2218 - How Corporate Leaders Are Franchising for Their Future Success with The Franchise Blueprint's Ryan Gasaway

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1:05With us right now, it's Ryan Gassaway. Ryan, you are the founder of The Franchise Blueprint. You're found on the web at FranchiseBP.com. Ryan, it's great to have you. Hey, thanks a lot for having me, Josh. It's great to be here. Yes, yes. So before we talk about the world of franchising, like what's going on right now and kind of what you do in that world, just folks can kind of get to know you. What are you doing outside of work lately that's maybe just you're passionate about, you're geeking out on, maybe it's entertainment, hobbies, or whatever? What do you do when no one's around? Yeah, yeah.

1:44Well, I'd say right now I'm in full-on dad mode. I'm coaching my son's little league team, seven-year-old's baseball team. So I guess you can say I'm sort of geeking out on teaching the basics of the game in a way that, you know, gives the kids, you know, really great experience trying to keep things fun, you know, while, you know, sneaking in some actual learning here and there. And, you know, there's just, there's something special about, you know, watching kids connect over a sport like that. And, you know, I occasionally, occasional TV watcher, you know, I recently binged a show on Apple TV plus called silo, you know, sort of this.

2:24Yeah. Have you heard of it? Oh, sure. Yeah. We watched i think we met there was so much competing for our time i think we got about halfway through the first season are they on season two now i think yeah yeah they finished season two i think they're okay yeah season three yeah yeah so we we kind of like got distracted about halfway through season one what's your take on it oh i love it that that kind of thing is right up my alley you know it's sort of dystopian sci-fi exactly yeah i love that stuff post-apocalyptic you know living underground kind of thing. But I started watching it when my wife was out of town one week.

2:59And I was just looking for something to occupy my mind at night. And shortly after I started it, I discovered that it was actually based on a book series by Hugh Howey. So stopped watching, read the books and then came back and watched because, you know, a bit more rich than the show or the movie to me. Yeah. So right now, you know, halfway through, we're still in mystery of like, what's exactly going on here, I think. So from what I recall, I'm going to add that back onto my queue and ask my wife to kind of, so do you, do you watch as you watch together with your wife or you just kind of watching that one solo?

3:31Yeah, that's kind of my thing. Okay. I love those types of mystery thrillers or kind of thing. Yeah. Well, Ryan, let's talk about the franchise blueprint. And you know, what I, what I'm really hoping to kind of, you know, as we kind of get started here, for those of us who are not in that world, I always love hearing what's trending right now, what you're seeing, especially as we look at where we are about halfway through 2025. Certainly, back when the pandemic was going on, there were a lot of changes in what was really needed and really hot. And so hopefully that's leveled up, but now we have new chaos in the world.

4:15Yeah, there's always something. All right. So what's going on in the franchise world? Yeah, well, actually, this was one of my recent newsletters was on this very topic. So and to your point, I mean, the trends are always shifting based on market conditions and buyer sentiment. But I'd say there are really three major ones that I'm seeing most recently. One, there's just an epic rise of home-based B2B or B2C service business models. Home-based, meaning that the owner can run the business from their home. Again, you mentioned the pandemic, with the boom of remote work in recent years, many people have really grown fond of that type of model.

5:04But perhaps even more importantly than that, these types of businesses can oftentimes be started with much lower startup costs and overhead compared to having a brick and mortar type of business. And even a quicker ramp up time because people can focus on marketing and delivering their services from day one versus spending a lot of time on finding real estate, doing the build out, and ultimately maintaining that space and having ongoing rent expense and so forth. So, you know, these businesses are popular for all those reasons, but also, you know, scalability, you know, someone that's looking to expand and grow their empire a little more quickly, this kind of that kind of model, you know, sort of lends well to that.

5:55Secondly, the health and wellness sector is just absolutely booming. Consumers are spending more than ever on their physical fitness, their mental wellness. In addition to, you know, healthy eating and, various types of therapies that are out there. I'd say people in 2025 are valuing the idea of living their best lives and being their best selves. The market for franchising has been very responsive to that demand. I think there's something like 700 franchise brands in that space alone now. There's a lot out there and they're all trying to differentiate themselves in some way. And then lastly, corporate professionals are just on the move more than ever.

