April 13, 2023 • 29 mins
About episode 218 Mellisa Pang interviews Debra Cohen, Franchise Development Team Lead, Real Property Management
Debra's Bio:
Before I joined Real Property Management, I was what people call a "mompreneur". After the birth of my first daughter, I left a successful career as VP of a global aviation magazine for a less glamorous pursuit - motherhood. Over the next six months, I developed a business plan and launched Home Remedies® a Homeowner Referral Network (HRN) that pre-screened and referred local home improvement contractors. My business capitalized on my passion for home improvements and real estate and afforded me the opportunity to stay at home and raise my family while having a successful career. After my first year in business, other entrepreneurs took notice of my success and were interested in starting a business like mine. I decided to document all of the "how-to's" in a comprehensive business manual and marketed it along with Business Packages worldwide to other prospective entrepreneurs looking for a viable home-based business. Before I sold my business in 2010, I helped launch more than 1000 businesses globally and my company grossed more than $4M in sales I graduated cum laude in 1989 from Union College in Schenectady, NY with a BS in Psychology and Spanish. My husband, Charles and I live in NY on Long Island and have two daughters, Emily (28) and Sophie (25).
Melissa noted: What fascinates me is that you went from entrepreneur to franchisor, essentially entering the franchising space. And a lot of times when we’re talking to candidates or talking to clients, they’re looking at options. And one of the options is a startup. One of the options is franchising. What you said was you know what you were good at, you know what you liked to do. And you outsourced and found other people and experts to take on the other parts of the business you weren’t good at. And then you love helping people. And I think that all translates beautifully into the franchising model. However, this is a whole new world. Many candidates are being introduced to franchising for the first time and putting up a lot to invest. They’re investing time, energy and resources, including money. There’s some risk involved. We don’t want to forget about the fear they may feel. From your perspective, from solopreneur to franchisor, what is what attracted you to franchising?
According to Debra: Eventually, I decided to sell my home improvement company and potentially retire. But I got bored very quickly and found Neighborly. And they encapsulated everything I had loved about my career … working with entrepreneurs, helping them launch businesses, home improvements, and real estate, and it’s just putting it all together. But the bow on the package was that I wasn’t doing everything alone. In franchising, you’ve got teams of people who handle marketing, technology, and coaching and in my own company, I was doing all of that alone. So now I’m part of a team who supports me in doing what I love. And I’ve been with Real Property Management for three years recently promoted to team lead. I run the Franchise Development Division and absolutely love what I do.
Franchise Friday, where you can watch or listen as we explore franchising, entrepreneurship, and small business ownership, speaking with the franchise industry thought leaders and subject matter experts that shape the Future Of Franchising. #FranchiseFriday – For more about our podcast, visit our website: https://futureoffranchising.com/ Produced by Franchise Source Brands International and The Entrepreneur’s Source.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:13):
Hey everyone, shout out to all of our listeners. Thank
you for tuning into thefranchise Friday podcast. My
name is Melissa Pang. I am themember relationship strategist
here at the entrepreneur source.
And today I'm joined by thelovely Deborah Cohen, Deborah
Cohen of real propertymanagement, which is a
neighborly company. So let mejust give a little bit of
(00:34):
background on the on theirbrand. And then Deborah, I'd
love to just hear a little bitmore about your background. But
neighborly is a local network ofHome Service brands. And that
they'll connect their customersto very specific vetted local
experts. Real PropertyManagement is a residential
property management franchiseorganization. In North America,
(00:54):
they manage 10s of 1000s ofproperties for individuals,
investors and institutionsacross the country with 350 Plus
locations across the US andstill growing. So Deborah,
welcome to the franchise Fridaypodcast.
Thank you so much, Melissa, veryhappy to be here.
(01:15):
I am very excited to talk withyou and have a great
conversation about all thingsfranchise development and your
background. But before we getinto some of my questions, I
would love to hear a little bitmore about your background and
some of the milestones that haveled up to this moment in time
(01:36):
today where you are at RealProperty Management.
So thank you for theintroduction. And I've had a
very interesting career prior tojoining neighbourly. I started
my own home improvementcontractor referral business way
back when when my 28 year olddaughter was six months old. And
I started that company from mybasement by myself. I would
(02:01):
basically my passion has alwaysbeen real estate, home
improvements, helpingentrepreneurs. So I initially
started this business because Irealized there was a lot of home
service providers that neededhelp promoting themselves and on
the network or by nature. Soslowly grew the business. I had
a painter plumber, I'd referthem they'd give me a
commission. Ironically, now Iwork for neighborly, who knew,
(02:22):
but I started this business frommy basement, a company was home
remedies. And as it grew, otherentrepreneurs look to me and
they said I'd love to start abusiness like yours. Flash
forward 20 years I helped launchover 1000 home improvement
contractor for all businessesacross the country. started the
business from my basement,literally I went into labor with
my second daughter in thebasement.
(02:44):
This is true entrepreneurship,everyone.
Eventually my children grew. AndI realized that it didn't need
to be home anymore. Because thatwas really the impetus. I wanted
that work life balance. I wantedto be home for my family. And I
decided I was going to sell thatcompany and potentially retire.
But I got bored very quickly andfound neighbourly subsequently.
And they really, reallyencapsulated everything I had
(03:05):
loved about my own career I loveagain, working with the
entrepreneurs, helping themlaunch businesses, home
improvements, real estate, andit's just put it all together.
But the the bow on the packagewas that I wasn't doing
everything by myself. Infranchising, you've got teams of
people who handle marketing,technology, coaching, I was
(03:25):
doing all of that. So now I'mpart of a team who supports me
in doing what I love. And I'vebeen with Real Property
Management, three years recentlypromoted to team lead. So I run
the franchise DevelopmentDivision, and absolutely love
what I do.
And we absolutely love workingwith you and your team. And
we've seen great successtogether, which we're going to
(03:45):
talk about in a little bit. Butbefore we get into all that, I
first of all love that you wentfrom entrepreneurs starting up
your own business, a young momwith that baby, and you decided
to just start building thisbusiness. Um, let's start there.
What How did you do that? Like?
Was it just something thatorganically started happening?
(04:08):
Or how do you put those piecestogether?
That's an interesting question.
