Franchise Your Business

Beyond Training: Using Monthly Masterminds to Drive Franchisee Growth

• Big Sky Franchise Team | Tom DuFore

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This week on the Franchise Your Business webinar series, we’re joined by Paul Masters, Founder of Perissos Leadership Coaching and Master Franchisee and CEO of Anago of Atlanta.

Since acquiring Anago of Atlanta in 2017, Paul has driven consistent growth and earned Top 10 Performer recognition within the franchise system. As an executive coach, he works closely with franchise leaders to strengthen strategy, accountability, and execution, helping them build scalable and profitable businesses.

In this session, Paul shares how structured monthly masterminds can reduce franchisee isolation, improve consistency across systems, and accelerate performance through peer learning and strategic dialogue.

This was a live recording on April 17, 2026 at approximately 1:00 PM Eastern USA.

This episode is powered by Big Sky Franchise Team.
Big Sky Franchise Team is consistently recognized as one of the best franchise consulting firms in the United States, helping entrepreneurs franchise their businesses through a proven 3-Step franchise process rooted in ethical principles, hands-on guidance, and customized deliverables.  If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/. 

The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified professional before making any business decisions. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host, Big Sky Franchise Team, or our affiliates. Additionally, this podcast may feature sponsors or advertisers, but any mention of products or services does not constitute an endorsement. Please do your own research before making any purchasing or business decisions.  References to external data sources, studies, statistics, or other third-party content are not claimed as our own unless explicitly stated. We do our best to provide proper credit and citation where due. If we unintentionally fail to cite or credit a source, please let us know, and we’ll gladly ...

Welcome And Where To Subscribe

Tom DuFore

All right, everyone. Thank you for joining us for another edition of our Franchise Your Business podcast and webinar series. My name is Tom Dufour. I'm the founder and CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team. And as we have folks loading into the live session here, I always like to use this as a good opportunity to share for anyone that uh is new to us or joining us for the first time. You can subscribe to our podcast at Franchise Your Business. It's just called Franchise Your Business. You'll find it on your uh most uh podcast services out there, Apple, Spotify, or whatever you listen to. Uh, or subscribe to our YouTube channel where you get all of our content. We have over 600 webinars, podcasts, videos, and content that we are updating literally every week with great pressing, relevant information. And that's just search for our company name, Big Sky Franchise Team. Uh Big Sky Franchise Team is a is the great place for you to start there. And um, and then lastly, as we're loading in, uh feel free to subscribe to our second podcast called Multiply Your Success. So our Multiply Your Success podcast is really geared toward that weekly dose of inspiration and motivation. And our podcast here that we're doing with the franchise your business session is really practical and uh focused on getting stuff done and being effective and better as a franchisor uh and as a business leader. Now, uh our episode today is really geared on this idea of beyond training, using monthly masterminds to drive franchisee growth. So, how can masterminds, you're you you maybe for someone tuning in here, you might be a member of a mastermind group for your own business. But now that you're franchising, what about your franchisees? And if they were to join one of these generic mastermind groups, how is that really going to help them find success in their system? Well, uh, our guest today is Paul Masters, whom I've had the good fortune of knowing Paul for many years together, knowing Paul for many years. In fact, we actually met at a mastermind group uh uh uh what was it, six or seven years ago. And um, so it's been a while, and I'll give you a little overview on Paul. Now, Paul is the founder of Paris. Paul pronounced that. I knew I was gonna botch that word.

Paul Masters

Parasos, thank you.

