Franculture February 2014, Vol. 3

Gary Michels Exclusive

Families in Franchising 6

Editor’s Note

FranCulture Magazine

The dangerous waters of family business turn lucrative green and calm when the right systems, branding, culture and clear defined roles are applied.

Mothers and daughters to husband and wife teams to brothers and even multi generation business partners; this is the issue to decide if going into business with your family is right for you.

This particular issue was an absolute delight to piece together. I appreciate all the wonderful brands and people who were willing to truly open up about how they have created a successful family team.

The main take aways for me were making sure you define roles and understand the limits along with the strengths of your family members. By limits I mean the time you should and shouldn’t discuss the business, for example during holidays or for most families when you walk in your home.

Along with the shocking revelations that occur when one of the family members recognize a strength they never even knew existed.

I welcome you to experience and read about these fantastic people who have turned a universally difficult situation into an impactful legacy.

To your success,

Ashley Graham, CEO & Managing Editor O: (775) 298-1899 E: ashley@franculture.com

Publisher: Plum11 Inc.

Managing Editor: Ashley Graham

Special guest brands: Signarama, Penn Station East Coast Subs, Southwestern Consulting, Sanderson PR, CruiseOne 1-800-Flowers and Sun Tan City.

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FranCulture P r o m i s e s

transparency, a consistent unbiase reader experience and innovative decision-making interviews with real-time interactive links for victory-minded professionals.

Families in Franchising 8

FranCulture Contents CONFERENCES

BUILT FOR DEDICATED ENTREPRENEURS 14 14

1-800-Flowers

40 16

Three Generations Strong

FranCulture Magazine 9

Next Issue 3-11: Most Philanthropic Franchises Three generation stories to husband and wives to brother sister teams; this issue has got your family franchise questions covered!

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Guess who!

For the LOVE of

34

Franchising

18

24

How To: Rock Your Family business

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Signarama Sister Brother Team

Families in Franchising 10

Interesting

Links to share

WITH YOUR FRIENDS

These are bold, intriguing, bizzare, educational web pages that we found interesting, yet didn’t exactly fit with this month’s issue;

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Guides & Headlines Use Google Trends to Create Killer and Viral Blog Posts ABOVE: Google’s goal: Provide the leading one-stop shop for advertisers and publishers to buy ads on websites, mobile phones, social networks, apps, and whatever other new media the Internet spawns.

When even the President of the United States is excited about a TV show, you know it’s a full-fledged cultural phenomenon.

The second season of Netflix’s hit show, House of Cards, was released Feb. 14th and are already at levels that HBO and Showtime could only envy—are soaring. qz.com

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Insanely Clever Remodeling Ideas For Your New Home

Cheesecake Factory Keeps Drinking Ruby Tuesday and Red Lobster’s Milkshake Husband gives sick wife lifesaving kidney transplant for Valentine’s Day 8 Must-Dos for Your 2014 Content Marketing Plan

“Life is a book a nd th eir a re thou s a nds of p a g es I ha ve not y et rea d.”

-C assa ndra C la re

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When it comes to

growing and cultivating relationships,

few franchises exemplify both the literal and figurative meaning, as 1-800-Flowers,

Phoenix power couple, and their,

Brad and Cheryl Denham.

In June 2004, Cheryl and Brad, 20 years together now, decided they wanted to own a business as a team. Searching for the rewarding, fittheir-goals, franchise model, they found and joined the 1-800-Flowers family and have continued growing ever since.

E: Brad, what about your wife’s talents really surprised you as you began working together and what about those talents make the business better?

B: I always knew my wife was really organized, detailed,

caring and nurturing.

What surprised me was how strong of a leader she would become by utilizing those strengths. Her talents have really made our company an enjoyable and wellrun place for people to work.

The staff really loves her but everyone knows she’s the boss.

C: Brad, is my best friend and mentor. My husband has been in the business world

and owned other businesses in the past; he is a visionary and one of the smartest guys I know …and I’m not saying that just because he’s my husband.

The Denham’s 13,000 square foot facility has proven to be the perfect nursery to grow the family bond and build a profitable business.

Cheryl and Brad just received a franchise award for most profitable store, which they attribute to the relationships they nurture within and

outside their business.

Our editorial team dove into how it all works and who takes on what in the business? What are the roles for such a big, bountiful family run store front and design center?

Cheryl gave us the scope and laid it all out, “I manage the day to day operations, Brad runs the branding and marketing arm, our 28 year old daughter manages the design center of our retail store, our 19 year old son works here full time while taking a full course load in

collage, and Brad’s brother and father are also a huge piece of our team; it is truly a family shop.”

