Franchise Friday - Episode 202 with Scott Butts of i4 Search Group

Franchise Friday podcast episode 202, host Melissa Pang speaks with Scott Butts, co-founder of i4 Search Group. 

Franchise Friday, where you can watch or listen as we explore franchising, entrepreneurship, and small business ownership speaking with the franchise industry thought leaders and subject matter experts that shape the Future Of Franchising. #FranchiseFriday – For more about our podcast visit our website: https://futureoffranchising.com/ Produced by Franchise Source Brands International and The Entrepreneur’s Source. 

Scott is the President of Franchising with i4 Search Group | Helping healthcare employees find jobs and healthcare companies find people | Be your own boss.
He and Melissa speak about i4 Search Group Franchise and how Entepreneuer Source and i4 Search Group work together.

i4 Search Group is a national permanent placement recruiting firm, specializing in providing the finest healthcare talent to top facilities across North America. i4 is dedicated to providing facilities with the Healthcare Heroes they need to thrive. Some of the positions we specialize in recruiting for are: Nursing, Allied Health, Advanced Practice, Physician, as well as Leadership & Administration positions.

Quote from Scott
 
I had a background as a franchisee before I began this Franchise. And the word that comes to mind from that experience is “reimagine”.  We kind of brand ourselves as a franchise organization for franchisees by franchisees, because even though we are a franchisor we've definitely walked in those shoes.  We know what it's like to have that knot in your stomach thinking about leaving a full-time job and starting your own company. That's something I've never forgotten from almost 20 years ago. I worked in a system that was successful, make no mistake about it, it was successful.  However, when I shared ideas from the franchisee side for improvement, I did not think they were validated. That is the opposite for us at i4 Search. We are very interested in the franchisee’s perspective, if a franchisee came to us with an idea that would make their life more simple, more profitable, or something streamlined we will work with them to help implement that idea. That's just a big part of our culture.

Quote from Melissa
At Entrepreneur Source we always talk about income, lifestyle, wealth, and equity, that's what our coaches talk to our clients about, right from the beginning. They ask, “what are your goals around these four pillars”.  And so, what I think is interesting,  i4 Search Group was able to show Stephanie, your newest franchisee, income potential, lifestyle, and then the wealth and equity piece, and you said initially, she was really drawn by the flexibility piece, which I think goes into the lifestyle, and then also add the income piece.  In addition, you then bring in the culture and you bring in the team.  You talk about your differentiators. Being able to connect with the income, lifestyle, wealth, and equity goals of a client is important, but then it's not just that it's also, how they connect with this group, with this team.

Franchise Friday, where you can watch or listen as we explore franchising, entrepreneurship, and small business ownership, speaking with the franchise industry thought leaders and subject matter experts that shape the Future Of Franchising. #FranchiseFriday – For more about our podcast, visit our website: https://futureoffranchising.com/ Produced by Franchise Source Brands International and The Entrepreneur’s Source.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:14

