Greg Longe of Phoenix Franchise Brands: Five Things You Need to Know to Successfully Franchise Your Business

An Interview With Teri Gault for Authority Magazine

Finally, when you start franchising, you need to consider if the barrier to entry for your business is at the right level. If the barrier to entry is too high, your potential franchisees will get discouraged — if it’s too low, then you’re going to have a quality control problem on your hands. Ask yourself if the barrier to entry is economical and trainable, which is what makes it the perfect level for franchising.

The world of franchising offers a unique blend of entrepreneurship and established business models. However, navigating the franchise landscape can be daunting, especially for those embarking on this journey for the first time. There are lessons to be learned, pitfalls to avoid, and success stories to be inspired by. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Greg Longe.

Greg Longe is the Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Franchise Brands, overseeing operations, marketing, and growth initiatives for over 225 offices nationwide under Fetch! Pet Care, Door Renew, Furry Land Mobile Grooming, Spray Foam Genie, Steel Coated Floors, Worried Birds, & medspa810. Greg focuses his efforts on delivering results and has taken many companies from their inception stage to profitability over the last 40 years. Most notable, he took Fetch! Pet Care from 55 units to over 140 in just over 18 months. Throughout his career in various C-Suite Roles, he has received numerous franchise and business awards. As a franchising expert, he’s helped more than 5,000 people become successfully self-employed.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about succession, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

When I graduated high school and was deciding where to go to college, I knew that a better option for me would be heading straight into the business world. In the beginning of my career, I spent more than 10 years at Ziebart International, an automotive detailing franchise. At Ziebart, I gradually climbed to Director of Franchise Development and VP of Global Development, and that experience is what sparked my lifelong interest in the franchising industry. Now, I have well over 30 years of experience in the franchise business, but it was my professional journey at Ziebart International that brought me to my current career path and ultimately inspired me to start Phoenix Franchise Brands.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Before launching Phoenix Franchise Brands, I had my own multi-branded company. My son, Kevin Longe, was in college at Northwood University at the time and would spend his evenings working in the call center at the company. One night, well past 9 pm, I finished up for the day and walked past Kevin’s desk, only to realize that he was still hard at work. When I asked him why he was still working past sunset when everyone else had already gone home for the day, he said, “Dad, I’m the owner’s son. If I don’t work hard, they’re going to think that’s why you gave me the job.” That’s when I realized just how hard of a worker he was.

Since that moment, as a business owner, I’ve felt a lot of pride for being family-owned. I have great respect for everyone who is a part of Phoenix Franchise Brands, but I am also proud to be creating a legacy for my family. As a brand, we build opportunities for other families to start legacy businesses of their own by pursuing franchise ownership, which I think is one of the things that really makes our brand stand out.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

I have two quotes that I live by. The first is “You make your own luck.” It’s a guiding principle behind Phoenix Franchise Brands that both our corporate team and our franchisees use to make the most out of every day. The second quote is, “It’s not education, it’s not life experience, it’s persistence — that’s the thing that gets you there.” In my years of business ownership, I’ve seen that you can have all the accolades and education, but none of that matters if you’re not willing to push through challenges that come your way. You must be persistent in order to succeed.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

One of the things that Phoenix Franchise Brands takes seriously that tends to go overlooked in the franchise industry is the fact that franchising needs to be adaptable. As someone who has been in the business for my entire career, franchising is different today than it was decades ago. At Phoenix Franchise Brands, we recognize that sometimes, you can’t always stick to the status quo — sometimes, you must adapt to what the franchisee needs. Franchising is not one-size-fits-all, and our strong support system within the company is what permits us to be adaptable.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. What inspired you to consider franchising your business, and what unique value does your brand bring to potential franchisees?