When it comes to conventions the whole team comes along for a working, family trip.“Sure taking everyone to the convention is expensive but it is an investment in relationships” Cheryl pointed this out when asked about attending conventions.

The fact that the Denhams’ are the top performers is proof that their investment is paying off both personally and

1-800-FLOWERS.COM Chairman/CEO Jim McCann and Cheryl Denham

professionally!

We wish them the best and can’t wait to see what happens in their future.

Families in Franchising

THREE GENERATIONS STRONG

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CruiseOne Franchisee, Debby Hughes works with her mother, Bonnie Waddington, and her daughter, Stephanie Hughes.

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B

onnie, Debby and Stephanie back each other up as a three-generation franchisee team.

Debby runs her office and is the actual owner, operator of the franchise, while her daughter, Stephanie supports the office.

When it comes to vacations, they are there for one another.

Bonnie mans the office while Debby travels or vise versa.

We spoke with them after a rare all together vacation to Super Bowl XLVIII, (pictured below). “It was really nice to just go and be a family having

“ B e w a r e o f 1 0 0 % b u s i n e s s t a l k . ” -Bonnie “Stephanie impresses me everyday.

Since we started this business her ability to take a scribble on a napkin I give her and turn it into something is incredible. She is my voice of reason.”

Debby and her mother, Bonnie live an hour away from each other and split clients between the two of them.

“Everyone has a contract, clear lines are set and from there it really is our ability to work together to build this business,” clarifies Debby.

“Being able to sit back and see what Debby has been able to do with our CruiseOne business is great. I am so proud of how Debby has been able to do so much, so well.” Bonnie adds with a humbled, proud tone.

Bonnie has been in the business since the beginning to back Debby up. They haven’t had to deal with the competitive spirit in a negative way, which has allowed them to thrive and be a success story within the franchise model.

“What greater aspiration

and challenges are there for a mother, then the hope of raising a great daughter?”-Rose Kennedy

fun,” all three of them say.

Main advice from these three power ladies is, beware of 100% business talk. Talking about work, easily slips into the conversation around the dinner table, calling each other about work and being all work.

You have to work at being a family out side of it or your cherished strong bond, could begin to crumble.

From Stephanie’s view of watching her mom and grandma she has seen first hand that running a business is very hard work. She’s learned that is takes a strong team and the sacrifice can be big, but it does pay off.

Photo Credit: Alina Vincent

Gary Michels

Trainer, Speaker, Author & Coach

FranCulture Magazine

A

s the IFA Convention in New Orleans fast approaches, the antsy excitement of meeting existing and new friends, prospects, and vendors, etc. kicks in. A big take away from the annual convention is the vast amount of training and support.

Above: Gary playing at Google between training sessions.

This year a new and upcoming supplier/educator, in particular, caught our eye.

Gary Michels, Co-Founder of Southwestern Consulting, will be joining the celebration and hosting two training sessions.

When we started looking into Michels we discovered he offered an incredible resume and mindset to boot!

From Google to Budget Blinds, (Entrepreneur Magazine’ s #1 window coverings franchise), Wells Fargo to Farmers and hundreds

Above: Gary Michels training from Budget Blinds Conference

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IFA Speaker Spotlight 20

“Gary cares about the people he works

with as do I. He has techniques that are all about helping people. ”

of companies in between, Southwestern Consulting is there within the black ink of P&L’s and in their customers world-class sales strategies.

Calling customers was our next step to check in on results and what we found was a whole new type of salesmanship testimonial, over and over.

Michels started out working as a door to door salesman while he was in college…

yes he was the guy who rang your door bell and talked

you into buying encyclopedias, books, magazines etc., but we won’t hold that against him.

I personally couldn’t think of any grittier sales training. then repeatedly getting the door slammed in your face, coming back for more AND becoming a “Gary cares about consistently topearning sales pro the people he works with as do I. by doing that; He has techniques Michels mastered it! that are all about helping people.

He has increased From those days in college to today my percentage he has developed gaining of new clients, increased into a national trainer, best my office income selling author, and works with a large group of our keynote speaker and coach. whole company.”

How many people am I helping, is the end result Michels works on with his clients along with, what does that do for your income?

Followed up by the powerful question, what were the best methods that invigorated an impact and helped my customers? (result questions offered

by Peter Murphy as part of our interview)

“We just clicked.”

States current coaching client of Michels, Peter Murphy of American Prosperity Group, while speaking with me.

Having developed salespeople since 1885, the Southwestern Company established the vision in 2001 to create a Sales Performance Practice to deliver sustainable sales results globally.

