Building Your Dream Business: Adam Goldman’s Guide to Franchising Success

[00:00:03] Welcome to the Business Chop Podcast, where our guests speak on meeting the challenges of entrepreneurship, as well as offer tips and advice on business, marketing, technology, and more. Whether you are a newbie or seasoned professional, this episode is for you. I am your host, Audrey Wiggins. Let's chop it up.

[00:00:26] Hello, Chop Squad. Audrey Wiggins here, your host. And as usual, I'm excited to be with you and always excited to present you with an amazing guest. Our guest today is Adam Goldman. And for the past nine years, he's been a Chop franchise coach and consulting. He's actually helped over hundreds of people change their lives through franchise business ownership. He helps others find not only the right franchise, but also the right opportunity in the area, allowing them to achieve their dreams. Adam's latest book,

[00:00:58] The Franchisee Lifestyle demystifies the whole world of franchising and provides valuable insights to educate readers on the key factors that can make or break a franchise deal. Now we're going to hear and learn more about Adam on the other side of this break. Hello, fellow entrepreneurs. It's the Tech Diva. If you're like me, it's been a long year. Are you ready to elevate your business and see real success? Meet me and my colleagues for a power pack three days

[00:01:27] at Elevating the U. Entrepreneur Virtual Business Summit. Jumpstart Your Success 2025, January 23rd through January 25th. Sponsorships available. Get details at bit.ly slash jumpstartyoursuccess2025. bit.ly slash jumpstartyoursuccess2025. And let's win together. We're back, Chop Squad. Glad to be here presenting a little more information about Adam Goldman.

[00:01:52] Franchising has allowed Adam, a father of three, to achieve his own dreams. Over the past seven years, Adam has helped hundreds of people change their lives through business ownership. Adam Goldman, welcome to The Business Job. Thank you so much, Audrey. So right off the rift, I always like to ask if there are some fun things that or achievements that our guests are pretty proud about, or it may be silly or fun, but what are some of your fun things that you can tell us about?

[00:02:21] Well, look, like you mentioned, you talk about retirement. So what I would say is that I just turned 50 this year. And so, exactly. And so some people would say that it's a fun achievement. I'm actually going to be doing a half marathon later this month. I haven't done that for five years. And it's different to train at age 50 for a half marathon than it was at 45.

[00:02:44] Oh, absolutely. Oh, that is real exciting. And hopefully you're going to be in a drier, warmer area, right? Well, yes. Well, the good news about Texas is Texas in January is not Texas in June. So that's a good time to be doing a half marathon in Houston. Sounds like the weather would be just right. That's fantastic. Thanks for sharing that. I'm going to be watching LinkedIn or other areas where you might post about that. So I can cheer you on and congratulate you. Thank you so much.

[00:03:12] All right. So let's get into some questions that we want to share with our audience they may be interested in and for pivoting out of their corporate job and they want to start a business. Or maybe they're already in business and are looking to do something new or add on and franchising seems to be a great option. All right, Adam, what makes owning or buying into a franchise a good road or a good road to go on for those wanting to be a business owner?

[00:03:41] So, look, I think that there are two ways to become a business owner. Frankly, you can go on your own or you can decide to invest as a franchisee. And for the right person, especially one that's risk averse, I think of investing in a franchise as being riding a bike with training wheels when it comes to entrepreneurship. There are no guarantees in life. There are no guarantees in business.

[00:04:03] But you would have to think that if someone is investing in a good franchise brand, the odds of success is higher or are higher than if they were to go ahead and start a business on their own. OK, so what should a potential franchisee look for when deciding to go this route as an entrepreneur? So the first thing is they got to ask themselves what their why is. Right. So my experience is that successful franchisees have a compelling why, whatever that might be.

[00:04:30] And the number one reason that I see is people want more freedom and not necessarily to not work at all, but to work on their own terms. Maybe they work on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and right now they are not at home three weeks out of four every month. It's a situation where people want to not work 80 hour weeks, but they want to go see their kid play softball or basketball or baseball or their play that they're missing now because they're busy traveling and making someone else rich.

[00:04:58] And so that's what I would say. There has to be a compelling why. And it's got to be everyone has a different why, but there has to be a why. In any business, we do need to ask that question. Like, why do we want to go into business for for ourselves? Now, what identifies if a specific franchise is a good fit for someone? So, look, I really believe that people are looking at franchises the wrong way, meaning they kind of see something.

[00:05:25] Maybe they see an advertisement somewhere. They drive past something. They get all excited about it. But it's about matching characteristics. I think about my role as being almost like eHarmony or Match.com when it comes to franchising. And so it's a cultural fit, right? It's fitting from based on characteristics, meaning investment level. But more than anything, it's like, is this the right kind of opportunity that someone wants?

