Episode 144 From 9 Failed Businesses to Franchise Business Success: Tariq Johnson’s Turning Point Frederick Dudek (Freddy D) Copyright 2025 Prosperous Ventures, LLC
What turns a client into a lifelong raving fan?
In this powerhouse episode of the Business Superfans® Podcast, host Freddy D welcomes Tariq Johnson, founder of Franchise Empire, to explore how franchise business success becomes the catalyst for long-term loyalty, glowing reviews, and powerful referrals.
From nine failed businesses before the age of 26 to building a 15-person company that transforms careers, Tariq’s story is more than inspirational—it’s proof that systems, purpose, and empathy create repeatable, scalable results. Whether you're seeking small business growth, trying to escape a toxic corporate culture, or want to turn customers into ambassadors, this episode gives you the blueprint.
Tariq shares how he:
Guides mid-career professionals into profitable franchise opportunities
Delivers beyond the transaction by sending personalized gifts and onboarding swag
Created a 45-minute weekly team ritual that fuels internal recognition and morale
Uses strategic content marketing to attract superfans who never even consider the competition
Why this matters now: Franchising is booming, but not all franchises are created equal. Tariq reveals the red flags to avoid, how to qualify the right buyer, and what it takes to create a win-win that drives customer loyalty, stakeholder engagement, and brand evangelism.
You’ll learn why franchise business success hinges on the little things that become big things—from handwritten cards to training that actually trains. And how treating franchisees like partners (not just purchasers) is the fastest route to referrals, reviews, and reputation.
Actionable strategies include:
The IKEA analogy for why most franchisees fail
The 24-hour pivot that saved Freddy’s career (and taught him the value of systems)
Why "semi-passive" franchise dreams are doomed from day one
Whether you're building a business to sell, scale, or simply sustain your freedom, this episode offers rare, behind-the-scenes access to how Franchise Empire crafts true Business Superfans from the inside out.
Listen now to turn followers into superfans—and clients into lifelong ambassadors.
Discover more with our detailed show notes and exclusive content by visiting: https://linkly.link/2FWj6
"Being successful as a franchisee starts with buying the right franchise. You have to be in the right vehicle first."
S¹.U.P.E.R.F.A.N.S². Framework™ Pillar Deep Dive: R: Rally
Franchise success isn’t just about closing deals—it’s about what happens next. In this episode, Tariq reveals how thoughtful onboarding, small surprise-and-delight moments, and post-sale support ignite a powerful referral engine. From customized swag to weekly team rituals, discover how Franchise Empire creates advocates, not just clients. If you want more 5-star reviews and referral-ready relationships, this is your roadmap.
This episode is brought to you by our sponsor, Ninja Prospecting, the outreach team that makes cold connections feel warm and real. If you're tired of spammy dms and a generic LinkedIn messages that go nowhere, ninja Prospecting flips the script. They help coaches, consultants, and service-based business owners spark real conversations through strategic human-first outreach.
No bots. No fluff. Just honest, data-back messaging that sounds like you and, actually gets replies. Talk to my friend Adam Packard and his team. Whether you wanna do it yourself, get guidance or fully handed off, they've got you covered.
Head over to ninjaprospecting.com and schedule a chat with Adam. Be sure to mention you heard about it right here on the Business Superfans podcast.
If you're ready to get started, join their free community at https://skool.com/ninja-prospecting-7704 to maximize your connections and make the right new ones.
Superstar Freddie D. Here in this episode 144, we're joined by Tarek Johnson, the CEO and founder of Franchise Empire.
Speaker A:
Tarek's journey is nothing short of inspiring.
Speaker A:
After nearly a decade in corporate America managing over 100 million as a financial advisor and in touring the country as a national speaker for Tony Robbins, he transitioned into entrepreneurship through franchising.
Speaker A:
Despite nine failed startups, Tarek found his breakthrough as a franchisee, eventually becoming a successful multi unit owner whose locations ranked in a top 10% system wide.
Speaker A:
Today, he's turned those hard earned lessons into a thriving platform, helping others buy, grow and scale their own franchise empires.
Speaker A:
With over 26,000 YouTube subscribers, more than a million views, and his book Zero to Profitability franchise in 12 months or less reaching thousands worldwide, Tarek is a leading voice in a franchise space.
Speaker A:
He's passionate about empowering business owners to stop being stuck in their business and instead step fully into the role of a leader, both in work and at home.
Speaker A:
We can't wait to dive into his story and insights on building a franchise empire.
Speaker A:
Welcome Tarek, to the Business Superfans podcast.
Speaker A:
Excited to have you here and we had a great conversation before we started recording.
Speaker A:
So let's continue that conversation and welcome to the show.
Speaker B:
Thanks Freddie.
Speaker B:
Happy to be here, man.
Speaker A:
So let's go back to the beginning.
Speaker A:
I know you've got an interesting backstory.
Speaker A:
Let's share with our listeners your backstory.
Speaker A:
How did you come about with the franchise business that you're in right now?
