November 8, 2023 • 34 mins
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- Want help finding a franchise
- Would like to be featured on our program
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- Are a franchise company and want access to our free ROI Tracker dashboard
In this episode, Lance Hood of FranPro interviews Red Boswell, president of IFPG. Red Boswell is an incredible resource for any franchise organization. If you would like to work with IFPG you can reach him here: https://Franpro.vip/GoIFPG
The International Franchise Professionals Group (IFPG) provides access to a large pool of consultants for franchise prospecting. Ensure you have the right person for franchise development, focus on delivering results, and take action to improve Item 19 if necessary.
Covered in this call:
- IFPG awards well over 100 franchises a month
- 650+ consultants can flood your franchise with prospects
- Franchise reps are more important than the franchise opportunity
- Franchise development is a full-time job requiring the right person
- Prospects are more interested in results than new openings
- If you're ashamed of your item 19, take action to fix it
- And more
Ever wondered how successful franchisees unearth the right opportunities? Or how franchisors connect with the right leads to build prosperous businesses and foster happy teams? Step into our fascinating conversation with Red Boswell, the president of IFPG, a network that's revolutionizing the franchising world. Red exposes the mechanics behind IFPG's successful model, and how they're changing the game for over 650 independent consultants, more than 600 franchisors, and about 150 suppliers in the franchise industry.
Choosing a franchise is similar to selecting a house or a babysitter; you need a trustworthy representative to guide you through the process. Red elaborates on the essential role of IFPG's independent consultants in this scenario. He provides a peek behind the curtains, revealing how these consultants not only present the right franchise opportunities but also ensure that companies have the crucial information necessary for prospective franchisees. Moreover, Red underscores the importance of investing in quality representation for your brand, drawing attention to the benefits that such an investment can reap.
No conversation about franchising would be complete without some practical tips for success. Red shares essential advice on fostering successful franchise development, emphasizing the significance of getting your affairs in order, investing in marketing, building relationships, and ensuring a strong item 19. Wrapping up our enriching dialogue with Red, he acknowledges the invaluable contribution of IFPG's independent consultants and the importance of hiring quality representatives for your brand. So, whether you're a budding franchisee, an established franchisor, or someone curious about the franchising world, this episode promises to be a treasure trove of insights. Tune in and get informed!
Contact us at Anything@FranPro.com if you:
- Want help finding the right franchise for you
- Would like to be featured on our program
- Would like help to produce or want a podcast produced for you
- Are a franchise company and want Free access to our ROI Tracker dashboard
*Some of the companies we interview compensate us a commission if you purchase something.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (00:09):
Welcome everybody.
Today I have Red Boswell, thepresident of IFPG.
Red, welcome to the call.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (00:16):
Awesome, lance.
Thank you, great to be here.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (00:19):
Red.
Can you briefly introduceyourself and give everyone a
little bit about your background?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (00:24):
Sure, you know I'm a franchise geek.
I've been in franchising about20 years helping people achieve
their dreams in business a wholelot longer than that and an
entrepreneur since the womb.
Just love what we get to doevery day, impacting communities
and lives with franchising.
Now, as the president of IFPGInternational Franchise
(00:45):
Professionals Group, again,we're best known as a broker
group or a referral consultantorganization the largest in the
world, but we also have severalother entities, including
franchisewirecom, the industry'sfavorite news source, and
several others.
So we're really aboutconnecting franchise
professionals and connecting theworld to franchising.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (01:05):
Well, can you tell everyone who's not
familiar if that's possible withIFPG, what you guys do?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (01:13):
Sure, on the consulting and brokering side
of things, we have about 650individuals.
You think about real estateagents, kelly Williams and Remax
.
They have all these thousandsof independent agents.
Well, we have 650 plusindependent consultants.
They're out there helpingpeople, not by houses, but
helping them identify andpurchase franchises.
(01:36):
They're matchmakers, if youwill, in that arena, lots and
lots of folks, especially inthat 50 and 60 year olds, are
being displaced.
They're getting agediscrimination, they're
frustrated that lean that ladderagainst the wrong career wall,
if you will.
And so our consultants are outthere helping folks.
And then we have over 600franchisors that we work with,
(02:00):
helping them find the bestbuyers, matching them with folks
instead of a franchise.
We're having to go through athousand leads, much of which
are very low quality,uninterested, unqualified folks.
We introduce them and they'regoing through maybe five or 10
to find the right fit and awardfranchises.
So it's a match made in heaven,with the franchise consultants
(02:22):
helping those franchisors tofind the right buyers.
And then, as an add-on, we'vegot over 150 vendors or
suppliers to the franchiseindustry that work with the
zores, work with the consultantsand are supplying, whether it's
attorneys or marketingcompanies or funding sources, or
we franchise your businesscompanies, all those and many,
(02:43):
many more insurance, real estate, you name it.
We're all working togetherconnecting franchise
professionals through the IFPGmembership network.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (02:54):
And how would you say IFPG is different
from other broker networks orgroups?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (03:00):
Well, boy, we got three hours right.
Well, one big one is we arehardcore on technology.
We want our consultants to havethe most efficiently run
businesses out there.
Another would be our inventory.
More franchisors work with usthan anyone, so that certainly
helps the candidate, helps theconsultant.
(03:22):
And well, a big one is ourconsultants keep all their
commission.
How crazy is that?
It's part of our core model isif we have the best consultants,
we win.
And so providing them the bestinventory, the best technology,
the best ongoing support andtraining whether it be at the
front end, becoming a consultantor the ongoing training and
(03:42):
support and then let them keepall their commission.
The franchisors, the suppliersor vendors they pay considerably
more to be a part of IFPG.
And again, when you're the bestconsultants out there and
you're giving away tons and tonsof your income to someone else,
they get pretty attracted toIFPG real quick.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (04:03):
Well, what do you think are the biggest
problems you guys solve forfranchisors?
And I know, and you could evenlean into brokers too, but I
know it's like, yes, you helpthem find franchisees, but what
else would you say are thebiggest problems you guys help
them with?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (04:20):
Well, three easy answers here.
Number one financial risk.
I was a franchisor for manyyears.
I was a global chiefdevelopment officer for a couple
of large global brands andwe're investing tens of
thousands of dollars over andover and over in hopes to get a
lead, to get a deal to award afranchise Big time risk.
(04:40):
I mean I was spending andsometimes on some avenues, some
lead sources 50 to $80,000 toget one franchisee.
Well, with the consultants,we're providing it at a minute
fraction of that.
And then the franchisor pays acommission, a success fee after
the fact, reducing thatfinancial risk infinitely.
(05:04):
The other two reasons go hand inhand.
Now you've got a great lead.
You have a candidate who isvery interested in you,
financially qualified, thegeographic preferences match
what your availability is in themarket.
They've got someone handholding them, a wingman, if you
will, that consultant helpingthem through the process, and so
(05:25):
now you've got a candidatemoving through your process
faster.
You're enjoying life as afranchise development
representative.
You now get to work withsomeone who wants to work with
you instead of calling folks whohave no money, think they
applied for a job, don't speakEnglish, et cetera.
So now you've got a greatcandidate.
Your Fran Dev team is happierand, most importantly perhaps,
(05:46):
is now you got a great Z, thatfranchisee that has been brought
to you by the consultant andbecomes a Z.
They know the power oflistening to someone who's gone
before them.
Following others advice.
They moved faster through theprocess.
They've more financiallyqualified and now they've got a
happier, more qualified Z movingforward which pays your
(06:08):
royalties forever.
You know that's the ultimategoal of any good franchise or
earn those royalties Withpartners you want to work with.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (06:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know I used to tellfranchises that by the time I
bring someone to them, we'vebeen through hours of
conversations.
We understand what they'relooking for, their financial
situation, their, theirpsychology, mindset, needs, and
we presented things to them andwe've talked with lenders.
So by the time they get to themthey know who they are, they
(06:37):
want to do business with them,they're financially qualified,
they're already sold.
They just need to really gointo the details of the business
.