[00:05:51] Because if you can't trust the franchise or then it's probably not a good match for you if you're not a cultural fit for that brand. For instance, there are certain people that Chick-fil-A works very well for, right? You have to be a Chick-fil-A type of person as a franchisee. It's almost like a marriage. And if you don't have the right cultural fit, then it's probably not a good match. That makes sense. So I know there's hundreds of different franchises that people can invest in and be a business owner.

[00:06:20] Now, what is the advantage of being, and I may have kind of asked this question already, what's the advantage of being a franchise owner versus... All about the system, right? So in the E-Myth by Gerber, he discusses if you're starting a business on your own, you're wearing many hats. And it's very hard to scale that business. Your level of satisfaction is typically very low because you don't have a system or process.

[00:06:46] I believe that an extraordinary system that you can get with a really, really good franchise can make ordinary business people extraordinary in the results, right? So, and that's what the secret sauce is, to have this thing that will allow you to scale. I have a friend in Houston that started a business with a truck and he was able to build it into an eight-figure-a-year business, right? Because of the system that the franchisor provided. So we have a system, but also that system.

[00:07:15] So what about you have that support, that backboard is back there? Yeah. So, look, I mean, the best franchisors have a playbook, a system, but they also have an operations staff that would allow for you to succeed. And I always tell my candidates that when they decide to invest in a franchise to become best friends with the operations person at the head office because they have limited resources and you want them to really be working on your franchise as opposed to someone else's.

[00:07:45] Yes, for sure. Oh, my goodness. So how much time would I need to commit into a business as a franchise owner? So there is a range of time commitments, right? So I have brands that require you to be an owner-operator. And I also have ones that are requiring of semi-absentee ownership. And what I mean by that is you might work part-time, right? You might work a few days per week or maybe more at the beginning so you can potentially keep your day job.

[00:08:13] So it's a whole range. The one thing I don't have is a total absentee type concept. And the reason why is it's your money. It's your business. Yes, you can hire managers, but I would presume that whoever is investing would want to spend some time making sure the business is successful. So this is not like investing in an index fund or mutual fund. It's more something where you have to put some time per week.

[00:08:36] So with that then, sometimes are there situations where, say, a group of friends or a group of family members go in and buy the franchise as a partnership? Have you seen that type of thing? Absolutely. Absolutely. I see that all the time where I have friends that are doing it. I have intergenerational, maybe parents and their kids are going into a family business together. The more people that you trust that could be in a business, the higher the chance of success.

[00:09:06] I think that's a great idea. Say, for instance, locally, as we can see sometimes that some of the fast food restaurants that first a person starts off, they have one location, then they have two, then they have five, then they have 10. How often do you see something like that where they have multiple locations? All the time. Over the course of a year, I typically make about 25 to 30 placements with different buying groups.

[00:09:33] The vast majority of groups decide to invest in multiple territories. The reason why is that if you're really good at a business and if you do it in one location, then you should be able to do it in multiple locations as well. This is a question I just thought about. As individuals, we may drive around through our cities or other cities and states, and we kind of recognize some franchises, restaurants, or like you had mentioned, trucking.

[00:09:58] What various types of franchisees could one buy into as far as the product or service that it offers? I work with brands that are pre-screened that are in 75 different industries. So there's a big misconception in my industry. And what that is, is that people think franchising, they originally think, okay, Chick-fil-A, or they think flipping burgers in the back as an owner-operator. That's only one of my 75 industries. In fact, many of my candidates are very excited about businesses that you probably didn't think of.

[00:10:28] There's a silver tsunami right now, and many people are interested in things related to home health care for people that are seniors. Okay. Yeah, that's different. Absolutely. We can buy into that. And that is such a needed service as well. And to be able to start that business, that reminds me of the, you know, the coding, the home health coding. That was a big business. Can you give us some stories, you know, case studies, successes, or, you know, things to look out for when being a franchisee? Sure. Sure.

[00:10:58] So I have a great candidate who lives in Southern California, and he actually was a corporate refugee. His background, he was on his water polo team. And so he went ahead and decided to invest in a swim school. And what's interesting about this swim school is it has a unique business model in that you're not spending all this money on build-out. It's an asset-like business. You're just going to a local fitness club and only renting out a lane.

[00:11:23] And what he figured out, because there's limitless demand for swimming, if you can find the right location, is that he was able to expand it into like five or six pools very quickly. He's one of the top franchisees in this system. And so just super proud of him. And he's just doing really, really well. The other person that I know is someone that was in the entertainment industry.

[00:11:46] And she just was ready for the next chapter of her life and decided to get into the junk removal and the valet trash business. As someone that lived in a really fancy apartment complex when my wife and I first got engaged, I can tell you that people are so lazy that they will pay for the privilege of taking garbage from your doorstep to the end of the hallway into a chute. And that's what that business is. And think about that times a thousand people or a thousand doors. So that's that's that business.

