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106 107 the franchisor and the franchisees. I want them to be happy with their investment in Pet Wants; I want them to be happy with the way they’re treated by the franchisor; and I want them to feel good about their investment in our brand and be willing to tell people that they would do it all over again, if given the chance. “The third pillar of growth is building a strong marketing and advertising program.We have to continue to build the brand and find new ways to increase the brand awareness of Pet Wants and our products. “The fourth pillar of growth is to improve our technology platform. That includes our online presence and the technology which we use to run our franchise locations, like our POS system. “The fifth pillar of growth is to build an effec- tive management team, and that means that it’s up to me to build franchise support personnel who are capable and passionate about helping franchisees be successful. “Those are the areas that we’re working hard on to create a positive and successful business environment for our franchise owners.” BVM: Do franchise owners ever get together? Hoots: “We sure do. In fact, we just got done with our fourth regional meeting. My goal in the first quarter was to schedule a group of region- al meetings where I can have myself and our operations team meet our franchisees close to home, but also allow groups of franchisees to get together, network, and share best practices. So, in the first quarter of this year, we have a total of six Large enough to leverage… Small enough to offer a personal touch. Services Offered: Truckload Brokerage | LTL Freight | Intermodal Project Cargo | Supply Chain Services | Parcel Logistics Engineering Our solutions are focused on providing long term committed solutions, through the surgical use of asset partners, who are stringently vetted and qualified with heavy emphasis on safety and execution. Contact Us: 2701 Executive Dr., Green Bay, WI 54304 (920) 569-8800•(800) 391-5121 www.m2logistics.com PETWANTS PREFERRED VENDORS n FranBooks legacybackoffice@gmail.com FranBooks of Cincinnati, Ohio acts as a small business advisor to those starting a new business and those looking to take control of an existing business. Through the workshops and individual training sessions offered by its proprietor, Beth Bullock, the company teaches business owners how to focus on the core of their services and helps them develop strategic goals for business growth. n M2 Logistics www.m2logistics.com regional meetings across the country. “In 2019, I expect to launch the annual Pet- Wants Franchise Conference, which we will do each year to share best practices, celebrate our achievements and provide training and resourc- es that will help our franchisees continue to get better and better.” BVM: What are your plans for the company, going forward? Hoots: “Our biggest opportunity lies in expand- ing the brand awareness of Pet Wants across the country.We’ve been able to grow through our franchise locations, but we still have a grand opportunity in front of us to improve and increase our brand awareness through offering direct sales to customers who are not in a franchise location. That’s a big part of what we are looking to do in the latter part of 2018. “The vision for the future is to become a wide- ly-known and admired brand that’s respected as the leader in fresh and nutritious pet food, operating as a national franchise network with PetWants locations locally owned and operated by people who are passionate about pet nutrition. PetWants will also be a well-known, online brand, serving customers in all 50 states. That defines the long range goal for us.”