Beyond the Cubicle: Exploring Franchise Opportunities with Kim Daly

FN Intro/Outro: Welcome to the Freedom Nation podcast with Jeff Kikel. On this show, Jeff shares his expertise in financial and retirement planning from a different perspective. Planning for Your Freedom Day, which is the first day that you wake up and have enough income or assets and do not have to go to work that day. Learn how to calculate what you need, how to generate income sources, and listen to interviews from others who've done it themselves, get ready to experience your own freedom day.

Morning, afternoon, wherever you're at Freedom nation, this is Jeff here once again, and we are having a fantastic interview today with one of the most pleasant people I've met in a long time, Kim Daly, and Kim is a franchise consultant, but she has a story of her own on her freedom. So welcome, Kim to the show.

Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Glad to have you on I'm really excited to tell your story. So let's kick off with that right out of the gate. Tell us your story. How did you get to where you're at today?

Right. So the question we always ask in franchising is how did franchising find you? Because it's not like everybody wakes up and goes, Oh, yeah, I want to start a franchise, right? Like most people are trying to solve a problem in their life when they realize maybe your franchise is the answer. So my story's a little bit different. I actually answered a classified ad in the newspaper about 2526 years ago, on my way to medical school, it was for a telemarketing job. And it ended up being for a franchise company. And they offered me a full time job. It was a part time job that turned into a full time job. And of course, my dad was like, Don't do it. You'll never go to med school. And I was like, of course, I'm going to med school but like a year off sounds kind of fun. Well, my dad's always right. At 51 years old I live in and my dad is always right. But I've never looked back, I got a taste of entrepreneurship through franchising, I got a love of the the freedom, that business ownership afforded people and I wanted it so I did what every good person does who thinks about owning a business? I became an entrepreneur. I had this experience in franchising, and I'm like, No, I'm gonna go it alone. started my first company at 25. I've never looked back. I've been self employed for 26 years now. Wow. But it only took me four to five years of being an entrepreneur and to figure out that it's super lonely. You know, you're making it up as you go along. There are no systems, it's really hard to scale. You know, the the common pitfalls that most entrepreneurs fall into. This was during the.com.com Bubble thing, you know, back in the late 90s, I was chasing all that. But 911 happened. And I was living away from my family in Florida. And I needed something that I could do back in New Hampshire where my family was, and I thought you know what, I'm gonna go back to franchising because it's collective. There are people there there are systems and tools. It's it's a network, you're not you're in business for yourself, but not by yourself. So at 30 years old, I came back to franchising and I've been here ever since.

So when you decided to go back into franchising, what type of franchise agenda purchasing

The one that I'm in right now, Jeff, so I had been a part of a company called free and choice, my business is to help other people become franchisees. So for the last 21 years, I've been helping other people realize their dreams, but all the while living my own. I've made history in my industry, I've broken my own industry history making levels again and again. I've been really kind of driving up the consultant opportunity now for over a decade.

That's fantastic. So let's say I'm sitting here I've got a W two job, I am what I call a cubicle warrior. And I'm sitting there just in my cubicle dying just a little bit every day and I'm looking for that opportunity to be an entrepreneur. I come to you and I say Kim, help me I'm dying a little bit every day. What should I do as far as a franchise? What how would you approach that?

