Many people wonder if franchising is a good investment. I’ve been in the franchise industry for more than 35 years, therefore, I believe that franchising is a great investment. 

• It’s just that franchising is not for everybody. 

In this blog post, we’ll review why franchising is a great investment and how you can make sure you are making the most return out of that franchise investment.

The two parts of businesses

Here at The American Franchise Academy, we conceive businesses in two parts:

1. The brand is the first part, which includes the product, the service, or what you sell in return for the customer’s money.
   It has to be a good enough brand so that people are willing to exchange their hard-earned money in exchange for your product or service.
   It also implies the service processes, the image, and the marketing that is produced by that brand. 
2. The management systems are the second part of the business. This includes how you get profit...

What a year it has been! Yes, the last three years were significantly difficult for the industry, but 2022 definitely earned its name as “a comeback kid”. 

• While there were lots of challenges, it also taught us that the franchising world can overcome a lot. And that, when the opportunities are right and available, we can really maximize those possibilities.

Let’s review the aspects that marked this past year, between the positive things, the most impactful, and the learnings that all these events taught us to prepare ourselves and our organizations for 2023.

The good…

The last 12 months were amazing for the growth of many brands across industries, especially those that had the systems and the infrastructure ready to combat the problems and take advantage of the opportunities. 

A lot of this explosive growth in 2022 was fueled by the fact that, early in the year, there was a low cost of capital for franchise developers. The scenario...

Entrepreneurs often had difficulty being thankful for what they are going through, especially in the last couple of years. Sometimes the ups, but especially the downs, are just too much to bear, but we must do it if we are committed to accomplishing our goals and dreams.

How can we turn those negative experiences into positive ones for our lives and our businesses? I believe we can do that in two ways:

1. Being thankful for what we have right now
2. Giving what we can, to who we can, every day. 

I remember when I was a child my family lived very humbly. I experienced many things through my friend’s families. One, in particular, had a chalet in a beautiful lake in Guatemala, where I was born. 

She invited me quite often so I got to experience many things at this gorgeous place: she had a boat so we learned how to waterski there, we swam in the lake, went to cool places, and spent the days just surrounded by beauty. It was amazing! 

Another friend had a farm with...

 Being an entrepreneur is not easy. To be successful, we require a wide variety of knowledge, skills, capital, and grit to acquire whatever we are missing.

• Fortunately, to accompany us there’s the figure of the business coach, someone that can guide us through our growth as a professional and even maybe as a person.

These professionals are important in the lives of every entrepreneur or franchisee, whether experienced or not. 

When I first launched The American Franchise Academy, six years ago in 2016, I didn't have a business coach. But then I hired my first one and since then, everything started to turn around. 

I have had several business coaches. Each of them fulfilled the different needs the team and the organization had as they evolved. And a lot of our growth and how we can serve many more clients and franchisees at large are because of those relationships.

That’s why when I say it is important to hire a franchise business coach, I say it from my...

AFA 6th Anniversary Celebration

July 18 marked our sixth anniversary. Six years of great achievements not only for The American Franchise Academy (AFA) but also for the clients that have trusted us during this time to help them become successful franchise business owners. (Thank you for that!)

It's amazing how what started as a deviation from my sabbatical came to be this organization that for the last six years, has been serving franchisees and their leaders, giving them knowledge and information so that they can thrive with their businesses, reach financial and time freedom, and fulfill their dreams.

To commemorate this joyous occasion, I invited Curtis Moore, an ex-Dunkin Donuts franchisee, expert district manager, and also one of our AFA’s instructors, to a live broadcast on my YouTube Channel.

During this special session, Curtis and I shared some insights that have helped the Academy and its clients reach their goals. Here are six insights of success that we came up with...

(Part 2 of the 2022 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference)

Perhaps the name Jesse Itzler doesn’t ring any bells for you. I admit that before hearing him at the 2022 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference I only knew he was the husband of Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. But I’m very glad I attended his keynote so I can share the following takeaways on leadership and inspiration.

Jesse is a serial entrepreneur. He co-founded Marquis Jet, one of the largest private jet companies in the United States, as well as Zico Coconut Water, that after growing into a tremendous organization, was sold to Coca-Cola. 

He's also the owner of the NBA Atlanta Hawks, a rapper, and an Ultraman racer, which is a three-day, 320 miles, multisport race. What can we learn from him and his diverse and wide experience? These are the key insights and actions he shared that’ll inspire you to achieve your dreams.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to view the complete video series on the 2022...

(Part 1 of the 2022 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference)

Either if you are new to our blog, or a current reader, you must know that as the founder of The American Franchise Academy it is my mission to share knowledge, tips, best practices, and information to help you be successful in your business. With this in mind, in this blog post and within the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some insights from the 2022 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, which happened from March 29 to April 1st. 

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to view the complete video series on the 2022 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference!

I did this last year and we got great feedback from our followers and clients, so I’m repeating the formula once again because this year's conference was amazing. It was full of great best practices, knowledge, information, and inspiration from highly successful multi-unit franchisees.

The best part: even if you didn’t attend (which I strongly recommend you do in...

Growing businesses and franchises are constantly looking for assistant managers, unit managers, and district managers who can properly oversee the organization. But sadly, not every crew member wants to become a leader. This is very frustrating for business owners, especially if employees have real potential.

Why is there this refusal to go up to the next level, even though there may be a desire for professional growth and self-improvement? And more importantly, what can you do about it to develop leaders in your organization?

In my 30+ years of experience working with a variety of big-name brands in the franchise industry, I've found five reasons employees don't want to take on leadership roles. But also, I came up with strategies you can implement to solve these struggles.

This is critical. Having the right leaders in place and developing them is a must if you want to achieve your time freedom and financial goals as a business owner.

Review these tips to develop your leadership...

Last week I was informed that I had been selected to join the Nation's Restaurant News Power LIST of 2022.  After getting over the excitement, I realized that I had to take a moment to think about what that meant for the people that made the selection and the people that will learn about it.  I was in the Middle of our quarterly “Multi-Unit Franchisee Masterclass” and couldn’t give it the time it deserved.

Before I started to write my appreciation to the Nation’s Restaurant News, I was looking through the list of 50 and I was struck by how this list can open a window into what is happening right now in our country and how people have the power to make things better.

Other leaders in the Power 50 are people that are on a mission to help us eat healthier, get better jobs, implement technology in our business, use eco-friendly packaging, look at food service and revenue channels in different way, provide more and better opportunities to minorities,...

There is a big confusion in the franchise world: franchisees believe that when they acquire the rights to duplicate a brand, they will receive everything they need to be successful. The reality is they only get one part of the formula. This causes unfulfilled expectations, constant frustration, tremendous struggle, hard work, and sometimes sadly, even failure.

But there’s a way to fix that to make the most of these businesses. I have found that there are 12 keys to being a successful franchisee. And I have portrayed them in The Franchise Fix, a book that collects my 30 plus years of experience in this industry, working with franchisors and franchisees and running operations, units, and brands.

Do you want to discover those best practices and how applying them can help you obtain financial and time freedom? 

How The Franchise Fix was born

After a 25-year career in the franchise world, I wanted to take a sabbatical and then go back into the corporate world to...