Southwestern Consulting, a Southwestern Company, consists of 5 specialist practices that can help support clients in ever aspect of sales, including Sales Consulting, Sales Coaching, Sales Leadership, Sales Training Seminars, Sales Management Training, Keynote Speakers and Public Sales Conferences. All follow the same principles and ethics, taught by Southwestern Company, relating to long term sales growth.

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10 Essential Strategies (5 are listed, for the full 10: click here)

1

Start Out Strong

Let people know early in the presentation that a big part of your client base comes from and is dependent upon receiving referrals.

In

order to receive referrals, you have to ask. While some clients will always pass your name onto others, in most cases you’ll need to ask the referral to grow your business. Here are some tips on asking for and receiving referrals.

Continue letting them know that in the end of the presentation, if they are comfortable enough to consider working with you, then you are going to ask them who else they know who might also need the services you provide.

IFA Speaker Spotlight 22

2

.Compensate…

For the Good Stuff

Many sales reps will offer some sort of bonus, gift, or discount for every referral they get or for every referral who ends up becoming a client.

When I, (Michels) worked at Great American Opportunities, the fundraising company, I would give people a $25 shopping spree from our catalogs (which only cost me $7.50) for every qualified referral, and a $100 shopping spree from our catalogs (which only cost me about $30) for every referral they gave me who became an eventual client.

3

Follow Up

Some salespeople call their new and existing clients several times after a sale. Each call has a purpose.

The first may be to check on their satisfaction of product so far and answer any questions they may have. The second will be to share information about a new product that just came out. The third may be to ask for the names of friends, co-workers, or associates who may also be interested in the product or service.

Realize that the more clients hear from you, the more likely they are to help you find others to work with, especially if they are happy with you.

The key is to only reward qualified Are You My referrals. These Mother? are referrals your client knows, and Another way they wouldn’t to ask for referrals mind putting in a is to use the good word for you. following wording:

4

Connect with Gary by clicking the links to your left Right: Gary Michels and his daughter, Mackenzie

FC FAV!

“Jan, if you were my mother and you knew that referrals were essential to my success, who could you think of that might benefit from what I offer?”

This approach works well with people you are very comfortable with. And usually when you say, “If you were my mother,” or “If you were my father,” the other person laughs. When you can get someone to laugh, you put the person at ease, which makes getting referrals so much easier.

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Are Up For Helping Me Reach This Big Goal?

Finally, a great way to ask for referrals is by saying, “I have set a very high goal for myself this year, and pounding the pavement and working the phones alone will not help me get there. I must get several referrals from my friends and clients to help me hit my lofty goal.

Everybody loves to help; let them!

FranCulture Magazine

At

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the end of the day or at the end of a keynote speech, it all comes down to results!

We found by talking to one on one clients, that results from Southwestern’s systems did get results; what about keynote speeches?

We had the pleasure of interviewing, Jonathan Thiessen of Home Franchise Concepts which owns, Budget Blinds who has hired Gary Michels and the Southwestern team consistently in the past and have over 30 more regional bookings coming up.

When I asked, Jonathan specifically about results he told us, “Each Gary Michels seminar contains three dynamics that are essential for any successful motivational session. He identifies a common challenge, creates the desire for positive change, and provides tools that provide the necessary shortterm hook but longterm results.

Jonathan Thiessen V.P. of Franchise Licensing at Home Franchise Concepts, Inc Lead the team of fantastic franchise development professionals as HFC, Inc continues to expand throughout North America with the Budget Blinds and Tailored Living

His enthusiasm is infectious but his sessions don’t ever feel like there is more sizzle than steak.

The immediate feedback from Gary’s sessions are always extremely positive,[from Budget Blind’s franchisees], but we thrill in hearing about the consistent, bottom-line results that Gary’s principals.

60 Day Challenge Videos & Book

Join Gary Michels at the IFA Conference February 22nd25th

Ref: http://blog.dlvr.it/2013/11/3-steps-to-recharge-your-employees

Families in Franchising 24

Interviewee: Dawn Tirtter-Bent, Business Partner and Brother Michael Ziccardi Franchise: Signarama, Largest Franchised Sign Company Family Set Up: Brother Sister Team with Kids, Started as Father Daughter

“ No

matter what ha ppens we always come back to the table in the morning . ” -Da wn

As

Dawn enjoyed the sand on her toes and wind in her hair on a Floridia beach we dove into the ins’ and outs’ of having a very intermingled family business.

E: What happens at family occasions? Do you discuss work, leave it at the office; what works for you?

