Veterans August 2016 franchising usa 4#10 2

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Veterans in Franchising august 2016

www.franchisingusamagazine.com

fast track planning for self employment

3 reasons military veterans make topnotch employees why military veterans should become

entrepreneurs

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SAME DRIVE. DIFFERENT BATTLEFIELD. TAKE THE NEXT STEP > VETFRAN.COM OFFERING FINANCIAL SUPPORT, TRAINING & MENTORSHIP Veterans interested in franchising can take their skills learned in the military to successfully own and develop small businesses. Learn more and support veterans in franchising at www.vetfran.com.

• 650 franchise companies participating • 151,000 veterans and their spouses found careers in the franchise industry • 5,100 veteran franchise owners

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V eterans in F ranchisin g S u pplement a u g u st 2 0 1 6 Our Veterans in Franchising special supplement has become a regular feature of Franchising USA. To share your story in the next issue, please contact Vikki Bradbury, Publisher Phone: 778 426 2446 Email: vikki@cgbpublishing.com

Contents News and Expert Advice

50 3 Reasons Military Veterans Make Topnotch Employees Nick Baucom, Founder and Owner, Two Marines Moving

52 Double Your Sales - The Power of Communicating Value Through a Call to Action (CTA) Joshua Frank, Managing Partner, RSM Federal

54 Why Military Veterans Should Become Entrepreneurs Mark L. Rockefeller, CEO, StreetShares

56 Fast Track Planning for Self-Employment Jim Mingey, Founder and Managing Director, Veterans Business Services

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Nick Baucom, Founder Owner, Two Marines Moving Jim Mingey, Founder && Managing Director, VBS’

3 Reasons Milita Veterans Make Topnotch Employ “Veterans know what perseverance is all about, if for no other reason than they survived boot camp, an arduous challenge that puts a person’s fortitude to the test.”

2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nick Baucom

Politicians call them heroes and strangers thank them for their service. But when their enlistment comes to an end, veterans need more than a pat on the back as they return to civilian life.

They need jobs.

And increasingly, they seem to be getting them because the unemployment rate among veterans has been on the decline in recent years. In May, the veteran unemployment rate was 3.4 percent, down from 5 percent for the same month in

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That compares to a 4.7 percent overall unemployment rate.

“I think in the last several years there has been a focus on the importance of hiring veterans and many businesses have taken that to heart,” says Nick Baucom, a U.S. Marine veteran who makes hiring veterans a priority for his company, Two Marines Moving.

“But probably the biggest reason that the unemployment rate for veterans has trended downward is that, as a group, veterans bring with them experience and attitudes that make them great employees.”

Baucom’s moving company employs more than 100 veterans between its two locations – the Washington, D.C., area and Miami. He’s wants to hire more because his company is booked three to four weeks in advance and he could use the extra help.

“But with the unemployment rate for

veterans dropping, it’s becoming more challenging to hire them,” says Baucom, who also is author of “On the Move: A Marine’s Guide to Entrepreneurial Success.”

“I can’t complain too much, though, because I’m glad so many other employers are seeing the benefits of having veterans in their workforce.”

Baucom says there are several reasons veterans make topnotch employees, including:

Their tenacity Veterans know what perseverance is all about, if for no other reason than they survived boot camp, an arduous challenge that puts a person’s fortitude to the test.

Marines, for example, must prove they can hike 20 miles carrying a fully loaded pack.

Their decisiveness People in the military don’t always have the luxury of taking all day to analyze a

ary

oyees

“I know that Marines go through quite an ordeal in their training and in carrying out their missions.

When we ask them to move a piano, it probably doesn’t seem all that difficult in comparison.”

– Nick Baucom

situation before making a decision. Yes, they must gather data and understand it thoroughly – but they understand the need to do it expediently. “A 90 percent solution now is better than a 100 percent solution later,” Baucom says. “Both in the Marines and in the business world, I’ve found that waiting for that 100 percent solution just leads to paralysis.”

Their initiative Anyone in the military learns to follow orders. But they also understand that there are situations when they need to take action in the absence of orders. If something needs to be done, they don’t have to wait to be told.

“I know that Marines go through quite an ordeal in their training and in carrying out their missions,” Baucom says.

“When we ask them to move a piano, it probably doesn’t seem all that difficult in comparison.”

Nick Baucom is the founder and owner of Two Marines Moving, a moving company that has operations in the Washington, D.C., area and Miami. Baucom, who also is author of “On the Move: A Marine’s Guide to Entrepreneurial Success,” served in the U.S. Marines from 2002 to 2008, and was in Iraq in 2003. www.twomarinesmoving.com

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Joshua Frank, Managing Partner for RSM Federal

Double Your Sales The Power of Communicating Value Through a Call to Action (CTA) You’ve heard it before, “It’s not about what you sell. It’s about the value that your products or services provide.” But what does that mean?

Whether your franchise is commodity or Joshua Frank

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service based, sell sandwiches, cut hair,

or perform disaster restoration, you want

to think in terms of how you qualify and quantify your value.

We’re going to discuss how to communicate value and integrate with what marketers call a Call to Action (CTA). We’re going to discuss this, step by step.

