Frequently Asked Questions
Ian Nairn / August 18, 2023
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Our business model is simple - we ensure our clients are getting the best business services at the best price.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What services will I provide as a Consultant?
Our basic service is really quite simple. We review various business expenses – including telecommunications, merchant services, shipping, waste, fuel, and many more. We prepare a report summarizing the services received and costs incurred by our clients. Then we advise them, using our specialized tools and processes, about how they can improve their system and reduce their costs. If we find ways to save them money, which is almost always, our only fee is a portion of those savings. Our clients love this no-risk approach to saving them money.
2. How do I get my clients?
Schooley Mitchell franchisees obtain clients much in the same way accountants, attorneys, engineers and architects obtain theirs. As professional consultants, our franchisees develop a sales and marketing plan and utilize the extensive training, tools and support we provide them to deliver effective solutions to their clients. By building meaningful professional relationships resulting in referrals and renewals, franchisees continue to develop their business and generate revenue.
3. How do I charge my clients for my services provided?
Our franchisees charge their clients on a contingency basis. That means the client doesn’t pay a fee unless savings are found. Many clients are attracted to this concept because they don’t have to risk a large consulting fee to have their system reviewed and improved. Their fee is a percentage of the found savings. Many franchisees find this offering to be a very effective method of creating trusting relationships with clients and prospects and building up a significant base of clientele quickly.
4. Is this a home-based business?
That is certainly your choice. The majority of our franchisees start as home-based businesses to keep the overhead expenses low. Others have decided to rent a small office as soon as they begin their franchise. This is a professional business where your client interaction takes place outside of the office, whether it be at the clients’ place of business, restaurants or coffee shops. Consequently, Schooley Mitchell franchise consultants can operate very efficiently from their homes. We allow you complete freedom to operate the kind of business you think will maximize your success.
5. Is this business too good to be true?
Is this a great service that almost all businesses need? Yes. Is the Schooley Mitchell system a great system that has been developed over the years by professional people with decades of business experience? Yes. Is the market huge? Yes. Is competition very limited? Yes. Is there a great system to use and follow? Yes. Is this business unaffected by demographics, restrictive territories, and economic conditions? Yes. But you will still need to work to be successful. By following our system and working a regular work week, the opportunity is here to create a successful business and earn substantial income.
6. Do I have to be an industry expert to succeed at this business?
The simple answer to this question is no. We have found that good businesspeople of all types are very successful in our franchises. We require people to have executive, management, sales, marketing or consulting backgrounds, and we can teach the rest. Many of our most successful franchisees had no experience in the areas we consult to before joining Schooley Mitchell. With our comprehensive training programs, support systems, tools and software, we give you all the resources to be successful, regardless of your level of expertise.
7. What do my royalties get me?
The royalties franchisees pay provide them ongoing value by continually evolving and improving Schooley Mitchell system and tools, including all of the support provided to franchisees. Our royalty fee is 8 percent, which is a little higher than the royalty you would pay in a retail or food-based franchise. That’s because we don’t sell our franchisees hamburger meat, donut mix, or muffler parts with a mark-up. We are a professional, knowledge-based franchise. We provide franchisees with ongoing training, updated software tools, support for client solutions, support for the use of the tools and manuals, and support for the operation of their business, including sales and marketing.
8. What is included in the Franchise license fee?
The franchise fee is the investment required to obtain access to the Schooley Mitchell system and all its benefits. The franchise fee covers training costs, access to all of Schooley Mitchell’s tools and resources, and also ensures that each prospective franchisee is serious about our franchise opportunity. Schooley Mitchell commits to provide franchisees with a license to operate a franchise and franchisees commit to make their best efforts to operate it successfully by following the Schooley Mitchell programs and proven best practices. We provide franchisees with several days of training, including six days of sales, marketing and operational training, along with additional distance learning. Franchisees receive copies of all training and system manuals, full access to our world-class intranet system, as well as all our specialized software tools.
9. What are the marketing fees?
The marketing fee is 2 percent of collections. This fund is used to develop marketing collateral and activities on behalf of franchisees. To this point in time, it has been used for the costs of development of our logo, web page, mailing materials, pamphlets, brochures, other marketing materials, advertising templates, web presence etc. The use of the fund is to provide benefit to all franchisees that contribute to that fund. We have added a multifaceted marketing staff that includes creative artists, content creators, public relations and communications specialists with the fund.
The purpose is to grow our marketing capabilities, including customizing marketing materials for franchisees, building web presence and search engine optimization value, development of print and electronic content for our franchisees to use in their local markets, as well as many other marketing vehicles.
10. What is the RAMP program?
Considered an extension of the initial training course, the RAMP program is designed to get you up and running – and making money — as quickly as possible. Head office personnel will help you complete your first 10 client assignments, and work along with you to ensure you have learned the system as quickly and as profitably as possible.
The RAMP program also includes dedicated coaches who speak with you weekly for the first year of your new business to review all of our programs to ensure that you are continually trained and up-to-date with all of the Schooley Mitchell methods, systems, and procedures. The calls are designed to review all areas of the business including Schooley Mitchell sales and marketing programs, tactics, and strategies, as well as the analysis and tools portion of the business. The program is also designed to provide constant training on the best practices of all Schooley Mitchell franchisees.
11. What support do I get?
This is really the strength of our franchise system. Our experts at head office are always available to help you with questions about running your franchise. We help you with the use of the tools, client solutions, marketing and sales, technology, and almost any other issue that will help you turn this franchise opportunity into a profitable business.
The support staff is also responsible for the research function, which ensures that you are kept up to date about changes in the industries to which we consult. This is a continual and ever-changing challenge as these worlds shift almost daily.
These constant changes are what make you so valuable to your clients. These changes are also the thing that makes our franchise system so valuable to any one of our franchise offices. It would be an impossible task to keep up with the changes for any individual. However, our great support team and our vast network of franchised consultants deliver a great value to everyone who has pursued a Schooley Mitchell franchise opportunity.
12. Is this a franchise opportunity that will work in my area?
This is a frequently asked question and yet it is one of the simplest to answer. If there are businesses in your area, if they use services in our cost reduction categories, and if there are alternate suppliers of those services in your region, then the Schooley Mitchell Franchise system is a feasible business opportunity for your locale. We are not aware of any area in the United States or Canada, except perhaps the remotest of regions, where these factors do not exist. We have Franchise locations from coast-to-coast and have never identified a geographic area where a lucrative Schooley Mitchell Franchise cannot be operated. In addition, we continue to research new opportunities and new value we can deliver to our clients. As long as businesses need help in making decisions about their services, we will have a marketplace to deliver our program.
In addition, we have been very effective using virtual capabilities to expand opportunities beyond local markets.
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