Jordan Belfort, the infamous Wolf of Wall Street, hosts a podcast called The Wolf's Den in which he speaks to entrepreneurs about how to succeed in business. He recently sat down with Dan Claps and Derek Santos from Franchise Playbook to talk about the benefits of starting a business with a proven model. We're presenting this episode in its entirety as a special bonus episode of The Franchise Founders Podcast. 

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 do a deep dive into the world of franchise funding with Tera Thomas of FranFund. Tera has an extensive background in franchising, both as a customer service rep for a franchise as well as a franchisee...all before becoming a franchise funding consultant. Her wealth of knowledge is a huge asset to those considering investing into a franchise and becoming an entrepreneur. We get into multiple funding strategies such as SBA Loans, the ROBS Strategy (401k rollover), securities-backed lines of credit and portfolio loans, HELOC's, and even how to blend these strategies together. Making sure your business is funded properly is just about as critical as selecting the right franchise opportunity, so this is an episode that can't be missed! Tune in to discover different strategies to finance and fund your business. 

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 chat with Michael Hutchins & Chad Harrison of One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning by Authority Brands. Just like many other franchisor guests from this space, the two of them made a very compelling case for not just home services, but also owning an HVAC business. Low initial investment, multiple revenue streams, highly compelling Item 19, simple employee structure right out of the gate... all while being recession-resistant AND pandemic-proof. We talk about the support provided by One Hour Heating & Air, like how they get the phones to ring for their franchisees, as well as how and why this franchise is highly competitive against other local competitors in this arena. Tune in to check out how you can build a hot business helping your community stay cool. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.