Could your business benefit from repeatable processes and a strong brand ethos? 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau from 2020, only 10.5% of US businesses are franchises. What if the other 89.5% of companies could apply franchise lessons to scale their company? 

Luke Carlson, Founder and CEO of Discover Strength, thinks they could.

Discover Strength was founded in 2006 and successfully transitioned to a franchise model in 2020. They now have more than 30 Discover Strength studios in 10 states. 

During a recent conversation on the RevOps Champions podcast, he encouraged all businesses to build like a franchise, even if franchising isn’t in their business plan. Franchises are inherently built to scale–perhaps more than any other business model. 

At its core, a franchise focuses on the long-game and building a brand that lasts. This franchise mentality drives focus, repeatable processes, simplicity and a strong brand ethos. 

Today, let’s take a few principles from Carlson’s franchise book and see how they can be applied to companies of all sizes and industries.

Build a Scalable Infrastructure

   When I say infrastructure, it's understanding, how do we deploy capital at this stage? ... And that investment could be in a technology platform, it could be in people, it could be in process. ... What's most important right now to support the system? And is that balanced with revenue growth?"

- Luke Carlson, Founder & CEO of Discover Strength

Rapid growth can expose the cracks in a company's foundation. 

Carlson reiterations the importance of intentional infrastructure investments and building a roadmap tied directly to revenue growth.

This means honestly assessing your current constraints - whether that's capital, technology, processes, or talent - and systematically addressing them. Prioritize the most impactful investments, understanding the ROI of each initiative. Resist the urge to boil the ocean and simply execute the next right step.

Your goal should be to construct a scalable backbone that enables efficient expansion, not a complex web of one-off solutions.

Systemize Operations and Processes

Franchises thrive when they develop streamlined systems and processes that can be documented and deployed across multiple locations. This requires a dedication to simplicity and repeatability. 

This same discipline helps any business align and scale. 

Carlson identifies core functions and workflows that are essential to their operation, and then considers how they are applied by a wide range of people. 

1. Simplify

Keep your systems memorable and easy to follow. This allows you to meet your teams where they are. Avoid overengineering anything. If it requires in person conversations or overly detailed documentation to help people understand, start over. The scalable answer is simpler.

2. Automate, when possible

After defining a clear process, consider whether technology can automate or increase efficiency. Always consider the impact that personal interaction may have before outsourcing that to technology. 

3. Stress test processes

After learning the hard way on a few technology adoptions, Carlson adopted the “rifle shot” approach from Jim Collins’ book “Great by Choice.” 

It’s an iterative approach focused on avoiding disaster and making the largest positive impact. First, fire low-cost bullets to learn what will work. Once there is evidence of effectiveness, you fire a cannonball at a specific target. 

When shifting technology, for example, Discover Strength tests in their corporate office before rolling out to a few locations. From there, they gather feedback and decide whether the change is right for the whole organization. 

This testing period helps them bring every franchisee on board with the change and any associated expenses. They can back up their decision with use cases and data that indicate a positive ROI. 

Recruit the Right Team

Every business operating system acknowledges the importance of the right people, because growth ultimately depends on them. 

Successful franchises are clear on the type of people who can run a successful location. 

Most franchises aren’t looking for visionaries who want to experiment and do everything their own way. They’re looking for individuals who can effectively execute a proven playbook, adding their own finesse to select areas of their operation. 

Of course, neither type of person is right or wrong. It’s about knowing which skill sets are needed for different roles. It's key for leaders to understand when to hire doers versus innovators and to provide the right support for each. 

Ultimately, Carlson challenges leaders to “build a vision that is grand enough where other talented people can see their own success in it.”

Cultivate a Strong Brand Ethos

Carlson is bullish on brand. He emphasizes its importance over location, which is big for a franchisor. 

   It's the stories, it's the analogies, it's connection to...hero stories of when values were lived. And this stuff just takes time. And so you have to be intentional about how are we going to make sure that religion continues to exist as we build more churches? Building the church is the easy part, I think. But if you're going to build a great brand, the religion...is more important than the churches and you have to be more intentional."

- Luke Carlson, Founder & CEO of Discover Strength

As a marketer, this part of the franchise mentality warms my heart the most, because brand can be so misunderstood and undervalued. 

Brand isn’t a fancy TV spot or expensive influencer campaign–it's about the holistic customer and employee experience.

It’s the loyalty you earn when your ad, website, sales person, account manager and store associate all speak the same language and deliver on the promises you made. 

Said another way, brand means creating consistent, memorable experiences

At the heart of a successful franchise is a relentless focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience. Franchises invest heavily in defining their brand identity and ethos, then provide a clear playbook for individual locations to execute on that vision.

Rather than allowing each new office or team to reinvent the wheel, a franchise model empowers them to deliver a consistent brand experience. This mentality should extend beyond just marketing - permeating every customer touchpoint, from sales to support.

Set the right expectations up front and strive to connect the words and actions at every step of the customer journey. 

• Website to delivery
• Sales email to customer service call
• Retail experiences across locations

As your business grow, identify what you can do exceptionally well in the near-term without compromising this core brand identity. Commit to consistency and long-term brand-building, remembering that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

When executed well, your brand ethos will become the glue that holds your scaling organization together, aligning every touchpoint and customer interaction.

Measure What Matters

Many businesses claim to be data-driven, but are they measuring what matters? Carlson knows that sustainable growth requires a relentless focus on both customer experience and employee engagement.

  I have more ego attached to our customer experience and our employment experience than I have ego attached to how many units have we awarded or how many units we have open."

- Luke Carlson

Identify the key performance indicators that truly reflect the health of your business. Key metrics may include customer satisfaction, retention, reviews and referrals.

In order to keep the team you’ve put so much effort into recruiting, it’s equally as important to track employee sentiment, training, career development and other engagement signals.

Keep this data to inform your decisions and build a roadmap for improvement. (That's tied to ROI, of course!)

Whether you're leading a startup or an established enterprise, thinking like a franchisor might just be the mindset shift needed to take your business to the next level.

As Luke Carlson demonstrates through Discover Strength's success, adopting these franchise principles can help transform a business from a collection of one-off solutions into a cohesive, scalable organization that delivers exceptional value to both customers and employees.