Should You Franchise Your Business? The 3 Keys to Know | Dr. Tom Dufore

Could your successful business become a franchise? Or better yet—should it?

In this insightful episode of Small Business Pivots, Dr. Tom Dufore, CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team, breaks down what it really takes to franchise your business—and why franchising isn’t the right fit for everyone.

With over 21 years of experience in franchise development as both a franchisor and franchisee, Tom shares the three must-haves every business needs before considering franchising:

• Profitability that’s more than just tax-return deep
• Teachable systems that don’t rely on the owner as the hero
• Scalable market potential beyond your current location

But it doesn’t stop at “Can you franchise?”—Tom pushes deeper to ask: “Is franchising aligned with the life and business you actually want?” If you've ever chased a vision because it looked good on paper—or Instagram—this conversation will help you recenter.

From simplifying systems with 80/20 checklists to honoring core values in tough moments (like when COVID hit and half his clients had to pause), Tom reveals how clarity, documentation, and integrity create long-term success—franchise or not.

Whether you're serious about franchising or just want a business that runs without you, this episode is packed with wisdom that could save you years of wasted effort.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to know if your business is franchisable (and what that really means)
• Why simple documentation can transform your business systems
• The difference between vision and shoulds in business growth
• How honoring your values builds loyalty—even during crisis
• What to do if your business runs on your charisma instead of systems

 Take the free Franchisability Quiz at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/franchise-quiz/

Dr. Tom Dufore: CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team

Website: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomdufore/

Blog: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/blog/

Podcast: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/category/podcast/

 #TomDufore #BigSkyFranchiseTeam #FranchisingTips #FranchiseYourBusiness #BusinessGrowth #SmallBusinessPivots #MichaelDMorrison #BusinessPodcast #EntrepreneurPodcast #ScaleYourBusiness #FranchiseDevelopment #FranchiseCoach #SystematizeYourBusiness #OklahomaBusiness #BOSS #FranchiseExpert #FranchisingSuccess #BusinessExpansion #BusinessOwnerTips #FranchiseStrategy 

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Tom Dufour
• 4:30 Tom's Journey and Career Background
• 11:57 Core Business Values and Partnership Lessons
• 16:17 What Makes a Business Franchisable
• 22:47 COVID Pivot and Living Your Values
• 34:23 Starting a Business: Essential First Steps
• 42:51 Simplifying Process Documentation for Success
• 48:13 Final Thoughts on Franchising

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

All right, welcome to another Small Business Pivots. We have another special guest, as we do week to week, but I know that only the business owner can pronounce their name and their business like they can, so I let you have the floor. Go ahead and introduce yourself, your business and just a tad bit about yourself before we get started for having me Really really appreciate being here.

Speaker 2: 0:26

My name is Tom Dufour and I'm the founder and CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team and, in short, we work primarily with entrepreneurs small to mid-sized businesses and help them actually turn their business into a franchise so that they can sell it to someone else. And I've been doing that for roughly just over 21 years now, so pretty much my whole career I've been doing that.

Speaker 1: 0:45

So you got a little experience under your belt. Yes, that's right. Well, as a business coach, I'm sure some of the things you're going to talk about align with how we coach and what every business owner really needs to know. But how do you think what is one thing that you really want to get across today? How do you think we're going to help our listeners?

Speaker 2: 1:05

So the main thing I would say for anyone listening in especially some of your clients, small businesses that tune into this is that whether you are at any stage of growth, especially for an independent business, they likely have thought about franchising, and so my goal is for you to understand how franchising works and why a business have thought about franchising, and so my goal is for you to understand how franchising works and why a business might end up franchising maybe some things to be aware of. And if it's someone tuning in who maybe owns a franchise or is thinking of buying a franchise, you're going to get the vantage point of what the franchisor mindset is thinking about to see if that might align with your own interests or goals.

Speaker 1: 1:47

Fantastic. Well, let's introduce the show and we'll be right back. Welcome to Small Business Pivots, a podcast produced for small business owners. I'm your host, Michael Morrison, founder and CEO of BOSS, where we make business ownership simplified for success. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at businessownershipsimplifiedcom. At businessownershipsimplifiedcom. All right, welcome back to Small Business Pivots. You've got 21 years of experience, but I'm sure that's not when you were born. You probably have some other experiences as well, and I know for a lot of our listeners they can connect through stories. So tell us a little bit about your upbringing so we can get caught up to date how you got here.

Speaker 2: 2:48

Sure, Well, I guess from my upbringing. I was born and raised in the far stretching Chicago suburbs is what I would describe it as. Really, it was a border town in between Illinois and Wisconsin, and so the community I grew up in was a farming community that was converting into more of a suburb as I was growing up, so it was kind of interesting. In fact, my first job was at the local grocery store, just an independent grocery store and two of the clerks that worked there I went to school with their son actually, and they worked that job and they also owned a farm in town and they were the final farm in city limits and I remember it so vividly. I was just a bagger at the grocery store. I was 15 or 16 years old and they had one of these.

