In this transformative episode, Liz Leonard, Owner of Liz Leonard Franchise Advisor, shares how her expertise, honed over a decade of focused work, positions her as a leading authority in guiding individuals toward the right franchise for them.
You will discover:
– How to overcome the number 1 cause of franchise failure
– How to know IF franchising is right for you (find out if you have what it takes BEFORE you start)
– How to choose the right franchise opportunity for you
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again to the secrets of the high demand coach podcast, and I am here with yet another high demand coach. I have the one and only Liz Leonard, who has spent the last 20 years finding freedom through entrepreneurship. She owns multiple businesses and is a franchise advisor, a published author, a renowned speaker and a proud wife and mother, Liz spent decades climbing the corporate ladder only to be the casualty of a layoff, drawing on her background in childhood education, Liz and her husband founded Parkside Children’s Learning Center, a business that they were able to sell at a profit just three years later, she then founded her franchise advisory business in 2014 and has spent the last decade helping others to match the right fit business for their lifestyle and personality. She’s also the author of the book your franchise Fast Pass your step by step guide to finding your ideal franchise business. Well. Liz, so excited to have you here. Love the opportunity to dive into this world of franchising, because it’s a wonderful opportunity for a lot of entrepreneurs. I’m wondering. You’ve done this a lot. You’ve written the book on it. How? How does someone sitting there listening today thinking about starting a business? How do they know if franchising in general is right for them?
Liz Leonard
Yeah, that’s a great question. And thank you for having me on the show. Wonderful introduction to everything. I think that many people think of franchise ownership as kind of a widget or vehicle to help them accomplish things in their life. And we either going to be entrepreneurs through startups, which my husband, Paul and I have done, or you consider the franchise route, and there are actually two different models, lot of similarities, lot of similar risks. In the book, I identified both of those kind of lanes. And for many people, we find out which one suits them better, and are they looking for proven track record, you know, having that historic history and having the financial stability of a partner. And I think, you know, we’re all wanting to be in business for ourselves, but I think one of the main differences to see if franchising fits for them is you’re in business for yourself, but you’re not by yourself.
Scott Ritzheimer
And how do you how do you flesh that out? So what are some questions that someone can ask? Because I’m imagining someone sitting there, you know, maybe they’re not listening to this, right when it went live, but they’re listening to it is the kind of quintessential entrepreneur, like 2am there’s got to be a better way, right? So they’re sitting there listening to this. What are some questions that they can ask? Because they may not have ever done it before. They don’t know if they you know, if they want a track record, they don’t know if they don’t know if they want to do it themselves. What are some questions that they could ask as they’re just trying to discover the right path?
Liz Leonard
Yeah, I love the 2am analogy. And in fact, you know, one of the questions we ask, if you know we’re working with a couple or a team, you know, what are the things that keep you up at night? What are those and are those wanting to build your own wealth? Is it running a w2 job plus having a semi absentee business on the side? So I think the questions are really, where is the pain in your life, and will the business help solve the pain? And to follow up with that too, we dig even deeper into what are your motivations to actually have a business, because motivations drive success for probably many people listening to the show today, and what do you want the business to do for you? And I think the first step for people to think about, if it’s a 2am and maybe your job is in jeopardy, or maybe you’re facing ageism, or whatever it might be, you need to think about, Do I have the skill set to run a business? We have all these corporate skills. I went through it myself, and I found that I was actually really good at a lot of things, but there were a lot of things that I was not good at, that we can all learn them, but sometimes it’s a little bit of a rocky road to learn them and go through the bums. But we have all of our candidates take a skills assessment so we can identify, Okay, what are we good at? What can we leverage to the franchise system? What can we leverage through maybe their corporate career? Maybe they own multiple businesses. So I think there’s a lot of ways to kind of really dig in to the question that you’re asking is, how do we figure out if franchising is for us? Really? The only way to find out is to explore and learn and research and working with a coach like myself, it doesn’t cost you anything except your time, your energy, and we need to do some serious goal setting. So there’s a whole other host of things, but it doesn’t cost you any money to explore it. And I have a couple people right now that I’m working with that have I call assumptions, or had trash is a better term, where they think they know it all. They think they enter to the end what franchising is and what it is and what it isn’t. And so I challenge them sometimes, where did you get that information from? Well, the internet. And I’m like, well, that always the. Best Place to base the facts from? I think you should talk to the experts and get the facts. So it’s kind of a long winded answer, but I think there’s a lot of ways to really massage into that question and help them identify, do you have what it takes? Can you afford it? What does your market look like? Do you have spousal support? And then let’s take a look at the skills. Let’s find out what you’re capable of doing and what you enjoy.
