.
You got an eight hour day plusfive, that was 13 hours.
It was insane.
I don't know.
I did it way too long and thatwas my breaking point where the
pain was just, you know, not,not the hours, but I wasn't
gonna see the kids, uh, when Igot home.
So, nor, you know, leaving inthe morning.
(22:07):
So there, there's a lot there.
Any other advice for those that,it's a lot of people I work
with, it's like, Hey, you knowwhat, I've been, I've been
watching your show, I've beenthinking about it for the last
five years, they've beensimmering on this.
Any other advice to to reallymotivate people to, to take that
next action step of contactinga, a franchise coach or
(22:27):
consultant contact a contactinga brand directly, you know, what
other kind of parting advicewould you give to someone that's
just, they're at that point andthey're just, they're kind of
just stuck.
Mike Bahun (22:36):
Yeah I don't think there's ever been a, an easier
time to be successful than rightnow.
There's more information to putyou on the pathway.
And unfortunately, and I onlymean this to be factual, there's
less effort than's ever been putin by society to be successful.
And I, I understand COVID putpeople at home and it maybe
changed to the way that we lookat things.
So there's more opportunities tobe successful faster because
(23:00):
we've evolved as a society, butthere's less people because of
some, maybe some of the successwe've all had.
And that urgency and desire thatmaybe our parents and
grandparents had to build thefamily it, it's not the same.
We all know that we can feel it,right?
We're all looking to dosomething and make it easy, and
I don't think it's any easiernow to be successful than it
(23:20):
ever has been with more options,right?
If you just go out, and this isthe one thing that's synonymous
that I hear with everyfranchisor that I talk to.
If someone will go to work andfollow the plan, you're going to
be successful.
And just have to ask yourself,do you believe in enough on
yourself to make that walk?
And if you do, on the other sideof that is, yeah, there's more
money and you own that.
(23:40):
But I'll keep going back to itlike, that fulfillment in who
you become for your loved onesis the most special part about
entrepreneurship.
Giuseppe Grammatico (23:47):
I love that.
You know, it's not, it's notjust a flashy cars and money and
houses.
It's the important stuff whenyou boil it down.
Uh, I, I truly love that.
Mike Bahun (23:55):
watching, right?
What are your kids gonnaremember you as?
Like when, whenever I get stuckand I'm like every other person,
like I draw to that resource.
What would I want my kids, if mykids were watching and I made
this decision, or I didn't makethis decision, or if I followed
through and I didn't what wouldthey be gaining from or losing
if I didn't make that decisionor did make that decision?
And that's a special thing.
(24:15):
Like you, you want your kids arewatching you,
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:18):
Yes.
Mike Bahun (24:19):
They're gonna take on a lot of what you choose to
do.
And if you never went for it andyou talked about it and you
became frustrated, and then ifthat's unconscious and you
complain about working, you'retelling your kids that working
is bad, right?
And so we have to be very awareof the impact that we make for
our sphere of influence.
And being the one who is theperson who takes action, it
(24:39):
elevates everybody around you.
And that's special.
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:42):
It is.
No, it's not what we say, it'swhat we do.
I remember my parents sayingthat, and I'm like, what does
that even mean?
As a kid.
And now looking back it trulyis, it's our actions.
It's not just telling peoplewhat to do or telling the kids
what to do.
It's actually following through.
And I think that that'sextremely important and I
appreciate that more today as anadult than obviously as a kid.
(25:02):
What is website, we're gonna putit in the show notes.
Mike Bahun (25:04):
Yeah, pretty easy.
Just www.fundraising, one word,and then the letter u,
fundraising u.net.
You can find us.
We're responsive.
We'd love to talk about what wedo, and we're looking for great
people to walk out this greatmission.
Again, at the end of what we do,sure there's a great business
and there's a great opportunity,but when it's all said and done
(25:25):
and everything shakes outthere's a kid like me that, grew
up in a bad environment thatsports or schools changed their
life.
And there's millions of thesekids out there that they need
something to be part of.
They need what they're missingat home.
And we're enriching thatopportunity by giving resources
to schools and coaches andteachers and these great people
who take the time to raise ourkids.
(25:46):
We're putting tools in theirhands to change kids' lives.
And if that's something thatgets you excited we'd love for
you to help grow that mission.
