In this episode of Franchise Marketing Radio, Lee Kantor interviews John Francis (Johnny Franchise), who shares his lifelong experience in franchising. Johnny discusses the industry’s evolution, key challenges for franchise owners, and the importance of selecting the right franchisees and building a strong foundation before scaling. He offers practical advice for emerging brands, emphasizing careful growth and effective management. As a consultant, Johnny helps franchises identify gaps and align business goals. The conversation highlights collaboration, strategic planning, and Johnny’s passion for supporting franchise success.
John Francis has a LIFETIME of experience in franchising. His exposure to franchising began when he was just a child in his family’s hair salon system, “The Barbers,” which was the 1,000-plus unit, publicly traded and international organization that franchised the brands Cost Cutters, City Looks and We Care Hair. He later joined the family business, playing a major role in the integration and merger of The Barbers into Regis Corporation in 1999.
With more than thirty years of hands-on experience in the franchise industry, John Francis has served as a franchisee, franchisor, investor and Board Member for organizations such as Sport Clips, Cost Cutters, Super Cuts, Inner Circle, Office Pride, Just Between Friends, Dream Maker Bath & Kitchen, Culligan Water, Big Frog T Shirts, DivaDance and the International Franchise Association.
Today, John shares his perspective and expertise as a ZorForum Moderator, Brand Consultant, Board Member, Director and Advisor and Speaker to help franchise systems and professionals “see what they don’t see” and achieve their highest levels of success. You can’t tell John a franchise situation he hasn’t lived or experienced – that experience will help your system! 
Connect with John on LinkedIn, X and Facebook.
Episode Highlights
- Tips for Franchisors who get stuck or run into growth challenges after start up
- Top Ten Tips for Franchisee Success
- ZorForum groups for franchisors and leaders looking for advice
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio. It’s Franchise Marketing Radio.
Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have John Francis, better known as Johnny Franchise. He is with Zorforum and Next Level franchise. Welcome, Johnny.
John Francis: Yeah. Thank you Lee. Glad to be here.
Lee Kantor: Well, so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about what you got going on. Sounds like a lot of stuff in the franchise world.
John Francis: Yeah, well, you know, I grew up in franchising. I’ve been in franchising literally my my whole life, my whole career. My my parents had a hair salon franchisor. My dad was a barber and franchise barbershops back in the 60s before I was even born. So I grew up thinking everything was a franchise and everybody worked for work for themselves, and everybody had 2 or 3 businesses because that’s what I grew up with. So I grew up as a franchisor in the salon business, and we built that business over a long time quite nicely. It was a big franchise or multiple brands, every state, multiple countries. Acquisitions international Nasdaq listed back in the 80s and 90s when things were crazy. My parents are in the IFA Hall of Fame, so I grew up in a great environment of franchising. We sold that business in 1999, so about 25 years ago we sold and we had just over a thousand units. So my folks were way ahead of the ahead of the curve, if you will. They were pioneers and leaders, and the things we did with our brand were were innovative and successful. We had a good run, and I worked really hard while I was there. And then I went on to do a few more brands of my own as a franchisor. As a franchisee. As an area developer. And what I learned, Lee, is I, I got I got trained really well when I was young. It was ingrained into me how to be a better franchisor. And so as I started doing my work and kind of doing my own thing after we sold the family business, I got really good at helping other franchise systems scale.
John Francis: You know, they figure out what’s holding them back, break through that, whatever it is, and then show them how to really grow and scale beyond just adding units, but adding staff and structure and accountability. So things really take off. So I’ve been doing this work for a long time, and I just love it when when people do what they’re supposed to do. Right. When franchising is done. Well, Lee, you know, everybody wins. The franchisor does their part, the franchisee does theirs, and the supplier firms do what they’re supposed to do. If everybody does what they’re supposed to do, working together, there’s nothing more powerful than a franchise system. It’s it’s wonderful. And, uh, I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it. I’ve helped other people get there, and, uh, I just want to help other people. So I’m a I’m a I used to be called a reluctant consultant because I really didn’t want to do any work, or I don’t really want to run anything. I don’t want to buy anything. I don’t want to. I don’t want to get involved, you know? But I want to make a difference. I want to make an impact. I want to help others. So Zorforum is a mastermind group. And then next level franchising is board work and coaching work. So I mean, that’s kind of a lot. But that’s that’s what I’m up to.