Speaker 2: 3:40

It's just one of those core memories that kind of sticks out. You think about it. And I remember coming in and they were crying, they were just sobbing. There's a husband, wife, and she said. I said, oh, you know what's wrong. I said, Donna, what's going on? And she said well, we finally had to close the farm. We just couldn't sustain it. So they were working the job to keep the farm alive, because the farm wasn't able to produce enough income so they ended up selling it. So it's just one of those interesting moments that I just happened to be there and see and see what was going on and kind of a microcosm of what I lived through growing up in the town.

Speaker 1: 4:18

Yeah, you know that story is so typical with a lot of business owners. They're so vested in the business they own They've got liabilities and they got to go get a second job just to support it. So this is going to be great information for us. So did you come out? You said you have 21 years of experience. Did you start this business or did you have others along the way?

Speaker 2: 4:41

Yeah, great question. So I went to college and got a business degree and graduated early and I was an overly involved student in all kinds of student activities. I went to a small Division III school so you could be involved in a hundred things if you wanted to be. You know your classmates, you know the teachers and so on. And so after I graduated I knew I wanted to be in management consulting and so I thought, well, I don't know what that means, but I'm going to pursue it.

Speaker 2: 5:12

And my first opportunity happened to be at a company that does what I do today, which is works with businesses and owners and helps them franchise their business. And while I was there, owners and helps them franchise their business, and while I was there, it just clicked, it resonated, it married these ideas that I love. I love the American dream, I love entrepreneurship, I love encouraging people to pursue their own version and capturing their own piece of the American dream. And I think that what I saw there was I get to work with entrepreneurs to help them grow their dream by helping other budding entrepreneurs realize their dream in business ownership just through franchising. But just because they buy a franchise doesn't mean they're not an entrepreneur.

Speaker 2: 6:00

They absolutely are, and, as we were talking pre-show about some of your own experiences in coaching franchisees, they for certain are entrepreneurs and business owners running their own business, and so this married these ideas that I just loved of helping entrepreneurs do well and succeed or achieve the goals that they have set. And so I worked at that company, started an entry-level role and eventually worked my way up to executive vice president of the organization, and then I was recruited away by a client and, as any good consultant knows, if you're not getting job offers from your clients, you may not be that great of a consultant, right? Yep, little tongue-in-cheek there, but there's some truth behind that Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 6:50

Yeah, someone told me that once. I thought I think you're onto something. So, anyway, from there I went to work in the commercial paving and commercial roofing industries and it was a 30 something year old, family run business. They were about $125 million a year business and they were. They paved parking lots and did rooftops on commercial buildings, commercial properties. That was their big thing, not roads or driveways kind of those in between things. And so I was brought in as their head of sales and marketing and helped grow the business by about $60 million over a two, two and a half year timeframe by growing from regional to national, securing national accounts. I managed a large sales team and marketing team and what I always like to describe for that growth is that the growth we achieved there was largely driven, or exclusively driven, through new customer development or acquiring new clients, not buying companies. Sometimes you hear rapid growth and they're well, they're just buying businesses and kind of this hodgepodge of a patchwork quilt of a company. That's not how they did it. So it was much more sustainable. They did it with their own staff and team as they started to build and grow.

Speaker 2: 8:09

And then from there I had the itch to get back into business and I knew that I would likely not own that company and so I wanted to be. I had this vision of being my own entrepreneur, being my own boss, being an entrepreneur, and had an opportunity with an old colleague to join his company as a partner and did that for about four years and as many partnerships go it just we had a difference in vision and values and, long story short, you know, separated amicably. But and then that's when I started Big Sky here, just not just over nine years ago, so I guess we're in our 10th year of business already Funny how quickly that happens. And along the way have been a franchisee, so I've been a multi-unit franchisee. I actually bought into a business that I helped franchise when he had one unit. I was franchisee number 30 or so, right around 30. And they've got about 300 units now and it was interesting to put the shoe on the other foot and I would say probably my fastest learning and greatest learning lesson in franchising was being a franchisee and going through rapid growth, a couple of different investments and acquisitions where other by the, where other investment groups came in and bought the franchise or and management staff changes and leadership changes and kind of going through that whole process over a six year or so period and, uh, that that was very, very interesting and fun and dynamic. And one of my favorite stories is that we were fun and dynamic. And one of my favorite stories is that we were.

Speaker 2: 9:48

My franchise that I owned was a. We were 50th percentile in our system. We were around half a million dollar a year business. I was not an owner operator. My consulting company is my baby. I am no longer a bashful owner operator. I love my craft, I love what I do and I enjoy that. But on the franchise side I had staff and managers and leaders, admin, who would come in and support that.

