Board Member
Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence · University of Louisville
Supporting university-level franchise education and the work of widening access to franchise ownership. Also appeared on the Center's FranchiseU! program.
Chief Development Officer · Author · Board Member
Every franchise deal has two sides of the table.
I have spent my career on the selling side — building development organizations, redesigning disclosure documents, running Discovery Days, deciding who gets approved. I've written a book for each side. One for the founders building a system. One for the people about to bet their savings on it. The rest of my time goes to university boards, mentorship, and industry research.
Joe Malmuth, CFE
The Books
If you're buying in
The Franchise Proof Point
Ask these questions. Avoid these mistakes.
Every franchise sales process is built to answer your questions. Almost none are built to answer the ones you don't know to ask.
What a "proven system" has actually proven, and for whom. How to read Item 19 as a test of the franchisor rather than a source of numbers. When to walk away, and why that can be the right outcome.
Read the first chapterIf you're building one
The Franchise Rebellion
With Tiffanie Knapp, MBA
Most franchise books are written by suits, for suits. This one's different.
A playbook for founders who want to scale with soul — growth tactics beyond hype, how to support franchisees and scale culture, and how to exit on your own terms. Ranked in Amazon's top 100 franchise books.
Find it on AmazonA franchisor does not owe you success. It owes you a fair chance.The Franchise Proof Point
Industry Service
Giving it back
Almost everything I know about this industry came from people who explained things they had no obligation to explain — franchisees who told me the truth about their numbers, executives who let me watch them make hard calls, and a few people who were candid when it would have been easier not to be.
That debt is the reason for most of what follows. University boards, mentorship programs, industry research that gets published free to anyone who wants it, and two books that put on paper what usually only gets said privately.
Former Advisory Board
Titus Center for Franchising · Palm Beach Atlantic University
Mentoring students entering franchising, and advocating for stronger franchisor transparency inside a program that trains the next generation of operators.
FranShip Mentor
International Franchise Association
One-to-one mentorship for franchise professionals earlier in their careers, through the IFA's formal mentoring program.
Charter Member
Steel Sharpens Steel Executive Mastermind · IFA
A founding member of the IFA's executive peer group — senior leaders working through the problems none of them can solve alone.
Committee Member
Annual Franchise Development Report · IFA and Franchise Update Media
Contributing to the industry's benchmark study of franchise development performance — the data set brands use to understand what good actually looks like.
Board Member
Franchise Leadership & Development Conference · Franchise Update Media
Shaping the agenda for the industry's principal development conference, and speaking on brokers, franchise sales organizations, and the growing role of AI.
In the Room
Ideas
What I argue
Franchising gets stronger when franchisors are more transparent, not less. A well-informed candidate who says no costs a brand one sale. A poorly informed candidate who says yes can cost a brand a store, a market, and a reputation.
Google Zero
AI-driven discovery is replacing traditional search. When customers and franchise candidates stop starting at a search box, brands that relied on SEO for visibility lose their front door. Introduced on Franchise Today, June 2026.
The Fair Chance Standard
A franchisor's obligation isn't to guarantee an outcome. It's to give a capable buyer a fair chance — real information, honest validation, and a system that behaves the way it was described. Five testable promises a buyer can hold any franchisor against.
Franchise Rebellion
The old franchise playbook was written for a different generation of buyers and a different economy. Systems that keep running it will lose to the ones willing to rebuild development, support, and culture from scratch.
Differentiation as Survival
The greatest threat to a franchise concept isn't competition — it's irrelevance. Brands stuck between 25 and 50 locations often can't deliver on franchising's core promise of scale, and crowded categories punish sameness faster than ever.
Built
What I've made
Programs, systems, and documents — the actual work product, rather than the job titles.
At-Risk Intervention
An enterprise triage program combining proactive coaching, compliance, and performance management. Cut potential store closure risk by 45%.
Franchise Disclosure Redesign
A ground-up rebuild of an 800-unit system's FDD and annual renewal process, with strengthened agreements, governance policy, and compliance standards.
Resale & Succession
A company's first structured exit path for owners — directing 40+ ownership transfers in the first program year while preserving continuity and franchise value.
Lead Generation at Scale
Grew annual qualified franchise inquiries from 12,000 to 55,000, cut cost per sale to 22% below industry benchmark, and built a call center handling 300,000 inquiries a year.
Enterprise AI Adoption
AI-powered franchise development, compliance intelligence, workflow automation, and executive decision-support — plus enterprise FranConnect integration across development, admin, and operations.