Lee Kantor: So how have you seen kind of franchising evolve over the decades? Um, I’m sure in the 60s and the 70s and 80s, when this, it was more in the beginning stages. Um, you know, the franchisee was a one off. Maybe they had some multiple locations within their community over time, but nowadays it seems like there’s more and more kind of portfolios of franchises, and people are looking at this more in a corporate manner rather than, I’m just going to have a nice livelihood for my family.
John Francis: Yeah. For sure. Lee, the the industry has changed a lot. I mean, I’ve been around it 50 years, I guess, but, uh, it’s, um, it’s become a lot more professional. Right. When I, when I was growing up, my dad, my mom, you know, we’d go to these conferences. It was founders, entrepreneurs, you know, they were all just trying to figure it out and get it done. And, you know, everybody was was doing what they could. But, uh, you know, things got better and smarter and, and more sophisticated. And then certainly private equity has changed, you know, and I would say raised the bar for a lot of folks to be, uh, you know, just high performers and better structures and better deals and more focused and, and just professionally managed businesses rather than, you know, founder led entrepreneur chaos. So I’ve seen a lot of change and, um, on both sides, the franchisor and the franchisees and frankly, the suppliers too. You know, technology has gone through leaps and bounds of innovation just like any other industry. It’s had a profound impact on franchising and how franchises are sold and how franchises are operated. And and the different tools and systems that we have today. I mean, we could only dream about some of this stuff, you know, back in the old days, but we got it done anyway. You know, franchising is loaded with entrepreneurs and they want to get things done and figure it out. So it’s it’s so much fun that way. But yeah, it’s definitely changed. I’d say it’s gotten better, more sophisticated moves a lot faster. Uh, but I think, you know and and now international I think is a tremendous opportunity. So I see franchising as just bigger and better than ever, really.
Lee Kantor: Now, uh, what kind of conversations are you having with franchisors? What are what are some of the things that are, um, kind of frustrating them that you’re able to help them work through.
John Francis: Yeah, I would say it’s, it’s the, the phases of growth as a franchisor, you know, when they’re new and early stage, they’ve got a lot to learn, and they’re just trying to grow as fast as they can and sell, sell, sell and open, open, open and you know, training and marketing and just chaos. They want to grow so fast. And then then they straighten that out. They get past that that chaos early emerging and then it’s growth mode. And they really got to be smart and careful with what they commit to and the people they hire and the spending. So handling those different phases then as they mature things kind of transition again, the leadership style might change a little bit. The the expectations of the team change a little bit. You go from a lot of generalists now maybe you have some specialists, you know, in the franchisor and franchisees get a little older, more sophisticated. They want different things and they they have expectations. Maybe you’re attracting a bigger, better, more qualified franchise operator. So they’re raising the expectations, you know. So then you go through another level of growth and a change internally of, you know, culture and management and leadership style and accountability. And I would say asset allocation. Right. Time and money. And a lot of times the founder is kind of gets in their own way.
John Francis: You know, they don’t intend to slow things down, but they they wind up becoming a bottleneck. A lot of times I’m coaching people on how to let go or how to how to let go with confidence. You know, how to put in systems and accountability and how to lead and not just manage. And, uh, you know, it’s just different growth curves for people and organizations. And I guess I’ve seen it enough that it’s easier for me to recognize from the outside, I can ask a bunch of questions and kind of assess where they are and start predicting their future, and that that usually freaks them out when I can tell them, I bet you’re dealing with this kind of problem or this kind of problem or or if you haven’t yet, you’re going to start dealing with this. And then they start, you know, their eyes kind of open up like, oh my God, you’ve you’ve been sitting in our meetings, haven’t you? You know. So it’s it’s just fun for me to, uh, to help people recognize that they can get past whatever is holding them back. They just need to figure it out. And I can help usually show them, you know, 3 or 4 different ways to do it. Sometimes, um, there’s more than one right answer, which makes it so much more fun.
Lee Kantor: Now, are you working primarily with B2C franchises, B2B? Um, what’s your sweet spot?
