The Achieve Podcast - Ronald Eriksen (Crown Holdings Business Development)

Welcome to the Achieve Podcast, the show where we highlight the leaders and creators and entrepreneurs who are building meaningful businesses and shaping their industries. My name is Jesse Warner and I'll be your host today. Today we have Ron Erickson. He is the president of Crown Holdings Business Development. Ron, it's a pleasure to have you on the show today.

Thanks so much for having me, Jesse.

So our audience can get to know you a little bit, give us a quick backstory on your business. What do you do? How did it all get started?

I actually started, like a lot of these things, sort of serendipitously. My dad had a job that was indirectly in franchising. It was recruiting dealerships for inground swimming pool dealers for a national company. And I sounded older than I was. I was still in high school. But he said, I want— I'm going to write you a script and I want you to call these people and qualify them. And if they're qualified, invite them to Chicago and I'll tell them. And there were a bunch of people in the office that did this, probably 15 or 20. They always say in sales, the hardest door to get open is the car door. Well, I didn't have that problem because I worked for my dad, and so there was no fooling around. But, you know, I became the most productive person on the team doing it. And then my parents divorced and my dad moved away, and then his boss went to Meineke Muffler and called me and said, I'm in charge of recruitment in a couple areas for Meineke. Can you make me those? Same calls that you used to make for your dad. And so that was my entrée into the world of franchising. Wonderful.

How long, how long has your company been around?

Well, that was my introduction to franchising. I've been doing it about 40 years, and I grew and owned and ran different franchise chains. After we did stop doing it hands-on, we created our current company about 15 years ago, and that basically helps other people do the same things that, you know, we did for ourselves.

So about 15 years ago, you created— how has the business changed as it's grown, and what does it look like today?

I think as much as anything, there was a transition for me to learn how to be a better coach and a better communicator. Um, because before I had the ability to manage people that worked for me and had the ability to get in there and do it myself. And all of a sudden I had clients that I was helping, and if they didn't do the right things, they weren't successful. And ultimately that was a reflection on us. So I had to get good, and I've gotten better. I suppose that's the short answer to your question. We've gotten better at, um, learning how to adapt to different clients personalities and a work style and communication style to get them to do the things and provide them with the support and the tools they need to do to be successful. So it's a learning curve for us, I think, from coaching to, you know, from doing to coaching. I don't know that the industry itself has changed a whole lot. It's still usually a first-time business owner. We help people become franchisors. But then ultimately we're usually helping them find people that want to own the franchises. So in both of those cases, it's a matter of teaching them how to set up an umbrella and a support network and a recruiting system. And then the individual owner-operator, usually it's helping them understand what it's like to run a business and then helping them get financing and real estate. I don't know that the fundamentals have really changed. I think If anything, people can think it's easier than it really is. And, um, you know, we try to do a good— and maybe people expect— the one change is expectations have even increased for things to be easy, but things that are worthwhile are typically hard work.

So in franchising, your sales and marketing and outreach efforts, your business development efforts, they're often geared around recruiting, finding new franchise owners, right? Talk to me about what are you seeing, what's working in that, where are you seeing traction in, in that effort?

Um, it— what works the best is to have a disciplined system. I mean, there is identifying potential candidates, and then it's speaking to those candidates But it's very reciprocal. And so for us, what we've learned and what we execute is it's not a one-way conversation. And we don't really presume that it's a fit for everybody. We really try to take an educational approach and say, these, these are the requirements. This is what we look for. This is what you'll kind of go through as a new business owner and really let them sort of self-select in a lot of ways. Yes, we check references and we check credit and we check the financial statement. But that's what works for us. It is having a genuine relationship, a meaningful dialogue, and helping that person make the right decision for them. If it's not a fit for them, well, it's not a good fit for the franchisor either.

There's a lot of buzz around AI and automation right now. Talk to me about how you're using AI in your business.

We're really using it more internally. Uh, we do a lot of financing. Sometimes we're raising money for a franchisor to start a new company. And so in terms of structuring return on investment or looking at hypothetical finance scenarios, it's helpful. I mean, it is an intelligent tool that can get to an answer or multiple answers faster than a human can. And I think it'll grow, obviously, but it hasn't at our position changed. We're not outsourcing anything to AI. And again, I don't want to pretend like it's not going to grow into something that's important. But, you know, I find when it writes letters or tries to communicate, it's, it's stiff. And so it sounds almost overly formal. So for us, sticking to what has always worked so far has been the right approach, except maybe when it comes to some projections or financing modeling.

As you try to scale your business, what are some of the constraints that keep showing up in your business? Time, people, systems, capital, leadership. What are you seeing? Like, what are those constraints that you keep hitting as you try to grow?

