What You’re Really Buying When You Buy a Franchise | Insights From Franchise Expert Troy Hazard #243

Summary

Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: Unemployable with Jeff Dudan
Episode: What You’re Really Buying When You Buy a Franchise | Insights From Franchise Expert Troy Hazard #243
Date: January 9, 2026
Host: Jeff Dudan
Guest: Troy Hazard, Franchise Expert

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the often-misunderstood value proposition of franchising. Rather than focusing solely on the products, services, or potential financial returns, Jeff Dudan and franchise expert Troy Hazard explore the true heart of franchising: the fundamental importance of relationship, support, and shared journey between franchisor and franchisee. The conversation offers insights into current trends, common pitfalls, and the renewed necessity of "back to basics" in franchise development and support.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trends and Growth Sectors in Franchising

[00:00–01:12]

• Jeff Dudan asks about trends, noting the resilience and growth in property services franchising (e.g., pool works, Homefront Brands), with a 10.3% compound annual growth rate.
• Highlights emerging and booming sectors:
  • Home and property services (non-discretionary, relatively safe, low-cost entry)
  • Fitness (large, crowded)
  • Pet sector (noting there are more pets than children in the U.S.)

Quote:
“If somebody wants to get into a low-cost franchise in a growing market that’s relatively safe—home and property services…[is] always going to be here.”
—Jeff Dudan [00:19]

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2. The Forgotten Relationship in Franchising

[01:12–03:16]

• Troy Hazard critiques the franchise sector's recent focus on flashy offerings over core relationships post-pandemic.
• Traditionally, franchising’s appeal was “be in business for yourself but not by yourself”.
• The sector is losing sight of this key value proposition, increasingly emphasizing what’s being sold rather than the how and why of collaborative business building.

Quote:
“We have forgotten the importance of…that it’s about the relationship... It’s the relationship we’re trying to create, and by the way, we sell this product or service.”
—Troy Hazard [01:43]

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3. Impact of Franchise Sales Organizations and Brokers

[03:16–04:35]

• The rise of franchise sales organizations and brokers has depersonalized the process.
• Their lack of lived experience and emotional investment in the business dilutes the foundational franchisee-franchisor bond.
• Hazard stresses that franchisees want more than information—they’re seeking emotional connection, guidance, and support.

Quote:
“We have lost that connection through the use of brokers and franchise services businesses…they’re not living it the same way a franchisor is…they didn’t have the struggles that help give you the confidence.”
—Troy Hazard [03:59]

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4. The Realities and Responsibilities of Franchise Relationships

[04:35–08:32]

• Jeff Dudan shares Homefront Brands’ ethos: training, values, and an unwavering focus on relationships over sales pitch.
• Discusses “the journey together”—franchisor’s responsibility extends beyond the initial transaction; it’s about ensuring long-term outcomes for franchisees and their families.
• Acknowledges tough life events (illness, accidents, divorce, etc.)—franchisors should work hard to help franchisees exit successfully when necessary, rather than just cutting ties.

Quote:
“When they committed to us to build the business, we committed to them to get the best outcome possible for them. And if the opportunity for them to do it has been taken from them by circumstances, then that doesn't relieve us of the responsibility to continue to try.”
—Jeff Dudan [08:13]

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5. Advice to Prospective Franchisees: It’s All About Leadership and Support

[08:32–end]

• Hazard’s advice: The sector or product is secondary; the leader and their commitment matter most.
• Urges franchise candidates to choose systems based on the culture, support, and shared vision, not merely the widget or product on offer.
• Franchising is about human connection and a shared destination, not just transactional business.

