Have you ever changed careers or moved to a completely new industry with no experience? Did you feel lost or confused? This is what so many do every day when they get into franchising.
Today’s guest is Scott Breimhorst, and he shares his journey of getting into franchising and franchise development with us. In his first year of franchising, he has helped grow Discover Strength from 6 company owned and 4 signed franchises to now, totaling nearly 30!
TODAY’S WIN-WIN:
Be willing to be vulnerable and find wise counsel.
LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:
- You can visit our guest’s website at: https://www.discoverstrength.com
- Attend our Franchise Sales Training Workshop: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/franchisesalestraining/
- Check out their franchise page at: https://discoverstrengthfranchise.com/
- If you are ready to franchise your business or take it to the next level: CLICK HERE.
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
After 26 years in private education, Scott leapt into the franchise world with Discover Strength Fitness in the Twin Cities of Minnesota exactly one year ago, with onboarding delivered by Big Sky. Scott is excited about the growth and impact of his brand as locations now spread out into the US. He is also fascinated and inspired by the franchise industry and eager to give back and provide any support he can.
ABOUT BIG SKY FRANCHISE TEAM:
This episode is powered by Big Sky Franchise Team. If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/ or by calling Big Sky Franchise Team at: 855-824-4759.
If you are interested in being a guest on our podcast, please complete this request form or email podcast@bigskyfranchise.com and a team member will be in touch.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:01):
Welcome to the Multiply Your Success podcast, where each week we help growth-minded entrepreneurs and franchise leaders take the next step in their expansion journey. I’m your host, Tom DuFore, CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team. And as we open today, I’m wondering if you’ve ever had to change careers or move to a new industry that you had no existing experience in, and how did that make you feel? Maybe a little lost, confused, worried, concerned, a lot of different things that pop up from that.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:30):
And I bring this up because this is exactly what so many people do every single day when they get into franchising. For most, it’s something they’ve never done before. Franchising is a brand new thing. And our guest today is Scott Breimhorst and he shares with us his journey of getting into franchising and franchise development. And in fact, Scott, I’m excited to have on because he and I met, almost exactly to the day, one year ago, when he came to our franchise sales training workshop, which was a launching pad for him to just start immersing himself into franchising.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:09):
Now, Scott, what’s exciting, over the last year, he took a brand that had six company-owned locations and four signed franchises in their network, so basically at the very beginning. And now, in one year’s time, they have nearly 30 total units and growing more.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:26):
And Scott, after 26 years in private education, he leapt into franchising with the brand Discover Strength Fitness in the Twin Cities of Minnesota exactly one year ago. And he attended and was onboarded through our Big Sky Franchise sales training that we offer. Scott’s excited about the growth and impact of his brand, as locations now spread across the United States. He’s fascinated and inspired by the franchise industry and eager to give back and provide any support where he can.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:56):
So if you’re new to franchising or maybe you’ve brought on some new franchisees or some new staff into your franchise network, this is a great interview. You’re going to love hearing his perspective. So let’s jump right into our interview.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (02:08):
Yeah, so I’m Scott Breimhorst. I’m the Vice President for Franchise Development at Discover Strength Fitness Franchising.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (02:16):
Thanks for being here. And you and I have known one another here for goodness, I think coming up on just over a year. It’s right around that year marker. And we had met in person over at the International Franchise Convention. And you said, “Hey, why don’t we do a podcast?” I said, “That’s a great idea,” so here we are. And you have a really interesting story about making this career industry change where you had built a great career. So talk about making this transition. What were you doing before and what led you into franchising?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (02:49):
Yeah, thanks Tom. And it’s been a great year, literally a year and a week since we first connected via your training, kind of the initial piece that launched a lot of where I am now.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (03:01):
So I spent the last 26 years in Catholic education, of all things. Had an amazing career as a teacher for a short time and a school principal for 14 years. Then I ran a foundation that raised money to help kids afford Catholic education and private education, before moving into enrollment management as the vice president for enrollment at a high school here in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, called the Holy Family Catholic High School, and grew that school.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (03:31):
Throughout that time, I was a client of Discover Strength. And the running joke was I’d be on a leg press, looking at the screen on the wall with the names of the trainer and the owner and their titles, and I would just be like, “I wonder if my name could be up there someday.” And I would kind of let that go.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (03:47):
And then it became very real when the owner, Lou Carlson, founder, it’s a 17-year-old company, but we’re new in the franchise side, asked me to take this role, on as the first vice president for franchise developments at Discover Strength. So very logical move from Catholic education into the fitness space and specifically franchise development. Everybody’s making this leap, Tom.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (04:09):
Well, I love it. Well, as you were making that transition, what were maybe some initial hesitations or fears or concerns that you might have had going from, as you had mentioned, really a career in education, leading into now you’re in the franchise business, and of all things, in franchise sales and franchise development?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (04:30):
