Franchise Mastery from a PRO | James Hilovsky

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James Holivsky of The Fran Dream shares his journey from corporate America to helping athletes and professionals find the right franchise fit, revealing what makes a successful franchise owner and which concepts offer the best opportunities today.

• After 25 years in corporate America, James helped grow a restaurant chain from 1 to 100 stores before partnering with NFL players on various concepts
• Athletes excel at franchise ownership because they're accustomed to following playbooks and betting on themselves
• The most successful franchisees follow established systems rather than trying to reinvent them
• Current hot franchise opportunities include indoor golf simulators with 24/7 access and minimal staffing requirements
• Dog grooming concepts with membership models offer strong margins and recurring revenue
• Home service businesses, children's education, and senior care will continue to be strong franchise sectors
• Semi-passive ownership is possible but requires initial hands-on involvement and strong managers
• James personally vets franchises by examining profit margins, startup costs, and franchisee satisfaction
• When evaluating franchises, the most important question to ask existing owners is "Would you do it again?"
• Finding the right franchise requires clarity about your goals: semi-passive income, multi-unit operation, or building generational wealth

If you're interested in exploring franchise opportunities, visit TheFranDream.com or email James at [e-mail].

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhilovsky/

https://www.instagram.com/thefrandream/?hl=en

#franchise#franchisee#franchisor#professional#athlete#playbook#golf#goldsimulator#thefrandream#smallbusiness#money#love#joshaltman

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
basically change the diapers and then get the
business walking.
But semi-passive can exist ifyou have a very strong operator
and you have a very strongmanager that you manage and you
manage that manager and managethem to your expectations.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
You're changing diapers after 17 years.
17 years, I'm still pooping mypants.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
I tell my guys, especially my sales team.
We run across new companies allthe time and I'm like look, I'm
going to tell you my story.
I said I love helping smallbusiness.
That's why we're doing thispodcast, trying to help all of
you guys figure it out.
But when a new small businesscomes to us and says, hey, let's
partner up, let's do things,I'll tell all my sales guys.

(00:49):
I'm like look, a new smallbusiness is like a baby.
They're really cute, they'rereally cuddly.
But when you hold themsometimes they'll absolutely
just shit all over your pants, Isaid, and they'll make you look
bad.
So you got to be very carefulbecause they don't know how to
operate like we have after 17years of being in business.
Welcome to the Small BusinessSafari, where I help guide you
to avoid those traps, pitfallsand dangers that lurk when
navigating the wild world ofsmall business ownership.
I'll share those gold nuggetsof information and invite guests
to help accelerate your ascentto that mountaintop of success.

(01:12):
It's a jungle out there and Iwant to help you traverse
through the levels of owningyour own business that can get
you bogged down and distract youfrom hitting your own personal
and professional goals.
So strap in Adventure Team andlet's take a ride through the
safari and get you to themountaintop.
Hey Alan, I still like you,buddy.

(01:39):
You know what?
I like you so much that we'vebeen doing this for over three
and a half years.
I just got off a certificationclass.
I am now a certified aging inplace specialist.
I can help people age in theirhomes.
Are you really?
I did it.
I did it in three days with ourgood friend Janet Engel.
Janet, she's the best she was.
And I tell you what man.

(01:59):
I did it with six other ladies.
It's a three-day eight to fourclass.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Oh, you didn't mind being surrounded, being the only
guy in the class, huh oh.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
I had fun.
I was talking about doing ourmakeup and how, as we get older,
did you know this, alan?
At 60, your eyes need threetimes more the light they did
when you were 20.
So you need three times morelight when you're 60.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
You know I changed eye doctors because just right
out of the blue he goes.
Oh, by the way, I got a numberfor a guy for your droopy
eyelids.
I'm like, screw you, you're out.
Gone.
Goodbye, we're not old, I needsomebody a little more positive.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah.
So it was a super cool classand I'm glad to bring that.
We do a lot of aging in placework here in Atlanta at the
Trusted Toolbox and we have donea lot, and I found out how much
we've done because a lot of thestuff that we went over we had
been doing, but I still learnedthere was a couple more
techniques and a couple moreproducts out there that can

(02:51):
really help people age in place,because one of the things
that's going on is you look atassisted living.
The average cost of assistedliving in the US right now is
between $7,000 and $9,000 amonth, good Lord.
And if you want to stay in yourhome, you can modify your home
and spend anywhere between well,you could spend very little,
but you could spend between$30,000 and $80,000.

(03:12):
And you think about that returnon investment and you get 10
years out of it.
You did pretty good.
Yeah, you did so.
It was very enlightening.
Very good job, janet, goodfriend of the show and got to do
that.
But before we get started withour guest, alan, I still like
you, buddy.
You should like me even more.
I'll tell you why I like Alanso much is that, as some of you

(03:37):
guys know or not, I have a radioshow where we talk to home
service companies here inAtlanta that goes out on
Saturday mornings.
I have a lot of fun with thatone, but that is our Braves
radio station, blowtorch, andthey had a huge Children's
Healthcare of Atlanta event andthey invited me and if I had

(03:58):
another guest, which happened tobe Alan and then we brought
another friend to the show onand that was fun and we had a
lot of fun.
So we went out there there andwe played in a scramble and
alan's sweet swing brought usright into a solid 19th no, we
were 16th, oh 16.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
We were dead middle in the pack and we were feeling
good about it.
Oh yeah, I mean, I felt like Iwas stroking it that day you
were.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
I tell you what man.
It was a lot of fun playinggolf as always, playing golf
with you.
We got a lot of fun playinggolf as always, playing golf
with you, we got a lot of fun.
I got to give back toChildren's Healthcare of Atlanta
.
Got to go talk to some people,get out there, give back, got to
shoot a golf ball cannon.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, man, tell everybody about that.
Yeah, we pull up onto a tee boxis essentially a cannon on a
tripod, and if we all donated alittle extra money for the kids
then we each got to shoot ourgolf ball in this thing and the
thing goes 800 yards at fullstrength.
So he had it relatively dialedin and, like any muzzle blaster,

(04:58):
not very accurate.
And I don't know what yourguy's deal was.
Maybe it was a little bit ofbeing over served, but nobody
was in the mood to shoot itexcept for me.
So I shot all four and thefourth one had a nice line going
straight with a slight draw.
A pin was on the left, wentover the green, but it hit the
bank and all of a sudden itstarted rolling down the bank
and then it rolled onto thegreen.

