EP # 252 Franchise Freedom: Taking Control of Your Future

Ever feel like you're at the mercy of corporate whims? That's exactly where Robyn Deering found herself before discovering the power of franchising. As a self-described "corporate refugee" who watched job after job get outsourced, Robyn transformed her career frustrations into opportunity by becoming a franchise consultant and partner at the Franchise Consulting Company.

Robyn's expertise shines throughout this conversation as she dismantles common franchising myths and reveals the surprising evolution of modern franchise systems. Far from the outdated notion that franchisors simply extract wealth from franchisees, today's quality franchise opportunities create mutual success through sophisticated support systems. The technological revolution within franchising particularly stands out—with integrated marketing tools navigating the complexities of digital advertising, powerful CRM software streamlining customer interactions, and operational apps providing real-time monitoring capabilities that would be cost-prohibitive for most independent businesses.

What might surprise many listeners is the extraordinary diversity within today's franchise landscape. With access to over 400 distinct franchise opportunities, Robyn helps match entrepreneurs with options spanning far beyond fast food—from pet services to medi-spas to professional auditing firms. Her consulting services come at no cost to potential franchisees, as she's compensated by franchisors when successful matches are made. Robyn also offers a fascinating service for successful Florida businesses looking to expand: guidance on how to franchise their own concepts, creating new revenue streams while bringing their unique business models to new markets.

Whether you're feeling trapped in an unstable corporate environment or dreaming of business ownership with reduced risk, Robyn's insights illuminate franchising as a powerful path to controlling your financial future. Ready to explore how your skills might translate into franchise success? Contact Robyndirectly at [e-mail] or 239-288-1873 to start your journey toward business ownership with built-in support systems and proven models for success.

The Franchise Consulting Company

Robyn Deering

[e-mail]

239-288-1873 

thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
It's time to check out your neighbors on the Good
Neighbor podcast, where we bringgood vibes, great neighbors and
local businesses in SouthwestFlorida together.
Here's your host, Cabo JimSchaller.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome Good Neighbors, episode number 252 of
the Good Neighbor podcast.
Today we have Good NeighborRobyn Deering from the Franchise
Consulting Company.
Welcome.
Hi, thank you from theFranchise Consulting Company.
Welcome, hi, thank you.
Yeah, a pleasure to have you onthe show and share with our
listeners what you do.
So let's jump right in andwatch you share a little bit
about what you do.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
I'm a franchise consultant so I bring
opportunities and peopletogether, sort of like a real
estate agent shows peopleproperties.
I try to find the idealcandidates for the 400 plus
franchises that are in ourbrokerage.
I'm also a partner in thefranchise consulting company so

(00:58):
I take a lot of pride in findingthe right franchisee for the
right franchisor, so that theskill sets and the market
conditions and personalities allfit together.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Very good.
That's a lot of options foryour potential franchisees,
right?
That's great.
So how do you get involved inthe franchise industry?
How did you do it?
I guess I should ask.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
I'm what they call a corporate refugee.
I was in small businessacquisitions and other corporate
jobs engineering graphic artsover the years and one by one
they just collapsed and gotoutsourced.
Just collapsed and gotoutsourced, collapsed and got
outsourced and I finally justhad enough of it and I was

(01:52):
pondering my next move when NickNanakis from the franchise
consulting agents companycontacted me and company

(02:19):
contacted me and introduced meto the wide around them, so that
you're not just watchingcorporations shuffling around.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yep, exactly, you have more control at the end of
the day, and you're followingyour passion, which is a good
thing.
So let's talk about challengesalong your journey.
Whether personally orprofessionally, every time you
kind of transition or change,there's always some type of
challenge to overcome.
Is there something along yourjourney that helped define who
you are today?

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, I was lucky.
I guess the careers that I'vehad went obsolete before my eyes
.
So I learned early on to benimble, to be ready to learn new
things, adapt to new things,embrace technology and work

(03:20):
together to.
You know, smooth out some ofthe rough patches when you're
integrating different companies,or you know merging things or
you're learning a new software.
Just you know, take a deepbreath and just keep swimming,
because it'll all come together.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Just kind of persevere and push through and
you'll get through.
Right, that's what it comesdown to.
So let's talk about, maybe,some of the myths or
misconceptions surrounding thefranchise industry.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Well, there's a few, and some of them are kind of
well-founded, depending on whoyou're working with.
Them are kind of well-foundeddepending on who.
Who you're working with, um.
One of the myths that I hear alot is, uh, that the franchisors
will just take all of yourprofits.
You're going to pay everythingin royalties and you're like a
slave to the, the company, um,and that that can be true for

(04:18):
some.
You know that aren't wellsupported or they're just sort
of greedy.
So I really am very proud to bea partner in the franchise
consulting company, where wehave a very select group of
franchises that have been, youknow, handpicked and vetted and
tested over time to make surethat they're good, viable

(04:40):
companies for someone to youknow own their own business and
actually realize the financialrevenue that a business owner
should enjoy Right.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
You help make those connections, you know, and
that's the important part,because some people have a good
idea or they're good workers,but they just don't know how to
make that connection a lot oftimes.
So do you notice certain thingstrending or changing within the
franchise industry?

Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, and it's really amazing because the franchising
systems you know especially youknow the ones that I work with
and I think as a whole, arereally solving a lot of the
problems that a smallindependent business owner would
face.
One is the marketing andgetting through the maze of

(05:32):
compliance with Google and SEO,and the software that comes with
franchises now includes thecustomer relationship management
piece of it.
So there's a lot of franchiseswhere you just have an app and
you're just kind of mining theapp, making sure your crew's

(05:52):
where they're supposed to be.
You see, when equipment's downyou can fix it in real time and
it's just so much easier thanyou know.
Years ago, as a small businessowner myself, I had like 15
different spreadsheets anddatabases and trying to put them
all together, and now it's justso much easier.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Technology is a wonderful thing, right.
That helps make our lives alittle bit easier, anyways it
really does so talking abouteasier.
How did you end up?
Are you from Southwest Floridaoriginally?

Speaker 3 (06:27):
No, I'm not from here originally.
I moved here about 20 years ago.
I was a Navy brat so I movedaround a lot and when I reached
that part of my adulthood whereI could choose where I wanted to
live, florida was my go to.
It's got that sweet spot ofeasy living and still a lot of

(06:52):
economic growth to enjoy.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Absolutely.
That's why we love it down here, and the weather's OK too right
.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, I can live with it.
It down here and the weather'sokay too right, yeah, I can live
with it.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
So when you do get a moment, I know your job can be
very demanding, but when you doget a moment, what do you enjoy
doing outside of work?

Speaker 3 (07:09):
Well, I'm kind of a nerd, you know.
I come from an engineeringbackground, so that was kind of
a giveaway.
Roll into SpaceCon and StarWars, pokemon, you know, typical
gamers, and luckily, being afranchise consultant, we take
our franchises to, to, uh,national expos.

(07:33):
So travel a lot, um sort of abrand ambassador, and also go
meet with the franchisors, youknow.
And uh, big conferences we haveone in the bahamas, we've got
one coming up in the dominican,so they're just fun.
And then, to break away fromthat, there's a lot of little
side quests, you know.

(07:53):
So it's just sort of exploringthe world, you know, for fun,
and just never know what you'regoing to find.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
That is great, and making those connections are
great as well.
So did you celebrate May the4th?

Speaker 3 (08:04):
yesterday did I started binge watching the
Obi-Wan miniseries that theyhave because I had just seen the
Star Wars movie that's out intheaters a couple of days before
and it picked up right thereNice.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
That's a great way to enjoy the day.
Is there one thing you wish ourlisteners knew about?
You know the, the franchiseconsulting company that maybe
they wouldn't be too aware ofyeah, there's.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
There's a couple of things.
One is uh, there's a componentin our partnership where we can
help you build your ownfranchise.
Uh, if, especially here in flor, there's so many really cute
creative businesses that wouldmake incredible franchises.
When you get outside of Floridaand you look at how drab some

(09:02):
of this stuff is, you see thesestruggling businesses that are
in.
You know, like one cafe mightchange ownership like 15 times,
you know, over 20 years, and afranchise would give them a more
stable environment.
And if you've learned how to besuccessful at your business, we

(09:32):
can help you franchise that.
So that I offer the freeconsultations and take them
through this journey and findthings for them and vet them and
, you know, help them find thelegal and financial resources.
You know, all free of charge.
It's because I'm in partnershipwith the franchisors who, like
a real estate agent, I get alittle percentage at the end.

(09:54):
So some people think it's toogood to be true.
It's like, hmm, you're for free, really.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Right right.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
But that's how it works Nice.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, you can pay it on the other end.
So that's a good thing, makingthose connections.
So how would our listeners goabout contacting you if they had
questions or were looking intotheir own franchise?

Speaker 3 (10:13):
Just drop me a line.
It's Robin R-O-B-Y-N, R-O-B-Y-Nat the Franchise Consulting
Company and I know that's kindof long, but at least it's easy
to spell the FranchiseConsulting Company or call me.
My number is 239-288-1873.

(10:37):
You can call or text me that'smy personal cell or look me up
on the LinkedIn.
Very good, Very good.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Any last words for our listeners today.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Oh, just take advantage of the ripe
opportunity for small businessownership right now.
It is amazing and it's hot, sogive me a call.
We'll see if we can get yourskill set into a model that will
give you some long-termgenerational wealth and quit

(11:11):
watching everything just sort ofdrift by the stock market.
You can take control.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
And there's something out there for everybody,
correct?

Speaker 3 (11:19):
Winner, winner.
Yeah, we've got everything fromauditing services to
restaurants Pet services aresuper hot Medi spas, I mean
we've got a lot of differentmodels that fit a lot of
different career paths.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Very good, well, looking forward to that.
Robyn, it's been a pleasuregetting to know you.
Thank you for being such a goodneighbor and we'll see you out
in the community soon.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
See you then.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast, bringing together goodvibes, great neighbors, local
businesses in Southwest Florida.
To nominate your favorite localbusiness to be featured on the
show, go to CaboWabojimcom.
That's CaboWabojimcom, or call239-427-4100.