Grand Slam Journey
This podcast discusses various topics around - sports, business, technology, mindset, health, fitness, and tips for growth. Topics range from what sports have taught us and how we transitioned from a singular focus and pursuit of our athletic goals and dreams to the decision to end our sports careers and move into the next phase of our lives. My guests share how they found their passion and purpose, tips for maximizing potential - holistically - physically and mentally, how they transitioned from one chapter of their lives to the next, and how to drive success in sport, business, technology, and personal life.
Grand Slam Journey
81. James Hilovsky︱From Baseball Gloves to Franchise Success
Unlock the secrets of transforming athletic discipline into entrepreneurial success with our special guest, James Hilovsky, a former minor league baseball player who now helms the FranDream. In this episode, we tackle the myth that franchising is just about food and restaurants, revealing opportunities in diverse fields, from pest control to pickleball clubs. James takes us through his journey of swapping baseball gloves for business strategies, showing how the competitive mindset from sports is a golden ticket to thriving franchise ownership.
We explore how athletes' natural teamwork and discipline translate seamlessly into managing and growing a franchise. James shares personal insights from his time in baseball, highlighting lessons in modern training methodologies and how these shaped his management style in the restaurant industry. You'll hear anecdotes about the transition from sports to business, shedding light on the importance of a supportive network and how the structure of franchising mimics a well-coached team.
Lastly, we delve into the crucial elements of franchise ownership, from capital requirements to in-depth research, comparing it with other investment avenues like real estate. James shares fascinating examples, such as athletes venturing into wedding dress franchises and dog poop cleanup services, and we discuss the impact of NIL on young athletes and the new opportunities they can start creating early in their lives. This episode is packed with valuable insights for athletes considering a new career path in franchising, offering a roadmap to success after sports.
Watch it on YouTube
Connect with James:
james@thefrandream.com
https://www.thefrandream.com/
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Everybody thinks, well, franchising is just food in the restaurant business. That's really not true. I mean, it's in every industry, from dog grooming, pest control, window washing to even used car lots. There's a franchise for it too. Car painting, you know, kids swimming. I could go on and on and on. So there's all these industries of franchising.
James Hilovsky:And one thing that's really strong with an athlete and I tell them you may not want to go into the restoration business and know nothing about it, but it is something to where you don't need to know that the franchise is going to help you. They're going to give you a playbook how to do this. You followed a playbook all your life. It's going to be natural to you and you're running a business, so you're not going to be working in the business, you're going to be working on the business, so you're going to be that person pulling the levers and moving everybody around. So just rely on your natural instincts and let's pick an industry that is going to fit for you, depending on what they're looking to get out of business ownership, and something that you think is going to be fun and something that's going to excite you.
James Hilovsky:Let's find that industry and let's look at some really good franchises For an athlete. The franchisor is going to be like your manager and then you're going to be a franchisee. So you're going to have different franchisees that are going to be in the same system. So they're going to be your teammates, so you're going to call them up for advice and they're going to help you through the business world as well. An athlete really fits great into the entrepreneur spirit and franchise business, because the hardest thing for a professional that's exiting corporate America is to take that risk, bet on themselves and go out there on their own.
Klara:Ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Grand Slam Journey podcast, where we discuss the Grand Slam journey of our lives sports, life after sports, and lessons we have learned from our athletic endeavors and how we apply them in the next chapter of their lives, Growing our skills and leadership in whatever we decide to put our minds into For me personally, areas of business and technology, and my guest today, the world of franchising. James Hilovsky is a former baseball player turned the CEO of the Fran Dream. James has a proven track record helping former athletes transition from their sports careers into new fulfilling careers through franchising. In this episode, we talk about his athletic journey and his transition to the restaurant business and franchising. We explore how athletes can leverage their skills, passion and competitive mindset to thrive as business owners. We dive into athletic skills in business, discovering how your sports background can make you a natural entrepreneur. We cover a wide variety of franchise opportunities and investment levels, the importance of support and guidance and how franchises benefit from a proven playbook and a supportive network, and we also debunk some myths.
Klara:If you enjoyed this conversation, I would highly appreciate if you could please provide a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to this podcast. This is your host, Klara Jagosova. Thank you for tuning in. This is your host, Klara Jagosova. Thank you for tuning in, and now I bring you James Hilovsky. Hello James, Happy Sunday, Welcome to the Grand Slam Journey podcast.
James Hilovsky:Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Klara:Of course it's my pleasure and I'm so curious to dive into your journey, being a competitive athlete and now helping athletes transition from their athletic dreams and pursuits of their athletic goals to perhaps the second chapter of their lives careers through franchising. And so I have quite a bit of bias, obviously from my own experience being a former athlete, but also now as I interview other athletes transitioning to the next chapter of their lives. So I am curious to hear about all of that guidance and let's see what else we uncover along the way. But I want to give you an opportunity to introduce yourself to the listeners.
James Hilovsky:Thank you. Yeah, so I was a minor league baseball player in the Philadelphia Phillies system. I was there very briefly because I came right out of high school into a camp and while in minor league camp I hurt my shoulder and that pretty much ended my professional career, habit of playing, professional career habit of playing. So then it was like, okay, well, what do I do from there? And I kind of got into the restaurant business and took a good loving to it and worked my way up in the restaurant world. I was involved in a fast food company where I worked in there, the quick service market, for 25 years. And then another company came to me and said hey, we need someone to run our franchise operations, supporting our franchisees, running our operations, could you do that? I said absolutely, jumped at that chance and we went from having one store all the way up to 100 stores that we built the chain up to. So that was fun and great and a great time supporting different franchisees.
James Hilovsky:Then the largest franchisee of the company came and said, hey, come work and partner with us, and that happened to be owned by two NFL football players. So we still had our. We did our restaurants that we had, then we did our own other franchise of an ice cream sandwich, a baked bear franchise. Then we did our own coffee concept as well as our own cookie dough concept. Then one of the NFL players, he retired. He went into the movie business because he was a writer, children's book writer and whatnot. And then the other brother got hurt, couldn't fulfill the end of his contract and he and his brother said, hey, we're gonna do this joint venture, we're gonna go into the tequila company, we're gonna start, we're gonna start our own tequila company.