(05:19):
Five feet For a net, one ForFor a net one For a net one.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
We had a blast man.
I want to say thanks again to680 the Fan Extra 106.3, here in
Atlanta for allowing us to comeout there and doing that and
getting out there to see all thepeople.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
So 28 years they've been doing the tournament right
28 years.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
It's a two-day tournament.
We played Thursday, did notplay Friday, which actually
turned out to be in our favor,because it did rain on Friday
pretty bad.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
No, and I'm glad I happened to be here right when
you got the email that youneeded somebody last minute and
I just happened to lock intothat because I'm sure you would
have probably called 300 otherpeople.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Alan, you would have been on the list.
I don't know where, but I thinkour guest would have been on
the list before Age six.
We would have got James to comein all the way from California.
Hey, james, can you swing aclub?
No, all right.
Well, can you find Cousin, brad?
Because I don't want to ask.
No, I did.
Guys, we've been trying to gettogether with James Lofsky from
the Fran Dream for, I guess, acouple months now, and one thing

(06:16):
after another, we just couldn'tdo it when, finally, we've
connected.
So, james, welcome to the showman, can't wait to talk to you
hey, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
I I am a little jealous and that I didn't get
the invite to come down and playgolf with you guys.
I would have loved to have donethat all right, anytime you're
atlanta open, invite.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
Well, you come play the course with me.
You don't know chris as well asI do.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
He's a little bit of a love, the one you're lit with,
kind of a guy and I just happento be right there no, I'll tell
you what, james.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
I'm always looking for a partner when I go out on
my course, so I will definitelylet you in.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Yeah, that's a little inside joke, because we're
looking at the golf course outthe window here and has Alan
played with Chris on his coursethree years later in the
podcasting no?

Speaker 3 (06:56):
that's a big no, that's a no, that's a no.
Ghost rider All right, I'll gethim out there this year Cause
his swing is so good, but I'monly going to do it when we have
a two-man scramble going up.
We go through the smoke, theseguys.
It'll be fun.
But guys, if you uh, you knowwe talk about golf and, uh, I
want to go back to that.
Yes, I'm on a golf course.
Um, you guys know the story,but I'll remind everybody.
Uh, ellen and I, both in thecorporate world I was in the

(07:18):
corporate world and I used tocome home on friday afternoons
usually, well, if I was lucky inAtlanta, traffic 630, but
Saturday afternoon or Fridayafternoon and these guys would
all be getting off the courseand I started asking them all
what they do and what do they do?
They own their own business.
And I went man, I want to dothat.
And then I went and paid myfirst big tax bill ever as a W-2

(07:39):
employee and I went to myinsurance, I mean my CPA, and
I'm like what the hell's goingon here?
I don't have this kind of money.
He goes.
Yeah, you kind of do.
I said, well, no, I kind ofspent it.
He goes well, you better figureout something else.
He goes have you ever thoughtabout owning your own business?
I'm like hell, yeah, let's godo this, that's right.
So here we are in the Frandream, one way to do it.
So, james, let's get a littlebackground on you and how did

(08:02):
you get into this business?
Where did you start?
And then we'll get into whatpeople can do about this.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
I spent 25 years in corporateAmerica working in a restaurant
chain.
I worked my way up to areadirector, regional director and
you know it's going good.
And then I had a company thatcalled me and said hey, come,
run our franchise side and helpus grow.
So I started with this companywhen they had one store, helped

(08:30):
build it over to 100 stores andI was supporting the franchisees
and doing openings and that wasan experience in itself.
And then the largest franchiseeof that company said come, hey,
partner with us, be anoperating partner and help us
grow our business.
So we continued to have ourrestaurants and we started our

(08:53):
own baked bear franchise.
Then we did our own cookiedough concept.
We did a coffee concept as welland it was owned by, happened
to be owned by two NFL footballplayers.
And then one of the players hegot he decided he was going to
retire, had a great 12-yearcareer.
The other player he got injured, couldn't fulfill the end of

(09:16):
his contract, so then theydecided, hey, let's sell off.
We want to go into the tequilabusiness and not to have
anything against tequila or thetequila business, just that I
don't really have that kind ofexpertise.
So we sold off the restaurants,they started their own tequila
company and then I decided Iwanted to go into the franchise

(09:38):
brokering business because I saweveryone that came up to the
two athletes and going, you know, you should do this or that
with your money Just thecraziest schemes and I decided,
you know, I really kind of wantto help people find the right
franchises and the right fitsBecause I saw, as well as people

(09:58):
that came from corporateAmerica and that were with that
company that I helped build from1 to 100.
They were mismatched andprobably never should have been
in the restaurant business andwe're having a miserable time in
that business.
So that's when I decided I wasgoing to do what I do, so I help
athletes and professionals findthe right franchise fit for

(10:20):
them.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Wow, did I hear you said there's a cookie dough
franchise.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yes, well, we did our own, uh concept yes, really
yeah how about that?

Speaker 2 (10:32):
I can just go eat the raw cookie dough.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
Oh yeah, I probably eat the profits I, I want to go
back from one store to a hundred.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Um, and let's talk about that between you and me.
You're just all business.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
I'm like no, no, no, no, no.
Really, you're freaking good.
Trust me Again, if I was in therestaurant business, the bar
business, that probably wouldn'tbe a good thing.
Probably not a good thing forChris Cheers to that.
I want to go back to the 1 to100, because we talk to a lot of
people who get into it and theyhear your story and go, oh, I
can do that.
And especially if you'retalking to athletes and people

(11:03):
are used to being highperforming and being A alpha and
always winning, going, oh, Ican do that, no problem, there's
no sweat in that game.
Talk about that growth from oneto five or five to 20.
What was the hard one and whatwere some of the things you
learned early?

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, the things you earned early on was that you
were going to need to pivot.
No matter how good you thoughtyour systems were, that you had
in place or the way to do acertain procedure, that was
going to be, you're going tohave to change it after kind of
growing up.
You're going to have to be ableto, you know, turn on a dime
and be able to take that, thecriticism and the, you know the

(11:45):
coaching of hey, maybe we shoulddo this way better.
So it definitely was one thatyou definitely had to do quick
on your feet, I would say.
Once we got up to about, youknow, one to five, that was a
little struggle.
Then one to 25 struggle, butthen 25 to 100, you know that
was that was I don't want to sayeasy, because it's all hard,

(12:06):
but it was easier.
Then I really think the hardestpart of you know building a team
that that chain that quickly isone having the you know people
in line, the franchisees in line, to build it so fast of you
know we've already had theseterritories sold.
They want to get open, and itwas just the fact that they had

(12:27):
already done this before I hadjoined the team and it was like,
okay, we're in development,we're opening, bang bang, bang,
bang bang.
And you know it was verychallenging, but always, again,
one of those things where youhad to, you know, accept
criticism and be able to change,and be able to change on the
fly.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
That's got it Well again.
When you bring in athletes,which is your niche, I got to
believe they're coachable,especially if you're taking in
professionals.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Well, let's ask that question.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
Oh, let's ask Are they coachable?
Yeah right, he's about to defy.
Long assumption yeah, hello,all they coachable.
Yeah right, he's about to defy.
Yeah, hello, all right, kill me.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
Well, they are, because you know one thing about
athletes when you compare tothe person who's coming from
corporate america, the athletehas no fear, so that's good.
They don't have a fear of Ineed to do this right.
But they also are used tofollowing a playbook all their
lives In a franchise system.
You know the franchisor hasgiven them the playbook.

