Enjoy Quick Cash Flow and a Work-From-Anywhere Lifestyle with a Patrice & Associates Franchise, a Leading Opportunity in the Booming Staffing and Recruitment Industry

Before becoming a trailblazer in the staffing and recruiting industry, Patrice Rice was setting course in other uncharted waters as the first female boat captain of the Chesapeake Bay. Fueled by this same pioneering drive, Rice eventually decided to turn her attention to helping others captain their own ships by founding Patrice & Associates, a recruitment and placement franchise based in the hospitality sector. Today, the brand has become a powerhouse in the $212 billion staffing industry with 175 franchisees in the U.S. and Canada.

Now, with plans to expand into new verticals and a goal of awarding 40 new franchisees by the end of the year, the time has never been better for entrepreneurs to come aboard the Patrice & Associates ship and take advantage of an unprecedented demand for staffing support.

“The labor market has fundamentally changed — Baby Boomers left the workforce in a mass exodus during the pandemic,” said Brian Miller, CEO of Patrice & Associates. “Coupled with the declining birth rate, it doesn’t take an economist to figure out that there is a giant vacuum. There are two jobs for every one person today.

It is a candidate's market. Every company is going to need a strong relationship with a recruiting firm moving forward, and we know what it takes to find the best possible talent in today’s extremely tight labor market. We believe our brand is positioned for massive growth over the next few years.”

Company history

Patrice & Associates began as a management recruiting firm specializing in the hospitality industry in 1989 and began franchising in January 2010.

“There was a major need in the food and beverage industry for talent,” said Miller. “It has a high degree of turnover. Patrice started the company in her basement and decided to franchise around 15 years ago. She is really the one who blazed the trail and built the system that has been the foundation for everything we have today.”

In the years since, Patrice & Associates has seen steady franchise growth, which has only picked up following the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are awarding around 30 units a year,” said Miller. “We also expanded into Canada a few years ago, so that has been a big growth area for us. All of these factors have played into our expansion.”

Although Patrice & Associates started with a focus on the food and beverage sector, the franchise is now leveraging its growing infrastructure to expand into new areas, as well.

"We are now targeting insurance, finance, retail, banking, health and wellness, oil and gas — a variety of vertical markets beyond hospitality,” said Miller. “We’ve recently expanded into executive search services as well, which means even more companies are coming to us now. That has the ability to significantly increase franchisee ROI.”

Growth and expansion

Today, with over 175 units nationwide and in Canada, Patrice & Associates is the largest hospitality executive search firm in the country. Leveraging this buying power, Patrice & Associates has negotiated preferred contracts with some of the nation’s top brands in the U.S. and Canada, including Panera Bread, Macaroni Grill, Bahama Breeze, Applebees, TGI Fridays, Taco Bell, Arbys, Mr. Mike’s, Great Wolf Lodge, Entertainment Cruises and many more.

Patrice & Associates provides a flexible and low-investment franchise opportunity, enabling franchisees to operate from home. The Patrice & Associates franchise was recently ranked as one of the Top 100 Brands Under $100,000 Total Investment in 2023 by Entrepreneur Magazine.

“We are a virtual business,” said Miller. “When people buy one unit, they can fast track their business and build up their own client base because there are jobs for them to fill from day one.”

But it's not just about growing a business fast, it is also about doing it in a way that fits with their individual lifestyle, Miller says. “Flexibility is a big reason why franchisees sign on with us,” he said. “You can work from anywhere, which means you can start as home-based and build an office at your own pace. One of our top franchisees lives in New York City, for example, but she has a vacation home in Mexico and works out of there five months out of the year. You can really achieve whatever work-life balance works for you."

This flexible approach is based around a unique territory model without boundary restrictions — one of the most prominent benefits of franchising with Patrice & Associates. Franchisees sign on to open their business in a local area, but have access to a shared nationwide database with over 650,000 candidates and over 1,400 job listings.

Each territory is protected in that no other franchisee can specifically target that market, but owners aren’t limited to their zip code. Franchisees can potentially sign clients anywhere in the world, as long as that candidate is not presently working with another recruiter and as long as it comes as a result of their circle of influence, referral or the normal course of doing business.

“As a franchisee, your number one concern is: How long does it take to get a customer? That piece is solved with us,” said Miller. “That is why our franchisees can ramp up faster. They have clients from day one. That is very rare in the industry. All candidates are open in the database, which means any franchisee can work with any candidate anywhere as long as they qualify.”

Recruitment approach

And Patrice & Associates has no issue winning over clients, thanks in large part to its robust brand name and its unique approach to recruitment. Patrice & Associates will source job candidates through several different channels including discrete and confidential cold calling, a social media campaign, blind advertising in nationally recognized publications and its Patrice Way™ industry search to attract qualified candidates.

"We aren’t just pulling down resumes and sending them to companies — we put in the homework to understand the ideal candidate's profile,” said Miller. “From there, we do a targeted search to find them. We do recruiting calls. We actually get on the phone and find people who aren’t responding to job boards. We have our clients’ backs. We really care about them. Most recruiters are transactional, but we seek to develop relationships.”

Overall, Miller says everything that sets Patrice & Associates apart from the competition, both as a franchise opportunity and a recruitment firm, is based around the brand’s four core values: respect, excellence, service and teamwork.

“Those values manifest in how we treat people,” said Miller. “Whether that be clients, companies, franchisees or anybody else, we are committed to making a difference in people’s lives.”

According to the latest Labor Department data, there were 10.5 million job openings, or roughly 1.7 vacancies, per available worker in the U.S. and staffing and recruiting was recently named one of the Top 10 Hottest Industries in 2023 by Entrepreneur Magazine. With its innovative business model, its commitment to quality and a recession-resistant franchise opportunity, Miller says Patrice & Associates is primed for future growth in this thriving sector.

The Patrice & Associates team is looking to sign 40 new franchisees by the end of 2023 in markets all over the country. When it comes to who would make a good fit for this opportunity, Miller says the Patrice & Associates franchise aims to offer a distinctly inclusive environment, where any entrepreneur can succeed as long as they align with the brand’s core values.

Patrice & Associates has customized its franchisee training, for example, to help people transition from employee to business owner. This includes a self-study virtual pre-training, two weeks of training at IHQ in Maryland, six weeks of twice-weekly class and calls, 90 days of daily mentorship with a coach and more. Basically, Miller says, regardless of their background, franchisees can feel confident they will have all the tools they need to succeed.

“Most of our franchisees don’t have hospitality or recruiting backgrounds,” said Miller. “These are people who are looking for something that fulfills their lifestyle, equity, wealth and income goals. At the end of the day, you just have to be a people person — you love to help people advance in their careers. If that sounds like you, the time has never been better to join Patrice & Associates and help fulfill this unmet need in communities all over the country."

The total investment necessary to invest in a Patrice & Associates franchise is $90,050 to $92,750. This includes $82,000 that must be paid to the franchisor or affiliate. For more information, visit: *