Jeff Dudan

And you've gotta be able to meet them all where they're at. So a lot of times people franchise their business and they don't realize that it's gonna take upwards of maybe a couple of million dollars of investment ahead of their revenue to be able to build the systems and the processes and put the people in place to meet these franchise owners when they're emerging.

So unfortunately, a lot of brands get 5, 10, 15 owners and then they realize what it is and then maybe they decide to discontinue it. But ultimately, look, franchising is accelerating at an accelerating rate. There's 829,000 franchise establishments in the United States. One out of every nine people employed works by or for a franchise system, almost 9 million people.

So unfortunately, a lot of brands get 5, 10, 15 owners and then they realize what it is and then maybe they decide to discontinue it. But ultimately, look, franchising is accelerating at an accelerating rate. There's 829,000 franchise establishments in the United States. One out of every nine people employed works by or for a franchise system, almost 9 million people.

And it's a significant part of small business GDP, which is generally 46% to 60% of our GDP. So franchising is giving people entrepreneurial opportunities on Main Street USA for their families. So, you know, when you're scaling a big direct business, you can go fast because you make the decisions. You say, we're going to implement this. I'm going to pay for this. This is the way it is.

And it's a significant part of small business GDP, which is generally 46% to 60% of our GDP. So franchising is giving people entrepreneurial opportunities on Main Street USA for their families. So, you know, when you're scaling a big direct business, you can go fast because you make the decisions. You say, we're going to implement this. I'm going to pay for this. This is the way it is.

But if you took your employees here, your cross-section of your employees from your C-suite to your directors all the way down to your techs, and you gave some random 50 of them a franchise, think about what you'd be dealing with.

But if you took your employees here, your cross-section of your employees from your C-suite to your directors all the way down to your techs, and you gave some random 50 of them a franchise, think about what you'd be dealing with.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, that's fair. Look, franchising – like let's think about like retail-based locations. OK, if you want to make real money in franchising, if you're in a retail-based location, it's hard to do it because a fitness studio or a sauna or something like that might have $500,000 of revenue. So if you want to do what some of these – now there's a lot of big multi-unit owners in there.

Yeah, yeah, that's fair. Look, franchising – like let's think about like retail-based locations. OK, if you want to make real money in franchising, if you're in a retail-based location, it's hard to do it because a fitness studio or a sauna or something like that might have $500,000 of revenue. So if you want to do what some of these – now there's a lot of big multi-unit owners in there.

inside of these retail. So they'll have 100 or 200 or 300 restaurants or Hardee's or restaurants, things like that. So you can make real money in retail-based franchising. You can build a big team to support all those things. And people do it all the time, especially in food, haircuts, retail, all these lash lounges and things like this, all these retail services.

inside of these retail. So they'll have 100 or 200 or 300 restaurants or Hardee's or restaurants, things like that. So you can make real money in retail-based franchising. You can build a big team to support all those things. And people do it all the time, especially in food, haircuts, retail, all these lash lounges and things like this, all these retail services.

The service side, on the other hand, well, before I get off of retail, think about the risk and the investment of just doing one. Because you've got a $500,000 to $700,000 build-out. You've got a $500,000 to $700,000 lease guarantee. You've got a business that might do $500,000 to $700,000 in sales.

The service side, on the other hand, well, before I get off of retail, think about the risk and the investment of just doing one. Because you've got a $500,000 to $700,000 build-out. You've got a $500,000 to $700,000 lease guarantee. You've got a business that might do $500,000 to $700,000 in sales.

And if you hold your mouth right and do everything perfect, you're going to make a certain amount of money on that.

And if you hold your mouth right and do everything perfect, you're going to make a certain amount of money on that.

So the standard is a good franchise should be able to demonstrate a 30-month payback. 30-month. Yeah, 30-month payback, cash on cash. That's what you're going for.

So the standard is a good franchise should be able to demonstrate a 30-month payback. 30-month. Yeah, 30-month payback, cash on cash. That's what you're going for.

That's retail. But, I mean, I think it applies to everything. So when private equity comes in, that's one thing that they're looking for. So think about what's happened with construction costs over the last few years and cost of leases and things like that. So you've got a business model. that is inelastic in what it can charge. I mean, people will, fitness is funny, man.