John Francis: Yeah. Really? Any any kind of franchisor, I guess. My, my, my history was retail, storefront, service based franchises. That’s that’s where I’ve spent the most time. Um, but I have clients that are restaurant concepts, um, B2B industrial sales. Commercial sales, uh, virtual, where there is no office and no mobile. You know, where it’s totally virtual. There’s a lot, of lot of interesting ways of getting things done these days. Yeah, I work with, you know, 10 to 15 different brands at any given time and probably another 5 or 10 that I’m, that I’m, uh, either into groups or, or serving on boards and things of that nature. So I get to see a lot of stuff and I get to ask a lot of questions. And, you know, my attitude is I just want to help where I can. Otherwise I want to get out of the way. Right? I’m not trying to hold anything back, but, uh, it’s great just to see how things are, um, are moving and people make decisions, you know, when they’re responsible and their owners, they’re motivated. And, um, you know, those are the best people for me. The ones that really want to get where they’re trying to go and they realize they need some help, you know, and, uh, and I think it’s a mature professional who’s, you know, who takes on a coach or takes on an advisor, or does these kind of things to take their business to that next level.
Lee Kantor: So walk me through what it’s like working with you. So you come into an organization that obviously is frustrated in something, or else they wouldn’t be contacting you. They’re either plateaued or maybe they’re going backwards, but they’re not moving fast enough. Whatever it is. They’re in a a point where they need some help and they’ve raised their hand and said, hey, Johnny, I need some help. Um, what is kind of the initial conversations look like? And then what are some of the systems you put in place to help them get to new levels?
John Francis: Yeah. Great question. Well, I think it starts with just really trying to understand the lay of the land and the cast of characters. I’ll ask a lot of questions about their team, you know, read through the PhD, figure out who’s doing what, why, where, when and how did everybody sort of get there? Uh, what’s the ownership structure? What’s the leadership structure? What’s the management structure? You know, those three things are really separate, even though sometimes it’s very much the same people. Um, and then, you know, asking questions around, you know, performance and budgeting and performance and results and accountability and really, is there any and, you know, planning and, uh, just things of that nature trying to see what they have or what they’ve done or what they’re capable of, and then really identifying what fits what’s missing and what can fill the gap. Um, there’s lots of different management techniques, lots of great resources, easy free stuff that’s out there if you just kind of know where to look and if you can identify the issue, you can usually give them 2 or 3 different ways to solve it. It’s a matter of what else is going on in there, you know, and and really the it starts with the ownership, you know. What are they trying to do? I like to say, you know, let’s create an owner’s plan first, and then let’s make the business plan serve the owner.
John Francis: So the business plan is important, but it comes after the owner’s plan. The owner’s plan is what do you want as the owner? What are you willing to give? What do you expect from the business? How much time and money do you want? And how much time or money will you give? Because it’s going to take a little bit of both. And you know, there’s some people that want to scale and grow and get to the point where they can sell it. Well, that’s that’s great. That’s one, one ambition. But what if you got to the point where you didn’t you didn’t have to sell it. You know, you could you could grow it and not run it, and you could own it and lead it but not manage it, you know, and separate those functions into different, uh, different management tools, ownership tools and leadership tools. So I work with boards. Uh, I work with, uh, systems like iOS and things of that nature. Uh, but there are lots of different approaches that might fit. Um, usually an organization really needs to go through sort of a reality check. And, uh, that’s kind of what I do by asking some, I would say, provocative questions to make people a little uncomfortable and then tease them with what could be, and then let them know that I can help them get there.
Lee Kantor: So let let’s talk about, um, emerging franchises. There are so many brands out there that are just getting started and they’re trying to, you know, grow as fast as possible. Is there any advice for that emerging franchise that maybe they only have a handful of locations just yet and they’re working on, um, you know, attracting that ideal franchisee and they’re working on, you know, having an offering that’s going to work in other environments other than their home environment. So do you have any advice for those emerging Franchise owners?
John Francis: Yeah for sure. The emerging ones are where, you know, everybody starts somewhere. And, um, there’s mostly there at the at the front end of the funnel. Right. It’s it’s crowded and it’s busy. And franchising is not for the meek, right? You should really know what you’re getting involved with. Stay committed. Right. Um, it takes time. It takes work. It doesn’t happen overnight. Even though some people make it look like it happens overnight. It really doesn’t. Uh, my best point of advice for those emerging brands is be selective. The people you bring into your organization are going to make a huge impact because there’s only a few of you, your corporate team, your your corporate staff, your vendors and suppliers. Uh, and then, of course, the franchisees. Right. The first few franchisees set the pace. So you bring in some really strong, high performers, you know, who are great people with great success pattern. You want those kind of winners because they’re going to help you improve the brand and make it even more powerful for the rest of them. But you get a couple of bad actors in the beginning, a bad operator or a bad employee, or even a bad vendor who doesn’t know what they’re doing or can’t see the the facts. You know, they’ll hold you back and they’ll create more drama and headaches. And, you know, they can prevent the good people from coming to you. So it’s all about people, and it’s all about being very selective in the beginning. Be careful and work hard to get the right folks in there. And then, you know, lead that brand.