James Hilovsky:At that point I didn't really want to join them. I don't have anything against tequila, but just because it wasn't really my forte or my background and my strengths. And then I decided I would go be a franchise broker of matching only athletes, but professionals of different opportunities that are out there in business. Because in professional world corporate America is tough and they'll turn their back on you in a minute and put you out on the street. Back on you in a minute and put you out on the street.
James Hilovsky:So I wanted to help those people find a great match and something they can do as well as the athletes definitely the athletes, because I did see all the different people that would come up to the brothers that were in the NFL with these crazy schemes of to invest in this, invest in that, and I always saw that many athletes just get pushed and pulled in different ways and I just wanted to be able to, where they could come and just get an honest opinion of hey, I'm not really selling anything, I'm just showing you your options that are out there and let's go on this journey together and find a great fit that will not only make you money but could provide generational wealth for you. So that's kind of why I got into it and I really just love what I do, because at the end of the day, it is helping and changing people's lives.
Klara:I love that overview and I want to dive a little bit more first into your journey before we transition to hold that franchising world that you had described beautifully. I'm always curious how my guests find their first passion and it's interesting that we as athletes cling to one sport versus the other. So you mentioned you played baseball. If you reflect back, what was it that attracted you to the sport and why baseball?
James Hilovsky:What attracted me to the sport was just the ability to be with the team, that you have teammates, you're relying on teammates. It's a great thing, but also the individual aspect of it when you could come up to the plate and it's just you against the pitcher that's there. So it's like an individual sport and a team sport, all involved together and just the pace of the game, just knowing that there's no clock so that we have 27 outs and that we have all those outs and we're not going to run out of time. So I really just love the passion of the sport of baseball. And then I just really just remember as a kid, growing up, I had a brick wall in my front yard and I had a baseball and all I would do is throw that baseball against that wall and field it and just for hours on to hours, from sunup to sundown, just working on fielding and throwing and just was. You know, it was just that just became a passion of mine.
Klara:And I love you describing as such in the word passion and I often feel, even from my own experience, when we say the word it can be hard to describe to others. So can you go just a little bit deeper of baseball. Was there anybody who inspired you, or what did your upbringing look like? Any of the underlining things behind the passion that you want to fill in? That made you realize, maybe some of the first times, why you love this game and the sport well, I did watch my older brother play.
James Hilovsky:He played center field and and he were he wore number nine. So then it was like, okay, well, when I play I'm gonna wear number nine, and just from that. And then my dad would come home and throw the ball around and then we had a fairly, uh, decent size. You know, we lived on an acre, so my dad designed it and built a batting cage, so I was out front playing with the ball against the wall, but I would go in and hit off a tee and just hit.
James Hilovsky:And when I go by passion, it was basically I couldn't wait for the sun to come up and to be able to go out and either hit or throw the throw the ball around. And it just was like I hated it when it got dark because then I couldn't, you know, couldn't do it. But then, you know, it was just something that I always loved, and even as a kid. I mean now it's, you know, the internet's out, but you know I couldn't wait to do to get that newspaper and read the box scores of baseball and just dive into the stats. And how are these guys doing?
James Hilovsky:And I do remember also going and getting the Sporting News at that time was a magazine that came out weekly and it had a writer for every Major League Baseball team in there and I would just comb that and read it, hoping to pick up, for they would talk to Major League Baseball team in there. And I would just comb that and read it, hoping to pick up, for they would say, you know, talk to Major League Baseball players and say I adjusted my stance or I did this to get out of my slump. So I would process all that and go, ooh, that sounds neat, I'll try that. So it was. I just dove myself into the game and just researched it and got anything that I could out of it.
Klara:I love you mentioning the researching and reading papers. I also remember when I was still playing tennis early on. The only thing you could read is the magazines. There wasn't obviously all the content that is now on YouTube and social media, so you got your hands on anything around the sport that you could learn from back then. It's funny how the world has changed. I always wonder, like all of the information we have now at hand when it comes to how to train, how to recover, how to eat properly, the mind-body connection to maximize the performance in all ways, how would my training look different if I had this information that we have now? Dan, but anything else you want to call out specifically, how do you reflect on that? James, as you mentioned, there was probably even less information in that time for baseball than, obviously, all that is now.
James Hilovsky:It was all about baseball. That was it. That was my sport, that's what I dove into. And it's funny what you said, too, about looking at now all the data, all the analytics and all that. You know, when I was growing up it was, you know, it's a line drive, you got to be a line drive hitter. That's what you got to do. And you know home runs and accident, that's okay, and you didn't want to strike out. And now it's like launch angle and strikeouts are all okay and just like wow, you know, if I would have known about this back in the day, I would have done launch angle then. And you know, uppercut at the ball and it's just, it is just amazing of all the analytics and stats of being able to train.
James Hilovsky:And, like you said, recovery. Recovery was a great thing because, you know, realistic, really, I really injured myself because I really didn't warm up properly. I just I was always the guy that went out and just started chucking the ball. I didn't, I didn't really stretch, get loose, it was just always I just started chucking the ball, chucking the ball and, of course, when you're doing your with the team, you're doing your stretching and all that. But you know, I got to be honest, it really wasn't serious about my stretching, it was just kind of going through the motions and just I just wanted to pick up that ball and start throwing it and yeah, it's just all the data we have and just the recovery, and just it would just been amazing to have all that information back then.
Klara:It would just been amazing to have all that information back then. And you mentioned injury. Maybe let's dive into that sad part that eventually made you quit your baseball career. Personally, I think it's a very hard thing as well. That's one of the reasons why I knew after college I couldn't continue. My body just wasn't working the way it needed to. So there's that reality. If I can't perform the way I need to, it's also very frustrating because you know you have so many things that are bringing you down, and then that impacts your mentality as well, cause you know you can't perform the sport to the degree that you would want to, or you were able to, because of those injuries. So specifically, specifically shoulder, how did you deal with that? Or what actually happened to your shoulder? Did you have it diagnosed?
