Diary of a Franchise with Neel Parekh

In this episode Neel sits down for the second time with Stephen Heiner, who previously appeared on episode 108 , when he had just newly moved into a Catholic seminary after having been location independent for a decade. This was Neel's "6 month checkup" on Stephen. Neel and Stephen discuss: - Stephen's frame for freedom, i.e. discipline = freedom, and how stability has given him...

In this episode Neel sits down with Logan Robison who just quit his job in the last few weeks to go full-time on his business. Neel and Logan discuss: - a side hustle he started in February 2020: a photo booth which he made 5X on upon exit despite starting the month before Covid hit - how a big project at his full-time job forced a crisis and a niche move in his then rapidly-growing cleaning busin...

In this episode Neel sits down with Martijn Reintjes , who is currently three months into a 7-month trip with his wife and three kids. And this isn't the first time he's done this, either. Neel and Martijn discuss: - how they had to fiscally exit the Netherlands, their home base, so that they wouldn't be fined for homeschooling their kids on the road - how much richer the education is...

In this episode Neel sits down with the one and only Donald Spann . Donald has been a guest on the pod before (listen here if you'd like to check it out) Neel and Donald discuss: - his initial success selling Cutco knives (and Neel pondered some kind of index of people who sold Cutco and success in life) - his journey through servicing different needs for cleaning companies which started from...

In this episode Neel sits down with Danny Miranda of the Danny Miranda Podcast . Danny is currently a full-time podcaster and is one of the few that managed to bag a dream guest, Gary Vee, through a viral social media thread. Neel and Danny discuss: - what a big role meditation plays in his life; Danny says that his life is divided in two: before he began meditating and after - why he used to do 5...

See you guys in the new year with a fresh look!

In this episode Neel chats with Renee Aafjes of Organized Garage , a company that helps people upgrade their garages to make them look and function better. Neel and Renee discuss: - the unique (and supportive) environment America offers in building businesses from the ground up (and how New Zealand, where Renee hails from, deals with Tall Poppy Syndrome by contrast) - Renee's entrepreneurial j...

In this episode Neel sits down with Paul Tran , owner of 11 Halal Guys stores in the Orange County, California area. Neel and Paul discuss: - how what you don't know can really be a secret weapon in entrepreneurship - what sort of people make good franchisees (and who can sometimes come with baggage) - how Paul's personal love for the brand led him to jump back into the restaurant space af...

In this episode Neel and sits down with Walker Drewett of NuBrakes , a mobile brake-repair business that grew out of a mobile car detailing business he started while going to school. Neel and Walker discuss: - not sitting on your laurels: despite growing the car detailing business to $1M in revenue, Walker found out customers really wanted help with maintenance and service, so he pivoted according...

In this episode Neel and sits down with Chris Schwab of Think Maids (remote cleaning business) and Inova Local (a virtual assistant company). Chris originally wanted to get to Japan to be with his long-distance girlfriend and realized starting a business was the only way he could do that. That paved the way for everything else. Neel and Chris discuss: - the cleaning "revenue valley of despair...

In this episode Neel speaks with Ben Davis of The Gents Place (which he describes as speakeasy meets barber shop meets country club) and Rascal Man about his journey from the corporate life to being a remote local business franchisor. Neel and Ben discuss: - how he chose what kind of business to start, which included asking "where could I work 80 a week and still love it." - why someone...

In this episode Neel chats with Brian Leubben, host of the Action Academy Podcast and author of the forthcoming book From Passive to Passionate: How to Quit Your Job, Grow Your Wealth, & Turn Your Passions into Profits . Neel and Brian discuss: - his entrepreneurial path which started as a college DJ, then to corporate sales, then to creating a Vivid Vision for this future. - how "house h...

In this episode Neel chats with Seonaid Beckwith of Perfect English Grammar , a very popular website that helps non-native English speakers improve to whatever level they want, for personal or professional reasons. Neel and Seonaid discuss: - how what started as a resource for her in-person students became a side hustle and then eventually allowed her to quit her job. - how she just kept learning...

