June 21, 2025 • 10 mins
Thinking about franchising? Don't let these common myths stop you! In this solo episode, Giuseppe Grammatico busts the Top 5 Misconceptions about franchise ownership. We cover the TRUTH behind:
- It's NOT just fast food!
- You DON'T need millions!
- You WON'T work 80 hours a week forever!
- You GAIN freedom, not lose it!
- You're building an ASSET, not just buying a job!
Get the clarity you need to move forward with confidence on your franchise journey. Let's talk about your goals!
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The Franchise Freedom: Discover Your New Path to Freedom Through Franchise Ownership, Book by Giuseppe Grammatico https://ggthefranchiseguide.com/book or purchase directly on Amazon.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Giuseppe Grammatico (00:00):
You don't need millions to get started.
(00:02):
Control your schedule, controlyour destiny.
You have a lot more controlversus being, an employee and
then eventually selling it.
I put in a lot of hours up frontso that all the sweat equity was
in that first year, so I canreally back off the second year.
(00:30):
Welcome to the Franchise FreedomPodcast.
I'm your host, GiuseppeGrammatico, your franchise
guide, the show where we helpcorporate executives experience
time and financial freedom.
Thanks for joining us.
We're continuing the series ofthese short solo episodes,
really covering some hot topicsthe questions that we're getting
on a daily basis.
And the title of today's episodeis Top Misconceptions about
(00:51):
franchise ownership and theTruths behind them.
Really excited to, to dive in.
So we're gonna bust some myths,clear confusion, eliminate some
false objections early on in thein the journey here.
What are the five key areaswe're gonna be discussing today?
Number one in thesemisconceptions, and the number
one by far.
I would say this takes of thetop 10, probably the top five is
(01:13):
that franchising is only in fastfood.
And that is a, one of the topmisconceptions reason people
think of that is and when Ifirst started over 20 years ago,
I thought the same was you tendto see the signs on the way to
work on the way to and fromwork, driving around the big
signs, the big restaurants andthings like that.
And, they, there's a ton of'emthey've been around for a long
(01:35):
time, but that's notnecessarily.
The right fit for everyone.
When I ask people what draws youto fast food aside from the big
name is that, is the they sayeveryone's got to eat.
Which is true right there.
There's definitely a demand forthe product because everyone do
does actually have to eat atleast two or three times a day.
So what type of franchises arethere?
I mean, there's 4,000 franchisesin 70 industries, so that, that
(01:59):
should really kind of, kind ofshow you exactly what's out
there.
So there's B2B and B2C concepts.
There's executive recruitment.
There's let's see, what else?
Expense reduction.
There's senior care and there'smedical care and non-medical.
There's dog waste removal, momobile, pet grooming.
(02:19):
You got all your foods.
There are actually foodfranchises that don't even have
a kitchen.
It's more of a coaching type offranchise, whether food is
brought in from from thefranchise or from their
facilities.
There's mobile food, but youdon't need a brick and mortar.
Using a more of a food trucktrailer selling donuts and
drinks and things like that.
Kind of simplifying the numberof staff and inventory and
(02:42):
things like that.
My gosh the list goes on.
Water and smoke mitigation,painting, cleaning haircuts
tanning hair nail, all that kindof stuff.
So massages.
Really there, if you can thinkof a business, there's a
franchise and I always say, youwanna be.
Interested in the service thewidget, whatever it is.
But ultimately you wanna makesure the fits there.
(03:04):
Number two, you need millions toget started.
That is absolutely false.
And that's typically goes backto fast food especially if
you're in a single location,non-attached.
There's gonna have somebody,you're looking at a seven figure
plus potential seven figure plusinvestment.
You get a boutique small fitnessfranchise haircutting, things
like that now in a strip mallthat's gonna significantly
(03:27):
reduce that that investment.
You get into non brick andmortar again, water and smoke
mitigation, painting senior careand things like that.
Where maybe an office is neededeventually, but not initially.