Speaker B:
Yeah, so the Cliff Note version is that ever since I was a teenager, I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
Speaker B:
The usual stuff that you hear about of mowing lawns and those sort of things were signs of like my entrepreneurial spirit.
Speaker B:
But I wind up getting my investment licenses when I was 19 years old and dropping out of school and becoming a financial advisor, taking that route in financial services.
Speaker B:
But deep down inside of me, I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
Speaker B:
I was obsessed with reading business books and going to business seminars and I was really an oddball.
Speaker B:
My friends thought I was a weirdo.
Speaker B:
No 20 year old kid like reading Tony Robbins books and going to business seminars and stuff like that.
Speaker B:
Over the years of my financial services career, I kept trying to start business after business and just kept coming up short and failing.
Speaker B:
Whether it was getting overwhelmed and giving up or just jumping from shiny ob to shiny object, it just wasn't working out for me.
Speaker B:
So I had nine failed different businesses between the age of 18 and 26.
Speaker B:
And I had a friend of mine who's still a great friend of mine, and at that time, he had shared that him and his wife had grown their business to $5 million a year.
Speaker B:
And he said, tarek, with your skill sets and what you've done in the professional world, you should be making at least a million dollars.
Speaker B:
As you can imagine, I was both encouraged and offended.
Speaker A:
Sure.
Speaker A:
Yeah, totally.
Speaker B:
But it really lit something in me.
Speaker B:
I don't know, Freddie, if you've ever had that experience where someone else spoke their vision into you and that impacted you in a meaningful and significant way.
Speaker A:
Yeah.
Speaker A:
I started working at 15 at a gas station, and I got into drafting.
Speaker A:
And the story is I got out for a little while.
Speaker A:
I got laid off, and I was still in high school, so I got a job back at another gas station.
Speaker A:
th the Lincoln Continental in:
Speaker A:
And I've shared that because, similar to you, I was 18 at the time.
Speaker A:
And he gave me a pamphlet, which I still have in here, and I'm still friends with the guy.
Speaker A:
And I had Think and Grow Rich.
Speaker A:
The Magic of Believing how to Win Friends and Influence People is a list of all those books.
Speaker A:
And I got back into drafting because in that industry, it's feast or famine.
Speaker A:
They get a project from Ford Motor Company, General Motors, everybody's busy working.
Speaker A:
Then the project's done, and, well, now we're out of work, and we got to get another project.
Speaker A:
But Don was the guy and helped me, and I started a janitorial business, 19 on the side, And I was pretty successful at it.
Speaker A:
I was growing it.
Speaker A:
And then the computer industry came along, and I got myself in it.
Speaker A:
So I had to shut down and get rid of janitorial business because I had to move to Chicago from the Detroit area.
Speaker A:
So similar story, but same thing.
Speaker A:
He instilled a vision.
Speaker A:
Vision.
Speaker A:
And to me, to look much bigger.
Speaker A:
And in the 80s, I had apartment buildings and all that stuff because of that.
Speaker A:
So just want to share that.
Speaker B:
Yeah, that's a great story.
Speaker B:
Right.
Speaker B:
It just shows the impact we can have.
Speaker B:
Right.
Speaker B:
On other people.
Speaker B:
And now being on the other side of it, speaking vision into other people that may need that same encouragement.
Speaker B:
But my buddy said what he said, and I really thought about that and was just reflected.
Speaker B:
And I thought at that stage, I wasn't quite the visionary, But I was like, if someone gave me a blueprint in a system that was proven to work.
Speaker B:
I feel confident in my ability to follow playbooks.
Speaker B:
I'm pretty good at following systems.
Speaker B:
Some people, they can't follow a system, they have to create the system.
Speaker B:
They can't be defined in a box.
Speaker B:
But that's one of my strengths.
Speaker B:
Following systems I tried to think about When I was 18 years old, I got involved in MLM, what multi level marketing companies.
Speaker B:
I was like, I don't want one of those things.
Speaker B:
I want real proven, I want as legitimate as it gets.
Speaker B:
And so I was reminded that years ago I had looked into franchising.
Speaker B:
And so I started looking again.
Speaker B:
My wife and I wind up buying a juice and smoothie franchise.
Speaker B:
Took $300,000 of equity out of our home to get it open and twisted our arm to do that.
Speaker B:
Pretty much put my marriage on the line.
Speaker B:
And so failure was not an option.
Speaker B:
Whereas other times it was, to be honest, it was an option.
Speaker B:
This time it wasn't.
Speaker B:
I'd really burned the boats to use a reference you're probably familiar with.
Speaker B:
And we were able to get the business profitable in the first two months.
Speaker B:
We wind up buying another location.
Speaker B:
When we moved to Florida, a resale turnaround that was struggling.
Speaker B:
Improved sales by 35% year over year.
Speaker B:
A year later.
Speaker B:
And then I had always wanted to be on YouTube and make content and just help people in some sort of manner because I love teaching.
Speaker B:
Whatever I'm learning, I just love sharing it.
Speaker B:
I'm very passionate, even if I haven't necessarily produced the result yet.
Speaker B:
So I thought, I'm running my franchises, I might as well start making content around franchising.