(13:28):
Follow this playbook, you willbe successful.
So an athlete is very good atfollowing the system.
Now an athlete will tell youwhen hey, I think you can do
this better or that better.
But it really the attributes ofbusiness ownership falls right
in line with the athlete,because they've been doing it
all their lives.

(13:48):
They've been betting onthemselves and really they've
been in business for themselvessince they were in high school,
college, because their bodies,their business and their brand
yeah, that's a gold nugget.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
They're always betting on themselves.
That's a key point for anyentrepreneur or anybody trying
to do it.
You're going to bet on yourself, and that's a hard bet.
You don't get to point yourfinger at anybody else.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
It's just you.
Let me ask you this you know,so you have the one athlete who
had a 12-year career.
My assumption is he's makingpretty good money.
How do you set properexpectations?
Because you get intofranchising, you got to put out
a lot of money sometimes and itmight be a little bit of a grind
.
You may have to have multiplelocations before you're making
anything.
That really moves the needle.
For us, it may not really bemuch of a needle move for them

(14:34):
at all.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah.
For them, it is patience,because you definitely have to
come up with to make the moneyyou want to make.
It's got to be a multi-unitplay, so it's patience putting
that money in and watching therestaurants grow.
And you know, along the lineyou're going to have some

(14:56):
restaurants that are going tounderperform and if you get a
couple of those, it's reallyhard for the athlete to go.
Why are we failing?
Why is this restaurant notfailing?
What did we do wrong?
Let's analyze that so we don'tmake that same mistake.
Another example that I have of aclient that I placed in just

(15:21):
last week.
The deal closed.
It was a athlete who just inthe NFL and he just signed a
free agent deal, so you had someextra money coming in.
But he's in his 30s and he waslike you know, james, I got two,
maybe three years left to playand I know that when I'm done
playing I'm going to have zerodollars coming in.

(15:42):
See, I can have no income.
So he goes.
I want to get into a franchisesystem, I want to get the
buildings built now, and hepicked a particular a gym
franchise that he wanted to doand he said you know, I want to
make a half a million dollarswhen I'm done playing.
That's what I want to walk into.
So then it was like, okay, well, we probably need to do three

(16:04):
gyms and we probably need tostart this now.
Let's get you know one opennext year, and then the year
after let's do two, and thenwe'll have three open when
you're ready to retire and youcan walk into that income.
And that's.
That was great thinking by hispart, because sometimes some of
the athletes don't think thatfar in advance.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
How did these guys find you?

Speaker 1 (16:26):
Well, you know what.
Celebrity golf tournaments.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
Oh, like the one.
Alan and I were in.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
That's right, our celebrity golf tournament, alan.
In fact, there were a lot ofex-athletes here at the Atlanta
area.
Let's see Finn was there.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
Nobody came up to us to offer us a franchise, though.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
Yeah, Well, I think they realized that we probably
weren't Well you know, actuallyyou kind of look like an athlete
.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
You're told who's lost his way, yeah, but uh,
interesting.
So you do the charity golfevents nice, yeah, charity golf
events linkedin um just variousum athlete reach outs to where
you can get in touch with them.
You know, x, instagram aredifferent ways of that and just
reaching out and networkingyourself to the athletes.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
So would you consider yourself the Jerry Maguire of
franchises for athletes?

Speaker 2 (17:18):
Go ahead, scream, show me the money.
Come on, baby, do it.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Show me the franchise .
Show me the franchise.
Baby, Show me the franchise.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
I would love to tell you that that would be the case,
but you know I try to.
I really do enjoy working withthe athletes, because you know
one thing about athletes toothey can just tell it like it is
.
They will be totally honestwith you and go you know what
that franchise?
It's crap, man.
I don't want to be part of that.

(17:47):
You know, they know what they,they, they, uh, they know what
they want and they will speaktheir mind.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
So let's talk a little bit about your business.
As you grew that Um, soobviously the one to a hundred.
We learned that one um greatgold nugget on that stuff.
Now you're in the franchiseworld.
Um, you got to operate and thatmeans help people get into the
franchise.
You're working with clients,but you also have to prospect
for clients.
What percentage would you sayyou do on each?

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Oh, I, it's probably like 50, 50 mix, but it is
always one thing whenprospecting for clients, it's
it's a never ending exercise ofokay, if I've done talking to a
candidate and and I'veintroduced them to this
franchise, or where does thenext one come from?
Where do I need to do?
I need to up my spending on,maybe, lead portals that are out

(18:36):
there on the internet ofadvertising for franchises.
So it's all about a strategyand looking really daily of
what's my pipeline look like.
Is it getting a little light?
If it's getting a little light,then you have to spend more.

Speaker 3 (18:52):
So I think that's one of the things, that that is
universal through all business.
Right, you've got to the firstcash is king.
Second, sales is what drivesthe engine, and then you've got
to operate and deliver on whatyou're doing and do it in a
profitable way.
There you go.
So in the revenue generationside, I want to talk a little
bit more.
How did you figure out yourbest avenues, your best sources

(19:13):
for leads and kind of talk aboutyour marketing channels?

Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, that's a great question because it was really
trial and error on that regardwhat to do and what not to do
and not to.
You know, the hardest part todo is, you know, flushing money
on marketing and stopping thecampaign because you know that I

(19:37):
could keep doing this for two,three more months, but it's not,
it's not going to be any fruit.
I need to stop this and and goto something else.
So, but just by jumping todifferent avenues and learning,
you know what works, what's not,what does not work.
So right now, I do LinkedIn.
Linkedin outreach is verypopular.

(19:58):
I do franchise lead portals,where sometimes I will advertise
for a brand or I'll advertisejust generally.
Hey, if you're looking to gointo, you know from nine to five
and jump into the business, Iwould love to help you out with
that.
So there's lead portals there.
There's print ads.

(20:19):
I'm in print ads that I do thatare out there.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
What print ads are still out there?

Speaker 3 (20:25):
Yeah, well, tell us about a little Now I would tell
you me.
Locally, I have my story.
So, yeah, what print are youusing to hit your franchise
potential target?

Speaker 1 (20:34):
Well, you know what, oddly enough and you guys are
going to laugh at this it's thegolf magazines that are in the
local country clubs.
That's genius.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
That are out there, dude that is genius, you know
what?
Because I won genius that areout there.
So that is genius, you knowwhat?
Because I won't do it, uh.
But you know what I think aboutthat?
Now, you're right, because whenyou do, when we're done at the
club up at st ives, uh, whichI've let you at least come to
the club, but anyway, um, Iwould say that you know, if
somebody had you did, uh, and weactually I get it, I get a
restraining order.
Yeah, I did have a letter, butit's that's not the first one,

(21:06):
don't worry about it.
I could see that, all right.
So you use the country club,all right.
I like that because that getsthe conversation started or at
least an idea planted, right.