The initial fear, I guess, or anxiety was around just can I do this job? My wife would always joke with me that I could probably sell just about anything in any industry, and I never really had a desire to move into that title of a salesperson. I have no problem with sales, but realizing that the development arc of a franchise development process with a franchisee is literally identical to donor management, enrollment management. It’s a very personal thing, so that put that at ease for me.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (04:59):
Another big one came, when this initially came up as an opportunity potential, and I happened to have a neighbor who does this job for Pizza Ranch, so I’m very lucky to have that guy right out my back door. And I sat down with him and I think the first 45 minutes was, and I think he was joking a little bit, but it was how to get sued in this industry. So I thought, “Oh my God, I’m about to take a job where you can readily get into litigation over doing things wrong all the time.” So that was a fear.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (05:26):
And really just the biggest one for me was I love Discover Strength, and I always have, as a client, as just a fan of the brand, and I wanted to be faithful to the idea or the question that was lingering, “Should I do this? Even if I’m offered this job, will I be what they’re looking for?” And I don’t think I was giving them enough credit in hiring, because they wouldn’t hire me if they didn’t think it would work.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (05:50):
But in the end, all of those things worked out so well. And again, I’m one year into this, but it’s been a really exciting year. And so far, I’ve been able to put a lot of those fears to bed. I haven’t been sued yet.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (06:02):
Great. Well, that’s always a great sign. And one of the things that comes up, I think, especially for franchisors, I’ve spent my career working with new and emerging franchise brands and established brands as well, and there’s always a little bit of hesitancy or concern about bringing someone into their company that does not have franchise background. There’s always a little bit of hesitancy or a little bit of concern there.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (06:27):
So as you reflect back and think about some of the most important parts of your initial onboarding process, what kind of helped make that adjustment or that transition a little easier than maybe you or Discover Strength might have thought?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (06:43):
So Discover Strength hires on the first two, then what principle? So they were always looking for the right person to be in the right seat for this job. And so, there were some natural fits that came about kind of in that, and that goes across the board for all of our hires. But going back to that onboarding, if, in fact, I was and am the right person or the right profile for this job, I knew nothing about franchising.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (07:09):
So for me, as just voracious learner, I attacked the idea of franchising and tried to soak everything in that I possibly could. So then leading into the actual job, I had a pretty solid foundation of just the basics and the mechanics of what franchising is.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (07:27):
Then my Pizza Ranch counterpart here imparted on me a million times that one of the biggest things is just knowing your brand. So as much as I thought I knew about Discover Strength as a client, once you get behind the scenes and see what the brand is all about, it’s incredible. Learning all of that so I can speak about it in so many ways with so many different people.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (07:46):
So those things I tried to do before I actually started. And I was fortunate to have a very flexible runway into the job. Then, on week two, I took your course. And I will never forget that day. I think we had a restaurant concept and then somebody was doing something with yarn, and I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was a crafty kind of a thing. And I remember thinking, “Wow, there’s just a lot of different things you do in franchising.”
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (08:14):
And you asked the question, and this gave me the most confidence of any early moment of this short career, what collateral do you have, everybody? Tell us about your collateral. And somebody was printing flyers over here and somebody was kind of maybe developing a Wix website. And that week, we were hosting an internationally attended resistance exercise conference with professors flown in from the UK and just had, is this collateral? We host a conference. And you and I kind of spoke offline about you’ve got a lot of tools in the tool belt here that are in your favor.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (08:47):
So the onboarding, as you asked about, is also just understanding that Discover Strength in particular has a lot of advantages here that maybe a brand new startup doesn’t have. And you helped me recognize some of those things.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (09:00):
Well, thank you. And by the way, for anyone who ends up listening into this, Scott’s referring to our franchise sales training workshop that he attended early on. For a little plug, we hold those every couple months or so. For anyone who’s listening that may be interested in learning a little bit more about that. And as you went live into the franchise industry, franchise sales, you started growing the brand, I think this comes up often. As someone new into franchising, how would you describe the franchise community just at large in terms of taking in somebody new?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (09:34):
Oh gosh, another great question. It’s incredible. It is absolutely incredible. And it reminded me so much of the mission driven world that I’d come out of. It was one of my fears, that I’m moving into an industry where it’s just going to feel wrong to me. I’ve just spent my entire life in a very different kind of industry, where mission is top of the line key.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (09:55):
And I found that people are so willing to help. I went to the FLDC conference in Atlanta in October. And I remember walking into the conference kind of breakfast area, and I had my backpack on and I looked around and people were just sort of hugging it out and it was a reunion. And I felt just like that kid who just moved into town and walked into their first day of school. And I’m like, “I hope these people want to be my new friends, because they look like they’re really getting along well.”
