When a Validation Call Goes Badly

What it means when you reach an owner who isn’t happy — and the questions to ask before you decide anything.

You’re a few weeks into the Discovery Process. You like this brand. The calls have gone well, the business model makes sense, and your coach has you scheduling validation calls with existing owners.

Then you get one on the phone who isn’t happy.

Your stomach drops a little. Everything you’ve heard up to this point suddenly feels like it might have been a sales pitch. Has the development person been telling you what you wanted to hear this whole time?

Take a breath. One unhappy owner is just one data point out of a dozen or more along the way, and what that call actually means depends almost entirely on questions you haven’t asked yet.

First, one call is one call

We tell our clients to aim for three to four validation calls. That’s not an arbitrary number. Three or four conversations is usually enough for consistency to start showing up — enough that you can tell the difference between how the business actually runs and how one particular person is running it.

So, if the first owner you reach is unhappy and you end the process right there, be honest with yourself about what just happened. You’re looking for a reason to say no.

That’s worth sitting with for a second, because it’s common. By the time you reach validation calls, this has stopped being theoretical. You’re genuinely considering putting your own money into a business. The nerves show up right on schedule, and anything negative gives those nerves somewhere to land.

Would those same things bother you?

Here’s the question that does most of the work: the things this owner didn’t like, the things they’re frustrated by — are those the same things you wouldn’t like?

Sometimes the answer is yes, then that’s real information. If they’re describing constant staff turnover and staffing was already your biggest worry, you’ve just had a concern confirmed by someone living it. Pay attention to that.

But often the answer to the original question is no. Just because someone else is unhappy in a situation does not mean you would be unhappy in it.

Is it them, or would it be you?

Staffing is the usual one. You’ll hear an owner describe turnover, the hiring, the babysitting, how hard it is to keep people. And as they talk, one of two things happens.

Either you think, I was already nervous about staff, and this is exactly what I was afraid of. Or you think, I love building a team. I like developing people and creating a culture where they want to stay. If it’s the second one, you may be listening to a them problem, not a you problem.

Also consider this, when that owner talks about their staffing issues, is it easy to tell the reason for the turnover is actually the owner?  If you are typically difficult to work for then staffing may be a big issue for you too.  If you love building a great culture and people love working for you, then this is likely to not be an issue for you. 

Same with the day-to-day. Some businesses need the owner out in the community, forward-facing, building relationships and talking to customers. If the owner you’re speaking with hates that part of the job, they’re telling you something about themselves. If that’s the part that would get you out of bed in the morning, you’ve learned something useful — just not what you thought you were learning.

Or you’ll talk to an owner who is the doer, running the routes, doing the work. If you don’t want to be the doer, that doesn’t mean the brand is wrong. It usually means that owner is choosing something, or has let themselves fall into something, that isn’t part of the plan.

Are they following the plan?

Which brings up the pattern that shows up again and again: very often the things an owner is unhappy about are exactly the places where they deviated from the plan the franchisor laid out.

Listen for it. You’ll hear an owner describe a problem, and somewhere in the description is the moment they stopped doing what they were supposed to do.

The hours are the clearest tell. If an owner tells you they’re working 60, 80, 100 hours a week, they are not following the plan. In the corporate world, that’s a badge of honor. In a franchise, it means they were supposed to hire someone — possibly several someone’s — and they haven’t done it. Nobody draws up a franchise system that requires the owner to do everything forever.

Flip it around: a rave isn’t proof either

This cuts both ways, and people forget the other direction.

You’ll also talk to owners who love everything. Changed their life, best decision ever, rainbows and unicorns. Does that mean you should own this brand?

Not necessarily. Ask the same question in reverse: would the things making them so happy also bring you joy? Can you see yourself doing what they’re doing all day? If yes, that’s a genuinely great sign — you’re seeing yourself in them. If not, that call validated their fit, not yours.

Success is relative, too. Some of the happiest owners in any system aren’t the top performers. They’re somewhere in the middle, spending their time the way they want, doing work they want to do, and content with where they’ve landed. That’s success. It just might not look like your version of it.

Then look for consistency

Now put the calls together.

If you hear the same complaints from several owners, and those things would make you unhappy too, then this isn’t the right brand for you. That’s a real answer, and it’s a perfectly good one. There are thousands of brands that aren’t right for you. We only have to find the one that is right for you.

But one owner saying something difficult, on its own, isn’t that answer.

Bring it to your coach

This is exactly what update calls are for. Don’t sit with a bad validation call on your own and let it grow over a weekend. Bring it to your coach, walk through what you actually heard, and sort it into the right pile: a deal breaker, or a place where you need more information.

One last thing, and it’s the part most people don’t expect. We often hope you do hear from someone who is struggling, because almost every time, it proves the same point: follow the plan. Those conversations are frequently more useful than the happy ones.

Don’t let one negative call derail you for the wrong reasons. Just make sure you’re saying no for a reason that’s actually about you.