In this episode Neel and sits down with ⁠Costa Kapothanasis of Costa 10 Minute Oil Change . Costa has scaled an oil change franchise to 100+ locations. Neel and Costa talk about: - how working in family-owned restaurants gave him a sense of the importance of not having single points of failure in a business and how that helped him have the right mindset to build a remote local company. - his journ...

In this episode Neel and sits down with Katrin Krakovich of Lahav Media . Neel and Katrin discuss: - the power of blogging for local services business (here's a blog she wrote about it if you want to learn more) - what she would do if she was starting a local services business today as far as keyword research - what are the most important aspects of GMB (Google My Business) that every business...

In this episode Neel and sits down with Robby McClung of McClumsy.com to talk about how you sometimes have to pivot several times to find yourself going the right way in business. Neel and Robby discuss: - how Robby first got started in entrepreneurship, which was through training as a sommalier and learning that some of his colleagues did cellar management for restaurants - creating an event in a...

In this short episode, Neel takes a look at four businesses you should be nowhere near this year. The list includes: - Amazon FBA (though he does offer you an alternative platform should you really want to sell products) - Faddy franchises like Crumbl (which are for sale everywhere these days after franchisees realized this was a fad) - Pool routes (though Neel does offer a tweak that could make t...

In this episode, a rebroadcast of episode 34, Neel and David sit down with Derek Dodds and have a leisurely conversation about how Derek found his calling. Derek currently runs ⁠WaveTribe⁠ , an ecological surf company, has an interest in ⁠Naked Armor⁠ , a wet shaving company, and serves an advisor to a publishing company he co-founded, ⁠2 Seas Agency⁠ .  The path he took to get to those projects i...

In this episode Neel and chats with Jenny Ness-Hunkin, a former franchisee of Tutor Doctor and now the Franchise Success Manager at MaidThis. A ten-year franchisee herself before a successful exit, Jenny believes in franchising in part because she's had such positive experiences with it. Now she helps MaidThis franchisees scale and exit their businesses, just like she did with hers. Neel and J...

It's a simple but perhaps not-often-repeated truth: not all business models are created equal. In this episode, Neel talks about local services businesses he would avoid buying/starting as well as what was the one factor he looked at recently when considering a cleaning service acquisition. You'll get the scoop on: - Why high ticket, low recurring businesses are just as desirable as low ti...

In this episode Neel talks with one of his very own MaidThis franchisees, Chris Rodriguez. Chris has been running MaidThis Miami for just about four months now and gives us the lowdown on how he got here. Neel and Chris discuss: - why a franchise fee was at first a stumbling block, then a recognition of value for Chris - what his main motivation was in starting a business when he already had a sol...

In this episode Neel speaks with Ujwal Velagapudi, who has had a fascinating and unusual journey building businesses in many different industries. One of the more interesting ideas Ujwal shares in the pod is his lack of concern with "maximizing profit." He's okay leaving some money on the table once he has spent time optimizing the business when he first acquires it. Neel and Ujwal a...

In this episode Neel and sits down with freelance sales coach Jeff Lundeen of Strong Jaw Sales . ⁠ Jeff had a good career in a well-paying (though stressful) field: air traffic control. Reading books like Tim Ferriss' Four Hour Work Week awakened a desire to escape the 9-5. Neel and Jeff discuss: - the effect of a one-way ticket to Colombia on kickstarting the entrepreneurial journey - why com...

In this episode Neel and sits down with Omar Santana , President of Launch27 , a SaaS for cleaning companies. Neel and Omar talk about: - the concerns that any customer has for a SaaS when a private equity group comes in (as happened to Launch27 in 2019) - how many of the solutions in the cleaning company space are similar and why that makes switching even more difficult than normal (no feature to...

As Neel looks back on previous years, he knows he's spent too much time focusing on the "scaling" aspect of marketing. In this episode, he goes the other way, talking about marketing that doesn't scale, but delivers big results, including: - Apartment Complex Infiltration: just as stealth as it sounds, but is all about quietly building relationships - Neighborhood Blitz - Network...