Giuseppe Grammatico (25:53):
That's awesome.
Well, Mike, I really, really,really appreciate you being on
the show.
I know we've been working onthis for a while to get it
scheduled, and, uh, I reallyappreciate it that you really
brought it home there.
Uh, would love, uh, if anyoneis, is interested in exploring,
learning a little bit more aboutFundraising U, seeing if it's,
it's a good fit, seeing if it'savailable in your community, in
your area.
Gimme a shout.
Just go to the website,ggthefranchiseguide.com, you
(26:14):
know the website.
Uh, we can discuss that, see ifit's a good fit and talk about
next steps.
Mike, thanks again.
This was, this was awesome.
We'll, uh, we'll definitely, uh,you know, bring you back on the
show, get some updates.
Maybe we'll do an annual update,uh, towards this time next year.
Uh, I appreciate your time and,and, uh, looking forward to
chatting again very soon.
Thank you.
Class Act all the way around.
Thank you.
(26:34):
Thank you.
I'll talk to you soon.
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.
We do one week fundraisers, a hundred percent
(00:02):
digital, no order forms, nochecks, no cashing, all the
products are delivered home.
So we've el elevated the spaceto like an Amazon model for
sports and activity groups.
And so for me, people come allthe time and say, man, is it
scary?
What did you do?
And I respect and understandthat leap to entrepreneurship is
scary, but to me, being anemployee is way more scary
(00:23):
because now I've decided to putmy family's safety in the hands
of another person or into acircumstance or into a downsize
where I can be replaced'causeI've built up so much value they
can't afford me.
I don't think there's ever beena, an easier time to be
successful than right now.
There's more information to putyou on the pathway.
And unfortunately, and I onlymean this to be factual, there's
(00:47):
less effort than's ever been putin by society to be successful.
Welcome to the Franchise FreedomPodcast, where you can escape
the corporate trap throughfranchise ownership.
Here's your host, Giuseppe gr,the franchise guide.
Giuseppe Grammatico (01:06):
Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast.
I'm your host, GiuseppeGrammatico, your franchise
guide, the show where we helpcorporate executives experience
time and financial freedom.
Thanks for joining us today.
Uh, you guys asked for moreguests and we're, we're excited
to bring on my good friend, MikeBahun of Fundraising U.
Mike, welcome to the show.
Mike Bahun (01:23):
Thanks for having me, and I'm glad you said your
name first, so I didn't have totake that on, so thanks.
Giuseppe Grammatico (01:28):
It's G Everyone calls me G It's so much
easier.
It's even, it's even harder tospell.
I was doing a lot of soloepisodes.
We've been mixing it up.
We've had some awesome guestsand I've been looking forward to
this one.
If you can give the audience alittle bit of background, who
Mike is and, uh, we can get intoyou know, a little bit more on
Fundraising U.
Mike Bahun (01:44):
Yeah I'm a coach at heart.
Everything inside of what I doevery day and everything I'm a
passionate about is coachingbusiness owners, coaching in
sports, and so I'm from Omaha,Nebraska, originally spent the
first 35 years there.
Fell in love with athletics.
That was the springboard for ourbusiness.
Lived in Kansas City and nowmoved because of the growth of
the business.
I'm now in Arizona been marriedfor 20 years.
(02:06):
As of this October 7th, I've gottwin.
16-year-old girls and Iabsolutely love coaching people
and building teams and beingpart of that, and I love
entrepreneurship.
And so this brand is theemergence over time of the right
transactional opportunity withthe right transformational
day-to-day blending.
And I think our brand is uniquethere.
(02:28):
So essentially.
My passion is coaching peopleand building up athletics
because the net effect is, yournephew my niece, a cousin,
whoever you know, that gets tobe part of sports or activities
in schools.
We make a difference there.
Giuseppe Grammatico (02:42):
I love that.
So let, let's dive into toFundraising U.
This is, uh, definitely a uniquetype of business.
Uh, I really like it.
It stands out, it checks off alot of boxes when it comes to,
you know, really helping thecommunity giving back.
So talk to us a little bit aboutthe model.
You know, how you, you know,when you started and kind of
where you're at today.
Mike Bahun (03:01):
Yeah.
It started in 1999 when I gotreleased from playing baseball.
