Episode 1310: The Truth About Franchise Ownership with Adam Goldman

What if the fastest path to business ownership is not building from scratch, but choosing the right proven system? In this episode of Sharkpreneur, Seth Greene interviews Adam Goldman, Franchise Consultant, who explains how franchise ownership can give aspiring entrepreneurs a proven system, greater agency, and a path out of corporate life. He shares how to evaluate opportunities, assess cultural fit, use franchisee validation, and understand the realities behind earnings claims and startup cash flow. Adam also reveals the biggest myths, red flags, and due-diligence questions that prospective owners should consider before choosing a franchise. Key Takeaways: → Franchise ownership can provide a proven system for entrepreneurs who do not want to build every process from scratch. → The best franchise owners recognize the value of following an established model, especially during the early stages of business. → Franchising extends beyond restaurants, with opportunities available across dozens of industries. → Cultural alignment between the franchisee and franchisor can be just as important as the financial opportunity. → The right franchise can give professionals greater control over their time, income, career, and family life. Adam Goldman is a franchise consultant, experienced investor, serial entrepreneur, franchisee, and Master Franchisor with more than 20 years of experience building and growing businesses across multiple industries and continents. Throughout his career, Adam has founded three successful companies on two continents, including an IT company in Poland and a real estate investment company in Texas. Most recently, he grew the Vanguard Cleaning Area Developer concept in Houston into a multimillion-dollar annual enterprise with more than 30 franchisees and 300 customers, which he successfully sold. Adam brings a unique blend of hands-on franchise ownership, business investment experience, and entrepreneurial insight to his work as a franchise consultant. His background allows him to guide aspiring business owners through the franchise selection process with a practical, real-world perspective. Connect With Adam: Website: https://www.franchisecoach.net/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franchisecoach_adam/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadingfranchiseconsultant/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamgoldmanfranchise/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQCtHcOPenRfQ_0IlMY08Q

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Welcome to the Sharkpreneur Podcast with Kevin Harrington and Seth Green. Kevin Harrington is the inventor of the infomercial, one of the original sharks from the hit TV show Shark Tank, and has generated over $5 billion in TV and digital direct response sales. Seth Green is the world's first trusted authority on cutting-edge direct response marketing, a bestselling author, and the only three-time marketer of the year nominee. On the podcast, Kevin and Seth interview sharkpreneurs who share straight talk on what it takes to explode your business.

• 0:38Speaker 01

  Forty-nine faces looked to him in triumph. Over the last 12 months, they had each taken turns and promoted his business for a week at a time, driving over $987,342 in revenue. What if you had a network of 50 centers of influence who promoted your business every week for a year? Grab your copy of the number one Amazon bestselling book, The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Business with a Podcast at 33% off the Amazon price by going to ultimatenpodcastbook.com. Again, that website for 33% off the Amazon price is ultimatenpodcastbook.com. Welcome to the podcast. This is your host, Seth Green. Today, I've got the good fortune to be with Adam Goldman, a franchise consultant and coach who helps professionals evaluate franchise ownership, build a curated shortlist of opportunities, and move through due diligence.

• 1:23Speaker 01

  Adam, thank you so much for joining us.

• 1:25Speaker 02

  Thank you so much. Great to be here, Seth.

• 1:27Speaker 01

  It is great to have you. Let's go back in time a little bit. How did you get started?

• 1:32Speaker 02

  I got started in franchising by mistake. It's fascinating because I graduated from business school, was doing real estate investing in 2008. I know I'm aging myself, right? And saw my deals drying up, talked to a friend who had a friend in this industry, and he's like, hey, you know, you should look into franchises. I thought it was only about McDonald's and like just flipping burgers in the back of a restaurant. Turns out that there are brands in 75 different industries. There are thousands of different franchises, saw one that really resonated for me, and now I've been in the industry now for 16 years.

• 2:09Speaker 01

  Wow, that is absolutely incredible. So, how did your experience kind of lead you into the franchise world?

• 2:18Speaker 02

  So, the way that I kind of got into it by accident, right? What's exciting about franchising is I'm the kind of person that's really good at following a system or process, but I don't love creating that from scratch, just like many of my candidates. And so, it kind of was a really good fit for me because I really like to create businesses in many, and I really love entrepreneurship. So, it's almost like riding a bicycle with training wheels.

• 2:44Speaker 01

  That makes a lot of sense. I believe you grew a franchise operation to more than 30 franchisees and 300 customers. What were some of the lessons you learned along the way?

• 2:54Speaker 02

  Well, some lessons I learned is that there are different types of owners, and I wasn't the type of owner that enjoys as much when it's a aircraft carrier and it's been in business for eight and a half years. It's a lot, for me at least, it's a lot more fun to get this thing off the ground and going than kind of dealing with all the operational challenges of an existing franchise.

