Riding Tandem

00:01:00 - Vivian Kvam
as you all know, that's one of the things we like to talk about on this podcast, is both successes and the unsuccessful pieces because that's real life. And so that's what we're here to talk about today. So I'm excited that she's willing to talk about those things, but she has actually become a franchise broker. But prior to that, she was in the advertising industry for eight years and just found she didn't love the whole corporate environment, the corporate scene. So she started her first business in 2017 and now she's a franchise broker. And so we're going to talk about the businesses, the successful ones, the failed ones. And then, of course, we're going to dive into franchises, which I am very interested in. It's something actually my family's talked about a lot as I was growing up, and I have so many questions, curiosity around this topic. But I love how she just explains here that she's basically a matchmaker for those who are looking to leave corporate America like she did and find the perfect franchise fit for their specific situation. So we'll talk about that, the specifics, the myths, the things, the misconceptions and what it looks like to get started in a franchise because it's such a viable way to get started as a business owner. But she also has a passion for helping entrepreneurs just find a pathway to their dreams and to becoming business owners. However, outside of work, she has a life, too, and she loves spending time with her hubby and her three children. So well rounded, right?

00:02:25 - Charista Baye
That's the whole deal.

00:02:26 - Vivian Kvam
And I think that's a big piece about franchises and business ownership is the family piece too, of wanting to have that balance and being able to have flexibility. So welcome.

00:02:35 - Charista Baye
Thank you.

00:02:35 - Vivian Kvam
Glad to have you.

00:02:36 - Charista Baye
Yeah, I'm glad to be here.

00:02:38 - Vivian Kvam
Awesome. So one of the things I know you talked about prior to us hopping on here and then some information we exchanged back and forth, you decided that the cold corporate scene wasn't for you. Because I know we just ended on, you have a husband and kids and family and that, but what was it about it? Was it kind of the flexibility you were looking for? Was it the autonomy? What was it that just wasn't sitting.

00:03:02 - Charista Baye
Quite right for you? Yeah, I think all of those things, like, everyone wants that work life balance. I wanted to be in control of my future and the money potential that I had in being in corporate America. I just saw that that was seemingly going to be a long journey to get to where I wanted to be. I really like making decisions, and so I just wanted to be that decision maker and just more in control and have that flexibility. So, yeah, I think it more so started, once I did start having kids, I was like, okay, I got to get out of here because I don't want to be working this many hours for somebody else. So that's kind of what spurred it.

00:03:39 - Vivian Kvam
You're not the first person to say that. Of when kids came into their lives, whether it's dad or mom, either way, where they go. I've just realized, like, my priorities shifted, in a sense.

00:03:52 - Charista Baye
Exactly.

00:03:52 - Vivian Kvam
And I feel like it does spur.

00:03:53 - Charista Baye
A lot of people to go.

00:03:54 - Vivian Kvam
I wonder about this business ownership thing. Yeah, maybe this is for me.

00:03:58 - Charista Baye
So what were your first?

00:04:00 - Vivian Kvam
You said you started a business in 2017, and you've had some successes and some not so much. But you started those from scratch, is that right?

00:04:07 - Charista Baye
Yes, that is correct. So I would say my very first business was before 2017. It was actually something that happened because of a project while I was getting my MBA at Creighton. Okay. And so it was just a project we were doing. I ended up thinking, oh, maybe I'll actually try this as a business. And it was like a total failure. So I don't know if you want me to talk about that.

00:04:29 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, let's talk about it. Let's talk about the details. We like the failure details, too.

00:04:32 - Charista Baye
They're great.

00:04:33 - Vivian Kvam
They're encouraging to others.

00:04:34 - Charista Baye
So it was called P three inventory. And what I did was I would come to your house and I would take an inventory of all of your belongings so that if you had a fire or a flood or something, a disaster, a tornado, you would know what you had in your house, and then that way you could use that data to get all of your money back with insurance and kind of go through that process a lot quicker and easier. Right. So that was the idea is I would come into your house, I would take videos, pictures, a written format, like in Excel. What I didn't realize was how time consuming it was. It took hours, like, literally a couple of days to do a house, and people weren't really wanting to pay for that service. Or if they were, it was very minimal. So when I actually looked at the cost per hour that I was making, it didn't make sense. So it was kind of fun. I did a few houses, and then I was like, okay, I'm done with that. This is super boring. I'm going to move on. So that was my very first technical business. I went and got an LLC and I did all the things, but it lasted, like, two months, and then I was like, okay, that was it.

00:05:40 - Vivian Kvam
That's interesting. What sparked the idea? How'd you land there in the first place?

00:05:45 - Charista Baye
I honestly don't even remember. It was some kind of a project for a class, and I don't even remember how I got to that. The ironic thing is that in 2017, we actually had a house fire and lost a lot of our stuff. And get this, I never did the inventory of my own house. No.

00:06:07 - Vivian Kvam
Adage. I always say, the plumber never does the plumbing in their own house. Yeah. Had you had people in your life who had experienced big losses like that before?

00:06:18 - Charista Baye
No.

00:06:18 - Vivian Kvam
That's a really hard thing to go through and experience to have.

00:06:22 - Charista Baye
Yeah, and we can talk about that. That's actually part of the journey with one of my other businesses that I started, the main one that I spent a lot of time on. So, yeah, I don't feel me to go in. Yeah, let's do it. Okay. So the next business that I started was in around 2017. That's when it was officially, like I was doing it. And I think before that, it had maybe started a couple of years. I was kind of, like, going through the process, but the next business I had was called second Pouch. And this started because I had a baby and I was looking for childcare, and it was very challenging to find a good fit. And I thought, why is this process so difficult? Why is there no better way to find a childcare? Because I wanted to look at in home and not just centers, I wanted to look at both. And so the centers are a little bit easier to get that data and that information, but the in home daycares, it's impossible to find this information. It's literally a big, long list that you find on the state website that just lists their location, their phone number, and their name. And you have to call every single one of them and be like, hey, do you have availability for an infant? And then ask them all these questions and then maybe go and have a tour and go through that whole process. So it's very time consuming. So I started basically a website called Second Pouch. It was kind of like zillow, but for in home daycares. So each in home daycare provider would put their listing. There was like a map feature. You could do all these filters if you had multiple kids, if you wanted certain hours, if you wanted them to be cloth diaper friendly or like, all these random details. So they'd put pictures and videos and they would write a description, all that stuff. So that was my real legit business that I started and I worked on for probably three years. Okay. And it was a big failure because I never made one penny off of that business.

00:08:12 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah. Why learned that, do you think? Because it sounds like a brilliant idea. I mean, I can hear the moms and dads on the other side who have struggled through this, listening right now. That sounds brilliant. Like, identified a problem, came up with a great solution, wasn't able to monetize.

00:08:30 - Charista Baye
Yes. So I thought that I did the appropriate research. So I reached out to several in home daycares. I was doing interviews. I was giving them like a $10 gift card if they would do an interview with me to understand how they were finding families. And then I was talking to families to understand how are they finding these in home daycares. I was on all these Facebook groups, so I did a lot of research, and these people said, yes, I would pay for this service if it existed. So I created it in more of a demo way. And I had over 100 providers that were on the website. People were using it, they were getting matched, all was well. But then when the day came that I said, okay, it's now time to start paying, nobody would pay.

00:09:09 - Vivian Kvam
Ghosted.

00:09:10 - Charista Baye
Yes. And basically what I found out was they are so strapped for cash in home daycare providers are not making a bunch of money. A lot of them are struggling, and they didn't see the value in paying $20 a month for something that they theoretically could still get for free because they were getting their families from Facebook groups primarily, or the next door app referrals, things like that. So at the end of the day, they wanted to just rely on those other ways instead of this other cool way that would have been better, but they didn't want to pay the $20 a month.

00:09:46 - Vivian Kvam
It's so interesting, I think, to just consider it's that monetization piece. So often that can stump a great idea. Right. And it makes me think of how there are all the different models. And did you try shifting with that particular business all, like the monetization model to, say, ads or sponsorships or just wait on the platform?

