Franchise QB

Episode 94: Coaches Corner Featuring Glen Whaley, CFC- Whaley Investments

• Mike Halpern • Season 1 • Episode 94

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In this episode of the Franchise QB Podcast, host Mike Halpern speaks with Glen Whaley, Certified Franchise Consultant, about the vital role of franchise coaches in guiding entrepreneurs through the franchising landscape. 

They discuss Glen's journey into franchising, the characteristics of ideal candidates, financial considerations, and the importance of engagement in the franchise search process. 

Glen shares insights on how his background has shaped his approach to coaching and emphasizes the significance of work ethic in business ownership. 

Takeaways

Franchise coaches play a vital role in the franchising ecosystem.
Glen Whaley has a diverse business background that informs his coaching.
Engagement is key for candidates in the franchise search process.
Financial considerations are crucial when exploring franchise opportunities.
Franchise coaches assist with both startups and resale acquisitions.
The process of finding the right franchise involves many questions and active listening.
Candidates should utilize the expertise of franchise consultants.
Work ethic is an essential trait for successful franchise ownership.
Franchising can change lives and should not be procrastinated.
Reaching out to a consultant can help clarify the path to ownership.

https://whaleyinvestments.com/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:16 Glen Whaley's Journey into Franchising
02:42 The Role of Franchise Coaches
03:40 Candidate Engagement and Characteristics
05:57 Financial Considerations in Franchise Ownership
07:22 Exploring Franchise Opportunities
08:45 Determining Fit for Franchising
09:40 Personal Insights and Work Ethic
11:06 Conclusion

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Contact me and my team with any questions along the way. www.calendly.com/franchiseguy
Mike Halpern, CAFC
mike@franchiseqb.com