Scott Ritzheimer
So you led me to a question that I feel is a hard one, but an important one, and that is, is entrepreneurism in either of its forms, right? For everyone you mentioned, do you have what it takes? I’m I’ve helped start a lot of organizations my time. Love entrepreneurs super, super fun, but I also know in doing that, there’s a lot of people who start businesses, who start franchises that really shouldn’t have. And so one, do you agree with that, if you found that to be true? And if so, what are the you know, one, two of the top things that separate those who should embark on that journey and those who shouldn’t.
Liz Leonard
Yeah, it’s another really important question, and it is kind of a challenge question, and I get it all the time. We interviewed eight franchisees in the book, and they all are from different walks of life, different ages, everything you can possibly imagine, which is why we put them in the book. And they were gracious enough to give us their time. But there’s a gentleman named Steve in that book. So Steve enjoyed tools. He bought a snap on tools franchise. You probably see these big trucks going down the road. He thought, oh my gosh, I love tools. I love automotive. I’ve got a lot of clients and contacts. I am going to just contact them and buy a franchise. And he did this is years ago, and he has a great background, so he left his job, he bought the snap on tools, and just, it’s a funny analogy. It was like, four months into the franchise, he’s driving down the road, and he gives me this analogy, this big truck going to my clients, and he’s like, Oh my God, what did I do? I made the wrong decision, and my decision was based on what I thought was a passion. And he said, Oh my god, I called the company the next week, I find out how they could get me out of it. They actually bought it back from him. That doesn’t always happen, by the way. So then, years later, ageism is happening in his corporate career. He’s had a very good job, and he discovered me. I’m not quite sure where. I think it was referred to me by a friend or his CPA, and we helped him find the right franchise. But it was really interesting to go through it with him, because the way he was analyzing, evaluating and investigating brands which take six day weeks, was totally different than what he did before, and he was so grateful that he found me, because he bought the wrong one. He really did, and he failed, and he says it all in the book. And I wanted his him to share his story, because I think there’s many people out there. We need to actually look at essential services, demand driven. Is it a want? Is it a need? You know, looking at the market, does it touch upon the real estate market? And there’s two sides to franchising, which, I think, again, a lot of people not sure which way to go. There’s the brick and mortar, which are usually semi absentee, which are Fitness, Food, healthcare, med, spa, so many more. On the other side of the home service brands, which don’t require brick and mortar, and I think it’s a much lower investment. And many people that get into these high investment franchises need to make sure they’re well capitalized. And I think if you look at one of the number one failure rates being under capitalized, not hiring the right people, wearing too many hats. And so we really want to talk about all of those factors. They’re, they’re so important.
Scott Ritzheimer
Right? That’s so true. So there’s, there’s something you’ve brought up a couple of times. And when you, if you were to go Instagram or or Facebook and look up entrepreneur, you’d get a bunch of, like, 2030 somethings, you know, when all kinds of, you know, with Lamborghinis and crazy, just bizarre stuff. And there’s a lot in that space of very young entrepreneurs. But my, my experience has been that when it comes to successful, older, successful entrepreneurs, many of them are, are later in life. They’re in their 40s, 50s, and some even in their 60s. What would you say to someone who’s who’s facing that ageism at work, but thinks that the entrepreneurism thing might be too late for them? They might have missed it?
Liz Leonard
Yeah, there is a lot of that going on in our country right now. I work nationwide, so I have the benefit of talking to people from all walks of life, all different cultures, all different ages. So I hear the real light stories, and it is going on, and they are companies are, you know, giving out early retirement, and then they’re bringing in somebody who might be in their 30s and paying them maybe a fourth of what they were paying. Saying, you know, the other gentleman that’s been there for two decades. So it’s, you know, it’s a pain point, yeah, and I think that many people want to write the last chapter of their career. They’re not ready to quit. They’re not ready to be done. I have a gentleman right now. His name is Bruce. He’s in Florida. He worked for Granger for 30 years, and he’s got a ton of energy, and he’s retired, but he’s like, I still have so much more to give. Liz, I have to find something. I’m driving my wife nuts. So they have a non profit for music. But it wasn’t enough. He wants to use everything that he accomplished in his career, and he wants to own a business. And I think for anybody you know, he’s actually, he’s closing on a coaching and training franchise. So I want to bring that up because he doesn’t want a brick and mortar, you know, he doesn’t want an essential Home Service brand. He really wants to help people, and that was identified in his skills assessment. So ageism or not, why not explore coaching and training is a great option. Depending on your background. We have a lot of other ones too. We have some senior care franchises that don’t require, you know, home health people in the home. It’s different. It helps families actually find the right location, whether it be independent, assisted. So we have quite an array of options for people. There’s over 700 of my inventory. So line of luck, what do you get to lose to write the last chapter?