Speaker 2: 10:11

Well, a very interesting thing happened my operations manager who had been with me for three years, we worked together, grew the business, et cetera. I ended up selling the business to him. Well, he takes manager hat off and puts that owner hat on and, lo and behold, he ends up taking that business. In his first year he does close to almost $2 million. The next year he does close to $4 million. The year after he's pacing to $5 or $6 million and last I spoke with him he's in a position now. He just recruited someone in his industry, this sales leader he's.

Speaker 2: 10:50

We're based, I'm in Georgia, he's based in the state of Georgia. He's recruited someone from Texas and moving his family out, that helped grow a similar type of business to very big numbers, and so he's doing all these wonderful things. And I thought, boy, what a difference from being manager versus owner. He's doing all these wonderful things and I thought, boy, what a what a difference from being manager versus owner. And just a great. You know, I think. Well, I think the wise thing I should have done is probably have partnered him in yeah, Well, learn to earn right.

Speaker 1: 11:38

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yep, yep, they don't have clarity. And you said something just a few minutes ago about the partnership and you mentioned our vision and our values did not align. We decided we left amicably right. But if you hadn't had those, there's no telling where you'd be today probably in court, because you didn't have clarity. Can you talk about the clarity that a business must have and how that helps in situations like what you went through?

Speaker 2: 12:12

Yeah, clarity is key. I mean it stems from the clarity of the direction you're taking the business. Why are you doing this? What's the point? I mean, if you don't know why you're doing this, why go through the pain and anguish of leading building?

Speaker 2: 12:30

And they, they were not. They were not necessarily, they just weren't in sync. They were close but they were far enough apart that I always describe it as in a, over the course of a year or two, we're still close enough that we're kind of heading in the right direction, but over time year three, year four, year five all of a sudden the distance starts getting pretty far apart. And so I recognized that and thought, you know, this could end up exactly what you said there, michael, in court could be ugly messy. Every not every, but most partner breakups I've heard of oftentimes end up kind of like a nasty divorce, unfortunately, and neither partner wins out. It costs the business money, it just it becomes a problem.

Speaker 2: 13:29

And so we decided to talk through it and ultimately concluded it made sense. Just to, you know, go go in a different direction and and it's been. You know I would say it's worked out for both of us. You know, I, I wish, but still wish him well, that he continues to do well in his business and operation. So the clarity in and syncing up on that is great. And I would say, behind closed doors you can disagree and if you can't get on board once you go out of those closed doors and into the public realm with your staff, with your team, with your customers, that's probably an indication that it's time for you to leave, because you all have to be on the same page, singing the same song, rowing in the same direction. Whichever analogy you want to use to sync up, that's just been my experience. I'm sure you help your clients and coach through similar procedures there.

Speaker 1: 14:27

Yeah Well, it's just interesting. We've all heard the statistics of divorce in a marriage and that's you know, half of marriages don't last. I mean, we've all heard that, but in business partnerships almost 80% don't last. So if that kind of brings it to the realm and it's usually because they don't have vision, values, all these things the foundation's established. And so I love this topic about franchising because you got to know where you're going, right, and so let's get to your your big sky friend franchise team, because you help a lot of people and so a lot of that is clarity. I'm looking at your website. You kind of ask the questions are you profitable? Will it work other places? Can you train someone what to do? And that's all clarity, right? Without a plan, we don't know where to go. So can you kind of explain how you help people in your business? And then also for someone that's considering a franchise, yes, absolutely so.

Speaker 2: 15:30

Our first step whenever we interface with any business owner or leader that's thinking about franchising, is to help give just a simple breakdown of what makes a business franchisable. Very often that's a question well, how do I even know if my business can be franchised? I mean what owners will usually tell me? They'll say, well, I'm not McDonald's. And say, well, mcdonald's wasn't, you know, didn't have 20,000 plus locations overnight. You know they didn't have that. And then franchise.

Speaker 2: 15:58

At most franchises start with one or two or three of something. That's the reality of it, and so we've broken it down into three check boxes that if you can check these three pieces off, then chances are your business is franchisable. Now, should you franchise? That's another question. Or do you want to franchise? That's another. Certainly those are other questions.

Speaker 2: 16:21

But those three items we look at is what you just said. Number one is the business profitable? And oftentimes owners will say, well, my tax return shows I didn't make any money. I say, okay, well, I'm not talking about what your tax return says, I'm talking about owner benefit. How do you take money out of the business? If you're an owner operator, are you paying for your lifestyle out of the business? Essentially, that's kind of a quick summary of that.

Speaker 2: 16:44

There are deeper factors we can get into, but for the sake of the conversation, that's a good benchmark. Number two is can you teach someone how to do it? And for a lot of owners it's not just can you, but are you willing to teach someone how to run your business? And think of it as if you were training a general manager to take over and run your business for a month or two months or three months, while you decided to go on a European vacation and backpack across Europe and not have access to your phone or email during that window? So that's one way to think about it.

