Franchise Friday – Episode 212 – with April Porter of Ask April Porter

In this episode with Melissa Pang and April Porter: Business Growth Strategist, Founder and CEO of Ask April Porter

April Porter

As an award-winning entrepreneur with a proven record of success in growth strategy through lead generation, sales training, and employee performance, I have experienced first-hand the joy of building a business that creates a dream life.

I am fulfilling my mission of teaching franchisees how to fill the gap between the franchise model and the executive-level know-how needed to increase revenues, build a reliable team, and scale to multiple locations.

When I started as a first-time business owner, I was overwhelmed with the magnitude of responsibilities in areas that I was unfamiliar with (marketing, sales, employee development and financial management), so I fully immersed myself in learning how executives think, strategize, and execute.

My approach to franchise ownership created explosive growth. We expanded to four locations in record time by cultivating a team of employees personally invested in exceeding expectations and maximizing performance. We used a strategic plan to motivate and empower everyone to drive toward the mission of reaching our BHAG, allowing me to delegate the daily operational tasks and become an absentee owner.

With a passion for mentoring Franchisees, Entrepreneurs, and Small Business Owners, I began teaching the formula to multi-unit success – an evolution from an employee role inside the business into an Entrepreneur overseeing growth and expansion.

I am dedicated to mentoring franchisees that want to enjoy life, enhance their impact on the world and crush the competition.

Franchisees come to us when they are ready to scale into higher profits, a larger team, multiple locations, or additional industries. We understand the opportunities and limitations of being in a franchise agreement, so we teach the executive tactics and strategies for massive growth that complement the franchise model. With a CEO who is an experienced attorney and award-winning (former) multi-unit franchisee, we offer a holistic approach to business ownership development.

April Porter has always BEEN A CHAMPION FOR THE UNDERDOG

She sold her franchise locations during the pandemic and founded “Ask April Porter” to dedicate her attention to creating more opportunities for franchisees and franchisors through advanced business education. Applying the same growth strategies used to expand her franchise locations that grew her new company from zero to six-figures in just four months.  April Porter has a team of franchising experts who have experience as franchisor corporate team members, franchisees, franchise sales brokers and franchise marketing specialists.

April hosts the #1 franchisee podcast, Infinite Franchisee and the only Facebook community dedicated to franchisees. She also moderates the Clubhouse Infinite Franchisee Club.

Finally, I’m a #1 Amazon International Best-Selling Author through my involvement in the anthology “Fearless and Fabulous: Finding Your Way Through Change and Beyond” and an inductee of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

April: I was a Lawyer for ten years, and it was high-intensity and sometimes dark. But most of all, it was extraordinarily strategic because you got to be strategic to get juries, 12 strangers, to agree to send someone to prison for the rest of their life. You can’t get your family to agree on what to have for dinner. Lawyering is a challenging thing to do. But I did that for 10 years, and then decided I wanted to try something lighter and fun. And I ended up investing in a Kickboxing franchise. I grew to four locations in less than three years and got it to where I was only working five hours a week on the business meeting with my team members; they were growing the revenues and doubled in six months, without me being in the business. And then, of course, everybody wanted to know, what are you doing? I was getting phone calls from around the country, people asking me to help them and I began consulting one-on-one, which I kept doing until I sold all of my locations in 2020. I was having great success with consulting and helping other franchisees and could see that there was this gap in the industry with nobody filling it and said, You know what, I’m going to rebrand, I’m going to make it so I can help groups of franchisees instead of one on one so I can help more people. And that’s how we came up with “Ask a Reporter.”

Our clients are franchisees, and we are helping with the “franchise gap.” The franchisor is responsible for teaching the franchisee everything they need to know about the model. And that includes the product and service. What makes it unique? How do you communicate to potential customers about the product and service? And then how do you get it in their hands? Whether it’s like a POS system? How do you bring it up? How do you track things those days and those operations as they relate to the model? But the franchisee needs to scale to bring a certain level of business acumen, emotional intelligence, leadership skills, and mindset for growth, and they need to understand how the different areas of business relate together, right?

Melissa: Absolutely. That is what is so interesting about what you do. I talk to franchisors all day long, and we really focus on finding the right people. You want to create an experience for them upfront so that they can see themselves in your brand. And it’s all about the dream and the vision. Let’s get them on board because you want great franchisees for your system. But you’re talking about the franchise gap, where something needs to be added between being a franchisee with a great product and the Ops Manual and putting that into practice daily. How are you getting to your goals? That’s where you’re bringing value to these franchisees. We are talking about the why before they become the franchisee because that’s what’s fueling them to take that leap of faith and become a franchisee, and then you’re talking about it once they’re on the other side. Moving from the employee mindset and taking it to the next level, they have to change some things to get there. How do you make your franchisees aware that they need to evolve personally to get to the next level and achieve the goals for which they started franchising?

Franchise Friday, where you can watch or listen as we explore franchising, entrepreneurship, and small business ownership, speaking with the franchise industry thought leaders and subject matter experts that shape the Future Of Franchising. #FranchiseFriday – For more about our podcast, visit our website: https://futureoffranchising.com/ Produced by Franchise Source Brands International and The Entrepreneur’s Source.