00:10:09 - Charista Baye
Yeah, I had a lot of ideas of how I could make money. The issue was I had already put over $50,000 into this website to get it built and created and have all of the functionality with all the filtering, the map, all of that was very expensive to have built out. And I even had it built out by not an Omaha based company, someone that was cheaper. It could have been over a hundred grand. Like, I got proposals from other companies, and it was ridiculous how much it was going to cost to get this website created. So I didn't have an app on the phone, it was just all desktop. You could use it on your phone, but it worked better on desktop. So, yes, I do think that theoretically I could have made it work, but at this point, I had already dropped 50 grand and I just didn't want to put more money into it. So that was one of the lessons I learned, is knowing when to part ways and maybe decide, you know what, this wasn't the best fit for me, and I'm going to try something else.

00:11:04 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, I can hear people. I can hear them. Can I hear them through a podcast sometimes I say, see? And I'm like, I can't see them, but I can hear people thinking, $50,000, that's a lot like, how do you seem so okay with that?

00:11:20 - Charista Baye
You seem very okay with it right now.

00:11:22 - Vivian Kvam
Were you okay with it at the time?

00:11:23 - Charista Baye
Yes. I'm like a big risk taker. So for me, I just think 50 grand. Oh, well, I don't know. It's just the way that I think I know for other people, they would think that's a lot of money. And it is a lot of money. And it was a lot of money to me at the time, too, because I wasn't making a whole lot. But I don't know. I think I'm just more of a risk taker, and so I'm willing to try something if I see the potential benefits and outcomes of what could be right.

00:11:52 - Vivian Kvam
Which, I mean, is definitely a piece of running your own business, no matter what it is you're doing and being willing. I love how you said, I think you were saying it basically as know when to part ways.

00:12:04 - Charista Baye
Yeah.

00:12:05 - Vivian Kvam
How did you know? Was it just the, I don't want to sink more assets into this. You also said maybe this wasn't quite the right fit for you. Were there other factors at play, too? Because you could go, I love this so much, I'm going to go find funders and things of that nature. Were there other indicators that it wasn't a right fit?

00:12:23 - Charista Baye
Yeah, I would say the other indicators were. I just wasn't as passionate about it. I didn't enjoy it as much anymore. It felt, like, stressful and not just because of the money. There were other aspects about that. I was just like, oh, this is such a headache. I don't want to do this anymore. And so I think I just lost that passion for it. It wasn't as big of a need for me personally because I had found a great in home daycare provider by that point. And so I don't know, I just lost the passion and so I was ready to just move on. Even if I would have maybe been able to monetize it, I think I would have wanted to just sell it or give it to someone else to do because I was kind of over it at that point, I guess.

00:13:00 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, that's good to recognize, right? Sometimes we can get too stuck in something and we just can't let it go. And it's just time.

00:13:07 - Charista Baye
Yeah, for sure.

00:13:08 - Vivian Kvam
Okay, so business number three.

00:13:11 - Charista Baye
Yes. So, business number three, this is where the fire comes into play. When I said 2017, my numbers are off because that business was back in 2015. 2017 was actually business number three. So sorry, clearly. All right.

00:13:27 - Vivian Kvam
Sometimes time flies and compresses and expands and we're like, what year are we in?

00:13:32 - Charista Baye
It does. We've done so much.

00:13:33 - Vivian Kvam
I mean, that's true for a lot of entrepreneurs. And Michaela and I, my business partner, we sit around and we're like, remember that time? That was last week. I thought it was a year ago.

00:13:41 - Charista Baye
I know time is like this weird. Like some things feel like they were yesterday and other things feel like they're super far away. Yeah.

00:13:47 - Vivian Kvam
And when you're starting business after business.

00:13:50 - Charista Baye
A year, who cares? Yeah, it doesn't matter. So business number three was actually 2017. So at this point, I had two kids. I was pregnant with my third. I had moved to a different job in probably about a year previous to that. So I had two of my kids at one job. I was there for, I think five or six years. And then I had just moved to a new job. I was working in the advertising space, and what I found was I just didn't love working for other people. This is where I was like, you know what? I'm sick of this. I got to do something for my own. The second pouch thing didn't work out. I wasn't able to make that my full time job, so I needed to find something else because I wanted to spend more time with my kids, although I would never be a stay at home mom, so just want to throw this out there. I didn't want to spend that much time, but I wanted to have more flexibility and more time to spend with my kids and have it be more quality and not just rushed getting home at 530, dinner, bedtime, and you hardly spent any time. So I had learned all of these skills at my jobs in advertising, and I felt like I was pretty good at what I was doing for these big companies. So I decided that I would use these skills and start my own business doing what I had learned. So it was doing Google Advertising for small businesses. That's what I was going to do as my next thing. So it was September of 2017, and I quit my job. I was in my first trimester, pregnant with my third child. I had one client when I quit my job, paying me $500 a month.

00:15:26 - Vivian Kvam
Risk taker. I'm hearing it.

00:15:27 - Charista Baye
Yes. My husband was like, you're crazy, but go for it. He's very supportive, thankfully. So I quit my job, and I thought, you know what? I'm just going to make this work. I'm going to do it full time. I'm going to hustle, I'm going to get my clients, and it's all going to be good. Then on October 30, we had our house fire. So literally one month after I quit my job, we lost our whole house. We lost everything. Wow. So the fire actually started outside underneath our deck. We don't even know how it started. They think maybe electrical got the kids out in time. Everything was okay, but the house was basically gone. They had to gut all of the inside, and so we were displaced for ten months and living in a rental house. And so if you've never been through a fire before, there's a lot of details and things that you have to do. You have to figure out all the stuff that you had in your house that was destroyed. You have to work with the insurance adjusters. You have to go pick out new stuff for the new house or the house that they'rebuilding it's very time consuming and I'm pregnant and emotional. So I was like, shoot, I was all excited about this business that I was going to start. So I did have a couple of months where I was just like, sad and thought like, why did I quit my job? But it was a blessing in disguise because I had all this time to deal with all of this stuff. It's like a full time job. For the first month, it was like figuring out all this stuff. So it ended up being good. I had a slower start to my business, so I didn't get as many clients as I thought I would in that first six months. But ultimately, like a year later, I was making six figures with the clients that I had found just doing one to one sales and management of their Google Ads accounts. So I was going to BNI groups, I was going to networking groups, I was on tons of Facebook groups. I was just everywhere that you could be to try to be in front of business owners that needed my services. So I was working for people that had a service based business and they needed to show up on Google. They didn't know how to do it. I was a very, quote, cheap rate for them compared to if they were to go to a big advertising agency. So I was able to get those clients and I would say that was my first successful business where I'm like.

00:17:34 - Vivian Kvam
Okay, I did it.

00:17:35 - Charista Baye
I like what I'm doing. The hours are good. I'm making good money now. So that's that whole story.

00:17:41 - Vivian Kvam
Wow, I can't believe how that all came full circle. And I see now what you're talking about. You didn't inventory your own house and then you had to go through it.

00:17:51 - Charista Baye
Yep.

00:17:52 - Vivian Kvam
That would be so frustrating. And yet I feel like you probably had at least a little bit of an idea how to think through that that many people wouldn't have so often. Okay, so when you think about the third business with doing the Google Advertising, what do you feel like from the previous businesses that you had? What skills or learnings did you find yourself that you were pulling in that were making that business even better?