Scott Ritzheimer
That’s fantastic. That’s fantastic. So we’ve got 700 options. How do we know what’s the right one? What are some of the key areas that we need to focus on, on finding the right fit for us?
Liz Leonard
So two prerequisites we have everybody complete. One is the skills assessment, which I have already referenced today. The second one is a very high level profile. It does ask for net worth. You mentioned the millennials earlier. A lot of the Millennials don’t have the net worth. These companies do have net worth requirements. They have liquid requirements, so we need to make sure that they meet the criteria for the companies. So hence the reason for the form. Then we do a 60 minute Zoom meeting. We review the skills assessment, and we talk about from A to Z, what they want the business to do for them. We check off industries they want to look at. We talk about their market. We talk about their role in the business. We find out what is kind of the average income, minimum income that they want to gain from the business. Is that realistic? Yes or No. If not, you might want to stick with your w2 job. I’m not shy in telling them that, right? I can’t give an earnings claim. But obviously, if they’re trying to just swap the job for the business, the business takes time to grow, so they need to be flexible and again, be well capitalized. So it is definitely a process that we go through. It takes six to eight weeks. We identify three options for them, for them to speak with. But when I do research for people, I think this is really important, and I’m finding that some of my competitors do not do this. I will tell them what I find. I put everything in a spreadsheet, and I let them know what’s available. And then we chisel that down to, okay, this is like high priority. We color code it. Then we’ve got a medium kind interested. And then we’ve got another category, maybe so three different areas of interest. And then they talk with their family, their spouse or their partners. They get back to me and say, Can we look at these three or four? And then I introduce them with their permission. Send everything. So it’s definitely a consultative process. I need data from them. I need information, I need feedback. And I can’t help everybody, by the way, that might be one of your questions today, but I do try and let them know whether I can or I can’t, or maybe it’s work for another two years. Wait till you’re ready to exit your career. Call me back. Timing is a really big factor too.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, how so we’ve we’ve decided franchising is right for us. We’ve narrowed it down to a couple of options. We have our prime candidate, and we’re looking at a pretty big dollar amount, or what feels like a big dollar amount, to get in we recognize, hey, that’s a little bit more than we’ve got in the piggy bank. We’ve got to find some fundraising. We’ve got to adequately capitalize this first what does that mean? What does you know in your in your world, what does adequately capitalizing your endeavor mean? And what are some ways that you can pursue the funding that you need to make that happen?
Liz Leonard
Yes, funding is another really big part. We do help facilitate introductions to lending partners. I think there’s six SBA partners that we have, and we let them choose who they want to talk to, who they’re more comfortable with. Then we have my best kept secret, which I know I’m supposed to hold out on this, but one of the best kept secrets in franchising, this is one. I have another one for you, but it’s called rollover for business startups. So if you have a retirement account from a former employer that’s sitting there, and yeah, it’s doing great. Right? But if you want to start a business and you don’t want to do an SBA loan, then you can utilize your retirement funds, put it in a C Corp. It is tax free, and essentially you don’t have that interest rate, and the monthly payment to the government being the SBA. And so a lot of people don’t know that out there. Wow, and it’s an amazing vehicle to use to fund a business. And I think you know, your follow up question was, how do I know if I’m well capitalized, when you start a business, you need to have a cushion, you need to be able to take care of your personal, monthly household bills. So whether you’re in a single income or dual income, we do speak about that too. It is very important to make sure that while you’re building this business, you’re comfortable and of course, you know separate the two, there’s their personal and then there’s the business, and then if you’re going to be paying employees, that’s also a critical part, to make sure that you are well capitalized to hire two or three people, because your business has got to grow. And as it grows, you’re looking at, you know, how much is my average ticket price to my customer, per day, per week, per month? How do I replicate that? And how do I expand into that growth? Because that’s really what franchising is all about, right? Taking the system, replicating it if you’re well capitalized, and that’s how you can expand your portfolio.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, yeah, it’s so good. So Liz, you’re right. There’s a question I have for you here. I like to ask this of everybody, and it is, what is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t the secret at all. What’s that one thing you wish everybody watching or listening today knew?