Speaker B:
And that led to people reaching out to me, asking for help.
Speaker B:
Hey, I want to leave my job.
Speaker B:
I resonate with your story.
Speaker B:
I'm looking into franchising.
Speaker B:
And then I was just a guy just helping people.
Speaker B:
They were paying me coaching fees.
Speaker B:
And then over the last five years, that's evolved now into building our company franchise empire.
Speaker B:
And we now have nine or ten full time US employees.
Speaker B:
I think we have contractors and everything, 15 people.
Speaker B:
We've helped hundreds and hundreds of people now successfully acquire franchises, become owners and achieve their dream of becoming an entrepreneur.
Speaker B:
Where many of them, if it wasn't for franchising, they probably wouldn't go start their own thing.
Speaker B:
So this is probably their only shot at becoming an entrepreneur realistically.
Speaker B:
And so that's how I got into it.
Speaker A:
Oh, what a backstory.
Speaker A:
And you're right, because having that playbook, here's how you need to go about it.
Speaker A:
And steps really shortcuts, that whole process.
Speaker A:
Because if you're winging it, which is what us entrepreneurs do, it's hit or miss.
Speaker A:
There's going to be times we take off and do quite well and then all of a sudden it's going to do a face plan because things change and you weren't able to pivot or you're too busy working in the business, not on the business.
Speaker A:
I've known some people that have gotten franchises and have done very well and I've known other people that got franchises and didn't do so well because it wasn't a structure for them to really follow.
Speaker A:
Here it is, good luck, you're on your own.
Speaker A:
What you're doing is you're really providing the compass for people to really get the franchise.
Speaker A:
And then here's the direction and here's the guidance to be successful.
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker B:
And the reality is, Freddie, that not all franchises are created equal.
Speaker B:
So 4,000 different franchise brands just in the US alone, that's not even in other countries.
Speaker B:
And every day people are buying franchises.
Speaker B:
Although franchises are regulated by the ftc, the Federal Trade Commission, pretty much anyone can franchise their business.
Speaker B:
So if you take someone who maybe has one or two locations of something that's doing decent, they still haven't really fully figured out or systemized yet.
Speaker B:
They franchise it and they get someone else excited about the opportunity to get involved in that business.
Speaker B:
It's not proven yet.
Speaker B:
There is no playbook.
Speaker B:
They haven't figured things out.
Speaker B:
They don't know how to operate in different markets, municipalities, different laws permitting, whatever it is.
Speaker B:
And then you have franchises that they have a model and a playbook, but it just doesn't work.
Speaker B:
The unit economics are not there.
Speaker B:
They're average unit sales per location or territory is not strong enough or viable enough.
Speaker B:
So franchisees aren't profitable, but they just continue to bring on new franchise owners when they shouldn't be.
Speaker B:
So a large part of what we really do is try to help those solid and quality franchise opportunities that do have a proven model, that have a track record of success, so we can at least take that element of risk off of people's back.
Speaker B:
But at the end of the day, the system is only as good as the person behind it.
Speaker B:
Meaning I could give you a box of furniture from Ikea if you decide that you want to put it together your own way and not follow the instructions or you decide to start putting it together without reading the instructions.
Speaker A:
Yeah, because you make me think of when I was in the computer industry and we Just got started.
Speaker A:
We were trained on a system.
Speaker A:
It was a computer aided design system.
Speaker A:
And then I was sent out to go train somebody else.
Speaker A:
And there was no real training.
Speaker A:
They had a manual, but there wasn't no training system put together.
Speaker A:
And I've shared this story in the past, and I went to this one company and it was like you.
Speaker A:
And I would be sitting there and I go, all right, Tarek, here's the commands.
Speaker A:
And I'd be looking, reading, and telling you what to do.
Speaker A:
It was that bad.
Speaker A:
Okay, it was really that bad.
Speaker A:
Because I didn't know any better.
Speaker A:
There was no training, there was no playbook.
Speaker A:
Then I got sent to a bigger corporation.
Speaker A:
And it wasn't just me and one other person.
Speaker A:
It was a group of people.
Speaker A:
And the manager at the end of the day pulled me aside and told me that was the worst effing training he had ever seen.
Speaker A:
And he gave me till the next day to get it figured out or he was going to call my boss and have my blank rear end terminated because I didn't know any better.
Speaker A:
I just was reading the manual.
Speaker A:
I slept well that night.
Speaker A:
But I came up with what I call engagement training where I started asking questions.
Speaker A:
So I started putting commands on the marker board says, all right, Tarek, is this correct?
Speaker A:
I think it is.
Speaker A:
John, do you agree with Tarek?
Speaker A:
No, it's missing the syntax.
Speaker A:
What do you think, Mike?
Speaker A:
And so I started creating my own training system.
Speaker A:
Basically, I documented and I became the most sought after guy for training throughout the whole Midwest because I developed the training system and this was the playbook.
Speaker A:
I shared that.
Speaker A:
Because without that playbook, you have no direction whatsoever.
Speaker A:
You're winging it.