The investments you're lookingcan, you could be anywhere from
a hundred to$200,000.
It could be less, could be more.
And that's really everything youneed to get up and running and
(03:47):
train for the first 90 days, allthe working capital and things
like that.
And that'll vary based off ofthe number of employees that are
involved.
W2 versus contractor if trucksor vehicles and equipment are
needed.
And if you're, gonna be hiring ageneral manager out the gate.
For some of these, your an SBAloan will require 20 to 30%.
You may need to be putting down,I.
(04:10):
20, 30, 40,$50,000 depending onthe franchise, the fees and the
investment.
You don't need millions to getstarted.
The franchisor on a side note,will have a liquidity and net
worth requirement which isdifferent than the actual
investment, but there are plentyof funding strategies, including
if you qualify retirement, homeequity, lines of credit, even a
loan on your non-retirementinvestments, which is kind of
(04:33):
cool.
We've been getting a lot ofcalls on, on how that works.
More than happy to the, todiscuss.
All right, number three, I don'twant to work 80 hours a week.
Listen, it's a business.
A Fran, a franchise is not, isgiving you the blueprint and the
guide for you to run with andfollow.
The franchisor's not gonna runthe business for you.
So initially, I.
(04:53):
It is a lot of work.
There's an investment of moneyand capital, but there's also
sweat equity.
There's time that you'reinvesting to learn that
franchise find the rightemployees.
Maybe the first hire isn't theright hire, and there's a little
bit of turnover.
That's okay.
That happens in businessownership.
Expect it.
The time I the way to look at itis more of a mindset shift and
looking at it, I'll do whateverit takes to get the business up
(05:16):
and running so that all theright systems are in place, that
the right people are in placeequally as important so that I
can manage the manager and nothave to be involved full-time.
I can manage remotely, meet witha manager via Zoom at a coffee
shop once a week or in theoffice.
There are different models outthere, semi absentee.
(05:36):
We will have you potentiallyworking less, keeping a job, and
then there's full-time ownershipwhere you're, essentially
running the business at leastfor the first six months to a
year.
That's not a bad idea.
That's the way I did it.
I put in a lot of hours up frontso that all the sweat equity was
in that first year, so I canreally back off the second year.
But not everyone has the abilityto leave their job the first
year, and that's totally fine.
(05:58):
So you got some options there.
I'll lose my freedom.
We'll, I guess what does thateven mean?
And, there's financial and timefreedom are the top two.
Again, it's setting theexpectation The first year
you're not, are you gonna make aton of money the first year?
It's gonna be, that first yearyou really wanna reinvest the
profits back into the businessto help it grow so that all the
systems are in place so that youcan scale back your time.
(06:20):
The time freedom, you're gonnabe working a lot of hours, at
least that first year, or atleast the first six months.
So let's fast forward the firstyear.
And knowing what you need to getin place, and if you need a
general manager, start workingday one.
What are the roles you'll playin the business?
What will they play in thebusiness?
Constantly changing'em.
I always keep a Google docthat's a live document that we
can edit.
(06:41):
Sometimes something comes upthat no one thought about that,
that needs to be added to thelist.
So you're not losing yourfreedom.
Just the expectation is you'reinvesting time and resources and
capital and everything elseinvolved so that you can create
this time freedom to do what youwant when you want, and have the
right teams in place.
Even with the franchise, thishas not happened overnight.
(07:03):
Can it happen?
Absolutely.
I'm a product of that.
I've done that myself.
It just takes time.
Don't expect it to open thefranchise launch and have time
freedom.
You're, you may be working moremoney more hours than you were
working at your job.
Franchisees are just buying ajob.
I got that question the otherday.
If you're gonna run the businesson your own and hustle if you're
(07:24):
the franchise and you're thebrand and you're doing, for
example, executive coaching orexpense reduction, and you're
not working with any otherfranchisees or bringing on any
additional coaches you're gonnabe doing everything.
