Franchising and Expanding

Franchising and Expanding – Week Sixty-One

Back to normal at prayer time with Liz and Josh talking about how their Lubbock catering and Lubbock lawn care businesses were faring. Ches, our newest member (the guy who handles fire damage claims in Dallas) also reported that he was doing well at his business. All had positive reports. It seems like none of us have much bad to report about our jobs anymore. Having these guys to bounce ideas off of has really helped me keep my focus on the growth of my business. Before it was like weeks just came and went and I had no accountability to deal with. Anyway, we prayed for the city of Lubbock and its health as a city. You really can’t have a successful business unless the town it is in is doing well. We also did our typical surrender of our families to God. We all said that we have been spending a lot more time with God in our personal times and we all said that we were gaining more intimacy with Him. This is always a good way to start off the days.

As for the larger business gathering we had a woman named Kelly who spoke to us. She spoke on the subject of franchising our businesses to other cities. She said that we could always grow out of our original town and that we should be ready to expand with other regional and national entities – if we have a great reputation. I understood what she was saying but I couldn’t imagine ever selling franchises to other people based on my business. Nor did I see any reason to even set up satellites in other towns. I figured that every city has its own heating and cooling businesses and that we don’t have anything especially special about our company to warrant an expansion. I will say that Kelly was very good at speaking and explaining the process of doing what she was suggesting. And I could see how people like Liz might benefit from what was being said, but it was not a talk for me to sink my teeth into. Who knows? Maybe someday…

I did get a chance to speak with the other guy who ran the short-term furnished apartment business to see if he wanted to grab lunch sometime. I had heard we had a lot in common and that we might be able to give insights to one another – or at least become more than acquaintances. We made plans to grab a meal in the next week. Maybe we can at least figure out some way to barter what our businesses gave to the public.

So readers, have you ever franchised your businesses? Or have you bought into a franchising group? If so, how did the process go? It sounds pretty difficult to do, but it might just be because I’m not trained in it. Feel free to comment and give me your thoughts.