Franchise Interviews

We are meeting with Jeff Melnick, the President of BOSTON’S PIZZA Restaurant and Sports Bar.  Boston's is both a family-friendly casual dining restaurant and an energetic sports bar, all under one roof. For over 50 years, Boston's has specialized in providing a relaxing atmosphere and food from scratch to parties of all sizes. With Boston's brand promise, "We'll make you a fan," and 80+ menu items, primarily made in-house, they deliver on having something for every occasion and taste. Boston's is recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the top three full-service restaurant brands. The company is also currently ranked No. 464 on Entrepreneur magazine's 2018 Franchise 500 list. Additionally, the brand is ranked No. 89 on the 2018 Franchise Times Top 200 (Plus 300) list. With sales exceeding $1 Billion in system-wide gross sales, Boston's grows through franchising and is currently looking to expand around the US and Mexico. For more information, visit www.ownabostons.com today.

We have a great show today. We are meeting with Chris Pena (CMO) as well as Crystal Lizama (the new COO) for Body20. Body20 is leading the Technology Driven fitness revolution and offering franchise opportunities to entrepreneurs in one of the fastest growing industries within the franchising sector. Body 20 offers a low-staffing business model, with fast breakevens and impressive returns.   Body20 was created when founder, Bert Albertse sought out entrepreneurial endeavors and eventually dropped out of college to open a supplements company. Then, in 2014, while in Dubai for a fitness conference, Bert was introduced to the stat-of-the-art Electro Muscular Stimulation (EMS equipment). Amazed by its ability to deliver a whole week's worth of strength training in only 20 minutes, Bert took a soon-to-be father's biggest risk and spent his whole life savings, plus a loan from a friend, to buy a full body stimulation suit.   From there, Body20 was born and within the boutique fitness hotspot's first year, Bert recouped all startup capital. After massive success in his country, Bert, Chris and his team brought his concept to the U.S. in 2017. Today, the electrifying workout that does the work for you is climbing its way to the top of the boutique fitness industry and plans massive U.S. expansion.  In Part Two, we play a clip from our popular Great Quotes in Franchising podcast.

Today we are discussing business plans and guerrilla marketing.  First, we are meeting with Cheree Warrick, author of Creating Business Plans that Actually Get Financed.  In part two we are meeting with Todd Woods, CEO of Guerrilla Marketing Strategies, Inc and Eddie Leonard, Chief Operating Guerilla to discuss the Book: Guerrilla Marketing for The Franchisee. Topics: Six (6) parts to an invest-able business plan. Biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when writing their business plans. Why banks and angel investors say NO to great business ideas. How to give an irresistible 60 second pitch that'll have investors pulling out their calendars to schedule time with you. Why non-tech companies (or companies outside of the technology field) have better changes of receiving financing from angels. The secret to receiving financing offers from multiple sources. Guerrilla Marketing defines marketing as "every bit of contact you or anyone in your company has with any part of the public. With millions of books sold worldwide, Guerrilla Marketing is one of the best known marketing brands in history: because it works.

This week we are discussing two must read books before Labor Day.  We begin the show with Danny Lyon, author of  The Colour of My Underwear is Blue.  With over 60 marathons and 20 years of business experience,Danny Lyon shares why people create such varying levels of business and personal success. Lyon reveals the secrets of the success "high-flyers", the "turnaround artists", the "comfort zone dwellers", and the "give-ups". No matter where you are in your life right now, Lyon sheds light on how you may be holding yourself back and what it takes to get out of your own way.  Next, we meet with Steve Barnett, author of Gumption - Taking Bubba Gump from Movie to Restaurant.  Written in a cinematic style, this book is about the creation, growth, and sale of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The concept began when Paramount Pictures reached out to see if there was interest in creating a restaurant based on the movie Forrest Gump. It is also the personal story of the author’s growth as a CEO and creator of restaurant concepts. A host of situations are described such as restaurant concept creation, high stakes boardroom confrontations, and escaping corrupt officials in foreign lands. The narrative is partly an unvarnished peak behind the everyday scenes of restaurants, movie studios, and Wall Street. There is also an almost step-by-step recounting of how the Bubba Gump concept and others were created and operated. Lessons can be learned on unorthodox methods used in moving from traditional approaches to untried ways of doing business.

