Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:06 Hello, everybody. Scotty Myles Scott, my franchise coach.com. All things considered franchising Another episode. What's your know and know your Why, um, as a sit down and, uh, and I just hit the record button and just having a general conversation beforehand with, uh, our guest who I'll announce in a minute or uh, a minute here, um, I realized, but we both realized that Thanksgiving, uh, is a week from tomorrow. So you'll get a perspective of when this is being recorded. But, uh, uh, holy cow, the year is, uh, is almost over, uh, six, seven weeks to the end of the year in 2023. Anyway, um, I'm really excited to have, um, my guest today with us, Emily Anderson. Um, Emily is just one of those people that, um, I really enjoy working with because she doesn't present herself as a big blimp on the radar, but she operates her business and the branch she represents as a bigger blimp on the radar, uh, very low-key approach.
Speaker 1 00:01:15 Um, she is a seasoned franchise recruiter, uh, extensive experience placing individuals, partners, and working with private equity groups and franchise investments all over the country. Uh, what's unique about her is she uses not a sales approach, but a balanced and educational approach, which is the way that it should be in franchising. I've always told my clients that if you have, if you run into a developer who's trying to sell you something, run fast, because that's typically, usually the red flag. And as you can see, Emily is shaking your head. Um, Emily is committed to empowering others in making complete and well-informed business decisions that lead to pathable powerful partnerships between the franchisee and franchise war. So, um, Emily's touch base on that because there is a connection, uh, and for those of you who have heard me or spoken to me, know that you definitely don't have to absolutely be in love with the brand and the people that you're going to be partnering with, but you do have to get along. There has to be that connection. So welcome Emily, um, all the way from the West coast, <laugh> opposite ends of the spectrum here. Welcome, uh, to, uh, all things considered franchising. Glad to have you.
Speaker 2 00:02:33 Thank you, Scott. I am so happy to be here with you.
Speaker 1 00:02:36 Yeah. You know, uh, you and I have had the opportunity to, uh, work out some, uh, work out, work on some, um, placements, I guess, or recruitments over the last, uh, 18 months, 24 months. Uh, there is a similar background. Uh, you've probably, um, like I said, you have this, this, this smaller blimp on the radar as far as your, um, your, your tender. It's not boastful, it's not something you're promoting, but you have a very, very tenured experience within the franchising industry. Um, uh, I would say that, uh, your finger is on the pulse on the development side. Uh, you really can make that connection to what is right and what may not be right for potential franchisees that are looking to come into the brand one, uh, portfolio. And of course, when we work together on brands as well. Take us through some of, um, your history and how you landed into the franchising industry. Because I've always said, you don't wake up one morning or get up on the podium and get your high school degree or college degree and say, Hey, I'm going into franchising. So how did you end up into the franchising industry and really what has connected you or kept you within the industry and not kind of branching out and staying out of it? I mean, what, what's your connection to it?
Speaker 2 00:04:01 Yeah. The way I entered franchising in hindsight is almost comical. Uh, so I'll say prior to franchising, I, I am a third generation entrepreneur. Uh, my grandfather was a minor league baseball player, actually. Wow. When he was done playing baseball, he started his own business. Uh, my father, when he was about 25 years old, he started his own business. I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I actually started my own business in my early twenties, and I ran that for about four years. I was a one woman show. I didn't know, you know, I didn't know how to scale or grow. I didn't know if I could afford to hire. Uh, I was, you know, what do they say? Building the plane as, as it was in the air as I was flying it. And I got to the point, yeah, I got to the point where I needed to scale or bail.
Speaker 2 00:04:57 Uh, and so I went back and did a corporate gig for a while, uh, background in communications and business development, if you will. And I met someone in franchising. And I will tell you, I had this internal conflict because at first I thought franchising, ew, you know, I'm an entrepreneur as if franchising is not entrepreneurial. Right. <laugh>, uh, I thought being an entrepreneur meant doing it alone. <laugh> and entrepreneurship is one of the most complicated things you could ever do. Why would anybody do it alone? So entrepreneurship has nothing to do with being alone, but I did think that it was all about slinging the $5 foot long or the golden arches.
