The Freedom Formula Podcast: Achieving Financial, Location and Time Freedom

In this episode Neel and sits down with ⁠Costa Kapothanasis of Costa 10 Minute Oil Change. Costa has scaled an oil change franchise to 100+ locations. Neel and Costa talk about: - how working in family-owned restaurants gave him a sense of the importance of not having single points of failure in a business and how that helped him have the right mindset to build a remote local company. - his journey from buying a single oil change shop on a 100% seller-financed note (and getting fired from his day job) to his current growing empire of oil change locations. - how he zagged the business from what everyone else in the industry was doing to create an "oil change only" space. If you like what Costa has to say you can also check him out on YouTube. If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to ⁠www.maidthisfranchise.com⁠ If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out ⁠blueprint.beremotelocal.com⁠

In this episode Neel and sits down with Katrin Krakovich of Lahav Media. Neel and Katrin discuss: - the power of blogging for local services business (here's a blog she wrote about it if you want to learn more) - what she would do if she was starting a local services business today as far as keyword research - what are the most important aspects of GMB (Google My Business) that every business owner needs to handle If you enjoyed this episode, feel free to reach out to Katrin on LinkedIn or by email to follow-up. If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to ⁠www.maidthisfranchise.com⁠ If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out ⁠blueprint.beremotelocal.com⁠

In this episode Neel and sits down with Robby McClung of McClumsy.com to talk about how you sometimes have to pivot several times to find yourself going the right way in business. Neel and Robby discuss: - how Robby first got started in entrepreneurship, which was through training as a sommalier and learning that some of his colleagues did cellar management for restaurants - creating an event in an isolated area, then growing in a large way because of the success of it - but also how an event business really struggled during Covid, what he did to pivot during that time, and where he is now If you liked what Robby had to say you can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok. If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to ⁠www.maidthisfranchise.com⁠ If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out ⁠blueprint.beremotelocal.com⁠

In this short episode, Neel takes a look at four businesses you should be nowhere near this year. The list includes: - Amazon FBA (though he does offer you an alternative platform should you really want to sell products) - Faddy franchises like Crumbl (which are for sale everywhere these days after franchisees realized this was a fad) - Pool routes (though Neel does offer a tweak that could make this work) Neel's all for starting businesses...he just prefers the tried and true, the types that have been around and are proven. If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to ⁠www.maidthisfranchise.com⁠ If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out ⁠blueprint.beremotelocal.com⁠

In this episode, a rebroadcast of episode 34, Neel and David sit down with Derek Dodds and have a leisurely conversation about how Derek found his calling. Derek currently runs ⁠WaveTribe⁠, an ecological surf company, has an interest in ⁠Naked Armor⁠, a wet shaving company, and serves an advisor to a publishing company he co-founded, ⁠2 Seas Agency⁠.  The path he took to get to those projects is anything but conventional. Derek also shares: - Going from having a gun in his hand at the age of 5 and being a hunter to becoming a vegan - How following women he loved led to big changes in his personal and professional life - The influence of Jidda Krishnamurti on his life - How getting a flyer while on a self-study visit led him to give up everything he was building in Europe to come back to America, where he never thought he would return. Enjoy the episode! If you want to connect with Derek you can find him on ⁠Facebook⁠ or ⁠Instagram⁠ or on his ⁠personal site⁠.

In this episode Neel and chats with Jenny Ness-Hunkin, a former franchisee of Tutor Doctor and now the Franchise Success Manager at MaidThis. A ten-year franchisee herself before a successful exit, Jenny believes in franchising in part because she's had such positive experiences with it. Now she helps MaidThis franchisees scale and exit their businesses, just like she did with hers. Neel and Jenny discuss: - why she decided to start a business in the first place even though she had a decent job - why she considers people to be the best and worst part of owning a business - why she now considers "begin with the end in mind" as a crucial part of any business journey If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to ⁠www.maidthisfranchise.com⁠ If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out ⁠blueprint.beremotelocal.com⁠

It's a simple but perhaps not-often-repeated truth: not all business models are created equal. In this episode, Neel talks about local services businesses he would avoid buying/starting as well as what was the one factor he looked at recently when considering a cleaning service acquisition. You'll get the scoop on: - Why high ticket, low recurring businesses are just as desirable as low ticket, high recurring businesses - How you could make low ticket, low recurring businesses work (if you had to) - The importance of building "need to have" businesses, particularly in recessions Enjoy the episode. If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to www.maidthisfranchise.com If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out blueprint.beremotelocal.com

In this episode Neel talks with one of his very own MaidThis franchisees, Chris Rodriguez. Chris has been running MaidThis Miami for just about four months now and gives us the lowdown on how he got here. Neel and Chris discuss: - why a franchise fee was at first a stumbling block, then a recognition of value for Chris - what his main motivation was in starting a business when he already had a solid-paying 9-5 (and how his spouse reacted) - how often Chris posts in the MaidThis slack, which is like a superpowered version of the Facebook group which was where he first heard about Neel and MaidThis If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to ⁠www.maidthisfranchise.com⁠ If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out ⁠blueprint.beremotelocal.com⁠

In this episode Neel speaks with Ujwal Velagapudi, who has had a fascinating and unusual journey building businesses in many different industries. One of the more interesting ideas Ujwal shares in the pod is his lack of concern with "maximizing profit." He's okay leaving some money on the table once he has spent time optimizing the business when he first acquires it. Neel and Ujwal also discuss: - Ujwal's attempted retirement in South East Asia - What drives him (hint: it's not money) - Why he now only looks at 7-figure cash flowing businesses If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to ⁠www.maidthisfranchise.com⁠ If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out ⁠blueprint.beremotelocal.com⁠ https://twitter.com/UjwalVelagapudi

In this episode Neel and sits down with freelance sales coach Jeff Lundeen of Strong Jaw Sales. ⁠Jeff had a good career in a well-paying (though stressful) field: air traffic control. Reading books like Tim Ferriss' Four Hour Work Week awakened a desire to escape the 9-5. Neel and Jeff discuss: - the effect of a one-way ticket to Colombia on kickstarting the entrepreneurial journey - why coming back to the job after that travel only made Jeff more resolved to break out of the 9-5 - why Jeff thinks copywriting and sales are so fundamental to entrepreneurship (even though he only really likes to do one of them) What is perhaps most inspiring about Jeff is his mindset of abundance, which allows him to even teach others how to start a business exactly like his. If you want to start your own MaidThis Franchise in your market & skip years of trial-and-error, go to ⁠www.maidthisfranchise.com⁠ If you want a foundations do-it-yourself course on how to start your own remote local business model, check out ⁠blueprint.beremotelocal.com⁠