Father-son duo Jack and John Armstrong have been in business together for more than 10 years. Jack, the father, opened a FranNet franchise more than 20 years ago, and his son John decided to join the team after an unsatisfying stint on Wall Street.
Jack and John work to connect entrepreneurs with franchise opportunities in New York and New Jersey.
“When I contacted Jack about 12 years ago, I wanted advice about choosing a franchise. I went in wary, expecting a sales pitch,” said Rick Grossman, one of their clients.
After going through the process with the Armstrongs, Grossman added: “He was not a salesperson as much as a counselor; he looked out for my needs, not his own.”
Below is my interview with Jack and John Armstrong.
What exactly do you guys do?
Jack: FranNet is basically a franchise that sells other franchises. We represent approximately 150 franchise companies, and we work with different organizations to help educate people on the benefits of owning a franchise.
I’ve been with FranNet for 23 years, working here in New Jersey. Back in 2005 the founder of FranNet wanted to sell, and me and a couple of the other franchisees bought out the company. So, I’m the chairman of the board of the franchise company, but I’m also a franchisee myself.
Talk through the process of franchising with FranNet from beginning to end.
John: Step one is a series of seminars and webinars. The webinar, at a very high level, gives clients an idea of whether this is worth pursuing or not. It lays out the path going forward, the challenges, the rewards, everything.
After the webinar they do an assessment of their strengths, weaknesses, goals. I then talk to all of the clients after the assessment. I want to get an understanding of the parameters: who they are, what they enjoy, what are their goals.
Jack: They then come in for a two-hour meeting and we talk over different choices — why we think they're good, why we think they're not. If there’s an interest at the end, we introduce them to the franchise companies and work with them to see if they want to buy. About 70 percent of the people we work with realize entrepreneurship is not for them.
It’s really trying to find out why they want to make this change, what’s going on in their lives. I always say to potential clients: “You have a very successful resume, you have good income, decent balance sheet, why are you taking this risk, why now?”
John, why’d you decide to join up with your dad?
John: I was at Morgan Stanley originally, working on global capital markets, and just hated the lifestyle. I knew there was a better way, so I asked myself if I wanted to stay corporate or go entrepreneurial. I liked the freedom and flexibility promise of going entrepreneurial.
I knew the upside was there, so I figured who better than to partner with than my dad as a mentor, to show me how it’s done. So that led me to be a franchisee in New York City.
What is it like working together?
Jack: I love it — I absolutely love it. I see a different side of John. He looks at things a little bit differently than I do.
Maybe I’m too traditional in what I do, but he’s looking at things a lot differently and brings a lot of wisdom. It’s fun, we bounce things off of each other and usually come up with a reasonably good decision that works for us. Its been working for us for 10 years.
John: It is great. I learn from him, and then I kind of solve our generational differences, like the digital side especially.
What is a challenge of working with each other?
John: I would just say its always with you. It’s not uncommon to be home and talking about work.
Jack: I would like to eventually phase out and have him get more active. He’s already taken over all the marketing and done a great job with it. The next phase is having people come to him if they’re trying to solve a particular problem with a transaction.
What do you enjoy about the work FranNet does?
Jack: I love the satisfaction of people being successful. I had someone call me last week and say: “I don’t know if you remember this, but 19 years ago you sold me a Servpro. I think it’s time to sell.” We talked about the business and how the 19 years had gone by so quickly.
It’s very satisfying to have people be successful — you really feel like you’re helping people make a change in their lives.
What do you do if you think a future client isn’t a good fit?
Jack: Failures hurt everybody. The franchise company, the client and us. The last thing you want is somebody to fail in business. Franchises have a good track record to begin with, but they still have failures. Not everyone is successful in franchising.
John: It’s mutual selection too. If we don’t think someone is going to be a successful candidate, we’re going to reject them pretty quickly.
How do you decide what type of franchise someone should open?
John: You want to look at the owner’s role in the franchise. And then you want to match that owner’s role to their skillset.
Usually we tell people why we don’t think something is a match and then see how they respond to it. If they’re still really interested, but I don’t think it’s a good match, I may have them start the due diligence process and wait for them to come back and tell me that.
Talk about the due-diligence process.
Jack: The due-diligence process comes after our meeting — we introduce the clients to the different franchise companies and they have a series of conversations. Some people drop out at that point, when they realize it’s not for them.
The second phase is they then start talking or interviewing franchisees who purchased, who are in business. But they also talk to people who failed at the business, people who have sold. They’re trying to get a feel for their function.
A great chef will never buy a McDonald’s — they can’t change the menu, they can’t do anything with it.
Third step, is we encourage very strongly they go out and visit the headquarters and get to know the culture, the support, the training. The last step is we’ll recommend accounting firms and a law firm to help them understand what they’re getting into.
John: I usually encourage them to spend a day with the franchisee. For some clients I make it a requirement.
Overall, what do you like about working for FranNet?
Jack: I have always enjoyed the business. I’ve certainly enjoyed working with my son. There’s a sense of real satisfaction when someone is successful in business and they come back and drop you a note thanking you.