[LAFable] Detached kindness & farming

Two case studies for you, today, ending with the lessons. CASE STUDY #1 I recently closed a franchise deal that generated $180,000 in immediate revenue (not to mention future royalties, indirect sales, etc.). A few months back, I stumbled on a newsletter that catered to the franchise industry - The Wolf of Franchises (please subscribe; incredible content!). It had a huge audience of about 10,000 readers at the time. I reached out to the writer - super nice and smart guy, The Wolf - and asked if I could lend my experience on a topic that wasn’t covered in his newsletter, but valuable: Fundraising. He agreed! I ended up writing this piece, called LESSONS FROM A 9 UNIT HALAL GUYS OWNER . Naturally, I was looking for ways to create content and attract business; but mainly, I just loved writing, saw a gap in the newsletter’s content, and wanted to find a way to mentor at scale. My inbox got flooded with thanks from folks who got value from it, and additional questions that I was only happy to help further with. One of the questions came from a tech entrepreneur and franchisee of another well-respected brand, who asked about smarter ways to fundraise for multiple stores and how to pitch. Since I was interested in finding opportunities to create more content, I asked if it was okay that we hop on Zoom and have a dialogue about it. That way, I could be of service to him and many others (while doing it once), and I could capture content for YouTube. The session went great, and I made a new friend (he and his family are so fricken cool), and after a few exchanges, I realized that he might benefit from franchising with one of my clients’ restaurant brands. It eventually led to him falling in love with the concept; him building a team and flying in to try the food and meet the owners; and it led to one of my favorite deals closed . They’re going to kill it. It seems helping out aimlessly, stuck. CASE STUDY #2 Many years ago, I met a prospective franchisee who was interested in one of the brands I was developing. He didn’t have the capital, nor was he able to focus, on building a multi-unit restaurant company (that was one of the requirements). Rather than blow him off, I still made the time to have a long conversation about what it takes to be a successful franchisee. About a month ago, I received a message from out of nowhere from this prospect. And to be honest, I forgot who he was! Since that time, he’s built a hugely successful business and now had access to capital and people; and he’s set up an official meeting to move forward with one of my new brands. One of my due diligence requirements was to get financials (to prove he can invest in large restaurant projects); and he had $15 million, just waiting to be deployed. Whoa. It seems lack of capital was a temporary situation. And it seems our conversation stuck. CASE STUDY #3 A few years ago, I was selling franchises for a different brand I advised for. I had multiple conversations with a prospect who was super nice, and thought would be a great fit for my brand…but it didn’t go anywhere (at the time). I kindly thanked them for being interested, and continued on. In sales, SWSWSW. Some Will, Some Won’t, So What. Move on. Just this week, the prospect resurfaced. And it wasn’t to buy a franchise; but since then, his wife had built a company that ended up getting a ton of franchise interest. They are slammed, and needed help. I’ve been researching their company, industry, mission, and other things I normally check out (which should be a newsletter issue itself, one day); and I’m getting more and more excited. And of course, the revenue my company could receive by helping her was substantial and long-term. It seems I might do it (not sure, yet). But for sure, it seems my impression on them stuck (and positively). What are the lessons, here? The first lesson is to learn how to count, Paul: I just realized there were three case studies, not two lol! But the second lesson is this: Half of my company revenue comes from expected, intentional business activities. Duh - you put in the work and you sell to help, and you get the business. The math works. But the other half? They come from seemingly random occurrences like this. The operative word is “seemingly” because it only looks coincidental. But when you zoom out, you’ll see that they stemmed from good seeds planted in good soil that finally popped. And the last time I checked, you never harvest in the same season you plant. When you’re being of service to others, even if they don’t benefit you…that’s a good seed you’re planting. When you’re patient, play the long game, and see the best in people…that’s a good seed you’re planting. Sincere kindness with no expectation, is a strategy. Thanks for reading Eff Around & Find Out! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.