Father-Daughter Team Finds Perfect Fit in Emerging Franchise

June 01, 2017 by Leslie Kuban

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In her early 20s, Adrienne Carlson was looking forward to an exciting and bright future, but her specific path was unclear. “It took me a while to figure out exactly what my calling was for my career so I tried a little bit of everything.” After an internship and several entry level positions, she realized she needed to go a different route to reach her goals. So, she turned to a mentor she knew she could trust for solid guidance in life and in business, her Dad.

Mark Carlson had a long and successful corporate career, traveling the world and raising his daughter to be a go-getter. In early 2000 he also tried his hand at business ownership, "to see if he could do it.” When his daughter came seeking counsel, he remembered meeting me and learning about a career path in franchise ownership, recalling fondly his own positive (and lucrative) entrepreneurial experience.

I was excited to meet with Adrienne and Mark together because I enjoy working with families, father-daughter teams especially! That’s exactly how I got started in my early 20’s as a Mail Boxes Etc. franchise owner and I remain grateful to my Dad for his assistance in getting started and his confidence in my abilities.

As we talked about finding a business that would combine Adrienne’s creative energy and commitment to her community with a strong mind for growing her own business, it could have been me talking when she said...

“I knew I wanted to go into business for myself, but for me it wasn’t all about making money.”

For both Adrienne and I, starting and growing a business was never about creating a career path; it’s about designing a life.

As Adrienne’s personal goals came into focus, so did her direction. She’d recently lost a significant amount of weight and made healthy living and exercise a priority. A key driver was her desire to offer a beneficial product or service to her Peachtree City community, one that would fit with her newfound commitment to health and wellbeing.

Even if you think you know exactly what you want, choosing a franchise can be overwhelming. With more than 4,000 franchise brands available, the Carlsons needed help sorting through the clutter. After we worked together to create their ideal business model, Adrienne and Mark did their homework to carefully weigh the pros and cons of each business.

Their perfect fit franchise rose to the top. On June 1st, Peachtree City lined up before the doors even opened and the Carlson’s Vitality Bowls superfood cafe franchise experienced a constant flow of customers. Dad stood a bit off to the side to take in the moment.

“I could not stop beaming with pride!”

Mark watched his daughter lead a team of 16 employees and they launched their new business with the recipe for future success, momentum excitement and energy.

Over the last two decades, few trends have excited me more than the growing number of multi-generational business owners. I wrote a chapter about this phenomenon for the Amazon.com bestselling book on franchising, More Than Just French Fries. It’s incredibly rewarding to help educate prospective entrepreneurs on the benefits (and potential pitfalls) of modern multigenerational business ownership.

If you’ve ever thought of an adventure in family business ownership, start by downloading my chapter “Family Ties”, and let’s start the conversation.

Leslie Kuban is the owner of FranNet; an Atlanta based Franchise Consulting Firm. Kuban and her team offer more than 60 years combined franchise industry expertise and her personal experience as a franchise owner gives her a unique perspective to help her clients assess their real opportunities, risks and timing to make sound decisions about buying a franchise opportunity. Kuban is a guest lecturer for MBA, and EMBA programs at Emory, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State University and is a founding member of the Georgia State University Franchise Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.