I went back to my high schooland it was, I was handed the
keys to run my high schoolbaseball program, and the guy
said, you get two dozenbaseballs and the rest of the
money you have to come up withyourself.
And so that was my firstexperience with fundraising.
And so as a high school baseballcoach in 1999, that's where this
started.
So 26 years now, fundraisingUniversity has been evolving and
(03:24):
emerging to get to this point.
And I saw a need.
I got excited about the idea ofusing my, entrepreneurial
background and being in sportsand the more that I could be
around the student athlete andthe activity experience, the
more I wanted that to happen.
And so we started out like a lotof brands, we just had a
territory.
Then just through meeting,coaches that liked what we did,
(03:45):
athletes, we started expandingand then we had 10 locations.
By 2016, and then I went to atwo year course called the
Wealth Factory.
And it's a, it's anentrepreneurial finance course
and I went through that.
At the very end of it, thegentleman presented the idea of
about it being a franchise, andI had never looked at it that
way.
And I was part of a nationalnetwork called the C 12, and
(04:07):
they had tons of franchisees andfranchisors.
So for two years, I studied theidea about the model.
And then in 2018 we spent thetwo years to become compliant,
real validation, a realoperations manual, a real FDD,
and we launched in March of 20as a franchise system.
Cool, I was holding this backfor this call'cause I was
excited.
(04:27):
So those 10 locations in 2016here this morning we just
brought on our a hundredterritories.
Giuseppe Grammatico (04:33):
Wow.
That is, uh, I mean, that's,that's a, an amazing feat.
I, I, I don't know the stat, youmay know the stat, but the
percentage of franchisecompanies that actually make it
to a hundred locations orterritories.
Mike Bahun (04:44):
I didn't Google this on Wikipedia or anything, but I
heard someone present this, that6.4 percent of all the brands
actually get to a hundred units.
Giuseppe Grammatico (04:53):
That is really amazing.
That's not an easy feat and asyou're growing it's helping,
right?
It's helping all the ffranchisees with national
presence.
Making the marketing a lot moreefficient economies of scale.
So that's a, that's awesome.
Congrats.
So great business model,obviously, a lot of people,
especially if you have families,you don't have to have a family,
but the kids there, there'salways various fundraising and I
(05:13):
feel like there's noconsistencies.
Sometimes there's you gotinventory, you gotta buy stuff,
you gotta hand it out later.
Talk to us a little bit morespecific on the model and
specifically, who is that rightfit and what is their role in
the business.
Mike Bahun (05:26):
Yeah.
No, you nailed it.
You know when people hearfundraising, we think of right
away what we've experienced.
The candy bars, the order formfor the magazine, just the mercy
sale from your nephew and theynever stop.
And you're right, there's neverconsistency.
And so the challenge with itwas, schools do the best they
can, but they're not resourcedon the business acumen side.
(05:48):
And there is no structure tofundraising, right?
People see it as a commodity ora product in the way that you
just explained it, and that isthe first impression people get
with this.
But the right way to havesuccess is it's a service brand.
And so we're approaching this asa service brand.
And what I mean by that, whatthe coaches and the schools and
the activities want is they wantsomething fast.
(06:11):
And they want obviously the mostamount of money they can get.
So we do one week fundraisers, ahundred percent digital, no
order forms, no checks, nocashing, all the products are
delivered home.
So we've el elevated the spaceto like an Amazon model for
sports and activity groups.
So we've given the tools to theschools that they don't have,
including technology.
And so why people come toFundraising U is because we have
(06:33):
a system that's fast, it's safe.
We own our own technology.
And to this point, this is acertified number in our ERP.
We're averaging over$400 perstudent that engages us, which
is three times the norm and mostfundraisers are six to eight
weeks.
And so that's where we sit in adifferent place.
Our ideal franchise owner reallysometimes people think it's
(06:54):
narrow and they think it'ssports or they think it's
something they do in addition totheir role.
And this is a real business thathas real margins in a way above
average on it.
And we have a 92% reoccurringrate on our customer which is
huge.
And so our person, first andforemost is somebody that cares
and has high empathy and wantsto make a difference.
We've seen that come from, wehave engineers and lawyers and
(07:17):
former NFL players all the wayover to teachers and coaches
that want to stay in the space,but want to have more.
