Hosted by Jeff Walter, Founder and CEO of LatitudeLearning
When most people think about franchising, they picture the moment an entrepreneur signs an agreement, secures a territory, or opens their doors for the first time. Far fewer people see the layers of analysis, preparation, and decision-making that shape whether that business will succeed. In this episode of the Training Impact Podcast, Jeff Walter sits down with Jared Nassiff, Director of Business Development at Business Alliance, Inc., to uncover what truly happens behind the scenes of franchise development.
Their conversation reveals a thoughtful and structured view of franchising that goes far beyond sales. Jared explains how Business Alliance evaluates franchise concepts, guides candidates, and protects the integrity of the franchising process. For him, helping someone choose a franchise is not a transaction. It is a responsibility to ensure they are stepping into a business that aligns with their goals, skill sets, and financial expectations. It is also a responsibility to ensure franchisors are ready to support the people who join their system. That alignment between franchisee and franchisor, supported by the right systems and training, predicts long-term success more than any marketing message or brochure ever could.
At the heart of Business Alliance’s work is a simple mission. Help people make informed decisions about their future. Jared explains that a franchise consultant is not just a connector of buyers and brands. The consultant plays the role of guide, educator, and sometimes even interpreter. They help candidates understand what they want from business ownership, why they want it, and what types of opportunities truly fit their goals.
This requires far more than reviewing franchise categories or presenting a list of opportunities. It involves unpacking a candidate’s career history, their personal motivations, their financial resources, and the lifestyle they want to create. Some candidates want a business that runs with a full management team. Others want hands-on involvement. Some want a flexible schedule. Others want a growth engine that requires intense focus.
Business Alliance helps candidates discover those preferences before they ever speak with a franchisor. This level of preparation increases the likelihood of a good match and prevents wasted time for both sides. It also supports transparency, which Jared notes is one of the defining values of the organization. A well-informed candidate makes better decisions. A well-prepared franchisor builds stronger relationships. Business Alliance works at the intersection of both realities.
A major theme in the conversation is the idea of readiness. The franchise world is filled with promising concepts. Yet promise alone does not create a successful franchise system. Jared notes that many emerging franchisors underestimate the infrastructure required to scale. They may have a great business model, a strong brand identity, or excellent early results, but franchising requires a different level of organization.
Readiness begins with operational clarity. Do franchisees know exactly how to run the business on day one. Do they know what tools, processes, and workflows they will use. Do they understand how success is measured. Without documented systems, franchisors create unnecessary variability across their network. That variability eventually shows up in customer experience, revenue performance, and franchisee satisfaction.
Readiness also involves training. Selling franchises does not create growth. Supporting franchisees through onboarding, launch, operations, and ongoing development does. Jared highlights that the best franchisors build training pathways that address both the technical and the managerial responsibilities of running the business. They understand that franchisees come from diverse backgrounds and must be equipped to execute the model with confidence.
Finally, readiness extends to market conditions. Some brands scale too quickly or enter markets without analyzing competitive dynamics. Business Alliance evaluates these factors on behalf of candidates. Their goal is to help entrepreneurs understand not only the concept but the environment in which they will operate.
Jeff and Jared agree that the strongest franchise brands share several characteristics, and none of them are shortcuts. These brands communicate clearly. They invest early in operational processes. They maintain predictable workflows and provide consistent support. Most importantly, they understand that franchise success ultimately depends on replication.
In a well-run franchise system, a new operator should be able to follow a documented plan and achieve results that align with brand expectations. This requires a strong training foundation and a culture of continuous improvement. High performing brands maintain a feedback loop between franchisees and the franchisor. They use data to evaluate performance, refine their processes, and adapt to changing market conditions.
Another distinguishing factor is transparency. Top-tier franchisors present realistic views of the business. They clearly explain investment requirements, operational challenges, and performance expectations. When consultants and candidates feel that transparency, trust increases. When trust increases, franchise validation improves.
Jared points out that consultants notice these traits almost immediately. A franchisor with strong communication habits, predictable follow-up, and confidence in their model sends a powerful signal. Consultants want to work with brands that support their franchisees well and treat candidates fairly. Business Alliance reinforces these expectations across its network.
The conversation also explores how the role of the franchise consultant has changed. Years ago, consultants primarily served as matchmakers. They introduced candidates to franchisors and helped guide the process toward an agreement. Today, the role is much broader.
Consultants now help candidates understand who they are as business owners. They analyze personal strengths, leadership styles, and risk tolerance. They help candidates determine whether they want a highly structured business or a more flexible one. They explain operational intensity and management requirements. They guide candidates through financial planning and help them ask better questions during the discovery process.
For franchisors, this shift has raised the bar on preparation. Brands must present themselves clearly, respond promptly, and demonstrate that they have the systems to support a franchisee well beyond the sale. The consultant is not a gatekeeper but an advocate for quality, and Business Alliance trains consultants to protect the interests of both sides.
Throughout the discussion, Jared stresses that training is no longer a back-office function. It is a strategic differentiator that determines whether franchisees reach proficiency quickly, perform consistently, and build long-term equity in the brand.