Everyone was paying here with the entrepreneur source. I am here with Scott over at iforce search group. Hey Scott, how you doing? Doing wonderful today? Wonderful. How are you doing, Melissa? I cannot complain. I'm about the same pretty wonderful over here. So thanks for speaking with me today. I'm excited to kind of hear from you the story of the placement that you had with one of our TAs coaches, and just in general, like how things are going and and what you're excited about this year and going into next, before we start, I just want to give you a chance to give us a little background about yourself, how did you get to where you are today. And fantastic. For partners, we met at a franchise organization, ironically, and we were some of the top top performers in that organization wanted something a little bit more a little bit more recession proof per se, and had different a different vision for franchising, and we were all aligned in that 2019 We launched a corporate company in 2021, we actually began our franchise journey. And you know, obviously the first major player was entrepreneur shorts suit, bringing them on some awesome so you've been on you've been on the other side as well you kind of started in the franchisees shoes, we did we kind of brand ourselves as a franchise organization for franchisees by franchisees, because, you know, we, even though we are a franchisor we've definitely walked in that shoes, we know what it's like, you know, that knot in your stomach to sometimes leave a full time job and a cush job with you know, and start your own company. So we all know what that's like. And that's something that I you know, I've never forgot from almost 20 years ago. Love it, love it. So I and I will certainly come back to that I do want to ask you more about like your experience and how that translates into, you know, like how you work with candidates and what you would tell maybe other franchisors in this space who haven't been on that side of the fence, like what what from there, have you pulled onto the franchisor side, but before we get into all that, I will start on the the recent placement you had with Laura, one of our coaches and your new franchisee Steffi, so maybe just take us through like stuffies background and how what that was like at the beginning and then how that maybe maybe what the journey from there to where Steffi said, You know what I first search group you're at, I'm in? Yeah, so Stephanie had a like a data entry background and wasn't exactly our ideal profile. But she was introduced us to Lauren, we have had a few good submittals there from from Lauren, we agreed to talk to Steffi. And from the beginning, I was super impressed with her and the thoroughness, the attention to detail that she paid, paid attention, assignments, the ability to reach out to people and ask great questions. And, you know, our relationship grew it definitely, you know, it took a little time. It wasn't like, I don't say love it for sight. But I mean, it was definitely there was definitely a connection right there from the beginning. And that relationship really grew to where there was a point where, you know, we were convinced that he was right for us. And obviously, it worked out well. Well, for her with Laura, you know, Laura was a big piece of that, you know, I would I'm a communications person when I'm recruiting. So when when a candidate interviews we want to know, I mean, how does it go and so we can relate, you know, to to Laura's position as well and how you know, but she was very thorough, she followed up, she kept some form not only email, but live calls as well. So it was a combination of both and you know, Laura was although we kept that piece going with stuffing and stuff, he did a great job herself. Laura was extremely instrumental in making being the matchmaker there to help make that work. Awesome. No, I just love hearing all these stories all the time. Because every single one is so different, but what always interests me is and maybe you can talk about this, what was it about AI for search group that really resonated with Steffi and what she you said it wasn't love at first sight but what was she what were her initial reaction to the brand at the beginning and then what was it about the brand that really resonated with her the things that attracted her she explored multiple franchise opportunities was a the flexibility be working from home, you know, so our business model is designed, you can obviously have an office and grow a team there but is designed to be a work from home type environment. And then I would also offer a high profit margins because there's little overhead meaning It's not brick and mortar, not equipment. It's the profit margins are extremely high. And that I think, in the beginning attracted, you know, Steffi to the brand, as well as stuffies long term goals of being flexible and traveling. Traveling is a big piece of her life. And she needed that flexibility. And that will that work from home. So a combination of all of those with with that flexibility plus the high profit margins, I think that was her initial reason to explore I forced search group, and then obviously, the connection and culture and things from there, and the ability to earn the profit margins by bringing on other people and higher profit margins there as well. So it all made sense to her. And she's already brought a second person, she she actually has a contractor with her already. So literally, a couple weeks out of training, this is amazing. Stories, right? And she was just like, yeah, we're going we're doing this. Well, you know, what I think is interesting, too, is we always talk about income, lifestyle, wealth, equity, like that's what the coach talks to our clients about, right from the beginning. And they say, okay, what are your goals around these kinds of four pillars, if you want to call it that? And so what I think is interesting is you guys able to show Stephie, like, hey, income, income, potential lifestyle, and then the wealth and equity piece, and I think it's interesting what you said to like that initially, she was really drawn by kind of that the flexibility piece, which I think goes into the lifestyle, and then also that income piece, you know, which you talked about, but also you then bring in the culture you bring in the team and like, so brands, being able to talk about their differentiators. Being able to connect with the income, lifestyle, wealth and equity goals of a client is really important, but then it's not just that it's also like, how do they connect with you, your group? Like how do you build that? Yeah, I mean, and that was the one thing to like in the beginning Stephie had kind of a guard up there in the beginning, you know, obviously limited probably had a you know, that knot in her stomach that I can relate to but but you know, as as our relationship grew and as as I was