Learning how to franchise your business could be the most powerful scale decision you ever make as a business owner. In Episode 150 of The Profit Minds Podcast – a milestone 150th episode – Dr. Steven Kirch sits down with Tom DuFore, founder and CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team, celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
Tom has spent his entire 20-year career helping entrepreneurs franchise their businesses and scale without spending their own capital. His message is direct. There are 35 million small businesses in the United States. Most owners have no idea their business could already qualify as a franchise. Three simple checkboxes determine the answer.
In this episode, Dr. Kirch and Tom DuFore break down exactly how to franchise your business and scale it through one of the most powerful growth models available to small business owners in 2026:
Tom DuFore is the founder and CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team – celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2026. He has spent his entire career – more than 20 years – in franchising. His first job out of college was at a consulting company helping entrepreneurs franchise their businesses, and he has never looked back.
After working his way through consulting, taking a detour as a client executive and returning to consulting, Tom founded Big Sky Franchise Team. The name reflects his belief that franchising requires big thinking and limitless vision. Today his team helps entrepreneurs across the United States take their proven businesses and turn them into scalable, sellable franchise systems.
Knowing how to franchise your business starts with three simple questions that Tom has developed over 20 years of working with entrepreneurs.
Checkbox 1 – Do you have a profitable prototype? If you cannot show that the business works and generates owner benefit – paying bills, funding lifestyle, generating savings – there is nothing worth replicating. The business has to work before it can be scaled.
Checkbox 2 – Are you willing and able to train someone to run your business? The test Tom uses is simple. Imagine you are going on a European vacation for two months and you need to train a general manager to run everything in your absence. Can you do that? Are you willing to put in the time?
Checkbox 3 – Do you have a customer base that could exist nationally or regionally outside your current market? If someone would hire you in Dallas – would they also hire you in Portland? For most service businesses the answer is yes.
Check all three boxes and franchising is at least worth investigating.
One of the most refreshing and honest moments in this episode is when Tom says it plainly. Franchising is a get-rich-slow business. Most entrepreneurs walk in expecting a lottery ticket. Tom tells them to walk back out.
The average franchise sale takes just short of 7 months from the first lead to the signed agreement. Plan for your first sale to take up to 24 months. The setup process takes 6 months. And the royalty model – typically around 6% of franchisee revenue – means you are taking a small share of each location’s revenue rather than keeping everything yourself.
But here is the payoff. Getting to just 15 or 20 franchise locations generates income that more than replaces everything you currently earn – at a fraction of the time commitment. And private equity is now paying 10 to 20x multiples for franchise organizations. The patience required up front is rewarded with a business that is dramatically more valuable and sellable than a company-owned operation ever could be.
Get the FREE white paper: 9 Pitfalls to Avoid When Franchising Your Business – and get a free consultation with the Big Sky Franchise Team.
👉 Free White Paper: www.ninepitfalls.com
👉 Free Consultation: www.bigskyfranchiseteam.com
Dr. Steven Kirch is the creator of the Profit Minds™ Growth System, which helps entrepreneurs and professionals accelerate profits through productivity, scalable systems, and AI-powered business strategies.
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