Training affects onboarding, early wins, operational compliance, and customer experience. It influences franchisee confidence and retention. It shapes how well franchisees understand their financials and manage their teams. It even impacts franchise validation when prospective buyers speak with existing operators.
Brands with strong training programs stand out instantly. Consultants see it. Candidates feel it. And the market rewards it over time. Training programs that include role based learning, operational checklists, technology platforms, and blended education approaches tend to produce higher performing networks.
For franchisors hoping to attract quality candidates through groups like Business Alliance, training is one of the clearest signals of readiness. It shows foresight, discipline, and commitment to franchisee success.
This episode highlights a central truth about franchising. Systems and support determine success as much as the business model itself. Brands that organize their processes, communicate clearly, and invest in franchisee training consistently outperform those that focus only on selling more units. Emerging brands that embrace these principles early position themselves for sustainable growth. Established brands that refine these systems remain competitive in a crowded marketplace.
Jared Nassiff’s insights offer a roadmap for anyone seeking to understand what drives successful franchise expansion. His perspective reinforces that franchising is ultimately about alignment. When franchisors, consultants, and franchisees operate with clarity and shared expectations, the entire system benefits.
Business Alliance Website: https://www.businessallianceinc.com/
Jeff Walter (00:00)
Hi, I’m Jeff Walter and welcome back to the Training Impact podcast. My guest today is Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance Nassif. Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance is the Director of Business Development with the Business Alliance. He helps franchise consultants build their empire with confidence, clarity and collaboration. Welcome to the show, Jared.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (00:17)
Thanks, Jeff. Thanks for having me on. It’s pleasure.
Jeff Walter (00:19)
So as listeners know, first thing I like to do is I always think we’re accidental tourists. How did you end up where you’re at? Let’s hear the journey of how Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance ended up as director of business development at Business Alliance and what is the Business Alliance?
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (00:31)
That’s a great question. Let me tackle that second one first. Business Alliance Incorporated, or short BAI, so I’ll use that language, that acronym a lot, BAI, is the premier resource partner in franchising. So think about it as three legs of a stool. We are a network, we’re a brokerage. And the three legs that make up the brokerage would be largely one, our consultants.
So we have a number of franchise consultants across the country that are helping other people get into franchise ownership, right? The second leg of the stool would be our franchisors slash brands. Okay, so those that have gone through our vetting process to be inside of our portfolio of brands. And then the third leg of the stool would be all of our suppliers and vendors. partner, franchise adjacent partners, whether that’s funding and attorneys, marketing support, whatever that might look like.
All of these relics make up the network as a whole. So BAI is a brokerage, right? Similar to like how in real estate, you have realtors all over the country. They’re usually affiliated with a broker, Dreamax, Keller Williams, Century 21, blah, blah, blah, right? That’s how franchising works. Franchise consulting works as well. Brokers or consultants, I use those words interchangeable, have an affiliation or a membership with our network. So do franchisors and brands, have…
memberships with our network as well, so do suppliers and vendors, right? So that’s kind of what we are at Brokerage that offers a number of different things, which we’ll dive into. But how I got into it is pretty foreign. It’s pretty crazy. I had never really had any kind of concept of franchising outside of just like your most popular burger joints, right? Or didn’t really understand it.
Jeff Walter (02:19)
Right.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (02:21)
Never even thought about it. My actual previous career is not in business ownership or business development. I actually come from a family line and a long career of vocational ministry. So yeah, it’s pretty radical to think about where I’m at now, I genuinely had a previous, yeah, I had a previous career about 12 years in vocational ministry. So I was a pastor at different churches at different sizes in different capacities.
Jeff Walter (02:34)
wow. He preached in the gospel of the franchise model.
Uh-huh.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (02:51)
And that’s what I went to school for. It’s my graduate degree. It’s my master’s is in. I mean, that’s that’s been my my life. I was pastor of a church. So, yeah, theologian, right. But so what happened is genuinely as many people that you would talk to, you hear this a lot in franchising, people say that they fell into franchising, which is pretty rake. And genuinely, that’s what happened to me is I quite literally fell into
Jeff Walter (03:00)
So you’re a theologian.
Yes.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (03:20)
franchising. I actually, my wife and I, even though I’ve been in ministry, I’ve always had kind of an entrepreneurial spirit and I like starting things. I like building things up. And so one of those things was I actually started my own church. I launched a church. I launched a church plant and we moved back to my home city, which is the metropolis of Des Moines, Iowa, to launch a new church plant.
And we did that in January of 2020. Okay. So the month, the first month and a half of the church plant was great. We were meeting people left and right, right. But a month and a half in the world decided that everything’s going to shut down with the pandemic. And that also included all of our financial support, all of our funding support, all of our church partners, ministry partners, families, a lot of them, most of them were just like, Hey, we got to put this on hold. We’re not going to be able to support like we had committed to.
