Most people play defense.
They wait for customers to call back.
They react to problems instead of preventing them.
They say, “we’ll do the deal if it comes to us.”
Strong defense wins Super Bowls (Go Birds 🦅).
But in business, you gotta play to win.
Playing offense grew my company from zero in 2016 to $50M/year today
I proactively built relationships with neighboring franchisees.
Told them I wanted to be their first call when ready to sell.
I was the only buyer in every single deal.
Why? People do deals with people they like and trust.
I played offense to build that trust over years.
When I needed a CEO, I didn’t post on LinkedIn.
I went straight to the military special operations community.
(Army Rangers, Marines, Green Berets, Navy Seals, etc.)
While they had zero civilian business experience, they had a lifetime of leadership, discipline, accountability, and grit that I don’t have.
We are strategically assembling an elite powerhouse leadership team.
Earlier this year, our CEO cold DM’d on LinkedIn the CFO of a $1B competitor, asking to acquire underperforming locations:
Crickets for 3 months.
Then he responds & hands us off to their head of real estate.
We struck a deal on one location.
I see franchise owners playing defense every day:
- “If my business makes $X, then I’ll quit my job”
- “The franchisor isn’t doing enough marketing”
- “I asked the franchisor to let me know if anyone wants to sell”
Good luck with that.
Offense looks different:
- “I’ll work 80 hours/week if that’s what it takes”
- “I’m doing 20 commercial drop-ins today”
- “I reached out to every franchisee about buying opportunities”
Maybe you’re not wired to play offense.
That’s okay.
Just don’t expect the results of someone who is.
Cheers!
Brian
