
I Fired My Boss - A Franchise Podcast
Welcome to the I Fired My Boss Franchise Podcast, formerly known as the Franchise Founders Podcast. Hosted by Dan Claps, founder and CEO of Franchise Playbook—a platform that creates, owns, and operates dynamic franchise brands in the mobile services space—this show is dedicated to helping people like you fire your boss and take control of your future through business ownership. Dan’s mission is to empower aspiring entrepreneurs to hire themselves and live the American dream through franchise opportunities.
Latest episodes

Sep 28, 2022 • 40min
How to Build a Blue Ocean Brand
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian take a tour through the branding process with Gary De Jesus of GDJ Brands, a business branding expert who has helped a tremendous amount of franchises in a diverse group of industries really define and execute their brand image. Gary teaches us the difference between executing a blue ocean versus a red ocean branding strategy, and explains why it's better to compete in open waters instead of chummy waters with tons competition. More importantly, Gary details exactly how to do this through a well thought out branding process to help your business stand out from the rest in your industry. One of the best ways to do this, says Gary, is for the founders or brand executives to let go of what THEY want and to focus more on the end user. What brand image is communicated to the consumer? What do you WANT your brand to communicate to the consumer? As franchise founders and business executives let go of what they want and focus more on the end user, the brand really shines through and connects with its intended audience. Tune in to get a sense of what a strong, strategic branding process looks like.

Sep 21, 2022 • 39min
What's All the Buzz About Cannabis Consumption Lounges? with Ron Silberstein of Bud's Place
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian talk to Ron Silberstein, President of Bud's Lounge, which is an emerging franchise concept in the cannabis space. The first of its kind, Bud's place is addressing the issue that is a lack of safe, comfortable places to consume cannabis responsibly. As an increasing number of states legalize cannabis, Ron feels it's important to provide a fun, safe, and entertaining atmosphere to enjoy recreationally. We talk about the challenges that come with being an emerging concept AND in an emerging industry, as well as why a cannabis consumption lounge franchise might be worth taking a look at for the right kind of entrepreneur. Tune in to learn more about this new industry, this emerging concept, and the leadership team behind it.

Sep 14, 2022 • 23min
A Taste of the Area Development Model with Paul Dorsey of Janitize America
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian talk to Paul Dorsey of Jantize America, an office facilities and commercial cleaning area development franchise model. When speaking to us, Paul focuses more on discussing what area development and master franchising mean, and uses Jantize to illustrate exactly how this model works. The goal of this episode is to give a broad overview as to how this model works and demonstrate how it differentiates from the traditional single-unit or even multi-unit franchise model. Area development is about developing an area by bringing on and supporting new franchisees. Tune in to get a taste of this type of franchise model and get some insight into why an area development model might be the franchise route for you.

Sep 7, 2022 • 33min
Why Media Messaging Matters for Franchisors with Liane Caruso of Entrepreneur Media
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian talk to Liane Caruso, Senior Vice President at Entrepreneur Media. As Senior Vice President, Liane handles all things franchising for Entrepreneur, including all of the franchise-related articles that are meant to provide education for prospective franchise buyers and beyond. She discusses exactly why content is so critical for franchisors to invest their resources into, the importance of regularly putting out articles, as well as whether or not there is such a thing as "too much content." We even get into what is and what isn't worthy of writing a story about as it relates to the franchisor's brand. Tune in to learn the in's and out's of producing content, PR, and the power of Entrepreneur Media for the franchise space.

Aug 31, 2022 • 28min
Killing The Kitchen Game With Zach Nolte, President Of Kitchen Solvers
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian talk to Zach Nolte, President of Kitchen Solvers. Kitchen Solvers is a well-established kitchen refacing & remodeling franchise that has been operating since 1982. He discusses how Kitchen Solvers truly is a "business-in-a-box" with full franchisee support, expanded product lines, marketing support, and training. Zach also touches on why he encourages franchisees to start with the end in mind when first buying into the business, whether the end-goal is to sell the business down the road, to pass it on to a family member, or otherwise. His belief in solid company culture and in building strong relationships with franchisees is a key focus of the conversation as well. Tune in to hear about this established home-service brand.

Aug 24, 2022 • 41min
Cookie Wars
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian talk to Bennett Maxwell, founder of Dirty Dough. In less than a year, Bennet was able to grow his business from just a few stores to 120 locations nationwide. He looked at existing cookie companies that have been around for decades and newer companies are all the rage to see what customers loved. His background in sales and marketing helped him scale his company by making things incredibly easy for his franchisees. Tune in to hear about what he’s learned on his amazing journey so far.

Aug 17, 2022 • 30min
Elevating the Brand Experience for Brick and Mortar
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian talk to Pete Lankarge from Northeast Color who produces branded Interiors for the franchise industry. In his role, he's worked with franchisors from all over the nation across a wide spectrum of verticals. He works with them at the corporate level to see what needs to go into the brick and mortar establishment and also works with the franchisees to help them maintain a consistent a brand experience. Pete has worked with fitness brands, restaurant concepts, fast casual dining experiences, and home improvement businesses. Tune in to hear about his background in sales helped Pete prepare to work with some of the top brands in America. Additionally, Pete LaGrange and the Ghost Riders has a new album that is available wherever music is streamed.

Aug 10, 2022 • 34min
The Wolf of Franchises
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian talk to The Wolf of Franchises. Today's guest worked for years in franchise development, specializing in emerging franchises. In his journey, he had the opportunity to meet multi-unit franchise owners who were building tremendous amounts of wealth with businesses across various industries. He learned the strategies behind acquiring multiple franchise locations in adjacent territories and even buying into multiple companies. Tune in to find out how The Wolf decides which franchises to look into and what are red flags to look for.

Aug 3, 2022 • 49min
Why Roofing Is Sexier Than You Think with Josh Hoffmann of HorsePower Brands
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Christian talk to Joshua Hoffmann from HorsePower Brands. As you may recall from episode 12, Horsepower Brands owns seven top producing franchises in the home services industry. Roofing is a 50 billion dollar per year industry where the top 5 national players make up less than 4% of the industry revenue. A new roof is an improvement that many homeowners need immediately, it's recession-proof, and can't be outsource it overseas. Tune in as Josh tells us more about the growing home improvement industry and why roofing in particular is so exciting.

Jul 27, 2022 • 36min
How Trevor Rappleye Shares Franchisee Success Stories
Welcome to the Franchise Founders Podcast. We are on a mission to help aspiring entrepreneurs just like you take action through franchise ownership allowing you to obtain more financial freedom, time with family, and ultimately, a business that can run on its own without you.Dan Claps has co-founded several franchise development firms and currently runs The Franchise Playbook. Christian Dadulak is a successful Franchise Consultant and runs his independent Franchise Consulting business, The Franchise Guys. In this episode, Dan and Christian talk to Trevor Rappleye, CEO and Storyteller at FranchiseFilming. Trevor discovered his love for video creation at a young age and built a business shooting events and corporate videos. Once he discovered on the franchise world, he realized that he could use the success of franchises to help franchisors showcase their brands. Trevor stresses to all of his clients the importance of video content and encourages everybody to push out videos regularly, even if self-produced. This episode is full of tips for entrepreneurs of all kinds on the best strategies for marketing their businesses.
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