And so I think our avatar issomebody who cares, wants to
make a difference.
Um, they, want to control their,their time a lot more.
It is a very friendly lifestylerole.
We all know when a schoolcalendar is, so we all know what
you're gonna be doing and when.
And and then they also obviouslywant to determine their own, I
(07:40):
guess value by the success ofthe business.
And so I, we think it's verybroad.
If you care about people and youwanna make a difference, and you
want to control your time andyour value.
Those people fit inside of that,right?
And then obviously, ourcharacteristics of success are
no different than any other one,right?
You gotta be competitive, yougotta be coachable, gotta be
organized.
And in this model, because we'reworking with the best people in
(08:02):
the world, in my opinion, whoare coaches, there's gotta be
true empathy for what'shappening.
Giuseppe Grammatico (08:06):
Absolutely.
And there's a, you know, there'sa need for it and it just needs
to be, I think, simplified.
So, you know, why, why just, uh,work with the soccer team when
you can work with all the sport,organizations and teams?
I don't, I don't know whatpercentage that they typically
have to fundraise for.
'cause obviously they, they'regetting funds from the school
and this is kind of over andbeyond, but there's always gonna
be a need.
This isn't, going away.
(08:26):
And I think, uh, keeping itsimple, you know, that's why
people are.
Or scared to volunteer is thatthey don't know what they're
getting into, or, or they'regonna have to make, uh, millions
of deliveries or have their, youknow, garage full of, uh, peanut
m and ms or something like that.
I remember in Little League, weused to just have boxes of, of
candy just piling to theceiling.
So, yeah, this is, uh, you know,the, the fits there and it
sounds, it sounds as if, as youmentioned, the, the experience
(08:49):
necessary isn't needed infundraising or even working with
schools or even being a coach.
It's more of just being able to,to network, uh, you know,
relationship building and, andworking with the schools.
Because naturally as we weresaying, like it's, you know,
it's gonna go from one sport tothe next, or, or one
organization doesn't have to bejust, uh, sports, if I
understood that correctly.
Mike Bahun (09:07):
Yeah, no there's a simple but great opportunity,
and this is the easiest way tosee it.
So in each school, and the sizesare different, but on average
there's about 25 teachers orcoaches in that school that
could use help anyway frombasketball to band, choir,
music, orchestra flags, cheer,dance.
And so think about theopportunity that you have 25
customers in the same buildingthat all are trying to solve the
(09:29):
same problem that they alreadyknow they have, and that's where
it's tremendous, and that's whywe see it as an outbound service
rather than a commodity orproduct.
Giuseppe Grammatico (09:37):
Love that.
The, um, buzzwords that we hearin the news that we hear in
conversation, and it's affectedobviously many people's jobs,
is, is AI.
Can you talk about thetechnology that, that's being
utilized as well as if, uh, AIis, um, being invested in, in
any of the technology and makingthe franchisees more efficient?
Mike Bahun (09:57):
Yeah.
You're the merchant you've got amerchant processor, you've got
the agreement, you've got yourproform.
Anything you can do in the phonein our ERP.
And because of that, we're veryagile in the fact that we can
evolve and change on any level.
So AI is a great example ofthat, right?
So when our reps go out and theywant to learn to build the
conversation to have withcoaches, we're using AI and we
plug that right in and they cango out and every one of their
(10:20):
conversations is not justrecorded.
So we can give them feedback,but it takes the ideal script
and it grades them and givesthem next steps.
Then that's automated and goesinto the CRM and it's all kept
track of.
So that's one way we're usingAI.
We also use it forfunctionality.
Same example in our CRM orQuickBooks.
The rep just talks to theirphone and it populates the
customer experience.
(10:41):
And I mean because of thefoundation of it, having an ERP.
We are set up to bring inanything.
But on the other side of it,where people are afraid of AI,
not as a tool where they'reafraid to be replaced, that's
why I intentionally built aservice, because you're not
vulnerable to being, as aproduct or a commodity.
And that service can only beexecuted by a human in person.
(11:01):
We have it all the time.
People try to provide theproduct or the technology to the
school, and there's veryspecific dynamics that make it
faster, safer, and more moneythat's gonna require somebody
there.
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:11):
In regards, you know, when, when people look
at owning a franchise they'relooking for obviously the
system.
