Nick Friedman

Yeah, they're very discerning and disciplined as to who they'll align with because they want their brand to be upheld. They want everybody in those Chick-fil-A's to say my pleasure instead of you're welcome. And they want the experience to be different than your typical fast food experience.

Yeah, they're very discerning and disciplined as to who they'll align with because they want their brand to be upheld. They want everybody in those Chick-fil-A's to say my pleasure instead of you're welcome. And they want the experience to be different than your typical fast food experience.

A lot of people will come to me when they have a successful small business and be like, hey, can you help me learn how to franchise my business the way you did? And I'll actually spend maybe the first five, six minutes talking them out of that, saying, you know, listen, To be a franchisor, it does cost money upfront.

A lot of people will come to me when they have a successful small business and be like, hey, can you help me learn how to franchise my business the way you did? And I'll actually spend maybe the first five, six minutes talking them out of that, saying, you know, listen, To be a franchisor, it does cost money upfront.

It costs a lot of headache and injury trying to get those first five, 10, 15, 20 franchises off the ground. And a lot of people don't make it to the other side where you've got 40, 50 to the point where the brand is recognized, the royalty stream is sufficient. So I sometimes encourage them, open two or three or four locations yourself, get the model proven,

It costs a lot of headache and injury trying to get those first five, 10, 15, 20 franchises off the ground. And a lot of people don't make it to the other side where you've got 40, 50 to the point where the brand is recognized, the royalty stream is sufficient. So I sometimes encourage them, open two or three or four locations yourself, get the model proven,

and maybe you won't need to franchise or maybe you'll bring in some investor capital to go and open more yourself and you don't have to have that extra layer of complexity. So, you know, there's a reason In-N-Out or Starbucks maybe chose not to, they didn't want that extra layer of liability or, you know, people dynamics that has to be dealt with and, you know,

and maybe you won't need to franchise or maybe you'll bring in some investor capital to go and open more yourself and you don't have to have that extra layer of complexity. So, you know, there's a reason In-N-Out or Starbucks maybe chose not to, they didn't want that extra layer of liability or, you know, people dynamics that has to be dealt with and, you know,

It's just really a crossroads, like an expansion strategy. Do you want to build these and own these yourself? Do you want to bring in investors to help you do it or do joint ventures? Like Outback Steakhouse, believe it or not, it's not a franchise. They have, similar to Chick-fil-A, a managing partner model.

It's just really a crossroads, like an expansion strategy. Do you want to build these and own these yourself? Do you want to bring in investors to help you do it or do joint ventures? Like Outback Steakhouse, believe it or not, it's not a franchise. They have, similar to Chick-fil-A, a managing partner model.

So all their general managers of the restaurants have a percentage of equity of that restaurant, but they didn't actually buy the franchise, but they run that like it's its own small business.

So all their general managers of the restaurants have a percentage of equity of that restaurant, but they didn't actually buy the franchise, but they run that like it's its own small business.

Yeah. So early on when we were in the business, of course, I started reading different books. Robert Kiyosaki's Cashflow Quadrants was one that I read where he talks about elevating from employee to self-employed to business owner to investor. And so in my mind, I was always kind of like, that's the gradual elevation and transition that I want to get to.

Yeah. So early on when we were in the business, of course, I started reading different books. Robert Kiyosaki's Cashflow Quadrants was one that I read where he talks about elevating from employee to self-employed to business owner to investor. And so in my mind, I was always kind of like, that's the gradual elevation and transition that I want to get to.

So once we had enough capital, once I wasn't as active in the day to day business, I started thinking myself as an investor, my very first successful investments was real estate. And I'm still a big believer in that as an asset class. You know, one of the quotes I've heard and use regularly is don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait.

So once we had enough capital, once I wasn't as active in the day to day business, I started thinking myself as an investor, my very first successful investments was real estate. And I'm still a big believer in that as an asset class. You know, one of the quotes I've heard and use regularly is don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait.

And, you know, obviously, you know, if you look at it year by year, it may fluctuate. But at the end of the day, it's an asset. You can rent it out. You can fix it up. You could sell it, live in it if you need to. And so we did that early on. We own

And, you know, obviously, you know, if you look at it year by year, it may fluctuate. But at the end of the day, it's an asset. You can rent it out. You can fix it up. You could sell it, live in it if you need to. And so we did that early on. We own

probably $20, $30 million worth of real estate at this time, maybe more at this point, but our commercial properties and our few residential rentals and so forth. I'll say when I started investing in businesses, I had some skin knee decisions. And I'll say the reason is because To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To an entrepreneur, everything looks like an amazing opportunity.

probably $20, $30 million worth of real estate at this time, maybe more at this point, but our commercial properties and our few residential rentals and so forth. I'll say when I started investing in businesses, I had some skin knee decisions. And I'll say the reason is because To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To an entrepreneur, everything looks like an amazing opportunity.