John Francis: And, um, it takes a lot of time and money. Uh, most people run out of both. So be prepared, I guess. And what are you going to do when you run out of time and or money? Uh, then it’s again, it goes back to people and, um, you know, building that plan and building that business because, uh, I think a lot of the emerging brands underestimate the commitment it takes. It’s it’s, uh, it’s sadly common. I get I get to somebody who’s got, you know, a dozen or whatever, and they’re so far stretched out, they they are, you know, just hanging on by their fingertips. And they’re committed to their franchisees and they love their business and they love everything about it. And they probably have some great people, but, you know, they’re really at risk of just collapsing. And, uh, one small thing that would, you know, upset the apple cart. So then if that’s the case, I start looking for strength. How do we build some strength around this? How do we make it a little bit stronger, more stabilized before we grow and scale? Right. Usually you really got to have a strong base to build from. A lot of brands get way ahead of their skis in terms of development. They sell a bunch of contracts or they try and open a bunch of stores, and then they really don’t have the systems to support it, and things deteriorate quite fast. So I don’t know if that’s typical, but that’s the kind of thing I see a lot of.
Lee Kantor: Now, um, anything you’ve learned when it comes to attracting those right folks, those right franchisees. There are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to, um, you know, doing your biz dev.
John Francis: I think it’s it’s easy to say yes, because especially if you’re struggling to sell franchises and you need those fees, man, you want to say yes. Uh, so be disciplined, right. And spend time to get to know these people. Look at their application, talk to them on the phone, look at their application, talk to them on the phone right more than once. Validate, verify. Make sure you kind of know who they are. Do a background check. Do a credit check. Ask more questions, spend more time with them. Uh, I’m a big believer in the Discovery Day. Bring them in, spend some time. You know, they’re making a big commitment. You’re making a big commitment. You kind of want to know who they are and how they think. And what do they do when things go wrong? Because, you know, it’s been a long time since I sold a franchise. But one of my one of my points in the process was to say, look, uh, you know, this is a business and businesses are complex, and we involve a lot of people, things, things can go wrong. And and when they go wrong, you know, we like to make sure we’re committed to get them right.
John Francis: And we don’t we don’t need to fight things out unless, you know, that’s appropriate. We like to solve problems before we we start blaming each other and things of that nature, trying to see if they fit the culture by asking a lot of questions and just spending time with them. Take them to dinner, take them to lunch, you know, whatever. Get to know them as best you can, because the more you know them, the better decision you’ll make to either bring them into your brand or keep them out of your brand and hopefully the same with them. They’ll get a better vision or clarity around what’s expected as an operator or an employee or or whatever. They become part of your organization. You know you want them to make sure they’re going to fit right in and feel good about it and and align with the rest of the team. And, you know, have some clarity of expectations and and how to get things done. So take your time and get to know those people. That’s that’s the best advice I can give.
Lee Kantor: Now if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, or become part of that XR forum community, what is the best coordinates to connect with you?
John Francis: Yeah, well, my nickname is Johnny Franchise, so, you know, that’s easy to find. Johnny franchise.com. Um, the forum has a website. It’s z o r f o r u m xr forum. Uh, and I’ve got links there from, from my site to, uh, I’m not hard to find. I’m on all the social media. I think, you know, most of the, most of the places you’d expect me to be. I live in the Twin Cities. Um. I’m available. You know, people can schedule, direct or just give me a call. Um, all that stuff is pretty easy to find. If I’m not talking to someone else, I’ll answer the phone, you know? So, uh, I love talking to folks, and I say I’m happy to share some ideas and learn more and see if I can help. And if I can, great. If not, I’ll try to point you in the right direction. You know, I, um, I really just want to be a good resource in the franchise industry. So it’s it’s fun for me to be able to do that.
Lee Kantor: Well, Johnny, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.
John Francis: Yeah. Thank you. Lee, I appreciate the chance to tell my story and, uh, share some ideas with your audience, and I appreciate the chance to be here. Thank you.
Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Franchise Marketing Radio.