James Hilovsky:yeah, tore rotator cuff so it was like threw a ball and it was like a knife, just like my whole shoulder blade just like exploded and uh, was just a very painful.
James Hilovsky:And back at that time, really the only player who would ever come back from that was Larry Eisel. So it was really just not something that was going to come back. And really, to be honest with you, after I had that, I grew up in a very little town, so I was this big fish in this little pond and when I got out into minor league camp and everything I looked around and I said, wow, everyone's good, like, oh my gosh, I couldn't believe the athletes and how good they were. So you know, my confidence was already waning to begin with and to try to adjust through that and it just, you know, it did teach me a lot going through that of just the mind and how you can lose your confidence and be so good at something work your whole life for and then just have a couple bad weeks and just going. Gosh, if I didn't get hurt, you know, could I mentally have got myself out of this and been successful doing it? And I really don't know the answer to that, to be honest with you.
Klara:And so talk to me a little bit about that transition. You get injured. It seems like it was instant pop, so you knew something was wrong. You got diagnosed torn rotator cuff, and so how have you dealt with that and that transition to the restaurant business? How has that path opened for you?
James Hilovsky:So in high school I did have a job in a restaurant it was a fine dining restaurant that I went from busboy waiting tables to expediter, carrying food out, bar, back, helping bartenders. And when I got hurt and I came back home and just decided, you know, I want to play ball again, but I don't really think I want to go back in and try, because at that point I knew being hurt I was going to have to lollipop the ball. I was going to be able to throw it once I healed, but I would never be able to throw it like I could. And so I just went back to that restaurant. And then I just started learning more that I had a couple people take me under their wings and going, hey, you ever thought about getting into management and working that way? And and I was like, yeah, sure, that sounds good.
James Hilovsky:And then, really, what I? What I really kind of like a light bulb went off. It's like you know, if I'm a manager, I have employees, but you know, really I have a team. So now I have my own team and I'm a manager. How am I going to manage this team? Well, I'm going to manage it as if it was a baseball team. I'm going to have my cleanup hitter. I'm going to have my number three hitters. I'm going to have my employees that may be my number nine hitters, my bench player employees that probably aren't going to get a lot of hours but they're going to be valuable.
James Hilovsky:So I really kind of developed a management philosophy of I'm going to manage as if my employees are my teammates and we talked and we bonded as a team and always, to me, the biggest thing is communication in the business world and that's kind of the way I did it. I took my athletic background and just made my management style we're a team and we're going to teamwork. We're going to have great communication. We're going to have superstars, we're going to have great communication. We're going to have superstars, we're going to have okay players and we're going to have bench players, and that's to this day. That's kind of how I've always managed.
Klara:I love you mentioning that and, if you don't mind asking how old were you when somebody identified you had a management leadership? It seemed like it was quite early on after your transition from baseball.
James Hilovsky:Yeah, I was 19, 20 years old, because I again, I just always knew to work hard, perform, because as an athlete you always want to perform, you always want to be the best. So I got into that restaurant I was like, okay, I want to be the best busboy I can be. Let me watch the really pro busboys and let me learn how to do that job better than they're doing it. So I kind of just did that, every station moving up. And then again the management philosophy. It's like, okay, I might not be on the field anymore, but I am because this is my new team.
Klara:Yeah, I love what you're mentioning and I'm drilling down because it reminds me so much of my own story. So I'm glad you're saying these words that I 100% resonate with. And what you're mentioning is this what I call now maximizing my human potential, which is now part of my mission. It's taken me quite a long time to reflect on. Maybe I'm a slow learner, because literally more than maybe a decade after I finished my tennis career, I realized that all the skills that I've learned through the sport are transferable.
Klara:I think when you're early young, kind of going even through the transition from being brokenhearted that your athletic career is over, and especially when it ends in a way that your body is not allowing you to do it anymore Injury, et cetera, similar to kind of what you and I had it can be really hard to envision what else beyond the sport you may enjoy or at least it was for me. And so you in some ways sounded like you just kind of took a path that opened up. For you it was the restaurant business. You knew it a little bit from before. For you it was the restaurant business, you knew it a little bit from before. And so you said, well, why don't I try it again and then follow that path and someone identified that high potential in you and seemed like was able to be a mentor and a guide from early on to kind of help you see the world differently. Is that accurate? What do you want to add, james, to that? And kind of that transition path?
James Hilovsky:Yeah, no, 100%, that's exactly right. Someone was there, mentored me and then, you know, the crazy thing was it was again, it was a very fine dining restaurant and I spent another couple years management there, maybe two, three years and from there I went into a fast food company which was completely different and opposite of that, but again the same thing there. I just I went there and they put me in their management program right away. Same different philosophy Now it was. It was you had to be a little bit more quicker than you did in fine dining and you, you still had to perform, of course, but it was. I had to be, you know, faster on my feet and thinking and it really wasn't that hard of a transition.
James Hilovsky:But again, I, I had people there that just saw that I, I think it and I really do. I attribute it to being an athlete of just saw, you know, nose to the ground. This is what I'm going to do and I'm going to try to be the best at whatever. Whatever station you put me in, I'm going to try to do the best and that's kind of I think everyone saw that and you know, work my way up to general manager, then saw the potential there of being, you know, a top rated general manager to area director, of now having just 10 restaurants of people that you know I oversaw up to regional manager Then when I went on to be in a franchise director at the other one. So it just. It basically is just that drive, I think, of competing and just that competitiveness to be the best that you can be, that kind of propelled me and led to my success.
Klara:And one thing I want to dive into specifically is the passion versus this opportunity to open up. I'm going to do it Like if you reflect back at the beginnings of the restaurant business and again you're in the time you can't play baseball anymore because of the injury, this is sort of the path that's open it up for you. Was it something that at that point you could imagine yourself continuing to do? I guess I'm trying to compare it the passion you had for baseball early on versus then the transition. Did you felt any passion early on in the restaurant business or did it sort of ignite later as you continue to get more experience in that field?
