Women's Money Wisdom

Episode 276: Beyond the 9-to-5: How Franchising Can Redefine Your Career Path with Alex & Julie Roberts

• Melissa Joy, CFP® • Season 4 • Episode 276

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Ever dreamed of owning a business but felt overwhelmed by starting from scratch?
Franchising might be the solution you didn’t know you needed—offering the independence of entrepreneurship with the structure and support of an established brand.

Melissa Joy, CFP® is joined by husband-and-wife team Alex and Julie Roberts to explore the world of modern franchise ownership. With over two decades of industry experience, Alex is the founder of The Franchise Playmaker, helping professionals navigate over 4,000 franchise options to find the right fit. Julie is the founder of Kindling Creative and brings her marketing savvy to their newest venture: opening The Milkshake Factory in Ann Arbor.

From surprising truths about franchise selection to behind-the-scenes insights into local marketing and revenue strategy, this conversation is packed with actionable takeaways—especially for professionals looking to transition out of corporate roles into entrepreneurship.

Key Highlights:

  • Why most franchise owners end up choosing a brand they never expected
  • How franchise consultants work like realtors to guide the process
  • The rise of franchising among 45–55 year-olds seeking more control
  • What “validation” means in the franchise world—and why it’s essential
  • Creative marketing tactics from Julie, including local partnerships and community events
  • The realities of ownership: “There’s no such thing as absentee franchising”

Resources Mentioned:

This episode is for anyone exploring entrepreneurship, looking for a career pivot, or simply curious about how franchising really works—beyond the buzzwords.

The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https:...

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and the founder of Pearl Planning. My goal is to help you streamline and organize your finances, navigate big money decisions with confidence and be strategic in order to grow your wealth. As a woman, you work hard for your money and I'm here to help you make the most of it. Now let's get into the show. Just a quick note before we dive in. The information that we share is meant to educate and inspire, not serve as personalized financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, so be sure to consult with your own financial professional for guidance that fits your life. And just so you know, the opinions shared in this podcast are my own and those of my guests, and they don't necessarily represent those of any organizations that I'm affiliated with. For more important disclosures, please go to our webpage at pearlplancom.

Speaker 1:

Now let's get started. Welcome back. I'm so excited for this week's episode because we're going to be talking about ways to start a business through franchises, and we have a couple here today who are both professional experts all about franchising. That's Alex Roberts, as well as his wife, julie Roberts, who is co-owner of their new franchise in Ann Arbor, michigan, the Milkshake Factory which we'll be talking about. So experiences of how to get into the business as well as what it's like to be a franchise owner. So Alex Roberts has entrepreneurial experience and is the founder of the Franchise Playmaker, and his wife, julie, is the founder of Kindling Creative, which is a graphic design and marketing company. Alex, julie, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Thanks for having us, hello.

Speaker 1:

We're so glad you're here and we're going to be talking about franchises today, and Alex brings the decades of professional experience when it comes to franchising and correct me if I'm wrong, but you're a consultant to people who want to start a franchise. Is that right?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's what I've been doing for the last nine years. Melissa is helping people find their ideal fit in franchising People that are interested in owning their own business but aren't sure where to begin or what franchises would be a good fit for them, and there's over 4,000 franchise companies registered in the United States.

Speaker 3:

And you can go online and go down Google rabbit holes and spend hours and hours and you know you can't really evaluate or understand a franchise just from an online presence. So having somebody with you know 22 plus industry, you know years of experience in the industry, you know is very helpful and you know one of the best things about my services to Melissa is they're free. People don't pay me a nickel. So you know it's kind of nice to you know be able to help people achieve their you know their goal of business ownership and it doesn't cost them a nickel.

Speaker 1:

So then you get compensated by the franchises that they ultimately place themselves with. Is that right?

Speaker 3:

Exactly so. I use the analogy of a realtor. All the time you know if people are looking for a house. You don't just go out, drive around looking for for sale signs. Usually you meet with a realtor who knows the inventory, knows the industry, knows the area and they talk about how many bedrooms you need, how many bathrooms, do you need an attached garage, are the schools important, and have you thought about property taxes? And what do you approve for in a mortgage. Then that realtor takes you to homes that match your criteria, saves you a lot of time, energy, effort and money in the long run. And then the seller is the one who's paying the commission to that buyer, the agent. So very similar in this world is if I play somebody with a franchise, that franchisor pays me a referral fee for bringing them a new franchisee.