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (10:22):
Well, by the end of the day, I was on a text chain with probably 12 of them, and to this day, this text chain continues, and it’s where we share free legal advice with each other and answer crazy questions that new franchisor development people like me have. And that community feel has just continued at absolutely every juncture I’ve had.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (10:40):
Recently, I saw you at an expo in Phoenix. In any down moment, when I didn’t have people talking to me, I think I was collaborating with somebody else on some other concept. And I’m not really a competitor in so many ways, with the dog shampooing concept on one side and the sub sandwich concept from a specific area of the country on another side, and everybody just wants to help.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (11:04):
So I found it to be awesome in so many ways, right off the bat, and kind of helped me with one of my career goals that someday I can make a mark somehow in this industry. I think I made a significant one in my previous world, and here I’ve got another opportunity, as I stared down the barrel of being 50, to do that as well here. And then I don’t think that would happen in another kind of industry that’s not so collaborative.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (11:30):
Thank you for sharing that, Scott. And you go into this, you come in, you’re training, you’re launching, and what really wowed me was when we caught up. And at various stages along the way, every maybe two or three months, we’d see one another at a show or you’d ping me a text message and we’d chat about your progress. So here we are, about a year later, almost to the day, of attending our franchise sales training workshop that you came to. And I’m just excited for you to share some of the growth and the numbers that have happened, so if you wouldn’t mind.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (12:01):
Yeah, absolutely. So starting off, we were at six corporate locations here in the Twin Cities and four signed franchise locations, with two open, that had only been open for a couple of months when I started. That number overall has grown to 28. We are open in a corporate location in Scottsdale, Arizona, and we’ve got franchise territories now sold and in development.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (12:27):
Every morning I wake up and I look at the real estate sort of pipeline chart just to see if those leases got signed or are they still haggling over parking spots? But Utah, Salt Lake Valley, two in Austin, four in Plano, Fort Lauderdale just two weeks ago, along with Weston, Florida, which is a beautiful spot. We’ve got both ends of Wisconsin, in Madison and Hudson, and then we’re sold out in Minnesota. So with a new corporate location going into Boulder, and then three more in development, along with a healthy pipeline.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (12:54):
As soon as I’m not dark for our FTD renewal, I can launch back in. But things have just gone really, really well and it’s exciting. Going from zero to 60 with, “Boy, I hope people like me at this conference,” to this is actually working. It’s really been an exciting year.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (13:11):
So fantastic, so amazing. Well, Scott, this would be a great time for us just to make a little transition in the show, where we ask every guest the same four questions before they go. And the first question we like to ask every guest is, have you had a miss or two in your career, on your journey, and something you learned from it?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (13:31):
Yeah, I was thinking about this particular point this year of my career journey and misses there. I think that the big one for me is probably something that’s predictable for an experienced franchise or franchise development person, but time is just critical. And learning how to spot someone who’s literally going to waste your time. And I don’t mean that in the worst way, I just mean somebody’s not ready to enter your franchise process, especially when there’s only you’re a person of one in a department, your time is absolutely valuable.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (14:04):
So I’ve gotten a lot better at ruling candidates in and out, I guess, in a very early stage or just maybe moving them to a different part of the pipeline. That’s something that I sort of took, I think, for granted, that I would just sort of know these things. And I guess it’s one thing that comes to mind is I think about a miss.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (14:21):
Then overall in a career, the misses for me have been maybe more learning opportunities, I would say. So I can’t say that I’ve had gigantic, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I ever did that.” It’s more like, I’ve also, on the plus side, had a lot of opportunities to get thrown into the deep end of the pool, and there’s maybe just a couple of pools I maybe shouldn’t have allowed myself to get thrown into. But on the positive side, I’ve always learned so much through those experiences.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (14:48):
Maybe the biggest one is how much I need people. I am not a work-from-home, solo guy, that’s not me. So Discover Strength has corporate offices in the western part of Minneapolis. I see my team every day and it’s exciting. So just knowing, being mindful of that,
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (15:05):
Thank you for sharing. And let’s talk about a make or two on the other side, some highlights.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (15:11):
Again, on the one-year arc here of this franchise development piece of my career, a giant make for me and maybe our team is understanding our lead generation internally has way more power and value than maybe we ever thought about.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (15:24):
So one of the coolest moments we had is rolling out an idea to our clients that, “Hey, if you want to listen in, simple 30 minute webinar on the Discover Strength franchise opportunity, we’d love to talk with you.” We have about 2,000 clients and they’re in our demographic of people who may want to buy a franchise. And we’ve done multiple deals from that one 30-minute piece.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (15:48):
