Joshua Johns With The Growth Coach

Intro: [00:00:07] Welcome to Franchise Marketing Radio. Brought to you by SeoSamba comprehensive high performing marketing solutions for mature and emerging franchise brands. To supercharge your franchise marketing, go to seosamba.com. That’s seosamba.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] Lee Kantor here another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Joshua Johns with the growth coach. Welcome, Joshua.

Joshua Johns: [00:00:42] Thanks for having me on, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about the growth coach. How are you serving folks?

Joshua Johns: [00:00:48] Well, the growth coach is a business coaching franchise brand. So we believe that so many business owners out there, especially in the small and medium size business realm, they deal with tons of different issues, whether it’s profitability, whether it’s turnover, you know, getting the marketing set up for their business. So the growth coach is that that franchise that has business coaches that go out into the different territories and they help these business owners overcome those obstacles and really become the hero for their own business.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:23] Now, the coaching industry has changed dramatically over the last probably five, ten, even going back as far as 20 years. Initially, this was just a perk for the people at the highest level of an organization, and now there’s some democratization of it and that it’s trickling down to pretty much anybody. Has that kind of fueled the growth for the growth coach?

Joshua Johns: [00:01:47] Absolutely. I mean, we’re for business and sales coaching. It’s been two booming profitable markets. Small and medium sized businesses really make up 97% of the businesses in North America. So especially during the pandemic, when a lot of these business owners were trying to determine what’s the next step for my business? Do we close shop? Do we take it the next step? How do we expand? How do we overcome this? It really was an opportunity for our coaches to go in and help them reevaluate and determine kind of what that new winning combination was going to be for their business. So it really has been, at least over the last seven, 7 to 10 years, just been a huge opportunity.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:28] Now, talk about kind of the methodology. There’s a lot it’s kind of the Wild West when it comes to business coaching out there. A lot of folks have a lot of opinions and a lot of kind of winging it methodology where, hey, I was a VP of marketing at this big company, so now I’m a coach because I was a VP of marketing at a big company. Talk about the growth coaches methodology and how you, you know, kind of where the rubber hits the road for your clients.

Joshua Johns: [00:02:57] Right? You’re very correct in that there’s so often that we see so many individuals that they’re in business, they’re in a specific industry, and after a certain time they go, okay, well, I’m a coach now because I have this I have this background. And the inside joke that we in the industry see is someone when usually on their LinkedIn, you’ll see a point in time where all of a sudden they’ll, they’ll switch their, their employment to coach. And that usually lasts about 3 to 6 months or so until they actually find another job. They’re doing that as an interim. Well, that’s not what we do with the growth coach. We actually have a world class system and a specialized system called the Strategic Mindset Process that the founder of the growth coach Dan Murphy created. And that is the that is a system that we use with all of our clients. We we help them to really face their reality, to understand what some of the obstacles are. And we actually walk through it with them. It’s it’s very much the difference between a consultant and a coach. Consultants come in. They tell you the different things that need to be done in your business. You pay them and then they leave a coach, especially the growth coach. They actually stay there with you throughout the entire process. Thinking of it as a as a G.P.S. They help you map out the course and notice where those obstacles are going to be so you can reroute, but they’re in the passenger seat with you. The business owner is actually driving the business. The coach is there to help them direct.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:25] But another point of distinction between the coach and a consultant. Sometimes the consultant rolls up their sleeves and is doing some of the work where a coach is kind of advising where the business owner is doing the work or they’re hiring out somebody else to do the actual work.

