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The Mag  

Today we have with us, Matt Stanton. And he is with WellBiz Brands. Welcome, Matt.


Matt Stanton

Lee, thanks for having me.


The Mag 

Well, before we get too far into things, tell us a little bit about WellBiz. Who are the folks you're serving? And what's kind of your day-to-day life look like?


Matt Stanton 

Absolutely, yeah, WellBiz is we are a multi-brand, franchise, or platform. So currently, we are the franchisor for amazing Eyelash Studios, which is the largest eyelash extension provider in the US. We're the franchisor for Elements Massage, the third-largest massage provider, franchisor for Fitness Together. Dedicated personal training provider. And we just acquired Dry Bar, which is the largest hair blowout provider in the US. So, we really focus on health, wellness, beauty. I'm in the personal services industry.


The Mag

So now I've been I do a lot of interviews. Obviously, with franchisors, and something I've been seeing a lot lately, is this kind of clustering of certain brands around a kind of target consumer. Is that the strategy here at WellBiz?


Matt Stanton

Absolutely, yeah. Whereas others have taken on say, just the fitness industry or others in the restaurant industry, we're doing that exact same thing. In this health, wellness, and beauty, you know, so are our target customer across all of our brands, is the semi effluent to an affluent woman consumer across a broad range of geographies, ethnicities, etc. But really in that space, where more and more share of wallet is going to you know as more people decide to spend money on their health and wellness versus just things right. And so, we're able to serve that rapidly growing segment of consumers out there. That's a really exciting place to play.


The Mag

Now for a potential franchisee are you looking for somebody who invests in all the brands? 


Matt Stanton  

You know, we have a few franchisees who do cross brands, but certainly not all of our brands are or what someone has in mind when they're franchisees and so we certainly entertain franchisees who just target one of our brands. Usually, that's how a franchisee gets started with us. And then they get to know some of our other brands and decide to jump into those as well. But we look at franchisees from a single brand perspective as well as those who want to play across the platform.


The Mag

Now when you have multiple brands in a given market, and if those customers from a customer standpoint, is there any benefit from being a customer of Dry Bar, does that get me a good deal at the massage place? Or does it open up to you know, opportunities for me as a customer at the personal training studio?


Matt Stanton  

It is a great question on a national policy basis. No, it doesn't, although that is on the horizon of creating some sort of calling it national access across our brands. However, certainly, there are franchisees who, if they do own multiple brands within the market could create some kind of cross-pollinating incentive between the ones they own. So certainly, something that we're looking at researching and figuring out the best way to do that, as we grow our portfolio of brands. But we don't have that on any kind of national scale yet.


The Mag

Now, is there in the roadmap is there? Are you looking to acquire other brands?


Matt Stanton

Yeah, we absolutely are, you know, we've built a really exciting, shared service platform, you know, certain functions, certain support functions with us as the franchisor play really well, across multiple brands allow us to bring on a higher level of talent, a higher level of support than maybe just one of the single brands could provide. And so, as we build this platform, you know I just mentioned we Just a few weeks ago acquired Dry Bar. And we continue to look at other brands that might make sense within our portfolio. So, you know, over time, and there's no firm timeline on this, it's more as opportunities present themselves. 


As we build our support capabilities, we certainly want to add more and more brands into the portfolio. Because there's just a great synergy between these brands, like I mentioned earlier, the same target customer, we're able to support them in better and better ways, as we add more. So, it provides a lot of interesting advantages, as we bring on more brands, as long as they're relevant to each other. And so, I could definitely see us over time, adding, you know, a few more brands certainly,


The Mag 

now as your footprint, primarily the United States, or this global, almost exclusively


Matt Stanton 

In the United States, right now we have a couple of units in Canada, but that's really our only international presence. Um, you know, part of that is we still have a lot of whitespaces in the US, you know, our unit count elements and amazing lash around 250, and Dry Bar and Fitness Together closer to 150. So, you can imagine, there's still a lot of places in the US to go to a lot of places where we can, we can serve new customers. But on the horizon, we'll definitely want to expand internationally, there's certainly demand there, there's opportunity there. And so, we will be looking at those. But we get kind of you know, it takes a lot of work, it can be somewhat of a distraction. So, while we have a lot of the whitespace runway, the US for a good period of time is going to be our key focus of growth, even as we get started on the international area.