So a giant make has been our team, working together to come up with who are we really looking for? How are we reaching them? Versus always just throwing money at another lead gen portal or something like that, which they’re important, has really helped us maximize some things on the front end.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (16:04):
And then I go back to that thing I mentioned earlier about, on a career side over the last coming on 30 years, I’ve loved being tossed into the deep end. I was a principal at 27 years old, the youngest staff member in my building, in a school that was going to close in less than two years if we didn’t turn it around, and we did. All the way through being thrown into Fran Dev and, “Here’s a guy who’s going to train you, his name’s Tom, and you should read this book. And we need you to succeed, by the way, or our franchise plans won’t develop. So good luck and here we go.” And so, it’s been exciting to hone that and kind of sharpen that [inaudible 00:16:39].
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (16:40):
Wow. Well, let’s talk about a multiplier. The name of the show is Multiply Your Success. Have you used a multiplier or two to grow yourself personally, professionally, along the way?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (16:51):
My multipliers, as I thought about this question, are really the people that are surrounding me and how I’ve really tried to grow that network. Anybody who’s listening who’s maybe in this kind of a position where you’re pondering this move, maybe it’s internally in your own company, you were in operations and now you’re going to be the franchise development person, I’ve never been told no. You’ve never not answered a text message.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (17:14):
So when I talk about multiplying things and people, it’s that network that I’ve been able to, in just one year, go from backdoor neighbor is Pizza Ranch CDO, and now I’ve got all kinds of people that I can rely on and just help me push through things. And so, that multiplier is not a book necessarily or a system, it’s just the fact that you got to be vulnerable a little bit and say, “I don’t obviously know all of this, but other people do and I’m going to lean on them. And then someday I want to be that guy that maybe somebody else leans on or maybe some new person in their role just wants to have a cup of coffee and see what maybe the experience has taught me that I can share.” So hopefully that multiplier becomes a multiplier for somebody else.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (18:04):
Scott, the final question we ask every guest before they go is, what does success mean to you?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (18:09):
Yeah, this is so many layers for me. I thought, after exactly one year, on the date of my one-year anniversary, I’m a very reflective person and I like to run really long distances, so I have a lot of time to think. And I came up with this list of about 20 things that are just incredible about being Scott Breimhorst right now. It’s pretty awesome to be me, and I’ve been in this position, again, blessed for a year. So just being able to look back at this track, whether it’s now, it’s a year, and 10 years from now and 15 hopefully, and see these successes just kind of grow, I think is a big one for me.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (18:45):
Specifically, I want to be that person someday who can bring value to others. And I’ve always done that in my career. Asking somebody to make a campaign donation isn’t really just a transactional kind of conversation. It’s really achieving something for that donor and for whatever cause or campaign you’re running. And here we’ve got this opportunity for people, most of whom, in our sphere anyway, are making major career changes and life changes, to pivot into business ownership and small business ownership and developing with Discover Strength.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (19:20):
So continuing to have that be a major focal point for the pieces that I’m trying to accomplish in the job itself. And then ultimately, I will feel like I’ve made it when people are seeking my advice on a regular basis, and I’m not calling people and always asking for their advice, which I will continue to do forever. But the day my phone starts ringing with, “Scott, you got to help me. I have this thing, I have this question, I have this franchisee. I just don’t get it. Help me with this hurdle.” And then that will be a feather in the cap, I guess, for this career move for myself.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (19:54):
Scott, thanks for sharing. And as we bring this to a close, is there anything you were maybe hoping to share or get across that you haven’t had a chance to yet?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (20:02):
I guess one thing is sort of in the weeds a little bit, but again, thinking about what value I could bring to anybody listening to this. Going back to your question about what did you worry about when you started and where were your kind of anxiety points?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (20:16):
The first one literally came out of those conversations about financial disclosures. Don’t say anything that’s not in your item 19 or you’ll ultimately end up in a courtroom. Okay. Well, that stuff was really worrisome. And then it completely flipped one day and I don’t know why, but the structure of franchising, the system that we’re in overall, and we’re a system within a system, the guardrails, the clearly laid out kind of legal structures of all these things is not an anxiety thing. It should make everybody feel very comfortable.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (20:49):
For me, that that was one learning that I’ve taken to heart over the year. Now that I know like our FDD or just what an FDD is, thinking about this industry itself, that must have had a lot of past mistakes way back when to have to have an FDD in the first place has put us all in a position where clarity is really right in front of you. You just have to read it, know it, and understand it. And if you communicate it well, you could probably do this job.
