On this episode, Nat and Pete discuss many ideas and share quite a few stories, including how Pete would repossess cars from the Minnesota Vikings and Nat proves his half-day theory of entrepreneurship.
You will also get some insights into what a franchise consultant's day looks like, what the guys have learned in the past few weeks about franchises, and what predictions they have made have been wrong. Franchise consultants are here to help people get into franchising, but often, people don't know what they actually do.
Here's a Full Transcript of Our Podcast Episode on Franchise Consultant Life and What a Franchise Consultant Does
Pete: Good morning, Nat; how are you, man?
Nat: I'm doing great. I hope you're feeling okay, Pete, because I know I one-upped you on my zoom background.
Pete: Yes, I got to get going on that I got to tell you. I was supposed to get a zoom background, and I was going to get a fancy hat, but I didn't do it. You know why? Is the reason why I didn't go get a fancy hat is COVID-19, yes COVID-19. So, my daughter who's a senior in high school, she's getting a little stir crazy.
So we finally had to say okay, you can start spending time with friends, right? But you've got to wear a mask and be eight feet away, so we let her do it, right? She goes to a friend's house, what do you expect happens? The next day, the family has COVID-19. Yes, right. So her friend got it, got the COVID-19.
So we went through the whole testing, and now she has to wait like ten days, so the whole house is locked down. We're wearing masks, and everything else, so crazy world, isn't it?
Nat: Yes. I would be glad when it warms up, so we can be outside again.
Pete: Yes. Well, I think everything now is zooming, right? I mean, I think a little bit about your franchise conference that we go to twice a year, semi-annual conference. We used to go to nice places like Florida and things like that, and we just got done doing four days of zoom with that conference; it was crazy.
Nat: I was. Actually, I'm pretty impressed with zoom. I didn't realize how we're able to, there's all these breakout rooms. There's a lot of kind of like different things you can do with zoom that as a consumer you never realize, but once you get on the business side or almost like a conference scenario, it can really facilitate a lot of interesting conversations.
Pete: Yes. I think they had at least 50 mini-conference rooms going at one time.
Nat: Yes.
Pete: Go from a general session to one-on-one sessions with franchisors. And I think about the technology associated with taking people and moving them into these rooms, just like you're walking, and it's pretty amazing.
Nat: Yes. I learned a lot, and it was interesting because I had a lot of assumptions kind of going into that. And as franchise consultants, we're always trying to keep up to date with what's going on in franchising. And I was pretty impressed both with how service is doing and how retail is doing. And it wasn't all like my assumptions were that they were making ass out of you and me.
Pete: Well, I think it is that you watch the news, and sometimes you start believing the news. That the world's doom, but I was pleased you think about the service-based business, I'm sharing the stories of how they stepped up and helped the franchisees, and they adapt their business model. And to your point is that not only did they make it through, we're still in this COVID-19. But they come out of this backside as stronger with the demand.
Nat: Yes. And there's been, I think it was the saying that necessity is the mother of invention. There's been a lot of invention or iteration, where even if you're a service-based company, maybe you're doing the in-home quotes like virtual, like doing Facetime, or I don't know exactly how they do it. Or even a lot of the fitness companies are doing like live classes or live instruction.
So they're still maintaining their members, or they're still booking business, but they're doing it; instead of having to drive there and pay for gas and mileage, it's actually much more efficient. So this should be really interesting over the next ten years to see how this evolves like I'm thinking a lot of this is here to stay, to be honest.
Pete: Well, I think so. I think a little bit about like the fitness concepts though, what we're seeing is that people want that interaction. So zoom is great, doing the classes at your house is fine. But it's about going to doing that yoga class with your friend, or that other 50 people, there's just energy.
You see that in football stadiums, anything else it's when people can get together, and I think that's what everybody's lacking. So I think they've made it through, and I think they will have a major impact of how we go forward.
Maybe it gives you more opportunities as a consumer-like Farrell's, who we interviewed, right? I mean, it was, you can go to their facility, or you can be anywhere in the country and take advantage of their body-shaping stuff. I mean it's pretty cool.
Nat: Yes. I think for that kind of stuff, consistency is the key, right? You don't want to like take a week off or a month off, because you might never come back.
