Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Create wealth through Franchising. I'm your host, Kim Daly.
Whether you're a CEO, a military vet, a real estate investor, or simply in career transition and ready to take ownership of your future, with each episode, you're gonna learn valuable insights and hear inspiring stories from within the franchise industry.
On that note, my guest stories are their own. And as a franchise consultant, I do not make personal brand endorsements or earnings claims, but I do educate, motivate, and inspire dreams.
Now onto the show.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Welcome back to Create wealth through Franchising podcast and Kim Daily tv. In my studio today, a new friend from Canada. Her name is Julie Entwistle and she is a focal point franchisee here to share her story of transformation from her own journey from W2 into becoming a franchisee. But also, we're going to talk a little bit about the importance of having a strategic plan when you're a business owner. Julie, welcome to the studio of Kim Daly, dv.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: Thank you. Happy to be here.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Kim, I'm so excited to meet you. So let's start with your story. Like, my listeners love to find out, like, what led you to want to become a franchisee? And of all things, why coaching?
[00:01:27] Speaker C: Well, I'll start by saying I come from a franchise family. I am one of the Swire family who brought Kentucky Fried Chicken to Canada in the 1960s.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: So believe that we have Kentucky Fried Chicken royalty here, guys. Hey, gals.
[00:01:46] Speaker C: Long list of franchisees in my family. But anyway, my professional career, I started in healthcare as an occupational therapist, and I worked in that role for 20 years. I built a private practice here in Ontario, and as I was looking to develop a succession plan away from that practice, I was like, what's my next move? What do I want to do? And so I found focal point through a franchise broker. And this was 2018, and I approached them and I said, I'm selling my business. I think, you know, with my business experience, my MBA and my health care background, I think coaching is a great fit for me. And they said, absolutely. But at the time when I transitioned my business, as a lot of owners find it was important for me to go with it for a while and to transition my team, transition my intellectual property. Then, of course, Covid hit. So I was working in a health care business during COVID Fast forward to 2022 and I had taken on a different role and had a sudden job loss, which was very unexpected for me around the fact that I'd always been an entrepreneur and had never really put my career in the hands of anybody. And so with this job loss, I went back to Focal Point, like, a week later, and I said, okay, I'm here. Sell me a franchise. And because Focal Point are just really great people, they're like, no, we're not selling you a franchise. They said, you just had a traumatic experience, and you need to sit with that, and you need to just process what's happened. And if you still want to buy a franchise from us in September, come back and we'll sell you one then. So I just thought that was so, like, noble, and there was so much integrity behind that conversation that I spent six months really figuring myself out. And I went back to them in September 2022, and I said, no, this is the right fit for me. That's when I started my journey here. So it's a bit of a long answer to your short question, Kim, but that is how I arrived at Focal.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: Point is an awesome story. I think my followers love to hear all the twists and turns because it's never a straight shot, especially to franchising. And I, too, love what you said about Focal Point because I think there's a misnomer out there that, you know, franchisors are just in it to sell a franchise. And in my experience, in 22 years of being a franchise consultant, I would say nothing could be further from the truth. More people get turned down, right, Than people expect. And when it happens to candidates, they're like.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: They're shocked.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: And I'm like, well, we tell you, this is a mutual evaluation process. So your comment about them just sort of being like, no, sit with that. Take some time, really think this through, because it's a big decision just speaks more to that. So thanks for sharing that part of the story. Now you moved into business coaching, so do you focus on healthcare clients?
[00:04:27] Speaker C: I have a lot of healthcare clients, but the industry I worked in here in Ontario was. It was a medical legal industry. So I did a lot of work with lawyers, other healthcare professionals, including occupational therapists, but the whole gamut of Ally Health. So when I started this franchise and I made it public that this is what I was doing, I was fortunate to have a really large community. People who had watched me in my other career, and a lot of them were trying to do what I had done, right, build a business, scale a business and sell a business, especially in a very difficult industry. So a lot of them showed up and said, hey, like, can you teach me to do what you did? But in the background, you know, like, with a lot of people in the coaching space, word of mouth becomes a very valuable source of work. So as I started working with them, all of a sudden I had, you know, their entrepreneurial husbands were signing up. Or I had some people in my Champions Network who had known me and known what I had done, and they were working in different businesses, but they were still entrepreneurs and we still had the same challenges in business that I had had. So it ended up being about a 50, 50 split between healthcare and the legal profession, and then also other people just trying to do good by their business.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Okay, I have two questions for you. What's a Champions Network?
[00:05:37] Speaker C: The people that know you and love you and trust you.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: I never heard that term.
[00:05:40] Speaker A: I was wondering if that's what it.
