Sandy Ferrera:

So buying into a franchise, any franchise, you’re going to get a lot. With All County obviously you get the standard package that everybody else gets. I mean you get a website, you get the software and the tools and the training and the commencement assistance and all of those things. I think where you really need to look at when you’re looking at a business is you really need to dig down. You need to talk to the people that are in the business that have worked with the franchisor and find out, “What happens after I open my doors? Does the support stop? What happens when I hit the five-year mark? Is the anybody there to help me get over the next hurdle? What happens if I get sick or, God forbid, I lose a spouse? What happens in these situations?”

And for us, our business model is a little bit different. Yes, you’re buying a business in a box, you’re getting all the tools to go out there and build your own business. But you’re never going to be in the business alone. We’re always going to be there walking beside you to ensure that if you do fall down and skin your knee that there’s somebody there to pick you up, brush you off, and get you back on the path. And maybe that’s not right, maybe that’s not the best financial path for us as the franchisors, but because of our relationship with our franchisees it’s the path we’ve taken. And so our support ongoing, it doesn’t end, not after a year, not after three years, it just keeps going because the more profitable our franchisees are obviously the more profitable we are.

And success comes in many forms. Yes, a lot of us measure success by the bottom line, the dollars we make. But I find success in so many areas. I’m fulfilled financially, I’m fulfilled personally. I enjoy life, I enjoy the experiences that go along with what we’ve created here. And I really get enthusiastic when we move into a new arena, in unchartered territory, groundbreaking things for our franchisees. So when we have the ability to roll out something that’s going to change their business or be dynamic, I think that’s really exciting. So for us I don’t think it ever stops.

So when you ask the question of what do you get when you buy a business, I’m not sure I have the answer because I’m not sure I found all the answers yet. I think it’s going to keep growing and multiplying.