So, but we knew, like, hey, we moved, we’re in a, back to a different city. I have a family, I got little kids. This is my source of income. I can’t just not try this. This is what we believe we’ve been called to do. So let’s do this. And so me and a good friend of mine at the time, we started talking about different businesses we could maybe start or get into or launch that would still allow me time to lead the church. And we looked at a number of different concepts.
long story short, we came across this concept of franchise consulting. Neither one of us had ever heard of it before. And the reason we came across it is because we looked at franchises and we kept, like for some reason it became really hard to find the right franchise. We kept hitting our head against the wall. We kept getting connected with these people called franchise consultants that were like, honestly, the ones we got connected with weren’t very good at their job we realized. Like they were not very helpful. And we thought,
do we need a franchise consultant? Like what, do they even do? So as we researched and into it, we thought we can do that and do it way better than they’re doing. So that’s with that sense of like, I don’t know, pride’s I guess is in the craziness. We started researching different brokerages, came across BAI, fell in love with who they are, what they had to provide. And so we actually like bought into BAI. We actually joined as affiliates and members of the network to launch our own franchise consultancy. And that over the years,
Jeff Walter (05:32)
Uh-huh.
Okay.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (05:41)
the last few years took off pretty well. I was able to then help my associate pastor transition into the lead role. I stepped away to build the franchise consulting consultancy. And that business has gone so well that the brokerage BAI called me this past year and said, hey, I want to bring you on as the director of business development. it was an easy thing. It still gave me time to like, now I can do both things. I can still.
I can work alongside this corporate staff that has done so much for me and I genuinely love and they also it gives me time to still consult for people looking for franchises and I can do it all from my home office which is a huge blessing. So life looks quite a bit differently but quite literally fell into franchising and yeah.
Jeff Walter (06:11)
Right.
Wow,
wow, that is a cool story. is, I mean, you know, to uproot your family, move back to your home city, to plant the church right before the world gets thrown upside down. And then, you know, you got to provide for your family. And also at that time, you know, opportunities were limited because everything’s getting shut down, right? And then to see the need. But I find really,
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (06:36)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (06:55)
I mean, it’s a bunch of really cool, interesting things. I’m sure it was extremely stressful at the time, especially, but what I think is really cool, and it’s the entrepreneur, it’s one of the things I love about entrepreneurship, and then franchising is just like systematic entrepreneurship. As you’re doing this, hey, I’m trying to run a franchise, I’m talking to all these folks, I’m not really getting the kind of guidance or connection. They’re not finding that.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (07:00)
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, right.
Jeff Walter (07:21)
three bedroom, two bath, 1800 square foot, da da da da, that I’m looking for. And you’re like, hey, I think we could do that and we could do a better job. And then you end up with this. That’s just fascinating. That’s so cool. That’s so cool.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (07:24)
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, think it’s
I think it’s a, I, I like, I’m able to share my story with people that are also considering franchise consulting because I get to tell them like, you can be successful at this with literally zero experience. I am a personal testament to that. I didn’t come in with previous business or franchise and experience. I don’t have a degree in that. In fact, it might be about as opposite as you can think of.
Jeff Walter (07:42)
Right.
Right, right.
Yeah, but well, I would say there’s, well, the thing I love about entrepreneurship, I love about franchising, and I think it actually does tie back to your formal degree, is that whole idea of us as free and independent human beings. We’re not slaves to the government or we have a soul and in the Christian,
theology, we all have souls and we’re all children of God, right? And so, and what’s implied in that is we are these independent entities, But we’re tied, we have the divine in us. And to me, I was just having this conversation last night, actually. To me, it’s not a surprise.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (08:24)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (08:50)
that things like the scientific revolution, human rights, and all of free market economies, all of which are predicated on the individual as a free and autonomous being that has value in its own right. It’s not
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (09:08)
Mm. Mm.
Mm-hmm
Jeff Walter (09:13)
surprising to me that that emerged out of the Judeo-Christian ethic. To me, it’s not coincidence that all of that happened, came out of Christendom. And it’s not to say that it… So my point to that is, think it’s the opposite. When you said that, I’m like, oh, it makes complete sense to me.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (09:18)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. It sounds like it. Right.
It sounds at first blush. It’s like ministry. Like how’d you get into business? Like that’s like a, like, it sounds like the opposite, but like what I learned and learned quickly. And I think a big part of why I found success doing this aside from clearly that, I mean, the training that I’ve had to go through the certification, I’ve had to go through education and ongoing support I receive is what is, is.
Jeff Walter (09:41)
Yeah.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (10:01)
half of it, right? That’s such a big part of the success I’ve found. The other half of it I found is that the skills needed for vocational ministry are so easily translatable to business because it’s all about people. Like whether it’s business, ministry, whatever it could be, whatever industry you are in or come from, people are people, you know? Like you’re kind of hitting on it, Jeff. Like we’re just
Jeff Walter (10:11)
Yes.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (10:29)
like at a very pragmatic level, we’re all just kind of voyagers trying to find our way through life. And so when you kind of look at it from a base level like that, business life becomes way more easy to understand. It’s people.
Jeff Walter (10:35)
Yeah.
