The initial License Fee represents our costs of putting you into our business. Schooley Mitchell commits to provide you with a license to operate a Franchise and you commit to make your best efforts to operate it successfully by following the Schooley Mitchell program. We provide you with complete start-up training in two ways: virtual training with Head Office staff and online via The Warehouse. This training also includes a one-on-one coach to assist you in your first year of business.

During training, you receive copies of all training and system manuals, as well as access to all of our specialized software tools. This includes some technical training about our various cost reduction categories, training on the use of the manuals and the software tools, as well as training on the proven methods of how to build your business. Of course, the software tools, the manuals and the systems are continually updated and improved without cost to you, which we’ll discuss in more detail in one of the following paragraphs.

The RAMP (Rapid Accelerated Mentoring Program) training program has been an outstanding success in helping Franchisees “get out of the gate” more quickly. It has provided significant benefits to Franchisees in terms of offering them best practices in sales and marketing, our systems and processes, operations and much more. With a team of coaches executing a training program designed specifically for you, based on your background and skills, we help prepare you to be as successful as possible in your first year of business and beyond.

No you don’t. Although we have many specialists in all cost categories, you do not need to possess a background in any of our cost reduction categories to be a successful Schooley Mitchell Franchisee. The vast majority of our Franchisees are simply good business people. In fact, we have some very successful Franchisees who have never had any specialized experience at all before joining the Schooley Mitchell team. You do need an aptitude to learn, including how to use our system and the basic fundamentals of our cost reduction areas. As long as you possess that aptitude, then we’ll teach you what you have to know.

That is certainly your choice. The vast majority of our Franchisees operate as home-based businesses to keep overhead expenses low. Others have decided to rent an office as soon as they begin the Franchise. The choice is yours. This is a professional business where your client interaction takes place at the client’s place of business. Consequently, a Schooley Mitchell Franchise can be operated very efficiently from home.

The royalty fee is our portion of the client fees. Our royalty fee is 8%, which is a little higher than the normal royalty you would remit in a retail or food-based Franchise. That’s because we don’t sell you hamburger meat, donut mix or muffler parts with a mark-up.

We don’t sell you products to make money. We are a professional, knowledge-based Franchise. We provide you with a valuable brand, an effective Operating System and powerful ongoing support including continuous training, updated software tools, support for client solutions, the use of our tools and manuals, and support for the operation of your business, including marketing and sales.

The marketing fund fee is 2% of collections. This money is put into a separate account for advertising, social media, content creation and digital/print marketing activities on behalf of Franchisees. It has been used for the costs of development and continuous updating of our Franchisees’ social media assets, logos, web pages, electronic marketing materials, mailing materials, pamphlets, brochures and other marketing materials. Each of these items is designed to provide aid to Franchisees in building their business.

The use of the fund is to provide benefit to all Franchisees that contribute to that fund. We have an Advisory Council elected from the Franchisee population, which provides input and ideas regarding the best use of the advertising fund.

Any organization – small, medium or large – that uses any of the expense categories we analyze. We are not restricted to a particular vertical market or particular business size. We help businesses, non-profits and government agencies to reduce their costs.

The basic review of a client’s system, including the components of any of our cost categories, is usually charged on a contingency basis. That means that the client doesn’t pay unless we find them ways to save money.

Many clients are attracted to this concept because they don’t have to risk a significant consulting fee to have their system reviewed. They only pay you out of found money, in other words, our fees are self funded. Many Franchisees find this offering a very effective method of building up a significant base of clientele quite quickly.

With all the changes to business services and offerings that take place on a daily basis, this is pretty rare. However, it does happen once in a while. It doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good client. Although you may not earn fees on the initial assignment, our process is structured so that we will review that client’s systems again in a few months, which often results in the identification of savings and therefore fees to you. The client gains in this case because you have continued to optimize their position even though you didn’t make fees on the first stage of the assignment, and of course, you gain because you ultimately earn fees. This is a tremendous trust-building exercise because of your continued service to all clients, which of course helps to build your business. As stated above, it is rare to have a situation where there are no savings at all. A no savings report is also the perfect time to obtain referrals.

You will not be a glorified sales agent who represents a centralized processing office. Each of our Franchisees is a professional consultant and as such, delivers professional solutions to their clients with the help of our expert analysts. You will do the same with your Franchise office. Consequently, you will be required to develop your own business like other professionals in the community such as accountants, attorneys, engineers and architects. We provide the training, the tools and the support for you to deliver the solutions to your clients. Similarly, we provide training, tools and the support for the procurement of your clients.

We have developed numerous systems and tools for the marketing of the Schooley Mitchell concept. We introduce you to those tools and methods during the initial training course. You ultimately develop a marketing plan at the culmination of the training session – with our help, of course – using whichever elements of the program that fit you best. We have mailing materials, marketing materials, advertising templates, drip marketing campaigns, drop-off packages, sample scripts, social media and internet strategies, follow-up programs, networking strategies, including partnering with other Franchisees, telemarketing, seminars with other professionals, sales-hiring, and a host of other tools. It ultimately comes down to your own efforts, with our help and our proven program of success to support you.

In addition to the above items, we also provide ongoing marketing and sales support through our toll free support line, online support portal and through our specialized RAMP coaching and mentoring program.

Our Franchisees can do business anywhere in the United States and Canada and are not restricted by geography. The only thing that we do control geographically is where you can hire people to extend your business. You can only hire in your geographical area, which will be defined for you through our discussions. The main system of protection is through our client registry and our prospect registry. It boils down to the fact that you can do business anywhere, yet your clients and prospects are protected.

This is really the strength of our Franchise system. Our experts at Head Office are always available to help you with questions about operating your Franchise. We help you with the use of the tools, client solutions, marketing and sales, technology and almost any other issue that will help you operate your Franchise profitably.

Support staff is also responsible for the research function, which ensures you are kept up to date on changes in the industries to which we consult. This is a continual and ever-changing challenge as these industries evolve on an almost daily basis.

These changes are what make you so valuable to your clients. These changes are also the thing that makes our Franchise system so valuable to any one of our Franchise offices. It would be an impossible task to keep up with the changes for any individual. However, our experienced support team and our vast network of Franchised Consultants deliver a great value to each individual in the Schooley Mitchell system.

This is a frequently asked question and yet it is one of the simplest to answer. If there are businesses in your area, if they use services in our cost reduction categories, and if there are alternate suppliers of those services in your region, then the Schooley Mitchell Franchise system is a feasible business opportunity for your locale. We are not aware of any area in the United States or Canada, except perhaps the remotest of regions, where these factors do not exist. We have Franchise locations from coast-to-coast and have never identified a geographic area where a lucrative Schooley Mitchell Franchise cannot be operated. In addition, we continue to research new opportunities and new value we can deliver to our clients. As long as businesses need help in making decisions about their services, we will have a marketplace to deliver our program.

We have also been very effective using virtual capabilities to expand opportunities beyond local markets.

Let’s review some other questions related to this main question. Is this a great service that almost all businesses need? Yes. Is the Schooley Mitchell system a great system that has been developed over the years by professional people with business experience? Yes. Is this business easy? No. It requires that four-letter dirty word: Work.

Follow our system and work hard and yes, it does seem to be a great opportunity. Contribute to the value of the whole by working hard, following the system, sharing experiences and looking for new opportunities and it becomes even better. That’s why, as we add each new Franchise to the Schooley Mitchell system, the value of the whole, as well as the value of each individual Franchised business, increases even more.