Yeah, so this is the story that I hear like every day. So what what I do for people, my services are free, Jeff, my candidates never pay me. I'm paid by franchisors so I actually offer like b2b and b2c, right? I'm helping franchisors by bringing to them highly qualified, motivated, financially qualified candidates for their business. But for the candidate when you first come to the idea of like, I need a change. Most people don't know what the true value proposition of a franchise is. If they move past that, they're like, oh my gosh, there's three to 4000 options out there. How do I even narrow that down? And then there's the Okay, I've narrowed it down but like how do I know I'm asking the right questions. How do I confident We say yes to this. So these are the common pitfalls. Those are the places where people think about it, and then they never do it. So my business addresses all of that I take somebody at the very beginning, even if they think they know what they want to invest in, which I love, we wipe the slate clean, allow me with my relationships, because that's what franchising is, it's about buying a partnership. So allow me with my relationships with my knowledge of what's out there, the up and coming the stable, steady brands, as I get to know you and understand your risk tolerances. The skill set, you're bringing the time commitment, you're bringing the level of investment you want to put in, what kind of money you want to make, allow me to leverage all of my knowledge and bring you three to five options that have opened territory where you live, that are looking for you, these are companies that are looking for the characteristics that you have. So I bring the two parties together, and then I become like the Dating Coach. Now we're gonna we start with a blind date, and we try not to elope, like my job is to kind of slow down that emotional response. Yeah, how people really build what I call a bridge of trust and belief that will allow them one to two months later, to be an educated and logical decision maker. So it's both emotional and logical this decision we're making, but we want to first slow down the emotional response, which is fear, which is jumping to conclusions of competition, or saturation, or this won't work all of those things, and slow it down and become logical. Let's turn those assumptions we're making into questions. And who do we direct those to, to find out in the real world, if those things are actually true?

Very cool. So I think the biggest part I like about that is the fact that you're bringing them together, and you're almost kind of forcing them to evaluate all five options that you bring to that, that they're not, oh, the first one is the greatest one ever. And this is the one I want to do. I would assume with your expertise to you're able to look through some of that. The just chaff that's out there when it comes to you know, these different opportunities in franchising, you know, you hear about all the horror stories of, oh, I got into this franchise and then the franchise didn't really support me and everything else. How do you go about evaluating those franchises for that person?

Yes, excellent question. So first of all, the reason I do this 21 years into this as a franchisee, if you will, of friend choice is because my parent organization every day, they're out holding the franchise industry going to all the big events, emerging brands, looking for the best of the best franchisors. So they create my inventory, they put them under contract. So you and I never have to worry about the money part. That's all done for us. So we just get to really focus on your goals. What do you want to wake up and do? Who do you want to create jobs for what kind of customers do you serve? What are you really worried about as a business owner? Like what are your insecurity, some people really worry about the economy, and they want like something that feels more essential. Some people worry about finding employees, right? So they want something with a small team or they want some a franchise that has a lot of back end tools for recruiting and retaining good employees. So once I get to understand sort of where where you feel insecure, where you feel confident that again, its relationship, when you ultimately say yes to a franchise, you are not buying a widget, not even buying a brand. You're buying people because widgets and brands did not get doors back open or keep doors open in 2020. Leadership did right now of all the franchisors I work with, I don't know of any franchisors that imploded during 2020. I don't even my fitness franchisors that I use have no permanent closures, like how many like in a mom and pop world, how many business owners can say that I can say that my fitness franchisors because of leadership. And it's not just because of like one CEO in franchising, we're all part of the collective right. So franchisees come together to help each other we're all shareholders in the same brand. It's not like this competitive corporate ladder where if I help you get ahead, like somehow that knocks me off the ladder. So Joe, if I figure out something in my business that makes me successful, and I can share with you because you're my neighbor, and then together are the brand equity and in you know, in our backyard raises that we're all doing better. And if I go to sell my business and the brand equity is at a peak, I may be able to get some super fat multiple, like 678 multiple of my business because that brand equity is more than if I was a mom and pop or there wasn't that brand equity. Right. So there's so many reasons that in a franchise we're all working together franchisor And franchisees to lift the brand to build the brand to, to keep growing our opportunity, you know, to the competition to the changing market to different economic times.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, and I think that that's the important thing I know a lot of people that look at, well, I can start my own business. And I can do that. I mean, I've always been that way, I can start a business from absolute ground zero. And I consider that fun. Now, some people would consider it psychotic. But for somebody that is okay, I've never been in business before. Franchising can be a really good opportunity, because you already are started so far down the road, what might take me a year, year and a half to get there, from a branding standpoint, you're buying into right away.

