Fifteen years ago, a client lost his first-choice franchise to a buyer who moved faster. He bought a second franchise instead. Years later, when the original owner had a health scare and had to sell, that same client bought his first choice back at a steep discount and went on to win Franchisee of the Year in both systems. On The Ty Brady Way podcast with host Ty Brady, Matt Stevens tells that story to answer a question he gets constantly: what makes a successful franchise owner. His answer runs through a five-part framework, a habit of turning assumptions into questions, and a financial planning method built around three different outcomes.
Key Takeaways from This Episode
- Matt Stevens started as a franchisee in 1988 in what became CertaPro Painters, cold-calling doors every weekend in New Hampshire and winning Rookie of the Year for the Northern New England division.
- His AABS plus E framework, Attitude, Ambition, Behavior, Skill, plus Engagement, is what he says separates top-performing franchise owners from everyone else.
- The biggest mistake he sees candidates make is turning assumptions into conclusions instead of turning them into questions for someone who can give an honest answer.
- He builds three financial plans for every candidate, a blue sky version, an average version, and a worst case version, then measures weekly activity and monthly results against all three.
- A client he calls Rick lost his first-choice franchise to a faster buyer, bought a second one instead, then years later acquired the first one at a steep discount and became Franchisee of the Year in both systems.
- His lowest-ever franchise placement invested just $15,000 in cash and a $50,000 loan, built the business over seven years, then sold it and retired.
- Two non-negotiable habits drive his own business: time-blocked daily marketing activity and staying in ongoing contact with candidates he has already placed.
- Stevens places candidates through FranChoice at no cost to the buyer, evaluating each one against roughly 30 ownership criteria before finding their match.
From Door-to-Door Painter to The Franchise Guy
Matt Stevens was walking through the halls of an East Coast university when he saw an advertisement for running your own business. It turned out to be the precursor to CertaPro Painters. He jumped in during 1988, joining about 67 other franchisees across Canada and New England who were managing crews, marketing, selling, and handling payroll on their own. He ran that business for three years before moving over to work directly with the franchisor, a shift that changed his trajectory from baseball toward business for good.
The early years demanded pure tenacity. In his market in southwestern New Hampshire, there was no direct mail, only door-knocking. Stevens would manage his crews and run estimates all week, then spend weekends cold-calling houses until he had ten estimates scheduled, walking through late-winter New Hampshire weather in a short-sleeve shirt to stay warm from the walking itself. He kept tick marks, used a 40-second spiel, and left a door hanger when nobody answered. He does not remember a single weekend where he left without hitting his number. That consistency earned him Rookie of the Year for the Northern New England division, a result he still looks back on with pride.
“Fear and pride are incredible motivators.”
Matt Stevens, The Ty Brady WayWhat The Franchise Guy Actually Does
Today Stevens works as an independent franchise consultant through FranChoice, an international network of experienced franchise professionals who help franchisors find the right candidates and help candidates find the right franchise, all at no cost to the buyer. Without that guidance, most people are left scrolling through more than 4,000 franchise brands online with no real direction. Stevens compared the process to a matchmaking service built specifically for franchises, covering both new territories and resales: understand what a candidate is looking for and why, then either find the opportunity that fits, or tell them honestly that it does not exist yet. A franchise consultant’s role is to measure a candidate against roughly 30 different ownership criteria, often steering them toward a business model they had never considered but that fits their life far better than the one they walked in asking about.
The AABS Plus E Framework: What Separates Top Franchise Owners
Asked what separates the top performers among the hundreds of franchisees he has placed, Stevens pointed to five qualities he calls exercising your ABs: Attitude, Ambition, Behavior, and Skill, plus a fifth quality he adds as an asterisk, Engagement. Candidates can show up with excellent attitude, ambition, behavior, and skill and still struggle if they do not engage, meaning they never lean on the franchisor, the regional franchisees, or the people already producing the results they want.
Stevens knows the cost of skipping that step firsthand. In 1988, pride kept him from engaging with people who had already solved the problems he was facing, and he spent hundreds of hours on projects he did not need to handle alone when a phone call could have saved him the trouble. Franchising exists, in his view, because nobody has to do it alone. Buyers are leveraging hundreds of years of collective knowledge and experience, and they already paid for that access through the franchise fee. Working through a certified franchise consulting relationship is one way candidates put that engagement into practice from day one.
Rick’s Story: He Lost the Deal, Then Became Franchisee of the Year Twice
The story Stevens returns to when asked for a career highlight starts about twelve to fifteen years ago. An acquaintance, referred to in the episode as Rick, had been downsized from an executive role paying around $200,000 a year. Stevens found him a strong opportunity, called Opportunity A in the story, but another buyer moved faster and signed first. Rather than start from zero, Stevens and Rick went back to work, and Rick purchased a second franchise, Opportunity B, and began climbing its learning curve.
While Rick was still deep in that learning curve, the person who had bought Opportunity A ran into a serious health issue and had to sell, after investing roughly $100,000 into the business. Stevens brought the opportunity back to Rick with a direct warning.