We had the School of Rock franchise on our show many years ago.  Since that time, the organization has had tremendous growth.  We are meeting with Rob Price, CEO of School of Rock.  School of Rock provides students of all ages an exciting and engaged music lesson experience, which includes guitar, drums, piano and singing lessons. Drawing from all styles of rock and roll, School of Rock students learn theory and techniques via songs from legendary artists such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Frank Zappa. Thanks to the school’s performance-based approach, students around the world have gained superior musical proficiency, with some moving to record deals and larger platforms such as American Idol, The Voice and Broadway.  The rapid-growing international franchise currently operates more than 230 schools in 10 global markets, and since 2009, School of Rock has grown student count from 4,000 to more than 33,000.  In Part Two, we play a clip from our popular Great Quotes in Franchising podcast.

We are meeting with the CEO of Pigtails & Crewcuts, Wade Brannon. Pigtails & Crewcuts is a children’s salon franchise that understands the need for a memorable, stress-free haircutting experience for the entire family.  From your child’s first haircut to “Mom! The whole football team is getting mohawks, I want one too”, as a parent, you want your children’s locks in good hands. When veteran franchisor, Wade Brandon, came into the original salon with his two daughters as a customer, he immediately saw great potential to replicate and grow the Pigtails concept. After purchasing the single unit, he initiated the franchise offering to meet the increasing demand for services that cater to families with young children in the $58 billion haircut industry. Since launching the franchise opportunity in 2005, Pigtails & Crewcuts has grown to 61 open units across the nation with 57 in development.  In Part Two, we play a clip from our popular Great Quotes in Franchising podcast.

We are meeting with Peter Roberts and James Jakobsen, the founders of the ManageMowed franchise opportunity.  ManageMowed - founders Peter & James just launched franchising for their sub-contracting commercial landscape concept. Based out of Edmonds, Washington, they have been in business for over 20 years and we a speaking about their dynamic biz journey… going from residential real estate to commercial, why they got into the sub-contracting business. ManageMowed’s corporate locations now count marquee clients like Safeway, Jack in the Box, and Public Storage on their roster. These founders are interesting and entertaining, and their story is captivating.  In part two, we play a clip from our popular Great Quotes in Franchising podcast.

We have a great show today. We are meeting with Jason Anderson, President of the fastest growing coworking franchise, Venture X.  Venture X strives to provide high quality, flexible, collaborative spaces to business professionals allowing their members to grow their companies and exceed their business goals. They hope to provide a unique set of amenities and benefits that support business growth and professional development. Their vision is to provide upscale, flexible workspaces in every major city in the US and in some overseas markets. As the coworking space industry grows, a number of key trends are emerging. Owners and operators of coworking spaces likely find that attention to these trends will help them to attract and retain new business. One important trend is the central role technology plays in the formation of a coworking space. Some coworking spaces owners who operate on their own invest only in the bare minimum when it comes to technology. As their business grows, they find it hard to keep up when they don’t have the infrastructure to support a larger number of clients. Venture X helps our franchisees start strong by guiding them as they create a technological infrastructure that can handle a large number of clients being “online” at any given time. We also help them to secure technology that will attract clients like “smart” conference rooms and high-end video conferencing equipment. In Part Two, we play a clip from our popular Great Quotes in Franchising podcast.

Nancy is president & founder of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training. When Oprah, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Good Morning Canada and Great Britain, CNN, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other well respected radio, TV and publications need a customer service expert, they call on Nancy Friedman. You should, too!  LinkedIn for Entrepreneurs - Franchise Interviews Meets with Nancy Friedman. In Part Two, we discuss LinkedIn for Entrepreneurs with Nancy Friedman.  LinkedIn is one of the most powerful networking business tools for professionals and entrepreneurs. Not long ago, Nancy Friedman was interviewed in a magazine article by Forbes. The article was called 10 New LinkedIn Tips to Propel Your PR. In this interview, Nancy and I discuss tips learned over the years on how to effectively use this social media tool.

We are meeting with Stacey Kimmins of the FUN BUS franchise opportunit.  FUN BUS is a fully climate controlled mobile fitness “gym on wheels” which serves children ages 2–7 years. At FUN BUS, their mission is to “drive the love of fitness to the young child” and they do this by bringing weekly fitness FUN classes/sessions to daycares and preschools, as well as birthday parties and special events.  FUN BUS kids are always beyond excited to see the BIG GREEN BUS roll up! Two trained “Fun Instructors” teach professionally designed lesson plans for our structured ½ hour classes, which typically run 6 to 10 weeks. A birthday party is a 1+hour event, with the same elements as a class but longer and geared towards the birthday child.