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker B:
That's a brilliant story.
Speaker B:
That was one of the best things that probably ever happened to you.
Speaker B:
That guy ripping in.
Speaker A:
You transformed my life.
Speaker A:
Really?
Speaker B:
It triggered you leveling.
Speaker A:
Yep, totally up.
Speaker A:
Leveled on the spot.
Speaker A:
Because I was loving what I was doing.
Speaker A:
I was like, you watch that?
Speaker A:
The Mad men show?
Speaker A:
The:
Speaker A:
I rode that ride in the 80s and 90s in the computer industry.
Speaker A:
I was fortunate, but I had to pivot very quickly.
Speaker B:
Yeah, pivoting is key.
Speaker B:
It's interesting how Franchise Empire started from scratch.
Speaker B:
So this was after I wind up selling my franchises and started Franchise.
Speaker B:
It was at first just me.
Speaker B:
It wasn't Franchise Empire.
Speaker B:
It was just everything was going to my website, tarekjohnson.com There was no Franchise Empire brand.
Speaker B:
Eventually, a couple years in, I think two and a half, three years in, I go okay, what's my aim here?
Speaker B:
And my wife has been a successful entrepreneur, but the business was and is named after her.
Speaker B:
She was always the person, the salesperson, the relationship person, the business really.
Speaker B:
Although she produced significant amount of cash flow and has just been an amazing entrepreneur.
Speaker B:
The business, there's no enterprise value for the business in selling it.
Speaker B:
It revolves around her.
Speaker B:
I started to look at that and go, huh?
Speaker B:
I don't want to do this for 20 years potentially, and then have nothing to show for it.
Speaker B:
I'm obsessed with business.
Speaker B:
So I'm like, how could I build something that one day could be exited, that could be five years from now, 10, 15, 20 years, whatever.
Speaker B:
And just that aim triggered different strategy.
Speaker B:
I would need a brand.
Speaker B:
I would need to stop making it all about me, myself and my name, and I would need to build a capable team.
Speaker B:
So that's really what we've been doing, which has been a lot of fun.
Speaker B:
I don't think a lot of entrepreneurs not starting with the end in mind, they get going and they're just treading water, trying to survive day to day, being very reactive, active, and, you know, aren't very intentional.
Speaker B:
And it's hard when you're putting out fires and trying to figure it out.
Speaker A:
Yeah, a lot of people created.
Speaker A:
It's a lifestyle business and it's running and they may take a vacation for a little bit of time, but otherwise they're in it all the time.
Speaker A:
And you're right, because the one company that I worked with a couple years ago, the husband passed away unexpectedly and they had no strategy.
Speaker A:
The goal was they wanted me to kind of run the company and they were going to retire.
Speaker A:
And then he messed all that up because he passed away and the wife couldn't run the business.
Speaker A:
So we look at selling it, and then we found out that all the books were messed up.
Speaker A:
We had to bring in a forensic CFO to go in and clean up all the books and go back a bunch of years so that we could position it and clean it up?
Speaker A:
So you're absolutely correct.
Speaker A:
And I want to really emphasize that for people listening is you've really got to plan what's the end game because you get hit by a bus.
Speaker A:
Unfortunately, that business can be gone overnight just like that.
Speaker A:
And had I not been involved, there was no way that business would have lasted past 90 days.
Speaker B:
Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker B:
It's really scary to think about with some of these entrepreneurs.
Speaker B:
And I guess it really all depends on what your goals are.
Speaker B:
Some people are like, yeah, I don't want a large team.
Speaker B:
I don't want to scale.
Speaker B:
I want it to be more of a lifestyle business.
Speaker B:
And they're fine with that.
Speaker B:
To each its own.
Speaker B:
For me, I wanted something different.
Speaker B:
And it's interesting to see on the franchising side how that plays out because you have businesses that either start or nowadays you have these people that are very experienced in building franchise companies, not as a franchisee, but as a franchisor.
Speaker B:
They'll go out, research and buy a mom and pop business that does have good systems, branding and marketing.
Speaker B:
They'll acquire the rights to franchise it while the original founder still runs their individual business.
Speaker B:
They then use that name and they franchise it.
Speaker B:
They're starting with the end in mind.
Speaker B:
Knowing that this is a franchisable business.
Speaker B:
Right.
Speaker A:
Goes back to the McDonald's.
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker B:
Ex founder, you come back.
Speaker A:
Right.
Speaker A:
Same thing.
Speaker A:
So, Tarek, how you work with somebody?
Speaker A:
I'm looking to buy a franchise.
Speaker A:
What's the story?
Speaker A:
How do you help somebody get that to where you've transformed their life?
Speaker A:
Because now they've got a business that's thriving and they can have the life that they had envisioned.
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker B:
The first step is really us understanding you.
Speaker B:
Right.
Speaker B:
As an individual.
Speaker B:
Okay, Freddie, like, what are your goals?
Speaker B:
What are your goals financially and why do you want to buy a franchise?
Speaker B:
Because we actually turn a lot of people away.