So it's much better than youknow calling numbers that nobody
calls you back.
And it's not cost to you,because there's nothing unless
there's a commission.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (06:53):
Amen, yeah, like like buying that house
realtor's working for you a dayand night here, oftentimes for
free, and they get compensatedon the other end by the seller.
I keel on and on, lance, aboutwhy.
What makes us different?
We do have a sister companythat's an in-house lead provider
for our consultants.
It's a big concern of a lot ofnew consultants.
(07:13):
Where in the world am I gonnaget these leads?
And all the events we have andthe support structure we provide
second to none.
So it's a fun, fun business.
Never been a better time to bein franchising, and certainly in
the franchise referral space.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (07:26):
Can you share a couple stories of maybe
a some dramatic impacts that Ihave?
Pg is made for some franchisesource or even some brokers boy.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (07:37):
You know that might be on my list of
books to write.
I mean, there's a few thousandchapters on that.
We I have PG and our wonderfulnetwork of consultants and
franchise ores will award wellover a hundred franchises a
month.
Think about that.
Lives change throughfranchising in the one to 2,000
(07:58):
new business owners per year.
And so, yeah, there's a lot.
We see franchise ores let'sstart with that over and over
again, frustrated aboutdevelopment.
You know this is their baby,this franchise, or has invested
their blood, sweat, tears, theirlife into this model.
They love it.
It's the most beautiful modelThey've ever seen, just like my,
my baby daughter.
(08:19):
It's the most beautifulcreature I've ever seen.
And they can't understand whyeverybody else doesn't see the
beauty, you know.
And so they they've.
They're frustrated.
They've dropped a whole lot oftheir life savings into
marketing trying to getfranchisees.
They're just just stayingfrustrated.
And so they find out about theconsultant model, the Brokers as
(08:40):
the industry calls us, and theyrealize the low financial risk,
all the things we talked about,and they dive in all in.
Yeah, now, franchise ores whowant to just test the waters
with consultants very rarelysucceed.
But those franchise ores whorealize we're the number one
source of awarded franchises inNorth America, outside of just
the organic leads that they getfrom walk-ins.
(09:02):
So the number one source withthe lowest financial risk.
What's, oh my gosh, what's?
What's?
What's the catch?
Well, you got to be all in.
Yeah, relationship buildingtakes time to ramp it up and for
the consultants to get know you.
So the lives We've changed onthe franchise ores side are,
heck man, a third of theindustry.
I think we've changed throughallowing them to have that less
(09:23):
risk and get identify a muchhigher quality franchisee.
Oh Heck.
A burlow mattress is one thatcomes to mind.
They were, they were with usfor a year and a half,
frustrated, not really all in,and then they just woke up one
day and said you know, let's dothis right.
They got serious and they'vebeen awarded franchise left to
right.
Another one that comes to mindwe didn't get prep on this, so
(09:44):
I'm just thinking off the top ofmy head Ellie mental health.
Whoever thought a mental healthclinic could drive in the
franchise space?
And yet here we are with over400 Ellie mental health clinics
across the country in about twoyears.
It's been amazing to see thatand you know it's even cooler
with them and Mental health.
(10:05):
It's a need.
Lots and lots of lives are so.
The Zors lives changing.
The franchisee is their life ischanging that of their family
and their extended family, andnow they're so positively
Impacting their communities withmental health support.
There's a couple examples, lance, on the on the consultant side,
we've seen time and time againwhether it's a younger
(10:27):
consultant like you who has comeinto this world of
entrepreneurship and their eyeshave been opened, or Older end
of the spectrum, me and beyondwho are just fed up with the rat
race and the politics and theyou know, glass ceilings and
just the junk that's out there,laid off for the 18th time, then
can't find a job that pays themwhat they were getting paid for
(10:50):
.
On and on and on.
The people oftentimes foolthemselves to think that a job
is Secure and yet they keepgetting laid off and bumped and
maybe a little severance.
Usually not.
And so the idea that they couldtake their life into their own
hands actually own it.
Take that.
Maybe it's their 401k or IRA,their retirement savings, and
(11:13):
instead of investigating intothe market that they don't even
know what companies are outthere.
They have no influence on it,they're just hoping on a prayer
that they're gonna makesomething.
Now take that invested in yourown C Corp, build your own
destiny and own it.
And now you're not making 2% or8% a year You're doing, put in
some zeros on that, sometimesthrough franchise ownership and
(11:33):
the, the Intangibles that youget from that.
So, over and over and over, Isee consultants being able to do
that for their own family as anIPG consultants.
And now we're double-deep in.
I know it's a long answer, butyou see the franchise consultant
change in their life and thenthey're changing lives of others
and so how, how fulfilling, howrewarding.
It's kind of like.
(11:53):
I mean, I call myself sometimesa franchise evangelist because
I get so passionate about it,but all our IPG consultants out
there in a way or that are thattoo.
I mean.
Think about.
When I was growing up I wantedto be a pastor until I found out
what pastors make.
Well, I can impact livespositively in franchising and
maybe a whole lot more.
(12:13):
So I'm getting a bonus on onall sides.
So, yeah, lives are beingchanged so so positively through
franchising and throughfranchise consulting.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (12:23):
Well, can you walk us through the process
of how you help franchises?
Maybe they're having theirinitial call through actually
being part and, you know, beingengaged in the system.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (12:34):
How we help franchises.
So there are a dozens anddozens of things we do with that
franchise or and theirfranchise development team or
person to get them connected,get them exposure, marketing, if
you will, to the consultants.
Now our marketing is marketingthat opportunity and the team
(12:55):
behind the opportunity to theconsultants.
We're not out there marketingit to the world.
Ipg is not, now the consultantsmight.
So now, how about having 650free bird dogs?
Go back to that, the salesworld, the marketing world.
If you own an insurance companyor a real estate firm or any of
those, you're looking for folksto open doors for you, to make
(13:16):
introductions for you, and thenyou give them a nice fact
commission, if the deal happens.
Well, that's what you got withIPG hundreds and hundreds of
folks out there opening doorsfor you for free, relatively
speaking, and then paying them acommission.
So when a franchise or comes onboard, we have a big launch
call.
This is behind the scenes, withplanning and training, making
sure their company profile is upto date, videos, ideal
(13:39):
candidate profile.
We look at the count and awhole whole bunch more downloads
and everything a consultantcould ever want to know to be
able to present that brand totheir candidates and ultimately
match the candidates with theright opportunities.
Think about, it's a littleoverwhelming you have 600 plus
franchise opportunities.
How do we narrow it down to six?
(14:00):
You know it's a, it's a process, some science to it, some art
to it, but we provide all thetools to the consultants and all
the availability and access tothe franchise oars for all the
parties, information andopportunities to to sync and,
after a little bit of trainingby us and the support technology
(14:21):
in the back end, it's not acomplicated process to
ultimately make those matchesright.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (14:27):
And you know, just because they're
featured in front of all thebrokers doesn't mean that you're
necessarily going to gettraction.
There's certain things thatcause a broker to go.
I don't know about this companyor I love this company.
I'm excited to tell my clientsabout them.
Can you give them some insightsinto those things that
companies need to be ready tosell their franchise?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (14:49):
Absolutely so.
You know, you know level,economics, happy franchisees,
validations all of that iscritical.
Now some of the emerging brandsdon't have those these yet, so
that's a little bit of anobstacle, regardless of lead
source.
But you got to have some.
Get some videos.
Get a video or two at leastabout your brand.
Let's get a solid website.
Let's get a clear communicationon what your ideal candidate is
(15:15):
and isn't, and on and on and on.
Regarding have your house inorder, you know, when I was
starting to date in my 20s on myteams, but when I was getting
serious about dating in my 20sand maybe finding that spouse
and I didn't have my house inorder, my savings was about 1200
bucks.
You know.
I mean I did not have a greatcareer path, I was not ready to
(15:39):
find a spouse, and so same thingwith the franchise.
Or are you ready?
You have a training program inplace with the solid ops manual.
