[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of All Things considered. Franchising, powered by Scottmylas franchisecoach.com. I am your host, Scotty Milas. Scott. Scotty Milas, all things considered, franchising is a podcast dedicated to the entrepreneur.
We talk to people that are business owners, franchisees, independent business owners, franchiseors. Scottmilosfranchisecoach.com is an organization consulting organization that I put together many years ago to help people navigate and learn more about business ownership, the services, guidance, and education that we
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I have a great guest with me today and somebody that, well, first of all, I can't believe it's almost five years now that he's been with this particular organization. And if you look at him, and if you are looking at him, you probably think he just got out of high school and he's like, wow, how did I get into so somebody who I've gotten to know over the years, somebody who I have a lot of respect for, for not only as a person and somebody who is in the franchising industry, but the brand he is with.
I'd like to introduce and welcome to the show, Donnie Ferreira. Donnie, welcome to the show.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: Thank you, Scott. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: Donnie, you are franchise development matter and manager. You were previously a franchise development specialist, but you're with itrip short term vacation rental specialists. Probably one of the more unique brands that I have in my portfolio. Really kind of centered around technology and sales aptitude, I guess is the best way that I like to describe it.
Tell us a little bit about how you got into franchising and maybe touch on a little bit about itrip and we'll kind of go from there.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm happy to. Scott, so, funny story.
I was six years old, maybe five, watching tv with a parents, and I saw this McDonald's commercial on the tv, and I was like, wow, that's what I want to do. No, I'm just kidding. I did not do that. So I got into franchising. Scott was kind of out of the unknown. It was an unplanned move for me, and I cannot be more happy to be in the franchise industry.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: That's interesting.
Unplanned.
Can you tell us a little bit about that first encounter in kind of something that might have tickled you or tapped you on the back shoulder and said, hey, this may be something that you want to think about. I mean, was it a job application?
How did it come about?
[00:03:00] Speaker B: It's that old saying, it's who you know, people that you know. So it was more on the networking side of things. And to answer your question about what made me stay in the franchise industry for believe it or not, Scott, over eleven years. I've been in the franchise industry for over eleven years.
What sparked my desire to stick and stay is that franchising, Scott, is all about sharing, to multiply. That's the motto of franchising. I do believe in practicing responsible franchising from day one. But the motto for me is all know we got a concept, we got something. Be it subway, be it McDonald's, be itrip. Be it chick fil a, whatever concept it is.
We're sharing that concept with entrepreneurs. We're sharing that concept with people that are interested in building something for themselves, building a lifestyle, building a legacy, growing, becoming franchising for me, Scott, and I think that's a great question, what made me stick here for over eleven years in the franchise industry? And I can say that franchising is all about sharing to multiply. So think of a concept. Be it McDonald's, be it subway, be it itrip. Be it chickfila. Whichever concept that you viewer is evaluating for your next venture, that concept is a sharing to multiply concept where you're buying into, and I don't like to use the word buying to be honest. I like to use the word investing. Right?
[00:04:27] Speaker A: You're investing into something. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: And it's all about growing that and scaling and building something that's self sufficient, building a legacy and leaving something behind for the kids or even selling that business over to somebody else. So that's franchising for me. It's all about sharing and multiplying.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: That's interesting. Let's touch on itrip because I find know I remember and I've had a lot of respect for the organization I've gotten to know. Recently promoted from VP over to president. Now I guess Vicki, who's been on this podcast, she was actually our first guest when we started the podcast, all things considered, franchising. So it's kind of an interesting story. But itrip has always been one of those unique brands and unique in a number of different ways. And one of the ways that I've always looked at it at being unique, at least in my eyes, is that it's not for everybody.