James Hilovsky:I think it was the passion that I had for the restaurant business. And I just say I say I think that because it was something easy that I could go back to do. Now, looking back on it, if I would have went into maybe a different industry, could I say that that would have been a passion and I would have been successful? Yeah, I probably would have. But it definitely was a passion to do what I could do best. And yes, of course I love the restaurant business.
James Hilovsky:But why did I love the restaurant business? Because early on I just got that sports to it of hey, I have a team now, I have a team now In another industry. Would it have been the same? I would think probably. But that was really the first industry I went back into and something I applied and that just something that came up and doors opened up for me. So I would say I guess I would say yes, it was definitely a passion for restaurants. But you look back on it and go, gosh, why did I spend all that time in the restaurant business? What if I would have done this? So it is different, that's for sure.
Klara:What I'm hearing also is that you in some ways gamify it, and what I mean by it is that you found a way to make it fun and enjoyable and it seems like that progress and getting better at something you didn't know. You're able to focus on how you can excel in that position that you're at, which is literally what athletes have to do. And if you're in a game and things aren't going the way you want them to be, if you're going to be upset and negative, it's not going to help you. So you're always trying to figure out how do I focus on the things that are important and make the best of what I have at hand, or try to get myself out of this let's say bad day timing, and figure it out through your mind and athletic skills how to again turn the game in a different way and create a better outcome. So it seems like that mindset skill was something that you in many ways applied even early on in the restaurant and sort of the business profession that you were pulled into. Is that accurate?
James Hilovsky:A hundred percent and, just like you're saying, you know you're you're going to have days where you have wins at work in the restaurant business. You're going to have days where you have losses, where you know the didn't show up in time to open the store, got behind and we played catch up all day and we did the best we could, but it wasn't the best of days, but we survived it and you know what? Tomorrow will be a new day and a new game. So that's just kind of how you have to look at it Turn the page and look for better days the next day. But it was definitely that competitive and athlete training that made it go. And you're absolutely right, that is something I took and just applied it into really all phases of my life really.
Klara:And I also find hindsight is always smarter. If I now look at my trajectory and career, I've built what I call my second current business and technology. I can definitely relate the drive and focus I had put in into the second building up the second profession. I was like, oh, tennis didn't work out. What can I be great at? What's the next thing? I can put at least 10 years worth of time and effort to become great at something and I didn't find it as a differentiator because it's just so hard when you add that spot in that time to reflect on it accurately.
Klara:But you're actually now enabling number one because of your own experience and journey and even your experience of working with amazing athletes, helping them build this business after it seems like you have so much more views and experience helping them guide and understand how valuable that is, the skills that have learned through their sport and what they can apply them to. So tell me a little bit more about that. What are you seeing because you are coaching obviously athletes and former athletes, but also non-athletes in building franchising business? If you can bucketize it, what are some of the differences that you're seeing? If you're seeing any, maybe not.
James Hilovsky:One thing, too, that you were talking about. Sure is, in franchising there's many different industries. So obviously everybody thinks, well, franchising is just food in the restaurant business. That's really not true. I mean, it's in every industry, from dog grooming, pest control, window washing to you know, even used car lots there's a franchise for it to car painting, you know, kids swimming. I could go on and on and on. So there's all these industries of franchising in there.
James Hilovsky:And one thing that's really strong with an athlete and I tell them it's like you know, you may not want to go into the restoration business and know nothing about it, but it is something to where you don't need to know that the franchise is going to help you. They're going to give you a playbook how to do this. You follow the playbook all your life. It's going to be natural to you and you're running a business, so you're not going to be working in the business, you're going to be working on the business, so you're going to be that person pulling the levers and moving everybody around. So just rely on your natural instincts and let's pick an industry that is going to fit for you, depending on what they're looking to get out of business ownership and something that you think is going to be very fun and something that's going to excite you. Let's find that industry and let's look at some really good franchises in that industry.
Klara:So how can you help distill what they're passionate about? It seems like you probably have a process for it. Even just kind of hearing your story and athletic focus, you probably have your own ways how to help a person recognize what they may or may not be a fit for games and any tips from, again, your experience that help people understand what may be their appetite to entering franchise again focusing on the area, because I don't know if people can imagine maybe the breadth of franchise opportunities that there are- yeah.
James Hilovsky:So first we do, we talk about all the industries that are out there and of course, most athletes are going to say, well, I want health and wellness, I want to own a gym. Those are right at the top and we can talk about what's in there. And we talk about kind of why people want that. And then we go, we talk about investment level and go, hey, this one franchise. A lot of them come and want restaurants too and being a restaurant guy, this is going to sound weird, but I really don't recommend that because you got to have a really strong team behind you and if you're just one person, it's going to be the highest investment level out there. Most restaurants you're talking half a million, up to a million dollars or more. So it's a very high investment level and I would much rather and very small margins too, by the way, I would much rather put you in something like dog grooming, that's, you know, 200 K all in and and you're going to make probably more per unit than you are in a restaurant. So but then again there might be, they might just go. That's what I want, james, and I try to talk them, you know, just talk them through it, and then, at the end of the day, they still want a restaurant, then we'll do, we'll find the best one that we can put them into. So we definitely do.
James Hilovsky:We talk about industries. We talk about most athletes are going to want passive models. They don't really want to be the ones in the business. You know, they want to hire a manager to do the day-to-day. So we talk about that and then we do. We talk about investment level, because they have to be comfortable with the investment. And then we start drilling down of the industries and try to find where it's passionate. Often, more times than not, someone will come in to find, uh, where it's passionate. Often, more times than not, someone will come in. They'll go. You know, I really want, uh, a gym.
James Hilovsky:And then we talk about the different industries and we I show them different things and you know, then they next thing, you know they're signing a uh, three-store deal to do to do a dog grooming business. So it's just, it's just finding that, you know, just that fit and just showing in their options. It's a lot of people don't even realize, wow, there's a dog grooming, there's a franchise. So it's, it is. And that's what's really rewarding about showing the different options that are out there, the different industries in the franchise world, and then you know, the other thing too is just telling that athlete or person of you may not know that they're they're going to give you a playbook. You're going to understand that.