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (21:15):
You should also love your brand and know that brand and surround yourself with amazing people and find people like you. You’re in my little group, by the way, of Yodas. So you don’t look anything like Yoda Tom, but you’re the people I seek when I need help and they’re just out there. So it’s been an exciting year, an exciting way to kick off my decade of my fifties. And again, just amazing getting to know people like you.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (21:41):
Well, I appreciate that. And Scott, tell us a little bit about, if someone’s listening to this and they want to learn a little bit more about you or about Discover Strength, what’s the best way for them to get connected?
Scott Breimhorst, Discover Strength (21:53):
Our website is discoverstrength.com. So pretty easy one to remember. I’m scott@discoverstrength.com. If you’re in Scottsdale, you should come and check us out at our location or anywhere in the Twin Cities, we’d love to have you in for a workout. So definitely head to the website or just shoot me an email and I’d love to connect.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (22:10):
Scott, thank you so much for a fantastic interview, and let’s go ahead and jump into today’s three key takeaways. So takeaway number one is that Scott had no experience in franchising before jumping right into it. And what he found is that franchising’s a very welcoming community. And I just want to reiterate that because that’s been my experience, having been in franchising now for almost 20 years. I found that it is a very welcoming community between franchisors, franchisees, franchise suppliers. You ask just about anyone and they’re willing to work with you. And Scott had some huge successes as part of the journey, and going from those six corporate owned and four signed to now having 28 total locations and growing. And when he started, he learned as much as he could.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (23:01):
Takeaway number two is that he put out a 30-minute webinar to educate their customer base about their franchise opportunity. And so, I think the key takeaway there is, as you’re thinking about franchise marketing and franchise sales, think about unique and different ways to get in front of or connected to people that are already connected to your franchise brand. You never know who might be interested. Scott’s a great example. He was a customer of Discover strength for years before he actually started working for them. How many customers, vendors, suppliers, friends, family, people that live in your community that might be interested. So get the word out, let them know what you’re up to.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (23:45):
And takeaway number three is when Scott said that he was nervous about franchising and what he had heard about litigation potential and franchise disclosure requirements and all of these different things. And then he realized that the FDD and the franchise requirements are actually great guardrails and provide clarity on the structure around franchising. And made that turn to realize that it’s actually a strength, a positive as you go through the process.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (24:11):
And now it’s time for today’s win-win. And so, today’s win-win is when Scott said in his multiplier that you need to be vulnerable. I thought that was a great takeaway. You need to be vulnerable, willing to step out of your comfort zone a little bit and find those wise advisors and a great support network. And Scott described his group of advisors and support network as his Yodas. And there was something I learned today is that apparently I’m part of his Yodas network. And I think that’s a wonderful way to describe that. And so, our company and I have been able to support Scott over the last year as he’s been able to make some growth professionally in his career as well.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (25:01):
And so, I would just leave this out as just a final plug. Anyone who’s interested in attending our franchise sales training workshop, you can go to franchisesalesworkshop.com or just go to our website and check out the link for our coming session.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (25:16):
And so, that’s the episode today folks. Please make sure you subscribe to the podcast and give us a review. And remember, if you or anyone might be ready to franchise their business or take their franchise company to the next level, please connect with us at bigskyfranchiseteam.com. Thanks for tuning in and we look forward to having you back next week.
