How Franchise FastLane Became the Partner of Choice for Premier Martial Arts

When Premier Martial Arts founder and CEO Barry Van Over elected to pursue franchising as a growth vehicle for his martial arts studio concept in 2018, business was already booming. Van Over began licensing his operations model to existing martial arts studios way back in 2004, making Premier Martial Arts an already well-established, recognizable brand with over 100 units using its likeness.

Over the past few years, Van Over recounted, he was approached by several companies about franchising Premier, but none seemed like the right fit. It was late 2017 when he found a viable partner, and the franchising process took off from there. In a testament to the strength of the Premier Martial Arts concept, every single legacy owner that was offered the chance to join the brand’s franchise system did.

“I spent the fall of 2018 converting legacy licensed owners into the franchise, so we hit the ground running with units in our portfolio—53 franchised locations, to be exact,” Van Over said, noting that he fully expects the brand’s remaining licensed locations in registration states to join the franchise system when they are able, as well.

With the conversion process behind them, Van Over and the Premier Martial Arts team were ready to scale. Van Over consulted a friend who had previously worked in sales for Premier and was now in franchising for a recommendation on potential partners as he was figuring out the sales part of the franchising equation.

“He recommended two companies, one of which was Franchise FastLane ,” Van Over said. “When I pushed further and asked him who he’d turn to in my situation, he told me to call [ Franchise FastLane CEO] Ryan Zink.”

After a day-long discovery meeting at the brand’s Knoxville, Tennessee headquarters to determine whether Franchise FastLane and Premier Martial Arts were a mutual fit, both sides were excited to proceed with the partnership. That was January, and Franchise FastLane hit the ground running.

“We did a lot of work over the course of the first few months to lead us where we are now with an active sales strategy,” said Brent Seebohm, the Franchise FastLane Director of Franchise Development dedicated solely to Premier Martial Arts.

As far as what his role working with Premier Martial Arts entails, Seebohm said he does “a little bit of everything.” Primarily, Seebohm works with prospective franchisees, educating them on the economics and of the opportunity, facilitating communication with current franchisees and the brand’s leadership team for validation and vision conversations and vetting potential candidates to determine if they are a good fit for the brand. Seebohm’s other responsibilities include preparing PowerPoint decks and other brand collateral for Discovery Days to serving as the primary liaison with broker networks.

“My role requires constant communication. Until candidates are viable and show serious interest in the opportunity, I don't concern the brand,” Seebohm explained. “This is why we’re so successful—we let our partner brands focus on driving their business while we drive their growth. With mature brands like Premier Martial Arts, we need to be really selective about who we bring on as franchisees. This isn’t a food concept—in part, it’s children’s services.”

In addition to implementing a strategic growth plan, the area where Franchise FastLane has been able to make the most immediate impact on Premier Martial Arts comes down to the trust the company has been able to establish with the brand, Seebohm said.

“Trust is the most important thing. We’re at our best when we’re functioning as an extension of Barry and the system as a whole,” Seebohm said. While my focus is mainly directed at franchise candidates, I recently met with dozens of current owners who told me that Franchise FastLane has brought an added level of sophistication, confidence and growth momentum to Premier’s franchise system given our success with other brands. We’re helping inspire current owners to validate the brand in the discovery process and explore expansion opportunities they may not have previously considered.”

To this same end, Van Over echoed Seebohm’s sentiment, calling his overall experience working with Franchise FastLane “top-notch.”

“With so many members of their team having served in a similar role as me, I know I can get valuable advice from the Franchise FastLane team on a big decision I'm making and look to them for guidance, as well,” Van Over said. “They maintain regular communication, respect deadlines and as a result, hold themselves and us accountable and have handled our business quickly so we can now go forward and grow."

Maddie has spent her career in the media industry, serving in various editorial roles before migrating into a hybrid content strategy and PR role with No Limit Agency. Her passion for storytelling and love of writing help her create meaningful content on behalf of her clients and fulfill No Limit Agency’s mission to tell people-driven stories. Maddie is a graduate of Saint Louis University, where she studied Communications with a focus in journalism and media studies as well as Sports Business.

In her spare time, Maddie can be found exploring Chicago’s food scene, watching an NBA game or lamenting over her middling fantasy baseball team.