The Mag

Now, you mentioned earlier that experiences are what a lot of folks are investing in nowadays. How did that the demand or desire to have experiences kind of? How did the pandemic impact that? How did that? How did you help your brand kind of navigate through a period of time where a lot of folks were told by the government that they couldn't even open it even if they wanted to? Even if they could, you know, do it safely?


Matt Stanton 

Yeah, no doubt. I mean, it's been a challenging year, all of our brands are close one to one personal services. So, you know, it's been a challenge from one just navigating some of these shutdowns, which we have to comply with as a brand. And helping our franchisees navigate through those waters, whether it be giving them support in talking to their landlords or working on the PPP loans as part of the Cares Act, I'm offering certain relief that we're able to as a franchisor, you know, to help them survive the shutdown. But the good thing about it is with the type of services we provide, they're they're in very high demand. 


And they can be done in quite a safe manner with just the proper protocol. And so, once our studios were able to reopen, we were able to do so safely and support our franchisees by providing the proper protocol that they should go about. And with that, that gave comfort to the customer that they could come in and enjoy the services they have. Our brands are largely a membership-based model, which was really important through the pandemic. Because while we did pause memberships, it allowed us to keep in close contact with our customers, let them know everything we were doing to keep them safe when they were able to return to the studios. And so, we're able to very quickly regain our customer visits and revenues. 


Once the studios were able to reopen and search back when once customers could come back in so that all really helped. And obviously our services or something that people want, you know, you think you know, health, wellness, even beauty in these times. It's a stressful time for a lot of people. And so, it allows people to take a minute to get a massage to help de-stress and focus on aspects of their health. Go get lashes to keep their beauty regimen going, whatever it is allow people to get some relief from the stressful year as well as have a little bit of normalcy back in their routine. And so, we were able to provide all that and I think all of that coming together really helped the brand weather this storm and really thrive coming out of it.


The Mag

Now you mentioned the benefits of having a metal membership model, can you share maybe for emerging brand listeners out there the benefits of the kind of thinking about your service and productizing it in a manner where membership is appropriate, like kind of maybe the good, the bad, the ugly of doing a membership model?


Matt Stanton 

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, you know, I think the membership, if done in the right way can be a big asset to your customers, we do a very low-risk membership to our customers, if someone wants to cancel, we don't have contracts where you have to, you know, sign on for a year and do all that kind of stuff. So, you know, that membership is really about giving the customer a benefit, and a reason to keep coming back and getting the service without the downside of some kind of long-term commitment. So, if a client really doesn't, you know, want eyelash extensions anymore isn't in a financial position to keep getting massages or something, we don't want to force them with some kind of contract to keep them in. So, our memberships are really built around value to the customer. It provides a discount on the service, which is good for the customer. 


And it's good for us because we know we have a regular customer coming in, are able to provide their needs. Additionally, most of our services benefit the customer benefits, if they are a regular customer, let's take massage, for example, if you go get regular massage, you're going to see better benefits, whether it be through stress reduction, or muscle tension, relief, etc. If you come back more often, so we want people to utilize that membership, we, we want them to come back in and use the membership, you know, there are memberships out there where you hope the member never comes and gets the service. 


That's not our case, we want the customer coming back because it means they're going to keep coming back and be a lifelong customer of ours. So, I think it works well for us in that it provides a little bit of a cost discount to the customer. So, it's good for them. While allowing them out if they really don't want any more, we don't want to keep someone feeling like they have to keep coming back if they don't want to. 


