Learn How to Franchise a Business

Steve Beagelman is a franchise industry veteran of more than 30 years who held positions ranging from entrepreneur to senior level executive, giving him a unique insight and perspective in growing, operating, and building brands. In 2009, Steve established SMB Franchise Advisors, a franchise consulting company specializing in advising franchise start-ups and existing franchise concepts of ways to drive business growth. His experience includes top-level positions with such franchise brands as Hollywood Tans, Saladworks, Rita’s Italian Ice, Restaurant Systems International and Takeout Taxi. At the age of 21, Steve also spearheaded his own franchise operation as the co-founder of Black Tie Express, a start-up multi-restaurant delivery service. Under his guidance, Black Tie Express successfully grew to a 30-unit operation. Within three years, he built a successful company and then completed the title sale to the number one market leader, Takeout Taxi. He is a frequent guest speaker at International Franchise Association conferences and is a regular contributor to business franchise industry publications, including Forbes, serving as both source and author. Steve is also a contributor to a recent franchise book, “So You Want to Franchise Your Business”. He has been quoted numerous times as an expert in Franchising World, Franchise Times and the Wall Street Journal. Steve received his Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) in 2006 from the International Franchise Association and holds a degree in Business Administration from Pace University, specializing in Business Management.

Ed assists our new franchisor clients with all of the business decisions involved in a franchise offering including fee structures, financial qualifications for franchisee prospects, and general terms of the franchise agreement. As part of that process, he analyzes unit economics to enable inclusion of financial representations in the Franchise Disclosure Document, and helps our clients to determine an accurate portrayal of franchisee startup costs. Ed also prepares financial projections on future growth potential of the franchise system. For franchisor clients with existing franchise systems, Ed provides a variety of services, including benchmarking performance analysis, budgeting, business coaching, and assistance with franchisee financing issues. Ed has more than 35 years experience in finance and accounting, including over 15 years of experience in franchising. Ed has served as an independent franchise and finance consultant, providing outsourced CFO services and financial modeling to a variety of companies, primarily in the franchising arena. Prior to becoming a consultant, Ed served as Vice President of Finance for Rita’s Water Ice for eight years. He has held financial management positions across a variety of companies including Memorex and Automatic Data Processing (ADP), as well, as several start-up organizations. Ed also has experience as a small business owner, operating a franchise in the retail space. Ed has a strong reputation for his ability to generate complex financial models, but equally as important his ability to easily convey their output and how they can drive actionable business decisions. He received his CFE certification from the International Franchise Association in 2007. Ed holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Rutgers University and a MBA in Finance from LaSalle University.

Joanne grew up in the franchising industry, working with Rita’s Water Ice as the very first employee and later helping the company franchise over 300 units through key roles she held in operations, training, real estate and development. She also owned one of the top performing franchised units with Rita’s in Newtown, PA. She then joined Saladworks, the nation’s best-known salad restaurant franchise. She was the Director of Franchise Development when they received top awards by industry experts for their development. She has helped hundreds of franchisees identify and secure locations as well as guide them through the entire development process, from signing their franchise to procuring financing. She has translated this experience into the right systems and tools for emerging brand development and she works closely with SMB clients who need to create, streamline or rework their process to achieve strategic growth. Joanne has a degree in Business Administration from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Business Administration from Drexel University. Joanne likes being able to work with SMB clients who have a unique selling proposition and need the help of an experienced franchise executive to expand into new markets.