Speaker B:
Believe it or not, there's a lot of people in our industry in the kind of franchise brokerage world where they're just trying to convince everyone that they should buy a franchise.
Speaker B:
We take an opposite approach because our team of franchise brokers, we've all been there and done that.
Speaker B:
We've all built franchise businesses.
Speaker B:
Our head of our franchise brokerage side of the business owned 13, Five Guys franchises.
Speaker B:
So we know what it's like when someone comes to us and like, I want something semi passive and work like 10 to 15 hours a week.
Speaker B:
I'm like, you shouldn't buy a franchise.
Speaker B:
It doesn't work like that.
Speaker B:
That's like saying, I want to have a kid, but I only want to parent 10 or 15 hours a week.
Speaker A:
It's not going to work.
Speaker A:
It's a fail.
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker B:
So we want to understand that's the first step.
Speaker B:
Let's get real.
Speaker B:
First, why do you want to do this?
Speaker B:
And I don't want to say the right answer is.
Speaker B:
But the people that we get excited about helping are folks like Keith, a client that I recently worked personally with who he said, tarek, I'm in my mid-50s.
Speaker B:
He made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year as a C suite executive in a large company.
Speaker B:
He's like, man, the culture is toxic.
Speaker B:
I'm burnt out.
Speaker B:
There's all these layoffs coming.
Speaker B:
It's super stressful.
Speaker B:
I've always wanted to do my own thing.
Speaker B:
I want to go from being an earner to an owner and I just got goosebumps there.
Speaker B:
Those are the people that have a strong why always wanted to be an entrepreneur or I want to be the living example for my family of pursuing my dreams.
Speaker B:
I want my kids to be able to look back and go, daddy followed his dreams, now I can too.
Speaker B:
And so those are the people we get excited to work with.
Speaker B:
So once we've confirmed, okay, hey, we, you're not just trying to do this get rich quick thing or put in a little bit of effort.
Speaker B:
Then we have a very tactical approach.
Speaker B:
Okay, great, let's fill out a net worth sheet.
Speaker B:
We got to understand what your financials are so we know what opportunities you can qualify for and are within your financial means.
Speaker B:
We have them do a behavioral assessment that's specific to the franchise world so we understand how they're wired.
Speaker B:
Because some people that we work with are, have a promoter personality, meaning they're great at connecting with people, they're great at sales, talking to people.
Speaker B:
And so what business is appropriate for them is very different than someone who's an engineer and may be more introverted, doesn't like talking to people.
Speaker B:
We've got to look at completely different businesses, right?
Speaker B:
And there's all sorts of other components.
Speaker B:
So we really want to start with the end in mind with them and then create this criteria.
Speaker B:
And basically what we do is we'll research what franchises are available in their markets.
Speaker B:
We'll bring back five to eight specific options for them, present them at a high level, and then they'll say, okay, here are the two or three that I want to start doing due diligence to start talking with some of the franchise owners to see what is the right fit.
Speaker B:
And I always say that being successful as a franchisee, it starts first with buying the right franchise.
Speaker B:
You have to be in the right vehicle first.
Speaker B:
And then once people buy, we have some additional support for them on getting launch and what they need to focus on.
Speaker B:
But at that point, the franchisor is really who they should be following.
Speaker B:
We don't know how to run their specific business.
Speaker B:
Like if someone buys a senior care business or power washing, it's like the franchisor is the expert in that business.
Speaker B:
What we then do, we have a mastermind and accountability group for our franchisees.
Speaker B:
Because we know that, hey, you as a business owner, you get overwhelmed, you know what you need to do, you're just not doing it.
Speaker B:
You forget, you get busy, life gets in the way.
Speaker B:
Exactly.
Speaker B:
That's where we like to provide support and then have them keep going back to the franchisor who's the expert in their business.
Speaker A:
So let's go into.
Speaker A:
We talked about creating those super fans.
Speaker A:
Let's talk about how did that one individual that you helped with, I think it was nameless T. What was the end result?
Speaker A:
Did you get them a franchise?
Speaker A:
What's their life like today?
Speaker B:
This was just like a month ago, so I don't think that they've actually launched yet.
Speaker B:
They're either going to training or just coming back from training.
Speaker B:
But we've got so many stories of folks that their life is very different.
Speaker B:
One person I can think of is a guy named Clay.
Speaker B:
He bought an electrical franchise called Mr. Electric.
Speaker B:
Now, the point's not for him to be an electrician.
Speaker B:
Right.
Speaker B:
You don't need to buy a franchise in an area that you know a bunch about.
Speaker B:
That's the whole point of a franchise.
Speaker B:
They teach you the model and your job is to recruit and build a team of people who know the specifics.
Speaker B:
He did keep his job for the first 18 months, but he basically just had two full time jobs.
Speaker B:
You got your regular full time job and then he had his business.
Speaker B:
Now he has two or three Electricians now and he was able to make the leap and now he's full time as an entrepreneur.
Speaker B:
And I was talking to him, asking like, hey, do you think you would have been able to do something like this on your own?
Speaker B:
He was like, absolutely not.