Quote:
“Forget the widget. It's not about selling coffee or cars or donuts. It's about the individuals you're going to work with. And by the way, here's what we sell. And if that works for you—that you've got the confidence of the relationship—everything else will fall into place.”
—Troy Hazard [08:45]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On fracturing focus in the industry:
  "We've stopped leaning on that conversation [about relationships] as much as we probably should do in favor of saying, I've got this new pet business and it's really cool, no one else has got it, you're gonna make a heap of money, it's gonna be fabulous.”
  —Troy Hazard [02:33]

• On real-world franchisee support:
  "We’ll waive fees, we’ll send people, we’ll do everything we need to. Because when they committed to us to build the business, we committed to them to get the best outcome possible.”
  —Jeff Dudan [08:04]

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• [00:00–01:12] – Current growth sectors and market resilience in franchising.
• [01:12–03:16] – Forgotten fundamentals: the relationship at the heart of franchising.
• [03:16–04:35] – Impact of franchise brokers and sales organizations on personal connection.
• [04:35–08:32] – Training, commitment, and handling franchisee hardship: what true support looks like.
• [08:32–end] – Advice to franchise seekers: choose leaders and cultures, not just categories.

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Conclusion

This episode offers a rich, honest look at what you’re really buying when you buy a franchise: not just a business model, but a partnership. Jeff Dudan and Troy Hazard urge listeners to look past the sizzle of products and into the substance of relationships, leadership, and legacy—reminding us that the real value in franchising is found in shared commitment, support, and genuine human connection.

Transcript

[A]

What trends do you see in franchising, particularly in the United States, if any?

[B]

Yeah, that's a really broad question.

[A]

It is and I can, I can narrow it. I mean I'm, you know, obviously there's, you know, property services like pool works, like home front brands. It's always going to be here. I mean there, these are, these services are generally non discretionary. There's a shortage of houses, there's, there's home building that's going to go on. We're going to have an increasing population for the next 25 years. There's a 10.3% compound annual growth rate in home and property services. So you know, if somebody wants to get into a low cost franchise into a growing market that's relatively safe home and property services, and then you see things like fitness and it gets really big and really crowded and. But I don't know if there's pets. There's more. There's I think 95 million pets and 87 million kids in this country now. So pet franchising is, is huge. But do you see anything in terms of franchise franchising slowing down, franchising speeding up or anything else that, that from your perspective that, that is interesting.

[B]

I think that we've, it's, how I say this politely. I think the franchise sector over the last five, six years, particularly post pandemic, has got a little bit lazy in its positioning in that the, you know, if you look 20 years ago, the term was be in business for yourself but not by yourself. That's why you would get into a franchise business in any sector within the franchise sector.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Or any industry within the franchise sector. We've kind of forgotten the importance of that and how to position that in the minds of potential franchisees where we are not so much focusing on what our service is or our product offer is or the business that we're in, that we are focusing on the relationship we're trying to create. And I think that emerging franchisors that are maybe just Getting started with 5, 10, 15, 25 or whatever franchisees at the moment, their, their positioning needs to be back to basics and back to grassroots where it's about the relationship. And by the way we sell this product or by the way we have this service, we've forgotten that we were good at it back in the late 90s, early 2000s, where franchising was needing to be explained to people as much as it needed to be positioned. But now we've forgotten that the real reason that people want to get into this sector into franchising is the support. It's the relationship that they can build with their franchisor, the franchisor team and those that are going to help them on their journey to deliver the things they want for them and their families. We've stopped that conversation. We haven't stopped the conversation. We've stopped leaning on that conversation as much as we probably should do in favour of saying, I've got this new pet business and it's really cool, no one else has got it, you're gonna make a heap of money, it's gonna be fabulous. Or trying to be sexy with the product or service that we are positioning as a franchise or business where we should be focused on the relationship. Oh, and by the way we sell this, that's the piece I think we've missed in the last bunch of years.

[A]

Well, and I wonder if that's tied to the rise of the franchise sales organizations.

[B]

I think in part because the personalization of those messages is a little bit diluted in that conversation. And when we look at the franchise development stuff that we've put in place for franchisors over the years, there's always been a real focus on building the relationship first and then giving them the information about the business. And to the extent that our process of introducing a potential franchisee in the business is just that. Information, Experience. Information. Experience. Emotion. Information. Experience. Emotion. Emotion. Emotion. Emotion. So we're drawing them into the relationship before we even start talking about how we sell stuff or who we sell it to or why it's important. We have lost that connection through the use of brokers and franchise services businesses and the like because they're not living it the same way a franchisor is. They're not, they've not got the emotional connection to the business because they didn't build it or they, they didn't have the struggles that help give you the confidence. You could stand there in front of a potential franchisee and say, I've had a few struggles, I got out of them, I can get you out of them too. And here's how we're going to do it together.