Speaker 1:

Makes sense, and I would assume that one of the advantages, potentially, of franchises are there's a business model that has been proven to be scalable or usable, and so you're not starting from scratch when you want to be an entrepreneur. Is that one of the kind of selling points, and what are others?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean. A lot of folks that I work with are, I guess, traditionally 45 to 55 years old. Right, they work for others their whole life. They've made good money, but not to the point where they're ready to retire. Maybe they've been laid off once or twice and they've gotten back into the workforce and found it difficult to get a job at the same level of compensation or responsibility.

Speaker 3:

Business ownership has always been in the back of their mind, where they could, you know, have control over their time and their you know what they're doing with their days and also control over giving themselves a raise by building and growing and scaling that business. So, you know, I think there's just a lot of things that a franchise offers in terms of that proven model, proven system that they can bring the skills that they have developed in the workforce, their communication skills, their leadership skills, their business acumen. Whether they know anything at all about what the product or service is doesn't really matter. If they bring those leadership and communication and business skills to a franchise, they apply that and are generally going to give themselves a better chance for success if they have those skills, rather than because usually employee isn't the one that's or the franchisor isn't the one going out and doing the actual work. They hire employees to do that and they're they're the business owner.

Speaker 1:

Makes sense and even the marketing to that. That acumen that you bring to the table, Julie, of being able to get the message out, is certainly important as a business owner as well.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it's very important and I think a lot of people don't realize that, that people aren't just going to start coming through the door, especially with retail, just because you're open or you have a for open sign. And marketing has changed so much. I mean, I've been in the business for 30 plus years and I remember when you know websites were the latest hot thing, but now you know you've got to work with influencers and you've got to have a great social media presence, and even all the community outreach makes such a difference too. So there's so many different facets to marketing and it's nice because the franchisor really helps guide you and give you advice and keeps track of what's the latest and greatest and what we should be doing, so it's nice to have that.

Speaker 3:

But you still have to do it. You know the franchisor gives you that roadmap and things, and this is part of you know the you know one of the things that just I like to educate my candidates on is that when you buy a franchise, you don't just turn on a spigot and money, you know, starts pouring through it. You know you've got to work that business, you've got to be, you know, involved and in particular, as Julie was talking about with with the marketing piece. You know the franchise but you know you, as the franchisee, need to implement that in your territory, in your community and and get things done.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that makes sense and some things have sweat equity. Some things are like authentic you know. On social media or with influencers, sometimes you can build a brand or voice that is uniquely you, that that works with less cost. But a lot of times you need to put you know your your money behind it as well. But I'm assuming through your contract with the franchise that you're working with, as well as sometimes on your own profit and loss statement. Is that right?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, the franchisors are going to have a recommended marketing spend, you know here, are the things that we had known works in our other units Right, and here is kind of a recommended spend and most of them have a minimum marketing requirement in the franchise agreement. So you need to spend a minimum of this because a lot of times franchisees will get upset because the phone's not ringing or people aren't coming through the door and saying you know, hey, I just put a sign up and I can't believe people aren't here and it's like, well, you know, that's not, that's not just a, it's not all you have to do. And and are you? Are you spending these dollars? Are you spending them in the right place and are you actively getting out in your community, like Julie has been extremely active here in Ann Arbor with our milkshake factory franchise that you know in terms of all the schools and teachers and you know a lot of.

Speaker 3:

You know Reckon, ed and a lot of different things to get people in to the building, because we need to get them in once, and once they come in, you know, generally they're hooked and they're coming back.

Speaker 1:

Yeah they're hooked and they're coming back. You're looking for that repeat customer and for your own customers, alex. For the people that come to you looking to start a franchise, do they often come knowing where they want to go, or is it sometimes more of a blank slate, where they don't have the pre-existing preference for a certain brand or franchise?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's a great question and unfortunately, you know, most people come saying can you get me a Chick-fil-A? Which I don't know if you you know there's an article on Wall Street Journal how it's easier to get into Harvard than it is to get a Chick-fil-A franchise.