James Hilovsky:But for an athlete, that skillset is just you know I don't know if I can do this Like you're around teammates all your life. The franchisor is going to be like your, your manager, or your, your general manager, right, and then you're going to be a franchisee, so you're going to have different franchisees that are going to be in the same system. So they're going to be your teammates, so you're going to call them up for advice and they're going to help you through the business world as well. So an athlete really fits really great into the entrepreneur spirit and franchise business. Because the hardest thing for a professional that's exiting corporate America to do, the hardest thing for a professional to do, is to take that risk, is to bet on themselves and go out there on their own and just take that leap of faith, and that's the hardest thing for a non-athlete usually to do to get into the franchise.
Klara:And so you're saying because we're programmed already to do it through the athletics, because that's really what that world is, you work on yourself day in and day out for hours and months and years to perfect that scale. You know what it takes to take that same mindset and discipline and hard work and then transition it to the business and the ability to take risks from that on, because you're already used to believing in yourself. Is that accurate?
James Hilovsky:Correct? Yeah, it really is. The athlete is used to that, used to that risk and really it's that, like you're saying, that entrepreneur spirit is almost already there and programmed in you, because it is your body that you are banking on for all your life and to take that risk in the business world is much easier. I mean, obviously it's a risk and it's something that all people will struggle with, but the athletes usually are more willing to take that leap for sure.
Klara:Yeah, even reflecting on myself, I actually didn't think I was as entrepreneurial as I think I am. Somebody asked you a question. Let's say, how entrepreneurial are you? And I always feel like there's a scale right Zero to 100. Like, how do you answer that question? And so, growing up in a small town, my parents had their own business. I've always seen how much they have to work around it, so I felt like owning your own business, you can never step away from it. It's so much time and effort, and so I felt the corporate path could be easier, although not very much.
Klara:Again, reflecting on the years I've put in, I've really put in the same amount of work, if not more, than building my own business, which doesn't always pay off. Actually, there's times in corporate America where doing less is better than doing more. It depends what culture and what company and organization you're in, and so putting that effort into building your own business can be much more beneficial, obviously because then you can dictate your own just ways of working, your vision and mission. Obviously it will be driven in some ways by the franchise, but then you create that atmosphere within the team that you have. So, on that note, I would you interacting with those athletes. What do you think they need most coaching in? As you talk to them, do they see that connection and how well that mindset translates? Or is it more the finances, or is it more helping them envision the future of Y franchise versus some of the other options? What do you see they typically need most reflection on as they consider the transition or addition actually of this path to maybe some of their current active careers still?
James Hilovsky:Yeah, that's a great question, I would say really, the thing is that, just to get that mindset of what's the vision going to be Are we looking at one unit? Are we looking to grow to two to three units? The vision going to be Are we looking at one unit, are we looking to grow to two to three units? Let's kind of like vision plan this out, cause that is a big deal in looking for a franchise too, cause you want, you want to look for a system, if it's something that you want to grow into, this franchise to, where you have that open territory where you can get territory to, where you can expand if you want to, and you will get something that's fairly easy to expand. That's out there. So that's kind of one of the big things to get that picture.
James Hilovsky:And then some of the athletes if you're dealing with some of the more well-known athletes, it is explaining the franchise world that, hey, it is a franchise, it's your business and, yes, you're going to be. You can put your people in there to run it. You have to hire a great manager to do the day-to-day but you know, at the end of the day it's going to be on you to drive this business and you're going to have to take an active part. You can't just throw your money at it and just turn your back away and walk away and think the money's just going to grow. You got to put your effort into it, you got to build a team, you got to look and run your business.
James Hilovsky:It's just that you can't expect the franchisor to do it. You know some of the athletes will think, oh, that's the franchise system, the franchisor runs it. No, it's your business, you have to run it and you have to pick your people and you have to run your people. So sometimes it's about like, oh, I guess I got to be a little bit more hands-on. So it's kind of guiding them in a little bit way of follow the franchisor's playbook. And it's not just I'm investing my money, I have the money and I'm just going to sign up and walk away and it's the business is going to do good. It doesn't work that way.
Klara:And any specific things you would want to mention that you kind of highlighted one now, but athletes are typically not good at and like what comes to mind. I don't know if I want to stereotype, but even from my own experience, maybe learning the business acumen, because many athletes don't necessarily take business or finance background degrees Is it the business acumen or are there specific areas that vary widely based on athlete, or are there any specific area that you're able to highlight? If there's one thing athletes should think about differently as they may enter sort of this franchising world, this would be the area that I would suggest to focus on.
James Hilovsky:It depends because every athlete's different because of their background. So it kind of is a case to case kind of type deal of where to sprint this. But I think you hit it like maybe business acumen of, hey, this is kind of what you have to do. You have to set up a LLC that you have and then you're going to have to have someone to do your accounting and the books and there's people to do that. That's not a problem or the franchisor will sometimes help you do that and get you set up.
James Hilovsky:But it's being able to take that coaching, which athletes typically take coaching really well and are able to follow the system. And that is one. Two that you do have to make sure and I do tell the athletes you are going to have to follow the franchisor's system. So no diva showboating, you got to follow the plan, you stick to the plan, make the plan and stick to the plan and follow the plan and just make sure that they're ready to take that step, follow the franchisor's plan and then just learn and soak, be a be a sponge of the franchisor, because in a franchise too, they give you ongoing support and they give you typically your own dedicated franchise coach that you can lean on heavily and I suggest you do that and you listen to them and let them teach you if you're lacking in an area.
Klara:And I want to specifically dive into the options and maybe this also comes from my personal thinking about what additional things I would want to do now or later.