• 3:14Speaker 01

  And when did you realize that kind of franchising could be a powerful path for people who want the bicycle with training wheels on it?

• 3:22Speaker 02

  I knew it from when I started in 2010, right? So, I used a franchise coach. I thought, wait a second here, this is, I didn't even know this world existed. I had this amazing mentor of mine that came to visit me and still keep in contact with these people to this day. I'm like, wow, this is a great match because I didn't necessarily, with my candidates that I place now, what they tell me is that the value of a good franchise system is about all the mistakes that you otherwise would have made.

• 3:54Speaker 01

  That's a perfect segue. So, what were some mistakes that you made early on as an entrepreneur that now help you coach others?

• 4:01Speaker 02

  As a franchisee or before I was a franchisee?

• 4:03Speaker 01

  Let's do both, before and after.

• 4:06Speaker 02

  So, before being a franchisee, one of the biggest challenges I had is I was very system light. I remember like just kind of going to a networking event and just kind of having all these ideas in my head and writing them down, but I didn't have a process or system in general that was not my strength. And the franchise brand allowed me to have that, which is great. The biggest mistakes that I made when I started my franchise was not necessarily following the model the way that I should have. I thought somehow I knew it better. And it's really the success, in my opinion, Seth, is not in reinventing the wheel, but really, especially at the beginning, using that wheel and use that system to the best you can.

• 4:46Speaker 01

  What kind of person is usually a good fit for franchise ownership?

• 4:50Speaker 02

  Well, I'll tell you who's not, the kind of person that doesn't see value in a system, they shouldn't be paying royalty fees. It's a different type of entrepreneur. It's the kind of person that likes the idea of having process and system and sees the value in having a system or process. So, it's not like one size fits all. I have some brands that are very sales-heavy and have others that are operationally-heavy. You don't necessarily have to have one specific trait, but you have to be good at business in general.

• 5:16Speaker 01

  What is the difference between buying a job and buying a scalable business?

• 5:23Speaker 02

  Well, what I would say is unfortunately, some brands in my industry, you are buying a job, not necessarily the ones that are in my inventory. And even in owner-operator type businesses, right? You do have to be in the business sometimes as opposed to being on the business. For my candidates, the biggest thing they tell me is that they're searching for freedom from their corporate job. They want to work on their own terms, not like they don't want to work, but they want to work for themselves. They're tired of making other people rich. I know that sounds pretty trite, but that's really what I hear, the reality I hear a lot. And the difference between owning a business and actually working for someone else is agency and freedom.

• 6:04Speaker 01

  What do people often misunderstand about the relationship between the franchisee and the franchisor?

• 6:10Speaker 02

  People are in one of two buckets. The first bucket is they think that the franchisor is going to do everything for them, meaning that they don't have to do anything else. They just have mailbox money and they hang out. The second one is the people that think that the franchise brand is going to do nothing for them. The reality is somewhere in between. They're going to give you the system, they're going to give you advice and training, but at the end of the day, you need to make this thing happen.

• 6:33Speaker 01

  What, you talk about finding the right franchise before committing. What does right fit actually mean?

• 6:41Speaker 02

  So, look, it's not one specific thing. It's a bunch of different things, and it's based on characteristics. The one thing that I think that people miss is how important culture is in a cultural fit. And what I mean by this is that I coach my candidates that they're going on a marriage, right? And it's got to be something where you really are aligned with values and culture with the franchisor. People tend to underestimate that.

• 7:08Speaker 01

  What questions should people ask themselves before they even start looking at a franchise?

• 7:13Speaker 02

  I think the most important question you need to ask is frankly, how long they're willing to go before they start making money? I wish that I was in a fairy tale land and you're making money from day one. In reality, even these businesses that have, that are, have really quick ROI, and I'm talking mostly about a non-storefront business, it takes some time. And the biggest mistake that I see my investors make is especially when we have black swan events like COVID, not necessarily having enough cushion and coming up with a best-case, an average case, and a worst-case scenario when it comes to cash flow.

• 7:49Speaker 01

  What are the red flags that an opportunity might not be right for somebody?

• 7:54Speaker 02

  Culture, I would say, and the biggest way you find that out is through validation and talking to existing franchisees. You see these people and you're like, you talk to them on the phone. Every franchise brand, just like anything in life, Seth's going to have under, average, and overperformers. If you can't find anyone that's an overperformer, that's a waving red flag, and I would run.

• 8:16Speaker 01

  How should, the franchise disclosure document can be intimidating, it can be very thick. How should someone read something like that without getting overwhelmed?

