January 2017 | Business View Magazine

38 39 OFFICE EVOLUTION a smaller center that costs a lot less to open and operate –maybe half that of our competi- tors. And because we have all those centralized services, only one employee is needed at each location, whereas our competitors require many more. In addition, we’re very involved in site acquisition, lease negotiations, and construction design; we hold their hand all the way through the entire process.” When looking for potential franchisees,Hem- meter says, his company is very selective. “We try to assess ‘fit.’Do we fit in their lives, and do they fit in our system?”he queries. “There are certain things we are looking for in a franchise candidate and there are certain things that they are looking for. It’s likeMatch.com. We go on a bunch of ‘dates.’ We askeach other a bunch of questions and if it all connects,we get married at the end.” “An increasing number of our franchisees started with us as members,” adds Senior Di- rector of Franchise Sales and Marketing, Eileen Proctor. “Also, we work with franchise brokers to help sell our brand nationally, and they have be- come franchisees as well because as they describe the business model to their clients, they fall in love with it, themselves. We’ve created processes, platforms, and support programs that positions the Office Evolution opportunity as an ‘executive has evolved to offer much more than just a place to work outside of the home or the traditional corpo- rate office setting. “We operated our own centers and built all of our own systems for over ten years before we ever franchised,” Hem- meter explains. In fact, the compa- ny still operates seven of its own Denver area loca- tions. “We love the corporate-owned centers,” he says. “They’re very prof- itable, they’re a great place to test new concepts and ideas, and they’re a great place to train franchisees and their employees.” The company has invested millions into building corporate-based and operated platforms to support all locations nationwide. Its live answer call center answers all members’ phones, manages their sched- ules, answers frequently asked questions, runs all their technology, does all of the billing and collec- tions for all of the franchisees, and helps franchisees run their businesses day in and day out. “All of this is unique,” Hemmeter points out. “As far as we know, nobody else does that.” Hemmeter says that Office Evolution offers its fran- chisees other advantages, as well. “Number one: our price point is significantly less,” he states. “We build