Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 21

America’s Game.” With the daily deals,
I have never seen such a concept that
has so many potential winners. We
can make our mark in a special way
about this. People can get into this
business for a relatively low entry. The
fact that their local businesses benefit
is attractive to me. The fact that the
local community benefits is attractive
to me. It says a lot about this country,
and the strength of our communities.
I like the philosophy of it.

as possible. It’s a proven business, but
we don’t know the upper end yet. The
system works, and we are not inventing
a new product. It’s about the sales savvy
you have. Our franchise partners don’t
have to think about the nation. They
think about their community. The investment is relatively modest, without
the traditional headaches of brick and
mortar. You can be up and running
overnight. It’s an excellent way to get
involved in a proven field.

How is Great American Deals
different? The big guys try to localize. Just for fun, I googled Groupon. In my community there were no
deals, yet there were several that were
30 miles away. We’re not just joining
the cluttered space, it’s cutting out our
own niche. We can do things the big
guys can’t do.

Any unexpected surprises? We’re
pleasantly surprised at the level of sophistication of those who have come to
us and grasp what we are doing. I was
gratified by the enthusiasm for their
communities and the giveback aspect
of it. Our franchisees are motivated.

Where do you want to take
this? What’s your vision? We
want a nationwide network of successful franchisees. On “Wheel of Fortune”
we run a segment about changing lives.
We see people helping other families
and starting charitable foundations. We
share these stories. We can change lives
with Great American Deals, as we also
give back proceeds to the local communities from our daily deals.
What is your smartest mistake?
Getting involved in Great American
Deals. My friends questioned me since
there are two giants in the industry.
Conejo, California, has been a great test
market for us. It’s not just the franchisees
who are selling deals, it’s the merchants
spreading the word to other businesses
because they are having success with it.
Why franchising? It’s the only way
you can do something national on a local level. Every community is unique.
Franchising makes a great deal of sense.
We are hyper-local. The best way to
accomplish what we want is through
franchising.
What is your current progress
for launching your program?
We have been building community

Steve Olson and Pat Sajak

databases in our first markets and 11
franchisees have now signed with us.
Describe your giveback program.
It’s not tangential to what we are doing,
it’s central to what we do. One dollar
from every daily deal sold is donated
to a local community organization. We
had a school principal who wanted to
tell people how they benefited from
this. It’s great to see this enthusiasm.
Everybody is suffering from setbacks.
They don’t succeed if their community
doesn’t succeed. Schools are so appreciative about our giveback program. If
a school is benefiting and the students
are benefiting, they become your customers. And they know every time
they buy something they are helping
their own school. All that goes around
comes around.
What’s your role in Great American Deals? It’s still evolving. This is
not a passive investment, as I will have
an active role and am anxious to do it.
My mug is known for better or worse,
and can help us get noticed. I’ve started
with interviews on business radio stations to start building the brand for
Great American Deals. I’m like the
“Dave Thomas of Daily Deals.” We
want potential franchisees to know
who we are.
Describe your franchise program. It’s a turnkey program as much

Any concerns you may have?
I want people to succeed. One of the
reasons we have gone so slowly is we
don’t need to take checks from people.
I would feel dreadful if we get people
aboard and they don’t know how to
paddle. Their failure would be my failure. With a reasonable amount of diligence by the franchisee it can work for
them. I value the trust that people have
in me, and their perception that I’m a
“good guy.” It really needed to be demonstrated to me that our concept was
viable, and that the chances of success
were better than average. And I’m very
comfortable with that. I’m very confident you can succeed with this.
In the past I have avoided making
recommendations. As an example, I don’t
make political endorsements—if you are
going to choose a presidential candidate
based on what a game show host says, you
probably shouldn’t vote anyway! Now
I’ve found something I truly believe in,
an opportunity that can make a difference in people’s lives. I know, as hokey
as it sounds, that it’s not just the success
of the franchisees, it’s the success of the
businesses they’re serving and it’s the success of the schools and the organizations
that will benefit from this.
Anything else you’d like to add?
No, except would you like to become
a franchisee? n

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