BIRD WILLIAMS: You're listening to Bird Means Business Episode 99.

Hi there, and thank you so much for tuning into Bird Means Business podcast. I am your host, Bird Williams. And y'all, we are at 99 episodes. What? How did we even get here? Oh my goodness, it has been my honor and my joy to share so much that I learned in my experience as an entrepreneur with you through the show. And today, we have a very, very special guest on the show. My husband, my business partner, Terry Williams.

TERRY WILLIAMS: Hey, what's up family? And thank you, Bird. It's so good to be here on the show with you. And I'll just have all your listeners know, I'm totally playing footsies with you, right now, as we sit side by side recording this.

BIRD: We also were just jamming really hard at dancing to the intro music as it came in. So this is gonna be a fun one. And like I mentioned, Terry is my husband, my best friend, but he's also my business partner. We launched our gym business, The League, back in 2013. So it'll be eight years this December. And we are going to talk today about how we are now at the place of franchising our gym business. Super exciting stuff. 

And I can't wait to dive in. But I want to say this too. Terry is my favorite guest on the podcast. He's been on what is it? Like four times? Maybe this is the fourth time.

TERRY: Something like that. 

BIRD: I know we did the episode on managing money in marriage. 

TERRY: Yep.

BIRD: That was a good one. I actually have like a whole Excel spreadsheet where you can figure out how to manage money together and how you can have like personal accounts. It was a great episode. We also did mindset coaching. 

TERRY: Yes. 

BIRD: Tell them a little bit about what you do with mindset coaching.

TERRY: Yeah, that was my favorite episode too, by the way. Mindset coaching. People are like, "So what do y'all do?" People we don't know. We follow up with, basically, in essence, we're coaches. Started with the gym, coaching people in physical fitness. I've ventured into coaching people's spirits through ministry and coaching people's mindsets through mindset and life coaching, and Bird doing, obviously, what she's doing here, business coaching. 

So the mindset coaching pillar, basically helping people to get clarity, come to a place of understanding what's in their control, what's out of their control, and how to put together actionable steps to move forward. So mindset coaching helps with things like setting goals, or kind of vision-casting for the future. It's a very effective tool. So if you haven't checked out that episode, definitely go back and get those goods. I'm not the type that gets into self-promo. So I'm not saying that for me to make me feel good. I definitely think you owe it to yourself to get clear on some things going forward.

BIRD: And Terry will be, you know, he's not sharing all the deets. But he basically does mindset coaching with NBA teams, really huge organizations, and a lot of really cool stuff. I think we have either journal prompts or an exercise associated with that episode. I'll link all the episodes that Terry has been in in the show notes, so y'all can check those out as well. 

One of the other episodes you did was, we talked about the behind the scenes of our gym business, how we launched it and how that looked. So if you are interested in what we share in this episode, you'll want to go back to that one because it will really talk a lot more about what that grind was like, what it felt like when we launched. Had this huge turnout, and then we had like six people sign up. And it was like, oh, no. So we talk about a lot of the real behind the scenes stuff as it relates to the gym launch back in that episode. But today we're going to talk about franchising our business. 

So I want to kind of talk about how we got to where we are today in making the decision to franchise. And I also want to talk about how franchising looks. What does that look like? How do you make money in a franchise, and then some things you want to consider if you would ever want to franchise your business. So first, I'll just say we, I remember we had a lawyer who drafted all of our contracts, our investor agreement, our board of advisor agreements, in the very beginning. And I remember, I can still see it right now. We're sitting in his office. And he asks us, what is our transition plan? What is our exit strategy? And you know, I'm 24 years old. Terry's 26 years old. We are kids. We have no idea what we're doing. 

TERRY: He's an attorney. So he's like, “Yo, what if y'all get divorced?" He's asking the hardball legal questions. We're like, 'oh, we'll never do that'. And he's like, "What if? Have you planned for the what-if's?"

BIRD: And he's wanting us to help us draft our operating agreement. So in that moment, we're trying to think, well, what does it look like, you know, if we were to ever transition The League in some way, and we never really considered franchising. But we launched our gym, like I said, December of 2013. January, I should say, 2014. It really started to take off. We were like, I think I have a whole episode about how we had six figures in revenue in our first year of business. Then that second year in 2015. We had two locations and it just continued to grow. And over this time, we had folks reach out to us about franchising. We had San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and even as random as Rio de Janeiro. They reached out like we would love to have The League in Brazil. And we were just shocked. Like, really? And also, I think, a little like, how do we manage the brand when we're not that close to it? 