Joshua Johns: [00:04:41] Correct. Now, the similar to like a fitness coach or a sports coach. You are correct that the business owner are the ones actually rolling up the sleeves and actually doing the work. And there is a great sense of fulfillment with that. Like, for instance, from a fitness perspective, I could go on to YouTube, Lee and find out all the workouts that I need to do to get myself into shape. But I don’t have anyone to really hold me accountable. So what are the odds that I’m actually going to go to the gym and do it versus if I get a fitness coach? They’re going to be that person that’s going to be calling me up and saying, Why are you not at the gym? So they’re holding me accountable. Our coaches do the exact same thing. But here’s the caveat, Lee It’s not just one on one coaching. The growth coach really at the heart, our our main concept is a group coaching environment. So we get these other business owners and business leaders into groups. So they are the coach is facilitating, but these other business owners are working together and helping to overcome obstacles in a group setting. And that’s where we have found the most success and where we’re seeing the most growth. And it’s much more rewarding in that in that field.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:47] So it combines kind of individual coaching with group peer to peer conversations.

Joshua Johns: [00:05:53] Absolutely. Any of our coaches have the opportunity to to. You give our product in aa1 on one environment. In a group environment, we have virtual. So all of our product is actually very much customized for the need of the client. Our coaches might go in and work with a specific business and notice that the CEO of the business needs this, but then the sales team needs this. So we’re going to customize a product. A lot of our product where it used to be very linear now is much more modular. So it can be topic based and really customized for the needs of that business owner or that business. And they can have a group where it’s just a closed group within a company, or they can have a group where it’s business leaders from different industries all together working as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:41] Now, are you finding that the ideal franchisee is somebody that’s kind of going all in on the growth coach as opposed to somebody who might have a consulting gig on the side and wants to add this as another revenue stream? Or maybe they have an existing brick and mortar business, you know, like a print shop or a co-working space. And they want to add this as another revenue line.

Joshua Johns: [00:07:06] We have both. We have them coming from all different walks of life. We have coaches that are all in that this is their their only source of income. And they are doing this full time. And we have coaches that are coming in, individuals that some are semi-retired or they still have a specific job and they want to do this part time. And then we have ones that are coming in and adding this as a revenue stream to something that they’re currently doing. So we have it in all areas.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:33] So because of that, how do you kind of go to market to attract new coaches?

Joshua Johns: [00:07:40] Well, a lot of it is we have a fantastic franchise development team and which I sit on as the marketing director for the growth coach. We try to attract individuals that are really looking to make an impact. Honestly, if someone just wants to own a business and that’s just when they just just want to own a business, we we usually will try to redirect them to maybe a different franchise because the growth coach is under the I call it the mothership of strategic franchising. Franchising owns five brands. Growth coach is one of them. We have a painting brand, a pet food brand, a senior home relocation and online auctions and. A handyman type of service. So we might direct them into that. But we are looking for clients that are really wanting to make an impact in their community and make an impact in the businesses in their community. So that’s usually who we’re trying to attract, whether it’s someone that has been in business their whole life and they’re there, they’re looking to retire and do this full time or again, someone that’s looking to do this part time, that’s usually the the the light bulb that goes off is when we have the meetings with them, when they’re kind of looking at this opportunity is what is your why? Why are you looking to become a growth coach? And that’s usually some of the questions we ask.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:59] Now when somebody is coming up to you and they’re saying, why should I buy into the growth coach and their methodology when I know a lot about business? I’ve been in business for 30 years. I mean, how much more are you going to give to me when it comes to just kind of the knowledge of business on how to help somebody in their business? If I’ve been in business myself for 20 years.

Joshua Johns: [00:09:24] Very good question. One of the biggest things is our patented and copywriting strategic mindset process that we’ve developed. So yes, we have individuals that might have been in business, but our process and how we coach our clients is what’s different compared to other coaching businesses that are out there. But also the biggest thing is we are by your side every step of the way from a corporate perspective as well. So you, even as the coach, are not alone. So and I think that’s the biggest thing. So if you have someone that’s come in and say, I’ve been business for for 20 years, I’m going to go ahead and be a coach, that’s great. But then you’ve got to develop all the material. You’ve got to develop all the product. You don’t really have a support system. We have ongoing support. We have ongoing training. We have a community of coaches around the world that we all get together virtually, sometimes physically, now that the pandemic is over, to actually learn and grow together, to help develop new product and to help build ourselves up. So that is really the difference between someone that just wants to be a coach versus being a part of a system like we have.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:30] And really being part of a community.