Speaker 1 00:05:44 It's an interesting way of putting it,
Speaker 2 00:05:46 <laugh>. Yeah. Yeah. And so I, I met someone in franchising. There are some really people like yourself, just some really exceptional people. And I thought, thought, wow, there's, there's a lot I can learn here. Uh, and so I kind of got involved with doing some business development and, and learning more about franchises and educating people on the opportunities. And as I became educated on the various franchise models out there, it completely opened my eyes, uh, the opportunity to participate in an individual, an investor or family in making such a massive decision. And to really advocate and inform them as they're making this decision has been very fulfilling. And then to get to see them, and you know what it's like when you see them years later and they say, Scott, oh my gosh, thank you. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:06:41 Absolutely. You know, the personal satisfaction that you did, you know, you, you took them down the right path, or at least them helped make that validated decision to go down that path.
Speaker 2 00:06:50 Yeah. And the fact that they don't have to do it alone. They can still have all the freedom and the success and the independence that they want of being a business owner, but they don't need to recreate the wheel.
Speaker 1 00:07:03 Right. You know, you brought up something, and I just want to touch on it before we kind of take a, a deeper dive into, um, brand one. Um, and, and the brands and the brands that you are working on. Um, and some of the brands that, and, and, and, and, and, and one of the brands that, you know, I think, uh, brand one made an exceptional, very professional decision on to Hold on, hold off on future development. We'll get into the reason why not a lot of brands would do that. Uh, you know, because, you know, they, they, they think, uh, the more I sell, the more opportunity you have to be successful. And I think, you know, we'll touch on that, but you brought up the connection between being an entrepreneur and a franchisee. And I don't know what it is, I don't know where it came from, but you'll see a lot of negativity that owning a franchise is not being a independent, some sort of independent business.
Speaker 1 00:08:04 It's part of a bigger business and you shouldn't support it <laugh>. So, and I've never understood that because, you know, and maybe it's the people that are saying that, uh, maybe they made a bad decision when they chose a certain franchise and didn't succeed. Maybe they didn't follow the system, or maybe the franchisor just kind of fell off the tracks. I mean, that has happened. There are some bad apples out there. So any, as you look at it, the connection between being an entrepreneur and the franchisee, how do you see it and see it as a benefit for somebody who may be looking to diversify a portfolio, somebody who's wants to expand that maybe already be an independent business owner that, you know, doesn't own a franchise, but owns a business, or somebody who's looking to di take a deeper dive into this and learn more and become a franchisee for the first time.
Speaker 2 00:08:58 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So I, I was able to do some self-reflection as I started to learn about franchising in terms of why did I think entrepreneurship looked one way when it can look so many different ways. And so I, I am a self-proclaimed word nerd. Uh, so I looked up, I looked up the definition because there's a lot of words that we use in regular conversation, and occasionally I'll think, wait, does that really mean what I think it means? Right? And so I looked up the definition of entrepreneur, and it's a person who organizes and operates a business taking on the financial risk in order to do so. So the thing about franchising, you're still organizing and operating a business, you're still taking on the financial risk. However, with franchising, the risk is substantially lower. Franchises have such a higher success rate, right. Than any other entrepreneurial path that I'm aware of. So going the route of a franchise model, you're still owning, not operating a business, you are still putting some skin in the game, but guess what? You're mitigating risk. How smart is that?
Speaker 1 00:10:18 Right. No, that's a great point. Um, you know, you mentioned that tie-in that when people think franchising, they automatically think the five foot, uh, you know, the, the $5 foot long and the golden arches. Um, you know, um, and, and franchising goes well beyond that. I mean, you know, that's just two of maybe 4,000 different brands within the, you know, the, uh, within the franchise system on a worldwide basis. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, and, and Brand one as taking this into Brand one, which is a brand development company that helps company D, he helps companies that maybe were independent and now they wanna scale and get into, and, and they're looking at franchisee, helping them franchise the business scale, the business, uh, offering franchises. When you are looking at the brands that Brand One has in your portfolio and the connection to the franchisees that you're seeing, that you're talking to, is there a common denominator, common thread that ties the true entrepreneur that you just mentioned to these brands or just wanting to own a business? I mean, what do you see the connection for somebody wanting to be a entrepreneur own a business?