There are two parts to this strategy. The first is understanding how to communicate the value of what you provide. The second is providing part of this value, for free, as your primary CTA. This is then followed

“Whether your franchise is commodity or service based, sell sandwiches, cut hair, or perform disaster restoration, you want to think in terms of how you qualify and quantify your value.” with what we call a “trip-wire” for a second CTA. You never provide more than one CTA at a time. It’s not overly complicated. We’ll use an example so you can tailor it to your franchise. Like anything else in business, it will take some of your time but it’s well worth it.

Inspection Checks Every Home Inspector Should Do For You.” The first paragraph of the document is a part of your sales pitch: “ABC Home Inspection has been

helping new home buyers avoid costly

Let’s consider a Home Inspection franchise. Remember that these techniques and strategies are industry agnostic. No matter what you sell, product or service, you can tailor these strategies to your business.

repairs for more than 20 years. Buying

One target market for home inspection companies is real estate. Home buyers (if they’re smart), will hire someone to inspect their future home. What do most inspection companies do for marketing?

They have a simple website that outlines their services, perhaps how many years they’ve been doing this, and their contact information. Maybe their website is the first you find in a Google search. They may have a dollar or percentage discount for their services. They might say that the discount is only good through the end of the month to create a sense of urgency.

How likely are they to accelerate their sales? Not likely. Their competitors have the same or similar offerings.

after you’ve moved in. 84% of home

Instead, think about the value provided. I want you to think about your industry and the value you provide every day that you may take for granted. There are probably a dozen issues that you’ll consistently find during a home inspection. Three of these are so common, that 90% of the houses have these problems. Now imagine that a prospect visits your website and finds the following:

a new home is an exciting experience and your focus will be on signing the contract and planning your move.

But an inspection that fails to find

all the issues can cost you thousands buyers are surprised with an average

of $3,100 in repairs within 30 days of move-in. So before you hire a home

inspector, quickly look at these 12 most common issues and the 4 checks you can do yourself before you even hire an inspector. We don’t just inspect

your home, we protect against future costs. Since 1996, we’ve saved new

home buyers more than $1 Million

in avoidable repair costs that should

have been identified during the initial inspection and paid for by the seller.

(Author’s note: the numbers and

percentages in this paragraph are not real. Just an example of the type of metrics you want to use.)

Free Download

The title of the free download and the opening paragraph of the article are packed full of numbers, percentages, and ROI. When you list the inspection issues and the 4 checks, continue to describe via value and metrics. It’s not what you sell.

It’s not the cost. It’s not the features. It’s the value you provide.

“12 Most Common Inspection Issues That New Home Buyers Fail to Identify and 4

Now, the second part of the strategy is to provide the document as a CTA. What

good is providing something of value if you have no mechanism to identify which prospects are interested? Before they download, they should be required to enter their first name and email address. That’s it. If your CTA is strong enough, you’ll get people to download. And now you have prospects you can immediately engage.

When the prospect clicks the button for ‘Free Download’ they are taken to a second page where they can download the document. But in addition to the download is a second CTA! It’s proven that if someone is willing to enter their information, they are more likely to do it again. For the home inspection company, perhaps CTA2 is a 20% coupon for services.

Rethink your value. Design a strategy that collects your prospects information.

It’s industry agnostic. How can you differentiate from your competition and accelerate your sales?

Joshua Frank is an author, trainer, and consultant with 25 years in corporate, government, and military organizations.

He is a leading authority on marketing and sales and speaks nationally on business acceleration. He specializes in the development and implementation of techniques and strategies required to position, differentiate, build, and accelerate competitive advantage to wining new business. Josh’s clients have won more than $1.6 Billion in new business since 2011. He is currently Managing Partner for RSM Federal, a business coaching and advisory firm that helps companies accelerate their revenue in the federal and commercial markets. Josh also serves on the board of directors for the St. Louis Veterans Business Resource Center. Featured in hundreds of online and print publications, he holds a Masters in Management of Information Systems and an MBA from the Walker School of Business. www.rsmfederal.com

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Mark L. Rockefeller, CEO, StreetShares

Why Militar Should Become

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ry Veterans Entrepreneurs I’m one of the 2.5 million veterans who served in Iraq or A fghanistan. I’m also an entrepreneur.

And I’m not alone. The men and women of today’s armed services are uniquely positioned to become successful entrepreneurs.

To my fellow veterans: You have what it takes. By nature of your military service, you possess the skills that are required to run your own business. As a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine, you learned the importance of communication, focus, and drive to accomplish the mission at hand. You’ve encountered problems that need to be solved on the fly and you’ve done so instinctively. Recall one of the earliest reports from Operation Enduring Freedom: U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan coordinated precision airstrikes from laptops on horseback—21st Century technology met old-fashioned creativity to get the job done. That’s called entrepreneurship.

“You have what it takes. By nature of your military service, you possess the skills that are required to run your own business.” they can trust your judgment. Use this to confidently build a team and lead them to success.

You have support. Programs like Techstar’s Patriot Bootcamp, The Institute for Veterans and Military Families’ Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, VETtoCEO, and VetsinTech provide valuable training.