Did you use a franchiseattorney to build that FDD in
the agreement and there's about30 or 40 other things.
But having the house in orderfirst and now have that
franchise developer wrapped.
It knows what they're doing.
I mean the analogy I use I'm ananalogy freak is if, when you
(16:02):
have your kids I have my threelittle babies that now are
pretty much grown but when wewere looking for a somebody, a
babysitter the babysitterthemselves super important and
the house super important.
So if we're going to take ourbaby that you know is our life
and let somebody else take careof it, I want that house to be
safe, I want that house to be ina good neighborhood, I want
(16:23):
that house to be okay for mybaby to stay in.
But you know, it's moreimportant than the house, the
babysitter, and so what's moreimportant oftentimes than the
franchise opportunity itself iswho's representing it.
And so whether you you thefranchise development rep
working at a franchise, or aredealing with a candidate,
someone interested in theirbrand, or dealing with a
(16:45):
consultant who's going to findthem candidates, either way, if
that franchise development repdoes not know their stuff, know
the answers to all the thingsthat the candidates are going to
ask and the consultants aregoing to ask, that they're going
to be dead in the water.
You can have a greatopportunity in the world If your
franchise development rep isnot a likable, seen as a trusted
advisor not greasy, you knowhas their act together, helps
(17:08):
the candidate see themselvesmoving, transitioning to this
new world.
You're fooling yourself and sooftentimes, lance I talked to
emerging brands especially thatthe founder, the number one,
most passionate person in theworld for the brand, the expert
on the brand is going to try todo franchise development.
You know Kudos, occasionally itworks.
(17:29):
But you're the CEO, you're thefounder, you've got the original
business, now you've got afranchise business, you've got
all the resources behind thescenes, all the things you've
got to do for that and for that,and suddenly you're going to do
franchise development too,which is a full-time, dedicated
job.
If you plan on adding more thantwo or three franchises a year,
so get the right franchise rep.
I know it's a long answer.
(17:49):
Again, I get passionate aboutthis.
I see so many Zors floundering,not serious about franchise
development.
They just think they're gonnaopen.
You know they're shingle andfolks are gonna flock and rare,
rarely is that case in the case.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (18:01):
Yeah, well , the thing that I noticed is
running your own franchise.
You have a business, youfranchised it, franchised it.
That's one learning set, right,yeah, but when you have to then
sell those franchises tosomebody else and Then help
replicate what you did withcompletely other people, those
are two Unrelated skill sets.
(18:22):
And you have three skill setsinstead of one, and they're just
not prepared for it.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (18:27):
Yeah, yeah, you know what they say in the
Bible.
Going back to the preacher dayshere Mm-hmm, you got to leave
in cleave.
When you're get married Isyou're leaving the mom and dad
and you're going to the spouse.
And when you become a franchise, or guess what, you're no
longer whatever you used to be.
Let somebody else run that,sure you can oversee it.
When I was franchise, or 20years ago, 18 years ago, 15
(18:49):
years ago I hired somebody torun that business for me.
They checked in with me one anhour a week.
I had some metrics on mycomputer.
I was watching to make surethey had it together.
But, man, I'm a franchisor.
This franchise business gonnabe a hundred times bigger than
the mom and pop now.
The mom and pop was a sevenfigure business Annually.
But, man, you got to have allhands on deck, focused on your
(19:10):
new life, divorcing that oldbusiness almost, and Get going
with the new life.
And you know, when I startedbuilding it up and got to around
a hundred franchisees, Iactually sold the original
business.
I don't need any distractions.
Let's move all a all everythinginto one Basket, if you will,
because, right, that was my life.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (19:30):
Well, you know, you mentioned something
and I've not asked people thisquestion, but I've noticed it.
So if you have somebody who isa company representative that's
helping companies sell theirfranchise, and they're they're
they're just not ideal, maybethey're just not.
They've kind of they don't do agood job and then they move on
(19:51):
and somebody who's new tofranchising goes oh, you have
five years in franchising andthey, they rehire them and it
keeps going.
How does a new franchise oridentify that really good rep
that's gonna have goodrelationships and connection in
the industry?
Because there's some Companyreps that are so good that if
they move to any company,everyone's gonna follow them and
(20:12):
promote that new company, andthere's ones where, if they move
to a company, nobody's gonnapromote that company.
How do, how does a franchise ornot being part of this world,
figure out who to work with?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (20:23):
You know it's like when you're hiring
someone, a critical person orreally anyone for your company,
you're gonna call previousemployers, call previous
franchise or let's talk to otherspheres Vince Flynn Certainly
you're gonna ask for someReferral sources from the
candidate.
But also look at their history,look at their past and go
direct.
If they didn't give you thatZor, but the Zors on their
(20:45):
LinkedIn, let's go talk to thatfranchise or and, and get a
little bit of the skinny.
And most, most of the time youcould read between the lines
they're not gonna say anythingtoo negative.
But the same time, you, you,you got to listen closely and
you'll hear what you need tohear.
Asking that candidate, thatfranchise development rep that
you're looking to hire, askingthem about how many franchises
(21:08):
they've awarded.
Asking them some simplequestions you are your new
franchise or you're not theexpert.
They've been at it a long timeand they're a salesperson, so
they can snow you sometimes, butreally just listen to the
answers thoroughly.
Talk to a lot of folks aboutthem.
Because, guess what, whenyou're buying a franchise, what
do you do?
You do validation.
When you're hiring somebody torepresent your baby, you're
(21:30):
doing a lot of validation behindthe scenes to make sure this is
the right fit.
Think of all the money and timeand life and effort you invest
into a brand and you get somebozo to represent that brand.
You hire the.
You know that your neighbor,your, your brother, law down the
street your use car salesman.
Get somebody for real, pay alittle extra.
It will make all the difference.
You know, lance, I, when I wasa franchisor, I Started saying
(21:54):
I'm gonna get a tattoo that saysthere's nothing cheaper than,
there's nothing more expensivethan a cheap attorney.
Because, it's so true, and thatyou can extend that in a lot of
areas alive.
Nothing more expensive than acheap CPA, nothing more
expensive than a cheap franchisedevelopment rep.
Pay for good, pay for quality,it'll.
(22:14):
It'll come back tenfold.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (22:15):
Yeah, they represent your brand.
So what would you say?
How long does it typically takefor companies who engage who
really engage with IF PG tostart seeing results, start
getting some Referrals sent overand get some traction?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (22:30):
You know that is such a big question.
Get some traction is veryrelative as well.
Some brands get there a wholelot faster than others, and the
elephant in the room oftentimesis the emerging brands.
You know, emerging brands.
I go we got zero franchises, wegot eight franchises.
Eight's a lot better than zero.
But, regardless of lead source,it's just a tougher road to hoe
(22:54):
.
Or is it row to hoe farmingscenario?
Okay, row to hoe, it's tougher,but so they can take a little
while longer.
But how do you with them, withthe consultants?
How do you have success?
We talked about a good part ofit earlier have your house in
order.
Now that your house is in order, you got an outstanding
opportunity.
You got an item 19, you've gotyour franchise brochure and all
(23:18):
the other pieces of the puzzle.
Now it's time to market it, andwith the consultant community
it's no different.
Instead of marketing to theworld through the portals and
through, you know, paper clickand maybe trying to get some PR
and all those things, now you'remarketing to the consultants.
Let them find the buyers foryou, and so investing some money
into marketing is critical tosuccess within the consultant
(23:40):
networks like IPG.
If you just sit there and wait.
You're gonna be waiting andyou're gonna have some trickles.
You're gonna have some thatcome your way.
They're gonna check if theterritory is available, but then
you hear nothing.
Crickets again.
So, building getting theconsultants to know you, like
you, trust you, then they willshow you.
They'll show the your brand totheir candidates.
(24:01):
Well, you know, love you doesnot happen day one.
Oftentimes they get these know.
You see you're serious.
Understand your brand.
Get to know your friend everapp if they don't already know
them, now if they already knowthem.