Speaker 2 00:11:44 Hmm. So over the years, that has changed a little bit, but there have been some common drivers. Uh, what I'm really seeing and hearing are people are looking to have more autonomy. They're looking to have more freedom, they are looking to have more impact. Uh, I work with many, many, uh, professionals that maybe have been very successful in a corporate background and they understand, Hey, I know how to drive results. I know how to achieve. Uh, I would like to think that professionals in the workplace have earned some autonomy over the years and decades, right. That they've been so committed. But unfortunately that's not happening. Uh, and it seems like the, the more they progress up the corporate ladder, the more corporate owns them as opposed to having the opposite. So a lot of them are just saying, I, I wanna have impact, I wanna have control, I wanna have freedom. And, and they're looking at businesses that are recession resistant, which is mm-hmm. <affirmative> an area that brand one really focuses on. They're looking for businesses with, um, leadership that has incredible integrity and principles. Um, they're looking for a franchise where the other franchisees in that brand are like-minded professionals in terms of sharing the same values and principles that they have, and they embody themselves. So now I do, I have worked with some private equity
Speaker 1 00:13:19 On, right. I wanted to get into that, cuz I think that's important in the, in, in, in the mindset of somebody saying, but I, I guess the point I'm trying to make is, is that any, you could be a entry level entrepreneur to get into franchising, but you can also be somebody who is in private equity looking to invest in multiple types of businesses categories. And you have a lot experience working with the private equity. And I wanna touch on that because, and this isn't a a, this isn't a kick in the backside to some, to developers out there, franchise recruiters, but there is a little bit more of a, the approach may be the same, the process, but there has to be a little bit more of a, and I don't know what the word I'm using, I, I wanna be humble here. Um, a more, um, detailed approach. I don't know if that's the word I'm looking for, or more of a timely process when you're working with the private equity group. And some people just don't have the patience to do that.
Speaker 2 00:14:24 Hmm. Yeah. What I've found, and you, you, I think you nailed it because when I am educating someone on a franchise opportunity, uh, I'm, the franchise in the model in and of itself is the same, but the process that I take someone in private equity through and the pace is going to mirror the pace and the information that they need as opposed to maybe a husband and wife team or a, a parent and their young adult child that is, has never owned a business before that maybe doesn't have the financial background. And some people just want, right. Get straight to the numbers. And some people need to take a more holistic and self-reflective approach, but ultimately it needs to mirror, uh, their pace and ensure they're getting the information that they need to make a well-informed decision.
Speaker 1 00:15:21 Well, in a private equity, uh, situation, it would seem to me there are a few mo moving parts to the decision process as far as people that are involved in that process. Then the individual or husband and wife or a family that may be looking to, um, to work with, um, in your working with private equity, um, what have you seen as far as the categories, uh, or models? And again, we, we don't have to name names, but we can stay within industries that you are seeing that the p e side is really interested in. I mean, obviously you mentioned numbers have to make sense to p e I mean that, that's a given and anybody who thinks that that's not part of it, you know, probably shouldn't be talking to a p e group anyway because it's all about the numbers. And, and in a p and e group, numbers don't lie. So what is it, or how do you see the p and e group where their focus is within the franchising industry and what are their, what are some of their hot buttons or categories that they're really interested in?
Speaker 2 00:16:26 Yeah, first and foremost, it's always about a semi absentee or semi passive ownership model. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> essentially a franchise model that is manager run. So they're not expected at any point in time to be working in the business on a regular basis, but more of it as an executive where they're managing the manager and really scaling the business. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, I'm just gonna go ahead and use the, their, they're generally attracted to the really unsexy industries, <laugh>. And you know what, what I've heard from a lot of, um, p professionals in private equity, it's like the, it's not sexy, but you can take it to the bank, right? And oftentimes these are industries and businesses that have been around for decades, but there's nothing flashy and new and trendy about it. It's just the tried and true models, um, laundromats, home restoration, uh, you know, brick and mortar sometimes in fitness, beauty, wellness kinds of things.
