The Franchise Scale Up Show with Guy Coffey

One franchisee doesn't just represent one location. They represent your brand. So what happens when you grow the system without getting the people right? In this episode of The Franchise Scale-Up Show, I sit down with Pete Ricciardi to talk about franchise growth, franchisee selection and the decisions that protect the business you're building. We start with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle...

How do you grow a restaurant franchise without losing the relationships that made the first location work? In this episode of The Franchise Scale-Up Show, I sit down with John Gelastopoulos of Broken Yolk Cafe to talk about the people behind the growth: franchise owners, employees and the customers who keep coming back. John shares how he arrived in America at 17 with less than $20, bought Broken...

An airline once fired its entire customer service team and replaced it with AI bots. It did not go well. On this episode of The Franchise Scale Up Show, Guy Coffey sits down with Kate Nelson, a customer experience technology strategist, to unpack what happens when brands try to remove the human element from customer experience, and what actually works instead. Kate breaks down why customer experie...

They clean garbage cans, and they have built one of the most interesting franchise stories in home services. On this episode of The Franchise Scale Up Show, Guy Coffey sits down with James Luy, president of Bin Blasters and partner at The Franchise Department, to talk about how a business that started in one founder's backyard in Utah became a 40 unit franchise system across 17 states. James...

What actually happens the day after you buy a business? On this episode of The Franchise Scale Up Show, Guy Coffey sits down with Nikki Belt of Anchor and Keel to unpack the identity shift that new business owners go through, and why it's so much bigger than a new set of duties. Nikki spent about ten years in the nonprofit sector and ten more in big tech, including Microsoft, Meta, and Google...

He built Binary Tree over 26 years, sold it, and along the way completed 18 Ironman length triathlons and climbed Mount Everest. On this episode of The Franchise Scale Up Show, Guy Coffey sits down with Steven Pivnik, entrepreneur, exit advisor, and endurance athlete, to talk about what it actually takes to build something for decades and then walk away from it with clarity. Steven shares the real...

Guy Coffey sits down with George Wm. Tinsley Sr., a 9x Franchising Hall of Famer, former professional basketball player, and one of the most inspiring entrepreneurial stories in franchising history. George shares how he went from a difficult childhood, being raised by a foster parent who couldn't read or write, to working directly alongside Colonel Sanders at KFC, building 12 KFC franchises,...

Guy Coffey sits down with Guy Weiss, co-founder and CEO of ZenZap, coming in from Tel Aviv, Israel. Guy W. is a serial tech entrepreneur who bootstrapped his first company at 23, generated billions in revenue for Amazon and eBay, sold for tens of millions, and spent years doing M&A for a London-based media group before stepping back entirely for four years. Now he's building ZenZap, a tea...

Guy Coffey sits down with Dave Hansen, CEO of ClientTether, one of the most trusted CRM and sales automation platforms in franchising. Dave is a cancer survivor, dad of four,blacksmith, and former tech consultant who got roped into franchising by a neighbor at a camping trip and never looked back. ClientTether is purpose-built for franchise development and unit operations, and Dave has become one...

What if healthcare focused on keeping people healthy instead of simply treating them when they're sick? In this episode of The Franchise Scale-Up Show, Guy Coffey sits down with Kristin Oja, Founder and CEO of STAT Wellness, a rapidly growing wellness company combining functional medicine, strength training, nutrition coaching, and preventative healthcare under one roof. Kristin shares her jo...

Guy Coffey and franchise veteran Pete Ricciardi discuss Dairy Queen's unusual $150,000 franchise incentive, the economics of QSR brands, franchise successes and failures, customer experience, Wendy's breakfast challenges, Raising Cane's growth, and why franchising remains one of the most powerful business models in America. Connect with Guy Coffey: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/guyc...

Most founders don’t have a growth problem. They have a time allocation problem. They’re stuck doing work they shouldn’t be doing—and it’s limiting their ability to scale. In this episode, Guy Coffey sits down with Adam Spector, founder of Chore, to break down how founders become bottlenecks—and how to remove themselves from that role. Founder Bottleneck:  A situation where the business depends on...

