IAM2485 – Unlock Your Potential as a Franchise Broker

In this special episode, Gresham Harkless shares an honest and introspective update on Day 161 of his entrepreneurial journey, offering insights into the mental and emotional challenges of building momentum in a niche space.

While he admits feeling like he hasn’t moved far from where he started, Gresham acknowledges the unseen growth that’s taken place—improved routines, clearer processes, and a stronger mental game.

He emphasizes the importance of mental endurance, recognizing that success often comes after consistent effort, even when early results are minimal.

Gresham discusses his evolving approach to lead generation, including multi-channel strategies like LinkedIn and networking, while also weighing the value of joining a group like BNI, which previously yielded strong results.

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Transcription:

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Intro 00:01

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:29

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.

We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.

So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.

So make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

So everything is going to be a little bit different as far as like how I'm recording, where I'm recording and things like that.

But yeah, with that being said, I'm 161 on day 161. I feel like I'm exactly where I was when I started, but you never are.

I think that's a challenge of any type of journeys. You have to continue to kind of make sure that you're cultivating your brain, treating your brain, no matter what challenges and things might come up that you are continue to move forward.

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You see that there's better conversations, there's better wins, there's better organization with the things that I'm doing. My reps are getting better.

So it's almost like you continue to work out, you continue to work out, you're not seeing the change, not seeing the things happen, and then you want to boom.

Then that watershed moment happens. So I'm trying to continue to build towards that.

My goal was really at six months to be further along than I was now.

But I would say this is probably the month or maybe around may would have been the month that I would have really started.

So I'm like two weeks from that I want to walk away with at least one sale if not two to three sales.

So I can walk in and say hey if i started it from this day I'm further along I'm still further along whether I want to admit it or not.

But it's just like getting those juices flowing, getting the leads and everything coming through.

I'm still getting leads coming through. They're just not, of course, always panning out.

So it's just kind of continue to work through these things. And it's a it's a numbers game.

I see what a lot of people say. What I'm starting to realize as well, too, is that we get a lead.

We just want to call. But it's it's building up this It's reaching out to people on LinkedIn.

It's the multifaceted approach that's necessary needed and I wanted to try to have it so that hopefully I get some low-hanging fruit. Doesn't seem like there's a lot of low-hanging fruit.

I had the one candidate that closed that I had on my calendar, she ended up going with one of the brands that I was probably going to recommend.

So that was a little bit, frustrating in the very beginning. But still, even with that, if that would have closed, I would have took a little bit of weight off. It's like, hey, you can do this.

But in reality, I wouldn't have been happy with just that. I think you continue to kind of work through those things, continue to try to get going.

And, it's just the mental games, the mental game as much as it is the, did I do pitch? Did I do a good presentation?

So all those things, but definitely that mental game plays a really big part of mentally and emotional part of the game.

So you have to continue to kind of stay true. Without a shadow of a doubt, I do believe I'm better than I was when I started.

I believe that things are starting to come together and I just need to continue to chop at the tree.

As I said in previous episodes, previous videos, it's like understanding that.

So my goal is really just to continue to kind of do those things, continue to kind of get better and we'll see what happens.

But one of the things that I talk with somebody about joining a networking group and I decided maybe I should hold office because I don't have my avatar.

I have an avatar written out, but I don't have an avatar approved. So I am still kind of six months in kind of testing out a lot of things.

It's quite possible that I might in the past I would just join the networking group because that's what I did when I started my business.

But there was like a need there. The problem that I would run into here is that there's not necessarily a need.

It would be me trying to create a need. Although I've had two one-to-ones with people from this group and people see that there's an opportunity.

They see that there's like in passing, both of them said that I might have a son or a friend that got laid off or just all of those things.

So I don't know, it's very interesting because I think that, the way that I'm approaching is very, very niche.

And I have to understand that it's very, very niche. I have to understand who might be the people that would be really good as far as like making that transition.

And, from a networking standpoint, I think the one that ended up being like a really good fit was, was from the BNI.

And so that might be where I need to end up going. The more I talk with, the more I talked with the person from NEXCO, it's like the BNI might be the best route because it's the B2B and B2C.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 06:38

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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