Joshua Johns: [00:10:33] Oh, very much so. It’s a family there. There are coaches that I have, even as the marketing director for the corporate entity, there are coaches that I have that I have now can call friend that they have been, you know, almost a part of my family in many ways, and they live halfway across the United States.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:50] And that’s what I think a lot of folks don’t realize when they when they join a team like yours, that it’s not just kind of the IP, but it’s also, like you said, that support and accountability, the thing that they’re actually offering to their clients, you’re offering to them.

Joshua Johns: [00:11:07] Absolutely. We practice what we preach. I mean, you think about it, there are so many business owners out there, whether it’s a mom and pop flower shop or even someone that owns an I.T. company, a lot of these business owners feel alone and that is usually where the problems start. So if we’re going to have our coaches giving them product and teaching them how to be a part of community, we want to provide that exact same ideology methodology to our coaches.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:32] And then part of what they get with the growth coach is kind of this the systems, processes, but also the infrastructure. So they don’t have to kind of create a whole coaching business from scratch. It’s kind of plug and play. They just go and serve their community and their their market. And then you have you’re doing kind of all the back office heavy lifting.

Joshua Johns: [00:11:55] Absolutely. We develop the websites, the social media presence, as well as all of the material, product and marketing assets. I mean, we really believe in an all inclusive approach when it comes to this. So our marketing, our product toolbox is full of digital and physical assets for all of these coaches to use to promote their services. So we think of ourselves as really a marketing company first. So after all, effective marketing products and clients, that that’s what sets you apart for optimal success and revenue. So we on the back end develop all of this with the insight from our coaches and then they are the ones that are facilitating these workshops to their clients.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:34] Now, is there a specialty for the growth coach in terms of the services that are providing these small businesses? Because small business owners could have a variety of needs, whether it’s finance, whether it’s marketing, whether it’s h.R. Or is it kind of you cover all those bases.

Joshua Johns: [00:12:52] We really do cover all those bases in a modular form. So some of the things that we do focus on is the strategic mindset process that’s so that is broken down into three different areas based on the the business owner or the business leader. And then we have strategic manager and then we have sales mastery. So those are all products that are modular with different topics from leadership, marketing, sales, retention. We just created a new module to all those that succession planning and we’re working on developing and finishing up our next one, which is going to be diversity and inclusion. So all of these modules are kind of focused in those three areas for the business owner, the sales leaders and the managers. But then we also have products like Smart Time Management, performance management, high performance teams, team building. We’ve actually gotten really, really big on personality profile and behavioral science utilizing DESC, Myers-Briggs and these behavioral assessments to help the the business owners and their teams. If they can understand how they communicate and understand how they act, then we can help develop products and systems for them to help them be better.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:06] So what’s next? Are you looking to expand in certain regions or is this kind of the world is your oyster at this point?

Joshua Johns: [00:14:13] Well, we are I mean, we are very particular and strategic in some of the areas that we look to expand. So some of the areas that we are currently looking to expand are in California, Colorado, primarily in the Denver area and some other areas of Texas. We do have a large presence internationally within Latin America in particular, but also in India, Singapore, in Spain. So we’re looking to expand into some of those markets as well. Internationally, there a little bit of a different, different process because the partner that we bring on as a franchisee, they are a franchisee that owns that entire country and then they sell franchises or hire on coaches in their country. So we support them all the materials that we develop here for the United States, we provide to them. And that is just exciting to see the growth coach growing in such a presence internationally as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:05] So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the website?

Joshua Johns: [00:15:11] The best thing to do is to go to growth coach franchise.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:16] Good stuff. Well, Joshua, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Joshua Johns: [00:15:22] Lee. It was a pleasure.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:24] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Franchise Marketing Radio.