The Early Years

It’s an exciting time in the Parmasters world. And those of us that are fairly new to the franchise owe a debt of gratitude to those that made those first few inroads.

Parmasters was founded some six or more years ago. Matt Jeffrey was the first franchise owner in Canada. Parmasters Memphis just opened in June 2006. Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo will likely open as the fourth or fifth center in the Parmasters family.

There were many lean and sparse years in the early 2000’s. Years during which many early Parmasters pioneers helped build systems, develop concepts, build supplier relationships, etc. Those were years when there weren’t any sites under development. No one knew when the first Parmasters center would open. The pressure was no doubt immense, and yet the successes were small, the progress seemingly very slow.

I wasn’t part of the Parmasters family during those very lean years. I became involved in 2006, a time when successes were and are becoming larger and more fulfilling. The Memphis center opened. Every month it seems more franchise sites are awarded. We now have locations under development in many different cities across North America and the world.

I was involved in approximately 40 different phone conversations today. One of those conversations included discussion about the early years for a franchise system. As I’ve noted, I wasn’t involved in the very early and lean years, but Parmasters is still a young franchise. We have two sites open, not 200!

Ten years from now, some young entrepreneur is going to come to the Parmasters world and purchase franchise rights for some location. He/she will learn about the early years within Parmasters and I have no doubt that he/she will consider 2007 an “early year” and he/she will include me in that list of Parmasters pioneers. I’m not sure that distinction will be warranted or justified, but I’m quite sure the label will be affixed.

Whether we are involved in a “pioneering” effort, or something more tried and true, is really of little consequence. Each day I rise and there are tasks to tackle, priorities to focus on and relationships to build.

I do hope future Parmasters franchise owners have an easier go of it. And if I can contribute to fleshing out some systems, processes, etc., that will help make it easier for those that follow, that’s very rewarding. But of course, as I remind myself daily, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.