Episode 152: Explore the Freedom of Franchise Ownership with Giuseppe Grammatico – Transcript

Episode 152: Explore the Freedom of Franchise Ownership with Giuseppe Grammatico

Rennie Gabriel  00:10
Hi folks, welcome to Episode 152 of the Wealth On Any Income Podcast. This is where we talk about money tips, techniques, attitudes, information and provide inspiration around your business and your money. I'm your host, Rennie Gabriel. In past episodes, we spoke about how to understand the numbers from your business, how to measure the level of pleasure based on where you spend your money, how to track your money in 5 to 10 seconds, and what determines how close you are to Complete Financial Choice® and how to run your business without being in your business. And last week, we had Laura Davis, a holistic financial advisor who helps people overcome overwhelm to reach their financial goals. Today we have as our guest, Giuseppe Grammatico. Giuseppe, did I pronounce your last name correctly?

Giuseppe Grammatico  01:01
You got it. It was perfect, Rennie.

Rennie Gabriel  01:03
Terrific. Okay, well, Giuseppe is a franchising advisor who's owned a number of master franchise licenses, and has enjoyed a successful franchising career, guiding over 200 individuals through business ownership - many for the first time. In addition to two decades in franchising, he also has 20 years of sales, marketing and management experience. As Giuseppe says, 'Not everyone is motivated by money and fame'. He takes the overwhelming guesswork out of the franchising process by listening and teaching along the way. From learning about his candidates specific goals for their business and lives, he can guide them down their dream path. And he says, 'Freedom favors the bold'. Giuseppe, welcome to the Wealth On Any Income Podcast.

Giuseppe Grammatico  01:56
Rennie, thanks for having me. Looking forward to it. And you had mentioned, I think, the 152nd episode, and I'm around the exact same number. So congrats to us. I thought that was pretty cool. Like, what are the odds were we're at kind of at the same number. So that's awesome.

Rennie Gabriel  02:10
Perfect. And we should talk about my possibly being on your podcast.

Giuseppe Grammatico  02:14
Absolutely. Absolutely. 

Rennie Gabriel  02:16
Well, okay, got some idea what you're doing. You're guiding people through the franchising process, and probably offering it to people. But tell me why you're doing what you're doing.

Giuseppe Grammatico  02:28
Yeah, I'm doing what I'm doing because a lot of people were in the same boat as me. They had a corporate job, and they didn't know what else was out there. They just assumed owning a business or real estate or anything of that was just too risky. So they never actually move forward. Right? They're going online, they're hearing all this stuff. So my whole thing was let me empower every individual to make an educated decision. Not always to buy a business or to buy a franchise, but let me from experience, from doing this for close to two decades, let me help people and educate people as to . . .  You have options out there. These are the risks. These are the funding strategies. But you know, if you are at a job that you don't like, there are other options. So I really did this. That's that's really my "why", is to empower people, and inform them that there are better and other options out there.

Rennie Gabriel  03:18
Yeah, and you know, and I think we all end up guiding other people based on the struggles that we had. You moved from a job you hated. So . . .

Giuseppe Grammatico  03:27
Yeah. 

Rennie Gabriel  03:28
It's just the common theme, I think, for so many of us. Let me ask a different question. Now, you're probably aware that I donate 100% of the profits from the work that I do, teaching other people about how to handle money through veteran and animal charities - 100% of the profits. Tell me about a particular charity or organization or cause that you support and what they do.

Giuseppe Grammatico  03:50
So there's a few. So we do, I'm a coach with SCORE. So we help people who are looking and owning a business. So that's really more of a time than anything else. And we donate to local charities in our area, Panthers Let's Eat - an organization that helps people in need. People that don't have, you know, aren't able to eat every single day. Goodwill is another organization. Women for Women is another organization where we help people around the world in helping them start their own businesses where, you know, we're able to donate an amount every month and they use that for education to launch a business and things like that. So we like to donate to various charities. Half of that is typically something local to where we live.

Rennie Gabriel  04:36
Yeah. And I remember I think you'd said something about, Women for Women, is primarily operating in countries where they are having conflicts.

Giuseppe Grammatico  04:46
Correct. Yeah, there's eight countries, there's conflict. So we're helping them out the best we can, you know, to empower themselves to start their own business or giving them the financial assistance to get into a better situation - if at all possible.

Rennie Gabriel  05:01
Thank you. Thank you for that. And, but now tell me who your target market is or are.

Giuseppe Grammatico  05:08
Yeah, so there's really two, it's the one being corporate executives, people that have experienced the business world that are looking for a change. And those people either want to leave their job, they want to maybe diversify their investments, or they want a side hustle. They want a side business that can start on the side, and then eventually become their full-time endeavor. And we also work with existing business owners to maybe convert their business into a franchise or they want to diversify, and maybe they're in the plumbing business, but they want to maybe buy a franchise around electrical or some type of other home service. So we help existing business owners as well.