Speaker B:
There's no chance, there's no way.
Speaker B:
Another client of ours, ironically has the same name as me, spells it different.
Speaker B:
His name's Tarik, but it's T A R I, K. And helped him actually buy a resale franchise.
Speaker B:
So right now, anywhere online, it's all the craze about buying businesses and the best of both worlds, which is you can buy a franchise that is already up and running where the owner's retiring, whatever it is.
Speaker B:
That was what played out with him.
Speaker B:
He bought a franchise called Plato's Closet.
Speaker B:
You may have heard of it before.
Speaker B:
They sell like reused clothing for like teenagers.
Speaker B:
Yep, yep.
Speaker B:
Helped him in the process of acquiring one that had been around for 15 years.
Speaker B:
He was another engineer, actually, and was able to completely quit his job.
Speaker B:
And his income was replaced from day one because of the cash flow that the business was producing, there was already a manager in place.
Speaker B:
Those are some of the stories.
Speaker B:
Then we have folks earlier in the journey.
Speaker B:
They're still in their first year and they're now on LinkedIn, documenting and sharing their journey of building their business, which is really cool.
Speaker B:
They're not going to replace your income in year one starting a business from scratch, but you can just see the aliveness and the excitement in them.
Speaker B:
They're building something that they own that is theirs.
Speaker B:
There's a completely different sense of pride in that.
Speaker A:
Yeah, there's a whole different mindset.
Speaker A:
That's how you start creating superfans.
Speaker A:
You've helped transform their lives in a positive way because now they're no longer working for the man, for lack of a better way of wording it, but an accurate way.
Speaker A:
And now they're working for themselves and they're creating their own future.
Speaker A:
There's an old saying that wages makes you a living, profits give you wealth.
Speaker B:
Yeah, 100%.
Speaker B:
When we were talking before the podcast, what creates superfans, I think a lot of it is doing what you promise, actually fulfilling on what you say you're going to do and delivering.
Speaker B:
Nowadays, especially with some of these online people, the expectation that's created is different than the result.
Speaker B:
The expectation is much higher.
Speaker B:
And for us, we just try to over deliver in terms of everything.
Speaker B:
We have like online trainings and modules for our clients that walk them through nuances of doing due diligence.
Speaker B:
It's just impossible to cover in a 45 hour Zoom call.
Speaker B:
The level of content that we create is deeper and more technical than anyone else produces.
Speaker B:
After our clients buy franchise, we send them these expensive gift baskets that are specific to their personality.
Speaker B:
We have an inventory of 5 or 10 that our marketing team has sourced and the broker that actually worked with that client said, hey, this is the basket I want to send.
Speaker B:
One was a boss babe one and it was the husband and wife that Mark on our team had worked with, but I think the wife was the leading the charge in it.
Speaker B:
So he picked out this boss babe basket, like a 150$200 basket.
Speaker B:
And we just got an email from her about how thankful she was and grateful for the basket and that she was using the pens and really excited and grateful for our help in the process.
Speaker B:
Then we send them a package of our swag and merch and just trying to do the little things that show that we care.
Speaker B:
Because I think it's Maya Angelou that has that phrase and quote that goes, people will Forget what you say, what.
Speaker A:
You said and did, but don't ever forget how you made them.
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker A:
I'm going to share something with you on swag because I'm going to give you a little idea moving forward.
Speaker A:
For example, this is business Superfan brand, right?
Speaker B:
Yeah.
Speaker A:
So who's it about?
Speaker A:
It's about me.
Speaker A:
It's about my brand, right?
Speaker B:
Yep.
Speaker A:
One of the things that you do is you change that and you put the person's name on it and now who's it about?
Speaker B:
It's about them.
Speaker B:
It's about you guys together.
Speaker A:
Bingo.
Speaker A:
But it's all about them.
Speaker A:
So you don't touch my coffee, my water bottle, because it's mine, but it's still got your brand on it.
Speaker B:
I love it.
Speaker A:
So the little things are the big things and that's really a little thing.
Speaker A:
But that becomes a big thing for the recipient because now it's their water bottle or same thing I do.
Speaker A:
I'd send coffee cups and as you can see, I've got Freddy D here and a name.
Speaker A:
So now it becomes.
Speaker B:
That is pretty cool.
Speaker B:
I really love that idea.
Speaker B:
Have you ever heard of a story brand?
Speaker A:
Yeah, this is something I've done.
Speaker A:
One of the things I've always done in my sales.
Speaker A:
And that's why, like when we talked before we started recording, I created superfans.
Speaker A:
A lot of my customers when I was selling manufacturing software, everybody would come in to take a look at the presentation of the technology.
Speaker A:
I was always selling with the owners about business strategy.
Speaker A:
But you still have to do the presentation.
Speaker A:
So the guys from the shop floor would come in, because their guys are going to be actually utilizing it to run the milling machines, the lathes, the wire, EDMs and all that stuff.
Speaker A:
What I would do is I got everybody's name and I would actually send them a letter, even to the guys on the shop floor, not just the management team, everybody thanking them for their time and their input in a meeting.