You know, Jeff, sometimes the easiest people to convince of the value proposition of a franchise or former entrepreneurs, myself included, because look, if you've tried to start a business from scratch, you may spend three to five years just trying to define your customer avatar, and get this thing cash flowing. But in a franchise in that the same three to five year period, I can have you only up and operating three to five stores. Because you're buying down that learning curve. You're not figuring out anything, you're being handed the business template, and then it's up to you to execute and to go bring it to life. But so we're mitigating those startup risks, which is really where 90% of businesses fail. So in franchising, we don't own that statistic of 90% failure. And we're getting you to the scale, which is where wealth is created, no matter what you're doing. So it's never going to be about one team or one truck or one location of anything. It's about how do I leverage my time and scale that across many, because that's where wealth is built. So these this idea that like franchising is only for rookie business owners or not for people with MBAs are truly smart people. It's totally untrue. Like, yeah, at one point in my business, I worked through like the the Sloan School at MIT, their graduating business class, I got one guy who was like, super against franchising when I met him, but I loved the challenge. I was like, it was like a sparring and intellectual sparring match. Every time we got together, he was just so sure franchising wasn't for him. And today, he's one of my best lead sources. He's going so well in his franchise, and he totally like saw the light. And so he writes this like article for the Harvard Business Review, and then all these people read it, and then they reach out to him. He's like, you gotta call Kim Daly, she changed my life. So, you know, I love that you know, and look, look at I'm very pro franchising, but there is a place for entrepreneurship, or else you wouldn't have any new franchises. So it's not right for everybody. And I still want entrepreneurs to go start their own businesses, because eventually, those may become like, you know, 10 years from now, the new franchises,

when they decide to start expanding out, they're perfect for you at that point. So yes, exactly. Yeah. Well, you know, if somebody is sitting here, and they're saying, Okay, is it right for me? What, you know, if you could say, one to two things that I need to have to really be a successful franchise? What would you say that would be?

Yeah, Sakana me what you probably think it is. So a lot of times people feel like, oh, do I need an MBA? Do I need prior business experience? No, you need a goal for your life that says I want freedom, I want to build a cash flowing asset that I own and control and you need some grit. If you give me those two things, right, and you're gonna bring a basic skill, like you've honed your skill in corporate America, whether it's like leading teams or running a p&l that you know, you didn't have, it was in your money, but you were still in charge of it. Or maybe it was driving business development, I just need that basic skill, and the hunger for something better in your life. And I can match you with some good opportunity. And then you got to show up, you got to execute. This is about accountability. No one's gonna hold your hand and give you a salary. Right? You got to build that business so that you can take a salary. But if you have that in you, I mean, again, we're mitigating the risks, we're not putting ourselves out there on the bleeding edge, or we say like, you're, you're jumping off the diving board, but you're falling into the safety net of the franchise. And that safety net will be validated by other franchisees who've already taken the jump. So you're not leaping into the black hole or in the, into the unknown, that that bridge of trust and belief we first learned trust by getting to know the franchisor through a series of phone calls, and then we get that belief, we're gonna borrow the belief of the other people who've already said yes to this, like if it worked for them, it's probably going to work for me, right? And then eventually, you're going to end up at a corporate office, which is called a Meet the Team day where you're gonna get face to face with the executive team. And that's really their opportunity to be fair Is to face with you. Because look, they want to make sure that you got what it takes to be successful, they don't want to feel you're on their hands, they have to disclose that to, you know, in their franchise disclosure documents. So this is very much a mutual evaluation process, where ultimately it's their business to award to you and they believe this is mutually beneficial, and then it's your business to buy. So

now, when you are looking at a franchise like that, I mean, is it important that it's a business that maybe you're super interested in? Or was it really matter?

So that's a really great question. So I often aspect from the very first call, like how important is it that you're attached to the widget? Mainly, because when they say a lot of people say, yes, it becomes an intellectual property like, then my, my goal is to help them let go of that, because widgets are not what make us happy. Over time, the widget may have to change in order for you to remain relevant to your customer. So it's always about who's behind the widget, right? It's always about the culture of the franchise, not the product or service they're selling, that may have to change. Now, I don't want to put you in a business that you're that challenges you ethically or we don't, I don't do anything like vaping, or alcohol or anything that's out there anyway. And if it is important, like I'm a fitness girl, like I love, you know, life giving environments. So for me, while I understand the mission based work of like a senior care business, it wouldn't be what I want to do every day, I would want that life giving fun, like I love to be around kids, I love to be around sports, I'd love to be in the gym, an environment that's uplifting. So that's kind of more what's important to me. Because that I mean, that's my story. I was a personal trainer, I grew up in the gym, I was on my way to med school to be to work with professional athletes. But when my friends who are getting involved in franchise consulting, they said to me, you'd be great at that. I was like, really? Well, when I looked at the role, I thought, you know, that's just like being a personal trainer. Yeah, it's just instead of talking about changing somebody's body, or changing somebody's financial life, you know, which is a little more important in some in some capacity. So, you know, I saw that correlation to the skill set that I loved using in the gym and applied it here. And like I said, Who do 21 years later, I'd still be doing it and loving it

