The Secrets of Thriving Franchise Owners

Hire Yourself Podcast with Pete Gilfillan

Pete Gilfillan dives into one of the most frequently asked questions in franchising: Why do some franchisees succeed while others fail? In this episode, Pete breaks down the characteristics and strategies that separate successful franchise owners from those who struggle, offering actionable insights for current and aspiring business owners.

In this episode, Pete discusses:

• The Importance of Hard Work and Urgency

Launching a franchise requires significant effort and urgency to get the business off the ground. Pete compares this process to a plane taking off—hard work is non-negotiable.

• Following the System

Franchise systems are designed for success. Pete explains how adherence to established processes is key, but he also highlights how franchisees can innovate within the system to improve efficiency.

• Problem-Solving Mindset

Challenges are inevitable in business. Pete shares examples of how successful franchisees adapt and solve problems creatively, especially during crises like the pandemic.

• Building and Leading Teams

Leadership is more than paying employees—it’s about connecting with them and aligning them with a mission. Pete emphasizes the importance of purpose-driven leadership in retaining and motivating a team.

Key Takeaways:

• Leverage the Franchise Support Network

Successful franchisees aren’t afraid to ask for help, whether from franchisors or fellow franchisees.

• Plan and Track Progress

Developing a business plan and understanding key performance indicators (KPIs) are crucial for staying on track and managing growth.

• Prioritize Customer Experience

A memorable customer experience sets a franchise apart and drives loyalty, even in highly competitive markets.

"Success in franchising is about controlling what you can and consistently taking actionable steps to move forward." — Pete Gilfillan

CONNECT WITH PETE GILFILLAN:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petegilfillan/
Website: https://www.hireyourself.com/

CONNECT WITH HIRE YOURSELF PODCAST:

Website: https://www.hireyourself.com/podcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hire-yourself-podcast/id1472038217
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7eTKOLjuUWbf7BRtGtp6dP?si=eb2f7b38bd884804
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@hireyourself7642Email: info@hireyourself.com

