Robert Katz, managing director of The Stanwood Group, a New Jersey-based franchise development and sales organization, revealed that many of the nation’s next great franchise success stories are right in their own backyard! By Rose Mango
Childhood friends Brian Claeys and Travis Lux had a passion for dogs since they were young, but they never imagined it would turn into a rewarding career. It all started in 2007 when Claeys was working in corporate America. With the financial crisis looming, Claeys wanted to ensure he was in control of his own fate. By Shelby Green
At the age of 19, Nick Lopez began painting houses during his summer breaks while attending Michigan State University to help finance his education expenses. Upon graduation, Lopez moved back to his native Denver to create his own painting company and make his mark on the home-improvement industry. By Kelsi Trinidad
Sarah Miller, a homeschooling mother, was looking for a school-related franchise opportunity when she discovered Six Pixels Studios. She contemplated being a business owner and had her own business grant writing for five years. By Kelsi Trinidad
Franchise brands that offer aspiring entrepreneurs the option to focus on clients’ kids, pets and the environment continue to grow – but more options are needed in these three industries… By Dawn Abbamondi
John Mousseau was perusing LinkedIn when he discovered The Alternative Board® in April 2019. “I hit a button, thinking nothing, and I got a call from them the next day,’’ he said. By Patty Horansky
While the number of cable TV and print media advertisements have declined in recent years, the founders of N-Compass TV identified an area of advertising that hadn’t yet been tapped: local businesses. By Kelsi Trinidad
Issues Highest Number of FASTSIGNS Sales Achievement Awards and Certifications.
CARROLLTON, Texas — FASTSIGNS International, Inc., the world’s leading sign and visual graphics franchisor with more than 765 FASTSIGNSⓇ locations in eight countries worldwide, hosted its 13th annual Outside Sales Summit August 10-12 in Indianapolis, IN. There were over 596 people in attendance, which included attendees, corporate staff and exhibitors.
With the theme, Rev It Up, the FASTSIGNS 2023 Outside Sales Summit celebrated the network’s sales achievements between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. At the awards event, 269 Outside Sales Professionals were recognized, including 56 who received the prestigious Platinum Award for achieving over $1 million in individual sales during the 12-month period. Additionally, 50 individuals became Certified FASTSIGNS Sales Executives after completing an extensive certification program during the same period, a record year for the network.
Angela Allison from FASTSIGNS® of Lancaster, PA was recognized as this year’s recipient of the Catherine Monson Salesperson of the Year Award. This is the fifth year for presenting the Catherine Monson Salesperson of the Year Award. With this award, FASTSIGNS recognizes one Outside Sales Professional who best represents the concept and the spirit of the brand, both in the business community and within the FASTSIGNS network.
“Our 13th Outside Sales Summit in Indianapolis this year was an exhilarating experience for FASTSIGNS attendees and especially memorable as my first as President of FASTSIGNS. This year we recognized the impressive achievements our sales professionals have made with the most awards given to date. The summit served as our strategic pit stop, a place to refuel and recharge our sales engines. Now, we’re fully charged and primed to ‘rev it up’ and race ahead toward even greater success,” shared Andrea Hohermuth, President of FASTSIGNS International, Inc.
Featured speakers included Author, Advisor and Catalyst, Walter Bond who spoke on “Having a Shark Mindset to Achieve Peak Performance” and Mike Weinberg, Best-Selling Author and Award-Winning Sales Leader who shared “A Foolproof Framework to Win More New Sales.” Additional speakers covered a variety of topics including using AI to boost the sales process, the use of data to improve sales, building a sales toolkit and how sales professionals can better capture and convert leads, informative roundtable discussions and more.
FASTSIGNS® franchisees and their employees, vendors and FASTSIGNS International, Inc. corporate staff also participated in the FASTSIGNS Community Giveback “Breakfast with a Purpose” event to assemble 200 care packages for hospitalized and homeless veterans at the Indianapolis VA Medical Center. This giveback event was also made possible by the generous support of the FASTSIGNS Community Giveback sponsors including CareerPlug, Howmac, Kelly Spicers, NW Quik Pull, Royal Printing, Versa-Tags, Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), Grimco, Howard Ind, Kapco, Hanson Signs and Retreva (Click2Sell).
Some 93 vendors participated at this year’s Outside Sales Summit Event, including Epson, FELLERS, and Grimco all of whom were Diamond Sponsors. The Opening Night Networking Party was sponsored by Retreva (Click2Sell).
About FASTSIGNS®
FASTSIGNS is a leading national visual ideas company that creates a wide variety of comprehensive sign and graphics solutions. With over 35 years of experience, FASTSIGNS helps you achieve more than you ever thought possible. We are the worldwide franchisor of more than 765 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS® centers. FASTSIGNS locations span across the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Canada, Chile, Grand Cayman, Malta, the Dominican Republic and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE®). FASTSIGNS is frequently recognized for franchisee satisfaction and through franchising awards which include being ranked #1 on Entrepreneur’s Highly Competitive Franchise 500® List for the Seventh Consecutive Year for 2023 as well as being named a 2023 Best-in-Category Franchise by Franchise Business Review.
In 2021, Propelled Brands was formed, and is now the multi-brand franchisor for FASTSIGNS®, NerdsToGo® and MY SALON Suite®.