[A]

That's right. Yeah. And I think we, we do as good a job as we can with that at Homefront Brands. It's all that we talk about here. It's, it's, you know, we, I just did two hours of training with a group of brand new franchise owners and it was the first. It's what it, it's, it's, this is the values, this is our relationship, this Is this is what you're going to face. And it's all the things, right? And I put a quadrant up there of, of you want to build wealth for your family. Businesses are part of it. Marketable securities, real estate. And you know, this fourth one, that's a kicker. Like, okay, so you're on this journey together. This, this is, we're in relationship to build you a successful life. To build you a successful life and all the things that matter. And it's a slippery slope because we still made a mistake. And because we're in a competitive environment and we're trying to catch eyeballs and marketing's gotten sophisticated and everybody's got the newest, hottest franchise thing out there and we have to compete for those people because we need people as well. And I mean we made a mistake where we, we went to market and we overemphasized a product and it's like, no, this is, that's why, why it's, it's a, it's a wonder why you know, people, it's not resonating with people because we're leading with a product, you know, and, and you know, if you, if you're forced to sell, if you're, if you believe that you're forced to award franchises at all cost now you're going to be focusing on numbers and the sizzle, right? But at the end of the day, business ownership is not the easiest thing that people can choose to do. And when it gets tough, you've got to have people that are mature, that are in your corner, that, that can give you the feedback that you need, that can resolve conflicts in a healthy manner. None of which is going to the contract. It's all interpersonal. Another thing that I'm very proud of at at home front brands is that, and it's been a talk track that I've had, I've done 500 times. Within the walls of our businesses, we're focused on these people out these people's outcome and everything that they need to do to build themselves the capabilities, the confidence to one brick at a time to build a business. Like, we need to make sure that they get to a destination. Like you said, when you get into something, you got to know what the destination is. You know, Cheshire Cat was not right if Cheshire Cat was right, you know, if, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

You know, so, so you know, and, and sometimes, and you know this as well as I do, I mean we have a population of franchise owners out there. Hundreds and hundreds of them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Cancer happens, divorce happens.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Accidents happen. We had a family in a plane crash that, that passed away. People go to rehab. Addiction happens. So in those situations, because we're focused on the outcomes, if people say, I just need to get out of this or close it down, we will fight them to resell that business and to operate that business, to get them some money on their way out the door or whatever it is. Like, because, you know, just because they say, you know, I'm in this bad situation and I've got to give it up. A lot of franchisors would say, well, sign the paper, Goodby, we'll let you go. But, I mean, and, but, but we're going to go and we're going to make sure that that family gets as much of recovery as they possibly can out of the business. And we'll, we'll waive fees, we'll send people, we'll do everything we need to. Because when they committed to us to build the business, we committed to them to get the best outcome possible for them. And if the opportunity for them to do it has been taken from them by circumstances, then that doesn't relieve us of the responsibility to continue to try. And like, that's a subtle but significant thing. And I think it makes an impact on our people and the way that we support and the way that we care for our franchise owners.

[B]

Absolutely. And that's where the relationship becomes the agreement. And we just. And this is the widget we sell. And when I have potential franchisees come to me saying, hey, I'm thinking about buying a franchise, what sector should I get into? I said, it doesn't matter, it's really not important. Go and find the leader you'd like to work with that has the vision, that has an understanding of where the business is going and how he's gonna take you on that journ or she's going to take you on that journey, have a conversation about how they're going to support you emotionally, support you when things are tough, when it isn't going quite right. Oh, and by the way, we'll sell that stuff on the way as well. We've lost the real reason that people are wanting to get into this business. And the real reason is they want that relationship, they want the support. And when I had that conversation with potential franchisees, I have done for 30 odd years now, it's always, always try and bring it back to the relationship and saying, forget the widget. It's not about selling coffee or cars or donuts. It's about the individuals you're going to work with. And by the way, here's what we sell. And if that works for you, that you've got the confidence of the relationship, that everything else will fall into place.