Incubators and accelerators like Bunker Labs provide a nurturing environment.

Traditional, stalwart veterans groups, like the American Legion, deploy their substantial resources to support young veteran entrepreneurs. Congress has helped with the Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2015. We veterans now have our own networks of angel investors and venture capitalists for sources of funding.

These resources exist because they believe in your ability to succeed as an entrepreneur.

This isn’t a new concept. There is a rich history of military veterans finding

success in business. A Syracuse University study found that nearly 49.7% of WWII veterans went on to own or run a business.

Now it’s time for our generation to do the same. We have the opportunity to define our legacy through a collective act of “second service” to our country.

By starting and running successful businesses, we become a catalyst for the real, sustained economic growth that our country desperately needs.

In closing, realize that your potential as a leader in the business world is unbounded.

I hope you accept the challenge of entrepreneurship head on. I know you’ll win.

Mark Rockefeller is an entrepreneur, recovering attorney, and military veteran. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of Streetshares. His mission is to fund the next great generation of American business owners.

Follow him @MarkRockefeller.

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You are a leader. You’ve already acted with more poise under pressure than most people do in a lifetime. You’ve shown bravery in the most daunting situations one can face. These experiences will naturally yield positive results in a position of leadership; people around you will seek your guidance and direction, knowing

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Jim Mingey, Founder Founder& &Managing ManagingDirector, Director,VBS’ VBS

Fast Track Plannin for Self-Employme So what if you’re a Veteran who knows that he/she wants to go into business for themselves but maybe is not unsure which industry to select or which franchise in that sector to evaluate?

having at least a 20% Disability Rating.

If you’re qualified for VA benefits one answer may be requesting the “Fast Track” method under the Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment Program to help you decide your direction. Of course you must qualify for benefits including

of a particular business concept. Veterans

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But if you are, a Veteran may opt to use a Fast Track plan for self-employment

and pursue examining feasibility for their franchise ideas.

Fast Track planning allows for the

identification of a specific vocational

small business goal to be deferred. In

other words one can explore the viability and suitability of a franchise while

simultaneously developing the feasibility could also develop their own plan for a

franchise concept. But Fast Track planning may only be used by Veterans when

self-employment is the primary focus of further rehabilitation planning.

Services provided under Fast Track can include: Eligible payments include general education courses to support training requirements in the vocational goal for operating a franchise. Or other courses designed to provide insight into aspects of running a successful business, such as accounting, business management and/or economics. The advantage of Fast Track is that you can move forward on several entrepreneurial directions simultaneously.

Every Fast Track Individual Work & Rehabilitation Plan (IWRP) for a Veteran considering self-employment must include a referral to an advisor without conflicts, capable of providing sound business advice. In franchising that would

“Fast Track planning allows for the identification of a specific vocational small business goal to be deferred…one can explore the viability and suitability of a franchise while simultaneously developing the feasibility of a particular business concept.”

The federal government supports veterans’ efforts to own their own businesses. VA has a special mission to act as an advocate in commercial and federal markets and ensure the Department meets certain goals in purchasing from veteran-owned small businesses. VA uses outreach and offers one-on-one coaching to carry out this mission. An estimated 3 million American veterans own their own businesses. Most could benefit from VA’s enterprising veteran support services.

ng ent

include Franchise Consultants seeking a Franchise Fee from specific transaction(s).

And any Franchise Fee by itself would be an ineligible cost. But referral to a professional business consultant with no conflict, either on a voluntary or contractual basis, to determine feasibility is necessary to complete an IWRP.

VA OSDBU When it comes to supporting Veteran small business aspirations the VA Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) has made great strides in supporting Veterans.

Self-employment presents opportunities and challenges to all potential entrepreneurs. Veterans are no exception.

Services VA offers: • A toll-free call center (1-866-584-2344), where veterans, military personnel or their family members can talk one-onone with a business coach about how to start or expand business; • Information on business management, financing and marketing, as well as small-business conferences and business training opportunities; • Information about legislation affecting veteran-owned business, including existing laws that require federal agencies to increase business opportunities for veterans by setting aside a certain portion of their purchasing dollars for veterans and service-disabled veterans; • Inclusion in a Veteran business database for exposure to both commercial and government business, plus recognition as a verified veteran-owned of servicedisabled veteran-owned small business.

James Mingey

more than 35 years, Jim can relate on a personal level to the needs of the veteran small businessperson, and possesses the practical knowledge to implement his experience in today’s market. Jim participated in the EBV Program at Purdue University, is a mentor at American Corporate Partners, developed the first approved franchise training program for the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Program at Veterans Administration, and was instrumental in forming the first equity fund in the United States exclusively for veteran owned small businesses and franchises: The Veterans Opportunity Fund. Jim intends to keep on ‘advocating’ for veterans in franchising. www.VeteransBusinessServices.us

This way to the VA Entrepreneurial Portal and Franchising Opportunties >>>>> http://va.gov/osdbu/entrepreneur/index.asp VBS Founder and Managing Director, Jim Mingey, is a decorated Vietnam veteran raised from a proud military background. An entrepreneur for

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