The Post Training Wall

Tom DuFore

Parasos leadership coaching and owner and CEO of Anago of Atlanta. As an executive coach and entrepreneur, Paul helps business owners, leaders, and franchise professionals gain clarity, strengthen execution, and build scalable, profitable companies. His coaching focuses on strategy, accountability, leadership development, and sustainable growth. Since acquiring Anago of Atlanta in 2017, Paul has led the company through sustained expansion and top 10 performer recognition within the franchise system. And for those of you that are new or uh familiar with franchising, know that a top 10 franchisee is not something easy to come by uh and going through that system. Uh prior to Anago, Paul co-founded Ernest Communications, a telecommunications company, later expanded into IT and mobility services and successfully sold that in 2013. He holds a bachelor's degree, an MBA, and an ICF associated uh certified coaching designation, which is no small feat to achieve. That is the uh the top of the top for coaching certifications. So, Paul, with that being said, I'd love to get this conversation started about mastermind groups. Let's do it, Tom. Perfect. So, Paul, um, let's talk a little bit for someone that's tuning in, just generically, what a mastermind group is and what are some of the key attributes or benefits to one?

Paul Masters

Sure. Well, um, I think it's helpful if you don't mind, maybe just to give a little bit of context and background. So um when uh I was actually in business with my father-in-law for 21 years, um we uh I worked for him for six years in a company that he founded, and then for 15 years together in a company that we co-founded. And so when we sold that company, I worked for the company that bought us for about three years, had a contract with him. And during that time, I met a franchise consultant. And so I became intrigued with um the concept of franchising and over the last 10 years have owned and operated three different franchises, two of which are still alive and kicking. Uh, one didn't go so well. Uh, we'll talk about that one a little bit later, hopefully. Um, but in over the time of uh of investing in those franchises, I I sort of learned and saw that most franchise systems do a really good job of kind of getting you in, getting you onboarded, getting you trained up, uh coached up, and then out the door and running. But what happens is, you know, six months, 12 months in, um, you know, you kind of hit a wall. And so it's not necessarily the franchisor's fault. I mean, you know this better than I do. I think I read a statistic that half of all franchise systems have less than 25 units. And so um, those franchise systems don't always have the infrastructure for ongoing coaching and development. So they tend to spend probably, you know, 10% of their time with the new franchise owners coming into the system, or I mean that they spend the bulk of their time with the, you know, 10% of new franchise owners coming in, or the 10% of franchise owners that are struggling and are in danger of going out of business. So sort of that bell curve, you know, the middle 80% just sort of are left to figure it out with annual conferences and maybe webinars and things like that, but but it kind of feels like you're on your own. I experienced it and I was really shocked and surprised to feel the isolation of being a franchise owner. You know, uh I describe it as feeling like I was on a desert island, and I did not expect that at all. And so um in my coaching practice, what I've tried to do is help, you know, uh mitigate that with the franchise systems I work with by creating these mastermind groups where what I like to say is it creates a space where franchise owners can commiserate, celebrate, and collaborate because you we're just missing the opportunity with you know ongoing consistent kind of peer interaction to be able to do those things.

Tom DuFore

Well, I think that's that's a great overview. And even as you were describing kind of that feeling of an of being isolated as a franchisee, I rem recall even in my own when I was a uh a franchisee that I had very similar sentiment. Um, however, to kind of spin into some of what you're talking about with this with this mastermind piece, I know that I had a franchisee in one of the networks that I joined up with. He was a mature franchisee, he was doing well, and he kind of took me under his wing. And he really fundamentally changed my whole trajectory and growth and corporate did exactly what you described. I got signed up, I got trained, I got, you know, I got everything I needed to launch and I got things kickstarted. But there was something different when the advice or the the train the suggestions were coming from another franchisee that just seemed more valuable to me. So why might that be, Paul, uh versus, you know, corporate that's trying to help you also?

Paul Masters

Yeah, I think there's something pretty powerful about, you know, it's not top-down teaching or instruction. It's it's peer-led facilitation. So it's real-world problem solving, it's knowing what's going on in the field, it's, you know, what opportunities are you trying to explore, what problems are you trying to solve? You know, it takes it sort of from I'll say theoretical, maybe what you read in the manual to actually what's happening in your business every day. And you tend to think you're the only one that is happening, two or four, right? But then when you get in a group of your peers, you start to realize, oh my gosh, we're all dealing with the same things. And it there's something powerful about just the group being able to talk about uh what is happening with them, you know, sort of that me too, me too, you know, and you think no one in the world is experiencing this today.