Speaker 2: 17:18

And then the third piece we like to look at is do you have customers or potential customers in other markets outside of where you are? Preferably on a national basis, because that allows you to grow at minimum regional and ideally international, because you never know where the business might end up going. And so those are the three big check boxes that we look to see in a business that's considering franchising. Now, if we check those boxes, most businesses that do that are likely franchisable, but that doesn't mean that they should and it doesn't mean that the owner ought to, given their circumstance, life, what they're interested in, et cetera. There are a lot of other factors, so that starts to get in some of the color of whether or not it's the right move. And then your question about the franchisees. And just to clarify on that, michael, are you interested in talking a little bit more about people buying into a franchise, maybe some things they should be thinking about or looking into, or I just want to make sure I address that correctly.

Speaker 1: 18:24

Yeah, absolutely so. We have our owners that are considering franchising, but then we also have people considering a franchise as their business, and so what are some of those red flags and the goods and the bads and the uglies of all the franchise side of the business?

Speaker 2: 18:41

Yeah, I tend to look at this when I talk to people about it. In a few areas, Having been a franchisee and gone through the startup or in franchise speak, we call it an emerging franchise brand and so we look at a brand. Understanding your risk tolerance and interest, Do I want to be part of a small system where you could potentially be the first franchisee? Most brands we work with they're bringing on board their first, their second, their third franchise. Well, that's a very different dynamic than being franchisee number 400 in a system and franchisee number 400, the system is set in stone for sure. At that point there's very little tweaking that's going on and if there is, it's going through a whole rigmarole process at corporate headquarters and approvals et cetera, versus being number franchisee, number four in a system and you're going to be likely working directly with the founder. You're going to be discovering new things that the founder may have never bumped into and so your fingerprint or thumbprint will be left on the business for the early on franchisees. But it is a different experience. You will likely need to be a little more entrepreneurial and extend some grace to your franchisor. Entrepreneurial and a little have. Extend some grace to your franchisor and the franchisor should be doing the same to you as you're working and learning together through that. So it's kind of this new franchise or a small franchise system, a midsize franchise system or a large franchise system for just kind of a blanket look at that.

Speaker 2: 20:25

And then the other piece I would say is talk to franchisees. That is by far the number one thing. Talk to franchisees, talk to a bunch of them. You'll get the good, the bad and the ugly. That is the best way to understand what the franchisor is going to do. And for you as the franchisee coming in, understand your weaknesses. Where do you struggle? If you're really great at sales and marketing, recognize you're not going to likely be able to tweak the sales and marketing all that much. So you're not able to innovate. But if you're willing to execute the plan, it'll work. But maybe you're not great at operations or maybe you're not great at executing the systems.

Speaker 2: 21:03

If it's a sandwich franchise, Maybe you don't want to be making the sandwiches, Okay, that's fine. But understand, does corporate provide that kind of training that you would likely be expecting or that you would need? And the franchisees will give it to you straight. And so talk to as many as you're willing to, and many people don't realize that the FDD and the franchise and franchising. Every franchisee has to get what's called the franchise disclosure document or uniform franchise disclosure document. Every franchisee that's ever been a part of that system, that is a current franchisee or not, must be listed and the franchisor is under their obligation for franchisees that are no longer in the system is that they have to at least have it with their best or last known contact information, a phone number or an email or some kind of way to get in contact. So it is available to you as you seriously start to consider going into a franchise.

Speaker 1: 22:02

I have so many questions now.

Speaker 2: 22:04

Yeah, please.

Speaker 1: 22:05

But so for our listeners, I'm going to try to narrow it down. Let's start with so the name of the show is Small Business Pivots, and so I know, when we own businesses, we kind of get stuck in our own ways and we're like we got this figured out. I don't want to go to the effort of figuring something else out, but what would you say are the essentials to a solid business we talked about, is it profitable, and some of the things that you look at? But what are the essentials of a business? Is it systems? Is it sales? Is it leads? Is it everything? Is it persistence? You know all those things.

Speaker 2: 22:40

Well, one thing we'd like to look at is it is You're listening to Small Business Pivots.

Speaker 1: 22:47

This podcast is produced by my company, boss. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at businessownershipsimplifiedcom. If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. Now let's get back to our special guest. What are the essentials of a business? Is it systems? Is it sales? Is it leads? Is it everything? Is it persistence? You know all those things.

Speaker 2: 23:23

Well, one thing we like to look at is the owner a superstar, meaning? Does the business only work because the owner is literally a superstar? They are a superhero and they are the person doing all things, everything all the time. In those instances it becomes difficult to franchise for a lot of reasons. But this is really getting back to our pre-show conversation about systems and processes. There need to be some kind of systems in place Now, as an owner-operator, you may enjoy executing on those systems. That's great.