Yeah, well, it’s people, it’s also that it’s people and it’s also that path of redemption and service. like, well, it’s another thing on the free market that just, you know, that blows me away. like, the only, you know, in a true free market, the only way to be successful as a business is you have to be of service to the other.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (10:55)
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (11:10)
because they have to voluntarily, your customers have to voluntarily agree to part with their money for whatever service or product you’re providing. And the only way somebody would do that is if you’re being of service to them. And at the same time, you are being self-reliant. And I just think it’s a beautiful thing. And I actually think it goes way deep down into the human soul personally. ⁓
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (11:10)
Yeah.
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Jeff, you nailed that. And
I think the idea of being in service to people is literally what drives most of our consultants to be successful in the space is they prioritize the focus on people rather than focusing on prioritizing profit and being in service to them.
That’s the role is how can it be in service to you? So Jeff, I think you’d make a great franchise consultant with what you said. You know, let’s talk later.
Jeff Walter (11:54)
Yeah.
Well,
you know, as soon as I wrap up this business, I’m currently running. ⁓
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (12:03)
There we go.
Yeah. Well, I’ll help you out. It’s good. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (12:06)
Thank you. Sorry,
I’m all over cold. But yeah, no, but I’ve always been, it’s funny you mention that because I think a lot of people get the free market stuff wrong. They think it’s all about profits. And there’s certainly a bunch of folks out there that prioritize profits over everything else. And you get a collection of folks, but, there are also a bunch of people that try and.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (12:24)
Yeah.
Jeff Walter (12:31)
manipulate the system to give them an unfair advantage and or lock people into monopolies and blah, blah. But I’ve always found that if you focus on the service, the profits follow. They’re a lagging indicator. They’re not a leading indicator, right? It’s the result of something, right? And it’s either result of you manipulating the system, which is, know, I don’t particularly care for, or you being of service and creating value.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (12:35)
yeah.
Absolutely. Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Yeah.
Mm hmm.
Yeah.
Jeff Walter (12:58)
And
it’s so cool. And that gets us back to the franchise industry, which I just think is really cool because I’ve always been, well, I’m an entrepreneur, you’re an entrepreneur, but I’ve always been, and I studied entrepreneurship way back when. And what I find fascinating about franchising is it brings that opportunity, that entrepreneurial opportunity to the everyday person.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (13:21)
Hmm.
Jeff Walter (13:22)
because it provides a system of entrepreneurship. To me, it’s a system of entrepreneurship. we were talking about, you know, got these founders that start these franchisers, you know, the franchisers, and they have some idea. They do exactly what you did. They see a need in the marketplace, and they go, I have an idea. And they work, you know, really hard, and they bring that idea to life.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (13:25)
Yep. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (13:47)
And then they decide, okay, I want to scale that idea. And the way to scale it is to give other people an opportunity to participate, to become a franchisor and going from being in the founder business to being in the franchise business. a lot of those folks struggle. the purpose of this podcast, we’re focused on external training. We’re usually doing external training to try and enable the channel, the distribution channels.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (14:00)
Hmm?
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (14:11)
But you have to build the distribution channel in order to enable it. And so one of the things I want to talk about is in that space as a franchise or as an emerging or developing franchise or how do I build out my network? I’ve got this great idea. got maybe three or four corporate-owned stores. Maybe I got a couple of people, half dozen, dozen folks that, you know,
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (14:14)
Right, yeah.
Jeff Walter (14:38)
through sheer force of will and my own personal network, I’ve been able to, I’ve found the converts, right? I’ve found the folks that want to join this mission. ⁓ But now we got to spread the word far and wide and we want to build out 100, 200. And ⁓ how would you suggest somebody like that go out? Because I’ve got the…
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (14:48)
Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (15:03)
best thing since sliced bread going on. got the new mouse trap and I want to bring it to everybody because it would make the world a better place. So how do how do I do that? What would your suggestion be for rules?
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (15:12)
Yeah, that’s a
gosh, that’s a that’s a great question, Jeff. And a loaded one. There is there’s a lot to unpack. And I mean, there’s it depends on who you ask, but there’s somewhere between 4000 and 8000 franchise opportunities worldwide. Right. And they all look slightly different in one way or another. And they each have their own unique story and how they
Jeff Walter (15:19)
you
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (15:38)
Developed their own system, right now Sides set aside that for a second. There’s plenty that are not developed. There’s plenty of franchise opportunities out there It’s a side note that have not done what you’re asking that have gone the that that have not even taken on the heartbeat of what we just talked about the idea of prioritizing people over profit first and Instead they’ve prioritized profit and what they’ve done is they’ll you know They get that there’s a lot of money to be made in franchising
Jeff Walter (16:05)
Right.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (16:06)
And so
they can sell a franchise territory, if can receive a franchise fee, they’re fine with that. And they get royalties on this person’s gross, whether they succeed or not, big deal. That’s kind of the mindset for some of them, right? They’ve gone, hey, I’m gonna come up with a concept, I’m gonna give it a brand name, I’m gonna come up with a logo, some colors, I’m gonna use ChatGPT to create a playbook, and then I’m gonna sell it at a $50,000 mark, right? Just to make.