Klara:I've been thinking about franchise and I've had many people actually recently, I want to say in the past two, three years reaching out franchise coaches hey, do you want to start a franchise? So it seems like there's a lot of people who sort of do that outreach and are wanting to or willing to kind of help guide you through that process. But I always thought about, well, what's the difference going with franchise versus what if I start my own business versus, let's say, angel investing? So I'm thinking about the three key options that comes to my mind how athletes may want to enter some of the business realm and invest some of their money into that future. Any specific things you want to highlight, james, it seems like again you're focused on the franchise, but anything that you want to speak about, the differences of why that versus maybe the other two options that come to mind or feel free to add other options, sure.
James Hilovsky:Yeah Well, one typically always is real estate. I'm just going to invest in my real estate properties, I'm just going to keep my money there and look. There's nothing wrong with that. I would just suggest to diversify your portfolio. What I will tell you is if you have a real estate investment I'm just talking one or just a couple it typically will not replace the income like a franchise business will. You're going to have that monthly income, that monthly revenue and all that For a real estate really to produce that I mean it's more of a longer term play You're going to have to have quite a few properties to replace the income and there's going to be things that go wrong with the property that you're going to have to probably put all those profits.
James Hilovsky:There's going to be things that go wrong with the property that you're going to have to probably put all those profits back into it to fix something. So it can be very expensive and I really think that it's very easy to get caught up, as you can never go wrong with real estate and we're just going to flip homes. That's really tough. I've talked to a lot of people that try it, that really lose all their money. So it is not very. It sounds easy but it is not. So I would just caution on that. It's a long-term play. It's more than just sitting around watching the money fly into your bank account for sure.
James Hilovsky:Then you can also go. Well, I'm great at pest control. I don't need to go to a franchise to start a pest control. I'm just going to start Ace Pest Control and start it on my own. I don't want to have to pay those fees and all that. And you know, in franchising you do. You pay a one-time franchise fee up front and then you pay royalties on top of that.
James Hilovsky:I would just tell you you could start your own business. You won't probably have well, you won't. You won't have that ongoing support. You won't have that business that has stubbed their toe All that have been many years that are facing problems. They've already faced the problems that are in your future starting your own business.
James Hilovsky:And you're paying those royalties for their expertise, their knowledge of equipment that's out there, their knowledge of how to set the business up, how to run the business, how to market the business. Not only that, you also have what we already talked about. You have franchisees in the system that are going to be your teammates that you can pick up the phone and get advice from, as well as that franchise coach that you could pick. So I think I'd much rather partner with a business partner for maybe 5% of my top line sales for the rest of my life. That would be my business partner and instead of a 50-50 business partner it's your business partner for 5% to 8% of your sales on your top line. So I think that's a win-win on the franchise side of doing that rather than do it on your own.
Klara:And what I actually haven't considered maybe, philly, until you said it now is the support system and the ability to call the other I guess indirect teammates that are part of the franchise. Obviously, you have the playbook and franchise is sort of we've tested and validated and this is the proven thing, what works for our business. So if you take this and replicate it and open the store or whatever you're opening in the right place, it should hopefully work if you just follow it right. That's the premise of it, but also the ability to connect with additional people that I find is so valuable. And again, something I haven't been great at, obviously, maybe the reason, coming from individual sport, I've been very individual before and I've just focused. Well, if I just do the job right, it should work.
Klara:And in business and world is much more complex than that. I'm just now, in maybe the past few years, realizing the power of relationships and how important it is to be connected to other people, broader people, networking and sort of that part of it. And so the fact that the franchise already come with that indirect team that you can then reach out to and could you strengthen or pick your people that you want to talk with and thrive in the business together. That seems like there would be a tremendous value and actually just kind of highlighting it now because I don't think I've considered it enough. When somebody says franchise, it wasn't something that comes to mind for me yeah, definitely.
James Hilovsky:And that's one of the things if you don't really check into it, you don't really realize that it's not just the franchisor support, there's that other support that goes on out there with it and it can be very rewarding. And at the end of the day too, what a lot of people don't realize is that it is your business At the end of the day. Yes, you're in a franchise system, but it is your business. So it's just like owning your business. You can sell that even though you have a 10-year term into your franchise contract. You can, after two years, say, yeah, pest control, I love it, it made me some good money, but I'm gonna step out and maybe go get a different franchise. I'm gonna sell my business. So you perfectly can sell your business just like you can sell any other business. You're not hamstrung to stay in the system. You could exit it if you wanted to as well.
Klara:And so your comment reminded me of the myths, including my comment. You talk to many different people. What are some of the common myths and misconceptions that you find, james, people have about franchising? That you think this is not how the world works. Maybe this is the way you should think about things.
James Hilovsky:One of the general type things is we'll get people that will call us and just go. You know, I was in this restaurant. It has a long line and I've seen that I could get one for $50,000. No, the things that are out there. If it's saying $50,000, that's probably the franchise fee, but you have the build out. It could be $600K to a million dollars to build out this franchise.
James Hilovsky:To really get into franchise ownership it does require some capital. I would say at least $50,000 of liquid cash and then the ability to get funding of to $ or 200,000. And that could be done via the SBA loan. You also have the 401k where you can roll your 401k into and get a franchise. So there's different funding options and options but it does require some capital to get into. There's no magic of like a car where you can buy zero down and lease it. That really kind of doesn't exist because the bank wants to have skin in the game. You know the bank can go get that car from you but they can't take your business from you. It's harder to just loan that kind of money to do that for sure. So that definitely is one of the myths that are out there on. Yes, it is your business, you could sell. And one of the bigger restaurant chains out there on yes, it is your business you could sell and one of the bigger restaurant chains out there where they can build a block away from you, they can just build in there.
James Hilovsky:You know franchises don't protect you. They're just in it for fees and all that no, really good franchises. That's why I always say work with the franchise broker because they can help you. You have to read the FDD and it's all disclosed in there and you have to have some sort of protection. That's where you do your research of researching a really good franchise that's out there, of finding that if you're looking at a franchise, you do your investigation. You should be okay to where you're not going to have anything. And the vast majority of all the franchises, typically they're not just after trying to grow and get as many franchisees in. They really want you to succeed, because the last thing they want is unhappy franchisees in the system. Because when you want to buy one and I'm telling you, hey, talk to my franchisees If they're not happy, we're not selling any more of our business. So the franchisor, their interest is the franchisees all doing well.