I call it a, um, a business ontraining wheels.
They're getting support, butthey're also getting that
additional coaching, uh, notjust this is the best way to, to
run your business, or let's,let's get an account together.
Can you talk to us a little bitmore about, you know, the
(11:31):
different coaching that'sinvolved in, in the business to
make them, uh, you know,extremely effective within their
communities?
Mike Bahun (11:37):
Yeah, I'm glad you asked that.
It's actually my favorite thing.
You know me, I've been a coachfor 30 years baseball.
I've coached at Ohio State,Creighton, I've been a high
school coach.
I've ran a youth academy, so Ialways say I've seen'em from
eight when they start.
And then I've got six guys thatI've coached somewhere along the
way that were on an opening day,major league baseball roster,
and currently I'm the mentalperformance coach for the
(11:58):
University of Houston baseball.
So coaching is, it's just who weare and it's what we love to do.
I love to build teams and I loveto coach people and I've
invested in myself.
To be developed to do that, andthere's constant investment into
our leadership to develop theirskills.
We have anything from a personwho's an operations person with
franchise experience that'straining on the ERP to a
(12:21):
business manager who's been aNASA engineer that's teaching
them how to build a proforma allthe way over to, we have a
mental performance coach that'sa current UFC fighter.
We're literally coaching themindset of an entrepreneur and
we have a physical fitnessperson that's available to them
as well that's gonna help themwith a healthy lifestyle.
'cause we believe that if youbuild the best person, whether
that's baseball whether that'sbeing an attorney, whether that
(12:44):
if you build the best person,you're gonna get the best
results.
And so we have a very, we don'tcall it training or we don't
call it support.
We call it development becausethat's an active, ongoing thing.
I think it's probably thestrength of Fundraising U
outside of the need that's outthere is our passion to coach
people.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:00):
That is amazing that, that I've yet to
hear.
I mean, you know, franchisor areproviding support and training,
but that, that level oftraining, because right, I mean
your, your physical, yournutrition, your, your physical
activity, your workouts, that,that all affects every, affects
your attitude.
It affects everything.
So that is, uh, very unique and,and I like to, you know, talk
about those and have thoseconversations on how brands are,
(13:21):
are unique from one another.
So that is very interesting.
I don't hear a lot of that.
I'm trying to think.
A lot of people listening in onthe show first time
entrepreneurs, or will be firsttime entrepreneurs, right?
That maybe they're at their job,they've, or maybe they were
recently downsized.
Maybe they're expecting to bedownsized and they're looking
for what's next.
We, we talk quite a bit on theshow about creating a safety
net, being proactive in theevent of the next, um, uh,
(13:44):
downsizing at, at theorganization.
Just being proactive in that,you know, hey, maybe I'm not
downsized, but I have theability now to leave my
employer, because I did build upthis, this business.
Uh, what advice would you give?
So this is more in general termsto someone that is looking to
make it the leap into owning abusiness, into owning a
franchise.
Mike Bahun (14:02):
Yeah, so we have a saying that it's a start that
stops most people and thereality of the situation is all
of us it's a natural, again, onthe mental performance stuff,
it's a natural instinct that'sbuilt into all of us that we
want comfort, safety, andpredictability.
You're always going to be givingthat up in some way or another.
And so for me, people come allthe time and say, man, is it
(14:24):
scary?
What did you do?
And I respect and understandthat leap to entrepreneurship is
scary, but to me, being anemployee is way more scary
because now I've decided to putmy family's safety in the hands
of another person or into acircumstance or into a downsize
where I can be replaced'causeI've built up so much value they
can't afford me.
(14:44):
And so I think actually, ifyou're looking for safety
predictability, I think it istaking a six to eight teen month
leap to be an entrepreneurbecause not only now are you
creating safety by takingactivity, you're also building
an asset and you're not aliability.
And so I would just encouragepeople.
And so that's on the businesspart.
I'll go in a differentdirection.
There's no greater experience inthe world than standing on your
(15:07):
own and taking care of yourself.
You'll never understand whatyour true potential is unless
you get out of that place andget there and sure, it's scary.
But there is absolutely nothingbetter for me than when I see
people get past that point andmake that realization that, hey,
I can do this on my own.
I've earned this, I've done it.
