The Marketing Secret to Building a Billion-Dollar Franchise Empire

Eric J Eden:
0:58

Welcome to today's episode. Our guest today is John Hewitt. He is the Hewitt and Jackson Hewitt. He has over 55 years of experience helping people start businesses. He's helped over a thousand people become millionaires. Welcome to the show. Thank you, our pleasure. I think we'd all love to hear about some of the best marketing you've ever done. But before we jump into that, why don't you just share a minute or two about your background? I know it's long, I could spend the whole show going through your achievements, but maybe you could just share a few minutes about who you are and what you're doing today, and then we could jump into your great story.

John T Hewitt:
1:43

Okay, 55 years ago I started working at H&R Block Club time while I was at the University of Buffalo and loved it. 12 years later I was running to our 50 H&R Block Club patients. I loved that. It was 1981. My dad was CFO of the public company. He had bought one of the first apples by mail and he liked it better than the mainframe that was running his public company. So he decided we should come purize taxes. So we both left our jobs and built the first tax software for an Apple computer. No one wanted it. We got lucky and found a company in Virginia Beach called Mel Jackson Tax Earth. Mel had died. We bought six opposites from his widow and changed the name to Jackson US when public and 15 years later sold it for $483 million, went on to become a billion dollar company with 6,000 locations. So I developed software, then a billion dollar company, and I could beat the lasted for three years. But it didn't cover Canada because Jackson US never got into Canada. And hey, have a grown up in Buffalo. I knew the Canadian tax system. So we opened Liberty Tax in Canada and within three years became one of the 100 top retail franchise chains in Canada. So now I've done it once in US, once in Canada.

John T Hewitt:
3:08

My doctor P then did in 2000,. Came back to the United States and now I had to compete against my own name, my own software, my own system at Jackson US. And yet we grew faster than them and HR walking by. In 12 years we opened 4,000 locations Again the top 100 retail chain. So now I've brought in 5,000 franchisees in my career, two half a billion dollar companies. So my stock started at Lowrylty Brands. At Lowrylty Brands we have eight different franchisors. So that's my 55 years. In a nutshell.

Eric J Eden:
3:45

Wow, that is incredible and remarkable. So a lot of the greatness there is in franchise marketing, right. And that's what you're doing with loyalty brands, is that right?

John T Hewitt:
3:59

That's correct. It was franchise that really propelled us to grow so exponentially.

Eric J Eden:
4:05

So I think, with loyalty brands in particular, you have a unique approach to franchise marketing. Not all franchise marketing is equal, is my understanding, but clearly you've had success in building it and helping 5,000 people start their own business and helping 1,000 people become millionaires. What is in that unique marketing approach in franchise marketing that's been so successful?

John T Hewitt:
4:33

Number one key to my success is that there's two major things. One is that when you grow something exponentially when you're Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Henry Block or John Hewitt you have to have a vision that's fairly accurate, and then you have to convince everyone to buy it. You have to convince your stockholders, your employees, your vendors, your customers, the general public. You have to convince everyone. So I've had that ability to get everyone many people to jump on the bandwagon and the way that I've done that is. And the second thing is that I always went one was best for every person, and it's not best for every person to join me, but when it is and I'm going to present a case that's a deal you can't refuse. So the ultimate key is doing what's right for every person.

Eric J Eden:
5:33

That makes sense. Everybody gets a prize, right.

John T Hewitt:
5:37

Everyone has a place where they can be extraordinary, and when it's with me, that's extra good, but when it's not, god bless you.

Eric J Eden:
5:45

And so how did you help these 5,000 people who wanted to start a business and that started franchises? A lot of them went on and became millionaires. How did you help them become successful with the franchise? What was the formula?

John T Hewitt:
6:05

there, First of all as a franchise or it's my job, to give them the best system in the industry. That includes taking the pulse of the industry and make sure you're up to date with changing times. For example, I described in inventing the first tax software in 1981, being on the cutting edge. So being on the cutting edge is important, but you have to develop the best system and then believe it or not, with all my experience, that if I do my job, your job is to pay attention and follow that system and you would think that people are going to pay me money and they're going to respect the fact that I know way more than they ever will. Then they're going to listen, but in all over 5,000 people I brought in, not one person's ever listened to 100%. So I have to do two things. One is to develop the system and secondly, every great system is improving. So that includes improving the system yearly. And then I have to just go way out of my way to get enforced the system and to get people to power the system.

Eric J Eden:
7:21

Yeah, it's interesting. I remember the story that got made into a movie the founder about McDonald's and how all the McDonald's franchises want to do all their own different things. In the beginning they were like no, you had to follow the system. So I think that's the key to franchising is that you develop a great system and people need to follow it.

John T Hewitt:
7:39

My 10-year-old grandson, Charles, could go to the grocery store and buy some hamburger and buy some buns and some condiments and make a better hamburger than McDonald's Cheaper. Mcdonald's doesn't have the best hamburger. They have the best system, which includes convenience and quenliness and all locations, all sorts of things. That's the key to McDonald's. You have to bet that they have the best hamburger at the best.

