Business View Magazine - March 2016

58 Business View Magazine - April 2016 Business View Magazine - April 2016 59 “Our business is really about digging into data and that’s one of our challenges. We’ve been doing this for almost 11 years now, and we have the largest da- tabase on franchisee satisfaction performance in the world. So, we’re constantly looking at ways to better interpret the data that we have to help franchisors di- gest it. It’s so easy to look at a report or survey, get results back, and make gut decisions, but many cli- ents really don’t take the time to dig into the data and truly understand it. That’s our biggest challenge on the technology side: how do we help interpret the data bet- ter for our clients to find insights that are actionable so that they can improve and drive their businesses forward?” How do you see your company five years up the road? What significant objectives would you like to achieve over the longer term? “Like I said, we do very little consulting today, and I think that’s really the biggest growth opportunity for us. Right now, we’re like the MRI clinic – we have peo- ple come in and we give them a full-body scan and we tell them what their problems are, but we don’t neces- sarily help them fix them, or, at least, don’t help them fix them as much as we should. So, that’s where we see our business going; to help our clients understand what the key issues really are and how to fix things, and leverage all the best practices we have learned. We have worked with over 900 franchise companies and we’ve seen it all, and to be able to share that in- formation across brands in many different industries, but who share franchising in common, would be very powerful.” You mentioned the International Franchise Associa- tion. What do you consider its main benefit to your industry? “One of the unique things about franchising is it’s a strong, tightly-knit community. Franchise companies and franchise executives do tend to be much more forthright in sharing the good and bad of what’s hap- pening in their businesses. I’ve worked in a number of different industries and I’ve never seen more open sharing. You’ll go to a discussion panel at an Associa- tion event, with three or four CEOs from competing brands, and they’re sharing all the challenges that they have and what’s going on in their systems. The transparency is really amazing. “Clearly the biggest value of the International Fran- chise Association is education, and that ties directly into advocacy. The franchise business model is very misunderstood, especially by local, state, and federal bureaucrats who tend to view franchising as ‘big busi- ness.’ The reality is that franchising is just a network of small business owners, who are the true engine of economy. There is a lot of proposed legislation that could have a huge impact on franchised businesses. We’re helping the IFA tell the true story of franchising with all the data we have on franchisees, so that the playing field remains fair for all small business owners – franchised or non-franchised.” What are some of the most important points that you would want our readers to understand about the Franchise Business Review? “I think the biggest piece boils down to the fact that we have all this research based on the actual experi- ence of franchisees. So many people in the world, at one point or another in their life, think about owning their own business, but nine out of ten of them never do. Franchising is a great pathway for a lot of those people. Unfortunately, I think franchising still has a bad reputation due to shady deals that were happen- ing in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, or they think they know franchising because of big brands like McDonalds and Subway. But there are literally thousands of differ- ent brands operating today, in every industry you can imagine. The average consumer is touched by a dozen franchise companies a day and doesn’t even realize it – from cleaning services to senior care to pet ser- vices, technology companies, education, recreation, you name it. “We can educate the general public about what the franchise model is all about and how it is a partner- ship to help people who may not have the resources or the skills to start a business from scratch, have the opportunity to own their own business and have it be successful. Obviously, the franchise companies are providing the model and a number of resources, but I think the greatest value in franchising is the network of other franchisees that are in the business. You can pick up the phone and call dozens, if not hundreds, of other franchisees that are doing exactly what you’re doing. Having access to that network of business part- ners gives you a huge advantage over an individual, ‘mom and pop’ small business. If you choose a great brand, franchising offers an incredible business op- portunity.”