Speaker 1 (21:14):
Sure, sure, and obviously the golf circuit of
charity events and that AnytimeI ever get offered to speak at
an event, I jump all over that.
Speak at an event, I jump allover that.
I jump on over podcasts to, youknow, just get kind of get my
name out there and just share mywisdom and just always looking

(21:37):
for networking opportunitiesthat are out there.
And then I've done differentads where I've had virtual
assistants that look for, youknow, clients via either
LinkedIn.
I've done some Google ads, I'vedone some Facebook ads.
Some of them have worked outreally good, some of them worked

(21:58):
out disastrous.
That is just a flush of moneyand it's just been really trial
by error and kind of all thoselittle irons.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
James, how many franchise concepts active ones
are out there right now?

Speaker 1 (22:16):
So, there's about 3,000 franchises out there.
I have about 400 in myinventory that I've vetted and
that I would show to clients.
And when I mean by show toclients it's you know I want
when someone comes to me, I wantthem to get into business.
I don't really want to get theminto a hobby that they're going

(22:38):
to like and not make any money,or something that's going to be
buying themselves a job wherethey're still going to be, you
know, grinding out.
So I really try to look forfranchises that have really high
margins, that can make a profitreally quick, the potential for
that, and that it's a great fitfor their skills.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
So that was going to be exactly what I was going to
ask is how do you go aboutvetting those 3,000 franchises?
Because people come to youbecause they don't want to have
to do that on their own, andthere's just so much stuff out
there and and every new conceptis duplicated by 10 different
providers how are you vettingthose franchises before you

(23:19):
present them to your clients?

Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, so it it it's a , the vetting process really.
You know, just give you anexample If it's a, a kid's
preschool, which is a reallygreat franchise as far as profit
margin and whatnot, so somepreschools will be $2 million to
start up, others will be$600,000 to $800,000.

(23:43):
So really, you kind of look atwhat do the margins look like.
So really, you kind of look atwhat do the margins look like

(24:12):
and most of the time it's thatwell, is that $600K to $?
Just look at what kind ofreviews the franchise has.
So it's very important to dothe homework and that's kind of
already done and to be vetted.
You know, one thing I will say,being that my background is the
restaurants.
I typically will not showrestaurants to any of my clients
in this.
They really want one becausethe margins are super thin and

(24:33):
most of the investments are amillion dollars or more to start
up and I'd rather you get into,you know, four dog grooming
units rather than one restaurant.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
All right, you know what We've been in this podcast.
Everybody's listening.
They're on the edge of theirseats or their.
I hope to god you're not on theedge of seats.
Man, if you're driving,remember, keep your eyes on the
road.
Eyes up, man, eyes up.
All right, he's gonna drop thedumb right here.
What is the three franchiseconcepts we should be looking at
?
I know it depends.

Speaker 2 (25:02):
He's gonna justify based on what your assets are I
want the money now.

Speaker 3 (25:07):
Show, show me the franchise.

Speaker 2 (25:08):
Show me the franchise , let me rephrase Chris's
question what's the hot newtrend right now?
Because I'm in commercial realestate, All of a sudden there's
a lot of mental healthfranchises out there.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
There is.
That was the hot new trend.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
You know they're out there what.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
I will tell you this the most.
I'll just say it this year,this so, and get a lap, because
we're going back to golf.
One of the hottest is indoorgolf simulators.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
We got one of those right now.
I just went I got my new sticks.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
It was raining like a dog and I went there.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
I went to nine golf over on pib that must have
worked because you were strokingthose new clubs, that four iron
.
Yeah god, yeah 220 hey, overjunk.

Speaker 3 (25:50):
I still was talking about my driver off the deck.
Uh, on sunday, when I play withthe boys, yeah, no, it was that
four iron that I'll never.

Speaker 1 (25:56):
That's awesome well the the gravitation towards
those are one.
You know it's kind of cool toown, but really what's great
about it is if you're justlooking for a side hustle, or
that the franchise is 24-7access, so you have access to
codes to get into the buildingFor a golf simulator yeah, for a

(26:18):
golf simulator.

Speaker 3 (26:18):
Okay, I'm listening.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
And 24-7 access.
You go in, you have membershipsthat you have.
You have corporate memberships.
You can do leagues in there.
You can hire a pro to givelessons and the best thing about
it is it takes about 15 to 20hours of your time to run the
business, because it's basicallyan employee-free facility.

Speaker 2 (26:40):
Oh boy, those are key words there.
Employee-free facility I lovethat one.
What's that sound like Chris?

Speaker 3 (26:46):
That sounds like an animal that I do not understand
and I know you don't, James,especially if you're in the
restaurant business, becausethat is employee dependent.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (26:55):
Oy, oy, oy.
Absolutely, that's a good one.
All right, golf simulator.
I like that.
All right everybody.
Side hustle, side hustle time.
Alan and I are going to be.
It was a commercial real estateagent, I mean, that could help
us find this.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
I could probably find one if I had to.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yeah, that would get you a great site.
What was?

Speaker 2 (27:12):
it Five years ago.
It was axe throwing which, whenthat one came out I'm like okay
, franchising has lost its mindand yet I still hear about
people going to axe throwingevents.
So what else is out there?
That one still I don'tunderstand from an insurance
standpoint, but whatever.

Speaker 1 (27:26):
That one still.
I don't understand from aninsurance standpoint, but
whatever, well, in axe throwingagain.
Sometimes they put it withrestaurant food and that really
takes the investment up over toa million.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
So yeah, the axe throwing and booze combination.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
It's a great combo, right.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
Well, it is as one who's done it, and I've been to
an axe throwing event and I hadto suck down at least three or
four beers before I even gotstarted, baby um.
But you know, james saidsomething that we talked about
with one of our uh, past people,and that's the six bridges
brewing company is that you gotto have one idea, but to really
make money, you got to have thefood with it to.
You got to have that somethingelse.

(28:03):
You can't just have a brewery.
You got to have a brewery withfood.
You brought that up and he'ssaying to do the axe, you got to
be, you got to be axing, yougot to be cutting, but you also
got to be barbecuing and servinglots of liquor yeah, yeah,
absolutely, yeah, too muchinsurance.
Let's go back to simulator.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
I know that should do a tequila franchise.
Going back to the beginning ofthe podcast, oh yeah, some money
in that, uh.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
and so a second one that would be really you know,
probably wouldn't think wouldactually be dog grooming.
Dog grooming has got reallygood margins.
People spend on their pets likecrazy, and this particular
franchise is one that does amembership model for dog
grooming.
One that does a membershipmodel for dog grooming.

(28:50):
So you know you have thatreoccurring revenue and you're
killing your competition becausewho's going to let you bring
your dog in more, more than oncea month, for you know the same
price.
It is a very popular and verystrong franchise.

Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yeah, so he's talked about the two things that people
spend money on, no matter howbad they're bleeding and
hemorrhaging is kids and pets.

Speaker 3 (29:09):
Absolutely.
Pet earn company coming up soon.
We'll be doing that one.
So, all right, I know itdepends on the franchise and you
do the fit, but you talkedabout that you.
You only represent 400 out of3000.
And one of the things I'velearned from Alan and I already
knew before and the reason I didnot franchise is there's so
many bad operators out there.

(29:30):
When you vet, how do you knowthese franchisors are going to
support their franchisees theright way?
What are you looking for?

Speaker 1 (29:38):
You know absolutely what systems do they have in
place behind it.
But really it's all a matter oftalking with the franchisees in
the system and verifying that,and anytime I have a client
before they sign, I'm like talkwith the franchisees in the
system.
What do you want to know?
What's your support like?
Would the franchisees in thesystem do it again?

(29:59):
How long did it take them tomake their money back?
And are you profitable?
You get great answers.
I once had someone looking at asteam cleaning franchise.
They talked to the franchiseesand they said ah, you should
just do it on your own.
You don't really get anythingfrom the franchisee, you're just

(30:19):
paying these royalties fornothing.
So that franchise is now offthe list.
There's some really good steamcleaning franchises, but this
particular one, the you know thefranchisees did not validate it
very well.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
I think you asked.
The most important question Ithink you can do in your
validation is if you could,would you do it over again?
That's a great one.
Yeah, you don't need to try tofigure out how much money they
made or any of those questionsthat sometimes they're not
comfortable answering it's.
Would you do it again?

Speaker 3 (30:48):
You know and here's the feedback I would give to
anybody if you're in businessright now doing it, If you can
get an exit interview from oneof your clients, if you get a
chance to go out there and askthem again, would you use us
again?
Would you refer us to anybody?
You don't have to ask the otherfive questions.
People always ask oh, go outthere and ask 10.
They're only willing to ask oneor two and you'll see it
especially eye to eye.
If there's a hesitation, youknew something didn't go right

(31:10):
and you see, oh, 100%, eitherthey're really good at lying or
you actually did a good job.
And so in my business, where 40%of my business comes from
repeat customers and I'm veryproud of that, which shows a
very strong business culture andbusiness delivery model.
But I think that's a bigquestion and that's that is the
question, because we can go downand we can start segmenting

(31:32):
around.
Do you have it?
Do you want it?
Can you do it?
You know ability, want all thisstuff.
You can start digging into it,but you're going to find out if
this franchise concept is goingto support somebody who's really
willing to get in there and winit yeah, and a lot of people I
mean it's it's their lifesavings that they put.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
And I and James, I love franchising, but I also
hate it at the same time.
I mean it provides such greatopportunities, but at the same
time, I mean there are, evenwith all the government
intervention, there's still justoperators out there like well,
let's just give this a whirl,cause you know, we've we've seen

(32:14):
these other guys.
And then they it's like okay,if we get enough sales, then
we'll back into the support.
And that's super frustrating tome, you know, because I I think
every time I see a franchise godark, I'm like god dang, that
was somebody's app, that wastheir 401k, it was everything
that went into it, and so youknow, uh, hopefully, when people
are making these decisions,they get somebody like you who's
got their back and you'vevetted well so that you know

(32:34):
they're not getting into thefranchises that they shouldn't.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
Yeah, you know you're just really you're improving
your odds.
At the end of the day, businessis business and you know it's
up to the client to run thebusiness and make it go.
And you know that really is onething too.
It's always like, hey, you'regoing to get into this franchise
.
The franchisor's role issupporting you, not running your
business.

(32:58):
You're the one still that's gotto make it grow.
I'm working with a client rightnow.
He goes.
You know what I'm motivated?
I'm there.
I don't want to look at whatthe average franchisee does in
the unit.
I want to look at what the top25 do, because that's what I'm
going to do.
And he understands that I'vegot to follow their systems and
I got to put my nose down andI'm going to do what I can, to

(33:21):
everything I can, to be that topachiever.
So I really like that idea ofbeing the top franchise instead
of I just want to be average.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
All right, let's switch on to, because this is
the one I wanted to switch toand you hit on it.
Great segue, alan.
Thank you.
All right, james.
So you find the franchisors.
You've got the oars there.
Now.
What makes up a good Z and whatmakes up a bad Z?
Who is a good inside language?
Yeah, baby franchisee.
So what.
And what makes up a bad Z?
Who is a good business?
Look at you using insidelanguage Z yeah, baby franchisee

(33:51):
.
So what makes a good operator?
Makes somebody who's a good fitand who makes a bad one?

Speaker 1 (33:55):
So a good operator is going to be one that will
follow the system will put theeffort in will not try to change
the whole franchise system.
So, in that regard, a bad z isthe guy who's going to come in

(34:18):
and go.
Why would you do it that way?
You should do it this way.
And uh, why are we using thisvendor?
We should use this vendor.
This guy's a little bit cheaper, let me try to use him.
Those are really bad Zs becausethey're not following the
system.
There's a reason why you'regetting to a franchise system
because they have vetted thevendors and vetted the systems

(34:42):
and made those mistakes Allright, james.

Speaker 3 (34:44):
The reason we're laughing so hard is there's a
reason I'm not a franchisee.
I did every one of those things.
I came in and said I can do itbetter.
I don't know what the hell thatguy's thinking.
I'm in the handyman and nowwe're modeling business.
I've looked at franchises in myspace and what do I do?
I can do it better, cheaperfaster, yeah, smarter faster,

(35:05):
better looking everything.
And uh, here I am, 17 yearslater.
Can I go to make payrolltomorrow?
Well, we'll find out, right.
So, yeah, no, that's a greatpoint, because, um, the other
one, and the one I've heard alot about, is that the guy who
buys it and sits on his ass andsays, all right, make me money,
dude, that's not the way this is.
This is.
This is that's what I wanted totalk about with athletes,

(35:28):
because they're used to bustingtheir ass doing their thing and
they get into this.
Do they get in there and busttheir ass and get going again,
or do they sit back and go?
Well, I made my money, man.
So how about you?
Show me the money, show me thefranchise, james.
Show me the franchise.
I sit back.
I see Shaq.
He's really excited.
He's awesome.
Look at Peyton Manning he'samazing.
You complete me.
So what have you found?

(35:51):
How often do you stay with themwhen they get into it?

Speaker 1 (36:01):
So I stay with them all the way up to where they
sign on the dotted line and arepart of the franchise system.
Now they may call me foroutside help, but I do find that
the franchisors do not like itafter they've signed if they
come to me for advice of how todeal with the franchisor, which
they shouldn't, and they shouldget used to talking with the
franchisor.
So I kind of stay with them allthe way up there.