So if you're not around, ifyou're off, then you know, work
isn't getting done.
To an extent, there's gonna besystems in place and depending
(07:45):
on what the franchisor is.
So the mindset is you're gonnahave to build out a small team,
and they don't even have to beW2 employees.
They could be 10 99 coaches thatwill get a percentage of sales
that, whatever they bring, maybethey, whatever you're netting,
you split it 50, 50 or 75, 25,whatever the numbers are.
So I don't believe a franchiseyou are buying a job.
(08:06):
And if that's how you feel aboutit, then maybe that's not the
franchise for you.
I don't believe in buying a jobyou're buying.
This vehicle, investing in thisvehicle that will help you gain
back that time and financialfreedom make some extra money.
Control your schedule, controlyour destiny.
You have a lot more controlversus being, an employee and
(08:27):
then eventually selling it.
We talked about this in actuallyone of the blogs a while back,
but, you, do you wanna sell thisfor a multiple retire?
Do you wanna build a legacy andpass it down to the kids?
Hey, these are all options.
And, and things can change downthe road, and that's okay.
You don't have to have it allfigured out.
But these are things to kind ofthink about.
If you're still unsure there'sstill some, lacking of some
(08:47):
clarity.
Let's chat.
Let's review your goals.
Let's figure out if a franchiseis a good fit.
Gigi, the franchise guide.com.
Book a call.
Simple as that.
20 minutes we'll figure outtogether if a franchise is the
right fit.
There's zero cost ever.
There's no contracts.
Could save you a lot of time inheadaches.
But we definitely we could talkabout in a little bit more
detail, any of these mythmisconceptions or myths that we
(09:10):
talk about all the time.
Thanks again for joining us.
It's been a pleasure.
Appreciate all your questions.
And we got we got let's see,three more episodes in the
series.
And again, looking forward toyour feedback.
So if you have any questions orlike me to dive in a little bit
deeper, we could d discuss it onour call.
You can send me a message, a dmwhatever's easier for you.
These this really helps me'causeI want to answer and address the
(09:31):
questions you have to make thisthe best experience possible.
Thanks again for your support,guys.
Talk to you soon.
See you.
Thanks for tuning in if you wantto learn how to make the
transition from corporate toowning your franchise.
Join Giuseppe on the nextepisode.
(09:53):
You can also follow on allsocial media platforms and
achieve financial and timefreedom today.
You don't need millions to get started.
(00:02):
Control your schedule, controlyour destiny.
You have a lot more controlversus being, an employee and
then eventually selling it.
I put in a lot of hours up frontso that all the sweat equity was
in that first year, so I canreally back off the second year.
(00:30):
Welcome to the Franchise FreedomPodcast.
I'm your host, GiuseppeGrammatico, your franchise
guide, the show where we helpcorporate executives experience
time and financial freedom.
Thanks for joining us.
We're continuing the series ofthese short solo episodes,
really covering some hot topicsthe questions that we're getting
on a daily basis.
And the title of today's episodeis Top Misconceptions about
(00:51):
franchise ownership and theTruths behind them.
Really excited to, to dive in.
So we're gonna bust some myths,clear confusion, eliminate some
false objections early on in thein the journey here.
What are the five key areaswe're gonna be discussing today?
Number one in thesemisconceptions, and the number
one by far.
I would say this takes of thetop 10, probably the top five is
(01:13):
that franchising is only in fastfood.
And that is a, one of the topmisconceptions reason people
think of that is and when Ifirst started over 20 years ago,
I thought the same was you tendto see the signs on the way to
work on the way to and fromwork, driving around the big
signs, the big restaurants andthings like that.
And, they, there's a ton of'emthey've been around for a long
(01:35):
time, but that's notnecessarily.
The right fit for everyone.
When I ask people what draws youto fast food aside from the big
name is that, is the they sayeveryone's got to eat.
Which is true right there.
There's definitely a demand forthe product because everyone do
does actually have to eat atleast two or three times a day.
