Adam Goldman is a franchise coach who has helped place over 140 franchisees into 280 territories in the last seven years. He was also a franchisor himself in the Houston area for a commercial cleaning franchise.
So, franchising, cleaning… we obviously have a lot in common. When I found out he was a franchise coach too, I had to sit down to speak with him. If you didn’t know, I’m currently working on expanding my cleaning franchise MaidThis across the US. At the time of writing, we have franchisees in more than two dozen places, and I’m constantly looking for ways to do better.
Adam was kind enough to sit down with me on The Freedom Formula pod so that I could share all of his expert advice with you all too.
What is a Franchise Coach?
Adam says that as a coach, his role is to navigate what he calls “the jungle” of franchises in the US. A lot of times people think, “Oh, franchising, McDonald’s, French fries, I’m going to be flipping burgers in the back.” Adam’s job is to show that there is so much more than that.
More specifically, he works with a pre-screened portfolio of brands in 75 different industries and offers a free service to potential franchisees to help narrow down that list. He typically chooses the top three brands that would match them best and goes from there.
A lot of people who come to Adam for help are folks in corporate who are looking to lead, entrepreneurs who want to add on another business, people who were in franchising before and want to add to their portfolio, or simply those who are interested in franchising in general.
Do You Need a Franchise Coach?
Franchising is such a crowded industry. I’ve worked with franchise consultants in the past and while I found some of them helpful I couldn’t help but wonder if we actually need more coaches in the space.
Adam says that from the franchisor's perspective, coaches are important as they can help connect them to prospective franchisees. With such an influx of franchising opportunities over the past few years it can be hard to stand out. When franchisors work with someone like Adam, it allows them to get in front of people who otherwise might not have thought about industries such as cleaning services or the like.
From a franchisee's perspective, Adam’s insights are critical. He believes that most people look at franchises in the wrong way: they go online, find something they might like superficially, and then go for it without much more thought or research.
Adam thinks you can do much better. He says that it’s much more prudent and effective to have someone with industry knowledge narrow down the choices for you first, and then dig deep into whether or not it makes sense.
He also promises all of his clients that if he doesn’t think they’re a good fit for franchising to let them know. But, he also says that if you are a fit, you owe it to yourself to talk to someone like himself.
Is Franchising the Right Fit for You?
This brings me to an important point that Adam made and one that I agree with: franchising is not for everyone. I asked if he were to be very blunt about it, who is it not good for?
He mentioned a couple of people. The first is someone who doesn’t want to follow a system or model. If you’re someone who wants to follow your own path without any guidance — nothing wrong with that necessarily — you shouldn’t buy a franchise because you’re paying for exactly that, a system to follow.
The second type of person is those who don’t have any sort of business acumen. They expect the franchise brand to do everything for them, and that’s simply not reality. There’s no such thing as absentee investing in franchising. There’s a threshold, especially at the beginning, where you need to spend at least 10-15 hours per week getting the franchise off the ground to make it work.
Finally, the third type of person who shouldn’t go into franchising is someone who doesn’t have time. They might have the acumen, but only a few hours a week. Adam often fields calls from professionals who want to triple their income while sticking it out at their day job. He says that’s just not possible.
As an aside, it’s totally fine if you’re one of these three people. Again, franchising isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine too.
Finding a Franchise that Works
If you’re not one of the three types of people above, your next step is to find the franchise opportunity that works for you.
When Adam works with clients, he says that ultimately, he’s looking to see where they would fit best culturally. There are plenty of amazing brands in the world, but if you don’t fit in with their culture, you’re not going to be a good franchisee for that brand. He adds that this isn’t “rocket science.” It’s all about getting to know someone on a deeper level before he makes a decision.
Adam reminds me that he isn’t a broker. He’s a coaching consultant, and he believes there’s a big difference between the two. A broker is an agent of sale. A coach is an agent for a person. Adam isn’t there to broker a sale, necessarily. He’s there to help you find the best franchise opportunity for you, specifically.
So, do we need franchise coaches? If they’re as honest, genuine, and passionate as Adam Goldman, then yes, we do.
Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash
This article was written by Neel from MaidThis Franchise, a remote-local franchise opportunity for people looking to escape the rat race and reach financial freedom. Learn more here.