You just jumped a few hurdlesreal fast and and you're
validated by a known entity,rock star friend ever app, man.
Kudos to you for being able totrack such a rock star.
(24:22):
Most can attract a rock star.
Pay for them right off the bator willing to pay for them.
So get in there, get, startbuilding the relationship, start
following up quickly.
Start follow up thoroughly.
Show them you know what you'redoing.
They'll start giving you theirbabies, the babies.
It's not a deal yet, but theseare folks that are can, really
qualified in every way andinterested in you.
(24:43):
You need some deals happening,mm-hmm.
Just take some time and effortand money.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (24:49):
Yep, and I would say, if you're new or
struggling, one thing I would dois write out all the list of
things that you don't want totalk about and Then make those
to where that you do want totalk about them.
Make them something that standsout, because there's things
where you know it comes toincome right of 19.
You're like, oh, I don't wantto talk about that.
Well, make it to where you dowant to talk about it, those
(25:11):
core things.
Like if you go to a restaurant,the key thing of the restaurant
is is the food good?
Now you can take a place wherethere's bad food and put up a
fancy new sign, do TVcommercials, paint it, furnish
the room, get the best waitstaff, and the food is terrible.
Well, with a franchise, that'syour business opportunity.
You know you can do all thisstuff, but is the business
(25:33):
opportunity still need to beimproved?
If it does, it's going to be aslug and then All the
consultants are going to be likethe company's not ready.
So you're just fighting anuphill battle until you make
those necessary improvements.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (25:48):
Bro, and if you don't want to talk about
your item 19, get out of thebusiness.
Oh my gosh, that's the mostexciting thing You've got.
This is the earnings claimsthat I'm allowed to share.
Let me tell you what you can do.
You're ashamed your item 19 andpause.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (26:02):
Get it fixed, yeah, and move forward
because you're gonna hurt peopleif they can't make money with
your opportunity.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (26:07):
You're gonna waste your life and your money
and your effort and everythingelse too You're not gonna sell
anything.
You got a sad item 19 and ifyou don't have an item 19, let's
find out why.
I mean some attorneys tell youoh well, you only have corporate
stores.
You can't do out of 19 not evengo chop, go get a new attorney.
You're only in Canada.
You can't do a US 19, seriously, it's.
(26:27):
Let's get a second and thirdopinion there.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (26:30):
Mm-hmm.
Well, maybe my last questionfor you is what are some of the
common mistakes that franchiseor is make when working with
brokers, and how can someone getthe best results possible?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (26:41):
my gosh, another Three hour answer,
brother.
Oh, oh, all right.
Well, I see on on YouTube I'vegot the top ten mistakes.
I see franchise or is make itConstantly.
We've got a ten little twominute, three minute videos on
that and I got about 40 more inmy in my list here On my
computer somewhere.
You know what.
(27:01):
Something that is just amistake I see over and over
again Too low IFF.
Your initial franchise fee istoo low.
Now how does that relate toconsultants?
It relates to everything you doin franchise development.
A low franchise fee Becauseyou're scared to charge what
you're worth, because someattorney Told you that while
(27:21):
you're emerging you, you reallycan't charge what others charge.
Or well, you know, I'm a pizzarestaurant and pizza hut charges
30.
So I can't be above that.
Dude, you ain't pizza hut, youneed to make a living now.
You're not a billion dollarcompany, so people are scared to
charge what they're worth andcharge you know what.
This is a life decision.
(27:42):
If I'm a franchise candidateand I'm looking to make a life
decision, this is bigger in myhouse.
That's what I'm gonna do everyday.
I want the best.
Yeah, money's important.
Yeah, money's tight, but, dude,I'm gonna make, I'm gonna get
the best.
I see one for 25,000 franchisefee and one for 50, and I bet
that 50 is a whole lot betterthan 25.
You know what?
The all-in investment 400, soan additional 20 or 15 or 25 in
(28:06):
your franchise.
So you ain't gonna matter, isit?
Is it 390 or is it 410?
I don't know the difference.
And they don't either.
They're getting a loan for five.
So get serious about afranchise.
There's so many things you gotto pay out of that, maybe a
consultant commission, butcertainly marketing training,
onboarding, maybe an initialpackage with the front that's
(28:27):
included.
Lots and lots.
That's in that.
Now.
Other things are Uh, believingand not hiring a good franchise
development rep.
Um, not getting all in tryingto uh, keep your old life and
your new life and interminglingthem too much.
We already talked about that.
Um, not having a 919, nothaving Good, solid franchise
(28:48):
marketing materials and afranchise Website takes folks
through a process.
You know, today more than ever,everybody wants to know as much
as they can before they talk tosome sales guy, sales gal.
Well, are you providing it?
Because you know what, ifyou're not providing it,
somebody else is and they'll gothere, or somebody's already
talking about you in a negativeway perhaps, and they're gonna
(29:09):
see that and not your 100different ways that you're
awesome.
Oh, a little little selfishplug franchise wire does that
for franchise or is every daywrites Custom articles on the
you know number one newsplatform and franchising for
franchisors.
So that's something that wehelp Significantly with SEO and
with articles out there.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (29:27):
You know, one thing I wanted to ask you
red is is you know, I seefranchise source putting out
random promotional materials,like they have all these
marketing materials or whatever.
Um, it's, it's just you knowwhat do you do with it.
So can you let them know what'sneeded and what's necessary
when it comes to the promotionalmaterials that you're making Uh
(29:48):
and handing out to eitherfranchisees or brokers?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (29:53):
You bet.
So we have what's called atwo-minute drill.
Two-minute drill in franchisingis everything that a candidate
or consultant need to know aboutyour business in two minutes or
less.
It's kind of like that30-second elevator pitch.
Give me the skinny.
And so what is important, theydon't care where you went to
elementary school, mr Franchise.
(30:14):
They don't care where you metyour spouse in junior high.
Now, as you take a candidatethrough the process, they're
going to be partnering with youfor the long term.
Hey, those are great things totalk about, but let's get them
interested.
Let's get them excited about it.
To give a few numbers from youritem 19,.
Perhaps Tell them how manyunits you have, how long you've
been around average unit volume.
Give them some some snapshots.
(30:36):
We're very visual societynowadays.
Give them some links to yoursocial media pages.
You do have social media pages,don't you?
Keep them up to date with allthe exciting things going on in
your brand?
Your reviews online are theyrocking?
If so, let's get some links tothem.
So what's important now Withconsultants?
The commission structure is afactor out there that they do
(30:57):
need to be communicated.
They do need to know.
We never suggest you put thatin any downloads or in any
two-minute drills, unless it's aphysical one you're handing out
, maybe at a convention.
Our technology and the profileswe build for the franchiseors
include all that.
So it's old school to includecommissions in a two-minute
drill.
No need to do that anymore onany download.
(31:18):
But really it's a thoroughassessment two minutes or less
about this opportunity, who youare, and maybe even include a
little bit about your idealcandidate.
If you like this, if you'vedone this, here's what you'd be
doing day to day.
Keep it short, simple.
Get other eyeballs to review it.
Does it make sense?
Is it enticing?
A lot of times you're againblind to your beautiful baby
(31:40):
that nobody else thinks is sobeautiful.
So help get help from outsidesources to create those.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (31:46):
Yeah, I think they're focused on more
quantity versus more quality,and some of them are so close
but not there, because I've seenthings like an email from a
brand saying hey, we just openeda new franchise location.
Again, you know, lux strikesagain.
When I see that in my email,I'm like, okay, you know what
(32:08):
would be more exciting?
Our brands just hit an AUV of$1.7 million for the year.
That is more important to methan you saying you opened up a
new location.
It doesn't mean anything to me.
I wasn't the one who referredit.
I have no interest in it.
Show me that you're gettingamazing results.
(32:29):
Now I feel left behind.
I feel like, wow, this is agreat brand.
I should have been promotingthis.
So just those tweaks ofthinking about the person who's
receiving the information andhow it's being received to them,
not just putting out more.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (32:43):
Lance, that's good.
