Why I Just Became a Franchisee
Ownership isn’t just about financial return. It’s about understanding the machine from the inside.
Why I Just Became a Franchisee
Lesson: Eating My Own Dog Food
This past February, I became a franchisee. Not as a passive investment, but as a real operator. After spending the last year and a half studying franchising from the inside while working with the Stuart family at Bloomin’ Blinds, something became clear to me: franchising is essentially my incubator model at scale. Lower barrier to entry, proven systems, and real ownership. So I took on Bloomin’ Blinds of North Austin with a clear goal, scale the territory past $3M in annual revenue over the next 2 years and learn what franchisees actually experience day to day so I can better help them scale their businesses.
Insight: The Best Advisors Operate
- You Can’t Advise What You Won’t Do: The fastest way to understand a system is to live inside it. Operators see realities that spreadsheets never reveal.
- Systems Are the Real Asset: Franchising works when the operating system is strong enough that multiple owners can run the same playbook successfully.
- Alignment Matters More Than Opportunity: I didn’t just choose the business. I chose the people. Working with partners you trust compounds far more than chasing the “perfect” deal.
Ownership isn’t just about financial return. It’s about understanding the machine from the inside.
Action Item: Pressure-Test the Systems You Believe In
- Pick One System You Recommend Often - A framework, strategy, or model you believe works.
- Ask If You’d Operate It Yourself - If the answer is no, not even for a month, dig deeper into why.
- Get Closer to the Real Work - The closer you are to the execution layer, the better your decisions become. At the very least you’ll learn something new.
If you want to learn more about my operating system, you can check out www.owners.club