Speaker 2 00:17:32 These are some examples of industries where they look and they say, wow, we've been cutting hair for decades. We'll probably continue to cut hair right for decades. <laugh>, I'm not gonna cut the hair, but I can have a manager there managing the team of, you know, um, stylists and whatnot. So those are just some general examples, but they're usually looking at something that is passive, highly scalable, and hey, if there is a business opportunity that may also have a real estate play or some really nice tax benefits, that usually raises an eyebrow. And, and you know, there are a, a few franchise models out there where there is a real estate play or maybe there's a, an equipment opportunity where you can, um, accelerate the depreciation and get some really nice Exactly. Tax write offs every year that you open one. So private equity is usually really focused on long-term.
Speaker 1 00:18:33 Long-term. Okay. Yeah. Cuz the mindset would be is that the p and e would be looking to turn something around really quickly, but you're feeling in working with p and e companies or, uh, organizations that are looking to invest in certain categories, they're really looking at more long-term. Now, again, long-term is a definition that it may be different than everybody may have a different definition of what long-term is, but they're not in it for a year or 24 months. They're looking to really build this and scale it.
Speaker 2 00:19:02 Yeah. And when you think about franchising, where franchising tends to be most successful is it goes into industries that are proven and have a very high demand, but are highly fragmented. And what a franchise does is it goes in, it meets the demand through more efficient branding, marketing, operational accounting systems, and it captures market share. So rarely do we see a franchise that is in a really hot new trendy industry. Right. Usually franchising is in the tried and true. Right. And it's in just another way to mitigate risk. It essentially creates consolidation,
Speaker 1 00:19:44 Right? So, yeah, I used to tell, I used to tell people that, look, in franchising your object or your mission is to be able to, in, in, in most cases, please the masses. Because, you know, that's why there are so many pizza places, so many burger places, so many chicken places, sub places, you go down the list in food because those, those places, please to the masses versus, you know, right. Only a select group. Okay. Um, you are part of an organization called Brand One, and I've looked at brand one. When I look at people like Kurt, Mike, uh, you know, the founders of this, uh, organization, um, their tenure in the franchising industry is just, I mean, it's endless. The history pages that those two I've written within the industry and their position within the industry and have it regarded in the industry, uh, are really second to none.
Speaker 1 00:20:38 Uh, you know, it's, if, if you, if you need to bend somebody's year about an idea, uh, in the franchising industry, um, you know, there's no better two people to call up than Kurt and Mike. Um, and Brand one has, its positioned itself with its brand portfolio with brands that really do kind of fit well into not only that husband and wife team, uh, that small entrepreneur looking to eventually scale button slower steps, but also working with private equity. And I think that's key because not every brand, I I, I, I'm sure every franchisor would love to work with a private equity group, but some brands just don't have the position or the history. I call the validation data because as we said before, numbers don't lie. That shows what the brands that you have in your portfolio can be part of a private equity, uh, uh, portfolio.
Speaker 1 00:21:37 And one of the brands that, and I mentioned this a couple of minutes ago, a brand that you and I actually got connected on was, uh, the, uh, a brand called Laundry Lab. Uh, I call it the Quarters business because I remember back in the late seventies, my friend and I, he's still a very good friend of mine, he's very successful entrepreneur. We wanted to buy a laundromat. And one of the fascinating things was, is that to us it was just quarters. I mean, obviously there was a lot more, we were young and naive back then, but, you know, you went in, you unload, you took out the, uh, the, uh, the change machine and you dumped your quarters in and you went to the bank. Um, but the Laro, the laundromat business Wash and Fold is a very popular model. And, uh, recently you took on a brand Laro lab, as I mentioned, um, and really have hit some or exceeded goals within the first 12 months of franchising this business.