D: We’re an Italian and Greek family so when it comes to talking about business we follow the Godfather rule of, don’t discuss business at the table.

Our business is always on our minds, we’re always selling and with our kids all going to the same school our lives are constantly intermixed.

Dawn and Michael split up the roles of the company with Michael managing

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the outside sales and project management while Dawn focuses on the storefront day to day and department coordination.

E: Do you have a primary management team or are you both working in the business?

D: We have leaders within certain departments but the day to day and overall success of the business is up to us.

Quick Breakdown: Dawn Tiritter-Bent knew she wanted to be a business owner from a young age. In 1988, when she was only 21 years old, Bent decided to leverage her education and experience as a graphic designer with a computer software company and become her own boss by opening Signarama with her brother Michael Ziccardi.

Twenty-five years later, the siblings’ sign business at 403 Oakwood Road in Huntington Station, NY is still going strong.

Families in Franchising 26

Our customers want their relationships with Michael and I. Our Signarama businesss relationship based organization and we need to keep our hands on the helm of the business.

shareholder.The reason behind that if the benefits of having women owned business and the different projects we can bid on because of that.

We’ve noticed a key questions from our readers on this subject is, how do you divide up the business? Who owns what, is it 50/50?

E: How do you handle the tactical and long term strategic planning of the business? Is that done by the two of you, do you go to a retreat, hire an outside facilitator; how does that work for you?

E: Dawn how do you and Michael handle the shares of the company?

D: My background is in management so the planning is more of what I do.

D: I am the majority

I work with our people

to define what our next milestones are.

Every Monday we,(the employees and Dawn), have a meeting at the office to discuss projects, future goals, etc.

Sometimes before those meetings, Michael and I will discuss what the direction is, concerns or anything like that but I lead it. Michael’s talents are really going out, meeting, greeting and gaining new projects.

E: Do you either or both of you have children?

FranCulture Magazine From there my brother and I can enjoy the fruits of our labor.

E: What are the expectations you have of the kids when it comes to running the business?

D: I’m a firm believer in working from the bottom up. Michael and I can run all aspects of our business and the kids will have to do the same.

My son, Paul is getting a taste now of what it takes to run this business from sales, to building to designing to installing.

To be a good leader you have to learn how to play

D: Yes, 7 all together.

Michael has 4 little ones, age 13 and under. I have 3 who are older; my oldest, Paul who’s in college now will be 19, and started working at the store when he was 14.

E: With 7 kids heading into their own of what they want to do, are you planning on eventually letting them

run the business?

D: We’re definitely planning for our next generation.

Some of the children will want to do it and others won’t but once we can trust that they know the business, Michael and I will able to step aside and allow them to run the day to

multiple positions and the kids who lead the business in the future need to understand that.

“We hung in there even when starvation was right around the corner.” Dawn talks about the early days and how she helps new franchisees today. “The franchise offers us a great team and we enjoy being there for the next generation of stores.”

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Families in Franchising 28

We Are Family!

(a kick-ass)

Family-owned businesses account for 9 0 % of all businesses in the U.S. (large and small) and continue to be a powerful force.

T

he day-today job of a family business owner can easily be compromised and complicated by relatives who need to be reconciled to working together.

These challenges are very real – emotions can interfere with sound business decisions; unskilled familymembers can soon turn into “hangers-on�, and growth can be compromised by relatives who might be reluctant to further invest

to further invest in your business or take-over when you move on.

If you run a family business, read on for some tips for managing the particularly unique challenges you face.

1

In Business, Business Comes First

First things first, this is business and the success of that business is paramount, regardless of your family politics or ties.

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If you manage a family-business not only do you need to be a strong manager you need to be thick-skinned and tough enough to make decisions and stick to them.

In the workplace, decisions must be objective, not personal; the boss/employee relationship must be accepted by all family members; every job description must be clear and understood; and work life and home life problems should not overlap.

2

Consider Hiring a NonFamily Member to Oversee

If other family members report to you, be clear about their lines of authority or consider hiring a non-family member to assume a position of authority so that you are free to work on strategy, future plans and growth, while that person guides dayto-day operations.

3

Dealing with Family Discord

Families will always bicker, but the challenge is not to let the bickering from interfering with the business and rub-off on nonfamily employees who might be tempted to use the same emotional appeal to gain position or get their own way – because they’ve seen your family succeed at it.

the fact that you will need to cultivate them into a role to avoid them causing problems down the line.

Try to provide special training under the mentorship of a nonfamily member or consider letting that person spend two weeks embedded in different areas of the business so that you can identify skills and interests and see opportunities for where you might permanently place them.