I would dub tell them thatthere's a balance, because, man,
we say this all the time.
I hear it from top consultantsLeads, follow deals.
Get the word out.
Shout to the rooftops when youare doing deals.
Include the AUVs, include thebenefit.
Maybe include a picture of thenew franchise.
Z and their profile.
Again helps the consultantunderstand who are you looking
(33:04):
for, who's your ideal candidate.
Because when they see, whenthese consultant see deals
happening, brands growing,thriving, with new franchisees,
they take notice.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (33:16):
Right, especially if you can say stuff
like you know, 15th deal thisyear or something like that, you
know.
Definitely it shows momentumfor sure.
Red, I just appreciate havingthe time to be on this call with
you, spend this time with you,pick your brain.
You're such a smart person,you've been around, done it all,
(33:36):
so thank you for being on thecall.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (33:39):
Honored Lance.
Thank you for all you do tochange lives and franchising
Guys.
Check out Lance, he's the man.
Appreciate you, brother Holler,anytime.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (33:47):
And I'll just tell everybody if you're
interested in IFPG, go here andcheck them out https://Franpro.
vip/GoIFPG, Thanks, red.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (33:59):
Appreciate you, Lance.
Welcome everybody.
Today I have Red Boswell, thepresident of IFPG.
Red, welcome to the call.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (00:16):
Awesome, lance.
Thank you, great to be here.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (00:19):
Red.
Can you briefly introduceyourself and give everyone a
little bit about your background?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (00:24):
Sure, you know I'm a franchise geek.
I've been in franchising about20 years helping people achieve
their dreams in business a wholelot longer than that and an
entrepreneur since the womb.
Just love what we get to doevery day, impacting communities
and lives with franchising.
Now, as the president of IFPGInternational Franchise
(00:45):
Professionals Group, again,we're best known as a broker
group or a referral consultantorganization the largest in the
world, but we also have severalother entities, including
franchisewirecom, the industry'sfavorite news source, and
several others.
So we're really aboutconnecting franchise
professionals and connecting theworld to franchising.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (01:05):
Well, can you tell everyone who's not
familiar if that's possible withIFPG, what you guys do?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (01:13):
Sure, on the consulting and brokering side
of things, we have about 650individuals.
You think about real estateagents, kelly Williams and Remax
.
They have all these thousandsof independent agents.
Well, we have 650 plusindependent consultants.
They're out there helpingpeople, not by houses, but
helping them identify andpurchase franchises.
(01:36):
They're matchmakers, if youwill, in that arena, lots and
lots of folks, especially inthat 50 and 60 year olds, are
being displaced.
They're getting agediscrimination, they're
frustrated that lean that ladderagainst the wrong career wall,
if you will.
And so our consultants are outthere helping folks.
And then we have over 600franchisors that we work with,
(02:00):
helping them find the bestbuyers, matching them with folks
instead of a franchise.
We're having to go through athousand leads, much of which
are very low quality,uninterested, unqualified folks.
We introduce them and they'regoing through maybe five or 10
to find the right fit and awardfranchises.
So it's a match made in heaven,with the franchise consultants
(02:22):
helping those franchisors tofind the right buyers.
And then, as an add-on, we'vegot over 150 vendors or
suppliers to the franchiseindustry that work with the
zores, work with the consultantsand are supplying, whether it's
attorneys or marketingcompanies or funding sources, or
we franchise your businesscompanies, all those and many,
(02:43):
many more insurance, real estate, you name it.
We're all working togetherconnecting franchise
professionals through the IFPGmembership network.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (02:54):
And how would you say IFPG is different
from other broker networks orgroups?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (03:00):
Well, boy, we got three hours right.
Well, one big one is we arehardcore on technology.
We want our consultants to havethe most efficiently run
businesses out there.
Another would be our inventory.
More franchisors work with usthan anyone, so that certainly
helps the candidate, helps theconsultant.
(03:22):
And well, a big one is ourconsultants keep all their
commission.
How crazy is that?
It's part of our core model isif we have the best consultants,
we win.
And so providing them the bestinventory, the best technology,
the best ongoing support andtraining whether it be at the
front end, becoming a consultantor the ongoing training and
(03:42):
support and then let them keepall their commission.
The franchisors, the suppliersor vendors they pay considerably
more to be a part of IFPG.
And again, when you're the bestconsultants out there and
you're giving away tons and tonsof your income to someone else,
they get pretty attracted toIFPG real quick.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (04:03):
Well, what do you think are the biggest
problems you guys solve forfranchisors?
And I know, and you could evenlean into brokers too, but I
know it's like, yes, you helpthem find franchisees, but what
else would you say are thebiggest problems you guys help
them with?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (04:20):
Well, three easy answers here.
Number one financial risk.
I was a franchisor for manyyears.
I was a global chiefdevelopment officer for a couple
of large global brands andwe're investing tens of
thousands of dollars over andover and over in hopes to get a
lead, to get a deal to award afranchise Big time risk.
(04:40):
I mean I was spending andsometimes on some avenues, some
lead sources 50 to $80,000 toget one franchisee.
Well, with the consultants,we're providing it at a minute
fraction of that.
And then the franchisor pays acommission, a success fee after
the fact, reducing thatfinancial risk infinitely.
(05:04):
The other two reasons go hand inhand.
Now you've got a great lead.
You have a candidate who isvery interested in you,
financially qualified, thegeographic preferences match
what your availability is in themarket.
They've got someone handholding them, a wingman, if you
will, that consultant helpingthem through the process, and so
(05:25):
now you've got a candidatemoving through your process
faster.
You're enjoying life as afranchise development
representative.
You now get to work withsomeone who wants to work with
you instead of calling folks whohave no money, think they
applied for a job, don't speakEnglish, et cetera.
So now you've got a greatcandidate.
Your Fran Dev team is happierand, most importantly perhaps,
(05:46):
is now you got a great Z, thatfranchisee that has been brought
to you by the consultant andbecomes a Z.
They know the power oflistening to someone who's gone
before them.
Following others advice.
They moved faster through theprocess.
They've more financiallyqualified and now they've got a
happier, more qualified Z movingforward which pays your
(06:08):
royalties forever.
You know that's the ultimategoal of any good franchise or
earn those royalties Withpartners you want to work with.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (06:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know I used to tellfranchises that by the time I
bring someone to them, we'vebeen through hours of
conversations.
We understand what they'relooking for, their financial
situation, their, theirpsychology, mindset, needs, and
we presented things to them andwe've talked with lenders.
So by the time they get to themthey know who they are, they
(06:37):
want to do business with them,they're financially qualified,
they're already sold.
They just need to really gointo the details of the business
.
So it's much better than youknow calling numbers that nobody
calls you back.
And it's not cost to you,because there's nothing unless
there's a commission.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (06:53):
Amen, yeah, like like buying that house
realtor's working for you a dayand night here, oftentimes for
free, and they get compensatedon the other end by the seller.
I keel on and on, lance, aboutwhy.
What makes us different?
We do have a sister companythat's an in-house lead provider
for our consultants.
It's a big concern of a lot ofnew consultants.
(07:13):
Where in the world am I gonnaget these leads?
And all the events we have andthe support structure we provide
second to none.
So it's a fun, fun business.
Never been a better time to bein franchising, and certainly in
the franchise referral space.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (07:26):
Can you share a couple stories of maybe
a some dramatic impacts that Ihave?
Pg is made for some franchisesource or even some brokers boy.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (07:37):
You know that might be on my list of
books to write.
I mean, there's a few thousandchapters on that.
We I have PG and our wonderfulnetwork of consultants and
franchise ores will award wellover a hundred franchises a
month.
Think about that.
Lives change throughfranchising in the one to 2,000
(07:58):
new business owners per year.
And so, yeah, there's a lot.
We see franchise ores let'sstart with that over and over
again, frustrated aboutdevelopment.
You know this is their baby,this franchise, or has invested
their blood, sweat, tears, theirlife into this model.