And that sense of ownership andpride is one of the coolest
(15:28):
things that you can realize inlife.
I get goosebumps as you weresaying that because I absolutely
agree.
You know, it does take, uh,there is this leap, right?
I mean, there, there'sdefinitely, um, this, uh, what
we call it, I guess,uncertainty.
Uh, you're not going in blind,obviously, you're doing your
research, but you wanna makesure everything works out.
But going back to your originalpoint.
Working for an an employer is,people feel it, it's safe.
(15:49):
It technically isn't.
I've been through three roundsof, of layoffs with the last
three companies prior to leavingcorporate life 20 years ago.
Uh, you never know.
And, and really my promotions,my commissions, I remember we
were in sales, was dictated bymy manager who had another 20
managers above her.
And I felt like I had nocontrol.
And then not only that, but Igot my money.
Threw it into a a 401k plan thatI didn't control as well, aside
(16:13):
from the percentage and theinvestments, but I didn't
control the mutual funds andwhat I was investing in.
So really I had my fate in ineveryone else's hands.
Hope, hopefully crossing myfingers, obviously, that it
worked out because I wasn'tmaking any big decisions at the
firm.
I worked for one of the largestfinancial service firms, uh, to
ever exist.
So, no control whatsoever.
You know, hope, hoping thateveryone's making good decisions
(16:35):
and, and following through, butto really experience like, I'm
gonna control this.
Yes, there, there's risk.
Yes.
You know, it, it could be anemotional rollercoaster.
I've been there, I'm 20 years infull-time as a business owner.
The experience when, whensomeone asks me was it, is it,
and was it worth it?
The answer is yes.
I've never missed a soccer gameor, or any of the kids or family
(16:56):
events due to work.
It, it is, some people, it's allabout money and I think it's
because.
It's not done intentionally, butmoney could be measured, right?
I have a million dollars in thebank.
I have a$2 million home.
But how do you measurehappiness?
How do you measure, you know,the quality time you have with
kids?
You can't really it's hard toactually measure and put a
number on it, if that makessense.
That's the way someone explainedit to me years ago.
(17:16):
So.
I think the financials is justbecause that's, that's how you
measure things.
So, you know, really, you know,you don't control it.
If you are doing well, maybeyour income's up, but you still
have to show up 50 weeks a yearto get your two, two weeks of
vacation.
So, I hate to talk so much aboutthat, but it comes up over and
over again now how businessownership is risky.
And I go, you gotta change themind.
You gotta take a step back andlook at it for what it truly is.
(17:38):
Anything else you wanna add?
What I would say there for thelisteners and'cause you're
listening, you're exploring,you're thinking about this.
Number one, ask yourself, howlong have you been thinking
about this?
And quick story.
My first job when I was playingprofessional baseball and
working on some school, I hadmet this wonderful man that was
a mentor.
And every time someone wouldcome into the gym, he wouldn't
go around to the treadmills, hewouldn't go to the daycare, he
(17:59):
would look him in the eye withcare and say, how long have you
been thinking about coming in?
And they would say two years andhe would say I am gonna put all
the pressure I can on you tojoin today.
cause if you don't, you won't beback for three years.
Here's what I would say to thoselisteners that are listening
right now.
We always look at what happensif we do it, right?
So let me challenge you to lookat this and reframe this, to
look at it a completelydifferent way.
(18:20):
Let's assume you don't doanything and it's 10 years from
now.
What happens if you don't do it?
What is the cost?
What is the cost of risk?
What is the cost of yourfulfillment?
And what is the cost of regret?
Because that's the big thing.
It's not the money, it's not theperception.
You're not gonna care in 15years.
I've never met somebody late inlife that I've coached me that
said, man, I wish I would'vedone less.
(18:41):
And so if that strikes you, youshould pick up the phone and
call G tomorrow, because themost special thing you can do
for yourself is commit toyourself and the radiance that
you have for your family, foryour friends.
It is unbelievable the impactyou make on people around you.
Giuseppe Grammatico (18:58):
I couldn't agree more.
And I think you, you, you nailedit the way you kind of explained
it sometimes.
I'll go into stories and I'llkind of go all over the map, but
that you really nailed it.
It's really simplifying, youknow, it's, you know, I, I
reverse engineer everything.