I bootstrapped it. And I did itall on my own. And I really, you
know, anybody who's in businessknows you cannot be an expert in
everything. And I learned thatearly on. So initially, I
started doing what I love andfocused on the aspects of my
(04:29):
business. I knew I was good at Ilove networking with contractors
promoting marketing, sales, andthen I hired a team. So I
outsourced I had an attorney, Ihad an accountant, I hired a
webmaster. I hired a softwaredeveloper and built a team based
on the skill sets that I didn'thave and they drove that aspect
of the business so I could focuson the most important part,
(04:52):
which is really what franchisingis all about, right?
Yup. Well, that's what I wasgonna say you were franchising
without even really knowing it.
I Um, and again, building thatreally like replicatable model
that you could then kind of putlike together in a package and
pass on to these other ones. Soand was that ever a franchise
that business thatyou started, it wasn't, and it's
so interesting. So what happenedwas I had started the business
(05:15):
and had tremendous success andother entrepreneurs all over the
country started to hear aboutit, I had some PR opportunities.
And I decided, I was a mom witha six month old at home. And I
had left a full time career, andI didn't want a full time career
anymore. But I wanted to helpother people start. So I wrote a
business manual, similar to afranchise manual, I had spoken
to a franchise consultant, butrealize that the investment time
(05:36):
wise and money wise, was morethan I could handle. And I just
basically modeled it as abusiness in a box, and coached
other franchise owners, otherbusiness owners all over the
country. But they wereindependent, there was no
residuals, they operated undertheir own name. But I did Coach
over 1000 people nationwide.
And what's fascinating to me isyou went from entrepreneur to
(05:59):
franchisor, essentially, toenter the franchising space. And
a lot of times when we'retalking to candidates or talking
to clients, they're looking at,kind of those are options. And
one of the options is a startup.
One of the options isfranchising what you said a few
things where you knew what youwere good at, you know what you
liked to do. And you kind ofoutsourced and found other
people to other experts to takeon the other parts of the
(06:23):
business you weren't good at.
And then you love helpingpeople. And I think that all
translates beautifully into thefranchising model. But from your
perspective, going fromentrepreneur, you're in the
business, you're doing it,you're getting it done into the
franchisor. Like, what is whatattracted you, I can guess but
what attracts you to thefranchising? And like what do
(06:43):
you see from your perspectivegoing from entrepreneur?
solopreneur to franchisor?
I love that question. Because Ithink that's what drives me
every single day, I have a veryunique perspective, I think that
I, I'm passionate about what Ido, because I've walked in their
shoes. And I know what it's liketo do it on your own. And I know
(07:04):
what it's like to do withsupport. And I can speak to
both. And I would say that thereare people I talk to you who are
diehard entrepreneurs who aren'twilling to follow a franchise
system. And and sometimes someof our best franchise owners,
they don't want as quickly aswe'd like, because they have
that feeling of I've been anentrepreneur, I know what I'm
supposed to do. And I'm going todo things my way. And then they
(07:25):
pivot in they're like, Okay,well, I hit a wall. And now I
need to start following systemsand rely on other people. So I
think that my experience priorto joining me really, really
gave me a unique perspective.
And it also gave me a tremendousamount of empathy. Because I
know the stress of starting anew business, and putting you
know, your your savings on theline and investing in yourself.
And, you know, maybe taking astep away from a career a steady
(07:48):
paycheck, I know what thattakes. So I think that kind of
empathy, bringing that to thetable gives me a very unique
perspective with my candidates.
Absolutely. And this is abeautiful segue into what I want
to talk about, which is yourability to collaborate and work
with the entrepreneurs or ascoaches and their clients in
(08:10):
such a fantastic way. And I'llsay we don't see that across the
board with every singlefranchise or member. And so what
I really want to bring out ishow you do that, I think the
reason you talked about empathyis a big deal. And having been
in their shoes and walked inthose candidates footsteps, so
to speak, you know, you've kindof been down that path. That's a
(08:32):
big piece of it. But for someonewho may be a new franchisor,
who's starting to look forcandidates, or maybe someone in
the franchise development in afranchise development role. How
do you create that experience?
How do you create thatcollaboration, and weave that
into your everyday because youdo it so beautifully. And I hear
(08:55):
it from clients and coaches inour community?
Yeah, thank you. Well, first ofall, say hats off to T Yes,
because your coaches arephenomenal. And it's a
partnership. It is a partnershipand authenticity is key. And I
think that when you enter into arelationship with a candidate
with a coach with a consultant,you need to be aligned on what's
(09:18):
best for the candidate and theirfuture and their family. You
know, it's a marriage, and bothpeople have to come into the
marriage, the franchisor and thenew franchisee committed to
success. And I think if you losefocus of that, that's where, you
know, the experience goes awry.
I always the greatestgratification that I have in
(09:39):
what I do every day is helpingpeople achieve their dreams and
goals of financial independencecreating a legacy, just getting
out of a job that they don'tlike creating something jobs in
their community giving back totheir community. That's the soul
of what we do in franchising,and I think that the TDS coaches
that I work with If that is whatthey truly believe in, they walk
(10:01):
the walk, and they are trulycommitted to what's best for the
candidate. And I truly, I alsofeel that way. So the
partnership works.
I love it. And it's funnybecause it can almost seem so
simple in a way. Because I thinka lot of times if, especially as
a franchise brand, if you'relooking to grow, you know,
(10:22):
you're looking at big numbers,and you're looking at your
goals, and you're looking atalmost like the macro view. And
really, it comes down to theperson in front of you, like, in
those micro conversations,that's how you're going to build
the brand. And I think and thisfor myself, also, I don't work
with candidates, but I work withindividuals. I have a big
(10:44):
picture, I have goals, but I'malso working with individuals.
And so how do you speak to thatperson right in front of you,
and connect with them, that'show you're going to grow your
brand, your reputation, and youryour system, one, one person or
one you know group at a time tolisten to,
and you want people who have thesame culture that they're going
(11:05):
to fit into your your franchisebrand your culture. Look, we're
in the property managementspace. However, what we do on a
day to day basis is reallyinteracting with people being
good communicators. And that cantranslate into a lot of
different industries. So it'snot just Yes, I love real
estate, I want to invest in realestate, I see a need for
property management in mycommunity. It's about who am I
(11:26):
going to be building thisbusiness with? And are they
aligned with my goals and my andthe culture of the type of
company I want to build. And Ipersonally am extremely
passionate about my team andreal property management. So
when I'm talking to a candidate,I always equate this to dating
Melissa, I mean, I don't know ifyou've heard this analogy
before. That first phone call isthe first day. And then you
(11:47):
decide if you want to have thesecond day you get into a
webinar and you share a littlebit more information about
yourself. And then okay, let'sjust say to the FTD Review, I'm
going to get a little bit morepersonal and show you a little
bit behind the curtain thatultimately culminates in, I'm
going to bring you home to myfamily and meet the team date
and RPM. We're a family and ourteam as a family. And we all
have to agree that we're gettingmarried together, as I said
(12:08):
earlier, so it for me it's adating process.