profit and there’s plenty of bad characters in this space that have gone that route that are genuinely ruining the franchise and industry right what I would say is those that have found success when it comes to developing their system they do from the beginning what franchising is built upon which is partnership right the whole idea of why franchise and works is partnership is you are partnering with
new to be franchisees across the country to then be the soldiers, right? The hands and feet, the ones running that business in that city, that territory. And that’s where they start. So to get into developing your system, you’ve got a great concept. You’ve spent a little bit of time proving this and you’ve built it. How do you then grow and scale it? Well, look at partnerships. What I would do is partner with
franchise resource partners, like which is what BAI does, right? And there’s other ones too that if this is not the right fit, make sure you find one that is a good fit, which is also what franchising is built upon. But those that can help you take very specific steps toward developing, whether that’s finding an attorney that will then help you form and craft out your first draft of a franchise disclosure document, which you need to start selling franchises, right? But you’re also going to need a
certain tools and resources that can become a copy and paste high performing platform for your franchisees. So whatever that might technology, software, anything that looks like, you need some of those things in place. You’re going to need marketing support in place. And so you’re going to need resource partners for how to do that on a national scale and on a local level. So there’s so many elements that are just like, hey, you’ve never done this partner with
networks that have gone before you to do this very thing to help you grow and scale. But I think like a lot of it is pretty practical. A lot of it’s pretty pragmatic on a base level. Here’s the things we need to get in place in order to start selling franchises. Right. The challenge is how do we then find the right people to partner with our system? How do how do we eventually find the future franchisees?
Jeff Walter (18:37)
Mm-hmm.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (18:57)
who are going to develop this thing. Because like everything I just said, all of the tools, all the resources, all the marketing, the right attorneys, like you have everything in place. You’ve got the policies, procedures, you’ve got everything in place. None of it is gonna be any good if you partner with the wrong kind of owners. So the most critical, the most crucial aspect of franchise development comes down to partnering, to partnership with the right people.
Because the right people for one system may not be the right people for another system. That’s just reality. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (19:32)
So as a franchisor, going
back to my, I’m a developing or emerging franchisor, and I want to start ramping up, how do I know who the right people are for my franchise system? How do I figure that out? I hear what you’re saying, and it sounds really good. How do I know who the right people are for my network?
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (19:40)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, that’s a good question. One of the first things that, well, two thoughts come to mind right away. One is, take some time to do that. Take some time to literally write out on a piece of paper who you think is your ideal franchisee. The kinds of people you envision this would be a successful individual. Not just like, yes, include their experience.
But largely that’s a big part of what the franchise system provides is education surrounding those that may not have the experience in this industry. So really spend time thinking about the character of the kind of individual you’re looking for. What does, when you say we’re looking for someone with grit, write out what do you mean by that? What does grit look like to you? And how have they proven that they have grit? And so like, literally spend some time writing out what that
that looks for because then you can take that template, you can take that concept and begin spinning all of your one marketing around this is the ideal person that we’re trying to partner with. But also you know how to communicate that to others who are helping you do that very thing. So for example, as a franchise or if you’re going to partner with franchise consultants, the franchise consultant me, I need to know who you’re looking for. So you should be you need to be very clear with me on the kind of person I need to go find for you.
Jeff Walter (21:11)
Right.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (21:17)
the kind of person I need to qualify for you and how to do that. So be very clear on that. Because I think that’s one of the things that lot of franchisees always fail on is they have a pretty generic persona that they communicate. And for a good reason. I mean, think the tendency is to go, well, I think anybody would work well in our system. It’s like, no, that’s not true. Be clear. think of the movie The Patriot.
Jeff Walter (21:32)
Right.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (21:45)
Aim small, miss small. Be very specific on the kinds of people you are looking for. Because someone that’s like, let’s say you are in the QSR, you’re in the restaurant space. That kind of individual is going to be vastly different than someone in the senior care space. That person needs to be able to have, especially from the first year or so, evenings and weekends available. Therefore, if they have a family of young kids,
might not be the best time for them to invest into a restaurant. So they may not be the best, even though they have a lot of experience previously with it, may not be the best fit for you. So you need to be really clear on the kind of individual you’re looking for so you can communicate that to others like Francesc consultants are gonna help you, but also then you can tailor all of your marketing around that ideal candidate profile.
Jeff Walter (22:14)
Right, right.
Yeah, you I like what you, one of things you said earlier there and you brushed over really quickly and identifying that persona. So many of us would think of like, you know, like say I’m doing a QSR, right? Quick Service Restaurant. you know, I want somebody who’s worked restaurants before. So they understand what this industry is, know, and, but you, you, said something really interesting, which was like, don’t worry so much about the industry experience because
you’re providing them a system within the industry, it’s really more the personality characteristics. So it’s not so much that I need somebody that’s got like, you know, they were, you know, a manager at some other restaurant somewhere. Although that that could be a great candidate, but that’s not the primary thing. It’s like, well, somebody that’s, you know, happy, happy to work nights and weekends, right? Not not I can do it, but somebody that is like, no, that’s the lifestyle I want.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (22:59)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (23:25)
You know, ⁓
my father-in-law, when he retired as a cop, he ended up managing a couple of restaurants. And it was perfect. He loved it. His kids were out of the house. He had his wife. He spent the days with his wife. ⁓ Weekends didn’t mean, had no special appeal to them. he was a very social guy and he loved it. And it was perfect. It was perfect time for him to…
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (23:33)
Yeah. Yep. Good time of life. Good fit. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (23:51)
to manage things and using, know, but it’s, but back to what you’re saying, it’s like, it’s interesting because I haven’t heard that before. It’s like, don’t focus so much on industry experience, which is I think what a lot of us tend to do. You know, I’m in elder care. I want people that understand elder care. I’m in a restaurant. want people not, you know, and focus more on the personality traits. Get very specific on the personality traits, the lifestyle traits.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (23:52)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (24:19)
And
how can they credibly
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (24:22)
Yeah, like
passion is a big thing. The person probably should be passionate about what you’re doing because this is your franchise, therefore I’m assuming since you’re the franchisor, there’s some level of passion that you have for this and you’re partnering with them to do it. Wouldn’t you want to partner with someone who also shares a kindred spirit around what you’re doing? So for example, even in fitness, okay, so if you have a fitness concept.
