From Corporate Credentials to Franchise Confidence: How Education and Sales Skills Drive Long-Term Ownership Success

Free Agent Podcast with Meg Schmitz – Guest: Melinda Emerson – SmallBizLady & Franchise Educator – This is Part 2 of a 2-Part Episode

Meg Schmitz:
Yeah. So let’s shift gears a little bit over to the IFA, International Franchise Association. And yes, you get so beamy and smiley when we start to talk about your impact, everything that you’ve learned and now how you’re directly impacting the International Franchise Association.

Why did they pursue you? What, besides the Small Business Lady, what? Because there, there are other people out there who are now small business advisors. And, 

Malinda Emerson: 
I mean, there’s a whole bunch of them.

I think the pandemic grew like another three million of them that said they’re all, they’re all subject matter experts now, right?

Meg:
So how are they, how are they utilizing you at the IFA for the benefit of their constituents?

Melinda:
Well, the IFA has an advisory board of people who are small business experts. So they have a, they have an advisory board of franchise folks.

But they realized that they wanted to have the input of small business experts because what they said was, you know, we realize that people who come to IFA shows are people who want to start a business.

And so they wanted to make sure that their content was relevant to someone, not just to figure out what kind of franchise they wanted to run, but how are they going to be successful running this business.

And so they engaged several of us who are influencers in this space to really become, you know, almost like an influencer advisory board to them, saying, hey, I’m, I’m a small business educator. That’s what I do.

Like my company, Small Business Lady Enterprises, we train and educate entrepreneurs all over the world.

And so they were like, can you just look at the list of workshops we have at the shows and tell us what you think of them? And is there a gap? Are we missing something that we need?

You know, just, just talking about where their events are and the timing and stuff like that, you know, just really just kind of understanding that they recognize that there’s a need to teach people who buy franchises how to run a business.

And since that’s the business that I’m in, they were like, we want to engage you around our content, our stuff.

My first conference with them was the recent conference that they did in Miami earlier this year back in May. And that was the very first time that I engaged with them.

But I was really excited because what I learned is that people in the franchise industry, it’s a very insular industry and people know each other and you know, people see each other every year.

People are very close and do business with other people in the franchise industry. Like, it’s like you, it’s a club. You got to get in the club. You gotta learn. You gotta learn the club, right?

So those are the things that I have, you know, looked at and been excited about and been like, okay, you know, I’ve gotta think through what this is and what this looks like for us. And it just made perfect sense because my, one of the things that we sell in my company is sales training.

And what I’ve learned is that a lot of people buy franchises and if they have a high ticket sale involved, they struggle. Not all of them, I mean, but even if you worked in sales in a corporation, that lead was already given to you.

That’s one thing. It’s a whole nother thing to have to go out and get a lead, qualify a lead, close a lead, follow up on a lead. That’s a different skill set than just, you know, hey, here’s this list of leads, here’s this trade show, go talk to these people about our stuff.

You know, it’s very different. Closing in your own backyard is different. Selling versus selling to another corporation. So it’s a B2B versus a B2C or even a B2SMB sale. You know, like, it’s, it’s complicated.

And so we have a niche at our company is we train franchisees how to sell. And so we like to run alongside franchisors because they all have their own training, you know, but initial franchise training is what, a week, two weeks, a month maybe, depending on the business.

But we are like, we could either integrate seamlessly into their onboarding training or we can run alongside them because eventually those people are going to fall to the bottom 10% of the list.

So let me train them when you first get them, or let’s wait till they struggle. You know what I mean? Like, but you know, I would prefer to get it up front.

We have a first year CEO program where we’re training for 12 months, you know, really to give them some mentoring training all along. Or we could just do our sales accelerator boot camp training, which is, you know, six weeks.

So it depends. And we have a high ticket closer training as well. So that is what we sell into the franchise industry.

First year CEO or the direct sales training, which, which the sales training is included in.

First year CEO or we could just drill down on the sales. But we know that people in the franchise industry, they have these great profiles and financial, you know, qualifications, but they can’t sell nothing. And that becomes the problem for the franchisor down the road.

Meg:
Absolutely. You’re. This is. I’m so glad you’re talking about this, Melinda, because when I’m working with my candidates and they’re coming out of the C suite, it’s been a while since some of them had their.

You think about Jack Welch at GE. Well, he was never on the soldering line, producing boards and whatever.

But when you own a franchise for a period of time, you’re maybe not the one cleaning houses or getting under the hood of the automobile, but you’re going to indoctrinate yourself so that you can stay ahead of your employees and deliver great customer service.