For most of its existence, DevHub wasn’t a brand. It was the engine behind other brands. For over 16 years, Mark Michael and his team powered websites for agencies and marketing platforms—completely behind the scenes. No visibility. No recognition. Just infrastructure. Then everything changed. In this episode, Mark shares the story behind DevHub’s bold decision to stop operating as a white-label p...

Most founders think: 👉 “If I grow revenue, everything else will work itself out.” That’s not how it works. In this episode, I sat down with Holli Moeini (CFO & M&A advisor) to break down what actually drives enterprise value—and why chasing revenue alone can leave you stuck, stressed, and cash poor. If you’re scaling right now, this is a conversation you need to hear. Revenue vs. Value Re...

Hiring is one of the biggest bottlenecks in franchise growth — yet most founders approach it reactively instead of strategically. In this episode, Guy Coffey and Andrea Hoffer unpack the truth about recruitment in franchising and why the focus should shift from volume to quality. Andrea shares her proven frameworks for attracting better-fit candidates, improving hiring processes, and building syst...

What if the fastest way to scale your franchise… is actually to slow down? In this episode, I sit down with Jessica and Damien, founders of Oakwell Beer Spa—a globally inspired wellness and hospitality concept that’s redefining the franchise model. Instead of chasing rapid expansion, they made a bold decision: 👉 Go slow at the beginning to build something that actually scales. We break down how t...

If you’re a founder, partner, or leader, there’s one uncomfortable question you need to ask: Are you actually helping your business grow… or are you holding it back? In this episode, I break down a real situation I worked through with a client—where we had to make the difficult decision to separate from a business partner who wasn’t growing with the company. This isn’t about blame. It’s about alig...

Franchising is one of the most collaborative industries in business. Competitors share insights. Vendors offer advice. Leaders mentor the next generation. That spirit of collaboration is exactly why Sally Facinelli has become one of the most respected leaders in franchising. In this episode of The Franchise Scale Up Show, Guy Coffey sits down with Sally to talk about leadership, mentorship, and wh...

Every founder loves a rocket ship story. The brand that sells 100 units in its first year becomes the darling of franchise expos and headlines. But what you rarely hear about are the brands that grow too fast — and collapse under the weight of their own growth. In this solo episode, Guy Coffey breaks down the hidden dangers of rapid franchise expansion and why speed without structure can destroy e...

What happens when a young finance graduate walks into a struggling 38-year-old flower shop… and sees opportunity where everyone else sees decline? In this episode, Guy Coffey sits down with Michael Jacobson, founder of The French Florist, to unpack how he: Took over a $300K legacy flower shop Scaled it to nearly $10 million at one location Built proprietary tech and supply chain advantages Created...

After nearly 20 years in franchising — across fitness, beauty, and building and selling our own brand — I get asked one question more than almost anything else: “If you were going to buy a franchise today, which one would you choose?” The real answer? It depends on who you are. In this episode, I walk through how my wife Stephanie and I chose our first franchise in 2006, why we joined Anytime Fitn...

If you’re building an emerging franchise brand, your business proposal is not a formality. It’s your foundation. In this episode of The Franchise Scale Up Show , I break down why a strong business proposal is one of the most overlooked growth tools in franchising. Most founders assume the proposal is just a document used to raise money or sell franchise territories. But the truth is this: If you c...

In this episode of The Franchise Scale Up Show , I sit down with Alex Miranda, founder of VIRTRIFY, an outsourcing company that helps franchisors build specialized virtual teams using talent from Latin America. We talk about why so many emerging franchisors stall between 10 and 100 units, not because their concept is weak, but because they simply can’t afford to build the support infrastructure th...

Most franchise founders believe their journey is totally unique. I’m here to tell you — it’s not. After building our own franchise system and working with many emerging brands, I’ve seen the same roadblocks show up again and again: the same mistakes, the same breakthroughs, the same growth patterns. In this episode, I share five universal lessons that apply to every founder trying to go from early...

In this episode, I sit down with Brian O’Rourke — a longtime operator, investor, and futurist with deep experience across franchising, fitness, and consumer brands. We dig into a topic most founders underestimate: clarity. Not more tools. Not more dashboards. Not more noise. Real clarity. Brian breaks down why many companies don’t actually have strategy, how data gets misused without context, and...