Jeff Walter (24:36)
Yeah.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (24:50)
Well, if you probably want someone who’s passionate about fitness, great. If they’re not, they’re probably not going to care as well as you would with the success of this business, right? Now, even in fitness though, you have different kinds of people, right? Are you looking for someone that has a passion for fitness, but has a high leadership capacity level that can then manage teams?
Or do you have someone who’s passionate about fitness and wants to be the coach to help people make drastic changes in their life, physically? Those are two different kinds of owners. And so based on what your model is, or do you have a model where you’re looking for that owner operator is going to be the coach, is going to be doing more of the hands-on relationship building, they’re working directly with the customer, or is it going to be more of an indirect relationship to the customer through that system? And so you really got to be clear on who you’re looking for.
Jeff Walter (25:43)
So we’ve got that persona and we’re mixing the personality traits and industry experience. And it all depends on where you’re at and what your franchise and what your concept is. And they’ve got the passion. so, okay, I’ve got that. What are the advantages and disadvantages from say growing it organically?
I’m just gonna put my shingle out there on my website and say, hey, if you’re interested in franchise, me a ring versus engaging or being more aggressive, let’s say, with engaging consultants or brokers or franchise sales associations or area managers.
One would I choose one over the other? know, kind of the organic, there are four or five different ways in which I can grow my network. Why would I pick one over the other?
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (26:32)
Mm hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, well, you shouldn’t. I don’t think I don’t think you should pick one or the other. I think you should have an eclectic approach to building and developing your your your system. I think if you put all your eggs in one basket, if that basket, if you lose the basket here, you’re in a lot of trouble. So I think that there is pro there’s definitely pros and cons to every approach, but you need a pretty
Jeff Walter (26:37)
Okay.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (26:57)
various collection of different approaches to go find the right people. things change all the time. But I think you want to have an investment into where people are, which is social media and Google. Go to where the people are. Back in the day, before the internet, that was the
the town square that was the supermarket, like go to where the people are, be in front of them. Nowadays, that’s all digital. So be where they are, right? A lot of that then also, but have an organic approach, some kind of boots on the ground, in person, in that city, in that locale that you’re trying to reach. How do you connect with people face to face? But then also invest into franchise consultants. Like as I mentioned, they’re all gonna have pros and cons, but.
I think it’s somewhere around still today 74 % or higher of all franchise systems utilize and leverage the resources of a franchise consultant or consultancy to grow their system. And it’s still one of the most popular ways to do it. I most franchises largely use Google. I think the second highest option right now, most popular option is Facebook. And third is franchise consultants.
And why that is before you get to like LinkedIn is after that. What we call portals is after that. like Biz by Cell, Franchise Gators, Franchise Opportunity Network, some of these. Then there’s also like TikTok is down there. X is on there. So like there’s other options, like local marketing is on there. But the reason franchise consultas is so high on that list is because it may not be a high quantity of leads, but the quality of the people that they’re sending you.
And if you’ve done your job well as the franchisor, to partner with them and be clear with them and build relationships with them, if you’ve your job well, then the quality of the people they’re sending you, you’ll learn quickly, is much higher than any other outlet that you can invest into. Because in one way, franchise consultants have already done all of the hard lifting for you. They have one thing as a franchise consultant, what we’ve done is I I found an individual interested in franchise ownership.
I then, I qualified them for ownership and at a certain level. I said, hey, here’s the level that you can invest into wisely. And then because of that, I qualified them. Now I can show them certain brands that best fit who they are, what they’re looking for. And one of those brands may be yours. So I may be very well communicating your brand to them. So I’m already selling in a sense, getting this person bought into your brand because I got to say you are a good fit.
for this brand and here’s why. So now they see that and they go, yeah, I do like that. See what you’re saying? I like that. Let’s get connected. Let’s talk. So now I’ve sent them as a lead or a candidate to you to begin working with to see if they are gonna fit as a future franchisee in your system. Like the quality of that is, the closing rate on those kinds of leads are much higher. Now the investment from your side is gonna be way higher than it would be
any other option. It’s going to be much higher than a Google or a Facebook or whatever it is with your cost per lead. But you at least know you’re going to get a high quality individual that could very well be your next highest performing franchisee.
