Podcast Summary: The Brian Beers Show

Episode 300 – "You Don’t Want a Small Business, You Actually Want a Franchise"

Host: Brian Beers
Date: December 8, 2025

Episode Overview

Brian Beers explores the crucial decision facing new entrepreneurs: should you buy an existing small business or start with a franchise? Drawing from his own journey building an eight-figure franchise portfolio, Brian dives deep into the risks and advantages of each choice, breaks down operational, financial, and personal fit considerations, and offers candid, actionable advice for those seeking financial freedom through business ownership.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Fit: Business as Personal as Buying a Home

• Business ownership shapes your lifestyle and future.
• Like buying a house, you need a clear checklist: industry, revenue potential, business model, operational complexity, staff requirements, etc.
• Many would-be entrepreneurs waste years window-shopping for the “perfect” independent business or business idea, only to make rushed or poor-fit choices driven by urgency or FOMO.

Quote

“Owning a business is personal. You will eat, sleep and breathe the business... Buying a business should be like buying a house.” — Brian Beers [00:24]

• Franchising offers massive variety across 3,000+ industries, making it easier to match your "business wishlist" (e.g., high-ticket sales, recession-resistant businesses, recurring revenue models, etc.)

2. Risks in Franchising: Expectations vs. Reality

• Expectations mismatch is a common pitfall.
  • Some envision executive roles (strategy, high-level decisions) but find themselves deep in “the weeds”: sales, job management, staff training, field work.
• With franchises, you build from zero—often starting as a jack-of-all-trades.
• Growth is a progression: technician → estimator → salesperson → project manager → CEO, etc.
• Satisfaction hinges on realistic expectations about the timeline to “move up the ladder” and delegate.

Quotes

“When you buy a franchise, you start at the ground level. You're starting from zero and it's important that you learn every role...” — Brian Beers [02:47]
“If you expect to spend the first nine months really in the weeds in the truck every day... and it ends up being six, seven, eight months, you're probably going to feel pretty good...” — Brian Beers [03:56]

• Owner-entrapment risk: Some franchise models make it hard for owners to fully step back, potentially trapping them in a job.
• Validation is critical: speak with franchisees to understand the true operational realities and the path to leadership roles.

3. Operational Risks: Training, Support, and "Key Man"

Training & Support

• Buying an independent business:
  • You rely on the seller’s willingness and ability to train and support you (often unreliable/unstructured, sometimes only in the seller’s head).
  • Post-sale, the seller may quickly check out, leaving you stranded.
• Franchises:
  • Best franchise systems offer structured, comprehensive training (40-80+ hours of online training, in-person sessions, field support, ongoing coaching).
  • Peer community and support networks are built in.
  • Not all franchises offer equal support—some have glaring weaknesses, poor materials, or weak networks.

Quotes

“You have no idea on the quality of training that the seller is going to provide you... Is everything locked up in his head and training follows just whatever he remembers that morning when he's eating breakfast?” — Brian Beers [08:50]
“Franchisors are by definition in the training and support business... They compress decades of knowledge and experience into days of training for you.” — Brian Beers [10:33]
“...Some of them provide very thorough training, tons of support... Others are complete shit, to be totally honest.” — Brian Beers [12:42]

• Due diligence is non-negotiable: Talk to current franchisees about actual support, training, and peer connections.

Key Man Risk

• In a small business acquisition, a longtime employee (manager, COO, etc.) might run 90% of the operations.
• They can either be enthusiastic helpers after a sale, or become resentful and leave, causing both operational and financial chaos.
• Franchise startups have no such risk—knowledge is diffused through systems and training.

Quotes

“There is probably an employee who’s been there for years and knows the business inside and out... what happens if they quit on day one?” — Brian Beers [15:36]
“If you buy a startup franchise, there is no key man risk. All that knowledge you gain through the training and support...” — Brian Beers [17:30]

4. Financial Risks: Existing Business vs. Franchise

Buying a Business

• The appeal: cash flow from Day One.
• The risk: validating that cash flow and profits are real and sustainable post-sale.
• Deep due diligence is required: tax returns, P&Ls, roles of key staff/family members, margin benchmarks, industry trends, and debt load sustainability.

Quotes

“The biggest risk is just validating that that cash flow, those profits... are legit and that they will continue after you buy them.” — Brian Beers [19:07]
“A huge mistake that I see buyers make is underestimating the payroll cost that it’s going to take to replace the daily functions of the sellers and their related family members...” — Brian Beers [21:53]

Franchising

• Lower upfront cost (vs. buying established business), but you start from zero.
• The timing of profit is uncertain—some franchises cash flow in month one, others take over a year.
• Franchise performance isn’t like a predetermined real estate investment; it’s based on operator skill, team-building, expense management, and research.
• Success hinges on:
  1. Building (and improving) a team by trial, error, and hiring experience.
  2. Carefully guarding expenses, especially payroll.
  3. In-depth due diligence with franchisees on ramp-up times, challenges, and what “steady state” really looks like.

Quotes

“A franchise is not like real estate where there’s some predetermined rate of return. There’s no IRR, there’s no ROI. Right. A franchise is a business and results vary significantly by the individual operator. Which to me is honestly the most exciting part...” — Brian Beers [24:50]
“Building a team is like flipping through a deck of cards. The first three employees that you hire might be a king, a six and a three. You discard the three, they don’t work out, you flip over the next one, you got a seven, the team got better...” — Brian Beers [25:38]

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On choosing the right business:

  “Franchising naturally provides a solution to this business fit problem because there’s over 3,000 franchises in almost every industry you can imagine. So no matter what you are looking for, there is a great chance that you can find the perfect business model that matches that checklist you created.” — Brian Beers [01:40]

• On due diligence:

  “We will give you a list of over 440 due diligence questions that cover all of these bases and a whole lot more.” — Brian Beers [13:57]

• On managing expectation and satisfaction:

  “Satisfaction hinges on expectation versus reality... If you expect to spend the first nine months really in the weeds...and it ends up being six, seven, eight months, you’re probably going to feel pretty good... On the other hand, if you expect to spend like three weeks and it ends up being six months, you're going to feel trapped and frustrated.” — Brian Beers [03:56]

Key Timestamps

• [00:00] Decision: Franchise vs. Small Business – the stakes
• [01:40] Business fit and the spectrum of franchise options
• [02:47] Expectation vs. Reality in franchise ownership
• [08:50] Operational risk: Seller training vs. Franchise support
• [12:42] Franchise selection: The "good, bad, and ugly"
• [15:36] Key man risk in small business acquisitions
• [19:07] Due diligence in validating financials
• [24:50] Financial risks & realities of franchise startups
• [25:38] Building your initial team: The “deck of cards” analogy
• [27:20] Summary: Pros, cons, and fit—no one-size-fits-all answer

Conclusion

Brian Beers delivers a candid and detailed breakdown of the real-world risks, opportunities, and decision criteria between buying a small business or building a franchise. He emphasizes the importance of personal fit, in-depth due diligence, and managing expectations. The ultimate takeaway: there’s no universal “best” choice—only a thoughtful match for your goals, skillset, and timeline.

For more actionable franchising advice and deep dives into business ownership, consider subscribing to The Brian Beers Show.