Pete: Yes. And I think from the standpoint of even businesses that you talk about adapting and making better. So I was talking to a home cleaning franchise, right? And they bought those, the sanitizer guns, right?
The battery-powered ones. And they sterilize rooms, the surfaces. They're like 600 tools. Well, they go in, and they sterilize the house for people. So not only do they clean it, but they have these things, and it's an added feature that you can pay for, it's very cool.
Nat: Do you feel like the people you're talking to? Do you feel like there's more career transition than maybe there was last year, like 12 months ago? Or do you feel like it's about the same?
Nat: Yes. I think we're seeing more of it from that standpoint. Just from the state is that people, because of COVID-19 no fault of their own, the company started downsizing, they're eliminating people. And I think companies have learned that, that they don't need as many managers. They don't need as many levels when you're basically virtual.
Pete: Well, yes, I know. I go to my office building, and literally, there used to be people everywhere, and the doors are closed in the middle of day, and you can look in and see the lights are off.
So these offices that used to have 50, 75, 100 employees they're all working from home. So maybe, like you said, maybe they are also finding out they don't need as many managers, I don't know. But definitely, it's a new world out there.
Pete: Yes. And I think from the standpoint is it's just, the world is changing at a faster pace, and I think that's impacting it. And more people are kind of saying, hey, I'm ready to be in control, right? And I think that's the biggest thing.
And they use the terms like I want to have career and income security, I don't want anybody to be able to say that I don't have a job anymore, I don't have an income.
Nat: I think the thing that people also underestimate is franchising is basically always hyper-local. So a lot of executives are, historically we're traveling all over the U.S. maybe they have 75, 90% travel. When you owns your own business, it really doesn't matter if it's fitness or house cleaning or whatever, it's going to be hyper-local.
So it's literally going to be a three to ten-mile radius. Which is kind of beautiful because it's like you get up, roll out of bed, have your coffee or do whatever. You're at the office like five minutes later, or if your office is at your house, you're already there.
Pete: Yes. And I think when you've been used to traveling, and then all of a sudden COVID-19 pulled you off the road. Also, you realize what you've been missing.
Nat: Yes.
Pete: I mean, you go, holy cow, I don't know if I want to go back on the road, especially with all this COVID stuff. And so I think people are going, hey, I want to live life on my terms.
Nat: Yes, that's kind of the fun part about what we do. Is just listening to people, and learning about them, and helping them, I think being able to visualize what's possible for them? And it's almost like saying like you forget what you know, because you and I have owned our own business for so long, that we kind of forget what it was like to have to go ask for approval. Is it okay if I do this? Like we just we make our own schedule now.
Pete: Doesn't mean you work less; it just is on your terms, right?
Nat: Well, I always say entrepreneurs only work half days, and then, of course, the punch line is 12 hours a day.
Pete: Absolutely, no, I think that's right, it's all about that.
Nat: Sean, were you going to join us? Did you have any questions I don't remember?
Sean: Yes. So I was just interested to hear about what does your day look like? Like you're talking about you're five, when you wake up you're in your office, so what do you do in the morning? Like how do you get started, and where does it go from there?
Nat: Do you want to take that one, Pete?
Pete: Oh, boy, yes, of course. So I'm a morning person, and I got that from the corporate world. When I was in the corporate world, my goal was always to be the first one in the office. And I accomplished that all, but one job where I had a boss that got in there like four in the morning, I could never beat him. So I've always had this ideas get up early, that's kind of my time.
And so I will prep for my day, get ready and spend time doing that. And then I start really kind of digging in and focus on my vital few things from like seven to eight. And then I'm on the phone basically with candidates from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. it's non-stop. I take about half an hour, maybe for lunch from that standpoint, but I'm just going.
So I eat breakfast at my desk, I eat lunch at my desk from standpoint, and I get the great opportunity to be talking to people all over the country in different phases of the process of investigating franchises, whether it's considering doing that, going through the process to doing a consultation call, where I get to learn about them.
To introducing them to franchise companies that align with their interests. So I get to be on the phone all day with really cool people from all over the country. And at five, I'm off the phone, and then I start prepping for the next day.