So I’m so glad that you’re bringing this up because looking at the offerings through the IFA from your lens, it will help them improve their programming for the new franchisees to get them in the right mindset.

And I would just confess this right now. When my husband got into Take the Leap and then he shiny, sparkly, he got bored and he hated it and he just stepped away.

I wasn’t going to let it fail, but I knew nothing, right?

If what you had available now had been available in 1995, let’s say it was 1995, I could have worn the mantle of CEO of Flat Top Inc., which was going to grow into multiple locations where mindset so that I could grow into that.

And that’s what you’re delivering now.

Melinda:
Yeah, it is. But what was awesome about it was we already had it, right? It was another program we already had. We just had to tweak it a little bit, you know, to put a little bit of the franchise stuff in there.

And it was like we already had the book, the workbook. I mean, literally, we just had to build the online curriculum for it.

And you know, the great thing about our business is I have certified coaches underneath me. Like I am the Small Biz Lady, but there are Small Business Lady coaches.

So we have certified coaches underneath the bus that teach my curriculum, you know, that I developed over the last 17 years.

So it’s awesome because, you know, they get to benefit from all that we already know because it doesn’t matter what the franchise is. If you can’t sell it, you got a problem.

And what I know is that revenue will solve a whole bunch of problems in a business.

You know, but going from corporate to small business ownership is not an easy transition. And unfortunately, the longer people have been in corporate, the harder it is for them because they kind of have a little bit of a chip over their shoulder.

Because they’re like, well, I was successful. I was a vice president so-and-so. Huh. Okay.

What are you going to do when your nothing-but-cake business is running and your dishwasher doesn’t show up?

Yeah. Now you the dishwasher too.

So it’s like you got to understand that running a six- or seven-day-a-week retail storefront business is different than that knowledge worker job that you had as the director of HR.

Very different.

And you got to decide if you’re willing to work that hard.

Meg:
And kick your ego to the curb. Because those were your laurels. That’s not who you are now.

And every week those franchise companies post their revenue numbers by location, and you can see immediately where you are, particularly if they break it out for new versus experienced.

And you get a good idea then of just how hard it is and how much there is to learn before.

Melinda:
Yeah. One hundred percent. Because first of all, you got to have a mindset shift. The first thing I got to teach you is how to think like an entrepreneur.

Then we can get into the mechanics of how do you evaluate the staff that’s there and figure out who you want to keep, and you know, retention bonuses and all this other business.

I mean, there’s a whole, you know, if you’re buying an existing business, there’s a whole series of things you got to understand.

You can’t rush up in there like a bull in a china shop and piss off the people that are there.

You also need to consider your relationship with the previous owner.

Meg:
Yeah. 

Melinda:
And how all of that plays into it. 

Meg:
It’s one thing to buy into a franchise system, follow the playbook, execute as the recipe says, whole nother dynamic to get out there and actually buy, as you’re talking about, a business that was founded by maybe, maybe it’s a legacy business and it’s a family.

There’s no one in the family to take it over. Now, talk about the lessons learned, because I talk to my people about it, but I think they’re sick of hearing me. So you talk about it.

Melinda:
Well, the thing you got to realize is that 90% of all small businesses don’t make a million in revenue, which means they’re not that expensive.

Right now we’ve got a silver tsunami out here of baby boomers who are getting out of these businesses. Literally, 40% of all the small businesses in the United States are going to change hands in the next five years.

So we have an amazing, unprecedented opportunity that we will probably never have again, and the opportunity to buy a business.

But there’s also franchises that turn over every year. Hundreds and hundreds of franchises. Probably, you know, a thousand franchises are resales every year as well.

So there’s existing inventory out here to buy.

But you have to know how to do that because what you’re buying is their systems, their staff, their client list, their current contracts.

You know, do they have a recurring revenue model or how do these people make their money? You got to figure it all out.

And the wonderful thing is, if it’s a franchise, the good thing is you can compare how well it’s doing against the other franchises.

When you buy a standalone business, you are playing Russian roulette a little bit.

I mean, you know what they sold you, and then you get inside and find out what you really bought.

And it’s like buying a house without a full inspection. You get a little inspection. They run through there, make sure the roof isn’t leaking, you know, but you don’t really know until you get under the hood of this business what’s really going on.

And you have so many things to evaluate and consider.

And so that’s the reason why we created the First Year CEO program, because we have people coming out of corporate buying an electrical business, and they’re not an electrician, and trying to figure out how to run that business.