• 8:26Speaker 02

  I would caution people to not spend as much time on the FDD and spend more time on validation. And the reason why is the FDD is really not written for you. It has important info, namely the items 19 and 7, which are earnings claims and investment levels. But you learn a lot more about the franchisor by asking questions to franchisees and asking the right questions. In fact, to my candidates, I give them a set of questions to ask, and that's very powerful.

• 8:54Speaker 01

  I would imagine that is really helpful, especially since you've helped hundreds or thousands of them. You would know what to ask. What do people often misunderstand? You talked about the money. What do people often misunderstand about how much they as a franchise owner can make?

• 9:11Speaker 02

  Well, I mean, I think the challenge people have is frankly, people see something in the FDD if they have an item 19, which is earnings claims. And you're certainly able to do that, but you have to actually work at it to make it, right? So, just because it has X amount in the item 19, you could be the most, you could have a Chick-fil-A in the most amazing location, right? But if you're not operating, then you're not going to make much money at all.

• 9:37Speaker 01

  What is the biggest myth about franchising?

• 9:41Speaker 02

  That it's only fast food and you're going to be the one in the back flipping burgers.

• 9:46Speaker 01

  What are some industries that have franchises in that people might be surprised to discover?

• 9:53Speaker 02

  Well, I'm not saying that they should invest in this, right? But the most weird franchise I've ever heard of, Seth, is there's something called goose chasers, which is you come with dogs to a golf course and you chase geese. I'm not saying that that's the average franchise, but one of the hottest franchises right now, which is not very glamorous, is anything related to seniors. Something like 12,000 Americans are turning 65 every day. So, it's just a huge, huge market right now and a huge opportunity.

• 10:21Speaker 01

  That makes a lot of sense.

• 10:24Speaker 01

  You juggle, you talked about corporate America. How do you help people juggle their, if they've got an existing job while starting a franchise?

• 10:32Speaker 02

  One of the best things about the franchising world, one of the trends I'm seeing recently is brands that otherwise wouldn't allow people to invest in a franchise and to keep their job. They're getting much more creative about manager-led or semi-passive opportunities where maybe it's your spouse that's taking the lead role from day one. Or maybe you have a flexible job where it's a remote job and you have X amount of hours, right? So there's a lot more flexibility from the franchise brands because they realize that some of this top talent isn't necessarily ready to leave right away. And that's a great thing from a cash flow perspective.

• 11:06Speaker 01

  You've helped thousands of folks make the transition. What's your biggest challenge now?

• 11:12Speaker 02

  My biggest challenge always, right, is to find qualified people, right, and to speak with them. And because many people don't even know that a role like mine exists, right? They go online, they typically search for franchises the wrong way. They might type something in, they might even dig deep. My philosophy is that before you even dig deep into a few different brands, you should take this universe of thousands of brands and really narrow it down to three that would fit you the best. And then you can dig deep, but kind of start with a wide net first as opposed to really focusing on one that probably isn't a good characteristic fit for you.

• 11:49Speaker 01

  That makes sense. Your passion is obvious. What do you like best about what you're doing?

• 11:54Speaker 02

  That I'm really helping people and changing their life. So when this thing works out, it is not only, oh, my gosh, this is great, but it's a life-changing type thing. I mean, we're talking about something where someone before was in a job. Maybe they worked in the energy industry and they were away from their family for a few weeks per every month. And now all of a sudden they have agency, they're doing something that they like. And that's a, that's a powerful place to be.

• 12:18Speaker 01

  Absolutely. For our folks who are watching or listening, where is the best place for them to go to learn more about you and the franchise coach?

• 12:25Speaker 02

  Go to franchisecoach.net, schedule a free 15-minute chat. And if I don't think you're a fit for my free service, I promise to let you know.

• 12:35Speaker 01

  That is fair. What do you do in your spare time? What do you do for fun?

• 12:39Speaker 02

  I'm a little bit embarrassed about this, Seth, but one of my favorite things to do is puzzling, jigsaw puzzles. It is such a great way to use, look, I mean, I'm getting in these complex conversations with people, life-changing. I really enjoy the complexity of a really good jigsaw puzzle. I think it's great. I'm using a different part of my brain.

• 12:59Speaker 01

  That is awesome. Well, we know your time's incredibly valuable. We greatly appreciate spending it, spending some of it with us. This has been Seth Green with Adam Goldman from franchisecoach.net. Adam, thanks again for joining us.

• 13:11Speaker 02

  Thank you so much, Seth.

• 13:13Speaker 01

  Thank you, everybody, for watching or listening. We will talk to you or see you next time.

• 13:17Speaker 03

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