Dawn joined the SMB team in the fall of 2011 and brings with her extensive retail and franchising experience in the coffee, food, convenience, gift and floral industries. Working with SMB’s franchisor clients, Dawn leads the areas of marketing, social media, public relations, web development and lead generation as well as contributing to organization and operations process development. In over 20 years in the franchising industry, she has managed several brand acquisitions for expansion into new markets, which involved brand integration and re-imaging. She has been a category buyer managing over $20 million in margin revenues and has led marketing initiatives including the creation of monthly promotions, POP design, media and advertising budgets for systems from 35 units to 1000 units. She acted as the corporate liaison for franchise advisory councils and managed operations for a Philadelphia based franchise system. Not only has she worked for the franchisor, she has also been a franchisee, overseeing operations and marketing development for a retail unit. Dawn has a Bachelors Degree in Architectural Engineering from Drexel University, and has continued graduate study in the areas of Marketing and Business Administration. She enjoys sharing her experience with companies who are learning how to franchise as well as those who want a fresh perspective of where they fit in the industry and how best to expand into new markets.

Frank Closurdo is an insightful, entrepreneurial, idea-driven business leader with more 25 years of experience in building brands across a diversity of sectors — consumer packaged goods, business to business, management consulting and life sciences. He possesses a broad range of commercial and marketing experience in both Fortune 100 and entrepreneurial start-up organizations. His deep marketing expertise spans the product lifecycle – driving insights into early product development, managing product portfolio, designing brand strategies for product pre-launch/launch, and maximizing business growth for existing brands. Throughout his career, Frank has worked on an array of brands ranging from small niche brands to some of the world’s most recognizable brands – Tylenol, Motrin, Johnson & Johnson. Throughout his career he has held positions of increasing responsibility with such companies as Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Pillsbury. Most recently, he was the Chief Marketing Officer at OptiNose US, Inc., a private-equity backed, small start up pharmaceutical company, leading all commercialization and valuation strategies to solidify business partnerships. His role in leading the commercial due diligence assessment of a potential opportunity resulted in achieving a commercialization licensing partnership with Avanir Pharmaceuticals. Frank received his degree in Business Administration – with a specialization in marketing – from Wayne State University. He has guest lectured at Villanova University, teaching marketing strategy. Frank brings a strategic perspective to SMB and clients who need a fresh idea for their brand.

Teddy has 20 years of progressive creative and marketing experience with a focus on strategic corporate branding, direct response advertising, and consumer retention/loyalty for the franchise, advertising, food, retail, apparel and print industries. For over a decade, prior to launching his own full-service creative agency, Attack Life Creative, he fulfilled the role as Creative Director for Philly Pretzel Factory, helping them to grow to over 180+ national locations by analyzing challenges from the consumer, franchisee, franchisor and stake-holder’s perspective. Teddy’s experience and creativity allow him to help companies develop their corporate identities, marketing campaign initiatives, and overall marketing and design strategies.

Teddy graduated valedictorian of his class with a degree in Specialized Technology and earned his Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) from the International Franchise Association in 2017. He joined SMB Franchise Advisors in 2019 and is excited to work with clients to define the visual voice of their brand.

James Mowery, CFE has over 19 years of franchising experience as a franchisor, franchisee, and supplier. James has been a Certified Franchise Executive since 2007 and specializes guiding startups, businesses looking to expand and “turn around” initiatives within the franchise industry. He possesses an extensive technology background along with years of project management experience. Since 2010 James has been a certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute and also obtained a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration of Computer Information Systems. He has worked in a variety of industries such as the service industry, small to medium business consulting, medical and health, manufacturing, and Department of Defense. James enjoys combining his experience and skills in guiding others to achieve their business goals.

Before joining SMB, James was the President of Fetch! Pet Care, Inc. in Dayton, Ohio. While there he served as the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Other roles include Director of IT and Process Improvement at DNA Diagnostics Center, being the CIO, COO and President of a nationwide tax franchise, and President and Partner of a Pet Butler franchise.

James is currently the Chair of the Institute of Certified Franchise Executives Board of Governors and a member of the Executive Committee for the IFA Foundation. He has a passion for teaching franchising and mentoring others in the franchising industry.