Yep. This is No, that'sliterally the perfect way to put
it. And it's funny because wetalk about it sometimes from
like, what not to do. So youknow, you're gonna have that
first day and everyone's like,okay, like this could go
somewhere, and then you're gonnathrow the FTD in there. Oh, a
(12:28):
prenup, I didn't wanting to do asecond day, I don't even know.
So it's funny that you put itthat way. But it's really true.
Like it's a great analogy todepict, how that how the
relationship works.
100%. And it's also a great wayto put candidates at ease. Yeah,
sometimes you're on with thecandidate. They're like, well, I
(12:49):
don't know what I want to doyet. And I always say, you don't
have to make a decision here.
This is a mutual evaluationprocess. This is going to be a
series of stages we're dating,we're not getting married. And I
do you worry. It puts people atease a little bit that they feel
so much pressure, sometimes theyget on the phone, and they feel
like it's an interview. But it'snot an interview. It's a
conversation. I,anyone who's listening, I would
(13:10):
highly recommend you just writethat down. I think it's so easy
to get caught up in your ownagenda. Especially when you have
numbers and goals to hit. I'mtrying to win the franchise, the
franchisor side. But this canapply in a lot of different
situations. But it's really easyto get into your own agenda, and
you want to check off boxes, andyou want to get to the next
(13:31):
step. And letting people have aconversation putting people at
ease. And really kind of whatyou said there, you know, it's
not don't make a decision. It'syeah, a mutual evaluation.
We call it discovery for areason. We're discovering each
other. And if we're the rightfit, we were We're big on mutual
(13:52):
evaluation. I like to use thatterm. Because both of us have to
decide we want to move forwardtogether. Again, we're not
selling you a franchise. we'reawarding you a franchise we're
bringing you into a family.
Amen. And I think too, wesometimes forget, especially
being in franchising and you seehow great it can be and all the
(14:13):
benefits. You forget how muchfear there can be around around
this for candidates because theyoftentimes are new to
franchising. This is a whole newworld. They're being introduced
for the first time and they'reputting a lot of invest. They're
investing time energy resources,that includes money. Some
there's some risk involved. Andso I think we sometimes forget
(14:36):
about the fear on the otherside, and we just think why are
they not getting it? Bydefinitely. earlier? Exactly. I
walked in those shoes. Yeah. Iwish I had somebody to guide me
through the process. When Idecided I wanted to start a
business. I had to take a loanagainst our retirement savings.
We had a house we had a baby. Iwas terrified. I didn't have a
roadmap. So I think that givingthem that comfort is It's a, you
(14:58):
know, it's a big step to gainingcredibility, trust and calming
those fears. And those fearscome up at different stages in
the process. And the beginning,at the end in the middle, they
talk to other people. So youhave to constantly, you know, be
there to comfort guide, andpivot whenever necessary. Let
the candidateabsolutely Amen to all of that.
(15:19):
And I want to go into from thiskind of talking generally about
how you really work with andbuild relationships with the
client into specifically a storyof TTS collaboration that ended
in a placement. And so for ourlisteners out there at the
entrepreneur resource, we have aprogram. It's part of our
(15:40):
genetic makeup here at theentrepreneurs, but it's called
coach client collaboration. Andso that really is all about
creating a stellar clientexperience, and then forming
outstanding coach and franchisorrelationships and collaboration
between our coaches and ourfranchisor members. And we know
(16:04):
that when those two pieces aretaken care of, we see really
great success on multiplelevels. The clients are happy
coaches are happy franchisorsare happy but also placements
are being made franchises,franchises are being awarded, as
you said, awarded, not sold. SoDeborah was the recipient of our
(16:24):
three C's Achievement Award atour March virtual event, the
March mingle. And that goes to afranchisor member who really
demonstrated superbcollaboration and client
experience. And so Deborah wasnominated by one of our coaches,
Liam, shout out to Liam, whom welove, and really wanted to let
(16:46):
you share that story behind thatnomination and the award. And
again, I know you weave threeC's and all these things into
your everyday but specifically,what, what went on with Liam and
his client, and you to get it tothat point where the client move
(17:09):
forward, like, give us some ofthe details, the good and the
bad?
Well, first of all, I thinkanybody listening who knows Liam
knows he's a class act and atrue pleasure to work with. So
our candidate was a veteran. Andit was a long term process. I
initiated conversations withhim, I guess it took place over
(17:31):
the course of almost a year,maybe nine months. He was
exiting the military, his wifegot pregnant during the process.
He was transitioning out of ajob, they're moving into a new
house, the funding wasn't therebecause of the money. And it was
just, it was just one onebarrier after the next. But the
candidate and his lovely hisname was Joseph, I don't want to
(17:51):
disclose his full name. wassincerely interested in real
property management does anybodyknows in this process, time
kills deals, that's what peoplesay all the time. And if time
doesn't kill deals, a baby and anew house and exiting the
military all at the same timecertainly are several hurdles to
overcome. But Liam, patient andcalm, we had check ins with him
(18:12):
regularly checking in on hisbest interest on his family on
his wife, and developing afriendship along the way,
because he's so much fun,whether he was here on Long
Island near me or at his houseskiing. And surprisingly, the
process continued. It was a verylong, drawn out process. And
ultimately, we stuck withJoseph. And when the timing was
(18:36):
right for him, we allreconvened, we collaborated a
lot of freaking frack with allof the T H. CO t as coaches. And
as I mentioned before, Liam isstellar. But I've had the
pleasure of working with 10coaches, and awarding franchises
to 10 to ES coach candidates. Sotruly, everybody I've worked
with has that collaborativefield. But ultimately, we
(18:58):
brought Joseph into our familyand his new baby and his wife,
and we're thrilled, absolutelythrilled. But it was really a
large part because Liam and alsoI'm going to mention this about
Bob Terrell, wonderful guy. Andwe had a very similar
experience. We were patient withthis candidate, because we knew
that it was his timeline. He wasmoving from another state
(19:19):
transitioning out of a jobgetting two kids off to college.
Bob, phenomenal communicator. Icould say the same thing about
Sidney Bloomquist and a varietyof other coaches that I've
worked with over the years. ButI think it's just that
collaboration and again, puttingthe candidates interest and
timeline first.