Speaker A:
And I was looking forward to working with them on implementing the technology into their shop.
Speaker A:
So I did a couple things there.
Speaker A:
One, I subliminally indicated that we're already working together, but more importantly, I recognized them.
Speaker A:
And that's one of my other quotes in the book is people crawl through broken glass for appreciation and recognition.
Speaker A:
So I recognized the guy in a shop floor that never gets anything.
Speaker A:
And all of a sudden they got these emails and we would win business.
Speaker A:
And I would ask, why did you pick us?
Speaker A:
And they would all say, we felt that after the sale, your company would give Us the best support.
Speaker A:
That was all because of the way I planted that.
Speaker A:
I'm just sharing it for our listeners and yourself.
Speaker A:
That was really a little thing but that was very impactful for that individual or those individuals and that changed the dynamics.
Speaker B:
I love that makes so much sense.
Speaker B:
I got a handwritten card the other day from a franchisor that we've helped place a number of franchisees with.
Speaker B:
It was from the founder and the CEO just saying, hey, I appreciate our partnership and some of the franchisees that you've helped introduce us to.
Speaker B:
And it stood out because no one sends handwritten notes anymore.
Speaker A:
No.
Speaker A:
And people forget that old fashioned, old school direct mail is an excellent if not better way of marketing than email.
Speaker A:
Because in email you can take a look and I don't recognize this.
Speaker A:
You get a postcard or a card in the mail.
Speaker A:
Postcard at least you going to take a look at it.
Speaker A:
And so you got a visual for a few seconds, you may toss it out but you still got in front of that person's face for a few minutes or seconds.
Speaker A:
A card, somebody's going to open it.
Speaker A:
So that's a great marketing approach that people forget still works.
Speaker A:
That's one of the reasons that when we talked before that incomprehens it.
Speaker A:
We mailed out direct personalized marketing to different government facilities when I was with this particular company.
Speaker A:
And we basically personalized the messaging and we highlighted a challenge that they were dealing with for that department because we knew and then we provided we were a solution to that problem.
Speaker A:
That was our marketing strategy.
Speaker B:
Wow, I love that.
Speaker B:
I just wrote some of that down.
Speaker B:
I'm excited to brainstorm how to implement some of that.
Speaker B:
As you were talking.
Speaker B:
Nowadays, making content is a way to create super fans.
Speaker B:
Because if you invite people into the journey and the highs, they feel bought in and invested in working with you.
Speaker B:
And there's a different level of relationship.
Speaker B:
I've had our YouTube channel now for six years and we've got a decent amount of subscribers.
Speaker B:
People will come in and we survey them.
Speaker B:
Once they start working with our team, we'll ask them why did you decide to work with us?
Speaker B:
What other competitors did you know?
Speaker B:
Did you look at whatever.
Speaker B:
And a strong portion that come in from the organic lead channel, not necessarily the Facebook ads that we run.
Speaker B:
They'll say Tarek seems really genuine and trustworthy and related to his journey.
Speaker B:
And no, we didn't look at any other competitors.
Speaker B:
We didn't even consider working with anyone else.
Speaker B:
It's a really unique mechanism creating content, doing Podcasts like this, people get to know you, Freddie, your stories and your personality, and all of a sudden they're not going to think of anyone else but you to do business with in your specific area.
Speaker A:
Yeah, no, it's one of the things I do with the shows.
Speaker A:
And right now, thank you to our listeners.
Speaker A:
We're top 10 globally and did that in less than a year.
Speaker A:
One of the things that we do is that we actually extract out of the show one high point from the guest and then an action item that they can implement within 24 hours so that there's some value that gets out of the show.
Speaker A:
Not just the show, but here's a highlight and here's what you can put in play within 24 hours.
Speaker B:
That's brilliant.
Speaker A:
Thank you.
Speaker A:
That's finally came up with the idea.
Speaker A:
You look at it, the billboard sign is sometimes right in front of you and you still can't read it.
Speaker A:
And all of a sudden you go, oh, wait a minute, it's telling me something.
Speaker A:
You gotta be aware because sometimes life presents opportunities and situations and we're not seeing it until we see it.
Speaker B:
Yeah, it's such a great point.
Speaker B:
Another thing that we did.
Speaker B:
I know we're coming up on time, learn, and I just naturally care about people, but I think you were talking about earlier in our conversation around even having your team be your super fan.
Speaker B:
So we use a platform called Gusto, and a few months ago that Gusto has this team survey that they build, and as if you decide to have it sent out, they send it out monthly on a different topic.
Speaker B:
So we send that out to our team and really encourage participation.
Speaker B:
It's completely anonymous.
Speaker B:
There's no way for us to see who said what.
Speaker B:
And the one for July was our first time receiving 100% on both the month before is 100% and 95%.
Speaker B:
100% on.
Speaker B:
Would you recommend Franchise Empire as a place to work?
Speaker B:
And 100% on being rewarded and getting recognized for their work.
Speaker A:
That's excellent, right?
Speaker A:
Yeah, that's excellent.
