How Express Employment Professionals Offers a Scalable Business Model

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Fast Track Incentive Lets Franchisees Earn Back Fees Fast

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How This Franchisee Earned Back His Full Franchise Fee With Express Employment Professionals

Betting on His Community: How Zak Kraehmer Built a Thriving Express Employment Professionals Franchise in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Express Employment Professionals' Fast Track Incentive Gives New Franchisees the Chance to Earn Back Their Franchise Fee

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For most of his career,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-minkowicz">Martin Minkowicz</a> worked on the sales side of workforce solutions, helping companies solve hiring problems at scale. Business ownership was never part of the plan. But within his first year as an&nbsp;<a href="https://expressfranchising.com/">Express Employment Professionals</a> franchise owner in Union, New Jersey, Minkowicz not only built early traction, but he also earned back 100% of his franchise fee through the brand’s Double Fast Track sales program.<h2>From Corporate Sales to Local Ownership</h2>Minkowicz spent most of his career in sales, starting in commission-based mortgage work before transitioning into finance and later recruiting-adjacent roles in job board and internet marketing sales. His work put him in front of large national brands, selling at scale and often over the phone.But after being laid off in mid-2024, he revisited an idea he had first considered years earlier: owning an&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info">Express</a> franchise. “I never thought that I could be an actual business owner,” Minkowicz said. “But the support that Express gives showed me that I don’t have to figure this all out by myself.”That support was a key factor in his decision to move forward. After attending Discovery Day in August, he signed his franchise agreement and officially opened his Union office on January 6, 2025.“It was kind of a blessing that we opened up in January,” he said. “Fresh start, new year, got through the holidays and it was like, all right, let’s start working.”<h2>Building Early Momentum Through Face-to-Face Sales</h2>From day one, Minkowicz leaned into what he knew best: getting in front of people. Rather than spending his early months behind a desk, he focused on meeting local business owners face-to-face, building relationships across small and mid-sized companies in his territory.“I’m not really a business owner type who wants to sit in the office,” he said. “I like talking to people in person. I like walking in and saying, ‘You’re a business owner. I’m a business owner too. I get how hard it is.’”Instead of relying on phone calls or scripted outreach, Minkowicz got out into the territory, walking into businesses and speaking directly with owners about the realities of running a company and managing hiring.<h2>Fast Track Goals as a Motivator, Not a Shortcut</h2>As a new Express franchise owner, Minkowicz was eligible for the brand’s Fast Track program, an incentive designed to help new owners build early traction.Under the program, franchisees can earn back:<ul><li>50% of the franchise fee by either billing 16 clients in one week or reaching $65,000 in gross margin within the first 26 weeks.</li><li>100% of the franchise fee by achieving both benchmarks, known as Double Fast Track.</li></ul>For Minkowicz, Fast Track didn’t change how he sold. Instead, it gave him a clear scoreboard.“As a salesperson, I’m always measuring myself against something,” he said. “Having that number motivates me to beat it.”By week 26, his Union office had reached 17 active clients, surpassing the required threshold and qualifying him for Double Fast Track. He had expected to hit the gross margin goal, but the client count milestone came together at the same time.The moment landed on a personal note. He found out the same day he had planned a long-scheduled dinner with his wife.“It ended up being on the day that I found out,” he said. “I didn’t think we were going to be celebrating anything, and it turned out to be awesome.”<h2>Hands-On Support That Reduced the Learning Curve</h2>Throughout his first year, Minkowicz leaned heavily on Express’s support structure, especially his franchise developer.“He’s been a wealth of knowledge,” Minkowicz said. “He’ll pick up the phone anytime and say, ‘Let’s talk about it. What can I help you with?’”In the early months, questions came up fast. Minkowicz said having someone he could call for operational or technology issues meant problems didn’t linger and he could keep the business moving.As his office grew to include additional staff, that support became part of the workflow, helping his team solve problems and build confidence independently.<h2>A First Year That Reinforced the Model</h2>By the end of year one, Minkowicz had not only earned back his full franchise fee but also hit every performance goal set by Express, including reaching 26 clients by week 52.Now focused on growth and potential hiring, Minkowicz often talks with prospective franchisees who come from similar sales-driven backgrounds.“If you’re a salesperson, you can figure everything else out,” he said. “This feels like business-ownership lite, because there’s so much support there.”For him, that structure turned what once felt out of reach into a sustainable path forward, one built on relationships, consistency and a system designed to reward early effort.For more information on buying an Express Employment Professionals franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info">https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info</a>.&nbsp;

Hands-on developer support and clear early benchmarks helped Express franchise owner Martin Minkowicz hit his sales goals and recoup his full franchise fee in the first six months.

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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&nbsp;<a href="https://expressfranchising.com/">Express Employment Professionals</a>, 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.<h2>A Built-In Goal From Day One</h2><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eilish-bel-aa06256/">Eilish Bel</a>, owner of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.expresspros.com/us-florida-tampa-northwest">Express Employment Professionals Tampa NW</a>, first learned about&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment">Express</a> 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."&nbsp;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.”<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-barrera-9a38427/">Julie Barrera</a>, owner of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.expresspros.com/us-texas-dallas-north">Express Employment Professionals North Dallas</a>, 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.”<h2>Turning the Incentive Into a Team-Wide Mission</h2>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&nbsp; get one, it motivates you to keep going towards that goal.”<h2>Weekly Coaching and Accountability</h2>Both franchisees pointed to&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/express-franchisee-earns-back-franchise-fee-union-nj-2731564">Express’ developer program and Fast Track coaching as key to their success</a>. 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?”<h2>Confidence That Carries Forward</h2>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.”<h2>Advice for New Owners</h2>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&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info">https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info</a>.&nbsp;

The incentive rewards early performance and gives new owners a clear path to recouping their initial investment while building strong habits.

