The Time Our Partner Spied on Us

Summary

• Business is not fair. You can play fair, but do not expect others to follow suit.
• When running Gym Launch, we noticed many franchises getting people to buy in and then abandoning them to figure things out on their own.
• A franchisor once reached out wanting to collaborate but openly admitted he didn't want his franchisees to learn marketing because they wouldn't need him anymore.
• He wanted us to only give him our marketing material, so he could keep all the power and prevent his franchisees from gaining knowledge.
• I refused, saying that it didn't align with my values, which are about teaching people how to fish rather than fishing for them.
• After our refusal, the franchisor hired someone to steal all our materials, record our calls, and replicate our business model.

Video

How To Take Action

I would suggest implementing these strategies to benefit your small business, entrepreneurial journey, or personal growth:

Stick to Your Values

• Know Your Core Values: Make a list of your non-negotiable values. This will guide your decisions and keep you aligned with your principles even when others play unfairly.
• Teach, Don’t Hoard: Focus on sharing knowledge. When you empower others, it creates trust and loyalty. Just like teaching someone how to fish instead of fishing for them.

Be Prepared for Unfair Situations

• Expect Unfairness: Understand that business isn’t always fair. Anticipate this and prepare yourself emotionally and strategically.
• Stay Resilient: When faced with unfair tactics, respond with resilience. Think of ways to protect your intellectual property and stay one step ahead.

Empower Through Education

• Share Your Knowledge: Whether through free content, workshops, or training, make sure others also understand the core skills they need to succeed. This builds a stronger and more knowledgeable community.
• Create Value: By offering valuable insights freely, you build credibility and a loyal audience. Over time, this will overshadow any unfair competitors.

Protect Your Intellectual Property

• Document Everything: Keep detailed records of your materials and ideas. This way, if someone tries to steal your content, you have proof of ownership.
• Know Your Rights: Understand the basics of intellectual property laws. This can help you take action if someone tries to replicate your business model unfairly.

Build a Strong Support System

• Network with Aligned Individuals: Surround yourself with people who share your values. This network can offer support and advice when dealing with unethical behavior.
• Mentorship: Seek mentors who have faced similar challenges. Their experiences can provide invaluable guidance and reassurance.

Implementing these strategies will help you navigate the business landscape with integrity and resilience, ensuring long-term growth and success.

Full Transcript

business is not fair you can play fair but do not expect others to follow suit I remember the first time that I realized the business was not fair gym launch essentially was a licensing model for gym so what we saw was that there was a lot of people that were franchising but they' basically get people to buy into the franchise and then not help him at all and just be like figure the out one franchisor reached out and he was like I would like to do a deal with you guys and I remember on the phone the first thing he said that was shocking to me was I don't want them to know how to Market because if they know how to market then they won't need me that's not fair to them you're going to literally allow them to remain in ignorance so that you can sit here hold all the knowledge and all the power like that's pretty up basically what he wanted us to do was only give him our marketing material so that he could have all the power I wrote him an email and I just said like it's not aligned with my values I value teaching people how to fish not fishing for them the next thing he did was he paid somebody to take all our materials record all our calls find out everything we were teaching and then he built out the exact model that we were teaching and I was like