00:18:20 - Charista Baye
Yeah, that's a good question. And it's one of the things that I always recommend to people when they're like, okay, I want to do this. How do I get started? So some tips that I have for people. If you're going to get started with something like I did, maybe don't quit your job right away unless you're a huge risk taker like me, but start with something where you don't have to put a ton of money into it, which is kind of opposite of what I do now as a franchise broker. But we can talk about that later. Start with something where you're going to learn something. Maybe you learned it in your job, or maybe you're going to go take a course for $1,000. You're going to learn a skill, and then you just slowly build up your client base. Yes, it's going to take time, and you can't quit and you can't give up, but at least it's something that you're not wasting all this money doing, and you can see the progress and what could be. And so that was one of the things I think made it more successful as I didn't have a bunch of money that I threw into it. And so every client I got was a success. It wasn't like I'm wasting my time or money doing something. Every networking group or something that I went to, I was building relationships, and then at the end, when I was towards the end of it, I didn't even have to look for clients. They were just coming to me because of the work that I had done in the beginning. So my advice is to hustle really hard in the beginning and not give up, even when it feels I'm not getting anywhere like you are. Getting where? Somewhere you just can't see it yet. And so to just keep going. So those were kind of reasons why I thought it was more of a success. Also, I just knew how to do what it was, and I was very quick and efficient at doing it, so it didn't take me a ton of time. Unrelated to the opposite of the inventory business that was so time consuming. I would never recommend something that time consuming where you can't make very much money. This is something I could do in a few hours and make really good money. Yeah.

00:20:07 - Vivian Kvam
And I was thinking that, too, as you were talking. The first one, it was more of an hours for dollars, and it took so many hours to not make enough dollars. Right. Your second one, it took a lot of dollars to get just kind of established and started, and you needed more dollars. You needed to have some pretty large cash infusions in order to be able to make that, have a longer Runway to get it where you could monetize it. Your third business, it does seem like the perfect mix, right? Where everything came together, you had the skills, you could do it relatively quickly and time efficiently, and you could charge a good rate for that for sure. So what led you into the whole franchise world then?

00:20:50 - Charista Baye
So, okay, there's kind of like a fourth or like a three b business. Of course there is. So I'll talk about that first. So I guess the only problem I had with that third business was it wasn't entirely scalable. Like at some point I kind of got to a point where I had, I don't know, 20 or 25 clients and I couldn't take on anymore, which meant my income was capped. So I was thinking, well, how do I become more scalable? I can build a team. I'm kind of a control freak. And so I didn't know that that was going to be the right way to go because I felt like I'd be micromanaging the person or that I wouldn't be able to actually hand off things, which I'm learning to do better these days. But still, it didn't feel like I didn't want to grow that way. So what I did was I actually made a course. And so I had a course. It was directly selling to moms that wanted a side hustle that wasn't direct sales or MLM, which I'm not going to talk bad about them. I actually did one somewhere along that process. Business number eight. Yeah, I don't even know when that was either. I don't even know what year, but I did one of those for a year or so. So I wanted to have another option for moms that wasn't that like the mom that thought, I don't want to go bug all my friends, I just want to do something part time, maybe that I can do on my free time or while my kids are sleeping or at night to make a little bit of money for my family because I'm a stay at home mom. So that was kind of who I was marketing the course to. So I taught them literally everything about the business. So in the very beginning of like, how to make a website for yourself, here's a template you can use. How to find all these Facebook groups where you can find clients, how to find your networking groups when you go and you meet with someone, how do you talk to them, how do you sell your services? And then getting into actually, how do you set up a good Google Ads campaign that's successful because you need to be able to get results for your clients. So I went through all the big part of the course was on the actual Google Ads. So then I thought theoretically I could actually sell this part of the course to business owners themselves and they could do their own ads on their own. That was kind of like going to be three c. I never got there, though, so three b is like the course selling to mom. So I think I did that for a little while and so that was my way to scale. The thing I did not like about that was I felt a ton of responsibility for everybody who purchased my course, that I wanted them to be successful no matter what. And so that was really hard on me emotionally because I would have people purchase the course, literally never watch anything, which then I felt bad. Like, I felt guilty that I took their money. Even though that was their choice, it still was too much for me. Or the people that took the course and tried really hard and weren't successful and then gave up too soon, in my opinion. That was hard. And then the people that took the course and were successful and found clients, and there's still some women who are doing this today. That was super rewarding for me. I loved that part of it. That was the best feeling ever for have. And some of them will still message me like years later and send me a message. Thank you so much for what you did for me. This has been a huge impact into my life and my family's finances. And I'm so glad that I took this course and took the chance and all those things. That was the cool thing about it, but I just hated the responsibility part of it. That was just too much for me. So that was kind of when the whole transition to becoming a franchise broker happened.

00:24:19 - Vivian Kvam
Okay, so do you still have the.

00:24:22 - Charista Baye
Course live or do you? I didn't want to pay for the hosting of it. Going back to the guilty feeling, I don't want people to pay for it because I was supporting them a ton. Like I basically said, unlimited support, which I learned that was probably not the best thing to sell with my course. I should have had some kind of tiered option or whatever. So I was supporting these women a lot, which I loved. I loved helping them, but it just got to be a little bit too much for me.

00:24:49 - Vivian Kvam
It is interesting how businesses do start to hit a ceiling and then you have to decide about the scaling piece, right? And I think that's important to point out, like, you get to decide about the scaling piece because you can just say, this is good, I'm not going to scale and I'm just going to sustain, I think for a lot of us. I mean, you had mentioned at the very beginning of your story, part of what you didn't like about being in corporate world was you felt like you were hitting a ceiling essentially with income ability. And then just so everyone out there knows you can hit a ceiling in the entrepreneur world, too, unless you figure out that scale piece, right?

00:25:30 - Charista Baye
Yeah. And everyone's different because some people, that ceiling that I hit, that might be perfect for them, and that's ideal situation for me. I don't know what it is about me, but I just always want more. And so that just wasn't good. I didn't want a ceiling.

00:25:44 - Vivian Kvam
It's one of the things I love about entrepreneurship, and I don't like the idea that when I'm working for someone else because I have done that, I can see the ceiling.

00:25:57 - Charista Baye
Right.

00:25:57 - Vivian Kvam
When it's me and my business or co owned business with my partner, we don't see a ceiling. There's no ceiling in sight. And it's interesting. I've talked with people before myself, and I've said this myself. I would rather actually make less right now and know that there's an unlimited ceiling than make more right now and know that there's a ceiling. And some people are like, you are crazy. Wait, you don't want to make more money right now? And I'm like, well, I do. That's always a great thing, but I would rather make less, knowing that I could make more in the future.

00:26:31 - Charista Baye
Yes. We all have different priorities, and that's what I love about helping people find a franchise, is I get to help go through that process with a person and really figure out what is the most important thing for you. What are those things? What are your non negotiables? What are your dreams? What are your goals? Because every single person is different. Yeah.

00:26:49 - Vivian Kvam
So let's talk about that. How did you get started being a matchmaker for franchises and people who wanted to be owners of a business? How did that transition happen then? Let's talk about franchising a little bit.

00:27:00 - Charista Baye
Yeah. So it happened because of a friend of mine, Amanda Kohler, and her husband, Kevin. So shout out to them. So Kevin is actually my business partner with my thoughtful franchise brokers company. So when I did the course, I actually did it with my friend Amanda. So we did that course together. That all happened because I came to her and I was like, hey, I want to do this course. I feel like you have the skills to help me. You want to partner together with me and do this together? And she was like, sure, sounds great. So we did that course together. It wasn't just me doing that. And so kind of towards the end, when I was, don't. I don't think this is a good fit anymore. I'm kind of sick of managing Google Ads campaigns. I don't really want to scale it that way. I loved the sales part of getting the client, and then once I had to do the work, I was like, I don't really want to do this. So then she was like, well, why don't you become a franchise broker with Kevin? Because I want Kevin to do this, and I think you should do this. And you guys will work really well together because this is her husband and me, who she knows really well, really good friends. We met back in when we were getting our masters. What would it be 13 years ago? So she knew us really well, and she knew that we would work well together.

00:28:03 - Vivian Kvam
Love it.

00:28:03 - Charista Baye
So this was actually all because of Amanda that I became a franchise broker.

00:28:06 - Vivian Kvam
Because she was matchmaking business partners.

00:28:09 - Charista Baye
Yes.

00:28:09 - Vivian Kvam
So you could match make. Yeah, I love it.