That thank you for sharing.
Because, like you said, we hearthat a lot. Time kills deals. I
(19:41):
never say the word deals so evensaying it I'm like, oh gosh, I'm
sorry, but no, no, it's nice,but it but you hear that all the
time, but I love that with youbrought in fantastic franchisees
Who didn't fit that mold of thespecific timeline that maybe is
(20:02):
typical, or that you would liketo see or whatever it is. And it
is being patient and workingwith them. And what I want to
ask is just more specifically onhow do you keep someone engaged
for so long? Because how do youkeep them excited about the
brand? did it all happen in thebeginning? And then it was just
(20:24):
working through that? Or werethere dips where you had to say,
You know what, no, no, you dostill love Real Property
Management? Like, how did youkeep it going for a year?
That's a great question. Well, Ialways adhere to, I don't like
to hang up with a candidatewithout having a touch point in
place, whether that's a month,two months, and I let them
(20:44):
determine what that is. Becausewe all get very busy and my
calendar is packed, to behonest, in the travel schedule
for everybody. It's just best tohave a touch point whether that
has to move or not. And thenthere's always things going on
with our brand. We just won anaward. Yeah, entrepreneurs
2020 23, one of the fastestgrowing brands. So those touch
points, I always try to share,we have validation videos from
(21:05):
our owners, we have panel overthe pros events, we have
validators who sometimes willreach back out to a prospective
candidate to see if they'vequestions. So finding out how
somebody's wife is doing ifthey're pregnant, if they're
moving somebody's birthday, justbeing human, I guess, be the
answer.
(21:25):
Right. And again, so simple, butsomething that we lose sight of
when we're looking at the grandscheme of things. So, again, I
think there's a lot of differentpieces here that others in the
franchise development space cantake from, even if it's just one
or two things that you canincorporate into your own
franchise development process.
And here, we like to call it anexperience because you do want
(21:48):
to create it for the individual,what does that experience look
like? So, as we go and look,look forward to you know, the
rest of this year and beyond. Ido want to ask what your
thoughts are on the future offranchising, which is very, very
(22:08):
broad. But the future offranchising, whether it pertains
to real property management, orin general, like what you see
with the industry going forwardare?
Absolutely, well, what I findmost fascinating about
franchising is, every day I hearabout a different industry, a
(22:30):
different brand, a differentniche. So there are so many
opportunities for people whowant to get into business
ownership, don't want toreinvent things from scratch,
and have a passion for somethingto choose a business that
resonates with what they love,and an industry they love to
maximize their skill sets. Andas I said before, create a
business that's going to fulfilltheir legacy, their legacy for
(22:53):
their family and for themselveson a daily basis. So I'm just
constantly amazed, I have alwaysbeen fascinated by business. And
I love hearing about all thesenew emerging brands and how
they're serving just, you know,entrepreneurs and also the
communities at large. So to methat is truly fascinating. And
knowing again, that there'ssupport out there to help people
achieve their entrepreneurialdreams, I just see that
(23:16):
franchising is going to grow andgrow. And you know, it's the
American dream for many peopleand help them achieve that. And
so far as real propertymanagement is, is concerned, our
future is quite bright. Welaunched our 400 franchise in
October, we are already up to413 locations since October of
last year. And we're expectingwe're going to be approaching
(23:37):
500 sometime soon within thenext year to two to three years.
I don't want to set anyexpectations. But what's going
on in the real estate world isfascinating because right now
we're renters nation, 35% of theUS population is renting. And in
our industry, everybody alwaysneeds a place to live so that
that means that the future isbright for us. And we don't
expect housing. Right now about64% of Americans own a home and
(23:59):
we're expecting that to stayflat or continue to decrease.
homeownership, sadly, is out oftouch out of reach for a lot of
Americans. Millennials aredelaying homeownership, up to 13
years, boomers are downsizingand renting. And what we've seen
in the eye is really what'scausing the a lot of our growth
is investors coming in wherethey're going to be parking
(24:19):
money into the stock market andmutual funds and bonds and
whatnot. Traditional investmentvehicles, they're now parking it
in real estate. And they'rebuilding portfolios and the
niche that we fill in realproperty management and this is
really our differentiator. We'repositioning ourselves not just
as a property managementcompany, but as a property
management company with wealthmanagement expertise, who is
(24:41):
aligned with investors onmaximizing the ROI on their
properties. So knowing how realestate is becoming so in demand
and so attractive to manyinvestors, we're appealing to
that group, and I only seetremendous growth and
opportunity in the years had?
(25:01):
Well, that is wildly exciting onmany, many fronts. So I'm glad
we have a future together formany years. And, and also to
your point on franchising as awhole, where there's so much
opportunity brands in so manydifferent industries. I love
that we can educate people aboutwhat franchising is. And again,
(25:23):
it's not going to be foreveryone, like you said in the
beginning. But I think I justlove that we can tell more and
more people. I think there's alot of myths around franchising.
And so the more you can, we canhelp educate people on the
benefits and the, I mean,there's so many pros and how it
can work for you. And again, inyour community. As a small
(25:44):
business owner, you don't haveto be, you know, this massive
multi unit operator you canachieve it. Just absolutely
family, you know, life and newbaby.
Yeah. be in business foryourself, not by yourself.
That's franchising. That'sfranchising right there. Okay, I
want to wrap this up with just afew questions. So I couldn't
(26:09):
choose just one. So we're justgoing to do edit, you don't have
to answer like in great detail,just quick is fine. But looking
back, what is one thing that youwould do? What is one thing that
you would do differently when itcomes to franchise development?
Looking back if you knew it now,what would you different do
differently?
And my past three years thatname? We're nothing. Well, I've
(26:33):
had a very wonderful year,right? So far, I never say I
landed with a phenomenal brandand phenomenal company. Maybe I
would have found them sooner.
You know what? That's, that's agood answer to have. So anyone
listening, just do what Deborahhas been doing, and you're gonna
be just fine. All right, twoother things. What motivates
(26:56):
you?
My passion for helping otherswithout a shadow of a doubt. I
will be awarding a franchise totwo incredible women next week,
and I was on the phone with themtoday. I get teary eyed, I'm so
happy to see people build theirfutures. That's the most
gratifying part of my job.
I love that I just got chills.