more convinced that she was right for our core search group and I think she was convinced that it seemed to be like a good fit, you know, then it goes into relationships and she developed a you know, some relationships with our current franchise partners and myself and, and like I said, she she brought on somebody, she actually brought that person to training with her. So, yeah, you you guys set it up, she was excited about it. She was like, No, I'm taking ownership of this and we are going for it. Which I love. So what talking a little bit more about your background as a franchisee? What do you you can talk about it specifically to you know, bringing the working with Steffi or just in general, what is it that you bring from your franchisee perspective over to speaking with potential franchisees like speaking to your candidates? Yeah, I think the word reimagine comes to mind, you know, one of the things that we worked in a system that was successful, make no mistake about it, it was successful. But we saw some of the flaws, you know, when he it's a business, and I understand that, but the franchisor was, if it didn't benefit the franchisor then you know, if there was an idea brought from the community that it wasn't necessarily taken and received very well and that's quite you know, the opposite for us obviously, it is a business as I stated, but what benefits it from a you know, from a franchisee perspective, if a franchisee came to us with an idea and said, you know, this is what I think would make my life more simple, more profitable, something streamline, you know, how does that relate to us? And can we help implement that with you know, obviously, not doing all the work for them, but, but at the same time, a combination? Does it make sense for i Four, can we duplicate that process? You know, that was a big, a big piece for us as we looked at our our organization was sometimes, you know, we felt and as we did our homework on franchising, being able to duplicate and streamline a process and not all franchise organizations have that ability to duplicate processes over and over and over and we had all this knowledge in our head of how to be a successful franchisee, but how do we relate that to other people and how do we teach them and how do we give them that knowledge and putting it on paper systems organization and that's just a big part of our culture from being a franchisees because what worked for us how do we, you know, how do we express that and then also what we saw as loopholes and bottlenecks and trying to eliminate those bottlenecks in a in a staffing organization or recruiting organization. No, I really love the you know that take on it because Oh, firstly of all you can come to the to the franchisee candidate. And there you have the same fears that I'm sure many of them express and are going through, like you said, like the knot in your stomach. And so being able to say like, No, we built this brand to, like, address those fears. And I think a lot of people too, in franchising, when they think of franchising and going into it, they think of certain things, you know, like, you think of food, you think of big, large brands that you'll see all the time. And you don't ever think you know what, maybe there's something in franchising for me where I can be a business owner, but I can also have a say in what goes on. It's not like franchising takes my entire life, and I have no independence. We've never, we've never claimed to be you know, or want to be the sharpest, you know, ones that we have all the ideas. As a matter of fact, that's the exact opposite of what we want, we want it to be very, and I can't overemphasize that enough very franchise driven from their ideas, you know, my forte, myself and my three partners. You know, we were pretty vocal on our last, you know, last company, not everybody was so we envision people and we open the door and allow a platform for them to, to be vocal and share their visions. And, you know, I'm only two years, right at two years removed from being a franchisee myself. So at the same time, one of my partners is actually still currently, you know, a franchise franchisee in a different system, but so not so far removed when we formed our company. We sat in a room for four days and talks about, you know, what worked. What we didn't like, what was our solution for that? We got to day three, and we had an obstacle for long term growth that just, we couldn't get past and it took us a long time. And obviously, we resolved the issue and blossomed from there so excited about it. Awesome. No, I'm excited to see how you guys how you guys grow and just excited about like, the people that you're gonna bring on. And yeah, being able to bring others into kind of that mindset and that culture. So going back to just working with Laura, working with Steffi, anything else in there where maybe there was like a specific obstacle, you said stuff, he kind of came in a little bit guarded. Um, what was it that helped her kind of bring her guard down? Was there like a specific moment? Or was it just, yes, something that you guys, I don't know that it was a moment, but I would, I would say that, you know, debriefing, Laura did a good job of debriefing after each one of Stephanie's call calls with myself or my partner, Rob, you know, would debrief with us debrief with Steffi kind of get, you know, what was the common common thread? What were some of the hiccups? And she was that matchmaker. And, you know, that was one of the things was we could openly express what our concerns would be, you know, if any, but, you know, there should always be, you know, we're also looking at, you know, not only for our business, but you know, when people are making those life changing decisions and investing their own money, and, you know, we don't want someone we don't want to be that company that looks and someone's way upside down, just because they, you know, they made a poor decision. So we, you know, we do vet that, you know, pretty well, and Laura was, was that matchmaker that was able to debrief and help work through the issues both, you know, I think the issues like there were issues, but, you know, just the concerns, you know, of any concerns normal, and there always should be, you know, some concern or pause when you're vetting, you know, companies, what is what is it that doesn't settle well, and why doesn't it settle? Well, and how do you work through that issue? And what's, what's the vision for that? Awesome, no, I like that. You say there should actually be some some questions that come up, because, first of all, it's a it's like this long term relationship that's about to be undertaken here. Right, like, absolutely. I think sometimes too, and I've heard it on both sides, from both coaches and from franchisors where they're like, I just don't have time to, you know, follow up every single time or I don't have