[00:05:42] Speaker B: Was, but I love that term. Okay, do you out there have a Champions Network? Start making a list of those people who already know, love and trust you. Actually, I always say that too. Like, when people are like, what's the first thing I should be doing between like signing my franchise agreement and getting going? And I say, make a list of a hundred people who already know, like, and trust you. You can reach out and just be like, hey, this is what I'm doing just to start talking about it. Developing your elevator pitch with people who already know, love and trust you. Right. So you're not feeling like you're putting yourself out there too much. And just watch like, kind of how planting these seeds will start to come back to you in ways you didn't even expect. Right. And so, and it helps you and it also gets the word out there about what you're doing. So love that. Okay. The other question I had was, okay, so let's go back to your roots in Kentucky Fried Chicken. So did you ever work in the restaurant? And I guess it's a two part question and is any of your coaching mindset or any of the skills you've developed or thought about, you know, bringing to other owners as a result of what you learned from your family? Like, I think one of the hardest businesses there is, which is food for them.
[00:06:49] Speaker C: I think Starting in the 60s, 70s, 80s, food really wasn't as hard as it is now, I'll say that, but absolutely. I remember as a kid I would help my dad sweep and clean out stores before they would open. And when I turned 13, my dad's like, Happy 13th. Now you get to work in the stores. I was like, great. So I had my standard shifts every weekend where I had my little uniform and I was cooking chicken and selling chicken and cleaning toilets and it was Actually kind of hard. But you know, it's interesting working for the family for sure, and being a family franchise and some element, you have to work harder even because people expect you to kind of grow to be easy. So I worked in the stores for almost 10 years actually even through university. In the summers I'd help my dad at different stores and drive throughs came in and all this exciting stuff was going on. And then my dad was looking to succession plan the family business. Then he approached both my brother and I and said, look, is this something you want to take on? And at the time I had two degrees in health and I said, well dad, unless we're getting some warm chicken salad, I don't think this really works with my own chicken.
And my brother was already spending most of his time, you know, on golf courses and in box seats at different sports events to think that he didn't want to work as hard as an entrepreneur after work. So we both said no. And my dad ended up selling the family business, which in hindsight was a great decision because I think a lot has changed in the fast food industry and it was a good time for them to exit.
[00:08:12] Speaker B: So yeah, it's definitely not an easy way to create wealth, that's for sure. Even though like the vast majority of people who reach out to me, you know, wanting to explore a franchise believe that it will be something in food. Mostly just because people are not aware that there are a lot of other options like business coaching that could be a franchise. Because as consumers we know the food and we know the retail, you know, so. But we don't think about all these especially non brick and mortar businesses that are, I think, the sweet spot in franchising. So on that note, that's a great introduction. So let's talk about the topic that you love to talk about with business owners, which is the importance of a strategic plan. So take us from the beginning. What is a strategic plan? Why is it so important? And then we'll talk about how do we get one going.
[00:08:59] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean a lot of people come to the coaching conversation, they just, they feel uncomfortable, something isn't sitting right and a lot of them really struggle to articulate it. Some like to use, you know, the imposter syndrome. I'm not sure I really believe in that. Beyond. I just see people lacking business confidence. Right. We're accidental entrepreneurs. A lot of us just kind of figure stuff out, but we don't really have the education, training that makes us feel comfortable and confident in what we know and what we're doing. So they sort of show up vulnerable. And for me, you know, coaching clients need to have that self awareness to say, I don't really feel like I know what I'm doing. And when you start feeding other people's families, you know, that becomes a pretty serious thing. You don't really want to make it up and have people relying on you. So often the conversation starts with, well, like, where do you want to go? Like, what do you want this to look like? And people really struggle to articulate that they're working more than they want to work. Maybe the profitability is not where they thought it should be or could be they're having leadership or staffing issues. They need to diversify. Like, there's a host of problems we all encounter as business owners, but they don't know how to focus themselves. So being an occupational therapist really helps me because I'm very skilled at learning about behavior and how people show up every day. But we get up in the morning, we show up at our desk, and we just do the same thing every day. And until you have that map or that compass that says, okay, but like, steer the ship this way, you know, pick those three to five things that you can do every day that keep you heading in that direction instead of showing up. Opening up your inbox, your phone, your whatever, and you're drinking from the fire, right? And all of a sudden it's 5:00, 6:00, you got to get the kids wherever you're crashing into bed. You wake up the next day and it's a rinse and repeat. So the strategic plan to kind of stop you in your tracks and say, okay, like let's put some intention behind this. Show up every day with a plan. And as long as you're achieving a few things towards that plan, you will head in the direction you want to go. And then of course, we put metrics to that and then we can measure that success as we move forward. So a strategic plan doesn't have to be complicated. We're not talking about like a business plan where, you know, you're bringing to the bank. It's really looking at, you know, what's your market, your focus, your region. Where do you want to be in three to five years? Okay, extend that a little further. What do you want this to look like in 10? And then we just back it up to like tomorrow. Okay, so what are you going to do tomorrow? What are you going to do, like.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: By the end of this year?