I think that, you know, hard work really covers a lot, you know, covers a lot of ills. And so it— again, I don't know that it's new, but it is— as we grow the business, it is really trying to be thoughtful about, is this person going to care? Can they communicate? Will they be simple, straightforward? You know, are they unconsciously focused on self, or are they consciously focused on others. Those are kind of the basic things. Those people are hard to find. Um, once we find them, they're, they're a good fit, and we can teach them kind of the technical things that they need to know. But it's hard to get somebody to trust that doesn't innately trust. And ultimately, if you're being a part of helping another business grow, you've got to trust that if you do the right things for that business, ultimately you're going to get rewarded. But there's a season between trusting and working hard and following the system and, and, and implementing and, you know, seeing promotion and increase and those types of things.

As you look at the next stage of growth, what are you most excited about?

That is a great question. I think it's the, you know, there are— just got off the phone with one of the attorneys we use and he's bringing to us a new potential client. And I think what gets us excited every time is taking somebody that has grown their business. In this case, it's a franchise system, taking somebody that has grown it to their level And then going in and adding what we bring to the table and seeing them just go grow exponentially to the next level. And that, that's the most rewarding part, whether you're helping the franchisor grow their business or whether you're helping somebody get into business for the first time. That's, that's the most exciting part. I mean, you still gotta, you know, send the emails and return the phone calls, but at the end of the day, it's a great feeling to help others succeed.

So Ron, you worked with a lot of business owners. Um, what advice would you give to them if they're thinking about starting a franchise or becoming a franchise owner? Or talk to me a little about what, what advice would you give to them?

Well, I think that, um, in franchising, so if somebody has a successful business and they're thinking about growing it, um, typically what or what oftentimes happens in franchising is that owner knows how to run their business, whether it's B2C or B2B. Um, but that's a different set of thinking and a different discipline to become a franchisor. And in the same way I was talking earlier about how when we started our consulting company, we really had to learn how to be better communicators and better at developing systems, that business owner needs to learn a whole new set of skills. And it's not the stuff that you don't know that hurts you. It's the stuff that you think you know that you don't know. So just getting somebody to start at the place of saying, oh, I don't know how to do this, that's more than half the battle. So it's just realize that it is a different set of skills. It's a different set of interaction. Recognizing that you haven't done this and you can be successful at it. You just need to learn how to do it, not approach it. Where they usually run into real trouble is thinking that the same dynamics that made them successful in their B2C or B2B business will transfer and apply to their franchise company. In terms of a first-time business owner or franchisee, I just tell them that there are things in life that are harder than you think they're going to be. Getting married, having kids, owning a business. And so now you've talked to anybody that has a, you know, successful marriage, successful family, or successful business, they've never traded for anything. They love what it brings them. And so I tell our first-time franchise owners, it is hard work. That is the number one thing. It is following a proven system. And typically in a franchise system, you have kind of a bell curve. You've got 20% out front that are leading the pack, doing better than the averages. They're typically better managers, harder working, better leaders. Got 60% in the middle that are doing good, achieving their goals, could do better, but usually a small business is not run for maximum profits. It's run to make a good living but it's also designed to give that owner-operator a good lifestyle. And then you've got sort of the 20% at the bottom, which invariably is somebody trying to find a shortcut to the top. And so all that is to say this— what I say to newcomers is, before you try to do better than the average, do everything we say to do the way we say to do it until you hit average. And then you can maybe try some things that you want to try. Now, great franchise systems utilize the ideas of franchise owners. McDonald's is a great example. Egg McMuffin, Filet-O-Fish, uh, Big Mac, all invented by franchisees, none of which woke up and said, what can I do for the rest of the system today? So they're great ideas. I have a fellow leader in the franchise community that says none of us are as smart as all of us. But I guess the encouragement I'd make to a franchise owner is, again, being a successful business owner is a different set of skills than being a successful employee. Just recognize that you're going to need to learn those things. Don't assume it's the same thing. It's an old saying about, uh, new wine can't go into an old wineskin. So you've got to take this new software and you've got to make sure that you're adapting your hardware, your way of thinking your view of life, uh, to successfully become an owner-operator.

Uh, great insights into the franchise space. Last question for you, Ron. As you look back on your journey the last 40 years, some of your wins and some of your mistakes, what are some of the lessons that stand out to you?

Well, I think, uh, everyone has to go through this. I certainly did. You learn that other people don't have as good of intentions, you know, as you do. You know, people— you'll see people do things that you can't believe that they would, you know, that you would never think to do to another person. So you, you really do become, uh, have a healthy skepticism. Um, and I think the best antidote for that is just getting a really good team of advisors up front that you're listening to. And I think if there's something I do different, I would, I would have, and I'm trying to now enjoy the journey more, just be grateful for every single day as a gift of its own.

Well, Ron, I really appreciate your time and your insights for us today. If you want to learn more about what Ron's doing, I invite you to connect with him on LinkedIn. Uh, you can find him, uh, Ronald Erickson is the name, Crown Holdings Business Development. Um, and that'll wrap up today's episode of the Achieve Podcast. A big thank you to our sponsor Achieve Fractional, which provides fractional executives for growing businesses. And if you enjoyed today's conversation, follow our show and share it with another entrepreneur who'd also find value in it. And again, thanks for listening, and we'll see you on the next episode of the Achieve Podcast.