What do you want in life?
Forget about the who.
Forget about the how, what isthe ideal situation?
Is it working from home?
Is it, you know, helping thecommunity, but being home, you
(19:19):
know, being done by five.
So you can go to the the kids'events and, and family events or
wherever you are, you know,whatever state you are in life.
It's really figuring what itlooks like and then figuring
out, okay, not only how, but whocan help me get there.
The how could be a vehicle, itcould be a franchise, it could
be a startup.
Obviously there's lots ofadvantages if, if a a, a
franchise is a good fit with thecommunity.
(19:39):
Correct me if I'm wrong, I pay afranchise fee today, I get full
access to all the, uh, you know,all the different various
coaching, the, all thetechnology, the marketing, the
coaching, the, the training, thesystems, everything.
It's essentially turnkey.
It's basically, it's like you'regetting the key, you got this
engine.
Obviously you have to followthrough with the system, but you
got coaches, you got Mike, yougot other franchisees in the
(20:00):
area truly helping you.
So it's not, okay.
I got a great system.
Now I, let me go see if itworks.
You have everyone rooting foryou and helping you out.
I mean, I did.
I is, is that, is that anaccurate, you know, if I, if I
had to describe Fundraising Uand what you're getting, you got
that team really rooting you onand, and supporting you.
Mike Bahun (20:16):
Yeah, no, I, I love baseball, so I'll just simplify
it down into baseball terms.
You're gonna walk into thedugout.
Your jersey and your equipmentare gonna be sitting right
there.
You're gonna have somebody thatshows you the game plan about
how to face that pitcher.
You're gonna grab the bat,you're gonna have somebody coach
you all the way along the way,you're gonna have a whole team
of people supporting you in thedugout.
You've got the best quality batin your hand, and we're gonna
(20:37):
take you right up to home plate.
And then even if it doesn't workout, we're gonna absorb you and
coach you.
So the only thing you have to dois go through the sequence and
the experience to take action.
To me, that's de-riskingeverything that you can.
And so we do on every singlelevel.
That's what you love aboutfranchising, right?
Is it's taking the perceivedrisk of business and it's taking
out the main things and it'sde-risking it.
(20:59):
And all it is you've gotta askyourself is do I feel like I
have the ability to go out andbe successful?
Like for us, we know the schoolsneed money and we know what to
do to help'em.
So what's the only thingmissing?
The person going out and doingthe activity That's an
opportunity that is out therefor hundreds of franchises.
And so I just want to encouragepeople,'cause I care about
entrepreneurship and I careabout seeing people take their
(21:20):
chances make the move, call Gand it'll change your life.
Giuseppe Grammatico (21:24):
That's what I tell everyone on, on the
calls.
I'm, I'm here to help.
We're here to figure out whichis the, the right fit.
Uh, we also wanna make sure thatif we find you the right fit, we
wanna make sure that the areathat you're looking at is
available as well.
So that's where we spend a lotof time as we, you know, it, it
has to make sense if you'regonna be driving five hours, uh,
to get to the office, probablynot gonna work.
That was my, uh, and I, I sayfive hours specifically because
(21:46):
that was my round trip commuteto New York City, uh, at my last
corporate job.
So, uh, that was not a door todoor commute.
That was not fun.
You got an eight hour day plusfive, that was 13 hours.
It was insane.
I don't know.
I did it way too long and thatwas my breaking point where the
pain was just, you know, not,not the hours, but I wasn't
gonna see the kids, uh, when Igot home.
So, nor, you know, leaving inthe morning.
(22:07):
So there, there's a lot there.
Any other advice for those that,it's a lot of people I work
with, it's like, Hey, you knowwhat, I've been, I've been
watching your show, I've beenthinking about it for the last
five years, they've beensimmering on this.
Any other advice to to reallymotivate people to, to take that
next action step of contactinga, a franchise coach or
(22:27):
consultant contact a contactinga brand directly, you know, what
other kind of parting advicewould you give to someone that's
just, they're at that point andthey're just, they're kind of
just stuck.
Mike Bahun (22:36):
Yeah I don't think there's ever been a, an easier
time to be successful than rightnow.
There's more information to putyou on the pathway.
And unfortunately, and I onlymean this to be factual, there's
less effort than's ever been putin by society to be successful.