And seriously this is this iswhy you and your team works a
(27:17):
lot with the entrepreneurs. Italked to coaches and they're
like Melissa, I just awarded Ijust one of my clients was
placed and we were on a zoomtogether. Like with tea, like we
were crying together because wewere just so excited about it
like this is that to me isfranchising. That, to me is our
community. So I love that. Andthen last one just kind of fun.
(27:37):
But is there a book or a podcastthat you would recommend doesn't
have to be in business doesn'thave to be just something that
you either love or that you giveout as a gift or you always
recommend? Is there anythingthere is and it's from a way
back? When and I probably shouldreread it for the third time the
E Myth? Oh, because, yes, thatwas the book that I read that
(27:59):
changed my life. I was inbusiness, that He gives an
analogy about a baker who'sbaking the cupcakes, baking the
cupcakes. And all he is is abaker because he's always busy
baking the cupcakes until herealizes I can teach other
people how to build a big thecupcakes and own a bakery
business. And I always use thisanalogy with owners for new
(28:20):
franchise owners. You're not aproperty manager, you will be
the CEO of a property managementcompany. We give you the tools
to step away. And I think thatbook really changed my
perspective on business andfranchising specifically.
I mean, I'm gonna go read it.
I'm gonna go read it again. I'dlike to read bits and pieces but
never the full thing which isshocking. So I'm going to read
it listeners, you're gonna goread it. And thank you so much
(28:42):
for joining me on franchiseFriday. It's been an absolute
joy speaking with you.
My pleasure. Thank you so much.
Have a great day.
Hey everyone, shout out to all of our listeners. Thank
you for tuning into thefranchise Friday podcast. My
name is Melissa Pang. I am themember relationship strategist
here at the entrepreneur source.
And today I'm joined by thelovely Deborah Cohen, Deborah
Cohen of real propertymanagement, which is a
neighborly company. So let mejust give a little bit of
(00:34):
background on the on theirbrand. And then Deborah, I'd
love to just hear a little bitmore about your background. But
neighborly is a local network ofHome Service brands. And that
they'll connect their customersto very specific vetted local
experts. Real PropertyManagement is a residential
property management franchiseorganization. In North America,
(00:54):
they manage 10s of 1000s ofproperties for individuals,
investors and institutionsacross the country with 350 Plus
locations across the US andstill growing. So Deborah,
welcome to the franchise Fridaypodcast.
Thank you so much, Melissa, veryhappy to be here.
(01:15):
I am very excited to talk withyou and have a great
conversation about all thingsfranchise development and your
background. But before we getinto some of my questions, I
would love to hear a little bitmore about your background and
some of the milestones that haveled up to this moment in time
(01:36):
today where you are at RealProperty Management.
So thank you for theintroduction. And I've had a
very interesting career prior tojoining neighbourly. I started
my own home improvementcontractor referral business way
back when when my 28 year olddaughter was six months old. And
I started that company from mybasement by myself. I would
(02:01):
basically my passion has alwaysbeen real estate, home
improvements, helpingentrepreneurs. So I initially
started this business because Irealized there was a lot of home
service providers that neededhelp promoting themselves and on
the network or by nature. Soslowly grew the business. I had
a painter plumber, I'd referthem they'd give me a
commission. Ironically, now Iwork for neighborly, who knew,
(02:22):
but I started this business frommy basement, a company was home
remedies. And as it grew, otherentrepreneurs look to me and
they said I'd love to start abusiness like yours. Flash
forward 20 years I helped launchover 1000 home improvement
contractor for all businessesacross the country. started the
business from my basement,literally I went into labor with
my second daughter in thebasement.
(02:44):
This is true entrepreneurship,everyone.
Eventually my children grew. AndI realized that it didn't need
to be home anymore. Because thatwas really the impetus. I wanted
that work life balance. I wantedto be home for my family. And I
decided I was going to sell thatcompany and potentially retire.
But I got bored very quickly andfound neighbourly subsequently.
And they really, reallyencapsulated everything I had
(03:05):
loved about my own career I loveagain, working with the
entrepreneurs, helping themlaunch businesses, home
improvements, real estate, andit's just put it all together.
But the the bow on the packagewas that I wasn't doing
everything by myself. Infranchising, you've got teams of
people who handle marketing,technology, coaching, I was
(03:25):
doing all of that. So now I'mpart of a team who supports me
in doing what I love. And I'vebeen with Real Property
Management, three years recentlypromoted to team lead. So I run
the franchise DevelopmentDivision, and absolutely love
what I do.
And we absolutely love workingwith you and your team. And
we've seen great successtogether, which we're going to
(03:45):
talk about in a little bit. Butbefore we get into all that, I
first of all love that you wentfrom entrepreneurs starting up
your own business, a young momwith that baby, and you decided
to just start building thisbusiness. Um, let's start there.
What How did you do that? Like?
Was it just something thatorganically started happening?
(04:08):
Or how do you put those piecestogether?
That's an interesting question.
I bootstrapped it. And I did itall on my own. And I really, you
know, anybody who's in businessknows you cannot be an expert in
everything. And I learned thatearly on. So initially, I
started doing what I love andfocused on the aspects of my
(04:29):
business. I knew I was good at Ilove networking with contractors
promoting marketing, sales, andthen I hired a team. So I
outsourced I had an attorney, Ihad an accountant, I hired a
webmaster. I hired a softwaredeveloper and built a team based
on the skill sets that I didn'thave and they drove that aspect
of the business so I could focuson the most important part,
(04:52):
which is really what franchisingis all about, right?
Yup. Well, that's what I wasgonna say you were franchising
without even really knowing it.
I Um, and again, building thatreally like replicatable model
that you could then kind of putlike together in a package and
pass on to these other ones. Soand was that ever a franchise
that business thatyou started, it wasn't, and it's
so interesting. So what happenedwas I had started the business
(05:15):
and had tremendous success andother entrepreneurs all over the
country started to hear aboutit, I had some PR opportunities.
And I decided, I was a mom witha six month old at home. And I
had left a full time career, andI didn't want a full time career
anymore. But I wanted to helpother people start. So I wrote a
business manual, similar to afranchise manual, I had spoken
to a franchise consultant, butrealize that the investment time
(05:36):
wise and money wise, was morethan I could handle. And I just
basically modeled it as abusiness in a box, and coached
other franchise owners, otherbusiness owners all over the
country. But they wereindependent, there was no
residuals, they operated undertheir own name. But I did Coach
over 1000 people nationwide.
And what's fascinating to me isyou went from entrepreneur to
(05:59):
franchisor, essentially, toenter the franchising space. And
a lot of times when we'retalking to candidates or talking
to clients, they're looking at,kind of those are options. And
one of the options is a startup.
