FocalPoint Coaching CEO Thompson, Kris Simonich on The Perfect Franchise Podcast
The FocalPoint Coaching Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) states the company employees are not authorized to make franchise earnings representations. Its FDDs indicate that 146 franchises exited the system prematurely in the past 5 years – a 70% turnover rate. Yet an interview with FocalPoint Coaching Steve Thompson on The Perfect Franchise podcast might lead one to believe even solo franchisees are generating $800,000 and every franchisee is “doing really, really well.” by Sean Kelly
Full disclosure: The Perfect Franchisee and its founder Mark Schnurman are suing the author and UnhappyFranchisee.Com. Learn more at :
BULLIED BY BROKERS: TPF Franchise Brokers SLAPP Consumer Watchdog
See all posts on The Perfect Franchise: The Perfect Franchise Consultants / Brokers
For more discussions of franchise consultants (commissioned brokers), see:
Patrick Elsner, Brandon Wilson, Kim Marinoff, Mark Schnurman, Brandon Siegfried, Kris Simonich, and other Franchise Brokers.
Buyer Beware: Franchise Promoters & Sellers Are Masters of Evading FTC Franchise Protections
Let’s give credit where it’s due: Franchise promoters, commissioned franchise brokers (free franchise consultants), franchise sellers and some franchisors are a clever bunch.
As FocalPoint Coaching FDD states in Item 19:
“The FTC’s Franchise Rule permits a franchisor to provide information about the actual or potential financial performance of its franchised and/or franchisor-owned outlets, if there is a reasonable basis for the information, and if the information is included in the disclosure document.”
In the next paragraph, FocalPoint Coaching states that although it could disclose actual financial performance information, it chooses not to:
We do not make any representations about a franchisee’s future financial performance or the past financial performance of company-owned or franchised outlets. We also do not authorize our employees or representatives to make any such representations either orally or in writing.
The FocalPoint FDD states that any earnings representations outside the FDD should be reported to Stephen Thompson, the FTC and state regulators:
If you receive any other financial performance information or projections of your future income, you should report it to the franchisor’s management by contacting our President, Stephen A. Thompson, at 2831 St. Rose Parkway, Suite 234, Henderson, Nevada, 89119, (877) 433-6225, the Federal Trade Commission, and the appropriate state regulator agencies.
“Dear Stephen Thompson: I Want to Report FocalPoint CEO Stephen Thompson…”
It’s a trick that’s been around since I started in franchising 37 years ago.
If a franchisor doesn’t want to make actual, substantiated earnings claims the legal way, they drop it into an interview with a publication, feed it to a reporter or plant it in an advertorial that looks like a legitimate interview… then distribute it to franchise prospects.
It’s easier than ever with the Internet and no that the majority of franchise publications are “pay-for-praise” sites or publications owned and podcasts controlled and promoted by commissioned broker groups.
Recently, FocalPoint Coaching franchise Stephen Thompson was featured on The Perfect Franchise podcast hosted by commissioned franchise broker Kris Simonich and commissioned franchise broker Andrea Floyd.
In the softball “interview” Kris Simonich lavished praise on the FocalPoint Coaching franchise:
“I know we’ve had a number of placements with FocalPoint and they’re all doing really, really well.”
Kris Simonich said he thought the FocalPoint Coaching sounds “Perfect”:
“[If] I’m a candidate [and] I do have that personal sense of fulfillment from coaching folks… FocalPoint sounds perfect to me!”
Simonich was excited to hear Thompson say that sales experience isn’t necessary and vowed to broaden his criteria & send even more referrals :
“90% of our coaches coming in don’t really have sales experience…”
When asked how FocalPoint coaches were doing financially, Thompson didn’t hesitate to throw out the number “eight hundred grand” for a solopreneur who got off to a slow start:
“I’ll use an example of one of our coaches in Michigan…. He’ll do 800 grand [$800,000] in revenues as a single solopreneur, and has extreme success from what he’s doing.”
(By the way, I’ll report this earnings claim to both Stephen Thompson & the FTC as directed (& The Perfect Franchise) & let you know what they say.)
According to the FocalPoint FDD, Not all FocalPoint Franchisees are Doing Really, Really Well.”
The Perfect Franchise consultant / broker Brandon Siegfried makes the long-debunked claim that 85% of all franchisees are successful at the 5-year mark.
So I took a look at how FocalPoint Coaching franchisees have fared in the last 5 years, using the company’s own disclosure data:
FocalPoint Coaching reported having 125 franchises open at the start of 2019.
It reports having 169 franchises open at the end of 2023.
At a glance, that seems like healthy growth of 35% right?
However, a closer look at franchise terminations (131) Non-renewals (2) transfers (5) and ceased operations for other reasons (5) reveals that 144 franchises ended were terminated prematurely and 2 were not allowed to continue the businesses they had built.
Using the standard formula for calculating turnover, that’s a 5-year franchise turnover rate of 70%.
FocalPoint Coaching Franchises Ended Prematurely in 30 States
According to company FDDs, in the last 5 years FocalPoint Coaching franchises were terminated prematurely in 30 states.
California had the greatest number of failures (26), followed by Texas (14) and Florida (11).
We’ve posted contact information for those who left the system here: FocalPoint Coaching Franchise: List of Former Owners
LIST OF FORMER FOCALPOINT COACHING BUSINESSES (Last 5 Years)
| FocalPoint | Franchise | Exits by State |
| AZ- 1 CA- 26 CO – 8 CT – 1 DC – 1 FL – 11 GA – 4 HI – 1 IL – 4 IN – 2 | KY – 5 MA – 2 MI – 3 MN – 4 MO – 2 NE – 2 NJ – 8 NM – 1 NY – 2 NC – 4TOTAL: | ND – 1 OH – 6 OR – 2 PA – 3 SC – 2 TN – 2 TX – 14 VA – 3 WA – 1 WI – 6132 |
Do The Perfect Franchise “Consultants” Know How to Calculate Turnover? Or Do Facts Kill Commissions?
Are The Perfect Franchise consultants like Kris Simonich and Andrea Floyd aware of this fact?
Are they aware that Stephen Thompson is providing their “clients” with an undisclosed, illegal earnings claim that they are promoting?
Has anyone at The Perfect Franchise spoken to the former FocalPoint Coaching franchisees who left the system in the last 5 years (contact info below)?
Because that’s what franchise CONSULTANTS would do.
Franchise BROKERS may be more inclined to say the franchise sounds like a “Perfect” way to gross $800,000 as a solopreneur, even with no sales experience.
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Tags: FocalPoint Coaching franchise, Focalpoint Coaching, Stephen Thompson, Franchise consultant Kris Simonich, franchise consultant Andrea Floyd, The Perfect Franchise Podcast, Mark Schnurman, Mark Adam Schnurman, The Perfect Franchise, franchise consultants, franchise brokers, Blick Law, attorney Shaun Blick, attorney Eric J. Warner, SLAPP, Strategic Lawuit Against Public Participation, PA, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