Klara:I like you highlighting actually, it seems like also the win-win. So they're also looking for a match of somebody who actually wants to be in the business and wants to be successful at it, not just invest money for the sake of having business. On that note, any specific things you want to highlight. When it comes to some of the perhaps more surprising options I know you shared previously, a lot of athletes obviously resonate with, let's say, gyms, the healthy lifestyle etc. Fitness. That can be also quite hard, I think, at least from my view.
Klara:To run restaurant business. That's super hard. I would personally never want to probably venture into that, although I've heard how amazing chick-fil-a is from a restaurant perspective for the franchise that they ran. I'm sure it's quite expensive. But anything you want to call out specifically, like some of the most surprising things that you would say well, this was really surprising athlete chose this specific area or things that you believe. These are some areas that are quite popular people don't know about but have really good promise of making money. You gave an example of the dog grooming, but I don't know if there's any other specific areas that people traditionally don't think about yeah, I mean dog grooming definitely is is right up there for sure.
James Hilovsky:Another one of those that people really don't think about would be home care Seniors staying in their homes. Having a business that comes out to take care of the seniors so mom and dad and grandma and grandpa can stay in their home To where some franchises have developed technology to where they can be seen on the TV of the senior and say, hey, did you take your pills? And just help with general things of day-to-day that they can help with. That's another really good franchise out there.
James Hilovsky:When you talk about different franchises, the health and wellness that pops up there's the IV, fluid drips, but also in the sports world what's kind of popping up is indoor golf studios of where you go indoors to practice golf. It's 24, seven, access to the customer, it's all automated where you don't need really any employees. I'm not talking of the huge top golf, I'm talking of four or five base setup. It's a great passive model where you only put in about 10 to really truly 10 to 15 hours a weekend because it's all automated for you and it's a great business. And another one that's really kind of growing fast is I'm sure you probably play it, or maybe you hate the sport. It would be pickleball. There's a lot of pickleball franchises are selling like crazy right now.
Klara:So are they opening pickleball sort of clubs, or what is the franchise around James?
James Hilovsky:They open pickleball clubs to where it's indoors, to where you come in and play. So it's a couple of them. Some of them just have the courts, other of them have a pickleball center, much like a Topgolf, where you have the bar and a menu of a restaurant option and pickleball. So you have membership and then you have the junior event clubs and all that. So those are starting to really pop up and those are very popular. That are out there for sure.
James Hilovsky:Some of the ones that athletes really kind of chose. That really was like huh. So this one particular basketball player he chose a wedding dress franchise where they just sell wedding dresses and it turns out that he was really looking for it for his wife and his wife really loves fashion, and so they wound up getting a franchise that sells wedding dresses and doing quite well. And then I had another. He's a minor league baseball player and he actually picked a franchise that picks up dog poop. They go to houses, they pick up dog poop, they treat the lawn, so they do lawn treatment. They go out and do HOA cleanup for, you know, horse, goose or dog poop. And it was a very low entry Like that particular franchise is about $80,000 all in. So it was nice, affordable for him and he's doing very well doing it. So there's just many, countless different things that are out there that can be investigated, that's for sure.
Klara:Yeah, you have my mind going. Maybe we need a separate call after this, james, to explore some franchising, because some of the things you're stating are things I probably wouldn't envision. And yeah, my problem is I get easily enthusiastic and passionate about many things, so I typically have to tame down my enthusiasm, otherwise there'll be probably hundreds of things going on on my schedule at the same time, and then I'm disappointing myself because I can't hold my commitments.
James Hilovsky:Right, yeah, for sure, I do see that sometimes we'll be looking at franchise options and I might show them five or 10 different options and they'll go. James, I like, I like five of these. I want to talk with the franchisor and I was like I wouldn't recommend talking to more than three at a time because then otherwise it's just so time consuming and then you're going to forget Just focus on your top three and let's go after that. So I totally get what you're saying about being so excited that you kind of dive in and you go a little bit overboard. So, yeah, that's something that's a pitfall. You don't want to make a mistake of talking with 10 at one time.
Klara:That's good. So it seems like more athletes have the same mindset. You probably deal with that on a regular basis. That makes me feel better, actually, that it's not just me, thank you. I do want to talk a little bit about the NIL. We touched on it during our conversation earlier.
Klara:Obviously it's something that didn't exist during the time that we were in college or playing sports, and I always wonder how it's shaping the younger demographic. I mean one it's fantastic, I'm all for it, because I know how much time and effort goes into a sport, and so the ability for the young athletes in the teens 20s to be able to earn some extra money with the hard work and sort of build their name, I totally support. And at the same time I also wonder how much burden and much more responsibility it adds to them and if it removes a little bit of the fun out of the sport. Fun out of the sport, although maybe now, as I said, I don't know. We all athletes take the sport as serious as we can, at least the good ones. So maybe that's not an issue. But again, nil is an opportunity actually for the younger athletes.
Klara:Then have and earn some money and then perhaps try to think early about diversifying and then going into that franchise early on, let's say in the 20s. One thing I often think about and reflecting on when I was younger I don't come from sort of generation wealth, so I had to learn on my own the money and financials world. Right, but the compounding interest if you start investing money early on, how much more money you can have later. So the sooner you can start the better, and the sooner you can start your own business again in your 20s, then you have maybe like a decade, 10 or 15 years that put you already maybe in like 30s or 35 to have like an awesome additional bunch of money you can then invest again. How are you seeing that world or activity in the NIL type of athletes when it comes to some of the franchising opportunities?