They love it.
It's the most beautiful modelThey've ever seen, just like my,
my baby daughter.
(08:19):
It's the most beautifulcreature I've ever seen.
And they can't understand whyeverybody else doesn't see the
beauty, you know.
And so they they've.
They're frustrated.
They've dropped a whole lot oftheir life savings into
marketing trying to getfranchisees.
They're just just stayingfrustrated.
And so they find out about theconsultant model, the Brokers as
(08:40):
the industry calls us, and theyrealize the low financial risk,
all the things we talked about,and they dive in all in.
Yeah, now, franchise ores whowant to just test the waters
with consultants very rarelysucceed.
But those franchise ores whorealize we're the number one
source of awarded franchises inNorth America, outside of just
the organic leads that they getfrom walk-ins.
(09:02):
So the number one source withthe lowest financial risk.
What's, oh my gosh, what's?
What's?
What's the catch?
Well, you got to be all in.
Yeah, relationship buildingtakes time to ramp it up and for
the consultants to get know you.
So the lives We've changed onthe franchise ores side are,
heck man, a third of theindustry.
I think we've changed throughallowing them to have that less
(09:23):
risk and get identify a muchhigher quality franchisee.
Oh Heck.
A burlow mattress is one thatcomes to mind.
They were, they were with usfor a year and a half,
frustrated, not really all in,and then they just woke up one
day and said you know, let's dothis right.
They got serious and they'vebeen awarded franchise left to
right.
Another one that comes to mindwe didn't get prep on this, so
(09:44):
I'm just thinking off the top ofmy head Ellie mental health.
Whoever thought a mental healthclinic could drive in the
franchise space?
And yet here we are with over400 Ellie mental health clinics
across the country in about twoyears.
It's been amazing to see thatand you know it's even cooler
with them and Mental health.
(10:05):
It's a need.
Lots and lots of lives are so.
The Zors lives changing.
The franchisee is their life ischanging that of their family
and their extended family, andnow they're so positively
Impacting their communities withmental health support.
There's a couple examples, lance, on the on the consultant side,
we've seen time and time againwhether it's a younger
(10:27):
consultant like you who has comeinto this world of
entrepreneurship and their eyeshave been opened, or Older end
of the spectrum, me and beyondwho are just fed up with the rat
race and the politics and theyou know, glass ceilings and
just the junk that's out there,laid off for the 18th time, then
can't find a job that pays themwhat they were getting paid for
(10:50):
.
On and on and on.
The people oftentimes foolthemselves to think that a job
is Secure and yet they keepgetting laid off and bumped and
maybe a little severance.
Usually not.
And so the idea that they couldtake their life into their own
hands actually own it.
Take that.
Maybe it's their 401k or IRA,their retirement savings, and
(11:13):
instead of investigating intothe market that they don't even
know what companies are outthere.
They have no influence on it,they're just hoping on a prayer
that they're gonna makesomething.
Now take that invested in yourown C Corp, build your own
destiny and own it.
And now you're not making 2% or8% a year You're doing, put in
some zeros on that, sometimesthrough franchise ownership and
(11:33):
the, the Intangibles that youget from that.
So, over and over and over, Isee consultants being able to do
that for their own family as anIPG consultants.
And now we're double-deep in.
I know it's a long answer, butyou see the franchise consultant
change in their life and thenthey're changing lives of others
and so how, how fulfilling, howrewarding.
It's kind of like.
(11:53):
I mean, I call myself sometimesa franchise evangelist because
I get so passionate about it,but all our IPG consultants out
there in a way or that are thattoo.
I mean.
Think about.
When I was growing up I wantedto be a pastor until I found out
what pastors make.
Well, I can impact livespositively in franchising and
maybe a whole lot more.
(12:13):
So I'm getting a bonus on onall sides.
So, yeah, lives are beingchanged so so positively through
franchising and throughfranchise consulting.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (12:23):
Well, can you walk us through the process
of how you help franchises?
Maybe they're having theirinitial call through actually
being part and, you know, beingengaged in the system.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (12:34):
How we help franchises.
So there are a dozens anddozens of things we do with that
franchise or and theirfranchise development team or
person to get them connected,get them exposure, marketing, if
you will, to the consultants.
Now our marketing is marketingthat opportunity and the team
(12:55):
behind the opportunity to theconsultants.
We're not out there marketingit to the world.
Ipg is not, now the consultantsmight.
So now, how about having 650free bird dogs?
Go back to that, the salesworld, the marketing world.
If you own an insurance companyor a real estate firm or any of
those, you're looking for folksto open doors for you, to make
(13:16):
introductions for you, and thenyou give them a nice fact
commission, if the deal happens.
Well, that's what you got withIPG hundreds and hundreds of
folks out there opening doorsfor you for free, relatively
speaking, and then paying them acommission.
So when a franchise or comes onboard, we have a big launch
call.
This is behind the scenes, withplanning and training, making
sure their company profile is upto date, videos, ideal
(13:39):
candidate profile.
We look at the count and awhole whole bunch more downloads
and everything a consultantcould ever want to know to be
able to present that brand totheir candidates and ultimately
match the candidates with theright opportunities.
Think about, it's a littleoverwhelming you have 600 plus
franchise opportunities.
How do we narrow it down to six?
(14:00):
You know it's a, it's a process, some science to it, some art
to it, but we provide all thetools to the consultants and all
the availability and access tothe franchise oars for all the
parties, information andopportunities to to sync and,
after a little bit of trainingby us and the support technology
(14:21):
in the back end, it's not acomplicated process to
ultimately make those matchesright.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (14:27):
And you know, just because they're
featured in front of all thebrokers doesn't mean that you're
necessarily going to gettraction.
There's certain things thatcause a broker to go.
I don't know about this companyor I love this company.
I'm excited to tell my clientsabout them.
Can you give them some insightsinto those things that
companies need to be ready tosell their franchise?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (14:49):
Absolutely so.
You know, you know level,economics, happy franchisees,
validations all of that iscritical.
Now some of the emerging brandsdon't have those these yet, so
that's a little bit of anobstacle, regardless of lead
source.
But you got to have some.
Get some videos.
Get a video or two at leastabout your brand.
Let's get a solid website.
Let's get a clear communicationon what your ideal candidate is
(15:15):
and isn't, and on and on and on.
Regarding have your house inorder, you know, when I was
starting to date in my 20s on myteams, but when I was getting
serious about dating in my 20sand maybe finding that spouse
and I didn't have my house inorder, my savings was about 1200
bucks.
You know.
I mean I did not have a greatcareer path, I was not ready to
(15:39):
find a spouse, and so same thingwith the franchise.
Or are you ready?
You have a training program inplace with the solid ops manual.
Did you use a franchiseattorney to build that FDD in
the agreement and there's about30 or 40 other things.
But having the house in orderfirst and now have that
franchise developer wrapped.
It knows what they're doing.
I mean the analogy I use I'm ananalogy freak is if, when you
(16:02):
have your kids I have my threelittle babies that now are
pretty much grown but when wewere looking for a somebody, a
babysitter the babysitterthemselves super important and
the house super important.
So if we're going to take ourbaby that you know is our life
and let somebody else take careof it, I want that house to be
safe, I want that house to be ina good neighborhood, I want
(16:23):
that house to be okay for mybaby to stay in.
But you know, it's moreimportant than the house, the
babysitter, and so what's moreimportant oftentimes than the
franchise opportunity itself iswho's representing it.
And so whether you you thefranchise development rep
working at a franchise, or aredealing with a candidate,
someone interested in theirbrand, or dealing with a
(16:45):
consultant who's going to findthem candidates, either way, if
that franchise development repdoes not know their stuff, know
the answers to all the thingsthat the candidates are going to
ask and the consultants aregoing to ask, that they're going
to be dead in the water.
You can have a greatopportunity in the world If your
franchise development rep isnot a likable, seen as a trusted
advisor not greasy, you knowhas their act together, helps
(17:08):
the candidate see themselvesmoving, transitioning to this
new world.