[00:12:16] So those are two stories. That is that is awesome. Because I'm sitting here now in an apartment. As I look to my left there, there's my bag. I've got it. When we get done, I have to go take that and put it down to chute. So just so I guess anything that we can imagine can end up being a, you know, a business, actually. And so that just made me think, you know, flipping this thing around.

[00:12:39] When we talk about traditional entrepreneurs or businesses that we can have as individuals that we can actually take our business, you know, if it's, you know, if it's possible and turn that into a franchise. And if we would that be something that would be another part of your business that, you know, if I approach you, hey, I build websites. You know, how can I turn this into a franchise versus affiliates or, you know, just hiring out? So that's not my area of expertise, right?

[00:13:09] But there are certain companies out there that allow you to franchise your business. The one caveat I would say is it's just very hard to franchise a business, right? Meaning to find people to go ahead and to market it, to go ahead and to invest in resources because it's a different skill set to actually be a franchisor than to be a business owner. Now, for you, what's the difference between a consultant and a broker as far as franchising goes? So, look, when I think of a brokerage, right, I think about someone that's very transactional.

[00:13:39] They have a specific business that's for sale. They're representing the selling agent, right? And they're out there trying to sell something specifically. I see myself as a coaching consultant. And the reason why is I'm not really beholden to one specific brand. I'm matchmaking. And that's the difference between what I do than a traditional business broker. Thinking about business or being in business, we always want to know how much money we can make, how much money we need to invest. Can you speak to those two items?

[00:14:06] So, look, I have a huge range of investment levels. So, the minimum required in net worth and cash is typically about $50,000 in cash and $150,000 in net worth to qualify for franchises in general. What I would say, too, is that there is financing available on the high end. Let's divide it into brick-and-mortar retail and non-brick-and-mortar retail. If it's brick-and-mortar retail, it could be as expensive as over a million dollars for McDonald's.

[00:14:35] And again, you can get financing. On the lower end, if you get some sort of a boutique fitness type concept, that might be about $200,000. That's a small footprint. When we talk about non-brick-and-mortar businesses, a home health care agency might be at $125,000 or $150,000 and it would go up from there. So, those are my ranges. Anywhere from $150,000 all in all the way up to a million dollars plus. And how soon could we expect a turnover in the income? I get asked all the time, how much money am I going to make, right?

[00:15:05] And the answer is you're going to make no money if you're bad at what you do, right? But if you're good at what you do, you can make a lot of money. Look, one of the advantages of a non-brick-and-mortar business is it's a quick start. If you're starting a boutique fitness studio that has a build-out, you probably have to wait six to nine months just to find the location. Then you need to build it out. If you want to go ahead and to turn it over quickly, right?

[00:15:29] You could potentially start a non-brick-and-mortar service business and start generating revenue within 30 to 60 days. Now, are there any online franchise operations? So people all the time are looking for things like dropshipping, right? I want to have an Amazon resale store or whatever that might be. I have certain businesses that are related to – that don't really have territory, but they're typically sales-related businesses where you're selling a service. And you might be able to sell that throughout the United States.

[00:15:57] But I don't have anything that's just kind of like a travel agency where you sit behind your desk. I hear they exist. I have things that are home-based, but they're typically territory-based as well. It might be a service business that you could run out of your home that has a specific territory, zip codes that you're protected in. So is there anything else that you want to give us? Any advice? So anyone that has the itch, right? I just want to encourage them to give me a ring, right?

[00:16:22] So as I mentioned, people, in my opinion, look at franchises the wrong way. They see things that aren't necessarily a fit. I'm an insider in franchising. My service is free. And what I'm doing here is I'm really narrowing down these top three to things that are pre-screened that really would match what you're looking for from a characteristic and a culture point of view. So I want to encourage your listeners to reach out. Okay. And how can we do that? What's the best place to get to you?

[00:16:52] So two websites. The first one is franchiseadam.com. Schedule a quick 15-minute chat there. The other one is called franchisecoach.net. There is a scheduling link there. And there's also just a list of case studies and just information about franchising in general. Awesome. Well, Chop Squad, definitely get in touch with Adam Goldman.

[00:17:14] If you're looking to change your pivot from your corporate job or you want to add on to what you're doing as an entrepreneur, this is going to be your business coming up. In this new year for being a franchise owner, it's just like very exciting. And from just our conversation with Adam, there's lots of different opportunities. You said over 75, right, Adam? Of different types. So I have hundreds of opportunities in 75 industries. Yes. Okay. That's awesome. Well, Adam, thanks again.

[00:17:42] And if there's any nugget you want to leave on us, I'm going to let you have the last word. Last word is something I said before, meaning talking about systems. If you buy into the right franchise business, right, with an extraordinary system, it could allow an ordinary business person to have extraordinary results. That's awesome. Thanks, Adam. I appreciate it, Audrey. Thank you for listening to The Business Shop.

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