I just got back from a conference with Big Frog Franchise Group in Tampa, Florida. I was invited to speak with their franchisees, who are a really fun, smart group of professionals – many of whom are really hitting their stride and achieving record growth.
Having worked with Big Frog for about three years, this growth is exciting to watch. The 10-year-old company had a slow start and didn’t franchise until a few years later. But as the brand matured, and their business experience increased, they’ve started achieving great results. I believe much of this success has to do with the overall culture of the organization. From a high level of teamwork to utilizing outside perspectives and appropriate vendors when needed, they’ve been meticulous in their understanding of what needs to be done, and then making it happen. There is also a high degree of transparency in the organization, with the ownership team sharing valuable HQ internal metrics with their franchisees. This isn’t always done at franchise conferences, and was nice to see.
The Importance of Validation
Because of the organization’s overall success, and the improving maturity of their franchisees, this was a good year to talk about validation and their role in facilitating the growth of the brand. I wanted franchisees to understand their role in bringing good people into the organization – and keeping the “bad” ones out. As I mentioned before, it’s the culture of Big Frog that really sets them apart, so by carefully vetting new franchisees, and making sure they share the brand’s culture, they’ll help preserve what makes Big Frog so special.
During the conference, I also facilitated a roundtable on Leadership for Franchisees to help them understand that their business isn’t just a job – to really succeed, they need to have an attitude of accountability and grow beyond themselves. With a few more franchisees looking towards multi-unit growth, it was a message they were ready to hear.
With a recent profile in Entrepreneur Magazine, Big Frog has a lot of momentum to achieve great things in 2016. I look forward to the prospect of attending next year’s conference to catch up with their franchisees and see how far they’ve come.
It’s been an exciting journey to work alongside these smart, fun leaders for so many years. Getting to play even a small role in this brand and system’s success is what I really value about my work as an advisor and Board Member. For many brands, it’s that outside perspective that, over time, can really make a difference in their overall success.