and love it every day. I mean, you get up and do what you love to do every day, which is exactly so let's say I am a very, very busy professional. So I'm not just a cubicle warrior, but I'm a very busy professional. And I want to start diversifying my income a little bit. But I don't have a whole lot of spare time to be running a business or owning a job. What's How do you handle that kind of situation?

Yep. So in franchising versus entrepreneurship, where that would never really work. You have to be full time. In franchising, Jeff we have what's called semi absentee ownership. Not every business allows this or affords this but again, I have the relationships I know who does so by definition semi absentee by and I'll put in air quotes because there's variances to this based on the the owners business acumen like your learning curve, how much learning are you going to have to do but if we define loosely semi absentee means about 20 to 25 hours a week by the owner with a full time manager. So this would allow you to keep your full time job use nights and weekend time to be running this business. Because oftentimes most people are trying to build a bridge out they're trying to figure out how to I pink slip slip my job before they pink slip May? Yeah, so that's that's what we're trying to do. And most of the people I work with need, you know, two incomes coming into their home they can't afford, they've got kids, they've got college, they've got so many things going on. So this is how we accomplish that with these businesses that afford for a semi absentee owner. I

Love it. Love it. I love it. Well, great. What's new in your world today?

Like my my my professional world or my personal world?

We already know you're at the you're in a temporary home by the beach because you're getting mixed up.

Yeah, I am Jeff now I mean, so professionally lucky. I've been doing this for 21 years, I'm starting to build some business coaching I've developed a you know a lot of good relationships with people that really get bought into my own story of going from eight years as an average performing franchisee in my system to a history making franchisee one year later. So I point this out to people not to brag about what I've done, but to point out like to kind of bust through some of the myths of like, you know, when people are like, well, I want to talk to struggling people. I'm always like, why, like what do you think you're gonna learn from someone who's struggling, right? Because they feel like if I've always steered to the people who are successful Well that I've only got to hear the roses. And I'm like, well, the people who are successful kind of have what you want. And so having stood in both camps, average and then history making, when I did that, and I did it in 12 months time, like, I know what I was doing, then, more importantly, what I wasn't doing. And then what I started doing that made all the difference in the world. So it changed everything about how I coach. So this new coaching style I've been offering for the last 10 or 12 years has really, I believe created better franchisees for the systems that I've delivered candidates to it's getting recognized by franchisors I'm starting to be a keynote speaker at Franchise conventions because they like the voice that I have because I am a franchisee so I can speak to the franchisee I pay royalties I'm, you know, part of a collective. But yet, I use my own brain if you will. And I've gone beyond what my system afforded me and build something that nobody ever believed could be built. And I've continued to grow that. So I have that growth mindset to then offer back, which I love. So I'm starting to develop some coaching systems. This fourth quarter of this year, we're building some platforms that we hope to launch in 2024, which would allow me to not only create a new business owner, but then after they say yes, to go on in a more passive way, but still be a part of their growth journey, helping coach their mindset, while the franchisor is teaching you functionally, how to build your business. Kim Daly's going to teach you in the mindset, how to set your goals, how to break them down how to hold yourself accountable to them, kind of like that personal trainer used to be in the gym. That's kind of where I see myself going like for the next 10 years or so that I want to work? That's really kind of where my heart is being lied to. Yeah, that's

awesome. Yeah, I mean, that I could see it on your face, just the big smile, because you feel like, okay, this is that. It's exactly what it was, when you're a personal trainer. It's just okay. It's now money trainer at that point. And we're I'm gonna business,