Ever since I was a kid, I have had a service mindset. I came from a big Irish Catholic family with lots of sisters, and growing up, I had quite the caretaker mentality. When it came time for me to choose where to go to college, I opted to go into the business world instead, starting with automotive services. It was my experiences in my early career working in automotive services that inspired me to go into franchise development. Seeing the commitment and grittiness of my coworkers and mentors there showed me that I could create a business that was scalable with franchising, while still maintaining that service mindset.

The service mindset is what makes franchising with Phoenix Franchise Brands a great opportunity for entrepreneurs who are eager to thrive professionally while serving their communities. Our home service brands, in particular — like Spray Foam Genie or Door Renew — really exemplify the service-based mindset that first motivated me to enter the franchising world.

Can you outline the most critical steps you took in preparing your business for franchising? How did you know that you were ready?

Anytime we add a new brand to the Phoenix Franchise Brands family, we must first ensure that the franchise is meeting our parent brand standards. So, one of the critical steps for preparing any brand to franchise is to define the things that will make them successful. At Phoenix, we have 10 keys to success that apply to every single brand under our umbrella. We know that the franchise is ready to grow when those keys to success are being met. For example, consistency, passion and innovation are all parts of those keys to success that make a brand ready to franchise.

What were some unexpected challenges you faced during the franchising process, and how did you overcome them?

Something I learned the hard way early on in my career managing franchises is that you’re only as good as the last employee you hired. If you’re not hands-on in your trainings — both the trainings of your franchisees and the staff in day-to-day operations, you can lose the quality of a brand in the franchising process. That’s why I’m actively involved in explaining brand impressions and brand image to our new franchisees in each of our training classes. Getting granular and involved in the training process is essential for creating a franchise business that thrives.

How do you maintain consistency and quality across all franchise locations while allowing for local adaptations?

The number one way to keep your franchise consistent across all locations is to keep the founders of the franchise involved in the business. A great example of this at Phoenix is Nick Field, the founder of FurryLand, a mobile pet grooming service. Keeping the founders involved means that they’re responsible for figuring out how the business can be duplicatable, which is ultimately the signifier of success in franchising. Nick has been outstanding at duplicating the FurryLand business model, and his involvement as an owner is what makes FurryLand so consistent across locations.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Five Things You Need to Know to Successfully Franchise Your Business”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1. First, you need to know if your business is duplicatable. Can this business thrive across markets? That’s the top thing to consider before starting to franchise.

2. Second, you need to know if consumers like and need the product you’re selling. Does your business have a broad appeal? For a franchise to be successful, it needs to be appealing to a lot of people — not just consumers in a specific area.

3. Third, ask yourself — is your business affordable? Can somebody jump in and break even in a reasonable amount of time? That is going to be crucial for franchising, because new franchisees want to make money, and you need to make sure that those units can be financially sustainable.

4. Fourth, like any business, you need to establish what sets your franchise brand apart. Do you have a competitive advantage in your market? What makes your brand different? Identify that before you start franchising.

5. Finally, when you start franchising, you need to consider if the barrier to entry for your business is at the right level. If the barrier to entry is too high, your potential franchisees will get discouraged — if it’s too low, then you’re going to have a quality control problem on your hands. Ask yourself if the barrier to entry is economical and trainable, which is what makes it the perfect level for franchising.

Off-topic, but I’m curious. As someone steering the ship, what thoughts or concerns often keep you awake at night? How do those thoughts influence your daily decision-making process?

As Phoenix Franchise Brands grows, I worry about maintaining the service-based mindset that my company was founded on. For me, the key to working around this is to really lean into the family business aspect of our brand. Keeping that core value of service is easy when we treat our franchisees as family and when we take pride in the legacy that is Phoenix Franchise Brands.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Honestly, I would have to say solving world hunger. It’s devastating to me that even in 2025, there are kids in Michigan who don’t have enough to eat every day. If I could start any movement, it would be making a difference there.

How can our readers further follow you online?

They can learn more about Phoenix Franchise Brands at phoenixfranchisebrands.com. They can also connect with us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/phoenixfranchisebrands/.

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!