TERRY: We were very new at that time still. So we were excited and grateful for other people pouring excitement into our bucket. And at the same time, we thought, well, it's gonna be about the people. We don't necessarily just want people with big investment capital and the means to start businesses to come in. And then the brand could get diluted, watered down, and it exists in cities that we're not in, and can't go and be present in to ensure brand quality. But if we could find the right people, we thought, then it's worth investing in an expansion project. 

BIRD: And I should just pause and say, when it comes to our gym business, you should know that it is rooted in service. So our whole heart, everything that we're trying to do is serve people and helping them reach their fitness goal. I know this might sound a little contrary to culture, or especially business culture, but it's not to make a lot of money. That was never our goal. So while we had these, you know, opportunities coming at us to make a lot of money, we just felt like how can we love people well, best? And loving people well, is actually like a core value for our family. How can we love people best in this season? And it just didn't seem like a fit then. But here we are, you know, years later, really excited to dive into this. 

So I know that, you know, we had those folks who reached out to us. And then you know, we continued to grow our business. And then we started having babies. And that really started to change some things. It was like, okay, okay, we can't just, you know, be at the gym all day, every day, you know, we have these little humans. And I think now we're at a place where you know, The League, our gym location here in Houston, is a well oiled machine. It operates well. And I've talked about this on the podcast before. I've stepped away from the business tremendously. I used to work the front desk for every single class. And now I maybe work three hours a week for The League. It's not a heavy lift anymore. And so we are really thinking about where we are in life, and what we really want to do and how we can really grow the brand. And I think that we believe that we would be really dynamic at a level where we're really focusing on it at the franchise level. What would you say about that, Babe?

TERRY: Yeah, it's about working on the business and not in the business. So if I am burnt out and exhausted from coaching every single class all day from 5am, to 8pm, as we were in the beginning, I would not have fresh ideas, new marketing, new merch, new social media. Like, it just wouldn't happen, right. And then if Ashley were at the front desk, working every shift like she did, in the beginning, she couldn't be our liaison to a wonderful legal team, accounting executive, consultants, and strategists and partnerships. Like there's so much that has to happen to sustain the business from an oversight level that we wouldn't have access to if we're in the business instead of working on the business. That said, she does, like she said, spend a few hours working on the business currently, and I'm doing a bunch of stuff kind of in logistics and game planning for what this next chapter will be like. But we have so much more impact doing it at this level.

BIRD: Yeah, we're super pumped. I want to talk a little bit about how the franchise works. So like I mentioned, we have our flagship location here in Houston. And I'm explaining this for anyone who, even if you're a baby business, you're thinking, well, maybe I could franchise this. And I could have more than one location and serve a bigger, you know, community. 

So we have a flagship location here in Houston. It's rocking and rolling. We have on our website, it's packtraining.com/franchise. There's a form there where folks can go on and share that they're interested in launching a franchise in their city. We announced the launch of the franchise weeks and weeks ago. And we've gotten some really great interests from here in Texas, and also in other parts of the country. But we were ideally going to kind of take a regional approach, but we're definitely open to launching The League locations, anywhere in the nation, anywhere in the world.

TERRY: So, if Rio de Janeiro calls back and like...  Yeah, we got a system for that now.

BIRD: Yeah, absolutely. So we should find that email and get back to those folks. So that's kind of how it worked. We'll take an interest. And I'll be honest, this is extremely new. And I'll even be more honest and more transparent. It's a little scary. We don't know what we're doing. We have hired a consultant to help us manage this process. So we have on our team, someone who is very well-versed in franchises and is helping us navigate that. But my goodness, this is new territory for us. So we're learning. But what that looks like is, we get that form online. We have conversations with those who are interested. There's something called an FDD, a Franchise Disclosure Document. And y'all that thing is lengthy.

TERRY: 216 pages if I remember, correctly. 

BIRD: Yes. I remember when we got that. We're really big on reviewing and understanding our own contracts, which is a side note point. Yes, you should have lawyers. Absolutely. We have an incredible lawyer that we work with. But also you want to just make sure you know what it is you're signing up for, you know, because your lawyer might have assume you understand a part of the contract that you have no idea what you're agreeing to. So we actually sat down. In pieces, we took chunks out of that FDD and reviewed it and made sure we understood what it was.

TERRY: Can I pause you right there? 

BIRD: Yeah. 