[00:11:16] Speaker C: And it really excites people. I have my own. It's one page, you know, it's up on my wall when I'm kind of like, struggling with what to do today because I have way too many options. Like, okay, we'll just do one thing on that plan. And it's just really centering. And, you know, you can do it lots of different ways. A coach helps to structure the conversation and to make sure that not only intentional, but very, very focused and, you know, using the smart objective. But obviously it's something that you can measure and actually achieve. But you can read a book like Traction. It's got a great strategic planning tool in it. The one that I use comes from the Rockefeller habits, and that's a one page strategic plan that we build out. So it doesn't have to be like, super complicated. But like I said, it's really grounding and it's a great place to start in any coaching conversation.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: Hey, Daily Coach fans, if you're ready to begin your own journey to find the perfect franchise, please email me right now at inquireyimdaily tv. My services are totally free for you. That's Inquire tv. Now back to the show.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: It's so good. I wish we were doing this live because I'd be like, if you're out there, you're a follower of Kim Daily. Put it in the chat. What is she talking about in Kim Daily words? So, Julie, I have something called the Daily Plan or the Millionaire Mindset Plan. Like my followers have heard me say, you know, you gotta reverse engineer your outcomes all the way down to your get ready for it, your daily activity goals. So it's so beautiful. And going back to what you first said about owners feeling vulnerable, that is so true. And I think that there's a lot of successful people that are unconsciously competent, meaning they're successful, but they're not really aware of what they're doing to be successful. And therefore, it's not repeatable. It's like magically losing weight and then being like, oh, my God. You know, when you gain weight, you're like, I don't know how I did it before versus, like, you have a clear, specific plan that you are following and working through. And it was working and you refined it. And it was working and you refined it. And so when you find yourself gaining weight, you're like, all right, I know exactly what to do. So it's kind of the same thing in a business, and it makes your business so much more approachable, so much more clear. So we know that the Universe loves order and having that clear plan. So order in action are the two things that create in the universe. And so what we're talking about here with this strategic plan is first, getting order. And like you said, why is it so hard for business owners to know what they want? I think in general, like, when people come to me, Julie, and they're like, I want to invest in a franchise. I'm like, okay, tell me why. And they give me all the platinum things, you know, and I'm like, no.
[00:14:03] Speaker C: No, no, no, no.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: Everybody wants more time. Everybody wants more money. Like, what are you going to do at the time? What are you going to do with the money? How much money? And then they're like, you know, embarrassed to be like. I'm like, just say the number. Like, why are you so afraid of saying what you want? It's like, in life, we're not really taught to believe in our dreams. And yet, as business owners, our dreams are everything. It's the gas behind everything that we do. So if you're not clear about what you want to achieve and big and specific, how are you ever going to get there? Don't be afraid. You know, write it down. Don't share it with anybody. I always feel like when we share what we really want and we feel that vulnerability, it's because we don't want. Our dreams are fragile. We don't need anybody else's opinion over what we want to do. So if you have big, bold dreams like Kim Daly, keep them to yourself. Nobody else has to validate you in order for you to get what you want. Right. Okay, so let's go back here to strategic plan. So I love how you have a specific tool from the Rockefeller. I love that Rockefeller Foundation. Those are pretty smart people talk about a family business. So inside this plan, Julie, if somebody is like, okay, whether they're on the sidelines thinking about owning a business or they already own a business, what are some of the pieces to your strategic plan that they should start to think about and maybe get organized in their header on paper.