So what type of franchises arethere?
I mean, there's 4,000 franchisesin 70 industries, so that, that
(01:59):
should really kind of, kind ofshow you exactly what's out
there.
So there's B2B and B2C concepts.
There's executive recruitment.
There's let's see, what else?
Expense reduction.
There's senior care and there'smedical care and non-medical.
There's dog waste removal, momobile, pet grooming.
(02:19):
You got all your foods.
There are actually foodfranchises that don't even have
a kitchen.
It's more of a coaching type offranchise, whether food is
brought in from from thefranchise or from their
facilities.
There's mobile food, but youdon't need a brick and mortar.
Using a more of a food trucktrailer selling donuts and
drinks and things like that.
Kind of simplifying the numberof staff and inventory and
(02:42):
things like that.
My gosh the list goes on.
Water and smoke mitigation,painting, cleaning haircuts
tanning hair nail, all that kindof stuff.
So massages.
Really there, if you can thinkof a business, there's a
franchise and I always say, youwanna be.
Interested in the service thewidget, whatever it is.
But ultimately you wanna makesure the fits there.
(03:04):
Number two, you need millions toget started.
That is absolutely false.
And that's typically goes backto fast food especially if
you're in a single location,non-attached.
There's gonna have somebody,you're looking at a seven figure
plus potential seven figure plusinvestment.
You get a boutique small fitnessfranchise haircutting, things
like that now in a strip mallthat's gonna significantly
(03:27):
reduce that that investment.
You get into non brick andmortar again, water and smoke
mitigation, painting senior careand things like that.
Where maybe an office is neededeventually, but not initially.
The investments you're lookingcan, you could be anywhere from
a hundred to$200,000.
It could be less, could be more.
And that's really everything youneed to get up and running and
(03:47):
train for the first 90 days, allthe working capital and things
like that.
And that'll vary based off ofthe number of employees that are
involved.
W2 versus contractor if trucksor vehicles and equipment are
needed.
And if you're, gonna be hiring ageneral manager out the gate.
For some of these, your an SBAloan will require 20 to 30%.
You may need to be putting down,I.
(04:10):
20, 30, 40,$50,000 depending onthe franchise, the fees and the
investment.
You don't need millions to getstarted.
The franchisor on a side note,will have a liquidity and net
worth requirement which isdifferent than the actual
investment, but there are plentyof funding strategies, including
if you qualify retirement, homeequity, lines of credit, even a
loan on your non-retirementinvestments, which is kind of
(04:33):
cool.
We've been getting a lot ofcalls on, on how that works.
More than happy to the, todiscuss.
All right, number three, I don'twant to work 80 hours a week.
Listen, it's a business.
A Fran, a franchise is not, isgiving you the blueprint and the
guide for you to run with andfollow.
The franchisor's not gonna runthe business for you.
So initially, I.
(04:53):
It is a lot of work.
There's an investment of moneyand capital, but there's also
sweat equity.
There's time that you'reinvesting to learn that
franchise find the rightemployees.
Maybe the first hire isn't theright hire, and there's a little
bit of turnover.
That's okay.
That happens in businessownership.
Expect it.
The time I the way to look at itis more of a mindset shift and
looking at it, I'll do whateverit takes to get the business up
(05:16):
and running so that all theright systems are in place, that
the right people are in placeequally as important so that I
can manage the manager and nothave to be involved full-time.
I can manage remotely, meet witha manager via Zoom at a coffee
shop once a week or in theoffice.
There are different models outthere, semi absentee.
(05:36):
We will have you potentiallyworking less, keeping a job, and
then there's full-time ownershipwhere you're, essentially
running the business at leastfor the first six months to a
year.
That's not a bad idea.
That's the way I did it.
I put in a lot of hours up frontso that all the sweat equity was
in that first year, so I canreally back off the second year.
But not everyone has the abilityto leave their job the first
year, and that's totally fine.
(05:58):
So you got some options there.
I'll lose my freedom.