Typically, you may be able to put a square peg in a round hole in some brands and get around it. But itrip is kind of unique in a sense that it really is an enterprise type business that you can build. And when you say you could sit on the beach with your iPad, eventually it's something you can actually do. So tell us a little bit about it. The short term vacation rental market and itrip in the industry, because not only do you have the bells and the whistles and the systems and the support levels for someone to be successful, you are heavily backed in the technology end, which I think is really unique and it plays an integral part in the success of franchisees within.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: Absolutely. So, Scott, great observation, by the way. Itrip is a technology company. Little story about itrip. We've been around for over 15 years. That's 1515 years. We were founded by property owners for property owners. And our company was founded upon the premise of technology is what helps you grow and scale. It's what helps you with automation, maintaining your quality of service, being able to multitask, do your business, grow your business and scale. I like to say that without technology, it's very difficult to scale. So itrip is a very well positioned technology company in the short term rental industry. Short term for you that viewers that are not really familiar with the industry think of Airbnb. That's pretty much the kind of industry that we're in. When you think of Airbnb, I do get asked the question oftentimes, which is, what's the difference between itrip and Airbnb, or do we compete with Airbnb? And you've heard us say this millions of times, Scott, we don't. Itrip and Airbnb are not competitors. In fact, itrip and Airbnb are channel partners. And believe it or not, we have over 80 channel partners or booking sites, also known as OTAs or online travel agencies that are integrated or connected to the iTRip technology, the iTrip software, and with our integration, we're able to consolidate the calendars, consolidate the bookings. It allows properties to be simultaneously marketed and promoted across all these 80 plus booking sites, which attracts more travelers. More bookings increases the revenue. So in a nutshell, that's what itrip is. It is a full time business opportunity, like you mentioned at the beach with your iPad. Not initially. Maybe the first couple of years.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: Not initially. Absolutely not initially. Yes, you are absolutely right.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: Not as much in the beginning.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Your profile candidate that you're looking for is that executive, somebody who's been in business for ten plus years, really kind of well rounded in an experience and development skill sets and operational skill sets, managing. But you really are focused on bringing somebody on board who's going to work those 40, 50, 60 hours a week and kind of get the business situated and then 18 months, 24 months down the road, start expanding, hiring managers and things like that. Did I get that right? I think that's the ideal candidate for you.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: You said it better than I could, Scott. That's exactly right.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: The short term vacation rental market or industry, I should say not so much. Market does get some pushback, does have some restrictions on it. I always like to say that big Brother is watching.
I hate to say it, but it's a fact that big Brother is watching it. What can you tell us about the industry, where it has been, where it is, where it's going, and the aspects of regulations. And for someone who may think about coming into it, how should they look at all of this that's going on within the industry?
[00:09:26] Speaker B: That's a great question, Scott. And I think it's a great segue to a very good question that I do get asked, which know is itrip a viable long term opportunity? Is this industry here to stay? And I got some good news here, Scott. First and foremost, regulations are expected and welcome. That tells you that the industry is maturing or it's already matured to a point where it's solidified. Right. It's been established, so regulations are welcome. We are very involved in the regulatory field through groups such as Burma Vacation Rental Management association, parent company Inhabit is also very involved in the industry when it comes to talks and discussions. We incentivize and we assist our franchisees in getting involved in their local conversations, their local community as well. It's all about, Scott, the value of a professional company versus bad apples out there. And because of some bad apples, small companies, college kids that are just leaving school and opening up an Airbnb account and then managing three, four properties, those are typically bad apples that do affect the industry and the fact that we have regulations to minimize those type of incidents. It's something that's welcome in our franchisees. Being part of a professional franchise definitely sets us apart in the industry and it gives us a lot of validation.
[00:10:56] Speaker A: One of the other attractive parts or pieces to the puzzle with itrip is one. It is a work from home business. There's not a lot of moving parts as far as inventory employees.
Matter of fact, it's somewhere down the road when you start bringing on employees, if you do decide to go on that. But it's really more of subcontract work, contractors, cleaning.
One of the things that you just touched on that was interesting is that being involved and knowing what's going on as far as the regulations, with that being said, that you're paying attention, does that help your franchisees deliver the message to their potential clients, customers, the people that are renting out second or third homes or primary homes as Airbnb opportunities or short term vacation rental opportunities to do it the right way versus the wrong way?
[00:11:56] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. That's a great observation. Homeowners are savvy, Scott. These homeowners are investors. They're affluent people.
They know what they're getting into. They know that their properties are something that they want to take care of, and they want that property to generate revenue and to be something that's legal, to be something that's done correctly. And the fact that we, as a professional property management company, with over 100 franchisees all over the country, 15 plus years in the industry, we have a parent company who's very involved in the industry as well. The fact that the franchisee has that backing is so valuable, and that's a story. And I know that story sells. It's a story that the franchisee is able to tell the property owner, and that oftentimes does give the property owner a lot more peace of mind knowing that, hey, I'm trusting somebody that's locally owned and operated, a local owner, and also the fact that that company, that franchise is a national company, it gives a lot more peace of mind.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: What are some of the decision processes that a homeowner makes when deciding on a property management company to manage the kind of a calendar? I think what's unique about your technology, just to give everybody a perspective that's listening today, is that if you were doing this on your own, and, Donna, you'll correct me on this, but this is how I typically explain it. If you were inclined to do all this all on your own, and you had six or seven different sites that you were putting your property on as a short term rental, that once you put it on one and somebody books it, you then have to go into the other five and delete those dates. Your technology really cumbersomes all of the available sites, the partnerships that you have, so that if somebody books on one site, it comes off on the other. Is that correct? Do I have that correct?