Speaker 1 00:22:28 You hit over a hundred units sold and, um, you decided, and an executive decision was, uh, made to hold off on future development until quarter 2, 20 23. At least that's the short term goal because you wanted to get these franchises opened. It's, it's important to support the franchisees and invoke now the time to real estate. How important of a decision is that for a company like Brand One and reflect on its mission statement to support franchisees? Cuz not a lot of brands would do that. A lot of brands would just keep going and, you know, whatever the real estate, you know, operational side through them, you know, they, they deal with it at that time. What was the reasoning behind that?
Speaker 2 00:23:22 I think it really speaks to integrity. It absolutely speaks to integrity. So we have awarded over a hundred territories to, uh, 28 to 30 franchise partners. And we pause development because we want to ensure that everyone is opening, getting successful, getting the support, get, accessing all of of the systems, everything that we had promised. And, you know, when you had said that the validation data, the data doesn't lie. I believe it would be irresponsible for us to continue awarding franchise licenses without increasing the amount of data and validation data that we have to our candidates. So what I love about LA Lab and just, and Brand one and the integrity here is that the business, this is an example of a business that is very well capitalized, that has exceptional infrastructure, has an incredible leadership team that is poised for development and support. So before we just, there's, there's an expression that, that Michael uses sometimes. He said, sometimes people just want the candy and they just want more and more candy as in kind of awarding franchise license. So we can pat ourselves on the back and say, oh, look, we're at 150 hun, 150 territories, 200 territories. He's like, oh, that Candy's gonna make you sick. You gotta stop <laugh>, eat something nutritious for a while. Right.
Speaker 1 00:24:56 <laugh>. Right, right. No, you're absolutely right. And it works on the franchisee side too. I mean, you know, sometimes ego gets in the way, you know, instead of just signing off for three, four, or five, they say, well, I want 20. Well, why do you want 20? What's your business model? What, what's your structure for running these 20, uh, in the timeframe, the development schedule? And they kind of look at you with a deer in headlights and say, oh, I just want 20. You know, and, and, and it's more of, I I wanna tell my friends I bought 20 of this or 30 of this, and there's really, you know, and that hurts the brand because the brand is putting into development a royalty stream on hold to get those open. And if they don't open, um, we're talking about Laundry Lab in the Brand One portfolio, but Brand one has some pretty unique brands.
Speaker 1 00:25:41 Uh, you know, I, one of the ones that has always caught my attention is Velo. Um, uh, you just brought on another new pet concept, uh, pet the pet industry, as you said. Um, you know, you were talking about hair, uh, we're always gonna need haircuts. We're all gonna, always gonna need hair styling. You may not do it yourself, but it's a business. The pet industry is the same way. Uh, mattresses are the same way. We, we, we pretty much all sleep on a mattress. Um, certain things just don't go away. How does brand one, when selecting a brand to bring on board, and you can talk about some of the other brands that you have in your portfolio. You have the, uh, a couple of, uh, pet concepts. But how does Brand One connect with these brands and kind of look at it as far as, how do I grow this? Is there, is there a connection to it being a common thread that we all need this and go for there pleases the masses? We talked about the masses. Yeah. I mean, I hope that question makes sense. I may be babbling here a little bit, but it's always unique, you know, uh, you're not just bringing on anybody. You're bringing on bands, I think that focus in on the masses.
Speaker 2 00:26:58 Yeah. Yeah. And there is, I would say, one of the common threads in terms of the, the product, excuse me. The product or service that the brands offer is they are consistently in a tried and true industry. And they have, uh, innovation, um, something that is unique where they are meeting, uh, the demand in a new or innovative way. So for example, you mentioned Verlo, and Verlo is a, a mattress company. Now we've been sleeping on mattress <laugh>, we're a little while now, right? <laugh>, right. I can drive down the street and I can see some mattress stores. So what's so unique about Verlo is the way that they customize the mattress and make it onsite for the customer. And today we customize everything. I mean, I was 19 years old and assistant manager in a Starbucks when we just started customizing our coffee. Right? Right. Absolutely not that milk, vanilla, whatever. We, we wear custom orthotics in our shoes. We customize our vehicle. I'd like this color, this leather interior, this sound system. We customize our laptops, the color, the storage, the ram. We, we customize so many things today. I think we take it for granted. And yet what don't we customize is the thing that we spend about a third of our life on. Right? When you think that we sleep eight hours a day, eight outta 24 hours, why aren't we customizing our mattress?