00:28:11 - Charista Baye
Exactly. So I was like, well, what the heck is a franchise broker? I've never heard of that. Kevin was working for a franchiseor here in Omaha, and so that's how he came to find out what a franchise broker was. And then he was talking to a man about it, and then that's when she made the connection. So I started researching with them altogether. We're kind of, like, looking into this. Should we all do this together? And ultimately, I was like, yeah, let's go for it. This sounds really fun. It sounds perfect for me. Ideal fit. Because it's helping people. I love helping people. Like, with everything I've done, there's been some aspect of helping people. And so I wanted it to be something that I'm making a big impact on someone's life. And then also I love sales, which is hilarious. If I think about me as a little girl, I was just like a shy little kid that just never wanted to talk very much. Even in high school and college, I was not this outgoing person. I'm still not outgoing, but I've learned to love sales, and so I liked that aspect of it. And I liked that I didn't have the responsibility of that person's success. I had the responsibility of finding them a good fit. But then when they got to take over, they and their franchiseor have that responsibility. So I could feel comfortable knowing, okay, I put them in a good franchise. Now they get to take over. So everything aligned. It seemed like the perfect fit. And so, yeah, we all went for it.

00:29:30 - Vivian Kvam
I love it. It's so cool. Now you've brought this up. You made a course to help women, specifically moms, stay at home moms, be able to learn a new skill to start a business. And am I understanding you took a course to learn how to do this and that's how you started the business.

00:29:48 - Charista Baye
So it's not a course, but we are with the franchise Broker association and that is who we did our training with. So I went in person and had a five day training and there was like three weeks of online training. It is a lot of training and then there's continual training. So they are a broker network and there's, I don't know, probably a couple hundred brokers that are within the FBA. We're also with another broker network called IFPG. Again, they kind of do the same thing, but it just gives us access to more franchises and more inventory. So yes, I learned a new skill with this other business. Not necessarily a course, but, yeah, very similar. Yeah.

00:30:24 - Vivian Kvam
And I love that because I think that's important for people to pick up on and I hope they're hearing that right now. You don't always have to already possess the skill to go into business. You can go learn a new skill or how a business is run and then get started with it. Yeah, that's really cool because I think so often people think, well, my gosh, I have to be an expert already. If I want to start a bakery, I've got to already be an expert baker. If I want to start a counseling office, I need to already be and have been a counselor and that I need to have a PhD. You know what I mean? I think there's a lot of that that goes into it.

00:31:02 - Charista Baye
Yeah. And that's the beauty of franchising, actually, because a lot of these franchiseors, they don't want experts in whatever it is that their franchise does. They just want passionate people who are going to work hard, who have a positive mindset and want to grow something, that's what they want. They want a hard worker. They don't want someone that already knows how to do this skill. They want to be able to teach them.

00:31:24 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, that's neat.

00:31:25 - Charista Baye
Okay.

00:31:25 - Vivian Kvam
So that leads really well into what are some of the pros or. Yeah, what are some of the pros and benefits of starting a business as a franchise or being, taking on a franchise versus starting from scratch?

00:31:42 - Charista Baye
Yeah. So since I have started businesses from scratch, I kind of know what that is. I haven't actually ever been a franchisee, so I can't necessarily speak from personal experience from that, but I can talk about everything that I have learned and seen over the last few years being a franchise broker. So when you start a business from scratch, especially if it's yourself and only you, you are alone. Like you're very lonely. You have to figure everything out. So how to go file your business, how to create a website, how to do everything, like how do you even pick your brand name? Everything takes so much time and you don't have anybody to ask for help because it's just you unless you go find a mentor or something. So that's one of the reasons I love franchising, is because all of that initial stuff is just done for you. It's kind of like a business in a box. Like here is the roadmap. You just follow, implement what it is that we're telling you to do and you can be successful. So I love that, that part of it, like the starting up and even the support and ongoing training and things like that, it's all there for you. Another part I like about franchising is you have all of these other people who are doing the same exact thing that you're doing in different markets. So you can go call on these other people and rely on other people and corporate to help you. When you are having struggles or having hard times or not understanding something, there's somebody to go help and ask and support you. Whereas if you start something on your own, there is no other support. So that's another benefit. Another thing that I like is the success rate. So when you're starting a business from scratch, it's harder to know, am I going to be successful? It's kind of all on you. With franchising, we can at least look at some data. We can look at facts and see, okay, this franchise has 200 owners. The average owner is bringing in over $1.5 million in sales. If you're average, that's what you can do. If you're below average, let's look at those. Let's look at worst case scenario. And then you can kind of see the path to success versus starting something on your own. Who knows? It's kind of a toss up. You might be wildly successful and it might be great, but you might have a failure and lose a bunch of money.

00:33:55 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, I see how it could really mitigate some risk is what I'm hearing there of, especially if you like to have a bit of data, which I love having some data, because I do think that it's important to think about. And I also think it's important to think about at the stage of your life, how much risk are you willing to take right now? And that can be very wildly different. Maybe you are out of college, you're like, I could take all the risk of the world. I'm starting from scratch, but you could also be out of college, and I have a lot of debts that I'm carrying and I don't want to start from scratch. I want to start as a franchisee. And both are worth considering for sure.

00:34:33 - Charista Baye
Yeah, I would totally agree.

00:34:34 - Vivian Kvam
The whole bit about the network is huge. I mean, we talk about it a lot on this podcast because a lot of business owners I've talked to have started from scratch. I started from scratch with everything. And we talk a lot about how to build that network because you have to build it yourself, quite literally. You have to build your own bench of experts, mentors, people you can go to. I love that piece that you're talking about is that bench is, if not fully, at least partially built in, depending on exactly what structure there is there for them.

00:35:06 - Charista Baye
Yeah, that's huge.

00:35:09 - Vivian Kvam
Do people who are franchisees, do they ever go into it together with somebody or does it tend to be somebody who's just doing it on their own?

00:35:17 - Charista Baye
There are people, yes, that definitely have a business partner. A lot of them are spouses. Like they want to go in together with their spouse. Sometimes one spouse will keep their job while the other one quits and does it full time with the intention of maybe the other one quitting and doing it full time in the future. But yeah, we definitely have, we've had some brothers or father son or just even business partner, like good friends that want to go into business together. So, yeah, it's kind of all over the place.

00:35:42 - Vivian Kvam
That's awesome. I like that. What do you feel like are some of the common myths with franchises? And I know we talked a little bit before. I think just to name one I can think of right off top of my head, like all franchises are restaurants.

00:35:55 - Charista Baye
Yes.

00:35:56 - Vivian Kvam
Because we see and we say, oh, it's a franchise restaurant or that's a franchise. And so I think that's top of mind. So when we're talking about franchises, I think a big myth that I think of is, well, it's a McDonald's, right? Or I'm going to take over scooters or something like that.

00:36:12 - Charista Baye
Yeah, I would say that's definitely the biggest myth and the piece that we have to educate people about. So a lot of people don't realize what the franchise options are out there. And they do think it's all the McDonald's, subway scooters, or even gyms or something, daycare, something like that. They think brick and mortar. But a lot of the franchises that the people that we work with end up going with are actually, they don't have any brick and mortar element at all. So it's a bunch of service based businesses. So really anything that when you think if you're a homeowner and you need to have someone come into your house and do something, there's a franchise for it. So anything from cleaning, kitchen remodel, irrigation, window washing, insulation, like anything that you can think of with your house, there's a franchise that does that. And those typically have better margins, and they are cheaper to get into than all of these large restaurants or gyms where you might spend a million dollars and make 5%, whereas you can get into a service based one where you spend 250,000 and maybe you're making 25%. So for me to be, like, a logical thinker and looking at numbers, I'm always like, who in their right mind would want to buy a food franchise? But like I said earlier, everyone is different. Someone might have a huge passion or have experience in the restaurant industry, and they just love it, and that's what they want to do. Maybe they've been a GM for a different franchise and they want to own their own. And so there are people and situations where that does make sense, but for the vast majority of people, we're going to shy away from the food franchises.

