How to Acquire and Market a Franchise Business

TL;DR

Successful franchise ownership starts with choosing a proven system, learning from other owners, and earning employees’ trust through immediate, personal communication. When operating multiple locations, shared back-office support and tools such as Microsoft Teams can consolidate calls, permits, and internal coordination while helping employees support one another across markets.

Transcript

I am so excited because today I have Laura Brun who is on the ignite visibility podcast Laura really has a tremendous background and is highly educated Laura is currently the co-owner of Mr Electric of San Antonio and Mr Electric of Austin where she's been running the businesses for nearly 5 years but she didn't start there Laura has been an instru... Read More

Key Insights

• Business education is a way to learn the language of accounting, finance, marketing, numbers, charts, and graphs. Bruhn says these tools still serve storytelling, while familiar frameworks and patterns can prevent leaders from spending months deriving common business principles independently.
• Teaching marketing is a method for reassessing professional knowledge through a beginner’s perspective. Bruhn’s undergraduate teaching role required her to connect textbook principles with real business experience, giving students practical context while forcing her to reconsider how marketing concepts work outside the classroom.
• Franchise acquisition can be appropriate even for buyers who initially reject the model. Bruhn and her husband reconsidered their position when Mr. Electric of San Antonio met the requirements they had established while searching for a Texas business to purchase.
• A franchise network is a source of noncompetitive peer learning. Owners can share experiments, vendor recommendations, questions, and feedback because each participant benefits when another owner discovers and communicates an effective idea or operational resource.
• Employee reassurance is an immediate priority after a business acquisition. On their first day, Bruhn and her husband held personal conversations with employees so the team could know them as people, express fears openly, and receive direct responses from the new owners.
• People development is part of Bruhn’s approach to business growth. She is motivated by understanding how employees learn and helping them fulfill their potential, viewing stronger individual development as beneficial to both the team and her own continuing growth.
• Multi-location operations can use a consolidated support team instead of maintaining completely separate offices. Bruhn’s San Antonio-based team supports both markets by answering calls, completing permit work, and communicating with electricians across a region spanning about 130 miles.
• Microsoft Teams is used as a real-time coordination channel for office support. Employees can consult one another electronically, and the wider group can see active conversations while a colleague remains on the phone with a customer, reinforcing the company value of flying in formation.

Questions & Answers

Q: How do you choose a franchise business to acquire?

Start by defining the qualities the business must have, then assess whether a particular franchise meets those requirements. Bruhn and her husband initially said they would never buy a franchise, but Mr. Electric of San Antonio checked the boxes they had established for an acquisition. They also invested significant time in becoming comfortable with the franchisor and speaking with other owners in the system.

Q: Why can a franchise network help a new owner succeed?

A franchise network gives an owner immediate access to people running similar businesses without directly competing in the same market. Bruhn describes owners sharing experiments, results, vendor recommendations, ideas, questions, and feedback. The franchisor also has a vested interest in franchisee success, while operating systems have already been tested by multiple owners in different circumstances.

Q: What should a new owner do on the first day after acquiring a business?

A new owner should speak personally with employees as soon as possible, introduce the ownership team, and create space for honest concerns. Bruhn and her husband tried to meet every employee individually on their first day. Their goal was to reassure people, let employees know them personally, and establish an open dialogue in which fears could be expressed and addressed.

Q: How does employee development support franchise growth?

Employee development helps people move toward their potential while strengthening the organization around them. Bruhn says she is motivated by people, their lives, and the ways they learn. She views helping employees grow as mutually beneficial because their progress contributes to the broader team and also helps her continue fulfilling her own potential as a leader.

Q: How can two franchise locations share back-office operations?

Two locations can consolidate common administrative work into one support team. Bruhn’s office support employees for the San Antonio and Austin businesses sit together in San Antonio, except for one remote employee. The combined team answers calls, completes permit work, and communicates with electricians, serving a region of about five million people that extends roughly 130 miles.

Q: What franchise operations should be consolidated across locations?

Bruhn’s businesses consolidate functions that can support both markets from one office, including answering telephone calls, processing permit work, and communicating with electricians throughout the day. The arrangement became more integrated than she originally expected. Keeping the support employees together also allows team members to assist one another while serving both San Antonio and Austin operations.

Q: How can Microsoft Teams improve franchise communication?

Microsoft Teams can give office employees a shared place to consult one another while handling customer interactions. In Bruhn’s operation, the broader group can see conversations as they occur, even while an employee remains on the telephone with a customer. This visibility helps the support team coordinate electronically and provide assistance across the company’s two Texas markets.

Q: How does an MBA help someone manage and market a business?

An MBA can teach the language and foundational mechanics used throughout business, including accounting, finance, marketing, numbers, charts, and graphs. Bruhn says these forms communicate stories just as words, pictures, and sound do. Education also provides recognizable frameworks and patterns, allowing managers to apply established concepts instead of spending months rebuilding them from first principles.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Lara Bruhn entered business school after studying psychology and having no formal training in accounting or marketing. Her MBA helped her understand the language, visual frameworks, and foundational patterns used in business. She later taught undergraduate marketing, connecting textbook principles with practical lessons from her earlier experience in corporate roles for students.

• Bruhn and her husband acquired Mr. Electric of San Antonio after previously growing and selling a business in Pittsburgh and moving to Texas. Although they had opposed buying a franchise, this opportunity met their acquisition criteria. Other franchise owners helped them evaluate the system and provided a collaborative network for sharing experiments, ideas, and vendors.

• After acquiring the company, Bruhn met individually with employees to introduce the new owners, discuss concerns, and build trust. As the business expanded across San Antonio and Austin, it consolidated office support in San Antonio. That shared team handles calls and permits while using Microsoft Teams to communicate and assist electricians throughout the day.