We'll, I guess what does thateven mean?
And, there's financial and timefreedom are the top two.
Again, it's setting theexpectation The first year
you're not, are you gonna make aton of money the first year?
It's gonna be, that first yearyou really wanna reinvest the
profits back into the businessto help it grow so that all the
systems are in place so that youcan scale back your time.
(06:20):
The time freedom, you're gonnabe working a lot of hours, at
least that first year, or atleast the first six months.
So let's fast forward the firstyear.
And knowing what you need to getin place, and if you need a
general manager, start workingday one.
What are the roles you'll playin the business?
What will they play in thebusiness?
Constantly changing'em.
I always keep a Google docthat's a live document that we
can edit.
(06:41):
Sometimes something comes upthat no one thought about that,
that needs to be added to thelist.
So you're not losing yourfreedom.
Just the expectation is you'reinvesting time and resources and
capital and everything elseinvolved so that you can create
this time freedom to do what youwant when you want, and have the
right teams in place.
Even with the franchise, thishas not happened overnight.
(07:03):
Can it happen?
Absolutely.
I'm a product of that.
I've done that myself.
It just takes time.
Don't expect it to open thefranchise launch and have time
freedom.
You're, you may be working moremoney more hours than you were
working at your job.
Franchisees are just buying ajob.
I got that question the otherday.
If you're gonna run the businesson your own and hustle if you're
(07:24):
the franchise and you're thebrand and you're doing, for
example, executive coaching orexpense reduction, and you're
not working with any otherfranchisees or bringing on any
additional coaches you're gonnabe doing everything.
So if you're not around, ifyou're off, then you know, work
isn't getting done.
To an extent, there's gonna besystems in place and depending
(07:45):
on what the franchisor is.
So the mindset is you're gonnahave to build out a small team,
and they don't even have to beW2 employees.
They could be 10 99 coaches thatwill get a percentage of sales
that, whatever they bring, maybethey, whatever you're netting,
you split it 50, 50 or 75, 25,whatever the numbers are.
So I don't believe a franchiseyou are buying a job.
(08:06):
And if that's how you feel aboutit, then maybe that's not the
franchise for you.
I don't believe in buying a jobyou're buying.
This vehicle, investing in thisvehicle that will help you gain
back that time and financialfreedom make some extra money.
Control your schedule, controlyour destiny.
You have a lot more controlversus being, an employee and
(08:27):
then eventually selling it.
We talked about this in actuallyone of the blogs a while back,
but, you, do you wanna sell thisfor a multiple retire?
Do you wanna build a legacy andpass it down to the kids?
Hey, these are all options.
And, and things can change downthe road, and that's okay.
You don't have to have it allfigured out.
But these are things to kind ofthink about.
If you're still unsure there'sstill some, lacking of some
(08:47):
clarity.
Let's chat.
Let's review your goals.
Let's figure out if a franchiseis a good fit.
Gigi, the franchise guide.com.
Book a call.
Simple as that.
20 minutes we'll figure outtogether if a franchise is the
right fit.
There's zero cost ever.
There's no contracts.
Could save you a lot of time inheadaches.
But we definitely we could talkabout in a little bit more
detail, any of these mythmisconceptions or myths that we
(09:10):
talk about all the time.
Thanks again for joining us.
It's been a pleasure.
Appreciate all your questions.
And we got we got let's see,three more episodes in the
series.
And again, looking forward toyour feedback.
So if you have any questions orlike me to dive in a little bit
deeper, we could d discuss it onour call.
You can send me a message, a dmwhatever's easier for you.
These this really helps me'causeI want to answer and address the
(09:31):
questions you have to make thisthe best experience possible.
Thanks again for your support,guys.
Talk to you soon.
See you.
Thanks for tuning in if you wantto learn how to make the
transition from corporate toowning your franchise.
Join Giuseppe on the nextepisode.
(09:53):
You can also follow on allsocial media platforms and
achieve financial and timefreedom today.
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