IAM2673 – Why Emerging Brands Are the Next Big Opportunity

Gresham Harkless opens the segment by introducing this content as a special episode of the I Am CEO podcast, specifically episode number 2287, which is a “snippet of a snippet” documenting his entrepreneurial journey. He is documenting his process of starting a new venture called Blue Star Franchise. This new project will also lead to the creation of a sub-site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. His purpose in documenting this process, which he realizes would be helpful for others from the founder of the Franchise Brokers Association, is to provide insight and color into building a business, hoping it will be super helpful for people who are thinking about starting franchises or any type of business.

The Appeal of Emerging Brands

As Harkless documents his progress (around day 346 of his franchise broker journey ), one of the key concepts he has learned about and focuses on is the idea of emerging brands. These are newer franchise brands that are just getting started , typically having less than 20 or 30 units out there. He notes a major benefit is that they are often at a more of a discount compared to established brands and have fewer guardrails. This setup is particularly beneficial for someone who is truly entrepreneurial at their core, as it offers more opportunity to potentially influence the brand as a whole, establish the foundation, and be a first-mover. The main challenge with emerging brands, however, is that things like SBA financing can become more difficult.

Opportunity for the Entrepreneurial Core

Harkless emphasizes that emerging brands offer a unique sweet spot for the entrepreneur who wants some guardrails but not to be told what to do all the time. For these builders, the lack of established structure creates a greater opportunity because the brands want to get up and going and move to the next level. Owners can buy up multiple territories or become master franchise owners. Harkless encourages his audience to think about emerging brands if they have that “entrepreneurial bug” , reinforcing the message that the world needs exactly what they are trying to build and that they should continue to keep building. He closes with an inspirational note to “run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you”.

Previous Episode: https://iamceo.co/iam2671-documenting-the-journey-to-build-a-sustainable-model/

• Blue Star Franchise: bluestarfranchise.com
• Browse the Franchise Inventory: bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
• Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
• Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – franchiseceo.co

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Transcription:

Gresham Harkless 00:00
Very, very interesting. I think there's lots of opportunity there. So if you are somebody that's truly entrepreneurial at your core and you say, hey, franchise is not going to be for me, think about emerging brands. Think about those units that have less than 20 now, a lot of like, SBA financing, things like that become a little bit more difficult. So you just want to look into it there. So that's what I really thought about, was really powerful and, you know, something to kind of keep in mind, think about emerging brands when you're looking to kind of build out that entrepreneurial bug that you have.

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. And this is a special episode, episode number 2287 of our I Am CEO podcast. And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise. We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show, notes related to that. But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this. Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of fba, the Franchise Brokers association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out.

I think it's something that'll be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises. But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there. So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of.

Videos that have been created. But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube. Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where Herald Leonard Post is. So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing. The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self. So make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you. This is Grass signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of day.

Gresham Harkless 2:03
Day 346 of this franchise broker Journey. And one of the things that I learned was about this concept or this idea of emerging brands. Emerging brands are basically brands that are newer in franchise and they're just kind of getting started. The really big benefit is that usually you're not going to pay what you might be paying for an established brand sometimes. And of course it always depends on the brand. But it also means that there's not a lot of guardrails or not as many guardrails as when the brand becomes established. So why is that important? Why is that beneficial? Because if at your core you're maybe entrepreneurial, but maybe you want some guardrails, but want too many guardrails and you want to maybe be a first mover, this is where emerging brands might be, like right up your alley. I really like emerging brands because I feel like they establish an opportunity for you to be able to create the foundation of a specific franchise. It allows you, I think as well too, to decide that, hey, I do want to take this franchise as territory, build, build it up, I build it up and then I'm going to be able to make an impact from there.

So it's actually a really interesting wrinkle that I had no idea about. Like when I first started this. Of course I learned a tremendous amount. But when you start thinking about these emerging brands, these are the brands that are up and coming, they're usually less than, let's just say 20 or 30 units that are out there. So there's lots of opportunity. And sometimes what you'll find is that there'll be people that want to buy up multiple territories or they'll become master franchise owners able to own certain territories, maybe they'll sell certain territories. So it's pretty interesting because usually you have more opportunity because these brands also want to get up and going.

They want to move from emerging to that next level to like the hybrid into the more established brands. So it's one of the most interesting wrinkles because I think when a lot of people say that, hey, I don't want to, I don't want to be told what to do all the time, but they want to start their own business, this might be that kind of sweet spot that's pretty interesting. And usually you're at a, you're at a more of a discount, I think, from what I've seen in different brands and just comparing it all on paper. So that's one of the things. You have less guardrails, you have more opportunity, I think create and potentially influence the brand as a whole. But I think for that person that is like very much so entrepreneurial at the core they're going to really, really connect with this and then by the time the brand becomes established they're probably going to want to sell their units because it's not going to be as fun or they're going to have somebody maybe manage that unit.

So very, very interesting. I think there's lots of opportunity there. So if you are somebody that's truly entrepreneurial at your core and you say hey franchise is not going to be for me think about emerging brands. Think about those units that have less than 20 now a lot of like SBA financing things like that become a little bit more difficult so you just want to look into it there. So that's what I really thought about was really powerful and you know something to kind of keep in mind think about emerging brands when you're looking to kind of build out that entrepreneurial bug that you have.