So I'll put about an hour, hour and a half into getting ready for the next day, whether it's franchise introductions or preparing for a consultation call or following up on anything. So I'm working probably, we'll call 12 hours a day.
Nat: Yes, so half days.
Pete: Half days. But there's a difference, right? If you're working for somebody else, 12 hours is much different than if it's yours, right? So it's my business, I get to do it, it's my passion, I love it. And if I want to go to my daughter's basketball game, I can. It just means I'm going to work earlier or I'm going to work later. But I'm going to get to do what I want to do.
Nat: Yes. And I think part of it is working hard; I think you and I both have that old work ethic. So working hard is actually what makes us feel good and productive. So we're choosing, even a lot of times on kind of those holiday weekends and stuff, I like to sneak off to the office and get some work done because then I feel productive.
Pete: Yes. Well, I think both of us had fathers that were entrepreneurs, and they dreamed that work ethic, right? I know you, at an early age, worked in your dad's business; my dad had me doing crazy things for him in his business.
Nat: My dad was a bricklayer, and one of his favorite lines, which I didn't like, but he always would say every brick you lay, son, is one less that I have to lay.
Pete: Yes.
Nat: Good old days.
Pete: Yes. So my dad was kind of ruthless, right? So he used to give cars to the Minnesota Vikings, the players and the coaches, right? So when I turned 16, he saw a great opportunity.
So when they didn't return their cars, he would have somebody drive me up to their practice field in prairie and drop me off with a spare set of keys. And the only way that I was getting home was repossessing that car.
Nat: Oh my gosh. Talk about like driving it like you stole it.
Pete: I run through the parking lot, right? Because you're scared, somebody's going to grab you, right? I literally would run looking for that car, I get that car, and I just take off. But that was just where my dad was; you just do what you got to do to get it done.
Nat: Yes. What were some of the in-demand cars back then just out of curiosity for the players?
Pete: Well, I think he probably gave them practical cars, but the one that was really cool was the mustang, right? The [Inaudible 00:11:52.15] mustang, that was just, I learned how to drive a stick on that car.
Nat: Hopefully, before you hopped in and realized that, hey, this one's a stick, oh no.
Pete: Well, my dad gave me a car and said, go figure it out, right? And I still remember being on a hill and the darn car rolling down the hill because I couldn't make that difference. But that was my dad; just you figure it out, you get it done.
Nat: Yes. I think we all owe a lot to our parents, and I think a lot of reason why people invest in a business. I hear this quite consistently as I want to create a legacy for my family. So your kids being able to see you working and having your own business, as a business owner for candidates and all that. It really, you cannot underestimate how much that's going to influence their lives forever.
Pete: Well, I think they're growing up in a much different world than I did, right? We're in this big economy. And I believe that the days of you get a degree, and then you go get a job with a good company, I think those are diminishing. And so our kids are going to have to create their own opportunities.
And so if we can expose them to being entrepreneurs at an early age, even though they may not necessarily be working in our business, they're exposed to it. So they're more comfortable.
So that when it is the time where they have to create their own opportunity, they've been exposed to it. So I think there's a real advantage to kids growing up in a family where their parents are entrepreneurs.
Nat: What do you think your kids are? My kids are not in college yet? But what do you think is like the average college investment these days for four years?
Pete: Well, I think it's, you look at merit money and stuff like that, but I got to think it's a hundred and twenty to call it a hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
Nat: Yes. Well, that's about what it takes to invest in a franchise.
Pete: Yes. And I think college is good for kids, right? You are learning and stuff like that. So I would never take anybody away. Because once you have that concept, you have it for life, right? But the idea is that I think you can take those skills.
Like I was reading something the other day, they said the MBA students now, a good portion of when they get their MBA, are not looking to get a job at the company. But rather to go start a company, start their own.
Nat: Interesting.
Pete: Yes. So I think you're seeing that trend, they know the importance of the education, but they want to use that education to start a business as opposed to.
Nat: That's interesting. Awesome, well, Pete, it was awesome hanging out with you a little bit today; any other big plans?
Pete: Well, I'm going to go buy a nice hat, and go work on getting a zoom background, of course.
Nat: Well, I'm glad I could help raise the bar, Pete.
Pete: You certainly have done that, yes. So all right, man, have a great week.
Nat: All right, see you.
