franx if i had a million dollars what if the barenaked ladies had it right this whole time

You can’t buy love, no matter the lyrics . ..

But, before we get there - before setting capital budgets, marketing, private equity valuations, multiples and deploying capital - you need to start with the love that makes other humans want to do business with you, buy your products, become a franchisee and tell the world that they love you.

Like all good relationships, you’ll need to nurture it, focus on the small things and build trust.

So on your way to millions of dollars and our Bottom Thoughts, do a deep dive with your team (relationship counseling if you will) and evaluate the love. Do your customers love your products or services? Do your franchisees love that they invested in your brand? Do your suppliers love being a part of your network? Do your employees love your brand mission, goals, and culture?

If not, although capital is still important, it will never be enough.

Many small businesses fail because of marketing (or lack of marketing). The yorCMO team knows this. What better way for a business to grow than onboarding and outsourcing a Chief Marketing Officer.

The Great Franchisee: Tom Vess, 360° Painting, Jacksonville, FL

After 34 years in the beverage industry, Vess is opening up his first business with the fast-growing painting franchise.

Tom Vess built a thriving career in the beverage industry, working for years in distribution before becoming the CEO of a brewery in Georgia. But even as an executive, Vess says he always wanted to open his own business. Now, Vess is fulfilling that dream as one of the newest franchisees with 360° Painting* , the premier residential and commercial painting franchise

Vess’s location opened on April 12, 2021. Looking ahead, Vess says he plans to expand his portfolio with more franchise brands from 360° Painting’s multi-brand franchisor, Premium Service Brands .

It’s not just about the leads, it’s about closing deals.

If you think the brokers will solve your broken franchise sales operational problems, they won’t. They will bring you a candidate on a silver platter, but they won’t do all of the work for you. Once you are given the candidate, you have to be a closer--and drink coffee.

When a candidate falls through, do you evaluate your sales process? Do you continue to refine it to better identify the holes? You should.

Let’s pretend you are not interested in selling your business and someone comes up to you and offers to buy it. You believe your business is worth $5M on exit, so anything but that is a no. You also think you have room to accelerate its growth, so, why would you want to sell now.

“I want to buy your business,” they say.

“Unfortunately, I am not interested in selling it at this time,” you say.

The right money can change a conversation. And sometimes money is the answer to guiding you to listen.

Money can do other things, too. Like help you grow your business.

Have you ever dreamt of doubling the size of your business? On initial thought, you think it would be nearly impossible to do so in the next 12 to 18 months. But, what if you changed the question -- you know, that whole half full/half empty thing?

What would it take? How would you do it? What would you need? How would you pay for it? What would that return look like? Perhaps by playing through that exercise you can unlock some secrets to accelerated growth.