How A Monthly Mastermind Works

Tom DuFore

Yeah. Oh, that I uh that that's very, very well said. Well, let's talk about um, let's let's uh circle back around to that initial question about mastermind groups. And well, it let's talk through what is a mastermind group just from a high level. What what in the world is it for someone who's like, what do you mean mastermind groups? What are you talking about here?

Paul Masters

Yeah, so it's really just a consistent kind of cadence of a group, uh, not a large group, um, but you know, probably somewhere between six and 12 franchise owners meeting together on a consistent basis with the groups that I help um lead their masterminds. We meet once a month. We meet generally for about 60 to 90 minutes at a time. Um, it is uh it is not teaching, it is not instruction necessarily. It's more facilitating, it's more peer-led. There is structure to it. You know, we talk about business snapshots, reviewing key metrics, roundtable problem solving. But really, the beauty of it is that we're able to flex based on what the group needs at any one time in whatever season that they're in.

Tom DuFore

Well, uh uh that that's that's really helpful. So this mastermind group, and there there are other from my understanding, lots of mastermind groups out there. And in fact, if you're an owner or a business, a franchisee or what have you, chances are you've been uh contacted or solicited to join one or more of these groups through LinkedIn or maybe networking groups that you're a part of. But how is a franchisee mastermind networking group different from, say, just a general business owner's mastermind group? For example, where you and I met, it was just a and there was nothing wrong with it. It was a fantastic group that we were a part of, but but how how is that different from what you're talking about here?

Paul Masters

Yeah, and uh I'm in a mastermind group today myself. And so um there's just something different about being in a group of franchise owners where you're all in the same system. There's a a depth of understanding that you there's no real explanation of what the problem is. Everyone just intuitively knows what the problem is. And so you're not necessarily trying to take what you do in your plumbing business or in your IT business. Not that there's anything that's wrong with that, and trying to sort of overlay it on top of what the problem is in a franchise business. There's this intimacy of like we you're all dealing with the same things, and you're just able to go so much deeper, so much faster, I think, because of that.

Why Same System Peers Matter

Tom DuFore

Well, Paul, you mentioned you said uh in a group like this, it helps to commiserate to celebrate. And there was a third C. What was the third one? Collaborate. Collaborate. I knew there was another C rhyming word in there. I I didn't jot it down fast enough.

Paul Masters

I haven't trademarked it yet, so you may beat me to it.

Tom DuFore

Well, uh, let's talk, let's go through this, okay? Um the commiserate. So as a franchisor, uh every uh I think there's there's a fear in most franchisors. And uh I've seen it in the clients I've worked with for over 20 years. No one ever really talks about it, but there's kind of this uh unsettling or unnerving fear that one day the you know the the the troops are gonna kind of circle the wagons and come back on you as the franchisor. Now, I I I rarely see such a situation occur. So when you say commiserate, uh someone who's tuning in might say, Paul, are they circling the wagons? What's going on here? Do I need to be worried? So let's talk about each one of these. So what do you mean commiserate? What are they doing there?

Paul Masters

I think it's just, you know, it's um the first thing I think about is um you haven't done it correctly if as a franchise owner you don't have that oh no, what have I done moment, you know, when you think about uh leaving your corporate career, plucking down tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then you look around and you think, oh no. So I think everyone's had that moment, whether they want to say it out loud or not. And that's probably the first place to start by commiserating is yes, you're not alone. Uh I too uh thought uh I had that um, I had that moment where I thought uh I have made a terrible choice. So that's probably the first thing that I think about. The second thing is really just, you know, the sort of the rhythms of business. You know, you you lose accounts, you get beat out by a competitor, you know, it's um you have your top sales rep resign on you all of a sudden. I mean, just things that go on. You just have someone who has been there, done that, they know exactly how you feel. And I guess it's maybe the old saying, you know, misery loves company, but it's just someone who can identify with whatever the loss of the day is in in your business life.