And so there’s lots of things that their fundamentals of business are the same no matter what business it is.

The business making more money than it’s spending. Can the business pay its own bills? That kind of stuff.

But then you got to look at the strategy, you got to look at the technology.

And the main thing you got to figure out when you’re buying any business is why are they selling?

What is the real reason why they’re selling it?

Is it because the kids don’t want it, they’re ready to move to Florida, you know, or is it because they’ve got a lawsuit coming and they’re trying to get in front of it and jump out?

Is it that the technology needs to be upgraded in their business and they don’t want to make the investment to do it?

You got to find out why people are selling.

Meg:
And that’s not easy to get anyone to confess because they’ll sugarcoat. And.

Melinda:
Absolutely.

Meg:
That example right there of getting out now before the lawsuit, that one comes up so often right now.

Melinda:
I see it. I see it. I have seen it. I have seen it. That’s why I use it as an example. Now, that’s not to say everybody out here selling a business is selling you a lemon. That’s not what I’m saying at all.

But what I’m saying is, is that you got to know what you’re looking at. And I believe that you could do either one. You can buy a franchise, you can buy an existing business, you can grow it and be wealthy either way you go. You really can.

But you got to know how to run a business, regardless of what kind of business you decide to do.

Yeah. And that is what we’re doing. And actually, that brings me to the conference that I am hosting in January.

Thank you. I am hosting a conference called the Next Act CEO Summit. I am looking for professionals, 40 plus, especially women, who want to learn what they need to know to buy a business.

And I’ve got amazing franchise consultants. I got amazing business brokers. I got M and A lawyers. I got the money people. I got the money honeys coming.

They go talk to you about where to get the money to buy a business.

And the amazing thing that people don’t realize is that if you’re buying into a franchise or if you’re buying an existing business, the bank will loan you up to 90% of the cost to buy it.

So, yeah, you have to have decent credit and you have to have some cash to put down, but it’s not anywhere near as much as you think.

And I think that if you have taken care of your money, if you’ve taken care of your credit, if you have some savings, you can do this.

If you have a 41k, you can do this.

You know, so there’s lots of different ways to finance a business. If you’re buying an existing business, sometimes you can do seller financing.

The seller is incentivized to take money over time versus a big lump sum because it’s a big tax savings to them.

So there’s a lot of ways to skin this cat. A lot.

I just, my reason why I’m having my event and it’s in January, it is a three day virtual summit.

It is January 22nd, 23rd and 24th. It’s a Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

And the reason why I’m doing it is because I want to demystify the fear that’s out here about buying a business.

I mean, look, they’ve already done the hard work. You get to take the baton and keep running.

That’s the main thing why we want to do this.

But I want to show people the money because I think people are really struggling with, well, I don’t have two million dollars.

You know, you can borrow two million dollars if you took care of your credit.

So I feel like I want to free people.

So many people are losing jobs. There’s so much ageism and all kinds of stuff out here pushing people over 40 out of corporate.

And I’m like, stop looking for a job. Buy a business and let me show you how.

I am the Small Business Lady. This is what I do.

And so I want to show you how to buy a business.

And I am so excited about it. So if you guys want more information about it, all you have to do is go over to smallbizladyuniversity.com forward slash next act CEO summit. And I know, Meg, you’ll put this in the show notes for them.

But if you can’t find it, just Google Melinda Emerson or Small Biz Lady. You’ll find it that way too. Oh, you’ll find it. I’m all over the internet, so all you have to do is Google me and you will find it.

I want people to know there’s another way to build legacy wealth for themselves and for their families. And that’s what we’re teaching people to do. (break)

Meg:
I can’t wait to attend that. We’re obviously going to promote it. I think the point of view that you bring and the experience, your experience, but also your grounding in your faith.

And like a lot of us who’ve hit the lowest of the low, you don’t realize it’s God talking to you because the voices in your head are so loud that anything outside is not as loud as what you’re telling yourself.

But that spirituality and that faith that you have as an underpinning to your success, it’s so inspiring.

And it’s just been so much fun to not only meet you, but like, we were fast friends. You’re so easy to get to know and look at that smile.

It’s just amazing to have you on the show today and to be able to talk about all these different pieces of collateral that you have created.

This is a wealth mine. This is a gold mine, everybody. She’s a wealth of information.

Connect to Melinda’s website and go sign up for that January session. I’m going to be there. I wouldn’t miss it.