“Rick, you’re going to pull your hair out for the next year, but Opportunity A has become available at pennies on the dollar.”
Matt Stevens, The Ty Brady WayRick thought it over for three weeks, then bought it. He now owns both Opportunity A and Opportunity B, and he has been named Franchisee of the Year in each of the two national systems, separate honors from two different brands. Stevens describes the outcome as two fantastic businesses, with at least one intended as a legacy for one of Rick’s adult children to potentially take over. Years later, someone offered to buy Opportunity A from him at the last minute. Rick turned the offer down because he enjoyed running it too much. Fifteen-plus years after the story began, both businesses are still going. Buyers weighing how to become a franchise owner rarely hear a story that shows how much the picture can change after the first setback.
Turn Your Assumptions Into Questions
Stevens said the most common and costly mistake he sees is candidates turning assumptions into conclusions. People are hit with so much information from every direction that they stop verifying what they believe and simply accept it, and that habit can turn a great opportunity into one that looks bad, or a weak opportunity into one that looks deceptively appealing. His fix is simple: take the assumption, turn it into a direct question, and bring that question to someone competent enough to give an honest answer.
He applies the same principle to cost. A candidate might assume a franchise runs around $70,000 because that is the franchise fee, when the real total investment for that concept can average closer to $312,000 once buildout, equipment, and working capital are included. On the other end, his lowest-ever placement invested just $15,000 in cash plus a $50,000 loan, built the business for seven years, then sold it and retired. Understanding what a franchise actually costs before assuming a number, and knowing how to evaluate the opportunity itself, are the two questions Stevens says buyers skip most often.
Planning for Blue Sky, Average, and Worst Case Outcomes
Stevens builds three financial plans for every candidate: a blue sky version if everything works out fantastically, an average version he considers the more likely outcome, and a worst case version in case things go poorly. He then checks those plans early and often, measuring weekly activity and monthly results against all three, rather than writing a plan once and revisiting it two years later when a candidate could already be far down the wrong path.
Two habits keep his own business consistent. The first is daily marketing activity, time-blocked rather than tied to a specific outcome, because he trusts that steady activity compounds over time even on days that produce nothing. The second is staying in ongoing contact with candidates he has already placed. He mentioned a recent example: a franchisee who was initially disappointed by his franchisor’s support recently landed a $200,000 government contract through a relationship the franchisor had set up, and told Stevens they were having a lot of fun out there now.
Why Personal Relationships Still Win
Stevens sees personal relationships becoming more valuable, not less, in an era of AI, data, and constant advertising. He compared it to the calling card era: when someone stopped at a house and found nobody home, they left a small piece of paper with their name, because the relationship was the point. People want the truth, not a highlight reel, and that is exactly why he tells candidates to keep turning assumptions into questions for real people rather than settling for whatever appears in a feed.
He judges his own days by the seeds he plants rather than the harvest he collects, since the harvest can be unfairly generous one month and unreasonably low the next, even when the underlying activity stayed consistent. His closing thought on franchise ownership: most people are taught to go get a job, but a franchise lets someone be one boss for life, starting at any age, buying down the learning curve by years instead of spending a decade or more learning the same lessons alone. Reach out to Matt Stevens for a short, no-cost conversation about which opportunity fits your goals.
Matt Stevens The Franchise Guy
Independent Franchise Consultant · 30+ Years Industry Experience · 4 Businesses Owned · 500+ Franchisees Placed Nationally
Matt Stevens is one of the most experienced independent franchise consultants in the United States, based in Dublin, Ohio. Since the mid-1990s he has guided hundreds of buyers into franchise ownership across nearly all 50 states — at no cost to the buyer. Learn more about Matt →
Published: | Last Updated: | LinkedIn
Frequently Asked Questions
About twelve to fifteen years ago, an acquaintance of Matt Stevens, referred to as Rick, had been downsized from an executive role paying roughly $200,000 a year. Stevens found him a strong opportunity, called Opportunity A in the story, but another buyer moved faster and signed first. Stevens and Rick started the search again, and Rick purchased a second franchise, Opportunity B, and began working through its learning curve.
While Rick was still climbing the learning curve on Opportunity B, the person who had bought Opportunity A ran into a serious health issue and had to sell after investing roughly $100,000 into the business. Stevens brought the opportunity back to Rick and told him it had become available at pennies on the dollar. Rick thought it over for three weeks, then bought it, becoming the owner of both Opportunity A and Opportunity B.
After acquiring both franchises, Rick built each into a genuinely strong business and earned Franchisee of the Year honors in both national systems, separate recognitions from two different brands. Stevens describes the outcome as two fantastic businesses, with at least one intended as a legacy for one of Rick’s adult children. More than fifteen years after the story began, Rick is still running both franchises successfully.
Rick’s story shows that losing a first-choice opportunity does not have to be the end of the path. Stevens notes that years later, someone offered to buy Opportunity A from Rick at the last minute, and Rick turned the offer down because he enjoyed running the business too much. The lesson Stevens draws is that constant action and staying engaged in the search, even after an early setback, can put a buyer in position to benefit when circumstances change later.
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