Eric J Eden:
8:05

So I'm curious, signing up thousands of people to run these franchises. What was the marketing that you did that convinced all of those people to sign up for your system?

John T Hewitt:
8:21

Our marketing process is pretty simple. We look for people that want to be self-employed and then we take them through a series of steps. Are you really meant to be self-employed? Because you think you are, but maybe you're not. Then is this the right industry for you? And then, if it is, is this the right company for you? I would spend a couple hours with a group every month and say here's what the industry is like. You can't leave here with any question unanswered.

John T Hewitt:
8:55

I've been doing this forever and I know more about this than anyone has. I affectionately call myself the great granddaddy of tech operation 55 years, if you can imagine, and there's no one else that's come close to that. Henry Block was who, when we developed HR Block, was only in it for about 25 years, and his son took over the blocks are only involved in HR Block for 40 years. I've been doing this for 55 years. The key is are you going to fit in the system? Because I've learned, eric, it doesn't matter how smart you are or educated or experienced, that it only matters how much you follow the system, as to how well you're going to do.

Eric J Eden:
9:41

It's very interesting. I don't know that most people going into it would realize that's the case.

John T Hewitt:
9:48

Human nature is not to follow systems, to rebel and to strike out on their own. So it goes against human nature. It's hard to it's hard, they say. Smart people learn from their respect. I don't know that many smart people, but wise people and franchisees need to learn from mistakes of others, and that's very difficult. It divides all human nature.

Eric J Eden:
10:15

And what made the system so successfully designed. I'm not looking for the secret sauce, but, broadly speaking, what made the system so time-true and tested that you developed for a tax pro?

John T Hewitt:
10:29

You know there there really are. It is no secret sauce, and I talk about the differentiators that set us apart from our competitors. And you have to have differentiators. Yeah, david, again that got on the field with the same sword and shield and armors Go I. There wouldn't be any David and go I story. He'd be the outer native night guy filled by go I. So you have to have you have to have differentiators and we have differentiators that set us apart. When I started Jackson you it I did 95% of the same thing that each of our block did, but we did just a little extra to offer better service. And they are objective things that are. They're not. We offer better service.

Eric J Eden:
11:15

So you're also a best selling author. Tell us about your book.

John T Hewitt:
11:20

Yeah, I wrote a book to. My goal is to help people improve their lives. Our mission statement is having fun, improving lives, just forwards. And I believe that on Monday morning, if you're going to work in it, I look, unfortunately you're going the wrong place. So it's not thank God, it's Friday, it's thank God, it's Monday and we're here. We're here. Some of us, like myself, are incredibly blessed and we're here to get back, and God didn't bless us just to go sit in a corner somewhere and do nothing and watch TV or play video games. We're, we're tasked with giving back, and so when we say improving lives in our mission statement, we mean everyone. We mean our customers, our employees, our franchisees, our vendors, our stockholders and the world around us. And so that that's what the book is about. It's about teaching people to improve their lives, and I'm it's called I compete.

John T Hewitt:
12:21

I read the book by Sam Walton. It's called Made in America, and they asked him the office. He said I've been asked my hundreds of times what makes me different. He said the only thing I can figure out is that I'm more a competitor than anyone else. I have to win. I'd rather die than lose, and show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. So that's what the book is about. It's competing and always trying to win, and and Vince. Somebody said we go on the field always trying to win and we have a plan, but we know we're not always going to win. We either are going to win or learn a lesson to help us more likely win in the future, and that's what my book is about.

Eric J Eden:
13:07

That's great and people listening can get a copy of it. Is that right, yeah?

John T Hewitt:
13:12

If you send me an email to john at loyaltybrandsco, then we'll fire one off to you a free copy of my book, awesome.

Eric J Eden:
13:23

Thanks so much for making that offer. Before we wrap it up, I also just wanted to ask what advice, broadly based on your extensive experience, could you share with marketers about how to compete and win? If you could share one or two things with the marketers who are listening, what would you tell them about how to go forward and compete and win?

John T Hewitt:
13:47

Again, you have to differentiate. There in the United States there's about 32 million businesses and there's about 330 million people. That means there's about one business for every 10 people and that means if you're in an area, 50,000 people, there are 5000 businesses and you're not just competing for brand against people in your own industry. 5000 businesses around you are trying to get the attention of the consumer. So you can't if everyone else is on TV. You can't be on TV. If everyone's outside of radio, you can't be on radio. You have to do things different and that's why I fell in love long ago with gorilla marketing. And we have costume characters and we go business to business and we offer free samples and we do things that that no one else is doing. And if you do things the same way as everyone else, then you're just going to disappear under the water and no one's going to see it. You have to find your own niche, your own way of getting attention.

Eric J Eden:
15:01

Amazing advice Thank you so much, John. Thank you for sharing your story and how you did so many great things in your career. We appreciate hearing about that. I encourage everyone to share this episode with your friends and everyone should hear this story. Thank you very much, John. Thank you very much, John.