Cover Story
Businesses have been part of life on earth since man invented the wheel and learned to harness fire’s power. These innovations eased the burden of being human and unleashed our creative potential. Humankind’s ability to make gave rise to a desire to trade. The barter system is possibly the oldest business model.
As humanity continued evolving, the way they did business also changed. Trade routes opened, and the businessmen were looking for ways to expand.
“The idea of what a business is has evolved slowly but profoundly through a series of what we can now see as definable eras, which in the past two centuries have typically lasted about 40 to 50 years.”
Fast forward to franchising, a robust business model for growth and expansion. Successful franchised businesses offer entrepreneurs a proven business model, strong brand, and predictable earnings in exchange for fees to accelerate the brand’s growth. Franchising makes a lot of sense if you’re looking for a shortcut to success but what may not make sense is how much time it takes to find the right franchise opportunity. This is where the savvy franchise investor looks for someone like Seth Lederman, CEO of Frannexus, a leading franchise consulting company.
How it all started…
Seth Lederman, CEO at Frannexus, has a long track record of connecting businesses looking to expand with the right people to grow the business. Seth is a graduate who majored in Psychology & Sports Medicine and spent his early days treating patients. It didn’t take him a long time to realize that his true passion was in growing the business, not going room to room seeing patients. Around this time, Seth happened to pick up a book by a man who would become his mentor, Michael Gerber, titled “E-Myth Revisited” in which the author had mentioned, “The purpose of a business is to serve your life, and not for your life to serve the business. If you have a business that depends on you, you don’t have a business. You have a job. It’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a maniac.”
Seth already knew what his patients wanted and felt that if his staff could provide a consistent, predictable, and reproducible experience, the business would boom. Seth looked for standard operating systems and procedures to enable his team to focus on taking care of the patient and not worry about how things get done. The lesson he took from the book was that he needed to create processes to allow him to work on the business, not in it. This one principle made it possible to scale his practice by 400% in just 36 months.
Once he was free from working in the business that he created, it made sense for him to share what he learned with other business owners. As a consultant, Seth met with failing business owners and soon realized that many invested in franchise opportunities they shouldn’t have. This was when Seth started working on a systematic approach to making better franchise investment decisions.
Industry Specializations
Speaking to CEO Views on the different aspects of Frannexus, Seth Lederman said- there are over 3,600 franchise opportunities available in the US. His team vets and represents about 10% of these franchise brands across 20 different industry segments. I think it’s important to provide choices and options without overwhelming people. The last thing we want to do is put a square peg around the hole. There are so many options, and nobody has time to look at hundreds of franchise brands. It leads to paralysis by analysis.
The purpose of a business is to serve your life, and not for your life to serve the business. If you have a business that depends on you, you don’t have a business. You have a job. It’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a maniac.
Technology Trends and Adoption in the Industry
We asked Seth what he thought about the changing technology in the franchise consulting space. Seth believes that technology is a pivotal part of the business, connecting Frannexus consultants to prospective franchise buyers across the country. Frannexus uses technology to efficiently take people through their entire process.
This year, Seth has started to invest in data-driven solutions and technology to improve the client experience. Franbot is a virtual franchise search assistant which people use to answer questions that help the team prepare for consultations. The search assistant provides essential information our clients want to know.
What Sets Frannexus Apart From its Competitors
Malcolm Gladwell talked about the 10,000-hour principle. It takes 10,000 hours to master anything, and the sooner you can get those 10,000 hours, the sooner you’ll master it. Seth got his 10,000 hours in very quickly because he was committed to being the best at what he does. ” I demand more from myself than anyone else could ever expect from me. It’s that work ethic that got Frannexus to where it is today.
With the experience Seth has acquired as a businessman himself and all that he’s learned by working with other business owners, he’s on a mission to make business ownership accessible to more Americans.
