Growing a Franchise
With roughly two decades in franchising, Greenwood has built his career around education, relationships and finding the right people to grow alongside a brand.
Franchise Sales Leader: Brent Greenwood
Brand: Sport Clips* Haircuts
Brent Greenwood did not set out to build a career in franchising. Like many longtime industry leaders, he found his way into the business almost by accident.
After spending the early part of his career in sales and sales leadership, Greenwood relocated for personal reasons and began looking for another sales-focused opportunity. That search led him to JAN-PRO Commercial Cleaning Systems, where he worked with a master franchisee and received his first meaningful exposure to franchise development.
“I knew little to nothing about franchising at that time,” Greenwood said. “But the part of the role that I absolutely loved the most was franchise development. I have to credit JAN-PRO with helping me become passionate about the world of franchising.”
That passion ultimately took Greenwood to Firehouse Subs and, later, to Sport Clips, where he now serves as vice president of franchise development. Over roughly 20 years in the industry, he has developed an approach to franchise sales centered less on closing deals and more on understanding people.
Greenwood said it took him about six months in franchising before the relationship between franchisor and franchisee truly clicked. Once it did, he recognized how closely franchise development aligned with what had always drawn him to sales.
“What I love most about sales is helping solve a need for consumers,” he said. “In franchising, it wasn’t much different. I found that I was able to help people realize dreams of business ownership.”
That perspective continues to shape the way Greenwood approaches candidates today. While awareness of franchising has improved over the course of his career, he believes education remains one of the most important responsibilities of any franchise development professional.
For prospective entrepreneurs, particularly those who want greater control over their careers without building a company entirely from scratch, franchising can provide a compelling middle ground.
“It helps them achieve their goals of being in business for themselves but not by themselves,” Greenwood said. “Education has certainly gotten better over the years, but I think we still have a long way to go to really educate the general public on what franchising is all about.”
Greenwood has also watched franchise development become increasingly sophisticated. Established systems such as Sport Clips can draw on decades of franchisee performance to identify characteristics associated with successful owners and make the discovery process more data-driven.
Still, Greenwood cautions against reducing franchise selection to a spreadsheet. “At the end of the day, it’s all about people,” he said. “You can’t just look at somebody’s background and experience and jump to conclusions about what they’re going to be able to accomplish in your model.”
Instead, he believes franchise sales leaders need to spend enough time with candidates to understand their motivations, personalities and goals. At Sport Clips, that means examining both objective criteria and less tangible qualities such as grit, leadership and a commitment to people.
“You really have to spend the proper amount of time getting to know each individual person, what drives them and what made them express interest in the brand to begin with,” Greenwood said. “Those that come to us and have that natural grit and determination typically exceed expectations and get up to speed much more quickly.”
That focus on fit may be the clearest expression of Greenwood’s philosophy as a franchise sales leader. Sport Clips describes its franchisees as “team leaders,” and Greenwood looks for candidates who embody what the company calls a “playmaker” mentality: people-centric leaders who are willing to build relationships, create strong cultures and support the employees operating their stores.
“We really shy away from using ‘semi-absentee’ as a word to describe our model,” he said. “It’s really more of a manager-managed model. This is not an absent opportunity. It absolutely requires highly engaged team leaders.”
That engagement does not necessarily mean working behind the counter every day. Rather, owners are expected to focus on recruiting, marketing, leadership and culture.
“It’s really kind of people squared,” Greenwood said. “Master all things related to the people side of the business. That takes a full-time commitment, but not necessarily an in-store commitment.”
For Greenwood, that mindset extends to franchise development itself. The objective is not simply to add another location. It is to bring in owners who can succeed, scale and remain part of the system for decades.
“It’s all about selecting the right franchisees, the right team leaders,” he said. “That’s the most important thing that we do. We don’t compromise just to get a store open. We make sure they’re right for us and that they’re going to be set up for success and have a great relationship with us for the next 10 or 20 years.”
After roughly two decades in franchising, Greenwood says the part of the business that originally captured his attention remains the part that keeps him motivated today: watching entrepreneurs build something meaningful.
Sport Clips has been around for more than 30 years, and Greenwood is now seeing first-generation franchise owners pass businesses to their children. At some Discovery Days, he said, a significant share of attendees are pursuing the brand through its next-generation ownership process.
“They’ve been peeking behind the curtain since they were kids, and they still want to be a part of this,” Greenwood said. “That’s reinforcement that this is a legacy-building business opportunity.”
For franchise sales professionals, Greenwood’s career offers a straightforward lesson: the agreement itself is not the finish line. The real measure of good franchise development comes years later, when the people who were brought into the system have built businesses, created opportunities and perhaps even prepared the next generation to take over.
“The world of franchising is littered with success stories,” Greenwood said. “That’s probably what keeps all of us franchise development folks driving for that next right franchisee for our brand.”
Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisees find the right franchise opportunity? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and start your journey.
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