From Bottleneck to Multi-Unit Leader & Future Franchisor
Helping Franchisees succeed and thrive has been part of our DNA since the American Franchise Academy was founded 10 years ago. However, since the knowledge, tools, and resources we teach are primarily grounded in business management principles, we can also serve independent business owners who are eager to grow and even become Franchisors.
Quyn-Tram Vu is one of those owners. Between 2024 and 2025, she completed our MANAGE 1.0 & 2.0 Programs on unit management as well as the LEAD program for District Managers, without being a Franchisee or Franchise Leader.
Thanks to the training she received from AFA, her operations improved, her confidence as a businesswoman grew, and she’s on her way to opening her fourth location and resuming her plans to franchise her beauty and health business, Lash Pilot.
I invited Tram to our Franchise Success Formula podcast because, although she is not our direct target audience, her story and the outcomes she has experienced with us truly inspire me to keep going and remind me every day of why we do what we do: help business leaders thrive.
But first, subscribe to our YouTube channel and Podcast, and follow us on our social platforms.
A Conference, a Request, and The Start of a Relationship
Tram and I met during the Emerging Franchisor Conference a couple of years ago, where I had a booth on the exhibit floor. What caught my attention was that, while she wasn’t a Franchisee, she already knew us. In fact, she had bought my book, The Franchise Fix, had connected with me on LinkedIn, and was familiar with AFA’s training programs because she had received our email invitations for many years.
With everything she knew, she thought we might be able to help her solve some of her issues as a business owner, as well as her questions as a future Franchisor.
“I had previously signed up for another franchise-focused course, but it was too complicated. I also looked at another coaching-based course, but it was too expensive. I have tried almost everything, but nothing felt right, and I was determined to find a solution”, Tram recalls.
“Then I saw you at the conference, and I thought maybe I should just try with you because you focus on franchises. And, when I asked you about your programs, I was so surprised to learn that the course price was so low!”
Another thing I remember from that day was that Tram had a request no one had asked before (or ever since). She wanted to skip the MANAGE 1.0 unit management training and go straight to MANAGE 2.0, because she thought the 1.0 content was “too basic” for her, given her Accounting degree. “At the time, that's what I thought because the concepts sounded so familiar”.
I didn’t let her. I insisted that, if she wanted to take the 2.0 advanced class and get certified, she needed to get her 1.0 diploma first. Then she asked me if she could take both programs at the same time because of her busy business schedule and availability. I had never let anyone do that, but I allowed it, so she joined the Winter cohort of the MANAGE Program in 2024.
Business Hidden Problems, Revealed
Initially, Tram believed that our basics unit management training was, as the name indicated, “basic.” And yes, it is basic because what we teach is the foundation of business management, on which everything else is built. So, her assumption was right. However, she soon realized that the basic program offers far more depth and scope than she expected.
“I'm so thankful that you didn't let me skip the 1.0 program, because from the very first session with you and the first video lesson I took, it blew my mind!” she confessed. “As much as I want to become a Franchisor, I'm still managing and leading the units myself, so in a way, I'm still a Franchisee myself, and the management course really helped me solidify my entrepreneurial spirit and business knowledge.”
Like many entrepreneurs, Tram thought that being the owner gave her the freedom to do as she pleased and run things her way. So, being very creative, she continuously tried numerous ideas to see what worked best. However, when she joined the MANAGE Program, she realized that was actually very bad for the business.
She also discovered many hidden issues that were hurting her business:
- Her many trial-and-error attempts lacked a clear strategy or structure, causing confusion among her team members and inconsistency in her operations.
- She was running her business without proper systems in place. Everything she knew about her operations was in her heart and mind, but not documented or accessible to anyone else to carry out.
- She was not delegating effectively.
- She wasn’t holding her team accountable, and some employees were taking advantage of her kindness.
- She was becoming the bottleneck of her business, being so involved in the day-to-day and decision-making of each unit.
I think it’s key that entrepreneurs, independent business owners, and future Franchisors have solid business systems in their units because that’s where they prove their method and concept, which they can eventually sell to a Franchisee. Franchising is not just about an amazing brand or the amazing product, service, or image they create around that brand; they still need a solid business that can be duplicated unit after unit after unit.