Speaker 1:

I've heard some of that because I know a financial planner who specializes in only working with Chick-fil-A franchise owners, so typically you've been employed right at the Chick-fil-A.

Speaker 3:

Correct. Yeah, it's a. It's a very different model. You don't actually own the franchise, you're an operating partner and you get a percentage of the profits is an unbelievable business in terms of the revenue they create out of those locations. But you don't have the same control over owning your own franchise. But anyway, I digress.

Speaker 3:

But the biggest thing I tell people, melissa, is exactly what you said that the two words are blank slate.

Speaker 3:

And if people can come in with an open mind and I would tell you probably 75, 80 percent of the people that I end up placing with franchises end up with a brand that they never in their lives would have imagined they would have been with had they not met with me, gone through the process, understood the different business characteristics and and the benefits of you know certain businesses.

Speaker 3:

Not everything has the sexy curb appeal of a milkshake factory per se or a Pilates studio or, you know, hair salon. There's a lot of really good, dull, normal service businesses that you know have lower investment, faster ramp up, lower overhead and higher margins that you know that. But they take a little bit more involvement of the owner and time and things like that. So those are the things I go through with people to really understand, you know, what they want to put into a business from a time commitment, leadership standpoint, what kind of employees they like to manage and which ones they want to avoid, because labor can be an issue at a lot of different businesses today, you know, and so that's kind of where I kind of help guide them towards and educate them on opportunities that they may not have been aware of. So coming in with an open mind and a blank slate is probably one of the most important things people can do.

Speaker 2:

And a lot of times, um, alex comes in touch with people that want to own a franchise in a field that they're extremely passionate about. Now, alex and I, we like ice cream, but we weren't passionate about milkshakes or anything but. Um, even with these dull normals, you know you don't have to open a franchise with something that you're completely passionate about. You might come to enjoy it and appreciate it, but in many ways, opening a franchise will give you the flexibility to do the thing, or the money to do the things, that you're passionate about. It doesn't have to be necessarily in your workplace, and I think a lot of people come to realize that after working with Alex.

Speaker 1:

I love that and just thinking through, if I were looking to start a franchise, the advance that you have, alex, to be able to see you know what works, what doesn't. You know the pre-existing, you know like kind of assumptions that may be detrimental to your success over time. I know that, working with someone like you, that experience would be all the difference when most I assume first, well, you're always. There's always a point in time where you're a first-time franchise owner. But I know over time sometimes people that get into franchises end up owning multiple businesses or brands over time or may shift and sell one and move to another.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, that's you know, I think one of the things a lot of people get into, you know, get into franchising with the goal of scaling, into franchising with the goal of scaling, and franchising makes that easier with their models. But the other part about just talking about the retail brick and mortar businesses versus the service businesses scaling a brick and mortar business every time you want to open up another Orange Theory Fitness, that's another $750,000 investment to open up another location and you continue to grow. But you need to invest considerably per location when you own a service business where you maybe have a commercial or industrial office space but you have a fleet of vans or cars or trucks. I spent 10 years with Molly Maid and Mr.

Speaker 2:

Handyman.

Speaker 3:

That's when I got started in franchising. And you add more zip codes and territories and households, but you run it out of the same office. So scaling those businesses in the service side are so much easier on the expense side and you know it makes it makes them very, you know, very scalable businesses that people don't realize as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Some of those either service based or kind of dirty jobs are lower on that startup overhead versus the you've got to have the look and feel when you walk into that gym that you want to see your friends at. That may cost a little bit more. Well, I want to pivot and I want to hear about your firsthand experience. So, julie, you've already shared. You didn't dream of becoming an ice cream and chocolate entrepreneur when you were growing up. But tell me a little bit about the origin story of the Ann Arbor Milkshake Factory.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, alex and I actually had run across the Milkshake Factory years ago. It was kind of as the pandemic was ending and we were visiting Pittsburgh because our daughter was visiting a friend at University of Pittsburgh. So Alex and I were walking around downtown and we saw this line snaking around the sidewalk so we're like, oh, I wonder what that is. And then we saw this place called Milkshake Factory, which we thought was such a fun name. And then we went in and even though there was a long line, people were being serviced very quickly and everyone was leaving with a smile and had all these amazing milkshakes and a million different flavors and amazing looking chocolates which you could sample and taste. And I'm gluten free, I'm celiac, so a lot of times I don't want to deal with milkshakes because I'm worried about the cross contamination, but they, they have an allergy process in place and so we just we loved it and we remembered it. And then we went back the second night by the way.