Speaker 1 00:28:38 People? Enfranchised don't sleep that long though. <laugh>, I'm only kidding you.
Speaker 2 00:28:45 LA Lab has, what's unique about LA Lab is it is a tech forward modernized laundromat that has proprietary technology for a pickup and drop-off service that captures larger market share. Um, you mentioned a couple in the pet industry. So brand one, I mean, what I love about brand one, when you look at our portfolio of businesses, we have businesses where the total investment is 80,000 up to 1.8 million,
Speaker 1 00:29:15 Right? Yep.
Speaker 2 00:29:16 Right. We really run the gamut. The pet related businesses have, um, a very unique approach to the proprietary methodology, et cetera. So not only is there something tried and true married with something innovative in all of our brands, but before we partner with a brand to support their recruitment, we, our saying is we work with people we like trust and respect. How simple is that? Yep. Who do we like, trust and respect their leadership team, their integrity? Are they well capitalized? Are they committed to sustainable and meaningful, meaningful growth, or do they just want too much candy?
Speaker 1 00:30:00 Right, exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:30:02 And so you ask people, Hey, you know, for example, and this is a little bit of a tangent, Scott, but this is my pet peeve, and I'd be curious if you share this pet peeve certain publications every year post a, you know, top hundred, top 500 entrepreneur list. So that's great, but what are, what's the criteria that they're using? And what drives me nuts is when they rank a, a franchise as the top of the list because the sales team sold 500 licenses. Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:30:38 But,
Speaker 2 00:30:39 But who cares if there are 500 licenses awarded if none of them are open, happy, successful, or getting the support they need.
Speaker 1 00:30:48 Right. I I, you just hit the nail on the head and, and, and I think this separates, um, brand one in your approach. Um, two, it's not only about awarding franchises, but it's also about, um, getting people opened and making sure franchisees, maybe it's that $80,000 investment that that person can become scalable, becomes profitable, um, starts building their wealth and legacy, or the person who's the private, the company that's the private equity that is gonna get a return on investment, you know, five, 10 years from now as they build and scale. Because when you think about that 80,000 do, uh, $80,000 investment, that person who's investing 80 to a hundred thousand, and the private equity company that's investing maybe millions, couple of million, the end game is the same. It's the end game in their back of their mind. It's the, but, but more importantly, it's the, the end game for brand one is the same. We want to take that private equity group, make sure that they're successful, and we wanna make sure that that a hundred thousand dollars investment franchisee is just as successful and the importance is the same. Is that correct? I mean, is that Yes,
Speaker 2 00:32:12 Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And one thing when I, when I'm speaking with candidates, and sometimes they're looking at multiple opportunities, and if they tell me, oh, this other franchise is is selling so fast, they told me, if I don't sign next week, you know, I'm gonna lose the opportunity because they've awarded 500 franchises. And I'm like, well, do you want 500 people in line in front of you? And do you trust the leadership and their integrity to have your back?
Speaker 1 00:32:42 Right, right. Move forward. Yeah. And I think that's, that's, that's the intellectual part of what you and I do in educating anybody about, you know, what to be looking at. Sure. They have, they, they, like you said, sure, subway has 48,000, uh, locations, but <laugh>, where is the, you know, what does that do for you? I mean, sure, there's brand awareness, we get it. But, um, you know, uh, I used to tell people when I was involved in, uh, you know, kind of the burger business, I, I used to tell people, I go, look, I, you know, it, they say, well, there's so many burger places. And I go, yeah, there are, you know, and there's a reason for it. We discussed that earlier, pleasing the masses. I said, the difference is, is that you gotta be better than everybody else. I mean, it, it comes down to customer service to franchise or providing that operational and marketing support for its franchisees.