[00:13:56] Speaker B: That is correct. That is correct.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: Integrates the calendars. There you go. That's the technology word. I don't know. Integration. So thanks for explaining that to you. So when we look at that integration and the technology.
I guess that's another tool that your franchisees have. That helps explain why somebody like an itrip franchisee is a better bet than somebody who's doing this on their own.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: I agree. Technology is definitely number one because technology is the foundation for scalability. A lot of mom and pop shops, a lot of small companies, individual operators to your point, do not have either access or ability to have that kind of technology that allows them to scale and grow. So if you're looking to manage 510 15 properties, itrip is probably not the best route for you to proceed with. But if you're looking to scale and grow, build an empire, get to 60, 7100. We have franchisees managing over 100, over 200, over 300 properties. If that's your ultimate goal, to build a professional business, having the support of a franchise like itrip is so valuable.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: Okay. One of the requirements in certain states is a real estate broker's license.
And I've had clients that have become very disappointed when I have presented the opportunity and then say you need a broker's license or ask if they have a broker license and they say why? And explain it to them.
Not that we want to walk around any rules or regulations, we want to follow the laws, local laws, state laws, but is this something that the industry is tackling or are we going to see more and more states coming on board who are going to be requiring a broker's license to be in the short term vacation property management business?
[00:15:57] Speaker B: Yeah, that's definitely a topic that we do discuss with your clients, Scott, with folks that are looking at itrip as an investment opportunity, especially if they do live or they are interested in starting an itrip franchise within a state that requires the real estate broker license.
The good news here is that there are some states, a few years ago Pennsylvania used to require a broker license. It got overturned because a property manager sued the state. The state removed that requirement. Indiana is another state that is going through the process of removing that requirement because it kind of makes sense if you're in the business of buying and selling properties, yes, you need to have a real estate broker's license. But if you're not in the business of buying and selling properties and you're just managing somebody else's asset, there's not really as far as I can think, and I'm sure that there might be a reason, but as far as I can see, there's not really a reason for that. Although I do understand that some states want the person who's managing that asset to be qualified to move the money, because there is an escrow account involved. There's money that's moving from the guest over to the franchisee, from the franchisee over to the property owner. There is some level of financial movement there. But yes, it is a requirement in some states. Now, franchisees do have the ability, Scott, to either partner with somebody who does have a broker license, meaning they could be a member of the business and part ownership of the business. Or you could have a side agreement with somebody who's not involved in the business as an owner, and you could hang your license with that broker. And that's typically a way to navigate those waters.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: That's interesting. So if I was interested in, if I lived in a state where they require a broker's license, real estate broker's license, and I didn't have one, and you were a real estate broker, can I bring you in as a partner in the business? Kind of have that silent agreement. And a lot of this has to do with, as you just said, the money, the escrow money, the knowledge of how all that works in the real estate industry.
And two, the contract side of it, I would think also the language in the contract side. So, if I wanted you to be a silent partner, does it require that person to be on the franchise agreement? Or is that more of, hey, Donnie, I want you to know, I don't have a real estate brokerage license for Indiana, but I do have a silent partner. Do you need to know who that person is? Are you bringing them through the process and making sure that they are the right person to be that silent partner? With what kind of help or assistance or guidance are you helping as an organization to secure that partnership?
[00:18:47] Speaker B: Yeah, great question, Scott. So it is a prerequisite, before we award an itrip franchise to somebody who lives in a state or is looking to start an itrip business in a state that requires a broker license? We do require that the person comply with the local state obligations, because the last thing we want to do, Scott, is to award a night trip franchise to somebody, that person, and then starts to get the license later. Can't get the license, something is going on, they don't qualify, or the person doesn't do a good job, and they end up losing out on the ability to grow their business and legally manage property. So having this more conservative approach, we have a requirement, a prerequisite, before the franchise is awarded to this person that they do qualify locally. Now they can partner with somebody locally, they can find somebody who's a real estate broker, and there's many different ways to do so. One of the strategies that we encourage candidates to follow through is to talk to the real estate commissioner to get some understanding of what the laws are. We do our research. We want to make sure that there is a capability possibility for somebody to do that. So we do our extensive reach as well. But the due diligence is also expected that the candidate will do their own due diligence in finding somebody locally and making sure that they find somebody who will do a good job. Now, there are fiduciary obligations, which is why this is such a delicate discussion sometimes with the person, because whoever you're partnering with will have fiduciary obligations as well. So you want to make sure you're finding somebody who you can trust. That's the bottom line here.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: Right. And that compensation for that person or partnership comes through many different ways. I mean, that's something that come through bookings or things like that. But again, to your point is that you want to make sure that in those states that do require a real estate broker's license. And again, a key point here is it's a real estate broker's license, it's not a real estate license. There are two different scenarios there. Just because you have a real estate license doesn't mean to sell homes or commercial property does not mean that you have a real estate broker's license. There are two different things.