Speaker 2: 24:02

I'm an owner-operator, I love my craft, and that may change over time, but my lifestyle as it is, I've got three kids that are active. My craft, and that may change over time, but my lifestyle as it is, I've got three kids that are active in sports and music and all kinds of stuff, and it allows me the ability to go in and participate in that at this stage of my life. But for owners that are thinking well, maybe I want to franchise, maybe I want to expand, or even just maybe I want to eventually sell my business. Maybe I want my manager to take it over. Maybe I want to expand, or even just maybe I want to eventually sell my business. Maybe I want my manager to take it over. Maybe I want to open up one or two more in my area and kind of take it a little bit easier, slow down just a little bit. Those systems are going to be important and it reminds me of the E-Myth revisited by Michael Gerber, which is referenced all the time in business communities, and I just read it again, for I hadn't read it in I don't know 15 or 20 years and I read it again recently just to see and it's a great, it stands up, it holds up I wasn't sure it's fantastic and the reinforcement of just having some consistent processes.

Speaker 2: 25:05

Sometimes those processes are documented. At a lot of small businesses they are not documented yet, but the process still exists, it's present, where it's just transferred in a different way instead of a written form, and it's transferred through teaching and those kinds of mechanisms. Now, if you're the one always teaching over and over again and you have turnover, that becomes problematic in terms of time consuming. But that's why organizations like ours that help document these things through manuals and such exist, or technical writers or coaches and people who help entrepreneurs. Oftentimes paperwork is. For many entrepreneurs I work with, paperwork is not a favorite thing. It tends to fall on the bottom. So documenting and doing those things can be challenging. So working with others who can help, or even assigning it as a task, as an example, to an assistant manager, a quality support person, an admin assistant, can start you on a pathway to getting some of those processes documented, you on a pathway to getting some of those processes documented.

Speaker 1: 26:07

Yeah, that's fantastic information. So, on your business, since it is small business pivots, what's one pivot that you found really moved the needle in your business, or have you just kind of always made the right?

Speaker 2: 26:21

decisions. Oh right, yeah, I wish I could say I always made the right decision. I was going to say your nose is fixing to grow. Wish I could say I always made the right decision.

Speaker 1: 26:26

I was going to say your nose is fixing to grow. If you say I've always made the right decisions.

Speaker 2: 26:30

Oh my goodness, I feel like every day I'm wondering did I make the right decision today on whatever it was? It's just, it's a daily thought process but hopefully over time we make enough of the right decisions that they eventually add up over time right. And so one big pivot for our business is and it's one that is probably folks talk a lot about it's hard not to have done the pivot through COVID. But when COVID hit and we lost half our revenue, half our clients, in three weeks of COVID not unlike probably a lot of businesses I always joke. It's always tongue in cheek, but there's truth in it. And I'd always tell our clients look, if things get tight or times get rough, the first guy to go is your favorite franchise consultant. I said we're the first one to go. I said we're an expensive consultant that's disposable, it's not a must-have to survive. And so that happened.

Speaker 2: 27:29

And at that moment I had a choice on what I was going to do. I could. My choice was do I change some of my overall business philosophies and really crank down and enforce the terms of my contract and go after my clients and say no, you can't just stop midstream. We signed a contract, here's the deal and I thought a lot about it, and what I decided to do was I said no, every client that calls emails says anything. We're going to let them out of their contract. If they want to, we're going to let them stop payment. We're going to let them pause Whatever they ask, we're going to say yes and we're just going to pause that and stop projects, cancel projects, whatever we said. Our line was we're not going to go backwards, but we're going to pause so that, if they want to, just stop so that they can take care of their business.

Speaker 2: 28:30

I said our clients are hurting too. We're hurting, but they're hurting. And so, within two weeks of that happening, we launched our webinar series that we called Navigating the Coronavirus Economy Series. That's how old you know it is. We called it the coronavirus economy series. That's how old you know it is. We called it the coronavirus. And so we said our clients are hurting. We're hurting, but our clients are really hurting. How can we help them right now?

Speaker 2: 28:56

Our number one value at our company is win-win relationships. I said we've got to find a win for our clients right now. What can we do to help them? And so we scoured the internet and searched around and we just found anyone who knew something about what was going on, sometimes just a few days or a week or two ahead of what went, before it hit the mass masses. And so we'd bring these guests in and we'd have 60 attendees, 100 attendees, and for our we still have never had sessions that large in terms of live attendance, all the things that were going on, and that was a way that we served them during that window, which ultimately led to us launching our own podcast five years ago actually, next week's our five-week anniversary to continue that way of giving, to support and serve and help our clients.

