Most prospective franchisees notice incentives right away. The real question is whether those benchmarks are practical and connected to the work required to grow the business.
That’s the idea behind the Fast Track incentive offered by Express Employment Professionals, the industry-leading staffing franchise. The program allows new franchise owners to earn back up to 100 percent of their franchise fee by hitting specific early performance benchmarks. Earn Fast Track once and owners can receive 50 percent of their franchise fee back. Hit Double Fast Track by meeting both benchmarks to earn 100 percent back.
Eilish Bel, owner of Express Employment Professionals Tampa NW, first learned about Express from two friends who owned offices in other states. After attending Discovery Day in December 2024, she opened her office in early 2025. Early on, she made Fast Track a clear goal.
"I hit it in week nine and then I hit the double in week 18,” Bel said. “What I did was follow the process."
Fast Track can be achieved in two ways: by billing 16 clients in one week or by reaching $65,000 in gross margin within the first 26 weeks. Owners who accomplish both hit Double Fast Track.
For Bel, that meant embracing an owner-sales role and staying active in her territory.
“If you are an owner in sales, it’s really being out there and doing calls,” she said. “My goal every week is to do 120 calls each week. It’s a combination of in-person, phone, and email, but the bulk of it is being out there getting to know your territory.”
Julie Barrera, owner of Express Employment Professionals North Dallas, entered Express with more than two decades of staffing experience, primarily in healthcare. After being laid off twice in five years, she began exploring franchising as a way to gain more control over her career.
“I already knew staffing,” Barrera said. “When I googled Express, I saw that it was one of the top franchise systems to work for.”
The Fast Track incentive stood out during her evaluation process. “I thought the benefit of earning your initial fee back if you hit Fast Track was a great perk,” Barrera said. “I had a lot of confidence in myself and my experience, and it didn’t seem like too far-fetched of a goal.”
Fast Track became more than a personal target for Barrera. It became a shared goal inside her office.
“During that first 26 weeks, it was posted everywhere in our office,” she said. “The whole team had a buy-in. Each level that we hit internally to get closer to Fast Track would benefit everybody in the office.”
Her team focused heavily on client count, while also leveraging direct-hire placements to help reach the gross margin threshold for Double Fast Track.
Bel had a similar experience, noting that early wins created momentum. “If you’re a salesperson, closing a deal gives you a rush,” she said. “Once you get one, it motivates you to keep going towards that goal.”
Both franchisees pointed to Express’ developer program and Fast Track coaching as key to their success. Bel participated in weekly calls with her developer and Fast Track coach.
“Those first few months, it’s really hard to keep track of everything,” she said. “Having that weekly call was very encouraging. They were constantly motivating me and providing me real-time feedback on what I could do better and what I should focus on."
Barrera echoed that sentiment, saying that the coaching was instrumental in helping her determine how best to utilize her time.
“Whether it was email marketing, door pulls, phone calls, training, social media, job fairs, networking, or chamber events, there was always more to do than hours in the day," she said. Those weekly touchpoints helped her team stay accountable and adjust activity levels when needed.
“If we didn’t hit our numbers, we asked why” she said. “How are we really utilizing our time?”
Earning back their franchise fees had a meaningful impact on both owners, but neither described it as purely financial.
“It really means a lot to me that Express does that,” Bel said. “For them to be able to reward you with that money back is huge as a business owner. Very grateful that that was even a possibility.”
For Barrera, hitting Fast Track confirmed that she made the right decision to franchise with Express.
“Being able to hit Fast Track showed me that we are on the right track, that we’re laying the right foundation,” she said. “It showed what my team was motivated by, how we could reach those goals. It proved to me that getting into the franchise business with Express was the right thing to do.”
Both franchisees stress that Fast Track has to be treated as a priority from the start.
“You just have to go after it from day one,” Bel said. “Activity drives results. If you don’t have the activity, you’re not going to have those results.”
Fast Track is designed to accelerate early traction, reinforce strong habits, and give new franchise owners a tangible way to build confidence in their investment.
“Express has a very good, proven, successful blueprint," said Barrera. "And as long as you follow it, it will set you up for success.”
For more information on buying an Express Employment Professionals franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info.
Express Employment Professionals
SPONSORED
The incentive rewards early performance and gives new owners a clear path to recouping their initial investment while building strong habits.
