FBR_Innovative2017

SPECIAL REPORT: Top Innovative Franchises
Sotheby’s International Realty, FastSigns, and
Cruise Planners (an American Express Travel
Representative), as well as lesser-known brands
like APEX Fun Run, Weed Man, Sanford
Rose Associates, Fazoli’s, and Visiting
Angels. The remaining franchise brands on
our list represents just about every industry
you can imagine—all of them with innovation
at their core.
WHAT IS INNOVATION?
Defining what qualifies as innovation can be
challenging. Technology often plays a role, but
certainly many innovations have nothing to do
with technology. Generally speaking, innovation
is something new—a breakthrough product
or simply a better way of doing something.
The story of Ray Kroc and the McDonald’s
brothers—made famous by the recent movie
The Founder—is a classic example of franchise
innovation. While Kroc got most of the credit
for the success of the McDonald’s franchise,
we now know that it was really brothers Richard
and Maurice McDonald (aka “Dick” and
“Mac”) who were the true innovators of operational
efficiency in the blossoming fast food
industry. To be clear, Dick and Mac put the
“fast” in fast food.
Yet many of the innovations happening
in franchising today aren’t quite as obvious
or game changing. That’s the funny thing
about innovation—sometimes you don’t even
recognize just how big an innovation is until
years later.
Take MaidPro for example. The Bostonbased
residential cleaning franchise created
their own cloud-based management system that
allows franchisees to access their businesses
online from any smartphone or computer.
When first launched, the full impact the
system would ultimately have for MaidPro
franchise owners was not totally clear.
MaidPro CEO Mark Kushinsky explains,
“This rapid deployment of functionality shows
our community how quickly and efficiently
ideas can be brought to fruition. Our cloudbased
software now gives our franchisees
much more freedom.”
While freedom for franchise owners was
more a side effect of the management system
than a primary goal, the combined impact on
a franchisee’s day-to-day operations was huge.
“A great example of this was on our most
recent MaidPro adventure to the Amazon
Rainforest,” continues Kushinsky. “Our franchisees
were able to answer ownership-level
questions and keep an eye on their businesses
as they explored and hiked around Peru!
Innovation and adventure are two of the
things we love the most about our franchise
organization!”
HIGH TECH AND LOW TECH
Technology was certainly the innovative
catalyst that rocketed Orangetheory Fitness
to become one of the fastest growing fitness
franchises in the world. Their state-of-the-art
group fitness classes are driven by heart-rate
monitors, fitness apps, and giant display
screens that create a uniquely motivational,
and addictive atmosphere. Orangetheory
exploded on the franchise scene in late 2010
(during the middle of the recession, mind
you) and has grown to over 1,000 fitness
studios around the globe.
Low-tech Soccer Shots on the other hand,
innovated their way onto our Top 50 simply
by focusing on creative ways to get kids really
excited—and it’s not just about soccer. Their
goal is simple: to deliver an experience that
is the best 30 minutes of a child’s week. And
deliver they do. Soccer Shots has averaged 60%
year-over-year growth the last eight years, will
maintaining extremely high satisfaction with
their franchise partners.
NOT ALL INNOVATIONS ARE
BIG INNOVATIONS
Often, the smallest ideas can lead to meaningful
innovations that give a company an edge
over competitors. “We can’t talk innovation
without mentioning our patented round sign
that is designed to stand out from the crowd
in a sea of square signs,” shares CEO Ken LeBlanc
of PropertyGuys.com.
That little round sign has helped Property-
Guys.com become the largest private sale real
estate network in Canada, with over 115 franchise
owners. “Our signs scream something
different, something that challenges the status
quo, which is a sentiment felt throughout our
business model,” continues LeBlanc.
Shannon Wilburn, CEO and Co-founder of
Just Between Friends, brought a little innovation
into their franchisee recruitment process.
Just Between Friends franchisees organize
Continued on page 9.
FEATURED
Franchisee
Al Crnjac
Fibrenew Eastern Ontario
South Ottawa, ON, Canada
Franchisee since 1994
What was it about the franchise model and
or leadership that led you to purchase it? The
flat-rate franchise fee and all the markets that
are available for us to work in is what sold me on
the business model. The fact that we help people
everyday and they’re blown away with the results
is what I saw when I was looking at Fibrenew.
What type of business experience, education,
and/or skills did you have prior to becoming
a franchisee that you have found particularly
helpful? I was a carpet installer for many years,
and I’ve always been a people person so I wasn’t
afraid of working with customers, introducing my
services, and solving their problems.
What advice do you have for prospective
franchise buyers? The biggest thing I can suggest
is to spend a day with a franchisee and see for
yourself, first-hand what we do. If you like what
you see, Fibrenew will train you on everything
you’ll need to know to get started.
Why is innovation so important to you and
your business? We believe in the kaizen way—
making great and lasting change through small,
steady steps. Complacency is the enemy. The
techniques we have developed are always under
review for better and better ways. These constant
improvements are part of the reason we have
never stopped growing in 30 years of business.
What are a few examples of key innovations
within your company? The biggest innovation
as of late is the development of a portable
color reader. It gives Fibrenew technicians a
huge competitive advantage in the field—
making turnaround on jobs quicker and more
accurate than our competition. We also recently
developed specialized top coats for the medical
space. This opened up a whole new business
revenue stream for our owners.
Experts in Leather, Plastic & Vinyl Restoration
For more information about Fibrenew
opportunities, call (587) 892-6521 or visit
www.fibrenew-franchising.com.
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