6:44There's been a noticeable uptick in corporate leaders and executives exploring franchising or other types of business ownership as an alternative to that corporate lifestyle. And as it turns out, those people tend to be very well prepared for franchising as a result of that corporate experience that they've had. They know how to lead teams. They know how to engage in partnerships. Many times they know how to market and sell, develop good culture, read financial statements. And hopefully they've got a little bit of grit and enthusiasm too. You know, these are the types of qualities that franchisors look for in their business partners.

7:29So it ends up being a common path and a trend that continues to grow. And this was me, right? I spent 12, 13 years in my corporate career until I was ready to start asking myself what I really wanted my life to look like on a daily basis. And I've got a client right now in a similar position. They have a great, well-paying job, but they said, look, Ryan, I make good money, but I'm feeling unfulfilled. And I feel like I'm giving my whole life to the company that I work for. And for that person, it just doesn't feel like that there's an end in sight, you know, unless they took their destiny into their own hands in some way.

8:09Not that becoming a business owner will solve all of life's problems. I think you're a listener probably no better than that. But it's about having choices, you know, choosing what you want to build and focus on. And again, that's just what I love about this work is, you know, helping people down that path. So, Ryan, just kind of looking through your LinkedIn. in. So again, working at corporate America, and then you actually, I hope you don't mind, shared the franchise you got connected with was Press Waffle, which is food. And what did you, why did you decide on that? And I know that not everyone recommends a food franchise, but that's the one you landed on.

8:50And he talks on food versus service versus healthcare and some of these other ones. I can just tell you, like having interviewed quite a few folks in the franchise world. Food's got some unique aspects to it that you may not find in some of these other ones, like service-based or health and wellness, so forth. 100%. Yeah. And you raise a very interesting point. In fact, I don't find myself often recommending food businesses to people. I mean, it depends on the person. It depends on what their goals are, what their background is, and their experience. But for me, we landed on Press Waffle Co. It was an emerging brand at the time, had a very unique product offering.

9:36But it was really less about the product itself and the business itself than it was about how we connected with the founders of that business, how we connected with the vision that they had for the company, their customer service model and philosophies. And all of those things just, you know, it was much more about those things than it was about, you know, making waffles. You know, that was the vehicle, right, that got us to where we wanted to go. And it ended up being a business model that worked really well for us. And it was something that we can ultimately run, you know, on a semi-passive basis, which is part of what we were looking for.

10:16So, you know, it was one of those things where all of the stars aligned perfectly for us to go down that path and invest in that business. Yeah. What's your lifestyle like owning that franchise? Yeah, well, you know, I focus on... And obviously you do a couple of things now. So, you know, dividing up your time. I'm just curious, you know, for thinking, you know, for folks that are thinking about this and they think that, you know, it's just going to eat up 100 % of their time. and the business is going to own them, that sort of thing? Yeah, well, first of all, I think we have to be a little bit careful about overselling the idea of semi-passive ownership.

10:53It does exist, and you can get there. It can mean that your options might be narrowed just a little bit because not every franchisor is going to offer that type of business model to their owners. Some of them want owners to be 100 % engaged, full-time in the business. others offer that executive or semi-passive model. For me, I went full into it when we first opened the business. I wanted to be on the ground, focused on getting it up and running 100%. And then a handful of months down the road is where I found myself being able to start taking a step back and manage from a higher level, hire and manage a team that could run the business on day-to-day basis.

11:38Today, I spend less than 10 hours a week on that business. And I hesitate to give actual numbers like that because it's going to differ for every person, for every franchisor. So it's not my goal to create expectations in people's minds about, oh, this is how it's going to be. But you need to be able to dedicate the time necessary to get that business up and running and successful, especially in the beginning. Yeah. All right. So I want to talk about accessibility to a franchise business model. And, you know, someone might think, well, I don't have$200 ,000 to invest. Do you mind talking about how that typically goes?

12:16Yeah. Well, some people are, first of all, some people are surprised to find that there is a very wide range of investment options out there for people of, you know, vastly different, you know, income and investment levels. I've seen people get into a franchise for$50 ,000 or less for, you know, all in initial investment. And on the flip side of that, you can get into, you know, brick and mortar retail for, you know, several million dollars. So accessibility is greater today than it ever has been, in my opinion, in the franchising space. And in addition to that, you know, a lot of people find creative ways to finance their business.

