About J Stro Consulting
It has been two decades since I started my career as a project manager in several different industries. From construction, to supplement sales and nutrition, I was hands-on and very successful. Up until a few years ago, I worked for a small business that sold nutrition supplements through ecommerce and online nutrition challenges. Throughout my years working with this company, I was tasked with leading the challenge department. Under my management, the department was highly successful. That is, until the company sold. While working at the company, I was responsible for the marketing, customer service, site development, budgets, reporting, the list goes on. There were times when it wasn’t easy to be the one in charge, but helping over 100k people reach their fitness goals was an incredible experience that I wouldn’t change for anything. While it was demanding and rewarding work, at the same time I realized that working for someone else was no longer my dream; I wanted to work for myself.
Once the company sold, I was in a transition period with my career and had no idea what business to start, let alone anything about starting a business. That’s when I interviewed for multiple corporate positions. I received a few offers from various companies, but still wasn’t happy about working for someone else again. During this time, a friend introduced me to a local franchise that was looking to expand. I was extremely curious about this opportunity; I started my due diligence, but I knew deep down I was on the right path.
We began with a formal FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) review for the franchise. Since it was relatively new, it granted us some wiggle room with negotiations. After about 30 days of back and forth, both parties had agreed to terms. While waiting for an updated addendum to be completed by our franchise attorney, the franchisor decided they didn’t love our first location. They were expecting us to hit a home run, which could lead to opening multiple locations and asked us to look at other territories. One of those included the state of Rhode Island with a small portion of Massachusetts.
Over the next 2 weeks, I took multiple trips to scout locations. My business partner and I had decided that we’d take the leap and develop out that entire territory. During the follow up correspondence, they mentioned applying for a franchise license in the state of RI. They said it would take a couple weeks, but made it sound like it wouldn’t be a problem. Not thinking anything of it, I pushed forward with our attorney updating the addendum for the franchise agreement, while starting the search for our first location.
The following two months consisted of many trips to RI/MA, along with countless phone calls with commercial realty groups about leasing space in multiple areas. Since we didn’t know which state our first location would be, we couldn’t open an LLC and sign the official agreement. The franchisor understood this but still worked closely with us reviewing the various locations. We finally found a perfect spot and began LOI (Letter of Intent) negotiations. The franchisor and our attorney worked closely with us throughout the entire process. Once the official LOI was sent over and signed, we had the attorney update the contract addendum. At this time, the franchisor made it known that they still had not applied for the license in the state of RI (MA doesn’t have one). They asked that we update the addendum again to include a right of first refusal for the state. This was very frustrating to hear since we had just signed the LOI for a location and were waiting for a draft of the lease agreement.
Two weeks later, we sent over the final agreement with everything updated. After another two weeks and not hearing anything back, I reached out. It took a week for a response and I was told their franchise attorney was looking it over. Fast-forward another two weeks, I reached out again with no response. Finally, after multiple emails and text messages, I received a reply requesting my business partner and I to get on the phone. The next day during the call, we were told that they were selling the franchise and the new owners didn’t want any development in New England. Also – if we wanted another territory, we would have to renegotiate everything. They apologized and said, “Money Talks”. Needless to say, I was extremely angry, frustrated, and lost. I had spent 7 months pursuing this opportunity and to have it fall apart right at the end left me with a gaping hole of anger at all of the time, money, and other opportunities wasted. Plus, I loved the concept.
It took me a good week or two to calm down to see the bright side of everything. What was the silver lining? I unequivocally wanted my own business. I had zero desire to reenter the corporate world. This led to starting my own franchise consulting business, J Stro Consulting. I wanted to help and educate anyone looking to start a franchise so they can avoid the same pitfalls I did. My whole situation could have been avoided with a quality franchise broker providing multiple, credible franchises where I would get to choose a path that is even better than something I could find on my own. With the proper insight, my experience would have been streamlined, saved money, and made sure ALL my goals were attainable. It was a valuable learning experience.
J Stro Consulting is a FREE service for anyone looking to get more information or direction on finding a perfect franchise opportunity. So, reach out today and let’s chat!