You didn’t even talk about who your keynote speaker is.

Melinda:
Oh, my gosh. I have the chair of the International Franchise Association. Her name is Mary Kennedy Thompson.

She is the CEO of BNI International, and she is going to speak at our conference on the opening day on January 22nd.

And I am so excited. She is an extraordinary leader and an amazing advocate for business owners and franchisees.

And a former franchisee herself before she got on the other side.

And she’s grown billion dollar franchise systems and is an amazing, wonderful person, and I’m so excited that she’s going to be there.

Verizon is one of our lead sponsors of our conference. We’re very excited about that.

We have several financing partners that are coming on as well.

So everything you need, I promise you, everything you need to understand about how to buy a business or buy a franchise, you will learn at my conference.

It’s so much material. That’s why it’s three days.

I also made sure that we did a Saturday because I know some of y’all still working.

So I think, I hope that I convince y’all to take the package and roll and go start your business.

That’s what I’m hoping.

Meg:
Well, it will be an amazing experience. I can’t wait to be there. Thank you again so much for making time for me today with this podcast.

I will let you know when we’re uploading it and then we’re going to broadcast the heck out of it.

You are just a radiant, beautiful. Look at that smile. You’re just such a blessing already. And we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, so you’re just a natural.

Melinda:
You are such a sweetie. And you’re like, you know how, you know, game recognizes game, right?

You know, I know you’re good at what you do, and our mutual friend that introduced us is an amazing person as well.

But I feel like when you recognize another woman leader who is interested in serving and helping people find their new dream, you help people find their new dream too.

And so do I. So that’s why we are kindred spirits.

Meg:
Yes, we are. I gotta send you a couple hearts for that.

Melinda:
Yeah. No, I think what, the work that we do is important.

I think there’s a lot of fear out here. The economy’s doing weird stuff, and people are afraid.

And I’m like, don’t be afraid. Take the leap. Don’t leap blindly. That’s my tagline.

Take the leap, and you’re doing the same thing.

Let one or the other of us help you move forward with this.

You ought to feel afraid. If you’ve ever had a baby, gotten married, done something for the first time, that fear is a really good thing that helps keep you in check.

But let those of us who’ve gone before you share the wisdom and shine a light on the journey so that you don’t trip and fall the way that you and I have.

You and I have both had that.

Oh, let me tell you something. I’ve lost so much money doing stupid stuff, I can’t even. It’s frightening to tell the story.

But I think it’s important to know that there’s those of us who, if I had to start a business again right now, at this point in my life, there’s no way in the world I wouldn’t buy an existing business or franchise.

No way.

I would never operationalize an original idea ever again.

You just don’t have the time.

You know, I’m now 50 years old. I mean, I don’t have time. I need to make my money faster now and the easier way.

And none of it’s easy.

The easier way to do it is by investing into something that’s already successful.

Meg:
Yeah. I mean, really, really.

I’m 62 and my husband is 65.

Retirement is not even in our vocabulary.

Number one, what are we going to do?

But the fun of it is creating new entrepreneurs who love what they do.

It’s what I’m doing with Image Studios, my salon suite concept. That is a franchise.

I, by the way, have posted, I think, five podcasts with some of my beauty professionals.

And for them to get so emotional and tear up about how not only hard it is, but how rewarding it has been to create their own brand and deliver their services, it’s just a great thing to be a navigator and a leader for future entrepreneurs.

So I love it. I love it.

Melinda:
Awesome sauce. Good for you.

All right. And good for me.

We’re coming up on the top of the hour, so I’m going to let you go.

And this has just been great.

By the way, I love my podcast, and you’re going to be in season eight.

I don’t have as many as you do. I haven’t been doing it as long.

But, you know, when it feels right and you got a good one, this is a good one.

This is a really good one.

I certainly have enjoyed having the opportunity to talk to you and having you get to know me a little bit better and know more about my story.

Because a lot of times when I tell it, people are like, what? That’s what happened?

Like, yeah, that’s what happened.

And so many of us have gotten over the hump and decided to continue because I’m not going back.

I’m not going back to where I haven’t had a job since I don’t know how old I was, 30 something.

I would never trade in working for myself to work for somebody else.

So even the worst day is better than a good day in corporate.

Meg:
All right, Melinda, I will see you.

I’m going to go to your website and get myself registered.

Is registration open? I thought so.

All right. That’s what I’m doing.

So I don’t know when else I’ll see you, but I will definitely see you in January.

All right, my friend. Thank you.