The Road to Waco

Just like the pairing of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope during the golden age of cinema, Ann Littman and Chelsea Sauder are off on the road to Waco. The young VP’s behind emerging Houston-based driving school franchise SafeWay Driving traveled to Waco in order to learn from various members of the area’s booming franchise industry as part of a study in conjunction with the International Franchise Association’s FranTech conference, taking place this October in Austin. They were joined by Deb Evans and Jack Monson, the team behind the industry’s popular Social Geek Radio.

“We want to spread the story of franchising, and share the positive power it has in communities throughout Texas and across the country,” said Sauder. “We’re trying to change the narrative around franchising. These are men and women that are making an impact in their communities – franchises aren’t just big chains, these are people that live and work in their communities and go into franchise ownership to realize their dream and to improve the community where they live.”

The team made a stop at franchise industry legacy brand, The Dwyer Group, during the trip to meet with members of the corporate team and learn more about how the brand has been successful since Don Dwyer opened doors in 1981. Don’s daughter, Dina Dwyer-Owens, who currently serves as co-chairwoman, took the reins as CEO later on and stepped down from the role of CEO in 2014 to focus on motivational speaking and inspiring a young generation of aspiring franchisors. Littman and Sauder both count Dwyer-Owens as an inspiration for both women in business and for those aiming to find success in franchising.

“A lot of what she has accomplished in her career is what we would like to achieve,” said Littman.

The trip also included stops at other area franchisors and franchise owned businesses such as Young Chefs Academy and Boulder Designs with a goal of sharing best practices, learning new ideas, and promoting the power of franchising.

“We’re new to the franchising industry. We’re an emerging franchise brand. So we want to learn from people who have been there for a while. We want to bring back some lessons to our franchisees and to our corporate team. We want to do it the right way. So we want to get our name out there and let people know that we exist. We want to hear what’s working and see how we can incorporate it,” said Sauder.

“We’re specifically looking into the marketing and technology that these company’s have implemented as we near FranTech,” added Littman. “We are interested in what they have done to support new franchisees into the system. We feel that we’ve found success with new technology, so we also want to share what has worked for us, and exchange the information. Franchising is a big family, so we want to help and to learn.”

Stay tuned to 1851 Franchise for updates and articles from the Waco road trip.