00:37:56 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah. And I'm imagining that's purely for build out infrastructure, equipment. I mean, a restaurant, as, for example, brick and mortar, you have a build out, you have a location, a lease property, and then you have everything that goes inside of it. Right. So all of the equipment, and, I mean, think a coffee shop, like an espresso machine, is not cheap, and that's just one machine. And, gosh, you look at the cost of just chairs. Have you looked at the cost of chairs lately?

00:38:22 - Charista Baye
I have not.

00:38:22 - Vivian Kvam
I clearly have looked at the cost of chairs lately. It's expensive for one chair. And then you're like, okay, I need 20 chairs. And you start taking that and you put that into a spreadsheet, and the next thing you know, there's a lot of overhead costs there. So I'm imagining that's why those types of brick and mortars have a higher level of entry to cost.

00:38:42 - Charista Baye
Yes.

00:38:42 - Vivian Kvam
Is that true?

00:38:43 - Charista Baye
Are there other factors that. No, you're spot on. Yeah. And then especially if you do find a location that is there, you're not building from scratch. You still have to do a lot of renovation inside of it most of the time. So it's not like completely set up in the right format. So now you're having to gut the place or kind of start over on the inside. So, yes, everything you said, it's all of the overhead expenses that you don't have with a business that maybe you've got two trucks in, techs that are going out there and driving around and doing some sort of service, and your overhead is just so much less.

00:39:13 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, I like that you're bringing up that there are so many different industries that can be represented in that. Basically, in my mind, I would imagine if there's a business out there you like, there's probably a franchise for it.

00:39:26 - Charista Baye
Most of the time. Yes. Yeah.

00:39:27 - Vivian Kvam
Because basically it's just another business has come up with a model that they can replicate and then they're willing to essentially license that to you to replicate and they're like, and here's how you do it. So it is very much like almost like a course in a sense, but with all the pieces that go with it.

00:39:45 - Charista Baye
Exactly. And that's kind of one of the other myths is some people say to us, well, I really like this franchise because they're always busy and I like being a customer and that's great. But then when we start to actually look at all of the ins and outs of that business, what people find is that what they thought they wanted isn't actually what they want. So when we work with someone, we ask a lot of questions to understand what it is that they truly want out of this business. Do they want to work full time? Are they going to be passive? Are they going to keep their job? Do they want to work with blue collar employees or white collar employees? Do they want to do sales? Do they want to sit behind their desk? Do they want to be on the go? There's so many questions. Do you want recurring model or do you want a project based model? And when we start to get into all of these things, then sometimes the person realizes, oh, I don't actually want to be working like 08:00 a.m. To 10:00 p.m. Hours because that's what I have to do if I went to that business that I love being a customer of. So that's one of the other myths is that I don't even know what I would call it. But basically what you think you want isn't necessarily what you want.

00:40:55 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, and I think that's great. And I know from looking at your website there are some tools and processes and assessments and there's step by step and you really help guide people through good conversations, asking good questions, doing a lot of discovery with them.

00:41:10 - Charista Baye
Yeah, we have an assessment called the Zoracle business assessment that we love to use. We use it with pretty much anyone that we work with, and it helps us to understand kind of how you're wired. And sometimes people don't want to necessarily say these things. It doesn't come out in natural conversation, but it can tell us things like, are you motivated by money or are you motivated by helping people? Most people won't want to just say, yeah, I'm really motivated by money. Some people do, but otherwise other things that it helps to see is kind of like what you're naturally good at and the things that you're going to excel in, what your work style is. So if you're someone who's really analytical, or if you're someone who wants to be out there promoting the business, it can also tell us what type of a franchise as far as where they're at. So are you going to be a better fit in a brand new franchise who's literally just starting and might have zero franchisees or have ten? Or should you be in a business, a franchise that has 500 or more franchises? It also tells us your risk tolerance. So it's actually the last page that you, as a user, you don't get, but we're totally fine to share it with you. It's not like we're trying to hide it, it's just how the program works. It doesn't send you the last page, but it tells us the person's risk tolerance. So if you're extra large comfort zone, that means it's going to be really hard for you to make a decision because you need to feel really comfortable and you just don't want to take a big risk. So a person like that, we would show completely different franchises than a person that has a small comfort zone who's really ready to take a risk and might be like great at sales or something. Those are completely two different people. And so that's why we use this assessment to understand what is going to be the best fit for that person.

00:42:51 - Vivian Kvam
As you're talking, I'm like, okay, so one, have you taken the assessment? Is that how you know you're a big risk taker?

00:42:56 - Charista Baye
Yes, I have a small comfort zone.

00:42:58 - Vivian Kvam
Small comfort, smallest. The smallest, smallest of smalls.

00:43:00 - Charista Baye
It's small, medium, large and extra large are the four options. Okay.

00:43:04 - Vivian Kvam
It just was making me think.

00:43:05 - Charista Baye
I was like, this would just be.

00:43:06 - Vivian Kvam
A great assessment for anyone who's thinking I don't want to work for somebody to be able to take it, whether they're going to go into become a franchisee or just start a business because it is interesting, just as you were saying about people going, I think I want to do that one because I've had a great experience. That is just true of business owners in general. I think I'm going to start this business because I've had a great experience or I like this topic and then sometimes find themselves in a business from scratch or otherwise going, what did I do? I don't like this at all.

00:43:44 - Charista Baye
Yeah, and that's why we exist as franchise brokers, because we don't want people to make a bad choice. And so it's our job to help them see what it is that they want. We're not necessarily telling you like, yes, we see the assessment and we talk through the assessment, but we don't only go off of what that assessment says, we also go off of what you tell us. And so we're helping you understand and asking questions to help you figure out and get that clarity on what type of a business would be a good fit for me. And sometimes we take people through our process and they might realize, you know what, I don't think a franchise is a good fit for me. And we kind of come to that conclusion together and then they're able to go do something else. Maybe they just should work for somebody else and they don't have the risk tolerance and the comfort or the finances to do something like that. And so that might be the best fit for them to just stay in the corporate world and they might be happy with that. But yeah, it's a really personalized process. So we don't have a list of like ten franchises that we show everybody. It's literally like 750 plus that we could go through to present to someone and kind of go through the options.

00:44:50 - Vivian Kvam
Interesting. Oh, now I'm super fascinated. Now I just want to go through the process.

00:44:54 - Charista Baye
Go through the process. You're welcome to do it.

00:44:56 - Vivian Kvam
So many great learnings that you would just have about yourself. And of course, I love all the assessments and I'm very analytical and I.

00:45:02 - Charista Baye
Don'T know if you can add a link, but you could put a link to that Azorgo assessment in this show notes or whatever if people want to take it. Yes, we won't necessarily just bombard you, but we may call you and ask you if you want to go through.

00:45:13 - Vivian Kvam
Hey, you're a great fit for this. Yeah, that would be super fun. We'll add the link for sure.

00:45:17 - Charista Baye
Absolutely.

00:45:19 - Vivian Kvam
If you were to summarize from your learnings and your process, for people who are listening now and thinking, okay, should I even considering this, are there like maybe a top three or a few things where you go, look, this is usually a good fit for a franchisee to become a franchisee. This usually is not.

00:45:38 - Charista Baye
Yeah, one of those things is not something that's subjective at all. It's your finances. So do you have the capacity to do this or not? So most people that we work with, or most of the franchiseors that we work with, I should say, have a minimum liquid requirement and net worth requirement. So you kind of have to meet those minimums in order to even consider some of these franchises. So I would say at minimum, you need 50,000 in liquid cash and 100,000 in net worth. Some of the franchises we work with, especially the ones with, like, brick and mortar elements, they might need your net worth to be like 250,000, 500,000. So it may not be a good fit for you. Just a person, just from a financial perspective. So first you got to have the liquid and the net worth. Then if you do have it, you have to decide, am I willing to risk this? So that would be another thing is just like financially, are you in a place that you can take on this risk? And that would be if they're going to start a business from scratch, too. Honestly, just going into business for yourself, whether it's from scratch, starting a new franchise, buying a business, that's another thing that they could look into, too. So I would say financials. Another one would be like a positive mindset. You know, the people that are just always like, the world's out to get me, I'm the victim. Those people are not good business owners. They should not start a franchise because they're not going to be successful. They're going to blame the franchise or all the time when anything goes wrong. And so you really need to have a positive mindset and to be in the right emotional headspace to become a business owner, because, as you know, it's a lot of ups and downs. Even when you're having a successful business, you're still going to have hard days. And so you need to be able to just be ready for that. Yes.