You're fooling yourself and sooftentimes, lance I talked to
emerging brands especially thatthe founder, the number one,
most passionate person in theworld for the brand, the expert
on the brand is going to try todo franchise development.
You know Kudos, occasionally itworks.
(17:29):
But you're the CEO, you're thefounder, you've got the original
business, now you've got afranchise business, you've got
all the resources behind thescenes, all the things you've
got to do for that and for that,and suddenly you're going to do
franchise development too,which is a full-time, dedicated
job.
If you plan on adding more thantwo or three franchises a year,
so get the right franchise rep.
I know it's a long answer.
(17:49):
Again, I get passionate aboutthis.
I see so many Zors floundering,not serious about franchise
development.
They just think they're gonnaopen.
You know they're shingle andfolks are gonna flock and rare,
rarely is that case in the case.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (18:01):
Yeah, well , the thing that I noticed is
running your own franchise.
You have a business, youfranchised it, franchised it.
That's one learning set, right,yeah, but when you have to then
sell those franchises tosomebody else and Then help
replicate what you did withcompletely other people, those
are two Unrelated skill sets.
(18:22):
And you have three skill setsinstead of one, and they're just
not prepared for it.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (18:27):
Yeah, yeah, you know what they say in the
Bible.
Going back to the preacher dayshere Mm-hmm, you got to leave
in cleave.
When you're get married Isyou're leaving the mom and dad
and you're going to the spouse.
And when you become a franchise, or guess what, you're no
longer whatever you used to be.
Let somebody else run that,sure you can oversee it.
When I was franchise, or 20years ago, 18 years ago, 15
(18:49):
years ago I hired somebody torun that business for me.
They checked in with me one anhour a week.
I had some metrics on mycomputer.
I was watching to make surethey had it together.
But, man, I'm a franchisor.
This franchise business gonnabe a hundred times bigger than
the mom and pop now.
The mom and pop was a sevenfigure business Annually.
But, man, you got to have allhands on deck, focused on your
(19:10):
new life, divorcing that oldbusiness almost, and Get going
with the new life.
And you know, when I startedbuilding it up and got to around
a hundred franchisees, Iactually sold the original
business.
I don't need any distractions.
Let's move all a all everythinginto one Basket, if you will,
because, right, that was my life.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (19:30):
Well, you know, you mentioned something
and I've not asked people thisquestion, but I've noticed it.
So if you have somebody who isa company representative that's
helping companies sell theirfranchise, and they're they're
they're just not ideal, maybethey're just not.
They've kind of they don't do agood job and then they move on
(19:51):
and somebody who's new tofranchising goes oh, you have
five years in franchising andthey, they rehire them and it
keeps going.
How does a new franchise oridentify that really good rep
that's gonna have goodrelationships and connection in
the industry?
Because there's some Companyreps that are so good that if
they move to any company,everyone's gonna follow them and
(20:12):
promote that new company, andthere's ones where, if they move
to a company, nobody's gonnapromote that company.
How do, how does a franchise ornot being part of this world,
figure out who to work with?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (20:23):
You know it's like when you're hiring
someone, a critical person orreally anyone for your company,
you're gonna call previousemployers, call previous
franchise or let's talk to otherspheres Vince Flynn Certainly
you're gonna ask for someReferral sources from the
candidate.
But also look at their history,look at their past and go
direct.
If they didn't give you thatZor, but the Zors on their
(20:45):
LinkedIn, let's go talk to thatfranchise or and, and get a
little bit of the skinny.
And most, most of the time youcould read between the lines
they're not gonna say anythingtoo negative.
But the same time, you, you,you got to listen closely and
you'll hear what you need tohear.
Asking that candidate, thatfranchise development rep that
you're looking to hire, askingthem about how many franchises
(21:08):
they've awarded.
Asking them some simplequestions you are your new
franchise or you're not theexpert.
They've been at it a long timeand they're a salesperson, so
they can snow you sometimes, butreally just listen to the
answers thoroughly.
Talk to a lot of folks aboutthem.
Because, guess what, whenyou're buying a franchise, what
do you do?
You do validation.
When you're hiring somebody torepresent your baby, you're
(21:30):
doing a lot of validation behindthe scenes to make sure this is
the right fit.
Think of all the money and timeand life and effort you invest
into a brand and you get somebozo to represent that brand.
You hire the.
You know that your neighbor,your, your brother, law down the
street your use car salesman.
Get somebody for real, pay alittle extra.
It will make all the difference.
You know, lance, I, when I wasa franchisor, I Started saying
(21:54):
I'm gonna get a tattoo that saysthere's nothing cheaper than,
there's nothing more expensivethan a cheap attorney.
Because, it's so true, and thatyou can extend that in a lot of
areas alive.
Nothing more expensive than acheap CPA, nothing more
expensive than a cheap franchisedevelopment rep.
Pay for good, pay for quality,it'll.
(22:14):
It'll come back tenfold.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (22:15):
Yeah, they represent your brand.
So what would you say?
How long does it typically takefor companies who engage who
really engage with IF PG tostart seeing results, start
getting some Referrals sent overand get some traction?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (22:30):
You know that is such a big question.
Get some traction is veryrelative as well.
Some brands get there a wholelot faster than others, and the
elephant in the room oftentimesis the emerging brands.
You know, emerging brands.
I go we got zero franchises, wegot eight franchises.
Eight's a lot better than zero.
But, regardless of lead source,it's just a tougher road to hoe
(22:54):
.
Or is it row to hoe farmingscenario?
Okay, row to hoe, it's tougher,but so they can take a little
while longer.
But how do you with them, withthe consultants?
How do you have success?
We talked about a good part ofit earlier have your house in
order.
Now that your house is in order, you got an outstanding
opportunity.
You got an item 19, you've gotyour franchise brochure and all
(23:18):
the other pieces of the puzzle.
Now it's time to market it, andwith the consultant community
it's no different.
Instead of marketing to theworld through the portals and
through, you know, paper clickand maybe trying to get some PR
and all those things, now you'remarketing to the consultants.
Let them find the buyers foryou, and so investing some money
into marketing is critical tosuccess within the consultant
(23:40):
networks like IPG.
If you just sit there and wait.
You're gonna be waiting andyou're gonna have some trickles.
You're gonna have some thatcome your way.
They're gonna check if theterritory is available, but then
you hear nothing.
Crickets again.
So, building getting theconsultants to know you, like
you, trust you, then they willshow you.
They'll show the your brand totheir candidates.
(24:01):
Well, you know, love you doesnot happen day one.
Oftentimes they get these know.
You see you're serious.
Understand your brand.
Get to know your friend everapp if they don't already know
them, now if they already knowthem.
You just jumped a few hurdlesreal fast and and you're
validated by a known entity,rock star friend ever app, man.
Kudos to you for being able totrack such a rock star.
(24:22):
Most can attract a rock star.
Pay for them right off the bator willing to pay for them.
So get in there, get, startbuilding the relationship, start
following up quickly.
Start follow up thoroughly.
Show them you know what you'redoing.
They'll start giving you theirbabies, the babies.
It's not a deal yet, but theseare folks that are can, really
qualified in every way andinterested in you.
(24:43):
You need some deals happening,mm-hmm.
Just take some time and effortand money.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (24:49):
Yep, and I would say, if you're new or
struggling, one thing I would dois write out all the list of
things that you don't want totalk about and Then make those
to where that you do want totalk about them.
Make them something that standsout, because there's things
where you know it comes toincome right of 19.
You're like, oh, I don't wantto talk about that.
Well, make it to where you dowant to talk about it, those
(25:11):
core things.
Like if you go to a restaurant,the key thing of the restaurant
is is the food good?
Now you can take a place wherethere's bad food and put up a
fancy new sign, do TVcommercials, paint it, furnish
the room, get the best waitstaff, and the food is terrible.
Well, with a franchise, that'syour business opportunity.
You know you can do all thisstuff, but is the business
(25:33):
opportunity still need to beimproved?
