Franchise Canada Chats

Renée Boudakian is sitting down with Christina Strudwick, an entrepreneur who’s personal experience with CEFA Early Learning led to her becoming a franchisee with the brand. Christina worked as the manager of a bank branch and oversaw a real estate portfolio before delving into the business world and opening her own CEFA location. Renée and Christina discuss the value of brand awareness, navigating business ownership during a global pandemic, financial preparedness, and the impacts of early learning opportunities on children… plus so much more!

Joining Renée Boudakian this week is Salima Mussaji, a franchisee with Spirit of Math—an after-school program for high-performing students. Salima and her husband had always been interested in owning their own business, and with Salima’s experience as a teacher, plus Spirit of Math’s reputation, they found the right fit for them with this franchise system. Tune in to hear about franchising in the supplemental education industry, the nuances of introducing a business to a new territory, and the impacts of supplemental education.

Renée Boudakian and Cédric Léveillé are sitting down to discuss his experience as a Fibrenew franchisee. Cédric worked with Fibrenew as a technician for 3 years before taking over his uncle’s franchise, and has gone on to expand the team, open a workshop, and move to a larger space. In this episode they’ll explore franchise growth, the importance of leadership skills, and how to build and care for a team of dedicated employees.

This week, Renée Boudakian explores franchising from two different viewpoints as she’s joined by Sabai Thai Spa’s CEO and founder, Nuttha Goutier, and their newest franchisee, Stella Hoang. See both sides of the franchising coin as we explore onboarding and training processes, franchise tradeshows, franchisor/franchisee alignment, and creating an immersive experience for customers.

Renée Boudakian is joined by Sean Bannerman, a former member of law enforcement who saw an opportunity to leap into the world of franchising. Now a master franchisee with Oxygen Yoga & Fitness, Sean shares the mechanics of making a career change with franchising, multi-unit ownership, master franchising, and the significance of work-life balance.

Join Renée Boudakian and Priya Vadivel as they discuss Priya’s experience as a franchisee with British Swim School. Learn about her business, the importance of swimming lessons for kids and infants, the unique opportunities that come with opening a franchise, and the ins-and-outs of multi-unit franchising.

Renée Boudakian is talking with Foxy Box Laser & Wax Bar master franchisees Mathieu Doyon and Valerie Bacon, about bringing the franchise to their province. Find out how a former cosmetic nurse and a serial entrepreneur joined forces to grow Foxy Box throughout Quebec!

After 17 years working in IT, Sohail Iqbal felt the urge to start his own business. He considered the food industry, but first consulted friends who also had their own businesses. He landed on The UPS Store as the right choice and has since grown his franchise empire to over six locations. Guest host Angelee Brown of FranOvation joins Franchise Canada Chats as we sit down with Sohail to discuss: -How he consulted friends and family in order to find his ideal business opportunity; -How franchising allowed him to automate systems between locations; -The technology he leverages on a day-to-day basis for his business; -The challenge of learning new systems while teaching new employees.

Franchise Canada Chats is proud to welcome the CFA's 2024 Franchisees of the Year, Alicia Baker and Candice Parent. The franchisee of the year award recognizes top performing franchisees who build strong connections with their communities. Alicia Baker started as the sole employee of DermaEnvy Skincare’s Halifax location before opening her own location in St. John’s at just 21 years old. This year, she won the Franchisee of the Year award in the brick-and-mortar category. Where many join with years of working experience and working capital, Alicia’s previous part-time employment provided the pipeline to small business ownership. Candice returns to Franchise Canada Chats as the Franchisee of the Year in the home- and mobile-based category. After taking over the Windsor MOLLY MAID Canada franchise in January 2022, she grew the revenue by 47 per cent. The next year she continued that growth, exceeding the company average in both years.

Welcome back to Franchise Canada Chats. Today’s guest is Anita Mushitsi, a multi-unit franchisee with British Swim School. Anita got involved in the aquatics industry following a near-drowning incident in her family. She began to take pool safety seriously—seriously enough to invest in a franchise. So, on this episode, we’re going to take a deep dive into the aquatics franchising industry.