Transcript

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Welcome to the Hire Yourself Podcast. Are you stuck in the corporate rat race, worrying about layoffs, and longing to take control of your destiny? This is the place for frustrated executives like you who want to escape the grind, live life on your own terms, and build wealth. Whether you're ready to make a full transition into franchise ownership or wanna start building a side business along with your corporate job, Pete guides you every step of the way. He'll talk about how to create career and income security, diversify your assets and income, and live life on your own terms. Your path to controlling your own destiny starts now.
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Welcome to the Hire Yourself Podcast. My name is Pete Gilfillan. I am a, for lack of better terms, the best selling author of the book, Hire Yourself. I'm a nationally recognized franchise consultant. I am an entrepreneur, and I'm a proud corporate escapee. And my life is about helping people take control of their destiny, to live life on their terms, and certainly to build wealth. And so today, what I thought we'd talk about on the podcast is people always ask me the question, how come some people are successful with a franchise business and others aren't? So, again, one more time, the question of the day is why some people with the same franchise business model, one is wildly successful and another, for lack of better terms, sucks. So what we're gonna do today is we're gonna talk about the characteristics that are really important for you to have when you're a business owner. We're simply saying success characteristics. So one of the things as we talk about investing in a business, Again, we can have the same franchise business model. Some people, they invest in a franchise, and they think because you have all the systems, the processes, the procedures that they don't have to work very hard, and there's nothing further from the truth. You have to work really hard if you were a business owner from this standpoint. You have to treat every day like it's your last day. Like, you have to have that sense of urgency. It takes a lot of power and energy to get a business off the ground. It's just like when you get on that plane to go on vacation. There's cargo. There's luggage. There's all the people, and it takes a lot of power and energy to get that plane off the tarmac. And once it hits a certain altitude, I'm told they can actually pull back in the power. That's not anything different. It's a lot of hard work to get a business off the ground, and you have to have that sense of urgency. So the first characteristic is you have to have that hard work, ethic, sense of urgency will lead to one of the components to being successful. Another is is that there are very smart people, accomplished people, that invest in a franchise, and they think they know better than the system that they invested in. When we invest in a franchise, we're investing in a system. Somebody's already figured out the systems, the process procedures, and our job as a franchisee is to follow the system. But not everybody follows the system they invested in. And I worked with 1 guy that ran a division of a company, and he started out and he was terrible. He's rotten. He just didn't do very well. And the franchiser called and said, what are you doing? He goes, listen. I know business. I've run a division of the company. They said, listen. We know you know business. Just follow the system. He started following the system, and now he's in the top quartile of franchisees. So we always follow the system that we invest in that leads to success. That doesn't mean we can't make the business model or the system better. Like, everybody that has a salon suite franchise concept. And he essentially realized that people leasing these spaces, these artisans, these hairstyles, they were basically every night taking their towels home, washing them, dry them, folding them. And the idea was it's a real pain point. So not part of the business model, not part of the system. He went out and bought some towels, hired a towel masseuse to collect the towels overnight, to wash them, to dry them, and fold them, and put them back in their suites. So we always follow the system, but we can make it better from a standpoint. Number 3. Unfortunately, we're in a world where it's very easy to blame other people for our problems. No question about it. We have things that come up. There is gonna always be problems. There's always gonna be something that we need to solve. And I think a little bit about the pandemic. Right? No fault of anybody else's. Bottom line is we had this major event that impacted businesses, and we have to solve problems. So I'll give you an example. In my hometown, there were 2 restaurants, and they shut down everything, said you can't really have people in your restaurant from that standpoint, social distancing, all that wonderful stuff. One restaurant decided to shut down, furlough all their employees, and just wait it out to see what happened. The other one said, screw this. They went to Home Depot. They bought a bunch of wood, from that stuff where they built an outdoor seating area, and they essentially created a special drive through lane so that literally people could do pickup stuff or takeout. So guess what happened? 6 months later, one is basically still shut down, waiting for everything to get better. The other one is thriving at literally cars down the street. We always have to solve problems. That's what business owners do. Entrepreneurs solve problems, so you have to solve problems. It doesn't matter where they came from. Another one is we're in a industry or a world now where it is tough to get employees. Right? It's never been tougher to get employees. And bottom line is is that it's not about the money. You know, when I started, when I was younger, bottom line is you had a job and the boss told you what to do and you did that, then you got paid. Right? In today's world, it is now about leading people. It's about building or connecting with people. So, certainly, pay is important, but it is about connecting with them. It's about making them part of the mission. You know, as we talk about the younger people today, it's about having purpose. It's about being part of a mission. They're helping out with something. And we'll we'll use the example of restoration. Right? Restoration is something that nobody wants. Like, I have water in my house. I've gotta get it out. Right? And it's not a wonderful job getting water out of houses or businesses and putting fans down. That's not too exciting. But if you are a business owner and you're a leader, you're enrolling your employees to help help people get back on their feet, helping them get all that water out so they can get back with their life, they can get back with their business. That's a mission. That's a cause of helping people when they are in need. And that's what people are looking for in today's world. When I join a team, I want to be part of a mission. And so we have to build and lead good teams. It's not like before where we can just tell people, hey. This is what you do and be happy you're getting paid. Those days are gone. Another differentiation between success as well as failure when we are with a franchise owner is having this focus on the customer, that customer experience. You know, many ways, a lot of products today are exactly the same. You know, I can go do yoga at one facility. I can go do yoga at another, and it can be the same moves, but it's the experience. It's the instructor. Is it experiential? Like, I feel like I'm joining this group and I I and I'm having this experiential event, or does it feel like somebody's just kinda taking me through the the motions? It's about understanding that as a business owner, we have to be customer focused. And many, many smart people, they invest in franchises, and some people are too proud. Too proud to leverage the support they're paying for. So if you're a business owner and you're struggling, right, bottom line is go back to a franchisor and ask for assistance. So let's just say you're a flooring company, and you go out there and you do estimates for homeowners and businesses, and your closing rate from estimate to job is below the franchise numbers, the the system numbers, ask for assistance. Ask for help. And some people are just too proud to ask for help. And when we are a franchise owner, not only do we get support from the franchiser, but we also get support from other franchisees. You've joined a network of franchisees that are doing the same thing, and they can be a support network. You can support your friend other franchise friends, and they can support you. So if you got an issue, you can call your buddy and say, listen. I'm I'm struggling with this. What have you done, around this? So we always want to leverage support. And again, the difference between being successful and not successful can come down to, are you willing to get help when you need it? And there's no pride in that. It's just, listen, get help. That is what successful people do is they get help when they need it. And bottom line is and I I read this and it's you know, it was about this idea that you have to have a plan. If you don't have a plan, you don't know where you're going. And it was this, it was this generally, it was, they were, about ready to do a battle. And this reporter is asking him, what do you think of the business plan? He says or excuse me. What do you think of the the plan, the the battle plan? And he goes, I think we got a really good battle plan. And the reporter says, well, how do you think it'll do? And he goes, well, the battle plan, the minute the battle starts, it's worthless. Right? The the power of the battle plan was putting it together. That's not any different with a business plan for a business. We must put together a business plan. And, yes, it's not gonna go the way you thought it's gonna go, but the beauty of it, the strength of it is putting together the plan, the lessons learned in putting together that business plan. That is the power of it. So the differentiation here is is that a successful business owner puts together a business plan. They understand it's not gonna go as expected, but they learn from that process. Others just don't put together a business plan. They just take off, and they're not they don't know where they're going. And speaking of knowing, there's another important factor between a successful franchisee and an unsuccessful one, and that is knowing the numbers. We talk about knowing our KPIs, knowing our numbers. Numbers are the language of business, and we must know the numbers. And if you don't know numbers, hire somebody to help you. But we always need to know where our numbers are. One guy I was talking to is struggling. He he was struggling, and he was low on cash. And I said, well, you are running a daily cash report, so you're tracking your cash because that's your most vital resource that you have right now. And he he wasn't. And I said, listen. You need to if you can't do it, you need to hire somebody to help you understand all your KPIs and, more importantly, manage those KPIs. So bottom line is there are many different reasons between a successful and a non successful franchisee, and these are controllables, but you want to make sure that you're leveraging all these. And it's a combination. It's not one single thing, but it's having a mindset where you are doing these things. So that's the answer to your question. How can somebody be successful with the franchise and somebody else not? It's about controlling the things you can do. And with that,
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have a great day. Thanks for joining us on the hire yourself podcast. Pete's here to help you break free from the corporate rat race, take control of your destiny, and finally live life on your own terms, whether that's jumping into franchise ownership full time or starting it as a side hustle. If this episode resonated with you, don't forget to subscribe, share it with a fellow frustrated executive, and leave a review to let us know your thoughts. Ready to start building your bridge to freedom? Visit hire yourself.com for resources, insights, and a clear path forward. Until next time, take charge, build your future, and live life on your own terms.