Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of All Things Considered Franchising, powered by Scott Mylo franchise coach.com. All Things Considered franchising is a podcast dedicated to the entrepreneur, the future entrepreneur, people that are looking to, uh, get into business ownership, exploring, franchising. Have questions on franchising, Scott? My franchise coach.com is a consulting organization. I'm the president and the founder. I'm Scotty my, and we focus on helping individuals build the business model, get a better understanding of their why, who they are, things that they want in the business, things that they don't want in the business, and then introduce them to the concepts that fit, and then help them decide whether franchising is an option in business ownership for them. It's not for everybody, but hey, it's worth the conversation. Uh, today's guest, um, as most of you know, if you've been following my podcast, podcast, and, and a lot of people have that, I've had a lot of people in the industry that I've known for years and that bring a lot of, um, experience and talent, uh, to the franchising entrepreneur space.
Speaker 1 00:01:13 My next guest is someone that I have known for a number of years now and have gotten to know, uh, a lot more over the last few years. Um, I guess the best way for me to describe, uh, faun, uh, is that there's not a negative, um, bone in her body. Uh, she's the type of person that will, you know, will talk to you anything positive. Uh, but when it comes to negativity or being negative, or the glass is half empty, um, she buttons up and zips up her mouth. And, uh, her, I guess her philosophy is, if I don't have anything nice to say, then just don't say it. Um, so I, I'm, I'm, I'm happy to, uh, have Zu Kamal, author of the Fran right franchise for you. For those of you who have, uh, been my client, you know, that I guess send you a copy of this. This is, uh, and when I say written by a very, very dear friend of mine, this is, this is who I'm talking about. So Zu, welcome to All Things Considered Franchising.
Speaker 2 00:02:12 Oh my gosh, that is like the best intro I have ever gotten. Mr. Milas, thank you. Thank you, thank you. I'll
Speaker 1 00:02:19 Put that check in the mail tomorrow.
Speaker 2 00:02:21 <laugh>? Yes, sir, I shall do that. No worries, no worries. Well, you know, Scott, it's, and it's also very easy to be positive around you. You, I think you know this, you don't need me to say this, but I will say this because it's a podcast and many people listen to this podcast over the years, you've become a dear friend and you've become a dear friend for two reasons. There's other reasons which we won't go into, but there's two reasons. One, you bring integrity to an industry where many times we find it lacking, and it hurts both franchisors and it hurts the candidates that we work with. And that's been something I have and noticed about you from day one. The second thing that you bring to this equation is you've been in this industry for a very long time, my friend, and on on different sides. And so the level of lived granular experience that you bring to the process, I would say, in my opinion, humble opinion is second to almost no one that I know. And I, I value you so deeply for those two. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:03:23 Thank you. I appreciate that. Absolutely. I appreciate that. You know, fa I I, I made the comment, or I, I'd mentioned to our audience that he had written a book, uh, escape The Nine to Five, five, generate Wealth and Live Life On Your, your Terms. Um, living life on your own terms, uh, has become a very, very, uh, prominent, um, uh, quote for you. It's kind of your, uh, what's the word I'm looking for? You, you, you preach it, you live it. Not only do you preach it, but you live by it. Um, you've come outta corporate America, traveled the world, have a daughter who now is, I believe the president of the franchise Pros, and she work and you work for her <laugh> Inside Story folks. But we won't get into too many details on that. But, um, your experience in the franchising industry, um, has had an impact.
Speaker 1 00:04:15 Uh, you, you play a, a, an important role because, um, you're, first of all, you're a very positive attribute to the industry, very little negative negativity. You believe in the franchising industry, the space, and as I mentioned in my intro, you, you started out really kind of helping people research and explore opportunities, but then realized that there was a niche or a need and kind of shifted gears. The franchise pros came to evolution, and now your focus is really helping people research and explore, franchising their business, which I think is pretty exciting because, uh, we've had these conversations. I, you know, the, the, the, uh, there are companies out there that do it, that don't do it the right way. But let's talk the, just in f in general, the franchising industry. What is it that keeps you so positive about the industry and why it's important for you to work with clients and be transparent with them and, and direct them to the right decision for themselves? Kind of that work-life balance, man, it's, you preach it, you do it The best I've heard.