To learn more visit fastsigns.com. Follow the brand on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/fastsigns, Twitter @FASTSIGNS or Facebook at facebook.com/FASTSIGNS. For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson (mark.jameson@fastsigns.com or call 214.346.5679).
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — 2023 has been a year of incredible growth and Cruise Planners has joined the ranks of South Florida Business Journal’s Fast 50 at #10. This ranking recognizes the region’s fastest-growing private companies. Cruise Planners was selected based on its growth in the past three years. Cruise Planners saw annual sales growth from $545 million in 2022 to over $845 million in 2023, which also landed them on Travel Weekly’s Power List at #20. Cruise Planners has contributed to the growth of South Florida not only by employment efforts but more importantly by bringing thousands of tourists to South Florida through their network of 2,500 franchisees planning memorable vacations.
The company was honored by SFBJ on Aug. 24th at an awards program at Gulfstream Park – Sport of Kings in Hallandale Beach with COO Theresa Scalzitti, CIO Brian Shultz, VP of Technology Phill Guerra, Director of Operations Diana Riel, VP of Finance Nikki Hetzel, VP of Operations Jeff Sherota, Director of Destination Sales Laura Blanco, and Creative Resources Senior Manager Andrew Shultz on hand to accept the award on behalf of the company.
“Cruise Planners has persevered through some of the hardest years in travel. To accomplish this amazing growth and to be recognized by the South Florida Business Journal is a true honor,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and Founder of Cruise Planners. “This honor solidifies the hard work of our team and our incredible network of travel advisors throughout the U.S.”
To qualify for the honor, companies have to be privately held, be headquartered in the tri-county region, generate at least $1 million in annual revenue, and be in business at least three years. The ceremony featured a spirited reveal of the Top 25 companies with more than $25 million in annual revenue and the Top 25 with revenue under $25 million. Companies were ranked by revenue percentage growth from 2020 to 2022.
About Cruise Planners
Cruise Planners was founded in 1994 and is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network. As a leader in the travel franchise industry, Cruise Planners positions a nation-wide network of 2,500 franchise owners for success by providing award-winning and innovative marketing programs, proprietary and cutting-edge booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and travel agent training with the industry’s top executives. The company continues to be an industry leader and was named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 18 consecutive years and awarded by Franchise Business Review as “Best-In-Category” for 3 years and ranked #20 on Travel Weekly’s 2023 Power List.
Franchise Business Review also ranked Cruise Planners #3 OVERALL on their list of Top 200 Franchises of 2022. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel.
Visit our website, www.cruiseplanners.com, for more information or to view the complete list of awards and honors. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit https://www.cruiseplannersfranchise.com/.
LENEXA, Kan. — Coming off a record-breaking year in 2022, City Wide Facility Solutions, the nation’s leading management company in the building maintenance industry, has continued to experience record growth in the first half of 2023.
In the first six months of the year, it signed 7 new locations, which puts it on pace to match last year’s record-breaking number of new franchisee signings. Also notable is the success of City Wide Facility Solutions’ franchises, reflected in its new financial information which includes an average unit volume (AUV) of $8.07 million – a $1.35M increase from last year, average annual revenue top quartile of $17.96 million and franchisee sales median of $6.4 million.
“It’s been an incredible first half of the year for City Wide. Last year we had our best year ever in terms of new locations opening, so it’s great to see that momentum continue through 2023,” said Jeff Oddo, CEO and owner of City Wide Facility Solutions. “Even more impressive is the strength and value of our business model, which is evident through the revenue growth we’re experiencing. When you combine this growth with the number of quality new franchisees we’re signing, the impact we’re able to have in the communities we serve continues to grow as well.”
To assist with the company’s rapid growth and guide the organization toward its goal of becoming a billion-dollar company by 2026, Troy Hartman was promoted to President. Additionally, at its annual Convention in March, City Wide raised more than $659,000 for Learning Independence for Tomorrow – a nonprofit with close ties to City Wide’s franchisees in Tampa, FL.
City Wide Facility Solutions has consistently evolved and adapted to become “The First Choice” for its clients, employees, franchise owners, independent contractors and vendors. Managing more than 20 services for its clients, City Wide offers one point of contact and provides professional communication and project management through every stage of the experience. This allows for clients to focus on running their business while uplifting smaller, independent and locally owned companies to execute services.
Entrepreneurially-spirited individuals interested in owning a City Wide franchise should have a business-to-business background focused on sales, management, and operations experience as well as have a desire to be a part of a mission-driven organization that prioritizes giving back to the community and the franchise system.
For information on U.S./Canadian franchise opportunities please visit www.citywidefranchise.com.
About City Wide Facility Solutions
Founded in 1961, City Wide has a proven reputation for being the go-to resource for commercial facility solutions in its home Kansas City market and nearly 95 locations across the U.S. and Canada. By uniquely representing the client, professional management teams serve as a single-source solution by managing dozens of interior and exterior services through independent contractors. City Wide simplifies the janitorial, disinfecting and maintenance issues most critical to building owners, operators and management companies, saving them time, solving their problems and reducing stress typically associated with facility management.
For more information about City Wide Facility Solutions or to find a location near you, please visit www.gocitywide.com.