For many emerging franchisors, franchising represents an entirely new landscape. Your prior business experience does little to illuminate a path in franchising. You can’t rely on your instincts and street smarts to guide you, because franchising involves a complicated web of relationships that all need to be in tune at the same time. Even if you have a superior product or service that distinguishes your brand from the competition, and makes money, you still need to have great relationships with franchisees, vendors, the community, state regulators and customers to truly succeed.

The Springboard 2023 Event gives you a fighting chance, by getting to you early, with industry best practices. You will receive valuable, actionable advice from experienced franchise founders who have been in your shoes, taken their lumps and went on to create successful franchise systems.

The official agenda was just shared. Here’s a few of the sessions we’re looking forward to:

 

Leadership Keynote Session with Former CEO of SONIC

Cliff Hudson – Former CEO & Chairman, SONIC Drive-In

Cliff Hudson, former CEO & Chairman of the Board of SONIC Drive-In, will take Springboarders through his 35-year career in the franchise industry. Between the rise of third-party delivery, being acquired by Inspire Brands and the evolution of customer eating habits; Hudson will cover the gamut of his illustrious SONIC journey.

 

Leadership Keynote Session with Founder of Blimpie

Speaker: Tony Conza –  Founder, Blimpie

Host: Sherri Fishman – Co-CEO, Fishman PR & President, Franchise Elevator PR

Tony Conza, founder of Blimpie, will share his incredible 59-year journey of growing his sandwich empire. Conza will detail the humble founding story of 3 New Jersey high school friends that channeled their love for freshly-sliced sandwiches to escape their dead-end jobs by opening their 1st Blimpie. Ever wonder who first introduced the “low-calorie” menu item, opened the 1st modern non-traditional franchise location, established an official franchisee advisory council or put “salad” on a sandwich? In this session, Conza will discuss how Blimpie’s innovative approach helped originate so many strategies we see in the modern Food & Beverage industry today; catapulting Blimpie to a peak of 2,000+ locations across North America.

 

To Partner Or Not To Partner: How To Choose Which Franchise Suppliers To Trust

Moderator: Cherryh Cansler – Editor, Networld Media Group

Panelists: Jeff Dudan – CEO, Homefront Brands, Adam Geisler – CEO, Youth Athletes United, Susan Boresow – CEO, Massage Heights, Josh Halpern – CEO, Big Chicken

In franchising, choosing the right technology suppliers early can make or break your brand. This session will cover the art of technology supplier selection, how to negotiate with a supplier properly, how to vet out if the technology is right for your brand at that given time and the right time to splurge or dive in the bargain bin.

 

Sifting Through The Noise: Where To Start Your Franchise Tech Stack Journey

Moderator: Zack Fishman – CGO, Fishman PR/Franchise Elevator & Partner/COO, Franchise Supplier Network

Panelists: Aaron Harper – CEO, Rolling Suds, Jackson Loychuck – CEO & Co-Founder, 30 Minute Hit, Mark Lyso – President, myfrii, Ashley Mitchell – SVP of Marketing, Streamline Brands

Even as an emerging brand, it’s easy to see just how loud the franchise technology truly is. How do you even know where to start? In this breakout session, our panelists will guide you through the painstaking process of where to start your franchise technology journey, what type of technology to start with, what the hallmarks of a great technology for emerging brands looks like and how much you should generally be spending in the early years.

Transacting Franchisor Roundtables

Panel Leaders: Joe Mathews – CEO, Franchise Performance Group, JJ Sorrenti – CEO, Best Life Brands, Jim Waskovich – Founder & Managing Partner, Princeton Equity Group, John Goldaisch – Managing Director, Lazard, Tom Hodgson – Founder, Color World Housepainting

Back by popular demand, Springboarders will have the opportunity to sit down and speak directly with founders/CEOs, banking executives, investment bankers and franchise platform companies to answer one major question: what is it like to go through a transaction in franchising? This is an opportunity unlike any other for attendees to learn firsthand about capital, the impetus for transactions, selecting a partner, organizing your affairs, and what to expect through integration and ongoing operations. This event will start with a brief panel followed by two, thirty-minute roundtable discussions.

 

Only a few spots left! REGISTER HERE

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