Speaker 2 00:05:25 I mean, Scott, you a again, this goes to show how well you know me living life on your own terms is my personal North Star. It's my personal tagline. Um, I was in corporate America with a company, a tiny, tiny company that most people have never heard of called Verizon, and I was their VP for public policy, and I did that work for about eight and a half years. The work was good, Scott, but it wasn't my path. And because it wasn't my path every day, I was deeply unhappy at a soul level. And what I found through my own life is when that happens, that unhappiness is not just contained within the four walls of your office. You take that unhappiness with you wherever you go in your life. And so, for that, for in my life, that meant in my personal life with my husband, with my daughter, who at the time was 17 months old and I didn't like the person that I had become Scott.
Speaker 2 00:06:30 Interesting. Fast forward, I said, I'm done with corporate, and I started the franchise prose. And the reason why that is such a prominent tagline in the book and in so much of the work I do, is I couldn't believe it. It felt like magic when I discovered franchising. And I remember there was a moment where I sat back, Scott, and I said, okay, what kind of sleazy network marketing pyramid scheme type thing are we talking here? It didn't feel real to me, but as I got deeper into it, I said, oh my God, there really does exist in America a way for someone who one has the passion, two has the wherewithal to say, you know what? I don't like the way my life is now. I want to create something better for myself and my family. And you absolutely can do that with the franchise model as it exists now, it, my life has been completely transformed, Scott, from when I used to be in corporate to what my life is now. That's
Speaker 1 00:07:33 S interesting, that's interesting because, you know, one of the things that in, in, in my consulting company, Scott Mylo franchise coach.com, that we tried to send the message to our clients is that being positive is a plus in being successful. That if you're going into this with the half glass empty and thinking of all the ways on why it won't work, chances are when you march around the field or even try to get to the 50 yard line, you're gonna fail. So you are a believer, and you've been an inspiration to a lot of people, especially women in certain women's groups and getting people off their backsides to really take a look at their inner selves and their positives and be successful business owners, um, to, to, to push positive thinking. Uh, you know, I don't think in all the years that I've known you, maybe in certain conversations there are one or two comments, but there's very ever any negativity that comes from you.
Speaker 1 00:08:41 I mean, it, it's, it, it, it just, it, it's just remarkable. It really is. So when you take this approach, how is it that you've now become successful because you're a sort off the speaker now. Uh, your, your networking skills and people reaching out to you to franchise their business has become very strong. Um, what is it or what approach can you tell people if they're interested in franchising their business or even wanna get outta corporate American, start a business investigating franchises? What's some of those positive thinkings or positive thoughts that you can encourage our listening au audience to tell them that they the must haves you gotta have this?
Speaker 2 00:09:23 Um, what a great question, Scott. I'll start off by saying, sharing with you a quote. I have no idea where I read it. It stayed with me because it's so true. When the winds have change, blow, what are you going to build walls or a windmill?
Speaker 1 00:09:42 Interesting.
Speaker 2 00:09:43 When you think about where the world has been over the last three and a half years, everything that we knew just got completely upended. Our lives have changed in ways that we couldn't even imagine. Right? Right. Lots of really bad, terrible things happen. And by the way, I make a little note to say I'm very positive, but it doesn't mean I don't see the negativity around. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> me. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I make a very conscious choice to say, I can go one of two ways. I can either be knee deep in that and dwell on all the things that I cannot control. This is a big thing about franchising. Scott. Franchising allows an individual to ba take back a huge amount of control over their lives and their destiny that they didn't think that they had the power to do. Now, the future, no one can read the future.
Speaker 2 00:10:35 Many, many things can happen, but if you start out with the mindset and the approach, I'm going to put in my best and the rest is really not up to me, that's really been sort of the mindset with which I approach really most things in my life. But so when the winds of change blow, are you going to hunker down, look around, get super scared and say, I'm gonna build walls? That's certainly one approach, right? And I think you, and I know many people who do that <laugh>, or are you going to say, you know what? The winds of change around me are blowing so hard and heavy. Wow, everybody's running away, but guess what, Scott Mil, I'm gonna build a windmill. I'm gonna harness the wind and make a killing. Whatever killing looks like to you. Right? Right. So it's one of these two fundamentally different approaches that you can take in life.
Speaker 2 00:11:24 You know, I think, was it Albert Einstein? I, I get mixed up with who said what, who said, every morning you can step out into the world and you can think that everything is the miracle, or you can think that nothing is, I know where I choose to go. Right? And I think it has enhanced not just only my life, but in a very strange way, Scott, what happens. I think I attract people who want that kind of energy, right? And so that energy gets exemplified, gets amplified, you know, I see this with the partners I work with in the industry, with the brands I work with. I certainly see this in the clients that, that find us and come to us because they, they see themselves in our brand, in our ethos. Right?
