How Franchising Will Give You Lifestyle Freedom

Almost exactly one year ago, I had Erik Van Horn on my show. Erik knows more about franchising than just about anyone on the planet. No matter where I go — if I talk to someone who knows Erik — they always speak well of him. Like Erik says, “there is a lot of power in our networks.”

Mastermind groups are one incredible piece of knowledge that I live and breathe and love to talk about. Eric Van Horn is also a mastermind group mastermind. I don’t know how to say that any more clearly than that. Eric knows his stuff and has the power within himself to create a lot of value for himself and anyone around him, and for all within his circle of influence.

You’ll want to listen to the podcast (below) to glean your own nuggets of gold and hear things that will help you become a lifestyle investor, in yourself.

The Clubhouse App

We talked about the new app called Clubhouse and made a few predictions about that. Clubhouse is an app where it’s audio-only, and you go into rooms and share stages, or you’re in the audience with people, and there are real conversations taking place. Clubhouse is a remarkable place to learn.

What is the future of this app — take a moment to watch and find out its future. You can always be the “fly on the wall” and hear things that are going on. Whether this app will be how we learn from experts in the future will remain to be seen — but I hope that it will. I hope that people that are ahead of the game or smart in certain subjects will keep sharing where all people can hear, learn and get a leg up in this complicated world.

When Eric and I did the podcast a year ago, he was just beginning to see the value in Clubhouse, and he really convinced me of its value when he called it a “giving platform.” He said:

 “Going in there (Clubhouse) I just hosted a room with a friend of mine who built an online business and sold it, and we were in the room in conversation for 75 minutes just helping people with their questions on selling their businesses or building a sellable business.

I’ve had so many people give back to me and I’ve had incredible conversations with people. And so, what I’m hopeful for, as we go into 21, what I want to do more of — is help people.”

Mastermind Groups

One of my favorite people to bounce ideas off is Eric Van Horn. He makes me want to be a better person, and that’s the type of people I like to have around me. Eric has had me as a guest a couple of times, and what an honor that has been to join with other like-minded people in helping others.

Several from Eric’s mastermind group have joined my mastermind. Eric has trained them well and shared well within his group; they all understand clear communication and the core values we want to continue pursuing. These people from Eric’s group are some of my most active, giving, and community-minded people.

One statement Eric made to me way back when was about COVID. We talked about how close we have all become since COVID and how many people we know that we didn’t know before.

My question today is — can we be a little less worried about the COVID issues and realize that many, many positives have happened because of the pandemic? We want to continue inside of a healthy mindset to grow “community.” If we have taken the time to build during this time — why can we not count this time as a positive? I think we must.

Businesses in Trouble

Eric talked about how businesses got in trouble in COVID. He has started a fantastic business called Franchise Tribe. Eric has been in the franchise business for nearly 20 years and has a ton of experience that he wants to pass on. If you haven’t listened to his podcast on franchising — you will want to take the opportunity to do that.

At first, on his Facebook group, Eric only had those who were franchisees — but soon, he opened it up to up to everybody in franchising. Like I always try to do, he worked to pick a subject and look for the smartest people who know about that subject and pass on great value to those who join you. As Eric said:

We found that people who are used to traveling around the world, speaking on stages, living that kind of life, are now at home and at their core, they want to give value to people.

What a profound statement, and I have found it to be true in my work as well (at least that is my goal, and I strive to be on point with that value). Having a group that is waiting for you to deliver high value makes you study, work hard, and pull out the best advice you can give them to help them move forward and save and grow their businesses.

We push to make sure that these business owners have the massive ROI they need for a more significant lifestyle investment for those individuals and friends.

The Deal Flow

An important lesson to always keep in mind whether you are in franchising or another business — the “deal flow” doesn’t just happen overnight. You have to be alert, aware, and connected — you have to be in the game for a while and you have to be doing deals all the time to get to deal flow. Both Eric and I try to teach this principle and be a part of it.

I tell people all the time that deal flow is tough to come by — deal flow is even invisible most of the time. I even call these deals, invisible deal flow because they are not apparent to everyone, and they are often private deals.

Conclusion

My hope for you: I want you to have a great experience with the franchising ideas given as you listen to the podcast with Eric Van Horn. Next, I want you to check out Clubhouse and see if there is value in it for you?

Third: take a moment and think about mastermind groups. Can you find one to join — or better yet — what do you have to offer that you could teach other people and make a mastermind group yourself? Do you know something that could help someone you know in business?

Years ago, I met with a group once a week at a restaurant that let us stay and play a game, Money. We talked, strategized business, and asked questions to help each other build our businesses. People from that group have all become successful.

Fourth: look at who you spend time with — enough said.

Let’s make 2022 the best ever. Believe it. Live it — and bring someone else along for “your” ride by teaching them some tips they need to know.

Image Credit: Gerd Altmann; Pexels; Thank you!