Speaker 1:

Ok, you found it in the wild and you were. It was good enough to reserve some extra time for day two. I love it, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So at that point it wasn't franchised. It was family run, fourth generation. The founders immigrated from Greece and they were chocolatiers and eventually they decided to add on milkshakes, change the name. So they really started out with these amazing chocolates from family recipes. But then they decided to franchise and the president is an Ann Arbor resident.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so in my role as a franchise consultant I get exposed to new brands that are coming into looking at national expansion and I had a good friend that was with a company that was going to franchise the Milkshake Factory and I said wait a minute, I think that's the brand that we went to.

Speaker 1:

Well, this rings a bell.

Speaker 3:

So Julie and I looked it up and found out that that was indeed the same brand, and so we were informed by Dan Reese, who is the president of the milkshake factory and he oversees the 11 corporate stores in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 3:

He relocated Ann Arbor and was looking to open up a location here, so he put together an investment group that Julie and I became part of, and everybody has different roles in the business, and we're very fortunate that Dan has all that operational experience. He wanted to go through and experience everything that all of his franchisees are going to experience, from the site selection and the lease negotiation and the, you know, the build out and you know just getting everything going. And then we're thankful that Julie has such a great marketing and advertising background that she's brought to the table and you know so it's been a lot of fun to be, you know, to be part of a local community business with a franchisor that you know is in a very significant growth mode right now, and they've sold about 150 locations across the country and I think there's about 20 of them open right now, but each month there's like three or four more opening each month, as it takes about a year from the time you sign your agreement until the time your business is open.

Speaker 3:

It's a long process to source the right real estate, negotiate that lease, then do your permits and construction drawings and the build out and everything else. Nothing ever goes as smooth as you'd hope, so there's always delays in that. But you're going to see these popping up all over the country.

Speaker 1:

I love it. You guys can. You'll be the evangelists that are telling people about how it works. What were your surprises? Both on the upside of oh, I didn't think it, you know whether it was this easy or this good and also like this is a pain. I wasn't expecting this, even though I'm an expert in the field. Well, tell me a little bit about your experiences there.

Speaker 2:

Well, one thing that I was pleasantly surprised about is you here, with this economy, and even before the economy, just post-COVID, that it's just hard to find labor, especially?

Speaker 3:

in the restaurant business.

Speaker 2:

We are fortunate that we're not really. I think Alex calls them like food light. You know it's not a big restaurant.

Speaker 3:

When I say food light, yeah, we don't have grease traps, we don't have fryers, we don't have. You know, it's not a big restaurant. When I say food light, yeah, we don't have grease traps, we don't have fryers, we don't have you know you don't need a sous chef.

Speaker 3:

So a lot of times you know teenagers or college kids, they don't want to. You know they don't want to work in that environment where they're. You know it's, it's kind of gross. You know, in a, in a, in a ice cream and milkshake business. You know it's freezers and coolers. So, excuse me, there's a, it's a little bit, and it's everybody that Julie mentioned comes in with a smile and leaves with a smile, you know so your customers are generally very happy. So I think, like she said, hiring, it's easy to find Our label. Yeah, we're. You know we've got a lot of kids applying and it's like, sorry, we don't have the hours yet.

Speaker 1:

You know they can see their friends across the counter.

Speaker 3:

It's not like they're behind the scenes in the in the kitchen and that's perfect. Yeah, yeah, but I think the other part you know is Julie is talking about probably where, where she spent the majority of her time is on the on the marketing side.

Speaker 2:

And you know so that.