“MANAGE 1.0 and 2.0 gave me different levels of tools to use. For example, now I know how to analyze my turnover costs and their impact on my profit, assess the long-term value of new employees, discipline team members correctly, and identify their training needs. I don't necessarily apply all of these learnings now, but I already have the knowledge and the tools for when a situation arises.”
The most important lesson: “I no longer let my personal habits or feelings run my business. Now, I take my feelings out and just apply the process, keeping it very neutral and using the proven tools that Aicha accumulated in over 35 years. I'm so thankful that the American Franchise Academy broke all of that knowledge into systems, in a very plug-and-play mode”.
“The content is definitely not basic; that was my misperception. It’s so advanced! To this day, I cannot imagine how I could have gotten to where I am without it”, she said.
Keep learning: Unit Manager, The Most Important Job in a Franchise
Unlocking the Franchisor’s Dream
Tram also mentioned how our training program answered every question she had that was preventing her from becoming a Franchisor. Her main concern: joint employment liability, which many lawyers and consultants have warned her about.
“Before I took your course, I thought that I would have to teach my Franchisee how to run their business as well as how to duplicate my brand”, she explained. What no one had told her was that, by law, she couldn’t train her future Franchisees on their daily operations, labor management, or other business matters, and that they would have to learn all of that on their own.
“That really, really alleviated my concerns about being a Franchisor and falling into the joint employment risk. If I were to sign someone, I now feel confident that training them would not be my responsibility. Not only that. I also have the American Franchise Academy as a very reliable source I can point my potential Franchisee to get the proper help and training, that’s very affordable and approachable.”
Would you imagine if she (or any Franchisor, for that matter) had to create, develop, and structure all of this business management acumen, skills, and tools by herself so her Franchisees could run their businesses successfully? She would have to spend a great deal of time, money, and effort just to come close to creating a robust program like ours, and that’s something that startups and emerging brands simply don’t have.
That’s where we come in. We have even developed four Franchisor Partnership models to help them close that training gap for them. “I'm so glad to find out that you kind of like become a white-label for the training for each brand. I think that is one of the biggest and most valuable things you offer from the standpoint of a Franchisor,” she expressed.
Without those worries in the way, Tram could focus not only on managing her business with the necessary systems, processes, procedures, and policies to make it more profitable, but also on structuring and preparing everything for the next stage: becoming a franchise.
“AFA has been so valuable in shaping my brand and my day-to-day operations. Before, I had that fear because I didn’t know things and didn’t have control. The program brought me peace of mind.”
Preparing the Business for the Future
As I mentioned earlier, Tram didn't just take the Manage 1.0 and 2.0 Programs. Once she finished those, she decided to go for our next level of training: LEAD, our District Manager training, a multi-unit leadership certification program, even though she only had two units, and none of them were franchises.
Why? She knew that franchising is all about having multiple units, and she wanted to sit in the seat of her future potential Franchisees to see ‘the other side’. This multi-unit franchise training gave Tram a lot of value and knowledge, but most of all, it gave her the confidence she needed to reach new heights, literally.
“Not only did I open our third unit, but I opened it across the coast! I went from California, where I have two units, all the way to North Carolina, and I have to say that a big foundation of that confidence comes from the LEAD Program”, she said.
“I already have the guidelines and the framework of what it means to be a Multi-Unit Leader, what to look for, and what I’m not responsible for. It's like having multiple units before I really go big into franchising”.
The District Manager training also gave her guidance on:
- How to develop her managers to take over the store when she’s not physically there.
- The types of problems that arise when she steps out and how to solve them.
- The processes that need to be developed, streamlined, and systematized.
- How to hold her managers accountable and develop them.
- How to become the leader of the managers instead of the manager of the single unit.
“It gave me a different perspective. I'm still Tram, running and being responsible for the business, but now I'm wearing different shoes, and every day I visualize where I can be. The LEAD Program removed all the fear because now I have the tools to get there”.
I love where Tram is right now, how focused she is, and what’s coming for her and her business in the future. She’s actively looking to open a second unit in North Carolina while still working to prove her business model and get everything ready to become a franchise. But she’s not hurrying. She wants to be as responsible as possible by testing her model and assessing where her brand stands before jumping into the next stage.
That is exactly what every future Franchisor should do, because at the end of the day, they are responsible for the well-being of their Franchisees. And by offering a proven brand and accompanying them through the franchise journey, with allies like the American Franchise Academy to provide high-quality business training, their Franchise Owners will have a much higher chance of success.
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