Liz Leonard
I have a two prong answer. One is, when I speak with people, their minds go to food in franchising. Probably because of our media and the television and all of our social media, we see food, and there’s so many franchises out there, aside food, and you don’t have to be a millionaire donor franchise. And that’s actually referenced in the book too. And I think a lot of people shy away from it because they think, Oh, I’m not that person, I’m not that investor, I’m not that profile. I can’t be that franchise, entrepreneurial person. So I think just keep your mind open. I referenced it once today during the podcast, but there’s two sides to franchising, brick and mortar, which we all know. We go park our car, enter the front door, we’re a customer. The other side are home service brands. Home Service brands are anything that is an essential service, demand driven, and you’re probably sitting in your home nap. You’re listening to this, anything you need in your home, inside and outside. Interior, exterior, floor to ceiling. There’s a franchise out there. They install, repair, maintain, and people see these vehicles on the highways, but they don’t realize they’re franchises. But they’re not a brick and mortar, so the investment is lower, yeah, the overhead is lower and the margins are stronger.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, wow. Fantastic, fantastic. Now we have a lot of other coaches and consultants, folks who help the entrepreneurial community, who tune into our show on a weekly basis, having done this for so long now, having helped so many people. What is some advice that you would give to another coach or consultant, helping entrepreneurs and founders?
Liz Leonard
Oh, I think that you know, having a good coach and a peer group and a mentor group, and always challenging ourselves to be stronger and better and more equipped with our toolbox to help our clients. I know that I’m surrounded by, you know, obviously nationwide systems of different resources, and if I don’t have that answer, I will go find it. And regardless of whether I’m even working with that candidate, I try to pay it forward. And I always have a conversation with people I’m not sure about the other coaches or consultants, but my time is never wasted talking to anybody, because I think that we all can feel this way. If we pay it forward, it will come back in dividends. And we want to help everybody, whether we whether we’re a good fit to coach them, or we’re not a good fit, I might be able to refer them out to somebody else. So I always try to be open minded and just try to be a great referral source for people too. I think it’s really important, because you can imagine the percentage of people that I can help, and the latter and I need something with them. So, you know, maybe they need life coaching, maybe they’re looking to buy an independent business, not a franchise. So there’s just all kinds of things. So if I can help anybody and refer them out, I’d be more than happy to do that.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, that’s fantastic. So Liz, there’s some folks listening to this, and I know it’s just the right thing at the right moment. They didn’t realize all the options available to them, and they recognize the need to have a guide who can lead them through. Each step of the way. How can they find more out about you in the work that you do?
Liz Leonard
Several different ways. The book is franchisefastpassbook.com and then, of course, there’s the big site, which is yourfranchisefastpass.com and I’m on LinkedIn, and I’m happy to have a conversation with anybody. If you know anyone struggling right now that can’t find a job, and feels like they’re kind of at the end of the road. Please open their mind. There are a lot of options out there.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. Well. Liz, thank you so much for being on the show today. Just a privilege and honor having you here today, and for those of you watching and listening, you know that your time and attention mean the world to us. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I can’t wait to see you next time. Take care.
Contact Liz Leonard
Liz Leonard has spent the last 20 years finding freedom through entrepreneurship. She owns multiple businesses and is a Franchise Advisor, published author, renowned speaker, and proud wife and mother. Liz spent decades climbing the corporate ladder, only to be a casualty of lay-offs. Drawing on her background in childhood education, Liz and her husband founded Parkside Children’s Learning Center, a business they were able to sell at a profit just three years later. She founded her franchise advisory business in 2014 and has spent the last decade helping others match the right-fit business for their lifestyle and personality.
Want to learn more about Liz Leonard’s work at Liz Leonard Franchise Advisor? Check out her website at https://yourfranchisefastpass.com/
Podcast Booking Status: Open
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- As a coach, you should be experiencing some very good momentum AND be grossing $100K or more annually. We’ll be talking about how you help your clients achieve extraordinary results.
- Consider yourself as equally people and results-oriented in your mission.
- High-authority expert management and independent coaches who work with founder-led entrepreneurial organizations of 40 or more employees. We also encourage guests that are operations/strategy and culture consultants, advisors, and leadership coaches to be guests (no specialties in marketing, branding, sales, or IT, please
- Please, no new coaches (under 3 years), published authors, non-independent coaches, or non-business coaches/consultants.