(36:21):
But what we do talk about isexactly what you're saying.
You know what is exactly whatyou're saying.
You know what.
I know that you're either doneplaying or, in some cases, if
you are playing, if you're notgoing to be involved.
The expectation is that you'regoing to manage the manager and
manage your people.

(36:42):
So get the expectation of youknow what.
You've got to hire somebodyreally good.
Vet them.
The franchisor will help youlook for those traits to do.
You've got to hire somebodyreally good.
Vet them.
The franchisor will help youlook for those trades to do.
But you still have to beinvolved because you need to go
out and manage your manager.
And what I always tell them toois you're famous, go out and
market your business.
Just for you.

(37:02):
Showing up is going to get youbusiness.
Just show up.
And just because of your name,you're going to get business.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
I remember one of the Atlanta Falcons started a
cupcake franchise or bought intoit, really Got a good one, and
they were making fun of him theway I heard the story and then
he did it.
But you're right, people wentto it because his name was there
and they wanted to go see him,it's Shaq and Papa John's right.

Speaker 2 (37:28):
Yeah, hey, market what you got, man.
Have you seen a pattern?
Or like offensive linemen morelikely to be successful than
wide receivers or defensivebacks?
Anything like that?
I mean?
Come on, you got to give us alittle inside baseball here.

Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yeah, and clearly we're NFL fans here right now.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
Well, I just threw baseball in there.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
So the offensive linemen were the largest
franchisee of that company thatI went and partnered up with.
It was two offensive linemen.
There you go.
So I have to answer.
Offensive linemen are the best.

Speaker 2 (38:02):
Yeah, they're used to being in the trenches, yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
Yeah, yeah, offensive linemen are yeah, they are very
, very good and strong.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
Let's ask this question Is there a sport that
is better suited to help peopleget into the business world?
Is it football, is it soccer,is it baseball?
Is it cricket?

Speaker 1 (38:26):
All I would say is that all football players will
say this football is theultimate team game.
So, in that regard, why you getinto a franchise system is to
have the team of the franchisorright, but you also have the
team of the franchisees.
And what I see really goodabout the athletes what they do

(38:46):
is they have the team of thezores franchisor but then the
franchisees that are in thesystem.
They utilize them too becausethey want them to be successful
and they've opened under afranchise system and doing
exactly what they've done,they've been there.
So they get that advice.
They're really great at gettingadvice and that help.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
All right, I'm going to ask this, though, because
we've done this.
Actually, we have sold twofranchises off our podcast.
We have Not that we've seen anyof that money, but, um, what
question should I ask you?
That would be the best questionto ask you if I'm potentially
thinking about getting into afranchise.
God dang it, chris.
That's a good question too thatis.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
That is a great question.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
You know that, that really we're not competitive
here at all, james, and let's gosuck it out.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
Damn you, I'll have my revenge.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
You know, I would say I always get asked that
question of what would be agreat franchise, right, what
would be a great system to getinto.
What's one thing I need to know?
Well, what we do need to knowis what your goals are.
You know what are your goalswhen you get into business.
Are you looking to have asemi-passive business, to where

(39:58):
you're not in it every day?
Are you looking to get into theeveryday business?
Are you looking at multi-unit?
Are you looking to do more thanone unit, to grow a small
empire?
Are you looking to start afamily business, to start
generational wealth?
So those would be questions ofwhat is it that you're looking
to get out of the business andthen it's forming?

(40:20):
You know those answers to whatwe can do.
And you know the one thing Iwould say in franchising when
because I always get a questiontoo is why don't I just do it on
my own?
Well, you know.
Why don't I just do it on myown?
Well, you know.
Why don't you Okay?
Well, you're not going to havethat.
You know opening support.
You're not going to have amarketing team behind you.

(40:42):
You're not going to haveanybody that's going to be able
to have accounting and softwarethat's set up to do this for you
.
You're not, in some cases, insome franchise, going to have
your own lead gen company that'shelping you and you're not
going to have anybody that'sgoing to be at your opening
support that's going to supportyou, and you're not going to
have anybody that's going togive you the ongoing support,

(41:05):
nor are you going to have thesupport of all the franchisees
in the system to support you.
But hey, if you can do itbetter than a group, than a
tribe, then go for it.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
And every mistake you make is going to be extra
expensive In the franchise.

Speaker 3 (41:22):
Or on your own.
No, on your own.
Oh, 100%, it happened to me.
I did it.
I mean, I was, I was thesmarter guy and I did the whole
thing, and I made tons ofmistakes.
How'd that go?
Well, I made it through, barelythrough 2008,.
And I'll tell the story all thetime.
I started the business in therecession and no less than three

(41:42):
times should I have shut itdown 100%.
Had I been in the franchisingworld, I probably would have
shut it down very quicklybecause there was no way I would
have been able to build what Icould.
But I think the thing that I'veseen because I know a lot of
guys who are in the franchiseworld and it works well for them
is that with all those back-endoperations and systems, they
take their time because they'vegotten back time, but they take
their time and they reinvest itback into business development,

(42:03):
sales and filling that top-linefunnel and doing what they're
supposed to be doing, and that'sbuilding their business,
working on their business, notin their business on the details
.
That's where I've seen the mostsuccessful home service
franchises, because I don't knowmuch about the other ones.

Speaker 2 (42:17):
So I want to ask you a question, because when you
were saying we want to find outwhat their goals are, do you
want a semi-passive business?
Does such a thing actuallyexist?
I mean, everything that we knowabout business is it's really
freaking hard, and if you're not100% locked in, you're screwed.
How can you have a semi-passivebusiness?

Speaker 1 (42:39):
I would have to say that, yes, it does.
But the expectation that youhave to get is you're going to
have to be there a lot at thelaunch of the business and
you're going to have tobasically change the diapers and
then get the business walking.
But semi-passive can exist ifyou have a very strong operator

(43:02):
and you have a very strongmanager that you manage and you
manage that manager and managethem to your expectations.

Speaker 2 (43:10):
You're changing diapers after 17 years 17 years
I'm still pooping my pants.

Speaker 3 (43:14):
Uh, I tell my guys, especially my sales team um, we
run across new companies all thetime and I'm like, look, I'm
going to tell you my story.
I said I I love helping smallbusiness.
That's why we're doing thispodcast, trying to help all of
you guys figure it out.
But when a new small businesscomes to us and says, hey, let's
partner up, let's do things,I'll tell all my sales'm like
look, a new small business islike a baby.

(43:35):
They're really cute, they'rereally cuddly, but when you hold
them sometimes they'llabsolutely just shit all over
your pants, I said, and they'llmake you look bad.
So you got to be very carefulbecause they don't know how to
operate like we have.
After 17 years of being inbusiness, I mean there's a lot
of war wounds, a lot of lessonsthat I've learned, that I've
been able to explain to people.
And again, with smallbusinesses, you know new guys

(43:58):
starting things out.

Speaker 2 (43:59):
I did it are you gonna put the little rock and
the baby move on on youtube?