Speaker 1 00:33:41 So again, there's a lot to consider, and that's what someone like yourself and Brand one and the development team, Michael, and you know, everybody else that's involved really focuses in on what's best for the franchisee. And I, I would say that it's safe to say, Emily, that brand one is not shy about telling someone whether it's a hundred thousand dollars investment or a 1.9 million investment that, hey, this isn't for you. You know, this, this isn't best for us, and it's, and our franchisees that are already in the system, but we also think it may not be best for you and kind of walk away. I, I think the saying is, walk away friends
Speaker 2 00:34:22 <laugh>. Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 00:34:24 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:34:25 So, and, and I've, I've used an expression a couple of times just during our conversation where I talk about franchises are awarded and franchises, in my opinion, when it's done right, franchises are awarded, they're not bought. And so in order to be awarded a franchise, that means that the franchisor has complete faith in, in you, and they believe in your ability to be successful. If it's not a fit, we're doing everyone a favor by the end of the day as saying, Hey, this isn't a good fit and let's partway as as good friends. But then the benefit of working with somebody like you, Scott. And I don't think when you and I have worked together quite a bit, I don't think we've ever come up, you've ever recommended a franchise to someone when they weren't a fit. But the another benefit of working with you is they've, they get to look at a couple of different options that have been thoroughly vetted and thoroughly screened. Yep. Plus they get your education on top of it. So.
Speaker 1 00:35:24 Well, I appreciate that. And I, and I think as, uh, as I've gotten to work with you over the years, uh, and we've worked with some pretty high net worth individuals, uh, people who are pretty savvy to business, um, uh, I, I think that, uh, the approach that you're taking in brand one, um, uh, kind of that even keel, you know, we're not here to bend any arms or, you know, push anybody over the goal line unless they want to, you know, get in the goal, uh, into the end zone, uh, is unique. And, uh, I don't think I would expect anybody, I mean, transparency's great, Hey Bob, hey Mary. There is somebody else looking at the territory, but we want you to make as mu take as much time as you want for to make a decision anyway. So it's, uh, um, what's, what's on the horizon for Emily in franchising?
Speaker 1 00:36:21 I mean, uh, is, is, you know, one of the things that I've always caught my attention about working with you is your excitement and passion about this industry. Um, I don't think, you know, I don't think I've ever, uh, you know, had a conversation with you. Just say, Hey, look, you know, we don't wanna do that. There's always a, there's always a way to work something out with you. And that's unique cuz it's easy to throw it under the carpet and walk away and say, you know what, uh, you know, kind of a little bit more patience than I do. So what's <laugh>? Where does, where does Emily see herself in the industry with Brand One? Is this just the beginning for brand one? I mean, if, if, if we were reaching out now and somebody from Private Equity or somebody that was looking at franchising for the first time was say, and and we wanted them to pick up the phone and call me to call you, or you, they call you directly. What, what are some of the things that you should be telling them about Brand One and, and you as a development within, uh, brand One?
Speaker 2 00:37:20 Oh, I don't think we have enough time for me to answer that question. <laugh>, uh, I'll take a stab at it. Uh, brand one, the, we have about 15 people part of brand one, I think when we added up our experience in franchising, it was almost 300 years. I mean, wow. Significant. Yeah. Um, the people at Brand One have a level of integrity and excellence that I have never encountered. I'm so honored to be a part of this group and this team. Uh, I do absolutely love what I do, and I believe in what I do. And I even have to warn <laugh> sometimes when I'm, when I'm meeting with a candidate, uh, I always promise complete transparency because the truth always comes out. So let's, there are
Speaker 1 00:38:18 No secrets in franchising
Speaker 2 00:38:19 <laugh>, there's no secrets. This is a regulated industry. There is a high degree of transparency out of respect for people's time. I'm, I just lead with the truth. Right? Right. Um, and I do need to warn them. I said, Hey, if I sound really excited, um, I apologize if I sound salesy. I just really love <laugh> business. And right now, you know, I'm focusing on a pet related business that is, oh, people can't see me talking with my hands right now. There are no words how much I love this business and getting to talk about dogs. Um, one thing that's really special to me and not commonly known about Brand one is that a number of members of the brand, one team actually own franchises in the brand one portfolio.
