Hi everyone! Welcome to a very special edition of Franchise Interviews. We are for over seven years now we have been asking the frantrepreneurs who own one. I am your host, Marty McDermott, I am the President of Franchise Interviews and we have a great show today. We are meeting with franchise expert and veteran, Chris Simnick. Chris is the founder of FranchiseTeacher.com and at FranchiseTeacher.com, their teach, coach, consult, advise is more than just a phrase. It is the heart of their core values. I am going talk to Chris about that in just a moment on Franchise Interviews. So, stick around because we got a great show.

Franchise Interviews - Hi everyone! Welcome back to a very special edition of Franchise Interviews where for over seven years we have been asking the frantrepreneurs who own one. I am your host, Marty McDermott, I am the president of Franchise Interviews and as we were saying earlier, we have a great show today. We are meeting with franchise expert and veteran, Chris Simnick, and Chris is the Founder of FranchiseTeacher.com. Hi Chris, how are you doing? Welcome to the show.

Chris Simnick - Good day Marty. Good to talk to you again.

Franchise Interviews - Thanks Chris. Where are you calling from this morning?

Chris Simnick - West Palm Beach, Florida.

Franchise Interviews - How's the weather there today Chris?

Chris Simnick - We are in a typical summer, we have our sunny mornings and cloudy and rainy afternoons. It's always nice here.

Franchise Interviews -I don't want to make you feel old but you've been in franchising a long time. Maybe we can talk about how you got involved in franchising?

Chris Simnick - Sure Marty. This starts my 36th year in franchising. However, I did start in my teens so the age and the years don't quite add up. It was almost by accident. I owned a small-basement print operation and had seen some opportunities to buy franchises in the printing field. I began to investigate them and a couple years later I wound up working for, at the time, what would be one of the largest printing franchises in the world. For almost two dozen years I grew my knowledge in franchising in the five different branches they've developed. I have been very fortunate to be on the franchisee and franchisor side of the business, and now the independent owner-operator side.

Franchise Interviews - I think that's important Chris. Sometimes it's hard to find people who have been on both sides of the fence so you can have that empathy for the franchisee and franchisor. What do you like most about franchising Chris?

Chris Simnick - Franchising is my passion. The idea behind Franchise Teacher is that franchising provides individuals an opportunity to reach a goal or dream of business ownership. Franchisees don't need to reinvent the wheel. I enjoy helping people achieve their goals of business ownership. In addition, I like working with business visionaries start and grow a franchise system. This has been a passion of mine for all these years.

Franchise Interviews - As the owner of Franchise Teacher, I imagine it must be inspirational for you to see the results of franchising.

Chris Simnick - It is inspirational to see and be part of the stories of people whose lives have been changed through franchising. I have had the privilege of travelling the world to teach franchising. It has been a humbling experience and one that has been very rewarding.

Franchise Interviews - Maybe you could tell our listeners about FranchiseTeacher.com and why you started the company.

Chris Simnick - FranchiseTeacher.com is part of my parent company, Synergy Franchise Group Network. What we learned is there is a lot of confusion when it comes to franchising for the franchisor and the franchisee. For example, we teach someone what they don't know. We also coach people what they know and how to do it better. We consult what opportunities are available and advice them on what strategies to pursue going forward. By breaking this process down and segmenting it, people can look at and see what is important to them.

Franchise Interviews - You have been doing this a long time. How has franchising changed over the last thirty years?

Chris Simnick - The fundamentals of franchising has been around from the 1800s. I would say there are two things that probably changed the most. First is the sheer number of concepts and ideas that are franchisable. Second, is that the consumer is much more intelligent in terms of their ability to access and sort through information on the different concepts and opportunities.

Franchise Interviews - With so many different choices, it must be difficult now to buy a franchise. It is great there is a service like FranchiseTeacher.com. Maybe you can talk about some of your clients.

Chris Simnick - We specialize in multiple areas. One of my biggest passions is taking someone with an idea and then developing that concept to first make sure it is franchisable. We use a building factor by taking a word; and add the word "able" after it. For example, is the concept financeable, expandable, and transferable? The more yes's, the more the concept is franchisable.
One of our clients, British Swim School is a franchise concept that teaches children survival skills. Interesting enough, you don't need to build a pool so you take a $1,000,000 investment down to $50,000.

There is a great variety of opportunities and franchises in different fields. In fact, there are over 70 different industries. We have learned that most people, about 90%, buy a franchise business other than they first looked at.

Franchise Interviews - That's a big number Chris. It's amazing how most people go in with certain expectations and come out with something different. I find that fascinating.

Chris Simnick - I think that speaks to the value of franchising as a business model and method because people don't have to be in something just because they have knowledge of a certain area. Quite candidly, sometimes, getting involved in a business that you would rather do that you are not familiar with allows you the luxury of taking a new career path, and then develop something you never would have the opportunity to, had it not been systematized and prioritized for you. In franchising, it is said that you have to really almost have to work harder to fail than to succeed because if you have a good franchise system, and if you can follow directions, you have to almost purposely not follow them to not do well.

Franchise Interviews- We have a podcast called Great Quotes in Franchising. I think we're going to a put that one in there, Chris. What advice would you give to our listeners? Most of them are just beginning their search to buy a franchise and most of them just simply don't know where to begin.

Chris Simnick - When I speak to people looking at franchise, I give them three different pieces of advice. One, make sure you're looking for a business for the right reason. Many people have things happen when looking to buy a franchise. For example, they may have lost their job and their reaction is, "Well I'll go buy a business." That is not the best reason because it is opportunity that was created by some adversity. Second is to make sure that they have the traits to be franchisees because not everybody is designed to follow the systems, procedures and the processes it takes to be a successful franchise owner. Next I tell them to pick a couple of the industries and the price ranges that may have interest to you and then pin down from there either using the resources of a consultant or team member or on their own. Either way, if they take their time to follow the steps, and do it for the right reasons, they'll be on a much smoother pathway to success in owning their own business.

Franchise Interviews - What's in the future then for Franchise Teacher, Chris? Where do you see the company three to five years down the road?

Chris Simnick - We have been extremely fortunate and blessed that Franchise Teacher has been around for many years now. We are representing seven plus brands. I think in five years, our focus will really be even more fine tuned. As the consumer or the perspective business owner is looking for more specific information, breaking down the teach, coach, consult, and advise service would be a way for us to assist people in what they need. People don't know what they don't know but I think the information overload sometimes discourages people too early. We can break it down into bite size pieces. We're looking forward to a future in franchising. The world's becoming a much smaller place. I think we are going to see a lot of opportunities coming in and going out of different market places and more access to people different countries.

Franchise Interviews - What's the best way, Chris, for our listeners to get more information on FranchiseTeacher.com? Obviously, FranchiseTeacher.com, but any numbers you'd like them to call or email addresses?

Chris Simnick- I would appreciate your listeners going to www.FranchiseTeacher.com. My business partner, Dave and I, offer them the free one-hour consultation so please have your listeners take advantage of it.

Franchise Interviews- I want thank you again, Chris, for, coming on this show. I've been following your career for a long time now and I've been very impressed with everything that you've done so it was an honor and a privilege to have you on this show today.

Chris Simnick - Marty ditto, and again congratulations on your Doctorate. I have read your dissertation and I would recommend reading it.

Franchise Interviews - Thanks Chris and we will be right back with more Franchise Interviews.