Jeff Walter (30:11)
Right.
Yeah, you know, it’s interesting as you were saying that, my brain went back to the real estate broker analogy that you brought up. And then I was like, my gosh. I’ve bought and sold a number of homes over the years. when I’ve sold them, generally I’ve used an agent. But the last one I sold, it was a house, not my primary residence.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (30:30)
Mm-hmm, yeah.
Jeff Walter (30:44)
But I decided to do a four sale by owner. And primarily, was during the pandemic and I had adult children and I wanted to kind of expose them to, and they had not bought houses yet. And so we did four sale by owner and my daughters were the agents. And anyway, long story short, I’m comparing trashing the two things and the…
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (30:47)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Jeff Walter (31:12)
The neat thing is net-net we ended up with about what we would have gotten had we ⁓ maybe a little more. Maybe we got a little bit more. If we went with a realtor, we would have made a little less, but we put a ton of time and energy in. And so I think that analogy holds up really, really well in that
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (31:20)
interesting.
Had you gone with the Realtors? Is that what you mean? If you had done that?
Yeah, yeah, right.
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Walter (31:40)
Yeah, we made a couple extra bucks on the house because we did for sale by owner rather than bringing a broker, but we put a ton of energy into it. And so that extra money came at the cost of, that energy could not be applied elsewhere. Now, in selling those homes, that was a conscious decision we made. But thinking about it from a business owner standpoint, that franchise or standpoint, the one limited resource you have is the number of hours in the day.
You know, like no matter who you are, no matter how much money you have, you cannot add time to the day. so the question is, because I was talking to someone else there, another franchise system, they’re kind of growing things more organically. That’s a conscious decision, but I’m listening to what you’re saying. Like, oh, it’s kind of like for sale by owner versus having an agent. And yeah.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (32:09)
That’s right. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (32:29)
That agent said, hey, here’s three people that are highly qualified that want to buy it at X dollars, minus the commissions, blah, blah, blah, blah. This is what we make. And then there was all that time and energy we put in to finally end up with, after looking at a couple of dozen leads, going down to two or three people that were highly qualified and blah, blah, blah, blah. And we made a couple extra bucks, but it came at the cost of all that time and energy. And do you want to invest? Would that time and energy be better invested elsewhere?
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (32:32)
Mm-hmm.
Yep. Yep.
Yeah, yeah, right. And I think one of the biggest difference there between this and that analogy, the biggest difference would be using a consultant is a, you may end up in like paying a higher commission to that consultant who’s seeing the lead upfront, but the payoff is a long-term play. The payoff is you’re getting a franchisee who’s going to be a high performing franchisee in your system for the next three, five, 10 years to come.
Jeff Walter (32:55)
Right? so it’s interesting.
Right.
That’s a really good point because in the real estate analogy, it’s a transactional thing, right? Like once you hit the closing and it checks clear, you’re done. That person can trash the house tomorrow and doesn’t matter, right? But you know, that’s a good point. You also get that quality. So yes.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (33:28)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, your cost per
lead through meta ads may be eight, nine, 10 bucks, right? And you may get a franchisee out of those 200 that you received. And after all those phone calls and everything, great. But I’m gonna tell you the quality that comes, the quality of the kind of lead that comes through from a franchise consultant is always going to outperform, believe, ones that you probably found organically. Not always the case, but I would regularly put my money on the lead that comes through a franchise consultant.
Jeff Walter (33:46)
Bye.
Hey, just speaking of that for a second, have you noticed on the meta leads and the Google leads, we’ve noticed this in our business, just an explosion of robo leads that are just chewing up our ad budget, and for garbage.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (34:22)
Yeah.
Yeah, there’s a lot of fake leads that come through it, unfortunately. And there’s no real way to message Meta and be like, hey, can you reimburse me for these? how that works. To be honest, I’m not the guy. I don’t know why that’s the case, how to really ultimately change and impact that. But yeah, it’s been frustrating.
Jeff Walter (34:30)
Yeah.
Yeah, no, it’s, know, as you’re mentioning all that, I’m like, you know, if you go back five years or so, you know, the quality was whatever the quality was and all that kind of stuff. I think that is actually a better case to be made for what you’re talking about now, because with the advent of AI and the ability of the bots to be so human-like, it’s really hard.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (34:58)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (35:13)
And I know all those guys, all the digital marketing channels that we’re using, all those vendors are trying to tease out humans from bots. And it’s really hard. It’s really hard. I’m just noticing we got just a lot.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (35:23)
Yeah. Right. Yeah. The only thing
I can think of that would help is don’t go straight to the lead form ads. If that’s kind of the route that they’re coming through, but set up another, another step in the process of generating that lead, whether it’s sending them to a landing page and that landing page, have to then schedule a call or something. That would be a way to remove those, those leads rather than, yeah, if that makes sense.
Jeff Walter (35:46)
Oh, interesting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, have the landing page, not have the form. You have to click on something and then it’s that many more steps. Right.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (35:52)
Yeah. Yeah. Just create another step in that funnel to
really weed them out. Something that a bot really can’t do, but a human can. Yeah.