00:47:26 - Vivian Kvam
Co sign, raise my hand, stamp of approval, 100% snaps, everything. Yeah, it is huge. In fact, one of the episodes just prior to this, I was talking about stress and burnout, because that happens. And it's not that you have to be a superhero, and never show any weakness. But there is certainly a level of, you do need to be able to be self aware, have good health, good mental health, physical health, spiritual health. Like, all of the things need to come together because it has a huge impact on your clients, on your team, on your employees, on your family. And you've added this layer of stress, I think about when you're in corporate world and that boss who is a tyrant, let's say it usually is because they're not.

00:48:18 - Charista Baye
Well, right.

00:48:19 - Vivian Kvam
In some way, and they're negative or all those things. Don't be that guy.

00:48:23 - Charista Baye
Yeah. Actually, I read a book two years ago about, and I can't remember the name of it. I should find out what it is. But it's about the successful franchisees. And they did this big study, like, someone did a big analysis on the worst performing franchisees, the best performing, the average, to try to figure out what is this commonality, what is making these franchisees so successful? And what they came down to was that it was mindset, and that was like their number one answer of having a positive mindset. Yeah.

00:48:52 - Vivian Kvam
Did you guys hear that? It was mindset?

00:48:54 - Charista Baye
Yeah.

00:48:54 - Vivian Kvam
Even though we talked about money, you do need to have that. But with the right mindset, you can get the money. And I was thinking about that when you were saying it might not be our right fit. And I'm sure this is what you're saying as well, it might not be the right fit right now.

00:49:08 - Charista Baye
Yeah.

00:49:08 - Vivian Kvam
But if you can be planning for it, if you think that's a path you want to take, knowing those numbers shouldn't be a scary thing at all, then it's actually a very empowering thing to know. And look at your bank account and go, well, if you're like me, when I started my business, I can't afford 799 for Netflix right now, but it gives you a target so that you know where you need to get. That's a true story. We went to red box instead. I don't know if that's still a thing.

00:49:31 - Charista Baye
I don't know if it is either. Red box is actually the name of a franchise. That's right. Me.

00:49:35 - Vivian Kvam
But there you go.

00:49:36 - Charista Baye
Yeah.

00:49:36 - Vivian Kvam
Or you could just go rent the video out of the machine.

00:49:38 - Charista Baye
No, it's like a different. It's like when you like portable units when you're moving. Oh, I'm pretty sure it's called red box now. I want to go check.

00:49:45 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, go look at your 700, see if it's on there. I think they were like a dollar 99 or something.

00:49:50 - Charista Baye
Yeah, I know what you're talking about, though. We definitely did that. Yeah.

00:49:53 - Vivian Kvam
Because we couldn't afford Netflix.

00:49:54 - Charista Baye
No.

00:49:54 - Vivian Kvam
Now Netflix is like 14.

00:49:56 - Charista Baye
Yeah, I think it is like 15. Yeah.

00:49:58 - Vivian Kvam
I'm glad to say we can't afford it now. We did just cancel it, though, because it's been the summertime and we don't really watch tv.

00:50:06 - Charista Baye
That's good.

00:50:07 - Vivian Kvam
So we're like, let's save our $15, put it into our bank account.

00:50:10 - Charista Baye
Nice. I digress.

00:50:13 - Vivian Kvam
Okay, back on topic here. What do you think? As you've looked over your journey have been some of your. I'm just going to call them, like, biggest learnings.

00:50:25 - Charista Baye
I would say one would be to just start with something. Don't think to yourself, I'll do that later. Or that's a goal for the future. If you really want to be a business owner, you got to just start somewhere. Whether that's something really small or whether that's taking steps to something big, don't just sit back and think, this is going to come to me. It's not. You have to take action. So that would definitely be something I would say, something I've learned. Another one would be to take the risk. Take chances. Coming from a big risk. Yeah, but big risk taker.

00:51:01 - Vivian Kvam
I love it.

00:51:02 - Charista Baye
Or just knowing who you are and knowing what is going to be a.

00:51:06 - Vivian Kvam
Good fit for you.

00:51:07 - Charista Baye
So maybe the answer is not business ownership. Maybe you realize I've wanted this, but when I really look at myself and consider all of these things, it might be too stressful for me or that might not be the best fit for me, but just kind of knowing who you are and what you want. The other thing I would say is make sure you do your research and do your due diligence. So whether that's starting a business from scratch, buying a business, starting a franchise, there's so much research and due diligence that you can do. So don't jump into something quickly, like I did say earlier, start with something, but be smart. Like actually research it. Call people, talk to people. Look at all the data that you can find to make sure that the choice that you're making is a smart choice and not something that you're rushing into.

00:51:55 - Vivian Kvam
Sure. Yeah. I mean, gosh, how many times have I found myself in something and I'm like, how did I get here? And it's in those moments that I realize I didn't ask very many questions. And that's not necessarily always wrong because I had an experience. But then, like you said, know when to get out and all those things and maybe learn from it and ask more questions next time?

00:52:17 - Charista Baye
Yes.

00:52:17 - Vivian Kvam
You're not rushing in there all over again.

00:52:19 - Charista Baye
Yeah.

00:52:20 - Vivian Kvam
And that's good things that are okay to rush into.

00:52:22 - Charista Baye
I think that's a good point, is take your quote failures as learning opportunities and knowing what to do next time. So someone might come to us and want something and we might have to tell them, well, you can't have that right now. Maybe that's something that you can do in the future, but let's start somewhere else and maybe you can get there. So just kind of knowing what your options are and learning from previous experiences that you've had, whether they're good or bad.

00:52:51 - Vivian Kvam
Do you have any fun stories that you're able to share of just as you've helped people navigate through this where maybe they started in one place, ended up somewhere else or you have been able to follow up with them through their journey?

00:53:02 - Charista Baye
Yeah. So we definitely keep in touch with everyone that we work with because we are not successful unless they're successful, in my opinion. I don't want to put somebody in a franchise that I call them a year later and they're like, this sucks, I'miserable, I've lost a bunch of money. Screw you, I hate you. I don't want that to happen. So, yeah, we definitely keep in touch. There's so many people. We've probably placed about 50 people in franchises over the last few years and we work across the whole country, I should mention that. So it's not just omaha or council Bluffs area. We work with anyone and everyone from any state and actually overseas too. So some people, I love the situations where they come to us and they think they know what they want and then what they ultimately buy is something totally different. That's super fun to me. So one example would be a couple here in Omaha. They came to us wanting maybe like a cookie franchise or like a gem. They were passionate about that.

00:54:03 - Vivian Kvam
Okay, hold up. Cookies or a gem. A little ironic. It is, but continue.

00:54:10 - Charista Baye
Yes, but this is what I love.

00:54:12 - Vivian Kvam
Some people just love owning a business.

00:54:15 - Charista Baye
Yes.

00:54:16 - Vivian Kvam
It almost doesn't matter exactly what it is.