time to do XYZ. And when I hear conversations like yours, you know, stories like this one, it's like, it's actually you're setting the franchisee up for success and also, you're setting yourself up for success as the franchisor you know, you first of all, don't want someone to go into the you want to make sure they have all the things that they need all the knowledge they need, so they're making the best decision for them. And then also for you, it's the next five to 10 years. So, absolutely, you do not want to you take the time you need in the long term, it's going to be worth it. Absolutely. And it's not something new there. Obviously, there's a there's a reason in franchising, there's the cooling down period, but are cooling off period from your initial, you know, exploration. But even further than that, I mean, you know, it's something that you should vet and validation with, with current franchise partners. And, you know, you know, I tell people, if you don't have a knot in your stomach, then it's probably, you know, there's probably something we need to continue to bat for. Because everybody should, I mean, it's a big life changing event, to, to buy a business and to be a business owner versus working for corporate America. I like your approach to have, you know, it's not like, let's just rush through the process and get you to like the finish line as soon as possible. Yeah, that that's like cause for worry a little bit where you're like, have you looked at everything, and, and just making sure and again, like keeping the person excited about it, but also making sure they do have all the things that they need to make a really we call it like an informed choice, you know, it doesn't necessarily have to be like, good or bad, right or wrong. But once you make the choice, like know that you're going into the right one, and you're going to make it work, which Steffi 100% is making, she's like, Yep, this is the right one. What Yeah, and what impressed me most was, you know, we can obviously Express, you know, what our business is about, and success stories, even potentially, you know, hiccups and failures, and stuff like that. But the one thing that impressed me most about Steffi was her research and her ability to she went out and really dug in demographics really looked at some deep things. I don't want to say that I wouldn't have looked at but yeah, that I wouldn't have looked at and it really it helped her make, you know, when it came time for her choosing her territory, you know, she switched multiple times because of her research. And, and that was, you know, quite refreshing to me. So, love it. Um, what would you say to another, you know, a brand who is starting to do development? Or who's in that those early stages of bringing in franchisees? What are like one or two takeaways that you would that you would give to them? Yeah, you know, as we all go back to, you know, our beginning relationship with entrepreneurs source, and that was a big deal, you know, we were going to bring on, I mean, we claim ourselves as recruiters and matchmakers, and here we are looking to bring on a company, that's, that's going to be a recruiter and matchmaker, we're like, what the heck, but at the same time, you know, we found it very instrumental, because it's people that, you know, that's our claim is we're, it's people that are talking to, we're talking to healthcare professionals every day, and we can deliver people that, you know, a hospital system or health care system can't deliver. Same thing for, you know, entrepreneur source, you know, if you're talking to business owners, or potential business owners every day. You know, wow, why would we want to want a piece of that, and, you know, the biggest piece I would tell someone, and is, you know, make sure you paint, you know, a picture of what you're looking for in a candidate, you know, do a detailed, thorough job of that, you know, I would, I would offer up that, you know, we probably didn't do a great job of that in the beginning. And, you know, as we painted a more clear picture, we've seen the qualities in electrical quantity and quality of candidates growing, you know, on a daily and weekly basis. Great, well, I'm glad to hear as well. And I think too, it's kind of in the beginning, it's, you know, we'll we'll talk to literally anyone, like, we just want to talk about our brand, which is great. And you do want to keep an open mind, but also your first franchisees are really important to the brand, you know, every franchisee is important to the brand. But in the beginning, yeah, finding the people especially you're saying like, Hey, someone who can maybe ramp up a little quicker or get started, you know, especially especially in the beginning, absolutely. I mean, it's gonna you know, your first franchisees are definitely going to shape culture and, you know, validation, you know, hey, yeah, you're successful, or they're not successful, and that's going to be a part of the validation process. So it's important that you choose the candidates wisely. 100% And so and what are you excited about Scott's about the future of AI for search group, what you see happening in franchising this year, next year, the next five years, take your pick. Yeah, I mean, I'll probably say two things. You know, one, I say the story every day, you know, we have the ability. You know, when our first franchise systems built out, you know, there'll be single single owners and we already have about 50% of our partners With multiple territories, and having said that, you know, it'll end up being about 55 people in franchising changed my life. There's no question it changed my life. I'm extremely appreciative as well, that was one of the big reasons why that I wanted to franchise I forced search group, and that I helped lead that division is because I'm so passionate about franchising. So what am I most excited about in the next, you know, year or even two is, you know, obviously, the growth of i Four, we've tripled in size. Since December of 2021, we will triple in size or more than triple in size this year. You know, health care, the space of health care, there's the need for health care professionals. You know, our relationship, you know, we're, we're committed with with entrepreneur source and, you know, we've obviously got our first candidate that that we close the deal with, but have multiple people that actually fit our profile very well in the mix. And that relationship is growing. And, you know, we're just excited about, you know, the potential partnership there and the growth over over the next few years. Amen. I am I am excited as well. So thank you guys, talk to you for like 100 years, but thank you for taking a little bit of time today to chat through not only the reason placement but also just franchising in general and all your knowledge there. So thank you. Appreciate it. It's been a pleasure.