IAM2400 – Franchise Broker Challenges: Day 32 Insights
Special Episode by Gresham Harkless Jr.
Gresham Harkless reflects on the challenges and transitions he's facing in his entrepreneurial journey, particularly as a franchise broker. He mentions the potential loss of a client, which could impact his team and business.
Gresham discusses the unpredictable nature of business and life, likening it to a plate of spaghetti, where things often change unexpectedly.
He acknowledges the difficulty of losing clients, especially when the client had previously expressed optimism for the future. While unsure of the reasons behind the client's decision (possibly related to health or legal matters), Gresham recognizes that such challenges are part of entrepreneurship.
Gresham emphasizes the importance of staying adaptable and being open to new opportunities, even when things don’t go as planned.
Gresham also shares his new initiative, “connection broker,” a project aimed at connecting people with their ideal franchise opportunities.
He mentions that despite the setbacks, he remains hopeful and is exploring other avenues, such as a YouTube course, to expand his skillset.
- Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
- Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
- Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
- Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co
Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.
I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!
Transcription:
The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!
Intro 00:01
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?
If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
Gresham Harkless 00:29
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode 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 would 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 we're going to post this.
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 Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
Hey there, this is Gresh here, and I believe it might be like day 32, 33 or something in this franchise broker journey.
And promised that I would try to continue to do these videos on a daily basis. I'm actually going through what I feel like is a season to change.
So we lost a client or potentially will be losing a client. And that's definitely something I'm not super excited about because I think it's going to affect our team overall.
The good thing is that with the digital marketing business, we've been able to kind of be divided amongst different clients.
So we're not beholden to like one client, but I can just imagine like if we were dependent on one client and we lose that client and it's just isn't a very great situation.
So this is where I go back to that entrepreneurship and life, frankly, being a lot more like that plate of spaghetti where you don't know how things are going to change.
[restrict paid=”true”]
But honestly, I feel very not a happy camper, you never like to lose clients, but I haven't talked to the client.
I will end up talking to her next week where I think she's completely folding the entire business, which is something that I literally just talk with somebody else about, like on the podcast about like how.
It's a challenge when that happens. You can't run people's businesses. You can't make those decisions for them.
So you try to be like a partner. You try to help support them. But at the same time, it ends up being really challenging when you do get those messages or you hear from that.
And especially because I talked with a client a few days ago before the holidays. She said that she was ready to go into next year and thinking about ideas and things like that.
So I'm not sure if it was health related, maybe something legal, not 100% sure. But I know that.
Needless to say, it's going to hit our team hard. I think that I'm going to actually crunch the numbers and see and get an idea of exactly where we're at as a team.
But the reason I wanted to bring that up, obviously I'm talking about franchise brokerage, is because a lot of times it's understanding the holistic aspect of business and entrepreneurship.
Whether you have a job and you transition from your job into your full-time franchise or potentially, your startup business, whatever it might be that you're working on.
We're trying to make that transition or even maybe hold on to both and just reinvent ourselves like on the fly.
And a lot of times those things, will fall apart. Things will fall off. Things will get filtered out. Sometimes those things will happen.
And I think that one of the things that I talked with a friend and she had mentioned to me that I should use this and I got the domain already of being a connection broker because I've built a lot of connections.
I've always tried to connect with people or connect with certain softwares and systems or the hacks and things like that to kind of bring them all together. But I have not taken time and space to really kind of work on that.
And so I think that's one of the big things that sometimes when you when things are happening and they're not happening the way you want them to go and maybe things the doors are closing and things like that.
Maybe it's opening you up to other opportunities that maybe you haven't pursued or you thought about, didn't feel like it was the right time or you didn't frankly have the space and energy.
So I'm doing that. I'm also going through a YouTube course as well, too, just to learn more about YouTube and see if that's something that I can leverage.
But I really think that this, it's your connection broker dot com that I'm working on. It's not like a side thing.
It's very much so in alignment with everything that I'm doing related to the franchise broker visions, because a lot of it is helping to connect people with their ideal franchise opportunities.
What really attracted me to it was the connection piece of finding out what somebody likes, doesn't like, what they see as their vision, what their amount of money that they want to make.
Do they want to be semi-passive? Just all those things, all those factors, be able to understand the brands and to make that connection as much as possible.
Mostly not make the decision for them, but then kind of ultimately be that bridge. So maybe this opens up an opportunity for me to do that a little bit more.
And I don't know, I think it's all in alignment. I think that I just kind of have to be, have faith.
And I am a person, a man of faith. So I always feel like, you know, While doors are shutting, things are happening, and they have happened definitely this year, whether it be personally or professionally.
It just is one of those things where you say, OK, what am I hearing? What's happening? Pay attention to the transition, the shifts that are happening.
And pay attention to the transition and shifts that you ultimately want to do as well. With that being said, I really hope to figure this out.
I might, talk a little bit more about this, but want to kind of just give some context around what's happening.
And as much as it isn't directly franchise related, it does affect the business. And sometimes that speaks to why you want to have a system in place like a franchise too.
Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.
Outro 06:37
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.
Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.
Intro
00:01 - 00:28
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I Am CEO Podcast.
Gresham Harkless
00:29 - 00:58
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. And this is a special episode 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 subcite within CB Nation called franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But I just want 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.
Gresham Harkless
00:58 - 01:29
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 would 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.
Gresham Harkless
01:29 - 01:53
But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube. Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this. So I 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. It 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 the day. Hey there, this
Gresham Harkless
01:53 - 02:23
is Gresh here, and I believe it might be like day 32, 33 or something in this franchise broker journey. And promised that I would try to, you know, continue to do these videos on a daily basis. I'm actually going through what I feel like is a season to change. So we lost a client or potentially will be losing a client. And that's definitely something I'm not super excited about because I think it's going to affect our team overall. The good thing is that with the digital marketing business, we've been able to kind of you know, be divided amongst different clients.
Gresham Harkless
02:23 - 03:00
So we're not beholden to like one client, but I can just imagine like if we were dependent on one client and we lose that client and it's just isn't a very great situation. So this is where I go back to that entrepreneurship and life, frankly, being a lot more like that plate of spaghetti where you don't know how things are going to change. But honestly, I feel very You know, not a happy camper, you know, you never like to lose clients, but I haven't talked to the client. I will end up talking to her next week where I think she's completely folding the entire business, which is something that I literally just talk with somebody else about, like on the podcast about like how.
Gresham Harkless
03:02 - 03:30
It's a challenge when that happens. You know, you can't run people's businesses. You can't, you know, make those decisions for them. So you try to be like a partner. You try to help support them. But at the same time, it ends up being really challenging when you do get those messages or you hear from that. And especially because I talked with a client a few days ago before the holidays. She said that she was ready to go into next year and thinking about ideas and things like that. So I'm not sure if it was health related, maybe something legal, not 100% sure.
Gresham Harkless
03:30 - 04:07
But I know that. Needless to say, it's going to hit our team hard. I think that I'm going to actually crunch the numbers and see and get an idea of exactly where we're at as a team. But the reason I wanted to bring that up, obviously I'm talking about franchise brokerage, is because a lot of times it's understanding the holistic aspect of business and entrepreneurship. Whether you have a job and you transition from your job into your full-time franchise or potentially, you know, your startup business, whatever it might be that you're working on. We're trying to make that transition or even maybe hold on to both and just reinvent ourselves like on the fly.
Gresham Harkless
04:07 - 04:35
And a lot of times those things, you know, will fall apart. Things will fall off. Things will get filtered out. Sometimes those things will happen. And I think that one of the things that I talked with a friend and she had mentioned to me that I should use this and I got the domain already. of being a connection broker because I've built a lot of connections. I've always tried to connect with people or connect with certain softwares and systems or the hacks and things like that to kind of bring them all together. But I have not taken time and space to really kind of work on that.
Gresham Harkless
04:36 - 05:01
And so I think that's one of the big things that, you know, sometimes when you when things are happening and they're not happening the way you want them to go and maybe things the doors are closing and things like that. Maybe it's opening you up to other opportunities that maybe you haven't pursued or you thought about, didn't feel like it was the right time or you didn't frankly have the space and energy. So I'm doing that. I'm also going through a YouTube course as well, too, just to learn more about YouTube and see if that's something that I can leverage.
Gresham Harkless
05:01 - 05:35
But I really think that this, you know, it's your connection broker dot com that I'm working on. It's not like a side thing. It's very much so in alignment with everything that I'm doing related to the franchise broker visions, because a lot of it is helping to connect people with their ideal franchise opportunities. What really attracted me to it was the connection piece of finding out what somebody likes, doesn't like, what they see as their vision. you know, what their amount of money that they want to make. Do they want to be semi-passive? Just all those things, all those factors, be able to understand the brands and to make that connection as much as possible.
Gresham Harkless
05:35 - 06:06
Mostly not make the decision for them, but then kind of ultimately be that bridge. So maybe this opens up an opportunity for me to do that a little bit more. And I don't know, you know, I think it's all in alignment. I think that I just kind of have to be, you know, have faith. And I am a person, a man of faith. So I always feel like, you know, While doors are shutting, things are happening, and they have happened definitely this year, whether it be personally or professionally. It just is one of those things where you say, OK, what am I hearing?
Gresham Harkless
06:06 - 06:31
What's happening? Pay attention to the transition, the shifts that are happening. And pay attention to the transition and shifts that you ultimately want to do as well. With that being said, you know, I really hope to figure this out. I might, you know, talk a little bit more about this, but want to kind of just give some context around what's happening. And as much as it isn't directly franchise related, it does affect the business. And sometimes that speaks to why you want to have a system in place like a franchise too.
Gresham Harkless
06:32 - 06:36
Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.
Intro
06:37 - 07:12
Thank you for listening to the IMCEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at imceo.co. IMCEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. This has been the I Am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.
Sign up to receive email updates
Enter your name and email address below and I'll send you periodic updates about the podcast.
[/restrict]