Most prospective franchisees notice incentives right away. The real question is whether those benchmarks are practical and connected to the work required to grow the business.
That’s the idea behind the Fast Track incentive offered by Express Employment Professionals, the industry-leading staffing franchise. The program allows new franchise owners to earn back up to 100 percent of their franchise fee by hitting specific early performance benchmarks. Earn Fast Track once and owners can receive 50 percent of their franchise fee back. Hit Double Fast Track by meeting both benchmarks to earn 100 percent back.
Eilish Bel, owner of Express Employment Professionals Tampa NW, first learned about Express from two friends who owned offices in other states. After attending Discovery Day in December 2024, she opened her office in early 2025. Early on, she made Fast Track a clear goal.
"I hit it in week nine and then I hit the double in week 18,” Bel said. “What I did was follow the process."
Fast Track can be achieved in two ways: by billing 16 clients in one week or by reaching $65,000 in gross margin within the first 26 weeks. Owners who accomplish both hit Double Fast Track.
For Bel, that meant embracing an owner-sales role and staying active in her territory.
“If you are an owner in sales, it’s really being out there and doing calls,” she said. “My goal every week is to do 120 calls each week. It’s a combination of in-person, phone, and email, but the bulk of it is being out there getting to know your territory.”
Julie Barrera, owner of Express Employment Professionals North Dallas, entered Express with more than two decades of staffing experience, primarily in healthcare. After being laid off twice in five years, she began exploring franchising as a way to gain more control over her career.
“I already knew staffing,” Barrera said. “When I googled Express, I saw that it was one of the top franchise systems to work for.”
The Fast Track incentive stood out during her evaluation process. “I thought the benefit of earning your initial fee back if you hit Fast Track was a great perk,” Barrera said. “I had a lot of confidence in myself and my experience, and it didn’t seem like too far-fetched of a goal.”
Fast Track became more than a personal target for Barrera. It became a shared goal inside her office.
“During that first 26 weeks, it was posted everywhere in our office,” she said. “The whole team had a buy-in. Each level that we hit internally to get closer to Fast Track would benefit everybody in the office.”
Her team focused heavily on client count, while also leveraging direct-hire placements to help reach the gross margin threshold for Double Fast Track.
Bel had a similar experience, noting that early wins created momentum. “If you’re a salesperson, closing a deal gives you a rush,” she said. “Once you get one, it motivates you to keep going towards that goal.”
Both franchisees pointed to Express’ developer program and Fast Track coaching as key to their success. Bel participated in weekly calls with her developer and Fast Track coach.
“Those first few months, it’s really hard to keep track of everything,” she said. “Having that weekly call was very encouraging. They were constantly motivating me and providing me real-time feedback on what I could do better and what I should focus on."
Barrera echoed that sentiment, saying that the coaching was instrumental in helping her determine how best to utilize her time.
“Whether it was email marketing, door pulls, phone calls, training, social media, job fairs, networking, or chamber events, there was always more to do than hours in the day," she said. Those weekly touchpoints helped her team stay accountable and adjust activity levels when needed.
“If we didn’t hit our numbers, we asked why” she said. “How are we really utilizing our time?”
Earning back their franchise fees had a meaningful impact on both owners, but neither described it as purely financial.
“It really means a lot to me that Express does that,” Bel said. “For them to be able to reward you with that money back is huge as a business owner. Very grateful that that was even a possibility.”
For Barrera, hitting Fast Track confirmed that she made the right decision to franchise with Express.
“Being able to hit Fast Track showed me that we are on the right track, that we’re laying the right foundation,” she said. “It showed what my team was motivated by, how we could reach those goals. It proved to me that getting into the franchise business with Express was the right thing to do.”
Both franchisees stress that Fast Track has to be treated as a priority from the start.
“You just have to go after it from day one,” Bel said. “Activity drives results. If you don’t have the activity, you’re not going to have those results.”
Fast Track is designed to accelerate early traction, reinforce strong habits, and give new franchise owners a tangible way to build confidence in their investment.
“Express has a very good, proven, successful blueprint," said Barrera. "And as long as you follow it, it will set you up for success.”
For more information on buying an Express Employment Professionals franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info.
Sign up for the 1851 Franchise newsletter to get our biggest stories before everyone else
By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and acknowledge our privacy policy.
No related articles found