Jeff Walter (36:02)
Yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that’s interesting. to play with that. But yeah, I think it’s interesting. All right, so that’s good way of getting leads, getting the right fit. Any advice in terms of closing that opportunity and then bringing them on board in a productive capacity?
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (36:04)
Yeah. Yeah.
Sorry, say that again.
Jeff Walter (36:23)
Well, you know, we talked about the leads. Once I have somebody that seems like a good fit and any advice for how to get them from a solid, hey, looks like you and I want to do business. Looks like we’re good partners for each other. Anything to go from there to actually, yes, now we are partners and let me make sure I’m equipping you with the tools to be successful. That’s kind of two things, sorry.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (36:25)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, that’s good. It’s
that’s a good question. You need to I mean, there’s so many ways to answer that question, but some of that comes down to just one, the person that’s leading that discovery process for a candidate coming through it, whether it’s through a franchise consultant or any other outsource or lead source. That person needs to be the right fit for your system, right? They need to. And I always like to
Jeff Walter (36:55)
Okay.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (37:15)
I think about the discovery process walking through it, not so much as a sales process, which at the end of the day, very Brax tax level, that’s what it is, right? But there’s different kinds of sales, right? So it’s got to be, I always lean toward far more of a consultative approach to it and determining is this a fit for both parties? Are you as the franchisor and this individual as a potential franchisee, both better served partnering together?
to launch this business in this locale. Or after they’ve gone through the discovery process and you determine they got the money, they got the time, but they’re not the right fit, do you have the ability to go, for the sake of long-term, for the longevity of this system, this is not the right fit, let’s remain friends rather than get married. Do you have that ability? So think having the right kind of person in that kind of role to walk them through this process, but the second thing comes to mind is the process has to be super clear.
If there’s any fuzziness on the steps in the process, the expectations for the individual in the process, that really muddles it. really already, that then heightens their already like pre-existing feelings of fear, anxiety, doubts that will heighten all of those things. So be ultra clear on the process. Cause I think like,
If you’re not, that also is representative of your system as a whole. So like, if you truly believe in what your system provides and if your system is a clear playbook, represent that well with your discovery process. Have clearly defined, laid out steps and expectations for the individual as they walk through it. And if they don’t meet those, let them know, hey, this is not a good fit.
Jeff Walter (38:57)
Yeah. And what I like the analogy used at the beginning of that, which was marriage, right? You it’s a sales thing, just like dating is a sales thing, right? Like, know, dating to be married, right? Like, and the goal is not to tie the knot. The goal is to have a long and fruitful marriage that lasts for decades. And I think…
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (39:02)
Yeah, right. What it is.
Yeah, yes. Yeah, yeah.
Right. Yeah. Now the difference
is typically in a marriage, I don’t want you to start with an exit strategy in mind. In business, that can be different, but yeah.
Jeff Walter (39:29)
Yes, yes,
and in franchisee, yes, you don’t get married once. But I think that’s, I always find analogies and metaphors really useful to help frame things. it goes back to that, the limitation of the real estate metaphor I was using, which you nailed, it’s like, well, no, because it’s like, that’s like, you know,
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (39:35)
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Jeff Walter (39:55)
one night stand at a bar. I’m looking for a spouse here, right? And somebody that’s gonna be with me 10, 20 years down the road and that. So it’s good metaphor. So I see we’re coming up on time. just anything else you wanna share with any folks out there? It’s been a really great discussion. I’ve really enjoyed it.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (39:57)
Yeah. Yep.
That’s right. That’s right. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, generally, Jeff has been has been a pleasure of mine too. So and those those year of your audience who are interested in learning more about a couple of things. One, how to grow their franchise system and by partnering with and leveraging the resources and tools of a network that’s been doing this for over three decades. Please reach out, reach out to me, reach out to you. You can contact us at Business Alliance, Inc. or incorporated. Just Google that.
You can find me at Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance or Jay Nassif is my last name, N-A-S-S-I-F-F at businessallianceinc.com. And let’s start a conversation. But if you’re also on the other side and you’re like, I like the concept. I’d like to learn more about franchise consulting and what that looks like knowing I don’t have any experience. Or even if you do have experience, obviously that can be a great asset, but you you’re wanting to make a change. You’re looking into business ownership or whatever that might look like. You want to be in franchise in some way.
Reach out to us. Let’s talk, as I mentioned, I’m a walking testimony of the kinds of training and support and coaching that our network provides. And you can build not just a wildly successful business, but you can build a life that can give you what you’re longing for. And it’s a beautiful thing when you’re able to achieve that.
Jeff Walter (41:31)
Jared, well, my guest today has been Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance Nassif of the Business Alliance, and that’s Nassif, N-A-S-S-I-F-F. And Jared, J-A-R-E-D, can be found on LinkedIn as well. Jared, thank you so much for your time and all your insights. been great.
Jared Nassiff of Business Alliance (41:39)
Yes.
Yeah,
thanks, Jeff. It was a pleasure to be here.
Jeff Walter (41:50)
All right, to everybody out there, thanks for listening. We appreciate your time and energy.