Get ready… this is a long one!!
Have you ever heard that saying ‘Good Guys always finish last’?
Well that just wasn’t the case about 10 days ago when Jeremy and Tim from City Cave took out the WIN on the Global competition of the Next Generation in Franchising at the IFA convention in Las Vegas.
Now, if you happened to see my social media feed that day, you will see I went a little crazy like a proud mother and it is not because I’ve been doing work with Tim and Jeremy and their franchisees, but because it was just so exciting to see Good Guys finish FIRST!
The only credit I’m going to take for Tim and Jeremy winning is that I was the one that told them about the Next Gen competition and that it would be worth the effort to enter (that is a bit of an understatement now!). It was a simple email (they showed it to me the other day!) to two young guys that I believed would highly benefit from entering this competition. All of the credit of the win goes to them and the franchise they have created.
So since last week, I’ve been asked the question of why I think they won and why it is that I encouraged them to enter in the first place? I want to start with why I encouraged them to enter.
This year was my 5th IFA Convention in the USA and I always take away so many learnings. To get out of Australia and enter a much bigger environment. This alone is a great reason to go. But in the last four years, the guys are my third Franchisor that I’ve done work with that has entered the Next Gen in Franchising Competition (I obviously work well with the millennials!) . What I have found is that the Next Gen in Franchising isn’t just a competition. It is a great place to be mentored.
When the top 20 Franchisors from around the world go to the IFA convention, they get to go to a lot of the main sessions, but they also have closed door accelerator sessions just for them. What I have also noticed is that a lot of the top Franchisors – Founders and CEO’s – from big name companies make a real effort to be in the room with the Next Gen finalists. Either officially or to simply ‘drop by’ and mentor, nurture and help the finalists. This is something that money just can’t buy. I mean, Jeremy and Tim spent I think at least an hour – one on one – with Suzanne Greco who was the President/CEO of Subway – GLOBALLY ! And she gave the guys her phone number to call if they needed anything more! WOW WOW WOW!
I remember saying to Jeremy and Tim before we even left Australia, when they made it to the top 20 and were getting to go to these accelerator sessions, that they had already won. The chance to be with and get mentored by some of the most experienced Franchisors in the world…. That’s amazing.
All the time I’m recommending that franchisees have peer to peer support. It is one of the best ways for franchisees to learn and grow their business. So what about franchisors? Well, peer to peer support works for them too and the Next Gen competition puts these finalists into a position to have peer to peer support with some of the best and most experienced in the business.
So that is why I encouraged them to enter and why I will continue to encourage young Franchisors to enter because even the application process gets them to really think about the business and just getting to go to the sessions in the USA, that’s winning!
Now, why do I think Jeremy and Tim won?
Well, I don’t know exactly what the judges were looking for or why the crowd supported them so, but there are some reasons why I think they won the competition, but more importantly, why I think they will be and are great Franchisors and also are building an amazing brand and franchise business.
Here’s the reasons and hopefully, they are things you might consider for yourself and your brand too.
- They are passionate about their business. When you hear the story of why and how they came up with the concept, you will see that it came from a place of need, not an idea made up in the bathtub… although it was in a float tank! They are passionate about bringing wellness to millions of people and you can’t help but have that energy rub off on you and inspire you to do more in your own world.
- They focus on profitability for their franchisees. They know their numbers backwards and they have even built the business model in a very unique way to ensure profitability for their franchisees. I was really impressed with what they had created and were doing in their own business before they even brought on their first franchisee. They really knew how to ensure profitability which is of course super important in any franchise.
- They research. They research their market, how to do things and work out the best strategies forward. They are not prone to just doing things off the cuff but at the same time, they know when it is time to take a leap of faith and give something a go.
- Their business is a niche…. But not too niche! What do I mean by that? Well, they are in the health and wellbeing sector which we all know is a massively growing sector. They have carved out a niche within that sector, but it is not so niched that it is just a trend or fad that will be out of flavour in a few years. The guys have found something that has longevity which is vital when you are bringing on franchisees. Franchisees want to know they will have a business that is still in flavour at the end of their franchise agreement and they can renew and continue that business for years to come.
- They are fair. I remember a conversation we had when they were working out their royalty and fee structure and they kept saying to each other ‘Is that OK for the franchisees?’ ‘Will this be fair to the franchisees?’ How cool is that?
- They are willing to listen and learn. Even before they went to the USA for the competition, they were already listening and learning from Franchisors here in Australia. They were not too young guys who thought they knew it all – or felt like they had to pretend that they did – they were willing to ask questions, talk to other franchisors, listen and learn for the good of their business.
- They believe in their franchisees. I’ve been in this game for a long time – 14 years. I can tell when a franchisor believes in a franchisee and when they are just giving “lip-service’. Jeremy and Tim actually really care about their franchisees and actually the whole team at City Cave. Often times they are asking, ‘What else can we do?”
- They are good guys. Yes, just genuinely good guys. They are polite, they show gratitude, they don’t big note themselves and they want to do good in their world and create a business that provides for their franchisees and helps millions of people at the same time. I remember once saying to them that their business model is good and they have really thought of nearly everything, but then I said to them not to let it go to their heads, they still had things to learn and experiences to have. Both of them were totally on board with that and I don’t think they will ever let it go to their heads. They want it to be fair for all and by no means are greedy. They are just actually good guys.
When I first started coaching, I can remember asking a mentor of mine how would I be able to help a very experienced business owner that has been in their business for say 30 years? This mentor said to me ‘Well, the question is, have they been in business for 30 years or one year that they just then repeated another 29 times?’ I’ll never forget that and when you look at this next generation in franchising, we can’t just say things like they are new and have only been in the game for a few years, because maybe they are more ‘experienced’ than others because they haven’t been just repeating year on year.
So in the end, good guys do finish first and I can’t wait to see where the next batch of franchisors come from. If Jeremy and Tim are an indicator, then the franchising sector is in good hands with great guys like these.
Congratulations Jeremy and Tim, plus all those fabulous people that work with you, plus your franchisees and their teams. Winning is always a team effort and you have surrounded yourself with a great team of people. Can’t wait to see what happens over the next year!