Young Ones: Rich Stark

Name: Rich Stark Rank: 19 Age: 38 Company: Stark Logic With shifts in technology, franchisors and franchisees alike need someone to have their backs. Thankfully, Rich Stark, Founder and CEO of Stark Logic, has a cape fit for a hero – a Search Engine Optimization hero. Stark has constantly challenged technological advancements to ensure he can beat down Google with a SEO stick and maintain top notch searchability for the brands he represents. In fact, shiftability could be his middle name as the budding entrepreneur has grown his company thanks to persistence and constant networking. If you don’t know Rich, you will soon. He has a plan to network at every franchise event possible – not in the cheesy used car salesman way – but more so in the Batman-caped support system type way. I GOT INTO FRANCHISING BY: We were brought in as an outsourced company to provide SEO services for a franchise specific marketing company. I LOVE FRANCHISING: We split from the marketing company to brand our own line of Internet marketing solutions and we felt that there was a large hole in franchise marketing on the Internet and that we could really help a lot of companies navigate the complexities of online marketing. Oh yeah, and the people are really great to network with. IN THE FUTURE: As a service provider specializing in online marketing, our goal is to be the one stop shop for franchises with respect to internet marketing. From franchise corporate websites and franchisee micro sites to organic search optimization and local web site marketing, we want to be the leader in the franchise space for these services. DO YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE OPPORTUNITY: I think that technology is changing quickly and young people are more represented on the supplier side of franchising. As far as franchisors, there are some young people who are really coming up in franchising and changing the way traditional franchises have been run. There are some young guys with a lot of hefty goals who are making huge leaps in franchising. FUTURE FRANCHISORS SHOULD: My advice for new franchisors is to attend as many of the franchise networking events as possible and to work with people who specialize in franchise services. There are many people who can help a new franchisor navigate some of the more common issues that come up and, overall, people in this industry are always open to helping other franchisors. While franchises in general are the largest employer in the United States, the industry itself is quite small (almost like a family) and it's great to get to know other franchisors. FUTURE FRANCHISEES SHOULD: My advice for franchisees is to follow the guidelines set forth by the franchisors. The franchisor has built a system that has worked. Keep on the path they have created and you will be successful. If you decide to change the branding or do things off the path set forth by the franchisor, you will not find the same success.   --NICK POWILLS