Franchise Today

With more than 25 years of experience in business, including time as a consultant, entrepreneur, executive, venture capitalist and successful franchisor, Kevin Wilson’s passion has always been to build and lead strong teams of people, then support their successes.  He's already done that quite effectively with Mosquito Joe, recently sold to Neighborly and here he GROWS again.  This time Kevin is c...

His life hasn’t been simple and success certainly wasn’t handed to himon a silver platter. Devan Kline has faced obstacles, defeat, and disappointment. Seven years ago, sitting alone in a hotel room– he was devastated. After setting his sights on making it to the big leagues, he had just been released from the San Francisco Giants organization,  after his third spring training. All he could think...

The franchise resale market is hot and continues to build steam.  Smart money is on those franchisors who embrace this and actually weave franchise resale programs into their development mix.      This week on Franchise Today we talk about all of this and more, with Terry Kelm, President of the Franchise Division at Sunbelt Business Brokers. Terry's focus at Sunbelt is on helping franchisors creat...

That’s the business philosophy of Multi-Flagged aread developers, empire builders and co-founders Grant Simon and Greg Thomas...It's also how they got their name – LSGF Management.  (Life's Short, Grow Fast!) LSGF Management provides management services to franchisees and operators of retail and quick service food locations across the southeast. We currently support 50+ Great Clips in Alabama, Flo...

This week we’re joined by two marketing gurus:  919 Marketing's Founder and CEO, David Chapman and Rallio’s VP of Business Development, Ryan Hicks.  This promises to be a robust discussion about the intersection between traditional marketing and today’s digital world, as described by the ubiquitous Gary Vee and others.  In this conversation, David and Ryan will discuss the ingredients needed for t...

Retro Fitness CFO Robbie Sprechman talks about both the Fiscal and Physical Gains of Retro Fitness Ownership, This Week on Franchise Today! $2,197,482: AVG GROSS SALES PER UNIT FOR THE TOP 10% OF RETRO FITNESS CLUBS $628,203: AVGERAGE EBITDA REPORTED BY TOP 10% OF RETRO FITNESS FRANCHISE OWNERS 3,029 :MEMBERSHIP BASE AT THE AVERAGE CLUB (TOP 10% HAVE OVER 5,800) $140.18: AVERAGE REVENUE PER SQUARE...

Shane Evans co-founded Massage Heights in 2004 with her husband Wayne. Today she is responsible for the company’s services, products and programs, and also helps develop strategic initiatives. Shane feels whole when balancing a busy career with family life, supporting her children and husband in their passions: exercise, art, dance, horseback riding and sports. She also relishes getting frequent m...

It all started when two enterprising women, Cathy Deano and Renee Maloney, wanted to do their part to rebuild their Hurricane Katrina-devastated community and give people a place to relax, unwind and get creative. Their guests loved the idea so much that today Painting with a Twist has created over 11 MILLION PAINTINGS in fun-filled studios in 39 states.  This week on Franchise Today, co-founder C...

"Everybody has problems and issues," says J.D. Busch, chief energy officer of Houston-based Busch Global. "It is about how people have succeeded and grown effectively. I'm not afraid to ask people to learn from their mistakes and to learn from people who are doing things right." Busch has been a disrupter in franchising from the start. In 1995, the former college cheerleader put three different fr...

Michael Isakson is the retired President and COO of ServiceMaster Franchise Services Group, an international franchise services company, where he had responsibility for the development and growth of more than 5,000 franchises worldwide with sales totaling more than $2 billion annually.  As part of the $4 billion ServiceMaster Company, Mike led ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic and...

Ray Margiano started working in his dad’s Derby, CT, auto garage when he was just 10 years old. After a brief stint in the Navy, he returned home to pump gas, wash windshields and do service repairs 50 hours a week, all while attending school full time. Although he couldn’t wait to get away, it was his first generation Italian father’s entrepreneurial spirit and fierce determination that laid the...

This week on Franchise Today, I speak with serial entrepreneur, founder and franchising icon, David McKinnon.  Over the past forty years, David has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to recognize unmet needs in the marketplace, innovate solutions, and establish recognizable brands. David is a fire-tested executive with business acumen that is combined with a set of unshakeable beliefs, With tha...