TERRY: I want to just drive home the importance of that point. So there's an individual. I won't say the gentleman's name, but he's an incredibly influential figure, based in Houston. He had some regional success years ago. Other people in his industry are known at a national or global level, and yet his net worth eclipses theirs. And he says that a big factor that contributed to that was the way he read and signed contracts. And he talked about how he was in the process of writing a book. That book never went to publishing. But the tentative title he had at the time was., "Before You Sign That" And it was about the importance of understanding royalties, and just all the nuances of money making overtime based on something you did at one point in time, and having residual income from it. So I just say that not to take us on a tangent, but to give you an actual example. And I've seen it. It is powerful, absolutely. Don't just slide that job down the line to somebody else's desk. You want to look at contracts yourself. And even as you don't fully understand them, you can always use your attorney as a liaison to help you interpret things and define things. But you got to be in those trenches as well.

BIRD: I love that you brought that up. I don't even know who you're talking about. But that's an incredible example. And I'll just say, you know, when it comes to entrepreneurship, you know, social media can make it real sexy. Like I'm in Costa Rica with my pina colada, like chillin while I'm making all this money. And these ten-figure months and whatever it is. But, the success is in the nitty gritty. The success is in reviewing your contracts. That's huge. Because like I said, you want to make sure that you understand what it is you're signing up for. 

I'll just let you know how that happens, practically, with us. We'll get a contract. We'll almost immediately send it to our attorney. But then I'll also sit down, like read through it. And I'll just make sure I understand the words. Of course, there's some legalese, where it's just way over my head. But if there's something that just stands out to me, as I either absolutely don't know what they're talking about, or that doesn't seem like something I want to do, I'll flag that to my attorney. So my follow up email to him will be here's a list. And our attorney, if he's listening, would laugh, because I typically have a very long list of questions and want clarification on all the things. But I'll have a list of those things that I have questions with, and then we'll kind of go back and forth before we get back to the party that we're negotiating with. 

That was a long tangent, but that's important, because we would not be here, if we did not have that kind of due diligence around things like contracts. 

So we have this FDD basically, that is the like I said, Franchise Disclosure Document. That will cover all the things related to the franchise. So potential franchisees will review that, and they would either decide if they wanted to move forward or not. And then what that would look like is they would have a designated territory. So let's say like I said, we're in Houston, Texas. If there's someone in Dallas, or someone in San Antonio, or Austin or wherever, who is looking to launch a League location in their city, they would have a designated territory, meaning there would be some distance, certain mileage that another League cannot open in. It's like their territory that they own. Because how terrible would it be if they launch their League location, and then two minutes down the road, someone else launches another League location. Now they have competition that's very, very close. So there's that designated territory that we would determine. 

And then they would then pay a franchise fee, an initial franchise fee, as well as, monthly royalties to the franchisor, which is us. So they're paying that because they're buying into the brand. 

I want to talk a little bit about the importance of the brand. Do you want to get into that now? Or do you want to add anything else? 

TERRY: Go for it. Go ahead and share on that.

BIRD: So branding, y'all, if you look back at all the different podcasts episodes I've had, I've definitely talked about this. I've also talked about contracts multiple times on the show. But branding is huge. You're not just building a business, you're building a brand. 

So you want to think about that in your name, in your logo, in maybe a proprietary format you have, or a recipe. There are tangible and intangible assets in your business. Tangible are like your things that you can touch and see and feel. Your equipment or you know, the furnitures and fixtures. But then you have intangible assets, which are things that you can't touch and see, like your intellectual property. And intellectual property includes your patent, trade secret, copyright, and trademarks. And I've talked about trademarks on the show as well. We have a whole episode with I believe it's Soluto Uba. I think it's episode 51. He talks about LLCs and trademarks. And we go into branding in much more detail in that episode. If there is no intellectual property, if you aren't protecting the brand that you're creating, then you're going to be in a really tough situation when it comes to growing your brand. 

So I say all that to say, we have The League. We have PAC(K) Training, which is our proprietary training format. And we have those trademarks, so that makes sure that we can own and control our intellectual property. So that's what franchisees are buying into. If someone wants to open a League location, they're going to use our branding, and they're going to be able to use our branding, because in that agreement, that's what they're signing up for. Does that make sense? 

TERRY: And then they're protected by that because they're not starting off in rookie season, trying to figure it out. They're getting the backing of a proven brand that already has notoriety to its name, and access to the brain trust that is the founders of that brand. So they're able to move in some confidence, having better resources. Like when we first started, we were trying to figure it out. And we made so many mistakes, and we wasted so much money and so much time learning. And we're grateful to now be successful. But our heart is to, like Ashley said before, our core value, love people well. So these entrepreneurs who are getting started out in gym ownership, we want to be able to give them backing and resources and support and information so that this thing that is our brand serves as a powerful and viable infrastructure for them.

