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Important Questions To Ask Franchise Owners During Validation

Important Questions To Ask Franchise Owners During Validation

Validating with Franchise Owners Important Questions To Ask Overview of Validation Validating with existing franchise owners is one of the, if not the, most important and exciting steps of your franchise research (aka “Validation”). During this phase, you’ll be speaking with and learning from franchise ...
How To Evaluate An Emerging Non-Food Franchise

How To Evaluate An Emerging Non-Food Franchise

When you’re searching for a franchise to buy and operate, it can feel daunting to weed through the thousands of different concepts there. According to FranData, there are over 3,800 different concepts franchising their business model across America.  And you know what else FranData says? Only about 16% ...
3 Things An FDD Doesn’t Tell You

3 Things An FDD Doesn’t Tell You

3 Things An FDD Doesn’t Tell You Starting, building, and owning a franchise isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Don’t get me wrong, it can be amazing. But you need to be prepared for a journey with highs and lows. You can experience natural highs that are hard to describe. You’ll also have some ...
Franchise Mid-Year Update

Franchise Mid-Year Update

Hey, Franchise Searcher, Hope you had a nice 4th of July. Sending along an update on the emerging non-food franchise world through the first half of the year. As a quick side note, my goal for the rest of this year is to send you weekly inside information from my world that can help you figure out if ...
How To Be A High-Performing Franchise Owner

How To Be A High-Performing Franchise Owner

For 17 years, I’ve been helping people buy and build non-food franchises.  Most are first-time business owners who kiss the corporate world behind.  And, many have built incredible businesses with surprising franchises.  Once they were able to unleash their talent and potential in a ...
What’s the next billion-dollar franchise?

What’s the next billion-dollar franchise?

(That’s not a fast/casual food, hotel, or real estate franchise) Every once in a while, a franchise comes out of nowhere and explodes across the country. And surprises everyone. The first reaction people typically have when they hear about these are… “oh, that’s just a ...
How to get top dollar for your franchise when you’re ready to exit

How to get top dollar for your franchise when you’re ready to exit

Using a franchise to build a successful and profitable business has a huge advantage that many people don’t think about…you can sell it for a premium.  And sometimes the premium can be massive!  Here are six important things you can do to maximize the value of your franchise when you’re ...
The Top Emerging Franchises In The Country Will Probably Surprise You

The Top Emerging Franchises In The Country Will Probably Surprise You

You are looking at executives and founders of some of the fastest-growing franchises in the country. I spent last week meeting with these people along with key people from other top emerging brands in the country. The funny thing is… These top-performing brands aren’t surprises to many people ...
5 Big Mistakes People Make When Buying A Franchise

5 Big Mistakes People Make When Buying A Franchise

https://youtu.be/G5OeBpZ2LMk │𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 #𝟏│ 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 Here’s the deal...there are a number of high-quality non-food franchises out there that are... More profitable More lifestyle-friendly to operate, and Cheaper to get intoThe only problem is they’re ...
“Time is our most valuable non-renewable resource.”

“Time is our most valuable non-renewable resource.”

When I heard this quote - and internalized it - it rocked my world. Every person on this earth starts each day with a level playing field of time. Now, what differs is how we use our time. And, once we use that time, it's gone - we can’t get it back. We can make more money. We ...
“How to Get Rich by Buying a Franchise (Really)”

“How to Get Rich by Buying a Franchise (Really)”

That’s the title of an article The New York Times recently published. Now, personally, I think the title should read “How to Get Rich by B̵u̵y̵i̵n̵g̵ 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 a 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 Franchise” The reason why is pretty simple - if you’re successful investing in and growing the right ...
Don’t do this if you’re thinking about buying a franchise

Don’t do this if you’re thinking about buying a franchise

Don’t start with Google. And don’t search something like “most profitable franchises to own.” Up will pop a ton of different results “24 top-ranked, affordable franchises you can own for under $25,000” “The Top 10 Franchises to Open in 2020” Blah, blah, blah Maybe you ...
5 things that will make you think twice about buying a Chick-Fil-A franchise

5 things that will make you think twice about buying a Chick-Fil-A franchise

#1 - You don’t actually own it ChicK-Fil-A owns it all. Which limits your opportunity (see #2 and #5 below). #2 - You don’t have any equity Once you’ve built it into a cash cow, you could miss out on one of the biggest financial opportunities of your life...selling the business for a big ol’ ...
How to spot a “hot” franchise

How to spot a “hot” franchise

“Dru, what are the hottest franchises these days?” This is the first question people ask me when they find out what I do.  And my answer typically surprises them.  You see, after spending 14 years in franchising, my definition of “hot” is different than most people’s.  For example, ...
The biggest mistake I see people make when buying a franchise…

The biggest mistake I see people make when buying a franchise…

“Do what you love”  Ever heard that piece of advice before?  Or how about this one?  “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”  Surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre... I have a friend who is an incredible fly-fisherman. He casts a line like nobody I have ever seen. He ties his own flies. He is obsessed with ...
PODCAST: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BUYING A FRANCHISE THE RIGHT WAY

PODCAST: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BUYING A FRANCHISE THE RIGHT WAY

Ever heard this advice? “Go to school. Get good grades. Go to college. Get a job. Work hard for 40 years, sock away money diligently and you’ll be set for retirement?” It’s the common career advice we’re given time and time again from a young age. How come we’re not taught to how to adapt ...
PODCAST: Buy, Build or Franchise?

PODCAST: Buy, Build or Franchise?

Do you want to buy an existing business? Do you want to build a business from scratch? Or, do you want to invest in and build a franchise? I recently explored these different options on a podcast with a career change guru, Scott Anthony Barlow. Scott helps people figure out their ideal career ...
How To Find The Right Franchise: The Answer Is Typically Behind-The-Scenes

How To Find The Right Franchise: The Answer Is Typically Behind-The-Scenes

Part of the art of finding the right franchise to invest in is looking in places that most people aren’t looking and getting information that most people don’t have. I mean… Why would a successful real estate investor invest in a certain hair care franchise and open fifteen of them? Why ...
What’s your exit strategy

What’s your exit strategy

Yes, before you start a business, you should think about exiting And by exiting, I mean thinking about the question “What is my long-term objective with my own profitable and successful business?” Are you going to cash out on your hard work by selling the business or pass the business on to a ...
What are the hottest franchises

What are the hottest franchises

The short answer is: “It depends.” And what it depends on is largely based around which franchise offers a proven and validated business model that aligns with your skills, goals, ideal role as the owner, and offers you the highest probability to achieve your lifestyle and financial long-term ...
Three Franchise Owners Walk into a Bar

Three Franchise Owners Walk into a Bar

...One is an accountant. One is a corporate executive. And one is an entrepreneur. And you know what? They all invested in the same franchise, FIRST NAME! DUN-DUN-DUNNN! I feel like I have something to work with (but I’m not a very good joke teller). Anyway. Last year I ...
“Oh, that’s just a fad” = thinking that can lead to missed opportunity

“Oh, that’s just a fad” = thinking that can lead to missed opportunity

Some say the key to finding great businesses is following opportunities that others don’t see. I believe part of the art of finding great businesses requires keeping an open mind, keeping an ear to the ground for information that others don’t have and then digging in and researching these business ...