From a living room in Tulsa, OK, in 1997, to Forbes Magazine's list of top ten U.S. franchises for three straight years, (JBF) Just Between Friends co-founder and President, Shannon Wilburn joins us this week on Franchise Today.  With more than 150 locations across 30 states, JBF has also been named one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 500 Franchises for the past six years, earned The Franchise Busi...

Shane Evans  co-founded Massage Heights in 2004 with her husband Wayne. Today she is responsible for the company’s services, products and programs, and also helps develop strategic initiatives. Shane feels whole when balancing a busy career with family life, supporting her children and husband in their passions: exercise, art, dance, horseback riding and sports. She also relishes getting frequent...

ENCORE EPISODE: Three of Key Bank's key executives join me tomorrow, to discuss Key Bank's commitment to franchising and entrepreneurship for women, financial dignity in low and moderate income communities and how Key is increasing it's footprint to serve all 50 states, as a Top 15 SBA Lender.  Learn too, about Key's financial committment to the IFA Educational Foundation, in the name of diversity...

Passionate as he is competitive, CraftWorks Holdings President Mark A. Belanger talks about his love of family, friends, cycling and franchising.  Learn how this executive, with ten brands in the corporate portfolio, manages to balance it all, this week on Franchise Today

Three of Key Bank's key executives join me tomorrow, to discuss Key Bank's commitment to franchising and entrepreneurship for women, financial dignity in low and moderate income communities and how Key is increasing it's footprint to serve all 50 states, as a Top 15 SBA Lender.  Learn too, about Key's financial committment to the IFA Educational Foundation, in the name of diversity, women, veteran...

This week Tom Portesy, President and CEO of MFV Expos, makes a return appearance on Franchise Today.  Our discussion though will be about something other than Expos.  On this episode, Tom will be talking about MFV’s acquisition of the Best Franchisee of the World competitions, a series of national events culminating in an international event in Florence, Italy celebrating the best franchisees from...

This week I talk with Solink VP Jim Farrell, as we discuss how restaurant and retail operators can revolutionize the way their locations use video, when they deploy Solink’s cutting edge, loss prevention technology.  Solink identifies and solves transactional problems that affect franchised businesses daily, linking security footage with actual transaction data, creating “real-time” insights into...

As Franchise Today celebrates its 10th season and start of a new era, Stan Friedman transitions from his former role as co-host to the show's new host. In this segment of the increasingly popular podcast, Stan welcomes as his guest, Chris Spears. Chris, a returning guest on Franchise Today is Co-founder and Chief Marketing Technology Officer of FRM Solutions parent company, Arke. Stan and Chris di...

In this Special Edition of Franchise Today celebrating its 10th anniversary, Stan Friedman and Paul Segreto reflect upon the podcast's history from its early beginnings in 2009 to its increasing popularity through 2018. Co-hosts for the past five years, Stan and Paul discuss their time together interviewing some of the leading founders and executives in franchising. To set the stage for 2019 and b...

In this segment of Franchise Today co-hosts Stan Friedman and Paul Segreto welcomed as their guest, Chris Fisher, Founder & CEO of Shine Window Care and Shine Holiday Lighting. Chris shared how he followed his grandfather's advice and instead of taking a sales job, he opened a window cleaning business in Austin, Texas. In 2011, he decided to franchise the business and rebranded as Shine Window Car...

In this segment of Franchise Today hosts Stan Friedman and Paul Segreto welcomed back Steve Greenbaum. Now in his role as CEO of ComForCare Health Care Holdings, LLC, a premier provider of non-medical in-home care with nearly 200 locations throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Steve discussed his role with The Riverside Company, ComForCare's private equity partner and how he is creating and lea...

This week on Franchise Today, co-hosts Stan Friedman and Paul Segreto welcome as their guest, Brian Scudamore. Brian is the founder and CEO of O2E Brands and a serial entrepreneur known for pioneering the professional junk hauling industry with 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. Since conquering that market, Brian has gone on to apply the O2E (ordinary to exceptional) formula to the painting, moving, and home-detai...

In this segment of Franchise Today co-hosts Stan Friedman and Paul Segreto welcomed as their guest Ray Titus. In addition to serving as CEO of United Franchise Group and its affiliated companies. Mr. Titus is a life-long entrepreneur who began his career with his father, franchising legend Roy Titus, and went on to develop a group of successful brands and franchise development services. Ray discus...