[00:20:58] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: I think the real estate license comes before you have to have a real estate license for so many years. And I guess each state is different before you can actually obtain a broker's license.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Right.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: Typically the broker owns the agency. I think that's how it typically works.
[00:21:13] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: Good. So you're dotting the I's and crossing the t's on your franchisees, making sure that they're doing this the right way.
You have the operational support, the marketing support.
I know from talking to my clients that have invested into iTrip, your training and technology is top notch. Just a great organization to work with.
And we touched on this earlier just to kind of recap here, what are some of the qualifications, skill sets that you're looking for for potential franchisees to have to be awarded a franchise?
[00:21:52] Speaker B: You mentioned something earlier which is very interesting, and I saw you mention this in other podcasts as well. Sales aptitude. I think that's a vital aspect of owning a service franchise, be itrip or any other service business that you're exploring with Scott. I think being able to network with people, not cold calling like the itrip is not the type of franchise where you're going to have a list of 100 property owners. Call each of them and hopefully you'll get one. That's not how itrip works. That's not how we train our franchisees to do their work. It's more of the networking, it's more of the get your name out there, talk to know. Hey, I am Scott. I'm a franchisee of ITrip here in Indiana. We have properties all over the country. We're part of a national franchise. We're looking for property owners that are interested in joining our portfolio of properties, and we would love to be able to share with you our value proposition and what we can do to help you increase your revenue for your property. I guess just talking to people and networking is a huge way to be successful in this industry. As far as qualifications, 1015 or so years of professional business experience, you must live in the territory or not too far away from the territory, which kind of makes sense why, right? You can't live in New York while managing properties in Miami. It doesn't work. Homeowners are not going to hire you, they're not going to sign up for your services. So being local in the market, in the territory, you must be looking for a full time business, which we touched on earlier in the podcast as well. Looking for a full time opportunity, work hard, a lot of sweat equity, a lot of heavy lifting the first couple of years, and eventually scale and grow, hire people, and then it becomes potentially more of a passive investment. So those would be the main qualifications. Networking, 15 or so years of experience in business, live in the market and pursue a full time ownership model.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I find itrip to be one of those businesses that the numbers do the talking, reoccurring revenue, the investment level. Not to go into specifics, but it's under $200,000.
Turnkey. I think what I admire most about your organization is that there's no ego here in the sense that you have to give somebody five territories or ten territories, you're starting everybody out with, hey, here's your territory, show us you can work it. And then two, three years from now, if you want to expand and you have an opportunity, or you're moving, or you have family that's staying here and you're going there, let's talk about expanding. But this isn't an opportunity where you're going to be required to invest in multiple territories.
It has a great validation, an item 19 in regards to the territory structures that you have, what we call single territories. Am I correct on that?
[00:24:40] Speaker B: Yes, you are. And the reason behind that, Scott, the reason why most franchisees don't really expand into other markets or other territories is because if your number one objective is to increase your revenue, the easy answer is not, all right, let's buy another territory and invest another territory. The easy answer is let's open up the floodgates. Let's add more properties to our portfolio. So eventually franchisees will reach a point where I don't need to grow my portfolio in another territory, I can grow it here and make more money if that's my objective. Now, we do have a handful of franchisees who do own multiple territories, but it's not the rule, it's the exception.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Right.
And you're awarding those multiple territories to exceptional franchisees that have shown that they can manage and work one territory. It always baffled me about organizations, franchises that award all these multiple territories to somebody that may have never run a business before and yet they're expecting them to come in and work five territories, three territories, especially in a service based business. But look, if it can work, great.