Speaker 1 00:12:08 That's interesting because, you know, as I said, a attitude, uh, perception plays an important role in somebody being successful. Um, you've worked with a number of, uh, well, I shouldn't say a number, a lot of different people in a lot of different categories. Uh, people like yourself who have been in corporate America for 10, 15, 20 years, uh, finally woke up one morning and said, you know, this just isn't working anymore. I'm, I'm miserable. Uh, you know, I, now I miss, you know, it's one thing I missed all my kids' soccer games. Now I'm missing my grandkids soccer games, or whatever it may be. When you look at the characteristics of someone that is an entrepreneur, um, not all, not all entrepreneurs fit into franchising. That's right. In, in, in, in franchising, you really have to be a process entrepreneur. Not so much a visionary entrepreneur or having vision or great ideas is okay, but really in franchising, you gotta be able to follow the process. That's what you're buying into. But what do you see as some of the key, you know, if somebody's listening to us now, they're thinking about either franchising their business or investigating a business, uh, investing in a business, what do you think that are the prime questions, two or three questions they should be asking themselves to get them started in this journey of investigating?
Speaker 2 00:13:30 Absolutely. I think for a candidate who's looking to buy into an existing franchise brand, uh, a former corporate executive, for example, the first question they have to ask themselves is, am I the kind of person that is? Okay, not just okay, but okay with following a playbook.
Speaker 1 00:13:49 Right?
Speaker 2 00:13:50 One of the biggest reasons that an individual will fail in a franchise that they invested in is either their unwillingness or their inability to follow the playbook. At the end of the day, you are paying royalties over X years, and the reason you're paying that royalty is for that playbook that your brand gave you. So if you cannot follow the playbook, why did you buy the franchise? Right? It sounds almost too simplistic, Scott, but I cannot tell you the number of times I've had this conversation in workshops that I have led where I, I'll have somebody jump up and say, <inaudible>, all of this sounds great, but you know, the reason why I left corporate America is that I, I hated my boss, and now you are telling me I'm still gonna have a boss in the form of a playbook that I have to follow. And I kind of look at them and I say, well, yes, because franchising is a very specific way of running a business. It's a very specific type of entrepreneurship. By the way, if you don't wanna follow a playbook, you could absolutely start a business from scratch. Right? Well, you know, I don't wanna do that because I have to come up with systems and processes. Well, then <laugh>, this is what we're talking about,
Speaker 1 00:15:02 Right? Yep, yep. Yeah, it's an interesting, I, I had a conversation with a client a couple of weeks ago who got turned down at, uh, discovery Day, because again, they went into the, the, the Discovery Day thinking that they knew more than everybody else and started to ask the, why can't I do that? Can I do that questions? And I, the analogy I told my client was, I said, it's like you bought the self-driving software for the Tesla. There you go. And then complained how the car drove. I mean, <laugh>, you know, how does it, it's one thing to ask it, it's one thing to ask questions on the technology on how the cu the, the car drives or self drives, but the question, the systems and the best practices on why you can't do it a certain way. Then, like you said, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1 00:15:48 Go out and start your own franchise. I mean, it, it's, it starts your own business and then put it into a franchise, and you don't have to worry about anybody telling you what you can and can't do. Thank you. Um, you have, uh, been a speaker, uh, uh, you're part of a lot of women's organizations. Um, I think anyone who is in this industry, ha has seen a, a large increase of moms, single women, professional women in corporate America, uh, really start engaging in this industry, um, becoming franchisees or actually franchising their business. Yeah. Um, and it's great to see, um, but we also know that there's a lot more to franchising than the golden arches and the $5 foot long. So, but you have recently, not only, but, but you've found a niche within women in business and not only have, and and now you've shifted gears in helping women franchise their business, but give them a certain support level that they may not get somewhere else. Let's talk about that, because you and I have bounced this off each other a number of times, and it, and, and it's an exciting, exciting program that you're working on to help women become very successful in the franchising industry as a franchisor. Tell us about it. Share it with our audience.