12:58Of course, you're going to have to have, you know, some capital up front to, you know, put down, you know, whether you decide to go with an SBA loan or roll over some retirement funds to start that business or home equity or bringing an investor partner or something along those lines, there are a lot of ways to skin that cat, so to speak. But accessibility has only increased, in my opinion, over the course of the last five, 10 years. Yeah. So what are the traits that you think are most valuable for someone who's considering starting a franchise? Yeah, I mean, I think it has to be, first of all, it has to be a person that wants to be in business, right?

13:38And we kind of touched on this a second ago. But that individual that, you know, that comes to me and typically says, you know, I'm looking for a totally passive investment. You know, again, yes, there are semi-passive income opportunities available in franchising, but you're going to have to be engaged in the business. You know, this is not a hands-off model. You know, franchisors are looking for partners to have their hands in the business. Right. So, you know, that's that's the kind of person that, you know, we'll have we'll have some challenges to overcome. Right. Before I start recommending that you get into, you know, certain franchise brands.

14:14But, you know, people that are, again, looking for a change, maybe from that that that day to day corporate lifestyle. They're they're more than likely established in their careers. and they're starting to scratch their head and say, what's next for me? What else is out there that I can do that's going to support the lifestyle that I really want to have in my life? All right. And then Ryan, how do you fit in when someone's like, they're contemplating whether or not this might be a path for them? I guess the typical path of researching and finding something can be a little tricky. I mean, it could be easy to make some mistakes.

14:59Where do you step in and what is that process like? Yeah, there's a lot out there with the internet. But I mean, really, my goal at the end of the day is to help people achieve a life of freedom and fulfillment by transitioning into business ownership through franchising. And let me go just directly to the impact that I'm looking to have with people. And there are a few things. But number one, I've seen people go from, you know, burned out and uncertain in their lives with no time to spend with their families to confident business owners that go on to build long-term wealth, create jobs and reclaim control over their time.

15:38And that essentially describes my own path. But seeing people develop that confidence and ultimately have more control over their time and finances, that's where it's at for me. That's really why I do this. And number two, And, you know, anyone who's looked into franchising before can probably attest to this. There are a lot of misconceptions out there and, frankly, misinformation on franchising. People don't know who they can trust, what information they can trust. And if you're going to invest a substantial amount of time and money into a business, you want to feel confident and excited about that decision.

16:16So, you know, I provide people with totally transparent and pressure free guidance to help them, you know, cut through all the noise that's out there. um so again as you mentioned you know my my business is called the franchise blueprint um and through through my through my engagement with people i i guide people through an entire you know multi-stage process that begins with helping them define their own goals and aspirations and then all the way down to you know selecting a handful of businesses that are a perfect fit for them as individuals and then walking them through that selection and validation process All right.

16:55So your website is franchisebp.com, which again stands for Franchise Blueprint. I know you've got some resources. By the way, you're a very good LinkedIn follow as well. But someone who's listening to this podcast conversation, where do they go from here? Yeah. I mean, if any of this resonates with your listeners or for the person that's, again, ever said, I mean, there's got to be more than this or just looking for, you know, more freedom and ownership in their life. Now, I would I would encourage them to visit the website. Like you said, it's FranchiseBP.com. They can even schedule a discovery call with me right there from the website.

17:34I do have some free resources up on the page, but full disclaimer, that content is still being added. So, you know, there might not be tons out there yet, but my website team is on it and there will be much more to check out in the coming weeks. yeah um well i'm looking at you know one thing you've got to the franchise blueprint here where you actually have like your first steps to franchise ownership and and and i think you do you cover some really really good initial questions to ask yourself to see if this is something that might make a good fit for you um you know obviously we didn't really talk about necessarily you know franchise versus starting a business from scratch um but um i could just say you from experience man it's a whole lot easier if you're already stepping into a system if you've never owned a business before.

18:17It is the big boy, big girls club, and it is not all sunshine and roses. It is always really helpful when you have a great support system that's kind of built into that. And there's plenty of opportunity to make sure you got a good lifestyle as well. So Ryan Gassaway, founder of the Franchise Blueprint, your website, franchisebp.com. Ryan, thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, thank you, Josh. I really appreciate you having me.

18:49Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day. Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from.

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