Why This Insurance Expert Decided to Franchise With The Growth Coach

The Growth Coach, a 65-unit small-business coaching franchise under the Strategic Franchising Systems umbrella, is growing rapidly as demand for small-business support booms following the pandemic. The Growth Coach specializes in group workshops and individual coaching. Its goal is to help small business owners, managers, sales people, self-employed professionals and executives gain greater focus and leverage to work less, earn more and enjoy more fulfilling lives. Today, The Growth Coach is active in more than 100 markets in the United States and abroad thanks to dedicated franchisees like Jeff Roberts, the owner of the West Kansas City location.

Roberts came to The Growth Coach following a 30-year career in the insurance industry. “I owned my own independent insurance agency for three decades,” he said. “After a merger, I became the President of Acquisitions and the CFO for another insurance agency. During that time, I had a lot of opportunities to work with small businesses and optimize growth. I come from a small business family. My wife and I had a self storage business and helped manage a family restaurant.”

In 2018, Roberts moved to Kansas City and wanted to take control of his own destiny as a business owner once again. “I enjoyed the corporate world, but I was ready to go independent again in a new city,” he said. “I thought I would do insurance consulting for insurance agencies, but then I found The Growth Coach. It was a great franchise with a model I loved, and I knew coaching would allow me to broaden my experience beyond the insurance industry and use my knowledge to help other small businesses thrive.” 

Unlike most business coaching franchises that focus on projects and individual coaching, The Growth Coach built a proven model of group coaching that allows franchisees to build an enviable business and leverage their time so they can reach more clients in a standard workweek. The brand’s systems generate strong results for clients and open the door to a wide range of additional project work, sales coaching and management consulting. 

“The Growth Coach appealed to me because they had the foundation and tools in place,” said Roberts. “You don’t have to start from scratch. You can take the brand’s marketing, products, resources and tools for a faster ramp-up. The business model is also flexible and allows me to leverage my 30-years of leadership and development experience in the insurance industry to help each individual client, communicate with the teams and make businesses stronger. The business world is so dynamic, so it is important to have that flexibility.”

Roberts officially signed on with the brand in fall of 2019 and launched in March of 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic kicked into full gear. “My entire coaching career has been during a pandemic, which has been challenging but also very rewarding,” he said. “Despite those challenges, growth has been phenomenal and far exceeded my expectations. I signed my first client in May of 2020 and signed one almost every month after that for the next six months. Now, I am continuing that trajectory.” 

Business leaders are increasingly desperate for support following pandemic-related challenges, such as labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, which is part of the reason why The Growth Coach doubled its annual revenue in 2021. And with over 28 million small businesses in the U.S., The Growth Coach offers franchisees like Roberts an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of those in their local market. 

“The Growth Coach made some big adjustments post-COVID to ensure their tools and products aligned with what clients want, including more virtual interactions,” said Roberts. “The brand has really positioned themselves well for the future as it appeals to the business leaders and owners of today.” 

Since opening his location two years ago, Roberts says he couldn’t have succeeded without the many people who were there to support him every step of the way. “The Growth Coach corporate team is full of great people who are super supportive and want franchisees to succeed,” said Roberts. “My wife has also been a big part of that success as well — she is the ‘coach's coach’. She went to training with me and has been incredibly supportive and critical to our growth.”

Looking ahead, The Growth Coach is leveraging its recent momentum for an ambitious expansion plan, aiming to establish 300 franchise locations in 25 countries by 2027. As The Growth Coach gears up for widespread franchise growth, it is seeking passionate entrepreneurs like Roberts in markets across the country to join its network of franchise owners.

The total investment required to start a The Growth Coach franchise ranges from $42,000 to $63,900, one of the lowest in the executive coaching segment. This also includes a franchise fee of $27,900. For more information on franchising with The Growth Coach, visit: https://growthcoachfranchise.com/