[00:15:27] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I always love to start with the values conversation. Like, you need to lead with your values in everything, and those values need to be communicated. Communicated on your website or in your social media messaging, or even through conversations like these. If you're not clear on your values, then you're going to have a really hard time attracting, like, valued people into your business. And that's. Those are the easiest people to work with. We all know who they are, and so we have that values Conversation, we say, okay, like can we land on five or six things that are foundational? You're not moving away from these particular things. Whether it's quality, whether it's authenticity, whether it's trust, whatever you pick. But we start there and we have that conversation and make sure that we're aligned. What everything else we're going to talk about is going to factor back to those things. Then I like to kind of move into the baseline piece of okay, where are you now? Like, where are you starting from? And it's sort of this idea of a map, right? To know where I'm going, I kind of need to know where I am. So what numbers do you have access to? Are you aware of some baseline metrics that you're tracking in your business? Do you know where your work is coming from? You know, the diversification of that? It's not super complicated, but just high level. Sometimes you have to pause there and say, okay, go back and try to get some of these numbers so that you can kind of look at where you want to move the needle. But once we understand the baseline, then we start diving into, okay, so we've got our values. Do we have an audacious goal? Is there something that we really, really want to strive? Are we willing to say it out loud? If not like, you know, why? And let's unpack that a little bit. But that 10 to 30 years sounds like a long time, but the 10 year vision at least to say, okay, let's put this out in the universe. Let's have that long term map of where we like to head and then we're going to back it up to the three to five. So we look at those pieces. Once we land on a three to five year plan, then I like to sort of stop and do a bit of a SWOT analysis of like, what are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to achieve this plan? And for me, the weaknesses are things that you can turn into strengths. So for me, I would say I really am not a fan of technology. If I choose, I could turn that into a strength by leading into technology. Threats would be things I can't change. Threats are another pandemic. Threats are things that I may just have to be able to navigate and figure out in my business. When and if they arrive, we map that out and then we start getting into the granular of, okay, if three years is going to look like this, then what does one year look like? And then we go, okay, but next quarter, right? So by the time we've mapped it Across I know by the end of next quarter, these are the five things that are going to get me towards my one year, which gets me towards my three year. It sort of explains it. There's some other pieces to it, too. You can get into brand promise if you want, and even that elevator pitch. I find a lot of entrepreneurs really struggle to explain themselves in, you know, in 15 seconds. And I even had to take some time to define that because, like, am I an occupational therapist, Am I a business coach? Like, you know, what am I leaning into here in terms of how I explain myself and what I'm doing? And so it's helpful for some people to craft that so that if they are at an event or at a networking opportunity and, you know, they've got people asking them this question, they don't kind of go off on a tangent and ramble and miss the mark. In terms of, you know, having the ability to talk to that individual in front of them and give them a sense of what they do and why.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: They do it, it brings just clarity. Like, what I want the listeners to take away is that success in your business is intentional. And there are people out there who can help you be intentional. Just like if you're going to go to the gym for the first time and try to figure out how to get yourself in shape, you're going to hire a personal trainer, right, who knows the equipment and knows the gym and knows how to put together a good workout to help you make progressive gains. Same thing is going to happen in your business. There are people like Julie out there who have these clear ideas, and all they're going to do is pull it out of you. Because the dream is in you, not in her. She's the coach. You're playing the game. But that's why I think every business owner needs a coach. I've never been without a coach ever. And I've been a business owner for over 25 years. And that's why I continue to grow. It's why I continue to reach new peaks, because I continue to push myself and align myself to people who can hold me accountable and teach me new ways of thinking, new ways of opening my mind, new ways of getting to higher mountaintops. So it's awesome. Julie, you've been an amazing guest. Thank you so much for sharing your story and a little bit about how you work with people here on Kim Daily tv.
[00:19:48] Speaker C: Yeah, of course. Thanks for the opportunity. I'll say, too. I hired my first coach, actually, during my mba, and it was a coaching conversation that led me to finish my mba and then I kept coaching right through. When I was an entrepreneur as well, even though I had the knowledge, I needed the accountability and I needed somebody to challenge me. It's lonely at the top and if people can find that person to align with to make sure that they are moving in the direction they want, then they're more likely to be successful sooner. And I love the fitness analogies because they think you don't go into a gym once and go, well, I lifted weights today. You know, where's the outcome? You need to commit to it. You need to know your starting point. So thank you so much for inviting me here to chat with you today. It was really nice meeting you.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Same here. So if anybody out there listening would like to reach out to you, maybe put your URL or your contact information in the show notes and if so, can you just say it like out loud what it is right now?
[00:20:36] Speaker C: Yeah, the best place to find me is on LinkedIn. I put a lot of my free content, business advice and knowledge there. So it's Julie Amwassel at LinkedIn. It's the easiest way to find me. Or my website is Julie's business U.
[00:20:47] Speaker B: Ca thank you so much for being our special guest and for listening to this show, everybody. So if you are ready to begin your journey or tired of sitting on the sideline of life and you want to have your own personal story of making it from your W2 into small business ownership, well, you know that I want to be your franchise consultant. So please follow the link for that right now. Don't delay, don't talk yourself out of it. I can't wait to meet you. And until the next episode, please don't forget that my name is Kim Daly and I want to be your daily coach.
[00:21:25] Speaker A: You can find more content just like this on my YouTube channel at KimDaily TV. And if you you're inspired to take the next step to explore franchises matched to you, please email me right now at inquire at KimDaily TV. That's inquire at KimDaily TV.
