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- Day 1 Of Acquiring A Franchise
Last week we acquired two existing franchise locations located in Allentown, PA. We now have 32 locations doing $40M per year
Here's what day one looks like and how we make the ownership change as smooth as possible for the employees:
We've perfected this playbook by acquiring 24 locations since 2016.
Picture this: you've worked for a small local franchisee for 1, 5, 10, or 20 years. The owner has been acting weird for the last few days. They are clearing out old paperwork, throwing out random stuff, and delaying buying new equipment.
They call a team meeting on Monday morning. With tear-filled eyes, they announce:
"I want to thank you guys for 15 great years. I'm retiring & sold the shop to Brian & Chris Beers. They will take good care of you."
You are scared & questions race through your head:
Do I still have a job?
Will I still get paid for my vacation next week?
Will my family still have health insurance?
Are they going to change everything?
Can I trust them?
Our team comes rolling in 5 minutes after breaking the news. It's me, my brother, our COO & District Manager. We gather everyone around for a second meeting, and I give the same speech I've given 24 times.
The Speech
Start with a brief history:
Our family has been in this business for 45 years
Chris and I took it over and grew it from 6 to 32
We own X, Y, Z, neighboring shops
We're now the 4th largest owner in the system
Pivot to address their fears:
Everyone will be offered a job at the same pay rate
We have health insurance, 401k, PTO
If you had X weeks vacation with the seller, you have X weeks vacation with us
Shift to compensation:
We have a rewarding bonus plan
The more you produce, the more you will earn
Close with our investment to grow the business:
Marketing to increase traffic
New equipment to get jobs done faster
Technical & sales training
More staff to handle the increased work
Transition Checklist
We then break apart and everyone gets back to work. Our team starts the transition checklist, including installing the new credit card machines, getting LogMeIn set up on all the computers, and having the point-of-sale tech support connect the computers to our central system.
Our back office team gets the green light to set up new charge accounts with all our parts vendors (Autozone, Advance, etc.). We've been burned by chatty salespeople who pre-maturely tell the shop managers about the acquisition.
We use a Clickup template to track the status of all other transition items that include:
Creating new Slack channels and email accounts for shops
Utilities, Trash, Internet, Phone, Security, Uniforms,
10+ vendor accounts, inventory stocking model
Payroll, Quickbooks, Insurance, Local U&Os, etc.
What Changes Do We Make?
Any franchise can be a gold mine if you get the right team following the right process. We give everyone a chance to get on board. Many of them do and crush it. Some of them don't make it.
We use Slack for communication
We track KPIs using custom-built dashboards
We monitor inbound phone calls to make sure we're turning rings into visits
We bring 10X more energy than the previous owner
Our results speak for themselves. On average, we get a 30% sales increase in the first 12 months following an acquisition.
People hate change. The smoother we can make the transition, the better for everyone. We need them just as much as they need us
I Love Franchising
It's one of the best under-the-radar strategies for generating significant income & wealth. But it's not for everyone. You have to be great at training your team to follow a process
My team helps people find the best franchise based on their goals, budget, skills & location. If you are serious about getting started click here to book a call.
It costs you nothing to work with us.
Let's Connect
I have a podcast, Business with Beers, where I interview franchisors, franchisees, & do deep dives into specific topics
Cheers!