Speaker 2: 29:47

And so that was a big, big change for us. And really I think the pivot was saying are we really going to, are we going to live our values or are we just going to talk about our values? How are we actually? What are we actually going to do? And that was really a moment where the rubber meets the road, where you have to say am I really going to stand on what I say I'm going to do? What are we going to do right now? It's easy when times are good and cash is coming in, but it's hard when things get really rough, and that's the test of character, right, and so that for us was a pivotal moment.

Speaker 2: 30:32

And what is interesting, during that window, you know, we feel super fortunate and blessed that, you know, through really God's grace, we didn't lay anyone off, we never missed a payroll. We somehow found a way to survive and make it through and come through and thrive now and be in a great position. It's ironic we're recording and talking about this today because a client who we let out of this agreement literally almost five and a half years ago, reached out to us last week and said hey, tom, we've got a new project, we'd like to get started, and so it's interesting, and had I not done that, there's no way he calls us back five years later. So anyway, just thought I'd share that.

Speaker 1: 31:18

No, that's powerful and it shows the power of having those essentials, like the core values, the statements. I've had a client recently that was considering going, with his emotions, his gut, on an employee and he said what are your thoughts? And I said I don't know, I don't really have any, but I suggest you go look at your core values, because I knew what his core values were for the business and he immediately made a decision like that versus. He was like I can't sleep at night. I'm like I just want to do this and I'm like go go revisit those core values, because when those are usually established, they're not established in a moment. You need to use them Right.

Speaker 1: 32:05

Yeah, so, like you said, it's like are we a win-win partner, you know, or are we not? And if we are, then we need and look at you being rewarded down the road for going with your statements Right. Obviously process dependent, not people dependent or emotional dependent. So what are the best ways to follow you, learn more about you? You mentioned a podcast. You want to share that a little bit.

Speaker 2: 32:30

Sure, yeah, our podcast is Multiply your Success. It's Multiply your Success and we have an emphasis on really growth-minded entrepreneurs and that precipice in between an entrepreneur franchising their business and then an emerging franchise brand. So that's where a lot of the content and focus tends to be on in that. And then our website is great. We've got a weekly newsletter we produce and we have a free franchisability quiz. So if you're curious, say, well, am I franchisable? We've got a free quiz. We've got a free white paper called Nine Pitfalls to Avoid when Franchising your Business. It's available at ninepitfallscom and all of that's available for free.

Speaker 2: 33:12

So if your audience is just kind of curious or want to get an entry point, and then we always offer a free consultation for anyone who says, hey, I'd like to learn just a little bit more, learn just a little bit more. No strings attached, no cost. I always say we don't charge anything until we both say we agree to do business together. So there's no hourly billing or any funny business and that's at our website. You can just go to BigSkyFranchiseTeamcom. Bigskyfranchiseteamcom.

Speaker 1: 33:38

Fantastic If you were to start a business today, kind of, what are the first five to 10 things that you would do? Because I know a lot of business owners have this dream of an empire. They get into it, it's all fun until it's not, and then they hear episodes like this. And so that's why I'm asking the question, because I hear episodes like this and they hear me say it all the time you need to do this, this, then this, and they're like yeah, but I got to take care of today. Also, I got to get sales, I got to do and I got to do the job because I can't afford. So what are those steps that you would suggest, having worked with so many businesses that you're like, if I were to start a brand new business today, here's what I would do.

Speaker 2: 34:18

Yeah, number one, I'd make sure I'm solving a real problem, whatever that problem might be. Am I solving a problem that I think other people also have? That I'm not the only one, and usually the innovation and entrepreneurship is spurred. Most often Most clients I've worked with it's been spurred from that. The second thing is what we've talked a lot about today.

Speaker 2: 34:39

What is your vision and values and, essentially, what do you want to be when you grow up? Where is this going? And having a plan? Do you want to sell this? Do you intend to bring on partners? Is it just to pay your bills for right now and get your kids through college? That's okay. But just be real about that. Accept that. That is okay. It's okay to say I just want to make a living doing something I like to do and showing my kids that they can chase after their dreams. Because that's what I did Awesome. Do it, go for it, but put that down as your vision or your goal. It doesn't have to be something that I'm going to have a billion dollar empire and I'm going to change the world and so on. Empire and I'm going to change the world and so on. And I've recently been reading some of the writings of St Augustine de Hippo, or I forget how to say that, but essentially he talked about, as you're looking to make an impact, the people that just by chance or circumstance happen to be placed around you.

Speaker 2: 35:45

Think about how you're impacting those, because those are the people that you have the greatest ability to impact. So sometimes it's to stop looking out to say I want to change the world and start thinking about what's the world of the people who I'm closest to, that I can really help them? How can I help these people? The world that I'm living in that's closest to me, and just sometimes, literally by proximity or the community you happen to be a part of, and so that's just been a nice turn. So I like to think of things in that regard, because I meet with entrepreneurs a lot of times. They have this huge vision, which I love big vision. You have to have a big vision, but their actions and what they're actually doing it doesn't match up. And so is it your vision, or is it the vision that you think you're supposed to have because you've seen it in other movies or newspapers or business shows or people you've met within networking groups?

