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EP # 252 Franchise Freedom: Taking Control of Your Future
Ever feel like you're at the mercy of corporate whims? That's exactly where Robyn Deering found herself before discovering the power of franchising. As a self-described "corporate refugee" who watched job after job get outsourced, Robyn transformed her career frustrations into opportunity by becoming a franchise consultant and partner at the Franchise Consulting Company.
Robyn's expertise shines throughout this conversation as she dismantles common franchising myths and reveals the surprising evolution of modern franchise systems. Far from the outdated notion that franchisors simply extract wealth from franchisees, today's quality franchise opportunities create mutual success through sophisticated support systems. The technological revolution within franchising particularly stands out—with integrated marketing tools navigating the complexities of digital advertising, powerful CRM software streamlining customer interactions, and operational apps providing real-time monitoring capabilities that would be cost-prohibitive for most independent businesses.
What might surprise many listeners is the extraordinary diversity within today's franchise landscape. With access to over 400 distinct franchise opportunities, Robyn helps match entrepreneurs with options spanning far beyond fast food—from pet services to medi-spas to professional auditing firms. Her consulting services come at no cost to potential franchisees, as she's compensated by franchisors when successful matches are made. Robyn also offers a fascinating service for successful Florida businesses looking to expand: guidance on how to franchise their own concepts, creating new revenue streams while bringing their unique business models to new markets.
Whether you're feeling trapped in an unstable corporate environment or dreaming of business ownership with reduced risk, Robyn's insights illuminate franchising as a powerful path to controlling your financial future. Ready to explore how your skills might translate into franchise success? Contact Robyndirectly at robyn@thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com or 239-288-1873 to start your journey toward business ownership with built-in support systems and proven models for success.
The Franchise Consulting Company
Robyn Deering
robyn@thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com
239-288-1873
It's time to check out your neighbors on the Good Neighbor podcast, where we bring good vibes, great neighbors and local businesses in Southwest Florida together. Here's your host, Cabo Jim Schaller.
Speaker 2:Welcome Good Neighbors, episode number 252 of the Good Neighbor podcast. Today we have Good Neighbor Robyn Deering from the Franchise Consulting Company. Welcome. Hi, thank you from the Franchise Consulting Company. Welcome, hi, thank you. Yeah, a pleasure to have you on the show and share with our listeners what you do. So let's jump right in and watch you share a little bit about what you do.
Speaker 3:I'm a franchise consultant so I bring opportunities and people together, sort of like a real estate agent shows people properties. I try to find the ideal candidates for the 400 plus franchises that are in our brokerage. I'm also a partner in the franchise consulting company so I take a lot of pride in finding the right franchisee for the right franchisor, so that the skill sets and the market conditions and personalities all fit together.
Speaker 2:Very good. That's a lot of options for your potential franchisees, right? That's great. So how do you get involved in the franchise industry? How did you do it? I guess I should ask.
Speaker 3:I'm what they call a corporate refugee. I was in small business acquisitions and other corporate jobs engineering graphic arts over the years and one by one they just collapsed and got outsourced. Just collapsed and got outsourced, collapsed and got outsourced and I finally just had enough of it and I was pondering my next move when Nick Nanakis from the franchise consulting agents company contacted me and company contacted me and introduced me to the wide around them, so that you're not just watching corporations shuffling around.
Speaker 2:Yep, exactly, you have more control at the end of the day, and you're following your passion, which is a good thing. So let's talk about challenges along your journey. Whether personally or professionally, every time you kind of transition or change, there's always some type of challenge to overcome. Is there something along your journey that helped define who you are today?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was lucky. I guess the careers that I've had went obsolete before my eyes. So I learned early on to be nimble, to be ready to learn new things, adapt to new things, embrace technology and work together to. You know, smooth out some of the rough patches when you're integrating different companies, or you know merging things or you're learning a new software. Just you know, take a deep breath and just keep swimming, because it'll all come together.
Speaker 2:Just kind of persevere and push through and you'll get through. Right, that's what it comes down to. So let's talk about, maybe, some of the myths or misconceptions surrounding the franchise industry.
Speaker 3:Well, there's a few, and some of them are kind of well-founded, depending on who you're working with. Them are kind of well-founded depending on who. Who you're working with, um. One of the myths that I hear a lot is, uh, that the franchisors will just take all of your profits. You're going to pay everything in royalties and you're like a slave to the, the company, um, and that that can be true for some. You know that aren't well supported or they're just sort of greedy. So I really am very proud to be a partner in the franchise consulting company, where we have a very select group of franchises that have been, you know, handpicked and vetted and tested over time to make sure that they're good, viable companies for someone to you know own their own business and actually realize the financial revenue that a business owner should enjoy Right.