And so, it's been really good. It creates a positive relationship between us and the customer. And it gives us a great avenue to communicate well with the customer, to understand our customers, so we can innovate and provide new offerings that meet the needs of our clients. So, all of that comes together into what I think is a pretty healthy membership program. There's a lot of ways you can go wrong with it. Whether, like I said, whether you're trying to hold them into something they don't want anymore, you're not really giving them much benefit, thus, there's no reason to sign up. So, we've navigated that pretty well by really trying to make this a win-win situation for both parties. Thus, what we see across our brands, you know, is amazing lash and elements. More than 80% of our visits are from members. 


And so that's a really big thing for us. And something we want to continue to see is those repeat and those regular customers. And then lastly, I'll just mention it helps with marketing if you have that positive relationship with your customer. A lot of our new visits come from word-of-mouth marketing. So, by keeping that positive relationship with the customers, while providing them a good service provides a great source of new customers for us as well. So that's kind of, you know, a few of the keys to success for us.


The Mag

Now, does that help you also in attracting franchisees as well, when they know that they're buying into a system that's going to be this membership base that they know that there is going to be this stickiness of a customer that's going to have a higher probability of sticking around and coming back on a regular basis?


Matt Stanton

Absolutely, it's really important for the franchisee because you spend good money on marketing and making sure your operations are good and good hospitality. If you can recruit a member and keep serving them well. You don't have to pay more marketing to recruit them to get their regular customer continuous customer. And like I mentioned that word of mouth helps as well. So, you know, especially for franchisees who have experienced member good membership base models before. 


That's something some of them only look at, as they only want brands that have that because of that stickiness. They know that they got to do some work to recruit customers, but once they recruit those customers, as long as they keep a high standard of operations, they got a pretty stable business going and then can keep growing into it. 


So really important for our franchisees, those who haven't experienced a solid membership model, you know, we do a lot to educate our franchise prospects on that, to help them understand, you know what that means for them. And what that means for the longevity of their business. And certainly, those experience with it really look for that and like it.


The Mag 

Yeah, I agree 100% I think a lot of especially new brands, they're always chasing the newest client and the latest client, and they're not investing enough in retaining their existing clients, and anything that, that you do to help that it's exponential the benefit. And it's you don't have to work as hard. I mean, you have to work hard, but you don't have to work as hard to keep your existing customer happy as you do to just find a brand-new person.


Matt Stanton 

So true. And look, if you're keeping your customers happy, that means you're doing something right. And more and more people are gonna want to join and sign up. So, you know, if you do start to see churn, you want to understand why, because it's a sign, you're not doing something right, usually with your hospitality and operations. And you correct that. And it creates a really virtuous cycle of membership retention, which is great, you don't have to spend as much to recruit you. And those who do come in for the first time, see that you have a really great operation, and are all the more inclined to become members. 


So, it’s just that snowball starts to build in. And certainly, what we want to see is franchisees who come out the gate strong when they open with good member recruitment, great service from the get-go. Because you know, if you start with using that snowball analogy, if you start with the bigger snowball, it just builds and builds bigger, a lot more quickly than then starting small. So, we try to make a big splash when we open, we try to get those members rolling in. And that just feeds into a really healthy business.


The Mag

Now, what does your franchisee look like? Is it kind of that person that's displaced, executive? Is that a person that maybe was an individual practitioner of one of the specialties and said, you know what, I'm tired of struggling as a mom and pop, I'm going to go with the larger brand, like, what does your franchisee look like?


Matt Stanton 

Yeah, it's interesting, because, you know, just the examples you gave, we have examples of all of those, it's really a mix. We have those who are first time to franchising, maybe they left their corporate gig and wanted to own a business for the first time we have those, we have your established franchisees who have turned franchising, you know, for decades into their profession, have an ops system already built generally franchise across multiple brands. So, we have those types, we have, like you said, individual practitioners who have, you know, built up enough capital to open their own store, or have partnered with somebody to then go open their own studios. So, you know, a real mix of both, we, and we've seen success in all of those areas. So, we don't limit to just one of those types, I'd say what we really look for is someone who's going to be involved in the business. 