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When&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharykraehmer/">Zak</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-kraehmer-27040118a/">Nicole Kraehmer</a> opened an&nbsp;<a href="https://expressfranchising.com/">Express Employment Professionals</a> franchise in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in August 2019, staffing wasn’t the plan. But owning a business was.Zak had considered entering Nicole’s family business but wanted something different. The opportunity for “different” arrived through a friend who owned an&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info">Express</a> office in upstate New York. Meetings with leadership and other franchise owners sealed the deal quickly.“We were immediately hooked on the feeling of the brand and the franchise as a whole,” Zak said. “It really felt like family.”With that, the Kraehmers sold their home, packed up their lives with two young children and moved three and a half hours south to open their new office. “It was a huge decision,” Zak said. “But really, it was the brand. The way they treated us and the systems they had in place made us feel comfortable that this was something we could be successful in.”<h2>Learning the Ropes</h2>Zak came to franchising following stints in financial services and his father-in-law’s insurance agency. He also brought prior franchising experience from the operation of a youth sports franchise territory. Most importantly, he and his wife possessed years of customer-facing work in food service, experience Zak recalls as surprisingly relevant.“Customer service, urgency, hard work and understanding what it takes each day to move the ball forward are critical. Taking care of clients, associates and candidates — that’s the intangible part,” Zak said. “Any significant customer-facing role helps prepare you. Whether it’s food service, banking or financial services, there’s a sense of pace and urgency. You learn to work for what you get. You learn how to build relationships. That goes a long way.”From the start, the Kraehmers ran the franchise as a true partnership. Zak focused on outside sales, while Nicole managed recruiting, payroll and inside operations. Their shared goals and clear division of responsibilities allowed them to scale quickly and maintain balance, especially in the early, pressure-filled months of the new business.Early challenges can be steep. With no clients or associates, momentum was everything. And the couple’s collective work ethic helped enable early success.“We grew very quickly from nothing,” Zak said. “Looking back, we had no choice. We had two young kids and a limited amount of money in the bank. That sense of urgency drove everything.”<h2>Thick Skin and Relentless Work</h2>The emotional swings of staffing were an early surprise. But Zak quickly found a solution through that work ethic.“Sell, sell, sell,” Zak said. “The work you do this week won’t show up immediately. You can have a bad day, but not a bad week. Every day matters.”Growing a franchise quickly isn’t common. It’s difficult. And scaling his business early taught Zak the importance of hiring the right internal team and the skills worth prioritizing. But some skills can’t be taught.“Even though we’re a staffing company, it’s hard to find the right internal people,” he said. “It’s skill, hill or will. I can teach skill. We can get over a hill together. But I can’t give someone the will to work. Having the right people in the right place at the right time is everything.”<h2>Showing Up Matters</h2>In a crowded market, the Kraehmers’ Lancaster office stands out through hands-on ownership. But those early days in franchising taught him the value of another important skill: communication. “I heard over and over that staffing companies didn’t communicate,” Zak said. “So we overcommunicate. Whether it’s good news or bad news,we communicate.”Involvement within his local community has also played a significant role in Kraehmer’s early Express success. From visiting clients to coaching youth sports, strengthening relationships at the local level has paid significant dividends as the couple has successfully scaled their business in South Central Pennsylvania. That local focus has helped develop bonds that continue to impact the couple’s approach even several years in.“On the client side, we built a deep partnership with one longtime client in particular. Even when their corporate office introduced another staffing company, that client chose to stick with us. We’re invited to lunches and grand openings. It just goes beyond business,” Zak said. “We treat people like people, not numbers.”<h2>Looking Ahead</h2>Today, Zak tracks revenue, placements and activity, balancing quantity and quality, remaining grounded. And, looking forward, he hopes for growth that’s both steady and focused on people.&nbsp;“It’s not a set-it-and-forget-it business. It’s stressful. But it’s also incredibly rewarding. If you focus on people and follow the system, growth follows,” Zak said. “If you’re not a people person, you won’t enjoy this. This isn’t a sit-behind-your-desk job. You have to be active, involved and present.”For Zak and Nicole, success isn’t just measured in placements or revenue. It’s built on the relationships they’ve strengthened and the community they’ve helped grow. Because at the end of the day, growing a business is all about people, persistence and partnership.About Express Employment ProfessionalsAt Express Employment Professionals, we're in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Our international network of franchises offers localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, employing more than 10 million since its inception. For more information, visit ExpressFranchising.com.For prospective franchise owners, the initial investment to launch an Express traditional model ranges between $131,000 to $241,700, inclusive of a $40,000 franchise fee. More details regarding franchise costs can be found at&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info">https://1851franchise.com/expressemployment/info</a>.

Express Employment Professionals franchise

From local roots to regional growth — Express franchise owner Zak Kraehmer shares how grit, strong relationships and strategic risk-taking helped him build a thriving franchise.