Franchise Interviews

In today's podcast, we are meeting with Ron Holt, the CEO and President of Two Maids and a Mop.  Over the years, the Two Maids and Mop received some great accolades.  Some include the following. Inc. Magazine’s 2013 Fastest Growing Cleaning Company in AmericaCleaning for a Reason’s 2012 National Maid Service of the Year2013 Hire Power Award for Best Job Creator in Home Cleaning Industry TWO MAIDS & A MOP™ offers a unique selling proposition that has long been admired within the residential cleaning industry. People from almost every serviced based industry have worked extremely hard to determine the true inner workings of the famous TWO MAIDS & A MOP™ Pay for Performance Compensation Plan. What makes the Pay for Performance Plan so great and how does it work? In a nutshell, the Plan makes an owner out of every single one of our Team Members. Basically, a customer will rate their service on a simple scale from 1-10. The rating–and that rating alone–directly determines the compensation level paid to the two Team Members responsible for cleaning the home. Customer feedback is the only factor utilized when determining Team Member compensation. The Plan revolutionized the cleaning industry and has always created significant buzz for our company. Over the years, hundreds of companies have reached out to us with offers to actually purchase the Plan from our company. People from all over the world have contacted us with questions about the Plan. Copycat models of the Plan have popped up and disappeared just as quickly. And most importantly, thousands of customers have hired us primarily because of the Plan.   By franchising, you will have access to this plan and will be able to leverage its internal and external benefits on the first day of your business’ operation.

From what we have witnessed, the real estate market has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. Franchisees face a more difficult task of finding their way through that real estate maze and finding the best location for their particular franchise. We are glad to have Mark Block on the show. Mark is very knowledgeable on the topic of Real Estate with a unique ability of help franchisees get though this maze and find great locations. Mark is a licensed Real Estate Sales Person working with one of the foremost Real Estate Firms in NYC, EVO Real Estate. Marks unique experience covers every aspect of the Real Estate industry. Mark has run his own Architectural Firm, Construction Company, Real Estate Development Company, has managed institutional real estate portfolios on a national basis, all with tremendous success in negotiating and closing Real Estate transactions. Mark now brings all of that experience to franchisees, helping find and select great franchise locations and guiding franchisees through the real estate transaction that follows.

We are meeting with Nick Molina, CEO of VaporFi.  VaporFi is a leader in the E-Cigarette and Vapor industry is on a mission to change the way you smoke. VaporFi retail Stores cater to a wide range of vape enthusiasts, from those curious about ditching tobacco to those advanced techy vapers who are the true hobbyists. VaporFi’s exclusive, proprietary and branded product line has taken the world by storm. Their E-Cig products provide all the pleasures of traditional smoking without the bad breath, stinky clothes, tremendous cost, and harmful effects of tobacco.

One of Marty McDermott’s favorite movies is Forrest Gump.  So when we heard Scott Barnett, author of Gumption: Taking Bubba Gump from Movie to Restaurant completed his book; we knew we had to have him on the show. Scott Barnett’s restaurant knowledge began when he was a teenager parking attendant in a popular steakhouse in Palm Desert, California. Taking the hard road, he performed every job there was to do in the business as he cooked, served, and bartended his way through college and crashed into the restaurant industry in his rebellious and irreverent way. Learning the ropes of the corporate world, he nurtured a belief that things in the restaurant business could be done differently. After taking the reins of a failing company, he and his team saved it and then began searching for something to grow. Thus began the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant concept. Fighting bad economies, old notions of how to do business, preconceived opinions, some Wall Street investors and his own misgivings, he and his group created one of the most successful restaurant companies in the world!  Learn more by listening to the show.

We are meeting with Andrew Gruel, CEO/Founder, Slapfish Restaurant Group, LLC. Slapfish has made healthy, chef-driven seafood approachable & affordable for the masses, with signature items that include the 'lobsticle', baja mahi sandwich and house-made, original dipping sauces. Slapfish is a chef-driven and sustainable American seafood concept, served up in a fresh fast casual atmosphere. Slapfish was recently named on FastCasual's list of the industry's Top 100 Movers & Shakers.

We are meeting with Maureen Recalde, winner of the Voice of McDonald's.  Voice of McDonald's is the largest global singing competition of its kind, open to the 1.8 million McDonald's restaurant employees around the world. More than 2,500 employees entered the inaugural competition, which kicked off in 2005. In 2007, more than 3,600 singers entered Voice of McDonald's II; in 2009, more than 10,000 employees entered Voice of McDonald's III; and in 2011 more than 20,000 employees entered Voice of McDonald's IV.  Maureen discusses her experience as the winner of the Voice and McDonald's and shares her story of her mom who has worked with McDonald's for over 40 years and is now an owner-operator of two McDonald's. McDonald's is the world's leading global foodservice retailer and franchise with more than 33,000 locations serving approximately 64 million customers in 119 countries each day. More than 80% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local men and women. In part 2, we play a clip from our Great Quotes in Franchising Podcast.

This morning we are going to be discussing franchising with Hossein Kasmai, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Franchise Creator.  Mr. Kasmai founded many franchise concepts of his own including Guard-A-Kid. Guard-A-Kid founded in 2005, quickly became the industry leader and a very successful franchise in the field of Children and family safety.  Mr. Kasmai gives his advice to prospective franchisors and franchisees.  Franchise Creator provides a one stop approach to franchise development.  In part 2, we will hear a clip from our Great Quotes in Franchising Podcast.

We are meeting with Matt Bailey, vice president of operations for "The Original" Kono Pizza.  The "Original" Kono rocked the country when it introduced pizza cones in the United States, solving the problem of eating a slice without a gooey, drippy mess. The cones, with their cutting-edge 3D crust, feature the first and only seamless bread product that can be held and eaten in one hand without spilling or dripping any of the grease or sauce. The cones are customized with whatever ingredients you desire before they're baked in the brand's proprietary pizza oven.

We are meeting with Dennis Schooley of the Schooley Mitchel franchise opportunity.  Schooley Mitchell has been featured by Entrepreneur and Inc. magazines, and has been honored with a Canadian Franchise Association Gold Frankie Award for their innovative marketing campaigns. Schooley Mitchell was also named to Inc.com's list of the 5000 fastest-growing companies in America for 2014. Schooley Mitchell is  franchised telecom and merchant services consulting firm with offices across North America. They offer a unique, contingency-based service focused on reducing our clients' telecom and merchant services spend and recovering billing errors. They are objective of all vendors and their clients incur no out-of-pocket expenses.

Dr. John P. Hayes and 12 Amazing Franchise Opportunities for 2015 This year, Dr. John P. Hayes came out with a new e-book “12 Amazing Franchise Opportunities for 2015”  We are going to play our interview with Dr. John P. Hayes and you will hear some clips of some franchises that made the list.  You can purchase the book directly through Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OHO8K16/?tag=hotobuafr-20 Don’t miss this special two hour edition show!