James Hilovsky:I'm starting to see that now of some of the kids starting to think of, you know, gold chains are nice, love them, have them, and that's great, but maybe it's time to maybe diversify or think about what if I don't get drafted into the NFL or Major League Baseball or the NBA of, hey, maybe now I can put this money to work and diversify. So I am seeing that starting to pick up and talking with a few college athletes that they're really starting to think about it, and I find the ones that are typically thinking about franchising and business are ones that typically have a support system, either a business manager or a parent. That's kind of helping them. It's like, hey, go through my parents on this investment idea and they'll help me. And I do see the NIL where it could be hey, I'm going to help out my older brother or maybe getting a business for him or a family member of looking at a franchise, while, hey, they can run it while I'm still playing.
James Hilovsky:And I think that's a really great idea because you could start your business now and just start with one, have a franchise in the business and have that generating that income and then, depending on how quick, how fast your playing career is over. It's there for you. You always have that to fall back and you can always build on that as you're playing. I'm going okay. Well, I made this level. I feel like I'm going to be playing for two to three more years. Let me either add on to that franchise, get another territory or get a new one. So I am starting to see that mindset and I'm kind of excited about that, that someone that young would be thinking of hey, let's get into business and let's start with the franchise model. So I do see that it's just starting and ramping up. So I'm excited to see where this leads and I have been talking with a few of NIL athletes and hopefully get a few of them into a franchise for sure.
Klara:That's awesome and, just to add, I think that could beautifully even diversify them later on, right?
Klara:Because if they run the franchise even for five, six or, let's say, 10 years and then they decide to do something else, sometimes it can be a problem, especially if they want to enter corporate world showcasing that business acumen. But now you were an athlete and you still were a business owner. So I think it diversifies your experience and persona to perhaps you might have more options later on which path you want to take, because again, you've kind of had some of the indirect, I would say, business degree, although I would say the more real life business degree, from actually running that business and working on all that it entails to building a small business via the franchise option. And so I want to dive, actually before we finish, a little bit more into the recruiting One how are you finding your athletes, or what's the best way for athletes to find you? What's the best way for athletes to find you? What's the best way if somebody listens to this for them to reach out and explore some of the conversations and options?
James Hilovsky:Yeah, thank you. I do find a lot of athletes that I start conversations on through LinkedIn. I connect with a lot of athletes, linkedin and we just take the conversation from there. To answer your question of how I do reach out, so LinkedIn is definitely one for the athletes, for sure. And then I do go to different athletic events, charity events where athletes are going to be there, and we talk via either a golf tournament or different things like that of networking events and talk to athletes that way, or different things like that of networking events and talk to athletes that way. Anybody athlete or a professional looking to get into the franchise world, they can email me at james at thefrandreamcom or my website's thefrandream, and it can be all the information's there of how to get a hold of me and it's all just simple conversations like we're having now. It's nothing like you got to do this, it's not used cars salesman, so it's all about finding the right fit and just seeing if it's something that would be a match for you.
Klara:Thank you. I may email you a little bit later, james, because I need my schedule to come down a little bit. But I've been pondering about franchise for a long time and I conquer. I've taken this call with you and had several conversations obviously before and you're not like many of the other franchise people who reach out to me. So I appreciate your perspective and, again, having that athlete mindset and focus on athletes. Actually, on that note, you really seem like focus on the athletes in many ways. I know you mentioned you have other non-athletes. What attracts you to working with them?
James Hilovsky:I think really and it goes back to when I first started working in my career when I was a franchise coach and coaching franchisees when I would give a franchisee advice on how to correct or run their restaurant that really made me feel really good.
James Hilovsky:Because in the corporate world, if I'm telling someone how to do it in corporate, they're like they're getting paid to do a job and they're like, yeah, okay, james, whatever. But with a franchisee, when I'm telling them how to maybe do something that's going to make his life a little bit easier. It impacts his life, it impacts his livelihood, it impacts maybe having a little bit more time that he could spend at home or maybe a little bit more profit. So it's impacting the lives of maybe changing something for the better of them. So for the non-athletes and even really the athletes too, working with people into franchising athletes and even really the athletes too, working with people into franchising, it's all about this could touch them, of showing them options that are out there that potentially could change their life, of where they make a life change and we find a great franchise fit for them and they do that. They're now an entrepreneur and it just changes their life and potentially could deliver generational wealth for them. That's why I do it.
Klara:Last question, closing note. I typically ask my guests. I think right now it's very on point, given what's going on in the world. Even in the United States just the elections coming up we still have active wars going on. That's not helping the global economy. Looking at 2024 and sort of what's ahead, what are some of the key things? James, you would want to inspire people to be doing more of or less of.
James Hilovsky:I really think, just in my journey and talking with everybody out there, is that bet on yourself. Take that risk and I'm not just talking business in general, I'm just talking take that risk, be yourself, step out of the box and just do something that you think you could have never done before. It will impact somebody's life. Maybe it's not in business or whatever, but just take that leap of faith, because we all get in boxes and step out of the box and you can change the world by stepping out of the box. And, uh, you can change the world by stepping out of the box. You really can or change your life for somebody else's life gosh.
Klara:I love that makes me think about so many options. Fantastic advice. Thank you so much, james, for the conversation. I highly enjoyed it. I will add the links that episode notes so people can easily click and find you or email you and connect Conquer with LinkedIn. It's an awesome resource. So I just want to inspire more athletes, or whoever's listening to this, to use LinkedIn. It's my number one social network. I use Instagram for podcasts, but really LinkedIn is the one that I spent the most active time that I actually pay attention to, so I conquer, I think, any athlete listening to this again even who's young, trying to build that LinkedIn profile early on and create it. Even if you have athletics and student athlete, I think it's super beneficial to start it early. Anything else, james, you want to close off with?
James Hilovsky:No, I would just say thank you to you for having me on. I thoroughly enjoyed it and uh, just uh. Wish you much success and again thank you for having me on thank you, james.
Klara:I'll be reaching out and maybe we'll have a franchise conversation. If you enjoyed this episode, I want to ask you to please do two things that would help me greatly. Absolutely, please consider leaving a review on apple podcast, spotify or any other podcasting platform that you use to listen to this episode. Two, please share this podcast with a friend who you believe might enjoy it as well. It is a great way to remind someone you care about them by sharing a conversation they might be interested in. Thank you for listening.