Speaker 3:

That's where you know they were working with a franchise. Or there are restrictions Right, that's where you know they. You know we're working with a franchisor. There are restrictions, right, you need to use our brand. You know she put an ad out that said dairy free. Well, no, it is. Non-dairy is the language we used to. You know we need to use so that you know. Now you have to get things approved before we can put them out, because you made a mistake. And those are some of the things that do happen, you know, with with franchisors and not just the milkshake factory. But it's all about protecting the brand, protecting the image and um, and protecting the neighboring franchisees. You don't want people going rogue and and going off script and and uh, things like that. So it's, you know, while it can be sometimes a pain, uh, to follow everything that the franchise or has laid out, um, it's also, you know there's generally a reason behind it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that makes sense that your experience in the milkshake factory in Pittsburgh will influence your decision to walk in the door in Ann Arbor, right? So Exactly. So then how does it feel? You're the doors are open, now you're in maintenance mode. What does that look like in terms of the amount of time that you and your investment team needs to devote to kind of the week to week, because you both still have other jobs? This is on top right.

Speaker 3:

Correct, yeah, and I think we're not in any kind of a cruise control mode. I don't know exactly what you said what you said, we're still in ramp up and growth mode. This is our first summer right and for a for a frozen dessert franchise that first summer is is going to tell us really where we stand with this, with this business and a little bit different than January in Michigan, probably for July, right Correct? Correct, although February, we sold a lot of chocolates for Valentine's Day.

Speaker 1:

Amazing.

Speaker 3:

And that. But but yeah, I think it's. You know, we really all of us together. You know most of us live in the Ann Arbor, saline, dexter area and and are reaching out Everybody's reaching out to their kids, teachers, their friends that are teachers or principals at schools or coaches of sports teams. And you know we're doing a lot of fundraisers where we, from 4 to 9 pm, you know, the Pioneer High School band will come in and 25% of the proceeds will go back to the band and that band will advertise it amongst their group. And you know, and so we've been doing a lot of those on Monday, tuesdays, wednesdays, when we're generally a little bit slower than our weekends.

Speaker 3:

So but everybody is really, you know, pitching in terms of getting getting people in the door and getting them to try it once. And I think once we know we get people in, you know they tell friends and word of mouth grows and things like that. But we have a great general manager as well who is she runs the day-to-day operations. You know she's the one staffing, managing the schedules, the inventory. You know, and she ran restaurants in the past. Like we hired and are paying for a very skilled, experienced, you know, food operations general manager, and that's definitely made a big impact on the involvement from the ownership group, because she's been doing a wonderful job.

Speaker 2:

And we're also, now that we have a lot of the initial things worked out, we're starting to explore what other ways we can leverage our shop. Ours is a little bit different from some of the other milkshake factories in that we have a large private room that can be a training room for franchisees when they come into train. But we're also exploring using it as a party room where kids can do like a make your own chocolate party for birthdays or team events or, you know, maybe a ladies night out or something like that. And so we're just starting to work on that and market that. And another one of our partners thought it would be neat if we had one of those signs on the highway where, when you're exiting, it says here's gas or restaurant or whatever. So we're on one of those signs for M14.

Speaker 2:

So, coming up with new ways. You know we get guidelines from the franchisor about marketing ideas every month they send ideas, but you know you can also come up with things on your own as long as they're within you know brand standards and all that. But there's always new things you can be doing and that's ongoing. But I think that's so fun. I mean I'm in the milkshake factory a few times a week, you know, meeting with people and taking content for social or meeting with influencers or just coming up with new ideas, and I think it's really fun yeah.

Speaker 1:

How has it been? Has it been fun to be a business owner with your spouse? I think so.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean no pressure.

Speaker 1:

You're both in the room.

Speaker 3:

She. I've been her client for the last 10 years when I launched my consulting business. So, julie, you know, when our kids were younger, she left her job and went off and started her own graphic design agency and she had control over her schedule. She was able to volunteer at her kids' school, she was able to go on all the field trips, she was present for everything and also able to, you know, continue her work. And she worked a lot of evenings, you know, after the kids were in bed.

Speaker 2:

She was on her computer in the evenings.

Speaker 3:

But it was a choice she made, right. This is how I choose to build my business and put in my time. And then, you know, I was on the corporate side of franchising for you know, 15 years and I was traveling a ton and I was missing out on my kids games and plays and things like that and and I was very envious of of what she had going on. And and that's when I made the decision I was going to leave my corporate career in franchising and go into, you know, more of an entrepreneurial role of being a consultant. This is, you know, it's me, it's my business. I don't have any employees, I don't have any bosses. You know and I control. You know what I do.