Speaker 2 00:17:20 Absolutely. And I will say you are being incredibly humble, <laugh>, when you say you and I have had a couple conversations, because I would phrase it very differently. You have been, as you know, very instrumental in, um, informing my thought process around what constitutes ethical and robust franchise support for a brand. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, you know, we, we are in an incredible industry, Scott. There are so, so, so many people, so many businesses that look at franchising and say, oh my gosh, I think this may be the most optimal scaling strategy for me. So they get in with someone that they met, you know, on social media or somebody reached out to them. And because they don't have industry knowledge in any way, shape, or form, they start to look at that person as a guru, as a leader to help them with this growth journey.
Speaker 2 00:18:19 And what you and I have both seen many, many times, not all the time, because there are some really good actors in this space, but many times you have a, you have an entrepreneur, you have somebody with, with a fledgling brand. It's a robust brand, but it's a fledgling, emerging franchise brand where they get into this process where they think they're going to be getting a certain build of goods. And when all is said and done, and they have paid the different fees associated with it, they receive something that is in no way robust. And so they sit there and they wonder, well, I've spent all this time, I've paid them all this money, but I now I don't know what to do. In many instances, Scott, as you know, a second thing that happens, if you do get robust support in putting together the different pieces, you need to turn yourself into a franchise.
Speaker 2 00:19:12 At that point, the provider that he worked with, you says, all the best to you, Mr. Myers. We hope you have a wonderful journey as a franchise, and now with zero knowledge of how to grow a franchise, you are left to your own devices. Right. What we've tried to do, what we have been working on actively at the franchise pros, and this is really sort of our own growth journey in a, in a, in a sense, is we are putting together Scott, essentially what will be a platform company. We, um, our focus is always quality, not quantity. So we are going to be bringing in a number of a handful of portfolio brands. These are emerging brands, um, women founders and brand founders of color, uh, brand founders who come from diverse communities around the country who have a really fantastic business model. We work with them from the very beginning.
Speaker 2 00:20:08 We put in place all the pieces they need to become a national franchise brand. Step one. Once we've done that, we then begin step two, which is working with that brand to be able to recruit franchisees into their fledgling system. Yep. And then step three, and this is the piece that you've really helped me flesh out, really my thinking and my, my knowledge, once we bring franchisees into a brand, it's still an emerging brand. Do they have the internal operational capabilities to support the franchisees that exactly came into the system, right? When that piece is missing, Scott, you essentially have a situation where you have a brand that may be recruiting pretty aggressively, so they're bringing franchisees in, but their capabilities internally are being outstripped by the number of people coming in. You have unhappy franchisees because you are not holding up your end of the bargain, right?
Speaker 2 00:21:05 Yep. Of, of doing what you're supposed to do. Unhappy franchisees, and as you and I both know, Scott, if there's one, there's lots of things, but if there's one thing that sells a brand, it's happy franchisees. Exactly. If your existing franchisees are not ranting and raving about how amazing you are, your growth will stall. And when that happens, a lot of other not so nice things start to happen. So that's kind of where we are. We are building this platform. We have a number of brands on hand that we will be launching into the market, uh, probably in the second half of this year. Um, just lots of exciting. Um, I would say I'm in building phase. We are in building
Speaker 1 00:21:43 <laugh>. Yeah. It's, uh, we're talking to, uh, FA Kamal, uh, a, uh, the president and founder of the Franchise Pros Auth, uh, pros, also the author of the Right franchise for you escaping the Nine to Five Generate Wealth and Live Life on your, your terms, very important. And, uh, we've been discussing, uh, people who are potentially interested in franchising their own business, uh, on, on, on how to grow in it. I, I guess I, you know, based on what you said, I, you know, to help the audience, um, kind of get an understanding, it would be like buying a, um, uh, I mean, use the two brands that we know. Everybody knows a Subway or a McDonald's, it would be like signing, paying the franchise fee, signing the franchise agreement, and getting the keys to a McDonald's and say, here you go. And not knowing where to order product, not know how to do the marketing, not know anything and expecting to be successful. So the approach, or your approach and what you've put together is not only helping people get through the legalities of becoming a franchise, but making sure that they are going to build their brand the right way and have, as you put it, happy franchisees, successful franchisees. I think that's really in a nutshell, right?
Speaker 2 00:23:00 Absolutely. Absolutely. The, the, you know, the one I would say one key piece that we've been very cognizant about, Scott, even in these early days, is when you think of a brand, think of the entire life cycle of the brand, right? So like the life cycle of a human. So you're a brand step one, we turn you into a franchise, now you're a baby franchise, you're a fledgling brand. Now we start recruiting franchisees, providing the support, and then you start adding people into your system, do this enough number of times over a certain period of time. At that point in time, if we have built, if we have worked with you to build a very intentional brand, you will be at a point where what you have is a valuable saleable asset. Yep. Now, valuable saleable assets are very attractive to certain actors in our society, namely private equity groups, right?