BIRD: Absolutely. To piggyback off of that, folks aren't going to have to make all the same mistakes we made, because they are going to get a proven system, a proven formula, which is what we've created over the last eight years. So they're able to step into their gym business and just hit the ground running. And so that's really exciting and really huge. And then also, we're not going to just sign up franchisees and be like, "Alright, go on. You got this." We're going to be partners in this. We want to help equip and really empower our franchisees. So I think we're really excited to do franchising differently.

TERRY: Yeah, I think for me, one thing that I want to share is the importance of going deeper before going wider. So if you start a business and your long term vision is to franchise, that's all good. I feel ya. Love it. But I would consider this - move slow, take your time. 

If a plant has roots that spread wide, those roots cover more ground, humming just below the surface. So it can collect more raindrops from more places. It can be well watered, because it's gone wide. And that thing's going to grow. And that's cool, you can grow like that. 

But if the roots go deeper, they're going further into the Earth into richer soil, picking up a whole lot more than just the rainwater. They're getting nutrients that a wider root wouldn't have access to. And so I say that to say, location one must go deep before you can go wide into location four, five, and seven hundred. You need to establish great relationships, have community, be present within your business, have people genuinely and authentically loving the time that they spend consuming your product or service and have something that's strong, that's reputable, that has a reputation behind it. And then you have something you can now take wider that has sown deeper roots.

BIRD: That is incredibly powerful. I love it so much. And I can't even follow that up with anything because it is so great. 

Another thing I want to touch on is a question someone might ask. When would I know that it's time for my business to franchise? 

So for us, like I said, we did have folks who were reaching out saying I want to franchise, you know, The League. So that was kind of one thing that was interesting. Another thing though, was the brand recognizing factor. So people were recognizing The League all over the place. 

For example, we have a friend who's an Uber driver, and he said he picked someone up and they saw his key tag. We have key tags that our clients will check in with at the front desk. The person sees his key tag and they're like, oh my goodness, it's The League, right? 

Another thing was I think we had a client who was like traveling in Ohio or somewhere randomly. And they were like, I saw someone with a League shirt on it in Ohio. And he took a picture with the person and sent it to us. 

Another thing was Terry went to a really cool retreat with Lululemon out in Utah, I believe? 

TERRY: Yeah, we were in Park City, Utah. 

BIRD: And there was a guy who met him and like, knew all about The League. And it was just so random. Didn't he have a gym and like Dallas or something?

TERRY: He used to live in Dallas, knew some folks, that kind of deal. But we arrived in conversation to him like, "Whoa, you co-founded The League. That's crazy." So it was a neat moment of discovery. Like wow, I come all the way out here to Park City, Utah, and somebody has heard of us. That's unreal.

BIRD: Yeah. So when those kinds of things happen and your brand has, you know, some legs like it's like a I think like a brand to stand on. Right? I think that is a great sign that your business could potentially franchise. 

This was fun. I'm glad that we were able to really give the story of how we got here for anyone who might be considering the same and to really emphasize that this isn't something we necessarily planned to start with at the very beginning. But here we are now and like I said, it is new territory. We are really leaning into our team. We're really leaning into our faith more than anything. This is absolutely a God dream. And I'm excited that, as I learn more, I'm happy to share with y'all. 

TERRY: Yeah, I'd also just add to that, like Ashley talks sometimes about the difference between purpose and passion. I've heard those words on this show. Don't franchise because it's something you're just excited about. If it's something that your business is purposed to undergo, you will know because your clients will be talking about it. Your team will start talking about it. Your friends, when you bring it up at dinner, will start asking, "Hey, is that something you're dreaming of doing?" 

Life will talk to you about the things that you need to step into. There's so much more to this story, y'all. When I tell you it gets deep? We came to a place of knowing for sure this is something that we are destined and purposed to do. We'll share a lot more on that when the time is right. But in the meantime, hey, check out packtraining.com/franchise if you want to see an example of what a franchise web page looks like. Or hey, maybe you have been dreaming of launching a gym. We'd love to work with you and make that dream a reality. Let's go. 

BIRD: Let's go. That would be so fun. Yes, we'd love to partner with you if you're interested in opening a League location in your city. Like he said, you can go to packtraining.com/franchise to check it out. 

Thank y'all so much for tuning in. This was fun. Thanks for joining me, Babe. 

TERRY: No doubt. 

BIRD: If you've learned anything from Bird Means Business podcast, if this show has helped you or your business or your business planning in any way, I would absolutely love for you to do two things. One, share the podcast with a friend. I have so many episodes about marketing and finance and legal and all the different things that I know will help you on your journey. Those are things that I wish I'd known when we first launched. And the second thing I want you to do is leave a review on Apple Podcasts. That will help others learn about the show and increase the ratings of the show. 

Alright, thank you so much for tuning into the show and I will see you next week.