Now, that doesn't mean they don't hire a manager to run their studio, all of our studios are manager-run, meaning the franchisee doesn't have to be the day in day out the manager. But we want owners who are engaged who understand the business they're getting into, who are paying attention day to day of the business and figuring out ways to grow it, ways to improve it, who they need to hire. You know, whatever it is to keep that business growing. So, we don't see our businesses as you know, you'll hear absentee owner opportunity in the space and it's not a set it and forget it, we're in the hospitality space doesn't mean you know, let your manager run the day to day but keep an eye on that business and know what's going on and that way you can pivot as necessary as your business grows.


The Mag

And that protects the brand for everybody involved. So that's really the key, right?


Matt Stanton  

Yeah. And so that's a big thing. And I'd say a very close second is you want someone who's passionate about you know, the hospitality industry and especially health, wellness, and beauty. Because that's what you're going to be spending your days doing. You know, the good thing about that is, is that is a passion of a lot of people because all of our brands, we're helping people whether it be through massage, helping them feel better or fitness, getting them healthier, or through beauty, I'm helping them feel better and more confident as they go about their days. And so, it's really encouraging because you can go into your studio as a franchise owner Do you see happy people, you see smiles, you're doing good for your community. 


And so, you know, really, really encouraging to go in and not, you know, you're building a business. So, you want to make money and all that. But you also want to contribute to the health and happiness of your community. And all of our brands provide that as well. And so, it's really satisfying as a franchise owner when you open up your small business with the support of the franchisor. And, you know, we want great financial help for friendship, financial help, for our franchisees, certainly, it's never fun to not have that. But it's all you know; it just makes it that much more rewarding when it's when you're doing something good for your clients as well.


The Mag

Yeah, I mean, you're making a real impact. And that's important for everybody.


Matt Stanton  

Absolutely. 


The Mag 

Now, how do you kind of see 2021 shaping up for you guys? Is this something? You mentioned a little bit that you're looking for opportunities if the right brand comes along? But do you think that as the pandemic wanes, then, you know, what the foundation you have already built with your existing brands that just kind of get ready, you know, it's gonna get started getting busy? 


Matt Stanton

Yeah, I mean, we've already started getting busy in many of our studios, which is great to see. And I think that's just going to keep going, as we get into the year. So, you know, first and foremost, is, is supporting our brands and supporting the franchisees of our brands. And so, we have a great support team, who does that, we're building those and focusing both on you know, growing the existing studios, as well as growing out the unit count, bringing on new franchisees, helping existing franchisees build more units, and growing, growing all of our existing brands that way. 


So, you know, that's a job for us, certainly. We just purchased Dry Bar, so we have to get our hands around that, and figure out how to get that on the ideal growth trajectory as well. So that, you know, in 2021, is going to consume a bit of our time outside of the day-to-day support of our existing brands. You know, and then we'll you know, as a call it a far third priority is keeping an eye out for other brands that may be a good fit for our system. But certainly, that search for other brands doesn't come at the expense of our support of our existing brands. We have, you know, unique support and spend against searching for new brands so that we don't dilute the talent that we can contribute to our existing brands and our franchisees.


The Mag 

Well, if there's a franchise out there that wants to learn more about what you got going on at WellBiz Brands, what's the best way to get ahold of you guys?


Matt Stanton  

Yeah, I think the first thing to do is just go to our website, so wellbizbrands.com, and you'll be able to explore all of our different brands, both, you know, looking at those pages from a consumer perspective, but then, you know, each of them has a franchise-specific set of pages as well. So, you know, learn about the brands and the business, and then dive into the franchise opportunity for each would love to talk with you and meet with you, and help you understand if any of our brands are a good fit for you. It's an exciting space to play in. And we couldn't be more thrilled to try to bring on you know, more high-quality franchisees into our network.


The Mag

Well Matt, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

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