Speaker 1: 36:47

Wow, that one's deep, because I don't know that anyone on our approximately 100 episodes has ever said it like that. It's usually like a dollar amount. It's usually like I want five franchises, or I want to hire 100 employees Well just, are you sure that's what you really want? Or I want to hire 100 employees Well, just, are you sure that's what you really want? Or is it just so you can be a stay-at-home parent and be able to pay the bills? It doesn't have to be this grand picture or Picasso, if you will. So, after we think about those things, kind of, what are those next steps? Is it because I see so many business owners they're focused on TikTok and I'm like, if you only knew that's so long term play. Yes, you got to have those things eventually. But what are those things? Because we work with businesses that have been in business three to five years and they're still tweaking their website, they're still making video, they're still trying to be a viral sensation, you know. So what would be the next thing you would suggest?

Speaker 2: 37:44

Yeah. So once you have that clarity and part of my curiosity in that question, by the way, in our podcast I ask every guest the last question I ask everyone is what does success mean to you? Because I had a hunch that most people would not have a monetary number, it would not be a dollar amount, and I think out of the 260, some episodes we're on now, there have been, I think, five or fewer that actually said something, that it was money related, not saying money isn't part of the equation, but it wasn't the majority of the equation. So I find that interesting. So after you have that clarity on things, then you obviously need to gain clarity on who that customer is Now and when you're in a startup, you're kind of figuring that out.

Speaker 2: 38:31

In many cases you're giving your best guess on who you're going after and then how to fulfill it. Certainly so most small businesses that I see know they get some sales and then figure out how to fulfill afterwards. And you know, I totally understand and that's okay as you're launching. But after you get through that startup phase and you need to evolve and I think, michael, that's what sounds like some of these folks that are three're tinkering, they're changing, they're chasing every dollar that they can possibly get, because their fear of survival is that they haven't left that. Because they've, even though the business has moved past it, they're still stuck mentally in that, in that space, feeling like they have to do that.

Speaker 1: 39:18

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 39:20

Yeah, and and I've seen that a lot as well, and folks I've met with over the years too and if you can't move past that, even though your business has, it's going to be a challenge, it's going to be hard. And so I was like gain clarity, gain clarity on your messaging. Who are you serving? What are you selling? Clear is better than clever. I worked with a consultant. That was his motto. He said clear is better than clever. I worked with a consultant. That was his motto. He said clear is better than clever.

Speaker 2: 39:45

And so, being very clear, here are the three things you need to do. Here's how much it costs and here's how you start. You send me a check and you sign this paperwork and I do this. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that. People don't want to have to think about how to do business with you or how to hire you or how to find your location. I see it all the time on restaurants and other businesses. I'm trying to figure out how do I place an online order? How do I get to your restaurant? There's no directions, there's no easy button on the website or wherever Like. How do I get here? I don't know.

Speaker 2: 40:22

Yeah, I'm with you Simple things like that and then, as you start to grow and the business starts to mature, you need to start to recognize and think about what happens if I slip on a banana peel or I win the lottery. What do I do with this business? Does it just shut down and it just dies without me? Or do I have some processes and some systems and things in place that someone who's motivated could pick up and execute and build and run that company? And look, I fall victim to this myself where sometimes I think, well, the only person who can do some of these things is me.

Speaker 2: 40:59

I am not excluded from that list of owners that have thought that Guilty, yeah, but it's easier to give the advice and you know, the shoemaker's kids have holes in their shoes, kind of an idea. But it is something that's really important to have those systems, documented, processes in place and it makes your life a lot easier so that you can take a vacation and not have to think about it. I mean, sometimes it's just being able to take a three-day vacation while your kids are out of school and not have to really think about the business, because it's going to be okay, it will be fine.

Speaker 1: 41:36

And then that leads to four days and then a week, and then you can go to Europe for 10 days or two weeks with your family, if that's what interests you, could you simplify or dumb down how to create these processes, because I know that business owners are like yeah, I've heard this, I know I need to do it, but that sounds like a lot of work and a lot of time. But you, working with franchises, you know how those should be written to be used, actually you know, and not some big document that no one's ever going to use.

Speaker 2: 42:09

Yes, that's right. So I get this a lot. Most owners I meet with, most clients I've worked with my whole career. In their mind they have this vision of a military grade handbook that's a thousand pages, single space, small print, to your point. No one in their right mind is ever going to read this.