the mindset of a business owner for me, that's the difference. I mean, I didn't my skills didn't change dramatically from one year to the right, that said, That's impossible, right? What changed was how I thought about my business, when I when I decided I was worth, how I thought about my business, and then how I executed every day. And those things make all the difference. Now, I've been I'm connected to there's 90 consultants in my group that do what I do. Of course, they they have me share what I do. But how many of them, do you think have what I built less than a half a dozen, over a 1012 year period have come to me and said I want to do what you do at the level you do it. And sometimes they ask when they don't fall through it. I'm not judging. It's their business. It's your life. But like, there's a lot of limiting beliefs we carry about what we're worth or about money, and that I feel like I have a voice to speak to where franchisors can't really speak to that, you know, so that's why they see Ooh, I've asked them, you know, would you see value in bringing in this kind of a coach and sure, ranch racehorse are like, yes. So I think it could be an amazing new market for me to kind of to kind of a big open green space.

While Yeah, I mean, all those years, you got 21 years as a successful consultant, to be able to serve as a successful franchisee to be able to say, hey, yeah, here's how you do it. This is the steps to do it. And I've got a system to help you get there. So that's one,

Right. And it's not just book knowledge. Of course, I'm an avid reader, but it's real. It's real. It's knowledge. It's things that I've built by trial and error, right? Like, it's it's really, it's coming from a very like pure place like no, don't do it the hard way that I did it. Let me just share with you what I did kind of,

like follow my way, probably done this, and like six months instead of my 12 month period of time changing it or whatever, then Exactly. Awesome. Well, let's switch gears and go to the Fast Five questions. You ready? I'm ready. All right. So question number one, you wake up in the morning business is totally gone. You have all the knowledge in your head, you have a laptop computer, 500 bucks in your pocket place to live, what are you going to do first?

So the first thing I say to every new business owner who doesn't have a customer is if you have a network, you have customers by the laptop, I have access to email or zoom, I want to I want to start reaching out to the tune of about 100 people per day. The people that I know are my first customers if they're not they know people. They're my first customer. So you got to generate revenue. If I only have 500 bucks, I need more than that. So the first thing I got to do is use my network as leverage to create an offer with people that already know like and trust me start generating revenue,

favorite expression, my network is my net worth.

So yes, sir. Mind you.

What's your biggest business mistake you ever made?

I think I mean If I didn't learn from every mistake, the biggest mistake is not learning like in sales, no matter what we're doing, it's always sales. And so if you take an objection over and over and over, and you don't stop to think, How can I serve my customer better by setting it up better? So that objection doesn't come up? I think that's a mistake. I think we all do it. I think a lot of business owners fall prey to that, like, we're, I'm a victim to my market, you know, the competition is beating me on price or whatever. It's like, no people will buy value. If you set it up better. So we we become more victim to our circumstance than the owner of the process. And I think I've definitely fallen victim to that I did for eight years before I figured it out. So now it's just more about like, taking what I've learned that were mistakes and saying, Alright, I'm in control of this, how can I do it better because I want to serve more people. That's what business ownership is about serving other people. I help enough other people get what they want, then I get what I want, which isn't just money. It's the satisfaction of helping other people.

That's fantastic. What's a good book that you'd recommend for our audience? The best

book I read and reread, I paid my teenage children to read it. And yes, you heard me I pay my children to read books that I wished school would make them read. It's by Earl Nightingale. It's an oldie but a goodie. It's called The Strangest Secret. You've probably arised The Strangest Secret?

Yes, yeah.

So this is a life changing book, right? It's a free audible on YouTube or, and I on the I set a timer for two years, Jeff, on the first day of every month, I would do my cardio workout. And I would it's 25 minute audible, I would listen to the book. It's a 30 day test like you is a 30 day like get a no card out. And there's like a little thing that you want to follow through the you fall off the you fall off the wagon, you know, so then the first of the next month by reminder would set and listen to the book again, I do it again. If you do that, that book will change your life, it will change your life. The Strangest Secret.

I love it. That's that I don't think it's ever been out. Well, I can tell you it's never been on the show. So that's a whole new one. So awesome. Very good. What's a tool that you use in your business every day that you might recommend?