One of the options isfranchising what you said a few
things where you knew what youwere good at, you know what you
liked to do. And you kind ofoutsourced and found other
people to other experts to takeon the other parts of the
(06:23):
business you weren't good at.
And then you love helpingpeople. And I think that all
translates beautifully into thefranchising model. But from your
perspective, going fromentrepreneur, you're in the
business, you're doing it,you're getting it done into the
franchisor. Like, what is whatattracted you, I can guess but
what attracts you to thefranchising? And like what do
(06:43):
you see from your perspectivegoing from entrepreneur?
solopreneur to franchisor?
I love that question. Because Ithink that's what drives me
every single day, I have a veryunique perspective, I think that
I, I'm passionate about what Ido, because I've walked in their
shoes. And I know what it's liketo do it on your own. And I know
(07:04):
what it's like to do withsupport. And I can speak to
both. And I would say that thereare people I talk to you who are
diehard entrepreneurs who aren'twilling to follow a franchise
system. And and sometimes someof our best franchise owners,
they don't want as quickly aswe'd like, because they have
that feeling of I've been anentrepreneur, I know what I'm
supposed to do. And I'm going todo things my way. And then they
(07:25):
pivot in they're like, Okay,well, I hit a wall. And now I
need to start following systemsand rely on other people. So I
think that my experience priorto joining me really, really
gave me a unique perspective.
And it also gave me a tremendousamount of empathy. Because I
know the stress of starting anew business, and putting you
know, your your savings on theline and investing in yourself.
And, you know, maybe taking astep away from a career a steady
(07:48):
paycheck, I know what thattakes. So I think that kind of
empathy, bringing that to thetable gives me a very unique
perspective with my candidates.
Absolutely. And this is abeautiful segue into what I want
to talk about, which is yourability to collaborate and work
with the entrepreneurs or ascoaches and their clients in
(08:10):
such a fantastic way. And I'llsay we don't see that across the
board with every singlefranchise or member. And so what
I really want to bring out ishow you do that, I think the
reason you talked about empathyis a big deal. And having been
in their shoes and walked inthose candidates footsteps, so
to speak, you know, you've kindof been down that path. That's a
(08:32):
big piece of it. But for someonewho may be a new franchisor,
who's starting to look forcandidates, or maybe someone in
the franchise development in afranchise development role. How
do you create that experience?
How do you create thatcollaboration, and weave that
into your everyday because youdo it so beautifully. And I hear
(08:55):
it from clients and coaches inour community?
Yeah, thank you. Well, first ofall, say hats off to T Yes,
because your coaches arephenomenal. And it's a
partnership. It is a partnershipand authenticity is key. And I
think that when you enter into arelationship with a candidate
with a coach with a consultant,you need to be aligned on what's
(09:18):
best for the candidate and theirfuture and their family. You
know, it's a marriage, and bothpeople have to come into the
marriage, the franchisor and thenew franchisee committed to
success. And I think if you losefocus of that, that's where, you
know, the experience goes awry.
I always the greatestgratification that I have in
(09:39):
what I do every day is helpingpeople achieve their dreams and
goals of financial independencecreating a legacy, just getting
out of a job that they don'tlike creating something jobs in
their community giving back totheir community. That's the soul
of what we do in franchising,and I think that the TDS coaches
that I work with If that is whatthey truly believe in, they walk
(10:01):
the walk, and they are trulycommitted to what's best for the
candidate. And I truly, I alsofeel that way. So the
partnership works.
I love it. And it's funnybecause it can almost seem so
simple in a way. Because I thinka lot of times if, especially as
a franchise brand, if you'relooking to grow, you know,
(10:22):
you're looking at big numbers,and you're looking at your
goals, and you're looking atalmost like the macro view. And
really, it comes down to theperson in front of you, like, in
those micro conversations,that's how you're going to build
the brand. And I think and thisfor myself, also, I don't work
with candidates, but I work withindividuals. I have a big
(10:44):
picture, I have goals, but I'malso working with individuals.
And so how do you speak to thatperson right in front of you,
and connect with them, that'show you're going to grow your
brand, your reputation, and youryour system, one, one person or
one you know group at a time tolisten to,
and you want people who have thesame culture that they're going
(11:05):
to fit into your your franchisebrand your culture. Look, we're
in the property managementspace. However, what we do on a
day to day basis is reallyinteracting with people being
good communicators. And that cantranslate into a lot of
different industries. So it'snot just Yes, I love real
estate, I want to invest in realestate, I see a need for
property management in mycommunity. It's about who am I
(11:26):
going to be building thisbusiness with? And are they
aligned with my goals and my andthe culture of the type of
company I want to build. And Ipersonally am extremely
passionate about my team andreal property management. So
when I'm talking to a candidate,I always equate this to dating
Melissa, I mean, I don't know ifyou've heard this analogy
before. That first phone call isthe first day. And then you
(11:47):
decide if you want to have thesecond day you get into a
webinar and you share a littlebit more information about
yourself. And then okay, let'sjust say to the FTD Review, I'm
going to get a little bit morepersonal and show you a little
bit behind the curtain thatultimately culminates in, I'm
going to bring you home to myfamily and meet the team date
and RPM. We're a family and ourteam as a family. And we all
have to agree that we're gettingmarried together, as I said
(12:08):
earlier, so it for me it's adating process.
Yep. This is No, that'sliterally the perfect way to put
it. And it's funny because wetalk about it sometimes from
like, what not to do. So youknow, you're gonna have that
first day and everyone's like,okay, like this could go
somewhere, and then you're gonnathrow the FTD in there. Oh, a
(12:28):
prenup, I didn't wanting to do asecond day, I don't even know.
So it's funny that you put itthat way. But it's really true.
Like it's a great analogy todepict, how that how the
relationship works.
100%. And it's also a great wayto put candidates at ease. Yeah,
sometimes you're on with thecandidate. They're like, well, I
(12:49):
don't know what I want to doyet. And I always say, you don't
have to make a decision here.
This is a mutual evaluationprocess. This is going to be a
series of stages we're dating,we're not getting married. And I
do you worry. It puts people atease a little bit that they feel
so much pressure, sometimes theyget on the phone, and they feel
like it's an interview. But it'snot an interview. It's a
conversation. I,anyone who's listening, I would
(13:10):
highly recommend you just writethat down. I think it's so easy
to get caught up in your ownagenda. Especially when you have
numbers and goals to hit. I'mtrying to win the franchise, the
franchisor side. But this canapply in a lot of different
situations. But it's really easyto get into your own agenda, and
you want to check off boxes, andyou want to get to the next
(13:31):
step. And letting people have aconversation putting people at
ease. And really kind of whatyou said there, you know, it's
not don't make a decision. It'syeah, a mutual evaluation.