Speaker 3 (44:03):
I am, I should rock in the very record right before
oh, and then the customer goeshey, why did, why did you?
Why did you just shit all overmy house?
Well, I didn't, it was, it wasthe guy I referred.
Uh-oh, yeah, yeah.
So it's hard, you're right,because it is, it's a baby, and
right now my infant is a littleolder, I would say more like

(44:24):
adolescent, barely.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
I don't know what's the right word anymore.

Speaker 3 (44:30):
I mean, we're running , bumbling, stumbling, but we
every once in a while run rightdown the stairs and just
absolutely crack our neck.
But good news is we're youngenough where we could get back
out.
Let's back up.
Yeah, james, what's the futureof franchising?
You know again people lookingto get into it.
You talked about the hot ones,but what do you think the future
is If you could look into it?
You've been at this now andyou've been in this game for a
long time.

(44:51):
What's the future?

Speaker 1 (44:53):
You know, I would say that the future is just going
to be ever evolving.
Of what the future is, I canhonestly see really the

(45:18):
children's specter of thatblowing up of, you know, more
preschools added to that list ofthe children's specter.
Senior care is already very,very much a, you know, a hot
franchise.
It takes a while to build thatbusiness up but it is a business
that you know.
I think that the clients aregoing to be there and the need
is going to be there.
That's going to, you know,really sustain it and be well as
well.
As you know, what you didmention too a little bit you

(45:40):
touched on was staying in thehome.
So franchises that come in andbuild around your home where you
can stay in it longer, where asenior could stay in it longer
or someone who's had an accident, you know, stay in it longer,
where a senior could stay in itlonger or someone who's had an
accident, you know, putting upgrab bars, putting up things to
get in and out of the pool and,you know, ramps to go upstairs,

(46:01):
I believe that those franchiseswill, you know, do really well
because, again, the costsassociated for care or stay in
the home to, you know to do that.
That would be a very goodfranchise.
Home services are always goingto be strong because you know
you're always going to have aneed and you know I always say
HVAC company right.

(46:21):
Everybody goes, oh, hvac,there's a lot of competition.
But you know what?
That when your air conditionerbreaks, are you going to let it
sit there and not work?
No, you're going to fix it.
And you know HVAC companies aregreat as well.
As you know we've seen the lastfew years of lighting companies
, of backdoor lighting, of youknow put the lights in your

(46:41):
backyard, or you know havinglights during Christmas time, or
you know designing yourbackyard and doing a.
You know a whole new.
You know barbecue island andyou know just fixing up the
backyard.
So I really think the homeservice will be strong.
There'll be something else thatwill be, you know, might catch

(47:01):
up, but it always will be thereand will be strong.

Speaker 3 (47:05):
Yeah well, you'll never be as good as the trusted
toolbox, but you can always comeby my license, which of course,
I don't have, but I'm justjoking with you.
But, James, you hit on exactlywhat.
I'm right with you.
We've had numerous people onour podcast talking about this,
but I just, Mark, this is foryou, buddy.
I just got done talking to Mark.
Should I go forward with myhandyman business or should I do

(47:27):
something else?
I said, Mark, if I were you andyou haven't started it, I would
go get into an HVAC concept.
I said, dude, what we do ishard.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
I'll tell you what.
Good on Mark for actuallycalling you.
I love that.
Yeah, we had a big talk.
You saved him a ton of money.

Speaker 3 (47:43):
I hope so, and he showed me his pro forma.
I'll tell you I said, here'sthe problem.
He and I both have the samereflection.
I love helping people and Ilove fixing houses and I love
figuring out how to solve aproblem, Even if I don't make a
dime.
I'm sitting there digging,trying to figure out how to
solve a problem and you're likeoh, did you make any money doing
that, Chris?
No, but I figured it out.
Good for you, Chris.

(48:07):
Yeah, everybody can be a big wooAll right, that's great
Rejoicing throughout the land.
But I agree with you, james.
I think home service is a greatplace to be in.
I will tell everybody the nextcouple of years.
This is 25.
You're looking at 25, 26, 27.
People aren't moving.
We've already talked about this.
It's going to be a greatopportunity across the country,

(48:27):
regardless if you're in thenortheast, the southwest, the
west, the northeast, thenorthwest whatever, and there's
a couple more, you can go aheadand list because it's really
interesting.
It is really cool.
I love all the East and theMidwest, and then there's
Michigan, there's the Mid-Southand then there's the epic center
of the entire world.
So I think, a great spot to bein.

(48:51):
Guys getting into James.
We're coming to the end of thepod, so, James, how can
everybody find you?
Let's get that in and out.
And we got to ask those finalfour questions.
I think we should.
Let's go, James, Give us, howdo we find you man?

Speaker 1 (49:02):
So the website's the friend dreamcom, or just shoot
an email to James at the frienddreamcom.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
We'd love to chat with anybody, or just kind of
show them what's out there and Iwant to make sure you don't
have to be a professionalathlete to talk to james.
Is that correct?

Speaker 3 (49:18):
you do not, you do not you know what, if you were
the worst person on your middleschool basketball team and you
didn't make the cut, you canstill call james, which?

Speaker 2 (49:26):
by the way, which person in dodgeball?
Yes, you can call james which?

Speaker 3 (49:32):
by the way, I get cut middle school.
Did you really suck it, baby?

Speaker 2 (49:38):
huh, not at least now .
You need to go back to yourreunion and just let him know.
I should let him know, look atmr likely.

Speaker 3 (49:44):
He's calling that was a scam, likely.
All right, no, that wasbasketball.
It was football where he madeit to college, but that was a
different story.
All right, james, let's go intothe final four questions.
Let's get everybody going, getrocking and rolling.
What is a book you wouldrecommend to our audience?

Speaker 1 (49:58):
so you know, that's a very good question, because I
would say that, um, we, we wouldgo with um, I'm getting it, I'm
getting the middle finger, withthe other two around it,
because it's three method.

Speaker 3 (50:13):
Hey, on youtube, don't forget to go subscribe to
our YouTube channel.
It's going to look like three,but it's really good, although
the fingers are a little off,but I did play football.

Speaker 1 (50:22):
So I actually love the you know, josh Altman, ryan
Seahan, the millionaire realestate, tracy Tudor the books
that they've written becausetheir journey, some of them,
started with nothing Ryan was ashoe salesman and how he worked

(50:43):
his way up and persevered inbusiness, and what it took him
to do, and to the trials of allthree of them of boy, should I
not do this anymore?
Should I?
You know?
And I think everybody who'sowned a business has thought
well, I'm at rock bottom, dude,should I continue to do this?
What should I do?

(51:04):
And it's all.
Hey, bet on yourself, digyourself out of it, quit feeling
sorry for yourself and let'stalk with other people and
figure out how to do it better.
And yeah, I just think thosestories are just fascinating.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
So those are for motivation and perseverance.
Love that I'll tell you what?