Bob has over 30 years of experience with McDonald’s Corporation as an operations executive who started from the ground up, and as a multi-unit owner/operator. He brought 29 locations of Five Guys Burgers and Fries to the Philadelphia / Tri-State Market as COO of the franchise company where he was responsible for real estate, architecture, engineering, construction, equipment purchasing, vendor sourcing, profitability, HR, operations, marketing, organizational design and development. With a background like this – working both sides of the franchisor / franchisee relationship – Bob looks to help SMB Clients grow their business with strategic coaching and consulting, while being a hands-on out-sourced COO. Having worked with the biggest, and at the beginning with Five Guys – one of the smallest franchising companies – he has learned much from both experiences to share with SMB Clients. While his background content is food, he provides an effective management process to any brick & mortar restaurant or retail operation.

Ken has more than forty years in the Restaurant, Franchise and Hospitality Industries having worked in multi-unit management and leadership positions with some of the country’s most recognizable Quick Service Restaurant and Fast Casual brands. Brands like KFC, Taco Bell, Sonic and the Busch Entertainment theme park division. He has experience with large franchised restaurant organizations and large franchisors alike, as well as experience as a Fast-Casual franchisee himself when he owned and operated three Saladworks restaurants in the Philadelphia area from 2005 to 2009. Ken was also the Director of Franchise Services and Vice President of Operations at Rita’s Italian Ices, A 400-unit frozen dessert chain with responsibility for the Operations, Marketing, Distribution and Research and Development Departments where he was a key participant in the concept’s growth from a small regional brand to a national brand. More recently he spent ten years as a Regional Operations Manager with Dunkin Donuts coaching franchisees and their restaurant teams on driving operations execution as well as monitoring food safety and procedural compliance and working with cross functional partners in real estate development, construction and marketing. Ken is highly respected in the franchise industry and enjoys working with new and emerging franchisees in developing their systems, processes and procedures that helps to ensure each brands consistency as they grow. Ken has a degree in Business Administration from Rider University and a degree in Organizational Dynamics from Immaculata University as well as CFE designation from the International Franchise Association.

Fern has over 35 years of experience in many facets of the franchising industry. Most recently, she worked for McDonald’s where she was responsible for optimizing the marketplace through new site development while maximizing system profits, regional income and return on investment. Fern was responsible for all real estate activities within her assigned area. She began her career at Meineke where she held the positions of Director of Real Estate, with responsibility for the company’s development and expansion, Regional Development Manager and National Advertising Manager. Through her career in franchising she has also worked for Lee Myles, Manhattan Bagel and Rita’s Water Ice in Real Estate Manager and Director positions. She enjoys working with new franchise owners to assist them through the franchise development process.

Dave is a sales and marketing professional and Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) with an established background in building relationships and territories. For SMB clients, Dave helps implement and manage franchise development sales strategies. Dave also provides outsourced franchise sales support including lead generations, discovery day support and signing new franchisees. Dave comes with over 20 years of franchise experience, most recently as the Franchising Manager for Dunkin’ Brands. There his primary responsibilities were to source, interview and recruit new franchisees and sell additional stores to existing franchisees. While at Dunkin’ Donuts, Dave recruited 45 new franchisees/area developers which amounted to the opening of over 250 stores. Prior to working for Dunkin Donuts, Dave owned and operated a franchise/sales consulting business in South Florida. There he developed the territory into the most successful in the state from a client base of zero. Dave uses his expertise in promoting and presenting businesses and franchises to help clients wishing to enter the franchise path to success.

Barbara joined our SMB team in January 2021 and brings with her 25 years of experience in project management and human resources. Her experience includes work in both government and education systems for over 15 years. Barbara was a small business owner herself with extensive experience in operations, personnel and financial management. Her experience includes managing employee evaluations, budgeting, cash management, and creating Train the Trainer programs. Barbara has assisted with supporting SMB clients at several networking and franchise expo events over the last several years. Barbara holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Human Resources. She enjoys working with franchisors to get them up and running with a clear focus on successful outcomes.