We call it discovery for areason. We're discovering each
other. And if we're the rightfit, we were We're big on mutual
(13:52):
evaluation. I like to use thatterm. Because both of us have to
decide we want to move forwardtogether. Again, we're not
selling you a franchise. we'reawarding you a franchise we're
bringing you into a family.
Amen. And I think too, wesometimes forget, especially
being in franchising and you seehow great it can be and all the
(14:13):
benefits. You forget how muchfear there can be around around
this for candidates because theyoftentimes are new to
franchising. This is a whole newworld. They're being introduced
for the first time and they'reputting a lot of invest. They're
investing time energy resources,that includes money. Some
there's some risk involved. Andso I think we sometimes forget
(14:36):
about the fear on the otherside, and we just think why are
they not getting it? Bydefinitely. earlier? Exactly. I
walked in those shoes. Yeah. Iwish I had somebody to guide me
through the process. When Idecided I wanted to start a
business. I had to take a loanagainst our retirement savings.
We had a house we had a baby. Iwas terrified. I didn't have a
roadmap. So I think that givingthem that comfort is It's a, you
(14:58):
know, it's a big step to gainingcredibility, trust and calming
those fears. And those fearscome up at different stages in
the process. And the beginning,at the end in the middle, they
talk to other people. So youhave to constantly, you know, be
there to comfort guide, andpivot whenever necessary. Let
the candidateabsolutely Amen to all of that.
(15:19):
And I want to go into from thiskind of talking generally about
how you really work with andbuild relationships with the
client into specifically a storyof TTS collaboration that ended
in a placement. And so for ourlisteners out there at the
entrepreneur resource, we have aprogram. It's part of our
(15:40):
genetic makeup here at theentrepreneurs, but it's called
coach client collaboration. Andso that really is all about
creating a stellar clientexperience, and then forming
outstanding coach and franchisorrelationships and collaboration
between our coaches and ourfranchisor members. And we know
(16:04):
that when those two pieces aretaken care of, we see really
great success on multiplelevels. The clients are happy
coaches are happy franchisorsare happy but also placements
are being made franchises,franchises are being awarded, as
you said, awarded, not sold. SoDeborah was the recipient of our
(16:24):
three C's Achievement Award atour March virtual event, the
March mingle. And that goes to afranchisor member who really
demonstrated superbcollaboration and client
experience. And so Deborah wasnominated by one of our coaches,
Liam, shout out to Liam, whom welove, and really wanted to let
(16:46):
you share that story behind thatnomination and the award. And
again, I know you weave threeC's and all these things into
your everyday but specifically,what, what went on with Liam and
his client, and you to get it tothat point where the client move
(17:09):
forward, like, give us some ofthe details, the good and the
bad?
Well, first of all, I thinkanybody listening who knows Liam
knows he's a class act and atrue pleasure to work with. So
our candidate was a veteran. Andit was a long term process. I
initiated conversations withhim, I guess it took place over
(17:31):
the course of almost a year,maybe nine months. He was
exiting the military, his wifegot pregnant during the process.
He was transitioning out of ajob, they're moving into a new
house, the funding wasn't therebecause of the money. And it was
just, it was just one onebarrier after the next. But the
candidate and his lovely hisname was Joseph, I don't want to
(17:51):
disclose his full name. wassincerely interested in real
property management does anybodyknows in this process, time
kills deals, that's what peoplesay all the time. And if time
doesn't kill deals, a baby and anew house and exiting the
military all at the same timecertainly are several hurdles to
overcome. But Liam, patient andcalm, we had check ins with him
(18:12):
regularly checking in on hisbest interest on his family on
his wife, and developing afriendship along the way,
because he's so much fun,whether he was here on Long
Island near me or at his houseskiing. And surprisingly, the
process continued. It was a verylong, drawn out process. And
ultimately, we stuck withJoseph. And when the timing was
(18:36):
right for him, we allreconvened, we collaborated a
lot of freaking frack with allof the T H. CO t as coaches. And
as I mentioned before, Liam isstellar. But I've had the
pleasure of working with 10coaches, and awarding franchises
to 10 to ES coach candidates. Sotruly, everybody I've worked
with has that collaborativefield. But ultimately, we
(18:58):
brought Joseph into our familyand his new baby and his wife,
and we're thrilled, absolutelythrilled. But it was really a
large part because Liam and alsoI'm going to mention this about
Bob Terrell, wonderful guy. Andwe had a very similar
experience. We were patient withthis candidate, because we knew
that it was his timeline. He wasmoving from another state
(19:19):
transitioning out of a jobgetting two kids off to college.
Bob, phenomenal communicator. Icould say the same thing about
Sidney Bloomquist and a varietyof other coaches that I've
worked with over the years. ButI think it's just that
collaboration and again, puttingthe candidates interest and
timeline first.
That thank you for sharing.
Because, like you said, we hearthat a lot. Time kills deals. I
(19:41):
never say the word deals so evensaying it I'm like, oh gosh, I'm
sorry, but no, no, it's nice,but it but you hear that all the
time, but I love that with youbrought in fantastic franchisees
Who didn't fit that mold of thespecific timeline that maybe is
(20:02):
typical, or that you would liketo see or whatever it is. And it
is being patient and workingwith them. And what I want to
ask is just more specifically onhow do you keep someone engaged
for so long? Because how do youkeep them excited about the
brand? did it all happen in thebeginning? And then it was just
(20:24):
working through that? Or werethere dips where you had to say,
You know what, no, no, you dostill love Real Property
Management? Like, how did youkeep it going for a year?
That's a great question. Well, Ialways adhere to, I don't like
to hang up with a candidatewithout having a touch point in
place, whether that's a month,two months, and I let them
(20:44):
determine what that is. Becausewe all get very busy and my
calendar is packed, to behonest, in the travel schedule
for everybody. It's just best tohave a touch point whether that
has to move or not. And thenthere's always things going on
with our brand. We just won anaward. Yeah, entrepreneurs
2020 23, one of the fastestgrowing brands. So those touch
points, I always try to share,we have validation videos from
(21:05):
our owners, we have panel overthe pros events, we have
validators who sometimes willreach back out to a prospective
candidate to see if they'vequestions. So finding out how
somebody's wife is doing ifthey're pregnant, if they're
moving somebody's birthday, justbeing human, I guess, be the
answer.