Speaker 1 00:39:12 Oh, that's interesting. Wow.
Speaker 2 00:39:13 Yeah. More than you would realize. So for example, you know, one person's brother bought a, brought a brand, one brand, somebody's spouse bought a brand, one brand, many, the many, many examples. Um, what's next for Emily in the future? Well, when my son graduates high school, my husband and I might be buying a franchise, so franchise, you
Speaker 1 00:39:37 Know? Yep, yep, yep. Well that's great. You know, Emily, um, I, I gotta tell you that this has been very informative conversation. Um, you know, uh, you bring a kind of a light to franchising a shining light. I think it's, uh, and, and, and I gotta tell you, even some of the candidates that we have worked with that, uh, you know, kind of decided to not do this for whatever reason, and, uh, you know, and again, more of a validated decision or the timing wasn't right, uh, the validated decision wasn't at the right time. Uh, I don't think I've ever had anybody tell me that Emily, uh, you know, was trying to arm wrestle me into a decision wasn't salesy, uh, and even brand one, their professional approach. So I think that's a, uh, you know, a high five to you and, uh, to everyone over at, at Brand One.
Speaker 1 00:40:28 And I have to be transparent. I don't know everybody at Brand One, but I know a few of the players and, uh, it, it's always been great, uh, listening to them and speaking at conferences and so forth. So, um, um, any closing thoughts? Anything you wanna share before? Unfortunately we're out of time, not out of time, but, um, I don't wanna, I, I want to, I, I, you know, I wanna, uh, keep track of the time here, uh, as, as a professional courtesy for you, but anything you wanna share, anything you wanna close with, um, anything anybody should be thinking about if even they're, you know, thinking about picking up the phone
Speaker 2 00:41:03 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. Well, one thing that I love about working with you and we keep using the term education is I would look at this as a learning process and not necessarily a buying process, right? So if, if anyone listening is thinking that it's all the $5 foot long or the golden arches like I was, great news is there is a whole world of opportunities that you can learn about.
Speaker 1 00:41:35 Absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:41:36 So, uh, I have Scott is do they have your contact information if they,
Speaker 1 00:41:41 Yeah, actually, um, we're gonna be putting it up, uh, towards the end here. Do you wanna share any contact information with anybody or, uh, email address if anybody just has some questions or wants to know more about Brand one or maybe there's some private equity groups that like to, you know, kind of, you know, open the door a little bit cuz nobody in private equity likes to open the door wide open right away. But <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:42:06 I would, I would start with our website, which is brand one f d as in franchise development, brand one fd.com. Um, happy to give my email address, but it's kind of long and hard. Say,
Speaker 1 00:42:20 Well, we'll put it down on the bottom there. Okay. It's gonna show up on the bottom down there.
Speaker 2 00:42:24 Yeah. See proof. You wanna provide my email address, my direct phone number, our website. Um, if somebody just wants to pick up the phone and have a conversation with me, happy to chat. Happy to chat. Okay,
Speaker 1 00:42:36 Great. Great, Emily. Um, hey, look, I wish you and your family a great Thanksgiving. Um, uh, the holidays are approaching. It's a great time of year. Um, I wish you, uh, peace and prosperity and, uh, good health as they say. Uh, I look forward to continuing working with you and everyone over at Brand One. So, uh, but this is scotty myles scott myles franchise coach.com. Uh, you've been listening to another, uh, chapter, episode of All Things Considered Franchising. Know Ya, you Know, what's Your Know and Know Your Why. I've been talking to Emily Anderson over at, uh, brand One. Uh, and, uh, just follow the information to reach out to either one of us. But, uh, certainly like to wish everyone a, uh, a happy holiday season and, uh, we will catch you the next time. 3, 2, 1.
