Franchise Empires

How do you launch your own franchise empire from scratch? Meet Matt Stapleford, the entrepreneur one year into building his niche business with Go Mini Storage. The Wolf and Matt get straight into it, discussing how his background as a numbers guy persuaded him towards franchise ownership, why he loves the autonomy and freedom franchises offer, and his ambitious plans to expand across Pittsburgh....

Why does a Wall Street professional switch to Wingstop franchise ownership? Michael Horowitz explains how he made the crossover and why it’s the best move he ever made. The Wolf gets straight into it with Michael, who in his quest to become a franchise owner, researched and spoke to every big name, every fast food franchise brand in the industry. He finally settled on Wingstop and is now the owner...

David Weis has made one mistake in his franchise journey. He won’t make it again. Find out how the Mayweather Boxing franchise has found its place in LA. After working in the fitness industry for decades as a trainer, David launched his own chain of gyms in the Boston area. Beacon Hill Athletic Club is still hugely successful and David has turned his attention to a franchise with a powerful boxing...

The Speers are natural entrepreneurs. From owning an auto-motive business to homeschooling, this power couple knows the value of franchising a great education product. After watching one of their daughters struggle to get to grips with mathematics, James and Jennifer Speer sought help with the Mathnasium teaching method. Impressed with the product, they created the first Mathnasium Learning Center...

Brian Beers is the Swiss Army Knife of franchisees. From buying to scaling and selling, he pulls no punches. And as the owner of 29 Midas locations, Brian knows entrepreneurship inside and out. When the family business is franchises, you know you’re in the hands of an industry expert. Brian’s family founded Midas, the auto repair franchise, in 1976. Now Brian runs multiple units, all within an hou...

Erik Van Horn has owned 6 franchise brands, built 43 locations and made some great sales. Now he works 3 days a week on things he loves. Find out his secret on this season premier. As a veteran in the world of franchising, Erik knows how important it is to prioritize your time on things you enjoy doing, even more than making money. But he’s done both and is ready to share the secret sauce. The Wol...

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or already building out your franchise empire, finding the information you need can be tough. There’s plenty out there but so often it’s opaque and hard to access. You already know the smart money lies in franchises, you just need to cut through the noise and get the inside scoop on how to choose, own and scale your business. I’m The Wolf, and this is season 2 of...

Military veteran Betsy Erb has a vision. And she’s not going to stop until she’s built her pet franchise empire. How is she going about it? By leveraging an established franchise brand, Dog Training Elite, to boost a newer opportunity: PetWellClinic. The Wolf talks to Betsy about how PetWellClinic is solving a massive pain point for the owners of animals in need of urgent care, her short and long...

Early on in his banking career, David Schuck realized he really needed to be his own boss. He picked up a low cost franchise and hasn’t looked back. If you’re unwilling to give up the day job straight away, owning a seasonal franchise like Liberty Tax that’s really only on during tax season, is the way to start. The Wolf and David get into how he picked up his first low cost unit, how he eventuall...

Meet Jamie Weeks, owner of more than 100 Orangetheory franchises and about to launch his own brand. The secret to his success? Risk taking.  Jamie is a big personality and a phenomenal success. With 140 Orangetheory boutique fitness studios in his portfolio, and in the process of building 60 Dogtopia franchises, he’s also launching his own, Sweathouz. The Wolf and Jamie talk about building an incr...

Wanting to become a franchisee is one thing, knowing which business model to invest in, quite another. Meet Brian Knuth, VP of Franchise Development at Raintree. Brian educates potential franchise partners, identifying which franchise partnerships might work out best. But Brian is also a franchise owner of Footprint Floors, which he runs as a semi-absentee owner. The Wolf and Brian get into conver...

Meet Alex Jones, former banker, triathlete, Olympic hopeful, and dad of two. For 9/10 franchise owners, one unit just isn’t enough to generate the levels of income they’re aiming for. But, very rarely, a site and franchise comes along that performs so well, everything just falls into place. And that’s where Alex Jones’ CPR store comes in. The Wolf talks with Alex about leaving the world of finance...

Zac Pennington has turned franchise ownership into a family affair. Find out why Anytime Fitness might be the perfect pairing, and why 8 gyms are just the start. The fitness industry is highly competitive but that level of competition is exactly what fuels Zac’s passion for providing health and wellbeing. From working in jobs that ultimately left him unsatisfied, diving into franchise ownership ha...

Unlocking franchise ownership is the defining mission of Kenny Rose and FranShares. Find out how he’s helping potential franchise owners get in on the ground floor. After discovering Fundrise, a fractional share trading platform for commercial real estate, Kenny knew he’d found a gap in the market for franchise ownership. FranShares was born and in those early days, Kenny spent his time diligently...

From college drop out to multi-unit franchisee, the path of entrepreneurship isn’t always a straight one. Find out how Lucas Mitchell discovered his gift for restaurant management. An entrepreneur from the start, Lucas made the decision early on to quit college and focus on building a web design business. To cover the bills, Lucas worked at his local Five Guys and his experience working at his par...

How do you create a wildly successful multi-unit franchise? You create synergy. Joe Johnson knows a thing or two about that with his car repair and parts businesses. Check out Joe’s playbook. You learn a whole lot during 23-years in the military, and after retiring from the US Army in 2005, Joe has applied that knowledge to building his auto franchise empire. But what makes this portfolio unique i...

What do you do when the bottom falls out of your property investments? You sell up and retire. Then you start over as part of a billion-dollar franchise. Meet Gavin McConnon, serial entrepreneur. Still in his 20s, Gavin was riding high in Ireland on the back of selling 900 numbers and ringtones. Having invested millions in commercial real estate, he was hit by the 2008 collapse and forced to sell...

When you’re not ready to join the family business, franchises are a solid alternative. Usman Chaudrhy is now the owner of 6 locations and scaling fast. Usman has made the transition from corporate worker to multi-unit owner, but not before he learnt all the lessons that have made him a success. Now with 6 Dunkin’ Donuts stores under his belt and 3 more under construction, he has his eyes set on gr...

It’s easier to sell 100 slices of pizza to one customer than one slice to 100 customers. This valuable lesson is just one element of Nick Panos’ highly successful franchise playbook. As Vice-President of Panos Restaurant Group, one of the company’s main focus points is operating its highly successful Mellow Mushroom restaurant chain. And if there’s one valuable lesson Nick is keen to share, it’s t...

Almost all startups are doomed to fail. But there’s another path to entrepreneurship that gets overlooked, one that’s far less risky than starting your own company. One that gets you healthy profits and a healthier lifestyle too: And that’s Franchises. I’m The Wolf. Welcome to The Franchise Empires. As you’re listening to this, there are thousands of franchise owners creating financial freedom thr...