Rennie Gabriel  05:49
That makes sense, yeah, to pick up something that's complementary to the business that they have. Or if they're operating a business, how to expand it into franchising. Yeah, that sounds like that would be very valuable for a lot of folks. The next question is kind of like a two-part question. I think you've touched on it, you were in a job you didn't like, but maybe there's something else. What would you say was your biggest failure, whether it was personal or business? And second thing. what insight did you gain from that? What are you doing about it?

Giuseppe Grammatico  06:19
Yeah, so biggest mistake/failure would be that I was trying, as a first-time business owner, trying to be an expert in all areas. So I try to be the expert in marketing, the expert in social media, the expert in video editing, to realize that the whole point of owning a business is not to be the expert in all areas. You are hiring people that are better than you, right? There's someone that -  an employee that specializes in marketing, that's their full time job. They bring so much more experience, knowledge, and case studies to the table. So I think it was me slowing my business down. And part of that was that due to first time business owner didn't know better. Also, they didn't have a lot of extra money to invest in that business. So I thought I can cut expense, and I did. But I also sacrificed growth in the business. I sacrificed wasting a lot of time figuring out social media, when I could be actually selling and bringing in revenue to the business. So you know, the whole idea of I'm a self-made this or I'm a self-made millionaire, I always challenged that idea that we're, maybe you may consider yourself self-made, but you have employees that help your business. You have coaches that help. You've had other entrepreneurs and mentors and things like that. So at the end of the day, I say, Guys, this is a team effort. There's no such thing, in my opinion, and it's just maybe a play on words, "self-made", but I really think there's employees are the lifeblood of your business. Coaches are just as important, mentors and things like that. So hire a team, hire people that are better than you and your business will flourish.

Rennie Gabriel  07:50
Yeah, just happy that's so right on because I created a quote that says, "Wealth creation is a team sport, not a solo sport", that feeds right into what you're saying. And I really, I'm not sure if detest is too strong a word. Yeah, I get . . . No, I think it's on track with people who say they are Self-Made Millionaires. Because all that means to me is it's complete ego, and they're discounting the help that they had along the way where they're learning from anybody else. Because, you know, even if they watch YouTube videos, they're learning from someone else.

Giuseppe Grammatico  08:25
You're learning from someone else's experience and trial and error and things like that. So absolutely. I don't think some people mean it intentionally, but to your point, yeah, it does feed the ego. But we're here to help one another out. It's a community. So if we can, just this podcast alone, if you could just avoid some of the mistakes I made, and that's your one takeaway, it's a win in my book.

Rennie Gabriel  08:46
Yeah. But let me ask you, is there, do you have a case study example of someone who went through the process with you? And you know, how it turned out? 

Giuseppe Grammatico  08:56
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, people come to us, various situations. And in one case, we had a gentleman, he was actually a security guard in that industry, and just felt like that was the industry he was put in and there was no really escaping it. He wasn't really thrilled about it, but he didn't really feel like there was much of a future. His father had taught him over the years to own businesses, but just didn't have the capital or wasn't aware of the funding options. Unfortunately, that person's father passed during COVID. And in the will, you know, he reminded him that owning a business was really the way to create wealth and there were options and left him some money, you know, not enough money to retire or be a millionaire, but some money. So that individual decided that day that he would quit his job. He had a six month plan. And that's exactly what he did. He contacted me, found me through the podcast, and we dove deep into . . .  It is a business, regardless of, you know, the fact that, yes, you can create wealth with a business. Is business truly fit for you? Just because it's a good path doesn't mean it's the right fit for you. So we dove deep. And he said, Well, I really need support, support, support. I don't want to create this from scratch. So the conversation changed towards franchising. And fast-forward here now, probably about a year and a half or so, and he moved forward with a staffing agency franchise, and he's able to help people - he's based in Canada, and soon to be in the US - find their job, you know, people are looking for work. So he really specializes in helping people find that next job, that next position similar to how we've helped people find franchises. So he was able to, you know, in just over the three months we were working together, realize he wasn't stuck at his job, there were other options out there. And he can use his skill sets that he learned over the years in school, at the job. It wasn't a wasted amount of time. It was something that he can apply towards that business. And I think he's hired a few other coaches underneath him and grown his business pretty rapidly.

Rennie Gabriel  10:58
That's fabulous, because I'm thinking from security guard to owning a, like an employment agency, and there were still skills that were transferable.

Giuseppe Grammatico  11:08
Lots of skills. But I always tell everyone, this is not an overnight thing, whether it's a franchise or non-franchise business. So it took him . . . there were some ropes, and he'd never owned a business, never had hired anyone. So there were some new skills, which is outlined by the franchise company. But yeah, he was able to apply just as, you know, he's very personable. So he was able to have that real personal touch with everyone he works with. He loves it. He said that now, you know, he was working the same amount of hours, but now he's able to step away and work a little bit less and start to gain that time freedom that he was aiming for. And now, the financial freedom as he's making more and more money. So it's progress. It doesn't happen overnight, but he loves that there's a plan laid out for him.

Rennie Gabriel  11:51
That's terrific, Giuseppe. Now, I'm going to assume some of our listeners will want to get a hold of you. Do you have something that will give them some additional advice? Or how should they get a hold of you? Tell me if you have some free offer?