Speaker 3:

And so we both work from home. I'm on the second floor, she's down on the first floor. We meet in the kitchen for lunch. Often if we're on the same schedule. She does all of my marketing, my e-newsletters and a lot of things to help my business. So we've had some run-ins when she has different design ideas and I say this isn't what the client wants. The client wants this. But with the milkshake factory it's been a blast and I just am very proud of what Julie brings to the table with her experience in the marketing side. It's very important for the business to have somebody with that, with that skillset, and she's just, you know, putting a lot, of, a lot of hard work and effort into it.

Speaker 2:

So you know, living with your client like Alex says, I do his marketing, but also us being owners of the milkshake factory I often, a lot of times, as I'm falling asleep at night, I'll be like, Ooh, we could do this, or what about this, and he'll be like, julie, let's talk about it tomorrow. I quit my inspiration at weird times, since the lines between home and business blur a lot, but I actually I like that. I mean, I get inspiration in different times, especially if you're in a creative field, like I am, and I don't care if I'm working hours other than eight to five. You know, if it's a gorgeous day outside, I'd rather be outside doing something, and I'm OK working at 11 o'clock at night or something like that.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, I love it and for everybody listening, you should check out Julie's website, which we will include in show notes, because Kindling Creative. If you're local to southeast michigan, you probably recognize. I think you did the branding for the bicentennial for ann arbor a lot of things around town, both for businesses as well as institutions. So really great um design and design sense, which I know is a secret weapon that you guys have for.

Speaker 1:

Milkshake Factory. And before we wrap up, I want to pivot just a little bit and go back to just, you know, the potential franchise owner. That's listening in. What, alex, do you see as traits that make you potentially be a more successful franchise owner? And then also, what are some of the pitfalls that may make you know the potential ownership a less enduring business or venture for a person or a family?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think you know, as far as franchise ownership goes there's, you know, when I meet with candidates and I go through, kind of the biggest thing I want to understand is what are you looking to accomplish? Like, what is your need to own a business? You know, like I meet with candidates and I go through, kind of the biggest thing I want to understand is what are you looking to accomplish, like what is your need to own a business? You know, like what is it that? You know? And sometimes it's money, right, most people get into business because they want to make money. Other times it's hey, I have enough money, but I want to stay active.

Speaker 3:

I don't want to, you know, I don't want to, just, you know, not do anything all day. I want to own my own business. That sometimes it's legacy. I want to create a business that I can pass down to, you know, the next generation in my family. Sometimes, or you know it's it's just hey, I've always wanted to own my own business and never had the chance. So there's so many different reasons for for people that that, um, you know, want to get into business. And if you don't have a real compelling reason, you know, usually you don't end up buying a business right.

Speaker 3:

It's kind of like I've always thought about it, but you know, and then, once they get into it and they realize how serious it is, maybe it's not for me.

Speaker 1:

And that's okay. That cost of entry, that that check you're going to need to write, or those checks, right, it's, it's not a financial commitment, but it's also the time commitment.

Speaker 3:

right, it's, it's not. There's no such thing as absentee ownership or passive income. You know, as we were talking before, in franchising there is, you know, what we call semi-passive, where you know you have a GM, like we do with the milkshake factory, who's running the day to day. You know the owners have different involvement, you know, in in the managing that manager. But but it's all about educating these folks on what it takes in certain business models and what are you willing to put in to that business model from a time commitment, from a financial investment, and what are those skill sets that you bring to the table? Are you a team builder? Or I have a lot of people that were in IT or engineers that are being laid off, and a lot of these folks were in IT or engineers that are being laid off, and and a lot of these folks don't have great communication skills or people skills. I should say you know I'm not stereotyping or cornering everybody into that box, but some of these people are like I don't want to deal with people.

Speaker 3:

You know, I want a business where I can, I can do it for my laptop or my computer and you know it's all about finding what's right for them and what's right for their, for their skill set and their and their goals.

Speaker 3:

So you know, there's just such a wide variety of opportunities and you know I've spent over my career, you know about half of it in the service businesses and half in in brick and mortar retail businesses, and so I have a pretty good understanding of what it takes, both financially and from a, you know, a leadership and skill set standpoint. But yeah, I think you know most people that are in their you know, 40s, 50s, you know, have something to offer and they may feel like you know, I've never owned my own business before. It's scary, it's intimidating. Well, yeah, like you talked before, the franchisor is providing you with the standardized chart of accounts. You know, here's all your revenue items, here's your expense items, here are what your key performance indicators are, what you need to look at in terms of your business, and most people can, you know, have and can understand and do that without having to create all this themselves.

