Summit Franchise Consulting

Seasoned and new entrepreneurs must learn to navigate the many unavoidable risks when considering business ownership and franchise opportunities. However, achieving this is easier said than done without comprehensive preparation and a deep understanding of probable challenges.

Enter Summit Franchise Consulting, a firm that analyzes a candidate's risk tolerance levels, communication style, and cultural fit to offer matching franchise opportunities.

Its understanding of financial tools and tax treatments that improve ROI and income replacement enables them to effectively address a candidate’s business and financial expectations. This helps passive investors looking to own a business as a wealth-building tool accelerate their overall acquisition roadmap.

Summit supports franchisors in developing a formal and legal franchise disclosure document (FDD) that accurately incorporates their business information by providing impactful insights and suggestions. It prioritizes consolidating a set of financial projections based on franchisor-owner discussions to assist the candidate’s evaluation and streamline the onboarding processes.

At the same time, Summit assists clients’ validation of the key assumptions inherent in its financial projections after thoroughly reading published sources on relevant subjects to understand how their business point of interest fits with a franchise’s operations. This enables them to develop appropriate questions for investors, streamlining financial projections.

Gaining crucial answers from franchisee owners allows clients to corroborate their assumptions concerning market growth and prevalent issues. It boosts collaboration between franchisors and investors to ensure the successful validation of key assumptions.

“I ask probing questions that make candidates think about their financial and business issues seriously and help them simplify the process of providing appropriate resolutions,” says Rick McCullough, CEO of Summit Franchise Consulting.

A specialist who connects franchises with potential third parties to arrange timely acquisition, McCullough receives constant feedback on how his extensive corporate, financial, executive, and ownership background helps clients address franchise-driven requirements. His former position as a practicing certified public accountant (CPA) also gives him a detailed understanding of a business’s financial reporting and disclosures, while his active ownership of Denver-based Clean Juice Franchises enables a personalized, relevant experience.

Recognizing the value of his expertise, McCullough was approached by the Franchise Brokers Association (FBA) to join as a member consultant. This membership allows him to access and create basic franchise-related information for a candidate’s education. The FBA also facilitates him to offer his extensive skillsets across 500 franchises in different sectors.

Well-versed in business structure, tax return issues, and evaluation requirements, McCullough has directed, audited, and consulted numerous businesses, business teams, and stakeholders to create billions in savings and equity value in funding transactions and stock performance for over 40 years. Institutional investors voted him CEO of the year for all small-cap public companies in the US.

He believes entrepreneurship is the principal method of creating family wealth and hopes to illustrate this to young people and help them optimize their income from investment opportunities. Placing this tenet at its core, Summit employs different approaches for all client engagements, but he deploys a largely financially focused approach. It uses skill assessment tools to evaluate candidates and gain deeper insights into their strengths, preferences, motivation, and compatibility with different organizations of varying sizes.

Summit also deploys focused financial metrics like looking at how a franchise’s annual revenues compare to its original startup costs. He likes to see a ratio of three to one or more. Likewise, he wants to see the company's bottom line results delivering more than 20 percent earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). He believes meeting these metrics helps assure the onboarding of top-performing franchises and investors to drive client success.

Recently, Summit collaborated with a young, financially-oriented real estate investor looking to diversify his investment alternatives and boost income by purchasing and developing four franchise units in a large metropolitan area. In this scenario, McCullough worked with the client to analyze his ability to assess financial risks and rewards. He then offered five to six passive investment alternatives and identified one that could deliver the desired financial results. The client picked one of the companies to engage with.

Still, McCullough warned his client that validation of results could be difficult because the only operating information shared in the FDD was for long-standing company stores. This was the company's first year of franchising, and although the company stores' results were impressive, there were no franchisees to speak to.

A few months later, Summit presented the client with a newly emerging brand that fit their specifications. Ultimately, the client considered purchasing four units, and this quick transition was made easier by the trust, rapport, and understanding Summit had of the client’s objectives.

Driven by McCullough’s expertise and ability to connect clients with franchisors that can boost their ROI and business growth, Summit remains a go-to franchise consulting partner for investors looking to enhance their finances through business ownership.