Thriving in the World of Multi-Unit Franchising | Jesse Keyser

In this episode of “Country Club Conversations,” we sit down with multi-brand franchisee Jesse Keyser, who shares his extensive experience in autonomous franchising. He recounts his journey from a small farming family background, majoring in sociology at the University of Carbondale, to a stint at Dot Com firm in the '90s. Now, over 15 years later, he owns 50 franchise locations across the Midwest, South and Northeast, including but not limited to Sport Clips, Little Caesars, Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, and Ideal Image. Today, he dives deep into the importance of work ethic, strategic location planning, collaborative team growth and understanding synergistic customer and employee relations. With his wealth of knowledge as current chair of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, we navigate effective management and leadership, the ins and outs of ownership autonomy, and our very favourite, the “Pringle” method of getting things done in order to achieve long-term success,  We are glad to be back with another episode and thank you for tuning in.  Connect With Our Host:Raj’s YoutubeRaj’s X / TwitterRaj’s LinkedInRaj’s Instagram Raj’s Tiktok Connect With Our Guest: Jesse’s LinkedInMulti-unit Franchising Conference Website Timestamps: 00:34 - Meet Jesse Keyser! 02:55 - Putting Down Entrepreneurial Roots 05:19 - Jesse Explores The Intricacies Of Farming And Relationships With Entrepreneurship 07:40 - Anticipating The Next Wave Of Franchise Acquisitions 10:22 - Jesse Takes Us On A Walk Of His First Acquisition 13:21 - How Jesse Began To Diversify In Business 15:23 - Franchise Selection Criteria 17:03 - The Value Of Mentorship In Franchising 18:25 - Growth Strategies 19:36 - The Role Of Brokers In Franchising And The Multi-Unit Franchising Conference 20:37 - Jesse’s Insight On Managing Multiple Brands. 23:36 - Measuring Performance And Building A Positive Culture 27:52 - Ensuring Less Employee Turnover 29:03 - The Importance Of A Siloed And Evolved Workforce 35:13 - Jesse’s Lens On Evaluating New Brand Opportunities 40:28 - How To Predict A Brand’s Trajectory 43:06 - Understanding Territory Delineation And Ethically Utilising Customer Data 49:11 - Jesse’s Thoughts On Navigating Partners And Employee Support 52:00 - “If You Don’t Have Great People, You Can’t Attract Great People.”- Jesse Keyser. 53:06 - The Pringle Method 55:18 - Wrapping Up This podcast is brought to you by Storyboard Living. If you're looking to sell us a 40+ unit multifamily property in the St. Louis region, or another part of MO/IL, please email [email protected] Connect with us at our Website or LinkedIn profile.