Speaker 3:

You know, they've already developed the technology for you know the CRM system or their invoicing or their scheduling, and you just need to get trained on that software system. You don't need to go out and create and find out and source your own software, right? So the franchisor has built this package and people can command them. And the one thing I didn't mention you know, mention I do just want to make sure that people understand is that when you start looking at franchises, the most important part of it is what we call validation and that's where you get to talk to other people that own that franchise in other markets or other states or wherever it is. But you get educated from the franchisor about what does it cost? How much can you potentially make? What's the role of the owner? How does the business start? How does it grow? Who are your employees? They're going to tell you all this stuff.

Speaker 3:

But when you talk to other franchisees, that's where the rubber meets the road. That's where you really learn from them about their real world experience. Was it within the investment range of the FDD? Was it more? Was it within the investment range of the FDD? Was it more? Was it less? You know why. How quickly did you, you know, turn cash flow positive and did you make any money in that first year?

Speaker 3:

You know what? About year two? What are your goals for year three? You know, so you get to learn and talk to, you know franchisees and get that real world experience from them, which is so important in that research and due diligence process to understand to say, do I have the same skill sets or the same personality or the same traits that these successful owners have? Can I see myself doing what they're doing? Or do I share similar concerns or issues with some owners that might be struggling? And I understand why that's happening and maybe this isn't the right thing for me. So that's just a big part of the process of wanting to make sure people are aware.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I'm sure you also can see from you know kind of the, the packages that are offered and and what the brand brings to the table, some experiences of hey, make sure you ask this or we'll ask this. You know things like that Cause I'm sure not every brand or business is exactly the same in terms of its, you know kind of potential for success or or possibilities?

Speaker 3:

Exactly, Yep, Yep.

Speaker 1:

Well, I love this conversation and I know sometimes we just talk to people that really do have that dream to own a business, and I would strongly encourage you to consider a route like we've discussed where you consult with a professional and, you know, kind of go in eyes wide open, not only about how to get in but how to stay in and really set up an enduring business For both of you, julie and Alex. Perhaps first with Julie how can people find you? And we'll make sure to include these links in the show notes, both for Milkshake Factory Kindling Creative and then your consulting business, alex.

Speaker 2:

Sure, yeah, I have a website, kindlingcreativecom, and I'm obviously based in Ann Arbor, but I work with clients all over the nation, so the website is probably the best way to find me.

Speaker 1:

There's also a Facebook page, but check out my website and we'll make sure the kids have a long weekend this weekend, so Milkshake Factory should probably be on our destination list. But what's the best social feed to follow what's going on at Milkshake Factory?

Speaker 2:

Both our Facebook and Instagram are really strong, but I'd say Instagram is more day-to-day. What's going on, and that's milkshakefactoryA2 on Instagram.

Speaker 1:

Perfect, yeah, and then, alex, how do people contact you if they're curious about owning a franchise themselves?

Speaker 3:

Yes, my website is franchiseplaymakercom, so you can go there. There's information that you can download. There's a, you know, contact, uh contact me forms. Um, just like Julie and today's age, you know, I work nationwide. We're not just limited to, uh, the local area here, so anybody in the U? S and Canada you know that's interested in exploring franchise, franchise ownership, I'd uh love to have a chat with you, and I'm not selling timeshares. It's not any kind of high pressure sale pitch. It's all about offering good, solid franchise advice, and I know not everybody I work with ends up investing in a franchise, and that's okay.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I mean, you really, in any aspect of business, want to work with someone who wants the best for you, and that's in some cases. You hire for a consultation and what's best isn't to go down the pathway you thought you would. So I love to hear that. Well, thank you so much for joining us and best of luck for all the businesses. I love this conversation and we'll stay in touch.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, Melissa.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. If you found value in this episode, the best way you can support the podcast is to forward an episode to a friend or leave a review. Go to pearlplancom and the podcast link to get all the resources and links mentioned.

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Melissa Joy, CFP

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