Speaker A:
I'm familiar with Gusto.
Speaker A:
I used it 10 years ago when it first came out.
Speaker A:
But you know what you're saying there?
Speaker A:
Tarek is really important because it starts with the team, it starts with the leadership.
Speaker A:
But if you get your team to become super fans of your organization, that transcends to when they're talking to prospective customers or existing customers or in your case, potential franchisors or franchisees.
Speaker A:
And the same thing is the opposite is if they're not happy, that comes across in the tonality and I tell people the tonality comes across and your emails, people don't realize it, but the choice of words that you put into an email comes across because if you're excited, you're going to be much more.
Speaker A:
The choice of words are going to be much better than if you're not so much.
Speaker A:
It's going to be short, Kirk to the point and that's it.
Speaker A:
And people are going to realize, huh, something's not right here.
Speaker A:
And that starts to snowball.
Speaker B:
Yeah, people pick up on it.
Speaker B:
They 100% do.
Speaker B:
The last thing that we do for a team is every week, same day, same time every week we have an all hands meeting.
Speaker B:
Everyone on the team.
Speaker B:
It's just a 45 minute meeting every Tuesday at 2:15.
Speaker B:
And we do like a fun trivia.
Speaker B:
Everyone does a trivia and everyone will go around and just share briefly what they've worked on the last week or some of their kind of highlights and wins and they pick a person to high five and share the reason why they're high fiving that specific person.
Speaker B:
I think it's had such a positive impact on morale when you're sharing genuine, not bs, but hey, high five you.
Speaker B:
Because I saw you go above and beyond for this project that really wasn't in your department and you didn't have to and I want to high five you for that and doing it in front of the whole team and then every single person doing that.
Speaker B:
We do that every week.
Speaker B:
So it made sense why we got 100% on the recognition and performance side of it.
Speaker B:
But it's really cool and it's cool to see people smile when someone says that they're high fiving them and you can just see what it does to them mentally and emotionally.
Speaker A:
You read the chapter of my book because that's something I actually talk about.
Speaker A:
It's one thing to say, hey Tarek, I really appreciate the work that you did, but it's another thing if you turn around and recognize it in front of everybody else, which is what you guys are doing in your team.
Speaker A:
Thumbs up on that because that is the magic.
Speaker A:
That's how I got that one company to grow a million dollars in a year.
Speaker A:
We started having the weekly meetings and everything else and same thing, we'd recognize people further going above and beyond.
Speaker A:
We started recognizing our contractors and had a newsletter and recognized them and edify them to all the other contractors so that they felt that they were important to the team.
Speaker B:
I'm excited to read your book.
Speaker A:
Yeah, thanks.
Speaker A:
Yeah, we're you and I could talk on this stuff for hours.
Speaker A:
But as we come close to the end here, how can people find you?
Speaker A:
Tarek?
Speaker B:
Yeah, I would say easiest way is either LinkedIn or YouTube.
Speaker B:
So look me up on LinkedIn number one, send me a connection and send me a message.
Speaker B:
Or you can type my name into YouTube and follow along with the journey.
Speaker B:
I've actually started making now on the personal brand side content of me building franchise empire.
Speaker B:
Now if you want franchise specific content, you can go to our channel or just go to franchiseempire.com and you can reach out to us there as well.
Speaker A:
Okay, we'll make sure that's in our show.
Speaker A:
Notes and great conversation.
Speaker A:
You and I could talk on this stuff for hours, I can tell.
Speaker A:
And thank you so much for your time and we look forward to having you on the show down the road again.
Speaker B:
It was great talking to you.
Speaker B:
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker A:
Yeah, and thank you.
Speaker A:
What an inspiring conversation with Tarek today.
Speaker A:
This episode connects directly to the Superfans pillar r rally fuel referrals and reviews.
Speaker A:
Building credibility and growth by turning satisfied customers into your best marketing force.
Speaker A:
Tarek showed us that superfans are born when you create experiences worth talking about.
Speaker A:
From guiding franchises with honesty to sending thoughtful gifts, to simply delivering more than people expect.
Speaker A:
That's how referrals happen naturally.
Speaker A:
So here's your challenge this week.
Speaker A:
Ask yourself, what can I do to leave my client with a story they'll want to repeat?
Speaker A:
Then do it.
Speaker A:
The result?
Speaker A:
More trust, more referrals, and a momentum that money can't buy.
Speaker A:
And remember, one action, one stakeholder, one superfan closer.
Speaker A:
Until next time, keep building your business.
Speaker A:
Superfans.
Speaker A:
Thank you for listening.
Speaker A:
And know this.
Speaker A:
When you do, freedom follows.
Speaker C:
We hope you took away some useful knowledge from today's episode of the Business Superfans podcast.
Speaker C:
The path to success relies on taking action.
Speaker C:
So go over to businesssuperfans.com and get your hands on the book.
Speaker C:
If you haven't already, join the accelerator community and take that first step in generating a team of passionate supporters for your business.
Speaker C:
Join us on the next episode as we continue guiding you on your journey to achieve flourishing success in business.