Yeah, like a technology tool or a

I've had everything from a yellow legal pad, which was the first person I ever interviewed ever, to, you know, high tech stuff.

Okay, so I mean, for me, my tools are my sedate my daily specific goals. So breaking down my annual goal all the way down to what do I have to achieve incrementally today, that moves me. So people are like you're so amazingly consistent well, so a magic of amazingly consistent at what I can control. So every day I come to work, I know the levers I have to push and how hard I want to push them. So that I can be always on track to where I want to end up. So on my desk I have in paper not complicated not on my phone, not on my computer pieces of paper that every Monday morning, they go away and the new one comes out or Sunday night that I write down specifically, what you know if it's if I want to attract five people to me or 15 people to me, then it's one period to period like I'm calling them to me, You have no idea of the power of intention. When you write down specifically what you want to attract to you. It's like hilarious, because people will be like, really it works. And like it works. And if I don't have that piece of paper, guess how many people I will attract zero in and I put the piece of paper it's like they magically appear. Now that's years of like doing a lot of outbound that then yeah, I know that it can come back. But you're doing enough outbound and you set intention, it's coming back to you. So I'd say my tool is just to daily specific goals, which is where my business name comes from the daily coach.

I love it. antastic. Alright, last question. What is your definition of freedom?

So I'm a freedom junkie, like I worked for somebody for three years. But I knew from the first day on the job, I remember going home and saying to my dad, you've been doing this for how many years right like that, like, Oh, God, I remember his expression, you know, as they're like, Oh, she gets it, you know? And I was like a chain the dog I knew from day one. I wanted out that my father laughed when I told him that he's like, Kimberly, we knew that you are unemployable. Since you were two years old, I have always been Miss Independent. So my definition of freedom, it's just being able to wake up every day fully in control of my environment. I don't have bosses. I don't have meetings. I don't want to take I don't do things I don't want to do I make time in my life to Go to the gym everyday because that's important to me. I make time to get out to my kids soccer game today, I can plan my life the way that I want. I'm free to make as much money as I want or as little money as I want. But it's all me calling the shots. That for me is freedom.

Yeah, that's awesome. And it's I mean, it's absolutely true. It's like, okay, being able to just say, Hey, today, I'm going to do this. And I don't have to answer to anybody. I don't have to go into an office, you know, my morning was get up, go to the office for a few minutes, come back. And I've been doing podcasts all day. You know, that's, that's my fun, you know, and I still made money today, not even actually doing stuff. So I mean, it's absolutely fantastic. So, love that

Answer for everybody. Right, Jeff? I mean, every person I need wants, quality of life and money. And that's why the passion for the widget doesn't really matter. Because it's like, if I find you a business that gets you the kind of money you want, that drives the quality of life. Even if you're not passionate about that widget right now, trust me, you're gonna fall madly in love with whatever that widget is that afforded to you the other two. So we all want some definition of freedom, and it is different for everybody.

Absolutely, absolutely. But it's, I mean, the most common answer I get to that question is, I want to be able to do what I want to do when I want to do it and you know, have the money to do it. Well, that's exactly what franchising is. So thank you for sharing that story today, with our audience, Kim, if somebody wants to get a hold of you, what's the best way?

So first, what I would do is go to my YouTube channel, because I have over 600 videos and growing every week, I love content like you do, Jeff. So that's Kim daily da li.tv. So binge, some content, understand my style, debunk some of the myths in your head. Then when you're ready. Of course, all of my contact information is there. If you'd like to learn more about my free consultation, you can also go directly to the daily coach.com. That's d a l y. Beautiful.

Well, thank you, Kim, so much for being on the show your your excitement is just absolutely palpable. So really appreciate you being on and sharing all this information because it's extremely important. So folks, I would encourage you take that opportunity to reach out to Kim, check out her channel, make sure you subscribe to it so that you're getting all of our new content that's coming out speaking from those of us who create a lot of content. And we do these shows for you every week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. So make sure you're subscribed to the channel, make sure that you hit those little up arrows or hit the stars to make sure that we know you're out there. Thanks a lot for being on and we will see you guys back here the very next time.

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