Speaker 3 (51:23):
because business books, biographies, motivational
books like that, I'm digging inman.
So, Cindy, don't order it yet.
Make sure you check with me,because she has been ordering
all the books I asked her to.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
Oh, she should.
All right order.
How am I supposed to know whatyou're thinking, cindy?

Speaker 3 (51:39):
because she's been with me for 15 years.
All right, that's a great one,All right.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
Cindy.
When you really expect Cindy,like you, tell her to do
something, but she shouldn'thave because you didn't want her
to.
What does that mean?
She knows, chris Crack, greatleadership, we call it Chris
Crack.

Speaker 3 (51:53):
Chris Crack.
Okay, she knows what I'mthinking.
All right, cindy, go ahead andorder them.
I want to get these books built.
Good luck, cindy.
God bless you, Cindy.

Speaker 2 (51:59):
I'll never Bless your heart.
Cindy, Don't bless her heart.
She's from the South.

Speaker 3 (52:04):
Don't you do that, I don't.
You're dead to me.
Born and raised in socal, ohwell, you guys are nicer.
Yeah, in the north.
Bless your heart when you movedown here to the south.
That means go after yourself.
You're yeah, that's right.
You're dead to me.
You're dead.
All right, number two, youready?
What's the favorite feature ofyour home?

Speaker 1 (52:27):
well, the golf simulator in the garage oh
really, yes, james you aredefinitely invited, alan.
That's the favorite feature.

Speaker 3 (52:36):
Oh, did I just back up another space, Alan you know
what it doesn't look like I'mgetting out for a couple years.
Hey, James, let me know you'rein Atlanta, buddy St Ives.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
How accurate are those things really?
I mean, are they that accurate?

Speaker 1 (52:49):
Okay, you know sometimes it does make mistakes.
It is pretty accurate.
You get all the analytics onyour golf swing of how it is and
you know if you're playingsomebody.
It's just going to be just asaccurate for them as it is for
you.
So it makes a great time andsometimes, when you don't have

(53:09):
four and a half five hours toget around the golf course and
you can do it in two, I takethat all day.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
Now that's fun just from using the simulator as
itself.
But so by having a simulator,does that translate to being
better on the course?

Speaker 1 (53:24):
Oh, 100%.
I mean you're in the simulator,you're by yourself, you can.
You'll make a swing or a swingadjustment that you would never
do on the course if you just ranout there, and you can work on
that and perfect that in thesimulator.

Speaker 2 (53:38):
I think I just sold Chris a simulator.
I think we're going to buildone at Alan's house.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
I love it.
No, I love it All.
Right, here we go, guys.
We've been talking aboutcustomer service, because you
know one of the things if youdon't listen to this podcast but
just once you understand thatalan and I are customer service

(54:03):
f-r-e-a-k-s freaks, let's go.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
What's a customer service pet peeve of yours when
you're out there and you're thecustomer.
So the the is uh, no, no,please, and thank you from uh,
just whenever I like.
If I go through a, a restaurant, no can take take your order,
please, or I just get handed thebag and nothing, just nothing.

Speaker 3 (54:18):
It goes back to Barney Manners, the video you
know I made a fatal mistake lastweek with one of my estimators.
I was out there, we weretalking and the lady said, hey,
thanks for coming on.
I went, no problem.
I'm like, oh shit, how fatalthat was so bad.
No, we actually won the job.
But I said, no problem.
I'm like, no, it was ourpleasure to be out there to just

(54:38):
look at your home and helpelevate your lifestyle.
That's how I should have saidit.
And I went, eh, no problem.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
Eh, no problem, Dumbass.

Speaker 3 (54:46):
So much for sales.
It's only taken me 17 years.

Speaker 2 (54:49):
You'll get there someday, chris.

Speaker 3 (54:50):
I have confidence in you, you'll get there someday,
chris, I have confidence in you.
Someday, maybe in a franchise.
Okay, All right, let's go.
I want a DIY nightmare story.
I got into this businessbecause I have killed myself,
I've hurt myself, I have fallenoff a roof, I have skid down a
roof, I have impaled myself, Ihave put things around my
fingers that should never bearound fingers.
Tell us a DIY nightmare story.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
Well, trying to simple enough, right?
Very simple.
Just trying to put together aoutdoor patio set.
And it had a swing in it andthought, oh, it's going to be
easy.
And you know, it had thesechains on it and the
instructions were written insome other language and of

(55:33):
course nowadays you can't getany help, but you go to YouTube
to figure it out, right?
Well, I just wound up callingmy friend and said hey, you know
, there's a case of beer in this.

Speaker 3 (55:43):
If you come, over and put this together, and that was
it.
Really, oh my God, a case ofbeer kept you away from impaling
yourself or hanging yourself bythe chain.
You know exactly what's goingto happen.
How about away from impalingyourself or hanging himself by
the chain?
You know it's exactly what'sgoing to happen.
He would.
How about?
How about he puts it out?
He goes all right, I'm gonnatry it out down.
He goes that'd be chris, notjames, smarter than chris.
Once again, there's a reason.

(56:03):
I'm, uh, certified aging inplace.
I have a debilitating diseasethat's coming very quickly and
it's you.
Did it for yourself, not yourcustomers.
I did it all for everybody,james.
This has been amazing, alan,once again.

Speaker 2 (56:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:16):
James, can you come play golf?
Alan, we'll be back to you in aminute, but it's so nice out
right now.

Speaker 2 (56:21):
It is so nice we could go get nine in before the
end of the day.

Speaker 3 (56:23):
We actually could, because, guys, we're taping this
one.
We do it once a week.
We actually ahead of schedule.
You guys know that.
But we're in the springtime inAtlanta, gorgeous, and it is
gorgeous, and we have a late,late sunset, so we could go out
there and grab nine Good, didyou bring your sticks?

Speaker 2 (56:42):
No, but I want to hit your nuclear sticks.

Speaker 3 (56:45):
Alright, maybe we'll go out and play.
Hey guys, if you didn't learnsomething, man, that's on you.
Guys, thanks for taking achance to listen to us.
If you stayed all the waythrough the end of this podcast,
there's a little somethingspecial for you.
Here's a special thing.
Oh, I can't wait.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
Did you just Call me, email me.

Speaker 3 (57:01):
I thought you were going to offer a preview from
James that he didn't know about.
James says he's going to giveyou a free franchise.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
No, I'll tell you what.

Speaker 3 (57:16):
Guys, I'll give you guys 30 minutes, just do it.
You know what I'm talking aboutgirl trouble.
He's really good at that.
Oh boy, we got to go on thatone everybody make it a great
week.
Let's go make some money.
Cheers.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the small business
safari.
Remember your positive attitudewill help you achieve that
higher altitude you're lookingfor in a wild world of small

(57:36):
business ownership.
And until next time, make it agreat day.