Speaker 2 00:23:55 Yep. These are groups that then come knocking on our door to say, oh my gosh, we've been reading, we've been hearing, we've been seeing a lot about this particular brand. We think there's a lot of potential here. Let's talk about what acquiring this particular brand is gonna look like. In essence, Stephen Covey, start with the end in mind for our brand founders, it's not so much Scott. It is, but it isn't, it's not so much adding 15, 30, 50 franchisees into your system that needs to happen. But what is the eventual outcome for you? What is your exit strategy? What is it
Speaker 1 00:24:31 Strategy? Yep.
Speaker 2 00:24:32 You wanna build, right? You might say, oh, by Zoom, I wanna leave this to my kids. Okay. That's one strategy. You might say, you know, no, I wanna build it to X units in X years, and then I want to sell the company and, you know, go live life on my terms, whatever that looks like.
Speaker 1 00:24:47 <laugh>, you know, it's important because at, at Scott, my franchise coach.com, uh, the consulting side of my business, um, we talk, uh, about exit strategy. And I have to say that initially when you bring it up, a lot of people scratch their heads and they say, why an exit strategy? I'm not even in business yet, and you want to know what I want to do with it? So, you know, I, I was brought up by a father who always said that if you're going to do something, you should know what your out game is. And I go, and, and, and, and it took me a while to understand that, that if you go out and buy the boat, that's great, but what do you do when the boat breaks down? Because if you don't have the strategy or that exit strategy to fix it or sell it after you fix it, you know you're gonna be stuck with a boat that's not working, and you don't wanna be stuck with a franchise or be a franchisor that isn't working.
Speaker 1 00:25:40 So, uh, faun, um, it's always great to talk with you because there's always that bright light that you bring to the table, a dark room. Um, is there anything else you'd like to share with our audience? Uh, whether it's someone who's considering getting into business for the first time, where do they start? Um, you know, uh, what conversations should they be having? Maybe someone's thinking about franchising their, you know, uh, their, their little mom and pop shop and, you know, really can't see the bigger picture, but what, what, what encouragement or any last minute guidance that you can give someone at this point?
Speaker 2 00:26:15 Um, three simple thoughts, Scott, Scott. Thought, number one, if you're looking to buy into a franchise, don't try to do it by yourself. Find a great coach like Mr. My here, work with someone who understands the industry and can guide you in an ethical way. Number one, don't try to do this by yourself. If you are a small business owner and you want to franchise your business, do your due diligence there. The internet is an amazing thing. Use it. Use it. Gather information. Be a very informed consumer before you step into this space, because there's a lot happening, right? Again, in the same vein, get somebody who's ethical, get a coach. The last thought that I'll leave you with is, and I, this was, this is what I put on social this morning. It's nice to buy a race horse, but what if you bought the race horse instead? How would that be different, right? Franchising allows you to do that, either buying into a franchise or turning your business into one.
Speaker 1 00:27:21 That's great. Well, faun, um, I can't believe our time is up. And, uh, uh, you know, I hope, uh, you know, six months, 12 months from now, we can get you back and you can kind of let us in on more about what the franchise pros and all the new things that are happening within your organization. Uh, this is Scotty. My, we've been talking to Faun Kamal, uh, president and founder of the Franchise Pros, helping people, uh, research and explore franchising their business. Also, um, has done some work on the consulting side, helping people research and explore business ownership, uh, franchises. Um, I would encourage anyone to reach out to her now. You can find her on LinkedIn. Um, uh, if anyone has any questions about franchising a business, this is Scotty Myas. I'm, uh, you've been your host of All Things Considered franchising, uh, also present and founder of Scott Mylo franchise coach.com. Uh, you can reach me at 8 6 0 7 5 1 9 1 2 6, or Scott Scott, my franchise coach.com is my email or visit my website. That'll be underneath, uh, my name and information, uh, faun. I wish you and z and everybody in your family. Um, a great spring. I know we're gonna be connecting in, uh, a, a less than two weeks now. Uh, we're gonna be sharing a booth at a, uh, an expo down in the ADUs area. We're looking forward to that, but uh, by Zoom, it's been great.
Speaker 2 00:28:41 Absolutely. Thanks so much, Scott.
Speaker 1 00:28:44 Bye now. Thank you.