If it does, it's going to be aslug and then All the
consultants are going to be likethe company's not ready.
So you're just fighting anuphill battle until you make
those necessary improvements.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (25:48):
Bro, and if you don't want to talk about
your item 19, get out of thebusiness.
Oh my gosh, that's the mostexciting thing You've got.
This is the earnings claimsthat I'm allowed to share.
Let me tell you what you can do.
You're ashamed your item 19 andpause.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (26:02):
Get it fixed, yeah, and move forward
because you're gonna hurt peopleif they can't make money with
your opportunity.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (26:07):
You're gonna waste your life and your money
and your effort and everythingelse too You're not gonna sell
anything.
You got a sad item 19 and ifyou don't have an item 19, let's
find out why.
I mean some attorneys tell youoh well, you only have corporate
stores.
You can't do out of 19 not evengo chop, go get a new attorney.
You're only in Canada.
You can't do a US 19, seriously, it's.
(26:27):
Let's get a second and thirdopinion there.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (26:30):
Mm-hmm.
Well, maybe my last questionfor you is what are some of the
common mistakes that franchiseor is make when working with
brokers, and how can someone getthe best results possible?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (26:41):
my gosh, another Three hour answer,
brother.
Oh, oh, all right.
Well, I see on on YouTube I'vegot the top ten mistakes.
I see franchise or is make itConstantly.
We've got a ten little twominute, three minute videos on
that and I got about 40 more inmy in my list here On my
computer somewhere.
You know what.
(27:01):
Something that is just amistake I see over and over
again Too low IFF.
Your initial franchise fee istoo low.
Now how does that relate toconsultants?
It relates to everything you doin franchise development.
A low franchise fee Becauseyou're scared to charge what
you're worth, because someattorney Told you that while
(27:21):
you're emerging you, you reallycan't charge what others charge.
Or well, you know, I'm a pizzarestaurant and pizza hut charges
30.
So I can't be above that.
Dude, you ain't pizza hut, youneed to make a living now.
You're not a billion dollarcompany, so people are scared to
charge what they're worth andcharge you know what.
This is a life decision.
(27:42):
If I'm a franchise candidateand I'm looking to make a life
decision, this is bigger in myhouse.
That's what I'm gonna do everyday.
I want the best.
Yeah, money's important.
Yeah, money's tight, but, dude,I'm gonna make, I'm gonna get
the best.
I see one for 25,000 franchisefee and one for 50, and I bet
that 50 is a whole lot betterthan 25.
You know what?
The all-in investment 400, soan additional 20 or 15 or 25 in
(28:06):
your franchise.
So you ain't gonna matter, isit?
Is it 390 or is it 410?
I don't know the difference.
And they don't either.
They're getting a loan for five.
So get serious about afranchise.
There's so many things you gotto pay out of that, maybe a
consultant commission, butcertainly marketing training,
onboarding, maybe an initialpackage with the front that's
(28:27):
included.
Lots and lots.
That's in that.
Now.
Other things are Uh, believingand not hiring a good franchise
development rep.
Um, not getting all in tryingto uh, keep your old life and
your new life and interminglingthem too much.
We already talked about that.
Um, not having a 919, nothaving Good, solid franchise
(28:48):
marketing materials and afranchise Website takes folks
through a process.
You know, today more than ever,everybody wants to know as much
as they can before they talk tosome sales guy, sales gal.
Well, are you providing it?
Because you know what, ifyou're not providing it,
somebody else is and they'll gothere, or somebody's already
talking about you in a negativeway perhaps, and they're gonna
(29:09):
see that and not your 100different ways that you're
awesome.
Oh, a little little selfishplug franchise wire does that
for franchise or is every daywrites Custom articles on the
you know number one newsplatform and franchising for
franchisors.
So that's something that wehelp Significantly with SEO and
with articles out there.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (29:27):
You know, one thing I wanted to ask you
red is is you know, I seefranchise source putting out
random promotional materials,like they have all these
marketing materials or whatever.
Um, it's, it's just you knowwhat do you do with it.
So can you let them know what'sneeded and what's necessary
when it comes to the promotionalmaterials that you're making Uh
(29:48):
and handing out to eitherfranchisees or brokers?
Red Boswell (IFPG) (29:53):
You bet.
So we have what's called atwo-minute drill.
Two-minute drill in franchisingis everything that a candidate
or consultant need to know aboutyour business in two minutes or
less.
It's kind of like that30-second elevator pitch.
Give me the skinny.
And so what is important, theydon't care where you went to
elementary school, mr Franchise.
(30:14):
They don't care where you metyour spouse in junior high.
Now, as you take a candidatethrough the process, they're
going to be partnering with youfor the long term.
Hey, those are great things totalk about, but let's get them
interested.
Let's get them excited about it.
To give a few numbers from youritem 19,.
Perhaps Tell them how manyunits you have, how long you've
been around average unit volume.
Give them some some snapshots.
(30:36):
We're very visual societynowadays.
Give them some links to yoursocial media pages.
You do have social media pages,don't you?
Keep them up to date with allthe exciting things going on in
your brand?
Your reviews online are theyrocking?
If so, let's get some links tothem.
So what's important now Withconsultants?
The commission structure is afactor out there that they do
(30:57):
need to be communicated.
They do need to know.
We never suggest you put thatin any downloads or in any
two-minute drills, unless it's aphysical one you're handing out
, maybe at a convention.
Our technology and the profileswe build for the franchiseors
include all that.
So it's old school to includecommissions in a two-minute
drill.
No need to do that anymore onany download.
(31:18):
But really it's a thoroughassessment two minutes or less
about this opportunity, who youare, and maybe even include a
little bit about your idealcandidate.
If you like this, if you'vedone this, here's what you'd be
doing day to day.
Keep it short, simple.
Get other eyeballs to review it.
Does it make sense?
Is it enticing?
A lot of times you're againblind to your beautiful baby
(31:40):
that nobody else thinks is sobeautiful.
So help get help from outsidesources to create those.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (31:46):
Yeah, I think they're focused on more
quantity versus more quality,and some of them are so close
but not there, because I've seenthings like an email from a
brand saying hey, we just openeda new franchise location.
Again, you know, lux strikesagain.
When I see that in my email,I'm like, okay, you know what
(32:08):
would be more exciting?
Our brands just hit an AUV of$1.7 million for the year.
That is more important to methan you saying you opened up a
new location.
It doesn't mean anything to me.
I wasn't the one who referredit.
I have no interest in it.
Show me that you're gettingamazing results.
(32:29):
Now I feel left behind.
I feel like, wow, this is agreat brand.
I should have been promotingthis.
So just those tweaks ofthinking about the person who's
receiving the information andhow it's being received to them,
not just putting out more.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (32:43):
Lance, that's good.
I would dub tell them thatthere's a balance, because, man,
we say this all the time.
I hear it from top consultantsLeads, follow deals.
Get the word out.
Shout to the rooftops when youare doing deals.
Include the AUVs, include thebenefit.
Maybe include a picture of thenew franchise.
Z and their profile.
Again helps the consultantunderstand who are you looking
(33:04):
for, who's your ideal candidate.
Because when they see, whenthese consultant see deals
happening, brands growing,thriving, with new franchisees,
they take notice.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (33:16):
Right, especially if you can say stuff
like you know, 15th deal thisyear or something like that, you
know.
Definitely it shows momentumfor sure.
Red, I just appreciate havingthe time to be on this call with
you, spend this time with you,pick your brain.
You're such a smart person,you've been around, done it all,
(33:36):
so thank you for being on thecall.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (33:39):
Honored Lance.
Thank you for all you do tochange lives and franchising
Guys.
Check out Lance, he's the man.
Appreciate you, brother Holler,anytime.
Lance Hood (FranPro) (33:47):
And I'll just tell everybody if you're
interested in IFPG, go here andcheck them out https://Franpro.
vip/GoIFPG, Thanks, red.
Red Boswell (IFPG) (33:59):
Appreciate you, Lance.
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