(21:25):
Right. And again, so simple, butsomething that we lose sight of
when we're looking at the grandscheme of things. So, again, I
think there's a lot of differentpieces here that others in the
franchise development space cantake from, even if it's just one
or two things that you canincorporate into your own
franchise development process.
And here, we like to call it anexperience because you do want
(21:48):
to create it for the individual,what does that experience look
like? So, as we go and look,look forward to you know, the
rest of this year and beyond. Ido want to ask what your
thoughts are on the future offranchising, which is very, very
(22:08):
broad. But the future offranchising, whether it pertains
to real property management, orin general, like what you see
with the industry going forwardare?
Absolutely, well, what I findmost fascinating about
franchising is, every day I hearabout a different industry, a
(22:30):
different brand, a differentniche. So there are so many
opportunities for people whowant to get into business
ownership, don't want toreinvent things from scratch,
and have a passion for somethingto choose a business that
resonates with what they love,and an industry they love to
maximize their skill sets. Andas I said before, create a
business that's going to fulfilltheir legacy, their legacy for
(22:53):
their family and for themselveson a daily basis. So I'm just
constantly amazed, I have alwaysbeen fascinated by business. And
I love hearing about all thesenew emerging brands and how
they're serving just, you know,entrepreneurs and also the
communities at large. So to methat is truly fascinating. And
knowing again, that there'ssupport out there to help people
achieve their entrepreneurialdreams, I just see that
(23:16):
franchising is going to grow andgrow. And you know, it's the
American dream for many peopleand help them achieve that. And
so far as real propertymanagement is, is concerned, our
future is quite bright. Welaunched our 400 franchise in
October, we are already up to413 locations since October of
last year. And we're expectingwe're going to be approaching
(23:37):
500 sometime soon within thenext year to two to three years.
I don't want to set anyexpectations. But what's going
on in the real estate world isfascinating because right now
we're renters nation, 35% of theUS population is renting. And in
our industry, everybody alwaysneeds a place to live so that
that means that the future isbright for us. And we don't
expect housing. Right now about64% of Americans own a home and
(23:59):
we're expecting that to stayflat or continue to decrease.
homeownership, sadly, is out oftouch out of reach for a lot of
Americans. Millennials aredelaying homeownership, up to 13
years, boomers are downsizingand renting. And what we've seen
in the eye is really what'scausing the a lot of our growth
is investors coming in wherethey're going to be parking
(24:19):
money into the stock market andmutual funds and bonds and
whatnot. Traditional investmentvehicles, they're now parking it
in real estate. And they'rebuilding portfolios and the
niche that we fill in realproperty management and this is
really our differentiator. We'repositioning ourselves not just
as a property managementcompany, but as a property
management company with wealthmanagement expertise, who is
(24:41):
aligned with investors onmaximizing the ROI on their
properties. So knowing how realestate is becoming so in demand
and so attractive to manyinvestors, we're appealing to
that group, and I only seetremendous growth and
opportunity in the years had?
(25:01):
Well, that is wildly exciting onmany, many fronts. So I'm glad
we have a future together formany years. And, and also to
your point on franchising as awhole, where there's so much
opportunity brands in so manydifferent industries. I love
that we can educate people aboutwhat franchising is. And again,
(25:23):
it's not going to be foreveryone, like you said in the
beginning. But I think I justlove that we can tell more and
more people. I think there's alot of myths around franchising.
And so the more you can, we canhelp educate people on the
benefits and the, I mean,there's so many pros and how it
can work for you. And again, inyour community. As a small
(25:44):
business owner, you don't haveto be, you know, this massive
multi unit operator you canachieve it. Just absolutely
family, you know, life and newbaby.
Yeah. be in business foryourself, not by yourself.
That's franchising. That'sfranchising right there. Okay, I
want to wrap this up with just afew questions. So I couldn't
(26:09):
choose just one. So we're justgoing to do edit, you don't have
to answer like in great detail,just quick is fine. But looking
back, what is one thing that youwould do? What is one thing that
you would do differently when itcomes to franchise development?
Looking back if you knew it now,what would you different do
differently?
And my past three years thatname? We're nothing. Well, I've
(26:33):
had a very wonderful year,right? So far, I never say I
landed with a phenomenal brandand phenomenal company. Maybe I
would have found them sooner.
You know what? That's, that's agood answer to have. So anyone
listening, just do what Deborahhas been doing, and you're gonna
be just fine. All right, twoother things. What motivates
(26:56):
you?
My passion for helping otherswithout a shadow of a doubt. I
will be awarding a franchise totwo incredible women next week,
and I was on the phone with themtoday. I get teary eyed, I'm so
happy to see people build theirfutures. That's the most
gratifying part of my job.
I love that I just got chills.
And seriously this is this iswhy you and your team works a
(27:17):
lot with the entrepreneurs. Italked to coaches and they're
like Melissa, I just awarded Ijust one of my clients was
placed and we were on a zoomtogether. Like with tea, like we
were crying together because wewere just so excited about it
like this is that to me isfranchising. That, to me is our
community. So I love that. Andthen last one just kind of fun.
(27:37):
But is there a book or a podcastthat you would recommend doesn't
have to be in business doesn'thave to be just something that
you either love or that you giveout as a gift or you always
recommend? Is there anythingthere is and it's from a way
back? When and I probably shouldreread it for the third time the
E Myth? Oh, because, yes, thatwas the book that I read that
(27:59):
changed my life. I was inbusiness, that He gives an
analogy about a baker who'sbaking the cupcakes, baking the
cupcakes. And all he is is abaker because he's always busy
baking the cupcakes until herealizes I can teach other
people how to build a big thecupcakes and own a bakery
business. And I always use thisanalogy with owners for new
(28:20):
franchise owners. You're not aproperty manager, you will be
the CEO of a property managementcompany. We give you the tools
to step away. And I think thatbook really changed my
perspective on business andfranchising specifically.
I mean, I'm gonna go read it.
I'm gonna go read it again. I'dlike to read bits and pieces but
never the full thing which isshocking. So I'm going to read
it listeners, you're gonna goread it. And thank you so much
(28:42):
for joining me on franchiseFriday. It's been an absolute
joy speaking with you.
My pleasure. Thank you so much.
Have a great day.
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