Franchise Consulting Division
Rebuilt and relaunched an advisory practice with an original feasibility and readiness methodology. One to sixteen active clients in twelve months.
Media
Appearances & writing
Jun 2026
The End of Generic FranchisingAI, differentiation, and why irrelevance beats competition as a threat. Introduced "Google Zero."
Franchise Today
May 2026
Franchise RebellionAI, innovation, generational change, and why the future belongs to brands willing to rethink it all.
Franchise Today
2024
The Franchise MastersSeason 3, Episode 3 of the franchise leadership docuseries.
Netsertive
2024
In Conversation With IFA President Matt HallerOn a record-breaking year in franchise development.
Video
2023
Ask Our MentorsExecutive interview on franchise leadership, early missteps, and growth strategy.
Franchisors.com
2023
A Tight Niche With a Wide NetWith franchise attorney Josh Brown, on building systems that actually work.
Franchise Euphoria
2022
FranchiseU!, Episode 31With Dr. Kathy Gosser, Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence.
U. of Louisville
2022
Trust and Transparency as Growth PillarsThe Multi-Location Marketing Leader.
Netsertive
2020
On Franchisor TransparencyFranchise Marketing Radio, with Integrated Digital Strategies.
Spreaker
2020
All Charged Up — Cover StoryCover feature on the Batteries Plus leadership team and what was ahead for the brand.
Franchise Consultant
2020
Modrn BusinessOn franchise development as Managing Director at Batteries Plus.
Podcast
2019–20
The Millennium Business Podcast — HostFive episodes on disrupting, trail blazing, and writing your own playbook. Guests included the president of IFPG.
Own Show
2017
The Global Leader for EntrepreneursPrincipal source for a full company profile of United Franchise Group. Syndicated internationally.
Business View
Ongoing
Contributing WriterDevelopment strategy, real estate, and post-pandemic growth.
Franchise Update
Record
The work
Twenty-seven franchise brands across multiple industries and stages — emerging, established, and global.
2024 — Present
Chief Development Officer
Batteries Plus
Executive leadership team. Nine enterprise functions, 40+ professionals. Brand refresh and national marketing strategy, double-digit commercial revenue growth, international expansion framework, enterprise AI adoption.
2022 — 2024
Chief Franchising Officer
Batteries Plus
235 units sold, 135 openings, 200+ transfers, $6.2M in initial and transfer fees. Modernized the franchise legal framework and led site approval governance and Item 7 oversight.
2021 — 2022
VP, Franchise Development & Relations
Batteries Plus
FDD redesigned end to end. At-Risk Intervention Program launched. Sustained roughly one new store opening per week.
2020 — 2021
Managing Director, Franchise Development
Batteries Plus
Executed agreements up 500% year over year within eight months. Raised minimum financial qualification standards. Highest units signed in a single year in company history.
2019 — 2020
Divisional VP, Franchise Relations
My Eyelab · Stanton Optical
Agreements up 186%, qualified inquiries up 221%, system expanded 125%. Helped grow Stanton Optical from 12 franchisees to more than 100 locations.
2013 — 2018
Regional VP · VP of Sales · Director of Franchise Development
United Franchise Group
Eight brands across the Carolinas. Built a broker referral channel producing 20% of all sales, launched FranchiseMart.com, and rebuilt the franchise consulting division.
Credentials
- Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) — International Franchise Association
- Business Administration — Palm Beach State College
- Host — The Millennium Business Podcast
- 15+ years in franchise development, domestically and internationally
- Contributing writer — Franchise Update Magazine
- Firefighter II, EMT, HAZMAT, Wildland Firefighter — held before franchising, and the reason I think about risk the way I do
Press & Speaking
For media and event organizers
Interview requests, speaking inquiries, and media questions are welcome. I speak on franchise transparency and responsible growth, what buyers should demand before they sign, development strategy, and the practical use of AI inside franchise organizations.
Media & speaking inquiriesBios
Short, medium, and full-length, cleared for publication and event programs.
Photography
High-resolution headshots and book cover artwork for print and web.
Speaker One-Sheet
Topics, formats, audience fit, and past appearances on a single page.
The Letter
Proof Points
A short letter for people evaluating a franchise, and for the people running one. One idea at a time — what a disclosure actually discloses, what validation calls really tell you, where systems quietly change after you sign.
No pitch and no funnel. I don't sell franchise consulting to buyers, so there's nothing at the end of this for me to sell you.
New subscribers get the first chapter of The Franchise Proof Point.