And I, I understand COVID putpeople at home and it maybe
changed to the way that we lookat things.
So there's more opportunities tobe successful faster because
(23:00):
we've evolved as a society, butthere's less people because of
some, maybe some of the successwe've all had.
And that urgency and desire thatmaybe our parents and
grandparents had to build thefamily it, it's not the same.
We all know that we can feel it,right?
We're all looking to dosomething and make it easy, and
I don't think it's any easiernow to be successful than it
(23:20):
ever has been with more options,right?
If you just go out, and this isthe one thing that's synonymous
that I hear with everyfranchisor that I talk to.
If someone will go to work andfollow the plan, you're going to
be successful.
And just have to ask yourself,do you believe in enough on
yourself to make that walk?
And if you do, on the other sideof that is, yeah, there's more
money and you own that.
(23:40):
But I'll keep going back to itlike, that fulfillment in who
you become for your loved onesis the most special part about
entrepreneurship.
Giuseppe Grammatico (23:47):
I love that.
You know, it's not, it's notjust a flashy cars and money and
houses.
It's the important stuff whenyou boil it down.
Uh, I, I truly love that.
Mike Bahun (23:55):
watching, right?
What are your kids gonnaremember you as?
Like when, whenever I get stuckand I'm like every other person,
like I draw to that resource.
What would I want my kids, if mykids were watching and I made
this decision, or I didn't makethis decision, or if I followed
through and I didn't what wouldthey be gaining from or losing
if I didn't make that decisionor did make that decision?
And that's a special thing.
(24:15):
Like you, you want your kids arewatching you,
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:18):
Yes.
Mike Bahun (24:19):
They're gonna take on a lot of what you choose to
do.
And if you never went for it andyou talked about it and you
became frustrated, and then ifthat's unconscious and you
complain about working, you'retelling your kids that working
is bad, right?
And so we have to be very awareof the impact that we make for
our sphere of influence.
And being the one who is theperson who takes action, it
(24:39):
elevates everybody around you.
And that's special.
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:42):
It is.
No, it's not what we say, it'swhat we do.
I remember my parents sayingthat, and I'm like, what does
that even mean?
As a kid.
And now looking back it trulyis, it's our actions.
It's not just telling peoplewhat to do or telling the kids
what to do.
It's actually following through.
And I think that that'sextremely important and I
appreciate that more today as anadult than obviously as a kid.
(25:02):
What is website, we're gonna putit in the show notes.
Mike Bahun (25:04):
Yeah, pretty easy.
Just www.fundraising, one word,and then the letter u,
fundraising u.net.
You can find us.
We're responsive.
We'd love to talk about what wedo, and we're looking for great
people to walk out this greatmission.
Again, at the end of what we do,sure there's a great business
and there's a great opportunity,but when it's all said and done
(25:25):
and everything shakes outthere's a kid like me that, grew
up in a bad environment thatsports or schools changed their
life.
And there's millions of thesekids out there that they need
something to be part of.
They need what they're missingat home.
And we're enriching thatopportunity by giving resources
to schools and coaches andteachers and these great people
who take the time to raise ourkids.
(25:46):
We're putting tools in theirhands to change kids' lives.
And if that's something thatgets you excited we'd love for
you to help grow that mission.
Giuseppe Grammatico (25:53):
That's awesome.
Well, Mike, I really, really,really appreciate you being on
the show.
I know we've been working onthis for a while to get it
scheduled, and, uh, I reallyappreciate it that you really
brought it home there.
Uh, would love, uh, if anyoneis, is interested in exploring,
learning a little bit more aboutFundraising U, seeing if it's,
it's a good fit, seeing if it'savailable in your community, in
your area.
Gimme a shout.
Just go to the website,ggthefranchiseguide.com, you
(26:14):
know the website.
Uh, we can discuss that, see ifit's a good fit and talk about
next steps.
Mike, thanks again.
This was, this was awesome.
We'll, uh, we'll definitely, uh,you know, bring you back on the
show, get some updates.
Maybe we'll do an annual update,uh, towards this time next year.
Uh, I appreciate your time and,and, uh, looking forward to
chatting again very soon.
Thank you.
Class Act all the way around.
Thank you.
(26:34):
Thank you.
I'll talk to you soon.
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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