Speaker 2:You help make those connections, you know, and that's the important part, because some people have a good idea or they're good workers, but they just don't know how to make that connection a lot of times. So do you notice certain things trending or changing within the franchise industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's really amazing because the franchising systems you know especially you know the ones that I work with and I think as a whole, are really solving a lot of the problems that a small independent business owner would face. One is the marketing and getting through the maze of compliance with Google and SEO, and the software that comes with franchises now includes the customer relationship management piece of it. So there's a lot of franchises where you just have an app and you're just kind of mining the app, making sure your crew's where they're supposed to be. You see, when equipment's down you can fix it in real time and it's just so much easier than you know. Years ago, as a small business owner myself, I had like 15 different spreadsheets and databases and trying to put them all together, and now it's just so much easier.
Speaker 2:Technology is a wonderful thing, right. That helps make our lives a little bit easier, anyways it really does so talking about easier. How did you end up? Are you from Southwest Florida originally?
Speaker 3:No, I'm not from here originally. I moved here about 20 years ago. I was a Navy brat so I moved around a lot and when I reached that part of my adulthood where I could choose where I wanted to live, florida was my go to. It's got that sweet spot of easy living and still a lot of economic growth to enjoy.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That's why we love it down here, and the weather's OK too right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can live with it. It down here and the weather's okay too right, yeah, I can live with it.
Speaker 2:So when you do get a moment, I know your job can be very demanding, but when you do get a moment, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm kind of a nerd, you know. I come from an engineering background, so that was kind of a giveaway. Roll into SpaceCon and Star Wars, pokemon, you know, typical gamers, and luckily, being a franchise consultant, we take our franchises to, to, uh, national expos. So travel a lot, um sort of a brand ambassador, and also go meet with the franchisors, you know. And uh, big conferences we have one in the bahamas, we've got one coming up in the dominican, so they're just fun. And then, to break away from that, there's a lot of little side quests, you know. So it's just sort of exploring the world, you know, for fun, and just never know what you're going to find.
Speaker 2:That is great, and making those connections are great as well. So did you celebrate May the 4th?
Speaker 3:yesterday did I started binge watching the Obi-Wan miniseries that they have because I had just seen the Star Wars movie that's out in theaters a couple of days before and it picked up right there Nice.
Speaker 2:That's a great way to enjoy the day. Is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about? You know the, the franchise consulting company that maybe they wouldn't be too aware of yeah, there's.
Speaker 3:There's a couple of things. One is uh, there's a component in our partnership where we can help you build your own franchise. Uh, if, especially here in flor, there's so many really cute creative businesses that would make incredible franchises. When you get outside of Florida and you look at how drab some of this stuff is, you see these struggling businesses that are in. You know, like one cafe might change ownership like 15 times, you know, over 20 years, and a franchise would give them a more stable environment. And if you've learned how to be successful at your business, we can help you franchise that. So that I offer the free consultations and take them through this journey and find things for them and vet them and, you know, help them find the legal and financial resources. You know, all free of charge. It's because I'm in partnership with the franchisors who, like a real estate agent, I get a little percentage at the end. So some people think it's too good to be true. It's like, hmm, you're for free, really.
Speaker 2:Right right.
Speaker 3:But that's how it works Nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can pay it on the other end. So that's a good thing, making those connections. So how would our listeners go about contacting you if they had questions or were looking into their own franchise?
Speaker 3:Just drop me a line. It's Robin R-O-B-Y-N, R-O-B-Y-N at the Franchise Consulting Company and I know that's kind of long, but at least it's easy to spell the Franchise Consulting Company or call me. My number is 239-288-1873. You can call or text me that's my personal cell or look me up on the LinkedIn. Very good, Very good.
Speaker 2:Any last words for our listeners today.
Speaker 3:Oh, just take advantage of the ripe opportunity for small business ownership right now. It is amazing and it's hot, so give me a call. We'll see if we can get your skill set into a model that will give you some long-term generational wealth and quit watching everything just sort of drift by the stock market. You can take control.
Speaker 2:And there's something out there for everybody, correct?
Speaker 3:Winner, winner. Yeah, we've got everything from auditing services to restaurants Pet services are super hot Medi spas, I mean we've got a lot of different models that fit a lot of different career paths.
Speaker 2:Very good, well, looking forward to that. Robyn, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor and we'll see you out in the community soon.
Speaker 3:See you then.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast, bringing together good vibes, great neighbors, local businesses in Southwest Florida. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to CaboWabojimcom. That's CaboWabojimcom, or call 239-427-4100.