5

If you find yourself stuck with a difficult family employee with whom you can’t reconcile yourself, consider moving them into a new line of work or encourage them to transfer to another branch.

4

Dealing with the Family “HangerOn”

You know the one – the relative who needs a job badly, but really doesn’t exhibit any true aptitude or useable talent! If you really must hire that person, accept

Preparing the Next Generation

Many family businesses remain so for years if not decades, but how do you ensure that the next generation continues to grow your business and serve your loyal customers when you come to retire or move-on?

The best time to plan for succession is well in advance!

As invested family members, consider these questions:

FranCulture Magazine

What are your family goals for the future?

What are the plans of the next generation?

Who is interested in staying in business and leading the way?

Develop a plan to groom and mentor the future leader(s) of your business.

Set a goal for the transition to begin, take it slowly so that you can still have a part-time hand in your business and provide on-the-job mentoring, without being too much of a micromanager.

You’ll also need to plan the financial and legal steps of transferring business ownership. SBA offers guidance on the steps you’ll need to following in this guide to Exiting a Business. ref: www.sbc.gov

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Discover More

Families in Franchising 34

5

Distinctively

Fabulous Date Ideas

What are we going to do? Where should we go?

Dinner and a movie I guess...No DON’T Pick one or all five and capture one-on-one time in a refreshing way.

G

o beyond the mediocre, bland, same ole because that isn’t you!

Before we get into date ideas remember the pre-game.

During the week or a few days before your date find a way to surprise each other.

Pre-game ideas: Put a note in their socks Write a message on the mirror Arrange the refriderator for a special welcome home note Or go all out and put an old fashion love letter or poem in a wine bottle and leave it near a candle in a darkened room.

Living Room Camp Out Break out the tent, turn out the lights, snuggle into your sleeping bag and

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-

Video Date

Take turns asking each other questions on camera. This doubles as a great momento for your kids, loved ones and

yourselves to look back on.

Question Examples: What was your home town like?

What were you like in grade school, junior high and high school?

What are some of your fondest memories from childhood.

List 4 dreams, (2 practical and 2 fun).

How did you meet?

How do you get through the hard times?

Photo Safari

Bring a digital camara and go on a “photo safari.”

Drive/walk around

town, capturing the places where you have fond memories and places or signs that make you laugh.

Childhood Throwback

Break out the board games, put on an old school cartoon or even dust off your Atari/Nintendo console for a silly crackerjack evening.

Add a festive moment by cooking a beloved childhood treat together. eatiiste Bus, omnis dolupis

Powerful Color

Get out your,

why can’t you put your dishes away,

aggression and turn up your adventurous

spirit with a trip to your local paintbal course or laser tag arcade.

You will laugh harder then you have in years! cartoon or even

Families in Franchising 36

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Beloved Vixen of PR,

Rhonda Sanderson Sanderson & Associates, Ltd. was founded in 1984 by Rhonda Sanderson.

Since then Sanderson and her staff have been fulfilling the publicity needs of franchise systems nationwide and introducing new products for companies that wish to develop a national profile.

FranCulture Magazine

For the

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LOVE of

Franchising Every company has a story to tell and some of the biggest names owe their story being known, to the right audience, to Sanderson PR.

What has franchising done for you personally?

Well, it clearly has allowed me to make good living.

In the ‘80s and 90s PR was the one tool that built franchises.

I mean it was the catalyst for every major brand you can think of back then. I have had wonderful clients over the years and still have 2 clients that have been with us for 24 years!

Rhonda, you mentioned you went to your first IFA Convention in 1983, since

then what was/is the most shocking positive or negative result you experienced or are still experiencing? *

Back then it was still a real boy’s club. It was very hard as an assertive, ambitious woman to be accepted.

I was frequently marginalized and endured a lot of sexual harassment which back then was known as,

Sanderson and daughter, Samantha Amato

“handling men with bad behavior”. I worked hard to gain their respect and eventually the affection of some of the biggest naysayers.

Where do you see the future of franchising going? *

service needs to be wanted, by the masses and you have to communicate.

I am frequently shocked by how often we find that several people, at the corporate level, have no idea what each other are doing.

I think there will always be franchises that thrive.

Your model has to be solid, your product or

Sanderson’s bulldog trio

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CONFERENCES

BUILT FOR

DEDICATED ENTREPRENEURS

It’s important to schedule time to get out of the office and think strategically about your role, the direction you’re heading, and the improvements you can make to develop yourself and add value to your company. These are the top conferences that do just that, according to Forbes.com

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