This episode's guest is Ken Regular, a franchisee with The UPS Store. He came to franchising after two decades as a journalist where he met criminals, celebrities, politicians, artists, and business leaders. During one interview the CEO of a multinational company told him, “The most honest people I know are in business because you can’t strike a deal with someone you don’t trust.” As a skeptical reporter, Ken found the statement difficult to believe but the words stuck in his mind. As his media career grew, so did his interest in business. Juggling family life and their employers' demands during COVID-19, Ken and his partner Vicky decided it was time to make a move. They opened The UPS Store in Brooklin, Ontario in the middle of a pandemic lockdown. Now more than three years later, their business is growing as they build relationships and trust with their clients. In addition to running their business, Ken is a board director with the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, and Vicky serves on The UPS Store's Franchise A

Welcome back to Franchise Canada Chats. This episode's guests are Adam Janke and Christian Johannsen. Adam is the master franchisee of Foot Solutions, a foot care specialist franchise that designs custom orthotics and provides service addressing the foundation of customers’ health. Christian Johannsen is a franchisee for Foot Solutions based in British Columbia. We're excited to discuss the benefits of the healthcare industry in franchising (especially when it comes to foot care), why absentee and semi-absentee franchising isn’t always the right choice, and how they stay on the cutting edge of technology as a legacy brand.

Welcome back to Franchise Canada Chats. Today’s guests is Alicia Armstrong, who, with her husband Mark, is a franchisee with Fully Promoted in Belleville and Peterborough. The brand provides product customization, embroidery, and screen-printing services. "Whatever you can put your name on, we can help with," says Alicia. She brings her expertise to creating branding and products for local sports teams, trades groups, and artists, and we're pleased to have her on today's episode.

Welcome back to Franchise Canada Chats. Today’s guest is Jason O’Connor, a regional franchisee with JDI Cleaning. He currently owns and operates two territories, in the Hamilton-Burlington and Niagara areas. He came to franchising from the world of real estate with a specific focus on working with investors.

“This is the worst version of AI you’re going to see,” says Robert Mitchell on the future improvements of digital intelligence and language learning models. "Six months from now, it'll be blowing you away." Mitchell is the chief AI officer for WSI Digital Marketing, which is adding artificial intelligence performance tools to their digital solutions toolbox. On this episode of Franchise Canada Chats, looking into how WSI deploys AI resources in its consulting, how it tracks its franchisees’ success, and more upcoming tech trends for the franchise industry!

If there’s one thing everyone agrees on, it’s that something will always need to be cleaned. Today’s guests are from Anago Cleaning Systems. Adam Povlitz, CEO, and Rafiq Punjani, the master franchisee of Manitoba for Anago Cleaning Systems, discuss putting a novel spin on the cleaning industry through unit mastery, increasing technology, and bringing client satisfaction to an underacknowledged sector.

Pizza Nova has long been a mainstay of Canada’s food and franchise landscapes and it’s thanks to people like today’s guest, franchisee Tracy Tran. Tracy joins the podcast today with Pizza Nova’s president Domenic Primucci to talk about: -The history of the brand; -Maintaining a family culture through immense growth; -And how the brand is using technology to meet customers' needs.

Franchise Canada Chats is thrilled to welcome the Gold winners of the CFA's 2023 Franchisees of the Year award. Annalisa Cilla of Scholars Education and Brad Wheeler of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK Canada reflect on the insights and experiences that led to their success. On this episode, we discuss:  -Using policy and procedures to ensure uniformity across franchise locations; -Leveraging business ownership to provide opportunities to community members; -Taking pride in success and winning Franchisee of the Year; -and so much more!

Today we’re joined by Ellena Francey, of Mr. Appliance of Newmarket and Barrie and Katharine Leaman of Glass Doctor of Durham region.   Ellena made the jump from a career in print media into her Mr. Appliance franchise, while a recession raged on.  Katharine embarked on her entrepreneurial journey in the spring of 2021 after a varied career with stints as a nurse and as a ballerina.  Tune in to hear more about their journeys into franchising and their strategies and advice for other women in franchising. On this episode of Franchise Canada Chats, we discuss: -The benefits of working with a franchise broker in the due diligence process; -Removing the barrier toward women in leadership in franchising; -Strategies for women entrepreneurs considering franchising as a career path; -And so much more!

Matt Hickman was the owner of a water treatment services company, Kean's Pump Shop, in St. John's before joining the Neighbourly family as a multi-brand owner. As a former business owner, the jump to franchising seemed counterintuitive, but in trying to pivot his existing HVAC business, he found the appeal in partnering with "an ethical company." "They had something I didn't: they had a system that was replicable and scalable," he says. "And that's what sold me on it, the fact that they were delivering value." In spite of not being a "trades guy," Hickman found success in the industry by leveraging his financial skills.