00:54:18 - Charista Baye
Yeah, because it's a fun experience. They were having a good experience as a customer or they saw this place is always busy. It's got to be a good business because that's the myth that a lot of people think. And then sometimes you go into those financials and they actually are terrible. Every once in a while they actually are good. So I don't want to throw them all under the bus. So that's how they came to us. Like they're wanting a brick and mortar, something like along those lines. And they were actually considering specific franchises. And so we started to dive into the financials and they kind of realized. So first of all, the financials don't look that great. And the numbers to even get in the investment to get into those franchises was higher than they really knew because they just hadn't gone through the process yet. And they realized we don't really want to risk that much money. So we ultimately found them a franchise that was less than $100,000 to get in. It's called Blue Moon Estate sales, and they've been in business for probably over two years now, doing extremely well. And so they run estate sales for people. So managing, setting up and selling stuff that people are looking to get rid of. 80% of the time, the person's just downsizing. 20% of the time, there has been a death in the family. So that's what their business does. They come into the house, they get it all ready, they do the estate sale on the weekend, and they're helping people. So that is where they ended. And they came thinking that they wanted maybe like a food or a gym franchise.

00:55:38 - Vivian Kvam
I love it. Yeah, how interesting. Also how eclectic. And then they end up in a very eclectic industry. Yes, that does sound fun. And I can totally see how. I mean, this is, I do it all the time. Drive down the street. That looks like it'd be a fun business. That looks like it'd be a fun business. I should do this as a business. I've started a couple of websites for businesses that don't exist just because I thought I was going to start it. So I just love this process that you talk about going through with people, helping them discover, uncover what it is that they're looking for with some data as well, which is huge. So they can really make an informed decision while still being a risk taker. So that's one myth I want to explore a little bit with you briefly. Here is, I think some entrepreneurial minded people think, well, I could never do a franchise because the whole reason I'm doing this is to not be told what to do.

00:56:36 - Charista Baye
Yes.

00:56:37 - Vivian Kvam
And a franchise is just going to tell me what to do. So basically, I'm working for a corporate setting all over again.

00:56:44 - Charista Baye
How does that work? Yeah. So that can be true for some franchises. So I'm not going to say that. No, that's completely false. It really just depends on what franchise model that you're getting into. So the more established franchises that have 1000 plus locations, those ones are going to be a very controlled environment where you do need to be open this to this, you need to do it exactly this way. If you don't do it this way, you're going to get in trouble. Those are the types of franchises that you typically think of when you think of franchises that we don't really like or represent, to be honest. So that is kind of the case in some of those. There's some franchises though, that they're brand new, they're just getting their feet wet into the franchise world and they want owners to come in and collaborate with them and help them through the process. That might be too much risk though, for some people. So you might need to be kind of in the middle where, okay, that franchiseor has 100 units, they know what they're doing, they've been around for ten years, but they still give you that flexibility because ultimately it's your business. Yes, you're with that brand name. There are some guidelines that you have to follow, but at the end of the day, you're responsible for hiring people for doing the work that it is for managing your business. So while there is some element of you can't do this, you can do this type of thing, you're still the one in control. I don't know of that many franchiseors who are calling up their franchisees and being like, hey, I saw you weren't open at 07:00 a.m. Yesterday or something like that. It's not that micromanaging for most of the ones that we would represent. And if someone tells me, I really don't want that, I want to find something where I can actually help the franchise or start something that's kind of a different model than some of the other ones. So that's like the whole part of why this is so important, to go with a franchise broker and have us help through the process because we know all those ins and outs of all these franchises. Yes, you can do this on your own and you can find that information, but it's going to take you a really long time.

00:58:42 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah. And I love that piece of it. Of there's a relationship that's built and you are invested in their success, which is huge, so important in helping them find that right match. Because like you said, some people might think, oh, I would have no problem with being told that the napkins have to go over here at a 34 degree angle. I don't think it's probably that extreme, but I think that's what people think.

00:59:10 - Charista Baye
Right.

00:59:11 - Vivian Kvam
But some people go, I think I'd be great with that. I would imagine they go through conversations, assessments, things with you and you go, you know, that might really irk you. Let's look at some of these franchises where they give you some oversight, but you're going to have a little wiggle room or for someone else where you're like, you need to be in on the ground floor here because you want to bring your expertise and these people want that.

00:59:34 - Charista Baye
Exactly. Yeah.

00:59:35 - Vivian Kvam
So again, I think we're just kind of so here around to being able to help people understand themselves is huge. And I think that's such an asset when people are thinking about starting a business or having a second business or a third business. Having a franchise is definitely being a franchisee is definitely an option.

00:59:54 - Charista Baye
Yeah, for sure. One you should explore with me.

00:59:56 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, I love that. So if people want to explore that with you. I know we said we'd put a link to an assessment and that can get them kind of connected. Is that the best way to connect or what's the best way for people to reach out?

01:00:07 - Charista Baye
I mean, any way that you want to reach out to me, if you want to call me, if you want to text me, if you want to email me, if you want to fill out our contact form on our website, any and all ways I will respond to you're hustling. I like it. That's good.

01:00:18 - Vivian Kvam
That's really good. Well, and I love too that you have that experience of having had your own businesses and you can bring such a well rounded look to all of that.

01:00:28 - Charista Baye
Yeah.

01:00:29 - Vivian Kvam
Awesome. I always like to ask a couple rapid fire questions at the end.

01:00:33 - Charista Baye
Okay, are you ready for those? Maybe?

01:00:35 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, we'll find out.

01:00:37 - Charista Baye
That's right.

01:00:37 - Vivian Kvam
Okay, so before we do that, just to summarize, I'm going to put some links down in the notes here for people who want to reach out to you. They can have a conversation. It sounds like they're not necessarily signed up and all the things.

01:00:51 - Charista Baye
No, and I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but our services are free. So if you come to me and you want me to help you through the process, you don't pay me anything and it doesn't change the price that. Wait, hold up.

01:00:59 - Vivian Kvam
How does this monetization work for you then, girl?

01:01:02 - Charista Baye
So it's similar to the real estate industry when you use a realtor and they get paid a commission by the seller. So it's the same thing. So we get paid a commission by the franchiseor if we were to place you into a franchise. And it just comes from their marketing budget. They like working with brokers because that means we are bringing them a qualified person who is interested in their brand, who we've already vetted and make sure qualifies and is excited about that brand. So they like working with us as brokers because we're bringing them quality. So they are happy to pay us. It's just a one time referral fee. So that's how we get paid. And we just ask that people are honest with us and communicate with us. So at all during the process. If you're like, okay, this is fun for the first couple of meetings, but I don't want to go any further, that's totally fine. You just let us know and we'll let you know. You just contact us when you're ready. And so it's not like a no hard sales pressure over here. We're just helping people get clarity and help them through the process.

01:01:55 - Vivian Kvam
That's awesome. And I'm glad you pointed that out because I could also see some people being like, well, all this sounds great, but I actually want to do what you do.

01:02:02 - Charista Baye
Yeah, you can do that too. Yeah.

01:02:04 - Vivian Kvam
There's so many options in this. This episode covers so many options. So many options. I love it. Okay, let's dive into some questions here.

01:02:10 - Charista Baye
Okay, you ready?

01:02:11 - Vivian Kvam
What do you think is one of the biggest misconceptions of just owning a business?

01:02:19 - Charista Baye
Let me think. Maybe that you have to work 60 hours a week if you're a business owner, that you're just going to be working all the time. Yeah.

01:02:33 - Vivian Kvam
The hustle.

01:02:34 - Charista Baye
Yeah. Okay.

01:02:36 - Vivian Kvam
What is an important piece of advice you've been given and actually applied to your life?

01:02:43 - Charista Baye
Man, you should have sent me these ahead of time. I'm not good on the spot.

01:02:48 - Vivian Kvam
It's usually the actually applied that will stunt people too. Like, well, I've been given all kinds of advice. I don't always use it.

01:02:54 - Charista Baye
Yeah. Does it have to be about business ownership? No. Okay.

01:03:00 - Vivian Kvam
We're just people. We're humans here. It's all good.

01:03:02 - Charista Baye
Never go to bed angry. So I definitely apply that if there's someone that has, I'm having an issue with most of the time, just my husband, but actually talking about it and communicating and being open and honest, I'm all about being transparent. I'm that way personally and professionally. If you know me, I'm like an open book. I can't hide my emotions. It's there. So I would say just not holding grudges and just communicating with people.