Speaker 2: 42:30

And I base how I prefer to build out manuals, document processes. There's a really great book called the Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande and essentially he scientifically validated that the best approach to process documentation is checklists period, step one, step two, step three, step four, step five, step 10, all the way down to however many steps. And then to try, once you put the steps down, try to simplify the steps and put it on a one page. That is your secret sauce. And what I like to look at is I apply the Pareto principle and look at the 80-20 rule and I say what are the? In most businesses, 20% of your day-to-day activities is what drives 80% of your results. So the easiest comparison is a restaurant, most restaurants, 20% of their menu generates 80% of their sales. Well, that 20% of the menu, that's the menu part that I want documented. I want everyone to be able to know how to do to execute, to train.

Speaker 2: 43:42

The other stuff is, while it might have an importance, it's not the most important thing. And sometimes owners, myself included we have a hard time with our baby and our business to prioritize what is most important. And so we have to force rank and literally I mean kind of keep think of it as a competition. You know it's the best hamburger place in town as a competition. You know it's a um, you know the the best hamburger place in town. And they rank. You know they do a square off and they vote and eventually get to the number one. Right, and it's no different than that. You take all these competing priorities and you rank them. Which one is actually more important? Eventually you'll get a list One, two, three, four, five, six. Okay, now we know where this is going to go and how to prioritize what is actually most important.

Speaker 2: 44:25

So I like to document the 20% of the processes that produce 80% of your results. That's where you start and if you only did that, your business will. It will change, it will absolutely change, and then you can get more granular beyond that change and then you can get more granular beyond that. But any owner who's been in operation for a year, two years, three years. All of their businesses have changed from two years ago. They're doing things differently. It changes constantly. So your manual, it's a living, breathing document. So I guess to get very specific, very technical on some of that, that's how I recommend.

Speaker 1: 45:04

That's very helpful and you're right, a lot of them think of it. The first thing they think of is this big old, thick book and they're like I don't even have time to read a small book. How am I going to create a big book, you know? So no, that's great, and I love the steps. I love the steps because that's really all it is is that they probably know how to do what they're supposed to do, but they don't know the order to do them in, and they probably forget a step from here or there, you know, and so it gets messed up. So, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 45:52

Anything else you can share that maybe we haven't addressed today that you feel like would be important for our listeners to know. You know, the one thing I always like to leave to an owner that has thought about franchising or just expanding in general, I consider to yourself, in my opinion, to explore it, consider it so that you can rule it out or rule it in. I've met with so many owners who come to me and say, tom, I've been thinking about this for eight years, for 10 years, and it's just been sticking in their mind. And then they realize, after we spend 30 minutes an hour together, they come to one of our seminars or one of our sessions. They say I'm glad I came, I don't want to do this, I have no interest in franchising, and meanwhile it's kind of been lingering in there.

Speaker 2: 46:32

So most people we meet with don't franchise. They figure out that it's not for them and I love that outcome because they have like we've talked about today clarity. They have clarity on the direction they want to go them because they have like we've talked about today clarity. They have clarity on the direction they want to go. They can rule this out and move on to the next, or maybe they rule it in. But whatever the decision is, it's gaining that clarity and direction for where they want to take their business.

Speaker 1: 46:54

Fantastic. Well, where is the best social media to follow you on? We talked about your podcast.

Speaker 2: 46:59

Yeah, the best is LinkedIn. Just Tom Dufour D-U-F, as in Frank O-R-E, Tom Dufour. On LinkedIn, I'm super active. That's my social platform. If you reach out to me on anything else, I have handles on most, but I don't even know how to log into most of them. So LinkedIn, though, I'm on just about every day.

Speaker 1: 47:19

Well, you said Tom, but you didn't say Dr Tom, where did the doctor come from? You're the specialist.

Speaker 2: 47:25

Yes, so I earned my doctorate degree in business administration actually in business, and earned that about two and a half years ago. It's been, and my thesis was my doctoral thesis centered around this idea of virtue, ethics or virtue, and in business. And so it was built around this framework called the virtuous business model to say, well, how can an organization be virtuous? And, if so, how would you measure that? Because if you can't measure it or have a way to track it, businesses are never gonna implement something like that. So how can you quantify virtue? How can you apply that? And so, ultimately, that's what I investigated and researched and I developed a virtuous organization scorecard was kind of the big takeaway that I ended up creating out of that.

Speaker 1: 48:11

Very cool, very cool. Well, I encourage our listeners to go follow you, reach out to you. You've been a blessing to many and a wealth of information. I thank you for your time today.

Speaker 2: 48:22

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it, my pleasure.

Speaker 1: 48:26

Thank you for listening to Small Business Pivots. This podcast is created and produced by my company, boss. Our business is growing. Yours, boss, offers flexible business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at businessownershipsimplifiedcom. If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. If you need help growing your business, email me at michael at michaeldmorrisoncom. We'll see you next time on Small Business Pivots.