Landing your first franchisee deal can feel like a high-stakes gamble: it’s expensive, unpredictable, and exhausting when you’re just getting started. Host Sean McKay teams up with producer Joseph Lewin to unpack why most brands burn through as much as their first franchise fee before they secure a single franchisee. Drawing on real-world figures—from $30 to $300 cost per lead and 300 leads needed to close a deal—they explore how underestimating time, effort, and budget sets many up to fail. You’ll learn why warming prospects through the full funnel, diversifying channels like Meta and Google, and pausing to take inventory of your metrics are the keys to beating the odds.

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📌 What We Cover

• Why landing your first franchisee is expensive and unpredictable
• How developing a sales funnel and lead generation demands more time, effort, and cost
• Rule of thumb: expect to spend the total cost of your first franchise fee in lead-generation
• Variance in cost per lead—from $30 on the low end to $300 on the high end—and its impact
• Strategies to warm leads through education, automation funnels, and addressing pain points
• Importance of diversifying marketing channels: Meta, Google Ads, LinkedIn, and trade shows
• Advice to pause and take inventory of lead performance before cutting advertising spend
• A dramatic turnaround achieved by targeting the entire funnel rather than just bottom-of-funnel buyers

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)
• Meta (Facebook)
• Google Ads
• LinkedIn
• Trade shows
• Social channels