How to Franchise a Business: Lessons from Katherine Pop of Pop Connect
Turning a successful business into a franchise sounds straightforward enough.
You've built something that works, so why not let other people take it into new areas?
Of course, there's quite a difference between running a successful business yourself and building one that other people can successfully operate.
I recently caught up with Katherine Pop, founder of Pop Connect, at the National Franchise Exhibition to talk about her experiences as an entrepreneur, franchise buyer and now franchisor.
Katherine has been running businesses since 1989. She's experienced the successes, setbacks and occasional expensive lessons that come with entrepreneurship.
What interested me most was how those experiences have influenced the way she's building Pop Connect as a franchise.
Watch my conversation with Katherine Pop below.
Learning from the wrong franchises
Before becoming a franchisor herself, Katherine bought two franchises.
Neither worked out as she'd hoped, and she walked away from both within a few months.
It's an interesting starting point for somebody who now sells franchises herself.
Buying a franchise should mean getting more than permission to use somebody else's name. You're investing in a business model, the experience behind it and the systems and support that should help you operate it.
That doesn't remove the risk of running a business. Nor does it mean the franchisor can do the work for you.
But it does raise an important question for anyone considering buying a franchise: what are you actually getting for your investment?
Building a business that other people can run
Katherine founded Pop Connect in 2015, offering business networking with a slightly different approach.
The meetings are structured, but relaxed. Members have opportunities to introduce their businesses, build relationships and develop referrals without the pressure that sometimes comes with organised networking.
Before franchising the business, Katherine had personally operated 37 networking groups.
That experience gave her an opportunity to understand what worked, what members valued and which parts of the business could be turned into repeatable processes.
The next challenge was making that experience available to other people.
At the time of our interview, Katherine told me Pop Connect had nine franchisees, including one who had already taken on an additional area.
But the number of franchisees is only part of the story.
The more interesting question is whether somebody else can take the model, follow the process and build a worthwhile business in their own area.
That's where franchising becomes more complicated than simply opening another location.
Supporting franchisees without running their businesses for them
One of the subjects we discussed was the balance between providing franchisees with proper support and giving them enough independence to run their businesses.
Katherine explained how Pop Connect is developing its franchise infrastructure, including CRM systems, websites, mentoring and other tools intended to make running the business easier.
It's an important distinction.
A franchisor needs to provide the knowledge, training and systems that franchisees are paying for. But franchisees still need to take ownership of their local businesses.
Too little support and they're effectively left to figure everything out themselves.
Too much interference and you risk taking away the independence that attracted them to running a business in the first place.
For anyone looking at a franchise opportunity, I'd suggest paying particular attention to what happens after you've signed the agreement.
Who trains you? What systems are provided? Who can you speak to when something isn't working? And how much freedom do you have to develop your business?
Those answers matter just as much as the initial sales presentation.
Why relationships matter in business networking
Pop Connect's approach to networking is another part of Katherine's story that caught my attention.
The business combines a structured meeting format with a more relaxed atmosphere, where people are encouraged to get to know each other rather than immediately chase referrals.
There's also category exclusivity within its networking groups, while allowing flexibility for members who have more than one business.
The idea is to create an environment where genuine working relationships can develop.
I've always thought networking works better when people are interested in one another rather than treating every introduction as a potential sale.
Of course, people join networking groups because they want to grow their businesses. There's nothing wrong with that.
But there's a difference between building relationships that lead to opportunities and expecting everyone you meet to become a customer.
That's a distinction Katherine seems determined to preserve as Pop Connect grows.
Listening to customers before building something new
Towards the end of our conversation, Katherine shared another business idea she'd been working on.
What interested me wasn't so much the new business itself, but where the idea came from.
She'd been listening to frustrations raised by people in her existing network and recognised what she believed was a gap in the market.
Rather than assuming she knew what people wanted, she developed an offer around something they'd already been talking about.
She'd also attracted some early members shortly after launching.
It's a useful reminder that new business ideas don't always need to start with some extraordinary invention.
Sometimes the opportunity is sitting in conversations you're already having.
The difficult part is recognising it, working out whether there's a viable business behind it and being prepared to test the idea.
What can aspiring franchisors learn from Pop Connect?
For me, the biggest lesson from Katherine's experience is that franchising isn't simply about growing the number of locations carrying your brand.
It's about building something that other people can operate, providing the right support and protecting what made the original business worthwhile.
If you're considering franchising your own business, it's worth asking whether your processes are genuinely repeatable and whether somebody else could deliver the same experience without you constantly being involved.
And if you're thinking about buying a franchise, take the time to understand the model beyond the marketing material. Speak to existing franchisees, investigate the financial commitments and find out what ongoing support really looks like.
Katherine's journey is a good example of how experience, listening to customers and developing the right systems can help a business move towards franchising.
I'm interested to see where she takes Pop Connect next.
You can learn more about the business at Pop Connect or explore its franchise opportunity through Pop Franchising.
Grant Stain
Entrepreneur, business owner and host of conversations with people building businesses and franchises.