01:03:31 - Vivian Kvam
I love it. That is one I have heard as well and tried to apply as well because it's a good one. Is there anything that you would tell your younger self, like your 18 year old self, knowing what you know now about life?

01:03:46 - Charista Baye
Yeah. I would tell my 18 year old self that you have more confidence and authority and drive and all of those positive things than you think you have. Because I think looking back to when I was that age, I just felt, like, little and I couldn't do much, and I don't know why. I just didn't have the self confidence. So I would try to empower myself to know, you can do this and you're worth it. And you have the skills and you have the abilities.

01:04:22 - Vivian Kvam
I love that. Really stand in yourself and your confidence. Yeah, that's huge. Do you have a favorite, just kind of like kickback and relax beverage?

01:04:31 - Charista Baye
I don't really drink very much. So. Dr. Pepper. Perfect.

01:04:36 - Vivian Kvam
It doesn't have to be alcohol. I have everyone all the time. Does it have to be alcohol? I'm like, no, I like hot tea quite a bit.

01:04:42 - Charista Baye
Yeah. But I do like old fashions, but.

01:04:43 - Vivian Kvam
I do like hot tea.

01:04:44 - Charista Baye
I love pop. Or it's so just. I don't like beer or wine. I like the fru fru girly drinks where half the time I don't even know what it was. I like those. If you just make me something that's fruity, I'll drink it. But, yeah, if it was my choice, I would just choose Dr. Pepper.

01:05:00 - Vivian Kvam
I've really been drinking these bubbler this lately.

01:05:02 - Charista Baye
Yes, I know what you're talking about.

01:05:03 - Vivian Kvam
There's no affiliate links here, by the way.

01:05:05 - Charista Baye
Is it bubblr? Yeah. Yes.

01:05:08 - Vivian Kvam
Delightful.

01:05:09 - Charista Baye
They are good.

01:05:09 - Vivian Kvam
And they're just like a sparkling water kind of antioxidant.

01:05:14 - Charista Baye
Yes. They're more healthy, I think.

01:05:16 - Vivian Kvam
Absolutely.

01:05:17 - Charista Baye
Sure. Healthy.

01:05:18 - Vivian Kvam
No, I did look at the back can. I'm like, okay, this looks pretty decent. Yeah, I've really been enjoying those quite a bit.

01:05:23 - Charista Baye
I agree.

01:05:23 - Vivian Kvam
I get no money for saying that, by the way, but I've been trying out all the different flavors.

01:05:27 - Charista Baye
You'll have to let me know which one's better.

01:05:29 - Vivian Kvam
I like the blood orange. There's like a blood orange something. Yeah, but they don't always have it. And then I'm really bummed. Anyway, moving right along. Is there a song or a book or a podcast or anything like that that just really inspires you right now or has in the past that you just can't stop talking about.

01:05:47 - Charista Baye
Oh, yes. But it has literally nothing to do about what we're talking about.

01:05:51 - Vivian Kvam
That's all right.

01:05:52 - Charista Baye
And it's like a big passion of mine right now. So you just caught me right on. I'm in it. Perfect. It's called screen strong and it's a podcast and it's a website. It's all about helping children not to be addicted to their screens. And so teaching us as parents and educators and anyone to not allow as many screens as you're allowing for children because it's really detrimental to their health and causing addictions and causing all sorts of things. So I'm real passionate about that right now. So we literally just got rid of our iPad and my son is so mad because he used to play games on it. Yeah, he's real pissed at me right now. Oh, gosh.

01:06:34 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah, it's a big thing. I mean, that's a whole topic. I totally see why there's a podcast.

01:06:39 - Charista Baye
About that, for sure. Oh, yeah.

01:06:40 - Vivian Kvam
Okay. What excites you the most about the future? Clearly not screens.

01:06:44 - Charista Baye
No, not screens for children. We still watch movies. Guys don't think I'm like a big meanie. What excites me the most about the future? I'm just kind of like. I don't have necessarily an end in sight as far as goals with my business. I'm just excited for what's happening and to be there along the ride and ready for whatever. So I'm always kind of up for anything. If someone came to me with a new idea, I'm always going to hear them out. I love what I do right now, so I don't foresee myself changing anything anytime soon because it is honestly the perfect fit for me. But I'm just excited to continue what I'm doing and help more people get into business ownership.

01:07:29 - Vivian Kvam
I love that. That's cool. What is something people often get wrong about you.

01:07:37 - Charista Baye
I said earlier, I'm pretty open book.

01:07:40 - Vivian Kvam
Get wrong about me or might not know.

01:07:45 - Charista Baye
I don't know.

01:07:47 - Vivian Kvam
They know all for real.

01:07:50 - Charista Baye
I'm real honest and transparent. My mom, when I was growing up, always called me blunt and I'm like, mom, that's kind of a negative way. You should use more positive words because I just say it like it is all the time. So I don't know what people would get wrong about me. All right.

01:08:07 - Vivian Kvam
No, it's good.

01:08:08 - Charista Baye
It's all good.

01:08:09 - Vivian Kvam
Last one here for you is what do you feel like business owners can do that just makes their world a.

01:08:15 - Charista Baye
Better place for them or others, either way. Okay. Be willing to listen.

01:08:23 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah. That's huge. And I think sometimes hard for business owners because we sometimes think we have all the answers.

01:08:33 - Charista Baye
Definitely.

01:08:34 - Vivian Kvam
Yeah. As I said it, I could see you were like, yep.

01:08:38 - Charista Baye
Being willing to listen to feedback, not take it defensively, and take it as an opportunity to grow and learn.

01:08:48 - Vivian Kvam
I really love that. And in fact, it's interesting because it's a service we've been doing more lately, which is feedback, gathering experiences. And it's one of the hardest things for leadership to do is to ask, what does my team actually think? Or what does my community or whoever it is that I'm leading, what do they actually think? And to be willing to ask it in an authentic way and then hear it, take it, and then actually make an action plan with it. And so that's something we've actually been helping out business owners and organizations with over the past couple of years through various sessions. And we actually had one because we customize it every time. So it just fits the right vibe, the culture of the team or the community, whoever it is. So we've called them. We've done imagine hours, we've done campus conversations, but we had one that we.

01:09:43 - Charista Baye
Called what's effed up. Nice.

01:09:46 - Vivian Kvam
And it was with a restaurant, and they were bringing their front and back of house together.

01:09:50 - Charista Baye
I love that. Yeah.

01:09:52 - Vivian Kvam
And so the restaurant industry is just a little, it has a different vibe and culture to it. It fit them. Everyone got jazzed about it. I mean, if we had called it, what do you think about or listening conversations or whatever people like, what? No way.

01:10:06 - Charista Baye
Yeah, you got to be catchy.

01:10:07 - Vivian Kvam
You got to be a little catchy. And of course they came thinking it was what's effed up. The first thing that comes to mind. But we talked about some other f words as well. But we addressed that one, too. What is messed up that needs to be addressed here? Because people need to be able to say, yes.

01:10:22 - Charista Baye
I think it's huge if, as a business owner, if you can listen and take that feedback, and then it just makes the whole organization healthier, more transparent, and everyone's going to be happier.

01:10:34 - Vivian Kvam
Absolutely. For sure. Well, this has been fun. I learned so many things.

01:10:39 - Charista Baye
Good.

01:10:39 - Vivian Kvam
I totally want to take this assessment because it sounds so fascinating. So we'll make sure links are there, we'll make sure that people can get in touch with you, because I think this is a great step for so many. And that's really the purpose of this podcast, is to help people who either are in business ownership already. I think this still applies. There's so much here to learn from, and you never know. I have so many business friends and owners that come on the podcast. They have more than one business. I think this would be a cool way to explore that. And I think this is such a great opportunity for people who are going, I've always thought I might want to do this. What a great way to just explore and see if it's a right fit.

01:11:19 - Charista Baye
Yeah, I agree.

01:11:20 - Vivian Kvam
Awesome.

01:11:20 - Charista Baye
Thank you for having me. Yeah, absolutely.