What else can you share about itrip? We're closing down here. We've got a few minutes left. Maybe anything else that I missed asking? Anything about itrip, anything you want to share, anything exciting, anything that's happening again. You are now a national powerhouse. National organization. I think the question has come up. International opportunities occasionally. You haven't, from what I know, dabbled into that just yet. Anything on the horizon? Anything new you'd like to share?
[00:26:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So we are in the conversations of soon, sometime soon, going across borders, finally playing with the big boys out there, eventually getting out of the country and selling what we call awarding what we call massive franchise deals. We're not ready yet. We want to make sure that all of our ducks on the row, everything is ready before we take that big approach, because it is a huge proposition for us to pursue, which is to go international. As far as exciting news about iTrip, I do want to share to the viewers that itrip has been awarded for the last six years, consecutive six years that we've been awarded the elite partnership status, software partnership status with Verbo or VRBo. Now, Verbo is present in over 180 countries. They are a listing site just like Airbnb and they're owned by the Expedia Group. And the fact that we are software lead partners with Verbo is huge. And we're out of ten companies that got the award this year. We're the only property management company to receive this award. And it's huge because it allows us to be what we call in the tech field, beta testers for new technology. So whenever Verbo is launching something new out there, believe it or not, we know exactly what's coming down the pipeline before it goes public, which means we can test that technology on behalf of our bottle. And eventually, once it goes live, we already knew what was going to go live and we prepared for it so that once it launches, we're ahead of the competition.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: Know, it's a unique know we've been talking to Donnie Ferrara, who is franchise development manager for iTrip. Kind of a unique short term vacation rental opportunity franchise. I think one of the things that's always attracted me to your business model is not only the systems, the technology, but the people within the organization. I mean, you seem to have lined yourselves with experts in the industry.
You've brought the expertise to your franchisees and obviously you learn from your franchisees, but you're continuing to grow the organization with the experts that come in versus trying to train people to become experts. I think sometimes that's a common error in franchising. Know, Donnie, it's been great talking to you. If somebody was interested in learning more about itrip, what is the best way for them to get in contact with you? Is it LinkedIn? Is it a website? Obviously they can reach out to me, but what would be some of the best ways for people to learn more or get some more information on itrip?
[00:28:49] Speaker B: So investing in a franchise is a big deal. So you viewer who's watching or listening to this podcast, reach out to Scott. He's a professional in the industry. Don't go and navigate these waters without a professional like Scott to help you ask the right questions. When you're interested in exploring franchising, making sure that you're being introduced to franchiseors that have validated their process and are not just trying to sell a business to make some buck, make sure that the franchise is sustainable. Working with Scott is definitely something that I would encourage people to do. But if you're interested in looking at our website first, looking at some videos, seeing what itrip is all about, go to the itripfranchise.com website. There's a lot of good information there as well. But do reach out to Scott. Scott will be more than happy to have a one on one meeting with you to see if it makes sense to invest in franchise and if it makes sense for itrip to be one of the brands that you might be exploring for this next big chapter, which is a huge chapter that you're about to get into. So entrepreneurs are the foundation of Itrip. We do appreciate, Scott, all that you do for us, and we've been working together, you and I, for five years, almost five years, actually.
Yeah, almost six years. And it's been a pleasure. We appreciate all that you do, Scott. And for the franchise industry, for the franchise world, congratulations on reaching over 50 podcasts. That's a huge accomplishment. Not easy. And I appreciate you considering us for this chapter of your podcast as well.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: Well, thank you very much for the kind words. And again, I sincerely mean give my best to everybody over at it picking and everybody else.
It's truly a top notch organization in the category. It's something to consider, especially if you're looking to build kind of that legacy that build.
And I guess it really focuses in on the exit strategy if you're really looking for something to build that is going to eventually sell.
I mean, I won't go into specifics, but the potential is there for a good ROI on an itrip franchise.
You've been listening to Donnie Ferraro, who is franchise development manager at itrip. I am your host, Scotty Milas, of all things considered. Franchising, powered by scottmylasfranchisecoach.com. If you have any questions regarding our podcast, feel free to reach out to me at
[email protected]. You can check all of our episodes
[email protected]. And of course, all of the Legacy podcast channels. If you have an interest in learning more about franchise opportunities, business ownership, feel free to reach out. There are no fees for my services. We are compensated by the brands that we represent, over 700. You can also reach me at 860-751-9126 believe it or not, I still use a telephone. I still call it a telephone, not an iPhone or a smartphone. So this is Scotty Miles. Until next time, we appreciate your time, and we'll catch you next time. Thanks very much.
[00:31:53] Speaker B: Thanks, Tom.