Giuseppe Grammatico  12:05
Sure, absolutely. So what I tell everyone is that if they want to reach out on a phone call, within 20 minutes, we can figure out if a franchise together is a good fit for you. And that's right on my website. So my website is my initials, because Giuseppe Grammatico is the hard one to spell. So it's ggthefranchiseguide, and that's g-u-i-d-e, so ggthefranchiseguide.com. You can book a call right on the website. And then if you click on the book tab for everyone listening in, we're offering a free copy of my entire book, which is behind me here in the background. And it's my complete from A to Z blueprint on helping you figure out if a franchise is a good fit, and then how to actually go about finding that franchise is what we help people do. So is it a good fit? And let's figure out franchising and the funding options and everything else that goes along with it. It's my exact blueprint that I helped create in finding my first franchise. So we outlined it in the book. So if you're not ready to speak, it's a 48-page read. I think it's about 30 minutes. And based off of that guide, that book we created, were able to assist people. And then when you're ready, just click that "book a call". Our service is free. Just like a real estate agent or executive recruiter, we're paid directly from the franchise company. So no strings attached, here to help, and it takes all of 20 minutes.

Rennie Gabriel  13:25
Terrific. Now I take it that little yellow thing on the whiteboard, is that the book?

Giuseppe Grammatico  13:30
That's the book, far . . . yeah, I can't grab it, I'm going to, I'm going to disconnect... I meant to have it in my hand. So I apologize. But it's called, Franchise Freedom. And that book is my complete guide. And some people, you want the information, they prefer audio. So as we also have a podcast, Franchise Freedom. There's a podcast link right on the homepage. And then for those that like a combination, we have a webinar that we help people from corporate executives owning a franchise, the risks of actually of just having a job, and, you know, that's one revenue stream, you know, your future is basically based off your manager, and your managers, you know, kind of controlling your destiny there. So it talks about the risks and figuring out if a business is a good fit or not. So we have a webinar, we have a book, we have a podcast, and it's based, it's giving a lot of the same info but based off of how you prefer to absorb that information. So I encourage everyone, it's on Amazon for a few bucks, but you can get the book for free right on the website.

Rennie Gabriel  14:30
That's terrific. Thank you for that. And it's funny you were talking about, I think I'm not sure if you used the words 'a job is insecure', but that's what I was hearing because that's how I've been my whole life. I've been too insecure to have a job where 100% of my income would come from one source, which means in the moment you could lose 100% of your income.

Giuseppe Grammatico  14:54
Yes, yes. And that's what I tell everyone. It's you know, getting, owning a business, whatever that vehicle is, real estate, franchise, non-franchise, whatever path, it's essentially creating a safety net for you at the end of the day. So if you do lose your job, you do have that side hustle, that side income. So it doesn't have to be a franchise, whatever that business or vehicle is, I always tell everyone is a way of protecting yourself. To your point, a job is a single income stream. But I take the next step is I'm a former Wall Street guy, and that was my previous career. You're taking, and I was taking a big chunk of my salary and putting that into a 401k. I'm also now blindly investing in a 401k managed by other people, publicly-traded companies, money managers that were making money. And I'm not saying it's a negative thing, but that's their model, whether the markets up or down, you're paying your fees. So to be truly diversified is not in an asset class of large cap and large value and that. There's nine blocks. It's a combination of Wall Street and publicly-traded companies. But there's also Airbnb, there's real estate, there's side hustles, there's affiliate programs that there's so many options. So people feel they're fully diversified. And again, not a negative thing to invest in Wall Street. I invest on a monthly basis, but you should open up your eyes and as far as creating income, creating wealth, and that's a combination of things. And I think it's a combination of Wall Street, I think it's a combination of owning businesses, tax advantages, which is a whole other topic. So there's a lot out there and I let you know, inform everyone get educated, talk to people that have done it, not people that know about it, but people that have done it.

Rennie Gabriel  16:35
Yes. 

Giuseppe Grammatico  16:35
And get some good mentors and really educate yourself on the various options you have.

Rennie Gabriel  16:41
Yeah, that's fabulous advice, Giuseppe. And actually speaking to the people who have done it, not just people who learned about it, and are teaching it, because there is a big difference. So I want to thank you for being on the Wealth On Any Income show.

Giuseppe Grammatico  16:58
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. I was looking forward to this.

Rennie Gabriel  17:02
Terrific. Well, to those of you who are listening, if you'd like to know how books, movies and Society programs you to be poor, and what the cure is, then log on to, wealthonanyincome.com/TEDx. You'll get to hear my TEDx talk and can request a free 9-Step Roadmap to Complete Financial Choice® and Philanthropy. And receive a weekly email with tips, techniques, or inspiration around your business, or your money. And if you'd like to see how you can increase your wealth, and donate to the causes that touch your heart, please check out our affordable program, Wealth with Purpose. To my listeners, thank you for tuning in. Next week, we're going to have Eli Natoli. You can listen to the Wealth On Any Income Podcast on your favorite platform. And please rate, review and subscribe. Until next week, be prosperous. Bye bye for now.


Return to podcast by clicking here.

>