This is the Franchise QB Podcast, where we empower entrepreneurs to win big in franchising. We huddle up weekly to educate our audience about the most successful small business model ever created, franchising. Welcome to the Franchise QB Coaches Corner. This is where we highlight franchise coaches, the unsung heroes of the franchising space. They go by coaches, consultants, and brokers, and they play a vital role in the franchising ecosystem. Similar to buy-side real estate agents, franchise coaches guide entrepreneurs through the overwhelming landscape of thousands of franchise opportunities. They assist with everything from franchise search guidance to FDD interpretation. to funding strategy, to recommending franchise attorney for legal reviews, and much, much more. And most of them offer 100 % free services to the franchise buyer and will coach them step by step through the due diligence process. They assist with both franchise startups and resale acquisitions. Let's meet a franchise coach and learn how they are changing lives through franchise ownership. Joining us today in Coach's Corner is Glen Whaley, owner of Whaley Investments and Certified Franchise Consultant with Franserve. Welcome to the show, Glen. Hey, thanks, Mike. It is great to have you here. you are now living in Naples, Florida, nice and warm Naples, Florida, by way of 50 plus years in Grand Junction, Colorado. Tell us a little bit about your background and how you found franchise. You know, I have owned a lot of different businesses over time. I was in construction, development, real estate, oil and gas service companies, educational supply company with my parents. I just love business and have a business mentor that I've known since '88. He sold a franchise, loves franchising. I he was just a business broker. Got to talking to him and his wife. I was looking for a business in Naples and she was a franchise consultant. I didn't even know there was such a thing. And so We got to talking, they presented it to me and as my wife jokes, it was the perfect fit. I got a whiteboard, I get to mentor people, I get to talk about business all day. It was just kind of the perfect fit for what was going on. So that's kind of how I got involved. That's awesome. So you're referring to deciding to join France Herb as a franchise consultant. And Franserve is the world's largest franchise consulting and expansion company. I'm also a member of the same organization. So Glen, what does Franserve do and why did you ultimately decide to join? You know, first of all, they have the biggest portfolio of options that we can choose from when we're talking to candidates. But just all the services and, as a franchise, just like any other franchise, they offer a lot of background and systems for us. They just really had everything kind of put together. So it just worked really well for me. And then Kevin, my mentor, he'd actually traveled to quite a few different ones. And then that was the one that he just, he's like, there's nobody like. Very cool. I appreciate the context. So you mentioned owning a lot of different businesses and multiple industries. In your view, how does your past experience in business kind of translate into your role coaching candidates that are kind of new to business ownership and franchising? Well, I just think between solo startups and partnership startups that grew pretty big, I've just been through every aspect of the business. Good, bad, you know, got good weeks, bad weeks of everything, but I've done every piece of it. So any conversation you're having with a candidate, you kind of had a background to have that conversation with them. Yeah, that makes sense. So do you specialize in a certain industry category such as home services or fitness, or do you work across all industry types? No, I think when a candidate reaches out, like we've talked about, we have over 800 to choose from. um And I listen to what they're looking for, but it's really having a conversation with them. But for me, I kind of specialize. like the restoration, senior care, and then home services. Okay. Very cool. So those are the ones that you spend most of your time in, but you can obviously show candidates anything based on their skills, their interests, their geography, et cetera. Exactly. Cool. So when you're engaging with someone that's evaluating ownership, what kind of characteristics or attributes do you like to see in them that you believe gives them an advantage as they embark upon their search? Well, I think anyone that stays engaged. There's a lot of steps along the way to see if franchising is right for you, owning a business. And I think that person that stays engaged, jumping on the calls is, you know, answering the questions and going through the process. There's a lot of things that you want in a candidate, but if you can get one that's just engaged in the beginning, I feel like that's That's big piece of it. Yeah. And you're mentioning engagement. So what, and I'm sure it varies based on circumstances, but how long do you typically coach a candidate from the first time that you chat with them until they sign the franchise agreement and begin on boarding with the franchise system? You know, I think, I think that process definitely changes a little bit. You're going to have some that will look further in the process and maybe look at some other things and they're going to be in that three to four months. And then you're going to have some that they're brand new and you've walked them through the process and now you're at that six to eight months of getting them to where they felt comfortable with it and then getting pre-approved for their loan, going through all the discovery days with that franchise. So it varies on what point they were when we started. Yeah. You mentioned the loan. Obviously it's a really important consideration is the financial capabilities of the borrower, the candidate. Do you assist with that as well? I do. Yeah, there's some questions that you can ask and walk them through that, but we have some really good um financial people that associated that we can send them to. don't only do like franchise lending and just kind of a partnership that we have with them. Yeah, very cool. Makes sense. Cause I think that's an important piece of, you know, going to see what's out there. I typically use the analogy of going to buy the home. It's like, you want to figure out what you're qualified for and what you're, you know, really interested in doing. when you look at that monthly payment to make sure that the business is a match. Is that pre-approval? Exactly. Yep. Cool. So, uh you know, who is a good candidate for your franchise search services? Is it anybody or are there certain kind of things that make a candidate ideal to kind of work with you, Glen? Well, I think it can be anybody just because of the way that our franchise system works. They can work with anybody and train them. But, know, somebody with a marketing and sales background or some business ownership, of course, makes that process easier. But I feel like the beauty of the franchise is they can teach anyone that's willing to learn and kind of follow that plan. Yeah. So do you work with candidates that are just looking for a greenfield opportunities where they're looking to launch their business in a geography where there doesn't happen to be a location of that franchise brand? Or do you also work with people that are looking to make acquisitions of existing franchise operations? kind of work with them all. If there's a resale opportunity in their area that makes sense, you know, we can definitely go down the path with resale, but kind of what's nice is we have access to all of that. We can do the new territory all the way to a resale and just see what made sense for what they're looking for. Yeah, now that makes sense. It's good to cast a wide net and kind of make sure that you're kind of checking all the boxes while a candidate's identifying the best brand for them. So what is your process when working with a new candidate to help them determine if franchising is even a good fit for them? know, it's lot of conversations. It's kind of talking about their past, present, future, what they like, what they don't like. And just, you as you start listening to the conversation, you'd be like, oh, you know, that's a brand that might be a good fit for them or industry that might be a good fit. But it's just a lot of questions and then presenting a few brands to them and just kind of working through the process. Probably a couple of conversations and then a presentation of some brands and then just moving forward to that process, especially if they're new to the franchise space. Yeah, I'd imagine that besides the financial returns, they really would like to figure out what's their life going to look like once they leave corporate America or whatever they're doing. So Glen, what is your process when working with a new candidate to help them determine even if franchising is right for them? You know, it's a lot of conversations and just talking to them about their past. present, future, what they like, don't like. And then, you know, what are their hobbies? What are their loves? And just going through that, lot of questions and listening, but as you go through, you're, you know, hear what they say, you start thinking about some brands that start making sense. And then you start going down that path and doing some presentations with them. Very cool. So what advice do you have for someone who is considering franchise ownership, but is completely new to the idea? I think it's reaching out to that consultant, you know, utilize our 10,000 hours. We're there help you through that process. There's no compensation between the two of us, so utilize that time and see if it is right for you. May that be what you want, but you're gonna be able to go through that process. Awesome. So Glen, let's shift gears a little bit. Tell the audience something interesting about you, and I'm sure there's plenty outside of your franchising expertise. You know, um I think one thing that's unique is when I was younger, I grew up on a third generation ranch and I was there till I was nine, but it really taught my brothers and I talked about this really taught us that work ethic. We all still get up extremely early to get things done. You just did whatever you had to do. So I feel really lucky. were poor, but we really got really good background for us. And even when we moved off that, you know, we still had horses and cows, just smaller space, but. I think that ranching background has just been a huge blessing. Yeah, that's great. I appreciate you sharing that with us. And I think that's a conversation I have with a lot of candidates because you can't teach that work ethic. Like a franchisor can teach you how to operate the business and they can teach you how to interact with the customer, but they can't teach you that work ethic that gets you up early and has you stay up late and really makes you kind of motivated to do what you have to do to kind of get ahead. So that's pretty cool. Glen, anything else that you want to add to the mix before we wrap up today? You might think anybody out there that is just in the back of their mind thinking that ah maybe business ownership or a franchise that they're kind of thinking about. Reach out to a consultant, have that conversation and just really see if those options are a good option for you so it's not back there. And then it's something that can completely change you and your family's life. So don't put it off. Don't procrastinate it. Go ahead and make that call. Awesome, Glen. Well, I really appreciate your time today. Thank you for joining me on Franchise QB Coaches Corner. If anyone listening would like to connect with Glen to learn more about becoming a franchise owner, contact him at glen@whaleyinvestments.com or contact me and I'll get you connected. Thank you so much for taking the time to get in Coaches Corner with us today Glen. Hey, thanks, Mike. It was fun. You got it. Thank you for listening to the Franchise QB podcast where you're at the helm of your future as a franchise owner. If you enjoyed the content, please rate the show and recommend it to anyone that might be interested in franchising. Make sure to visit FranchiseQB.com to subscribe to my newsletter and for an actionable playbook to go from walk-on to legend in your new business. Follow us on Twitter @QBFranchiseQB and join us every week for a new episode. See you next time. franchiseQB.com to take the next step of your journey towards wealth, independence and franchise ownership. And remember, When working for the man gets old, you must do something bold. Thank you for listening.