Commiserate Celebrate Collaborate

Tom DuFore

Well, that that's I think that's very well said. I I I definitely think back to what uh owning my franchise and when I would have those moments with other franchisees, exactly as you're describing, right? Where it's you you have this connection point of they just immediately understand and they're not really solving the problems. It's just someone that you know you're talking to that went through the same thing a year ago or two years ago, and they're just listening, and that's it. It's just kind of almost almost maybe a form of uh of therapy or just kind of a uh reset or a cleansing a little bit.

Paul Masters

Yeah, that's a great way, that's a great way to describe it. It's it's a little bit of a it's catharsis, that's for sure. Just getting it out.

Tom DuFore

All right. Well, let's let's talk about the the uh celebrating here. What how how are they celebrating together?

Paul Masters

Yeah, I think it's the wins of the day, you know, for uh you closed a big deal, you know, you you landed that client that you've been chasing for six months and they ghosted you, you know, 27 times until they actually needed something and they called you. It's um it's you know, getting to the threshold of you're at $100,000 in monthly recurring revenue. You know, that's a big deal. That's worth uh people coming alongside and patting you on the back and telling you, good job. Um, it's really it's the isolation, it's just combating the isolation, I think, is what in my mind it kind of boils down to.

Tom DuFore

Well, I know in in some franchise systems, sometimes a franchise or uh that I've seen over the years of doing this, that they kind of have a glasses half full mindset, or excuse me, a glass is half-empty mindset. And so they think when franchisees get together, not only the circling the wagons, but the celebrating, you know, I I've heard over the years of franchise saying, well, if I have some of my top performers in with some of my weaker performers, that maybe the weaker performers get disenfranchised, no pun intended, or vice versa, the the top performers are thinking, oh boy, these other folks are in the system. What have you seen in these mastermind groups?

Paul Masters

Um, yeah, there can be some of that. I I think generally speaking, the people that are in the mastermind groups, they they want to be in the mastermind groups. You know, it's um it's they're not there against their will. Um and if they are, they'll self-select out. That's okay. And so I think there's sort of this uh implication that people are there because they want to grow, they want to learn, they want to get better, you know, they're looking for um the things that the group has to offer. And so um, they tend to have a way to kind of self-police the negative Nellies, if you want to say it that way. Don't kind of they don't stick around very long because they're just they're not given the voice because the other people really want to take advantage of the time.

Tom DuFore

Very, very, very good. Well, uh I as we've talked about this, I think of okay, we've gone through two of these, commiserate and celebrate. And I view view these kind of like peaks and valleys. And uh now we have the collaborate, and it reminds me and makes me think of a visual of almost like a stick drawing or something where you have a couple figures, some at the top of the mountain, some at the bottom of the valley, and the collaborate's kind of the rope in between where one some folks at the top are pulling down, and maybe on the other side the others are kind of sliding down the mountain, and the others are going to be pulling them back up. So, talk about this collaboration that occurs in these groups and what what you've seen.

Paul Masters

Yeah, so I can think of one example, one of um one of my uh clients that host their mastermind. Uh, the franchise system relies heavily on third-party lead generation sources. And so uh the the individual franchise owners left to their own devices are looking for new ones, trying to get rid of old ones, not getting a great ROI on you know, 90% of the ones that they're testing. But when the group kind of comes together and begins to knowledge share, then you learn quickly which ones are good, you learn quickly which ones are bad, and it just accelerates the process so much faster where they stop wasting time, they stop wasting money, and they actually start generating uh revenue because they're focused on the the um the lead gen sources with the highest ROI for their businesses. And so that's probably one of the clearest examples in my mind of how the collaboration has helped the franchise owners generate more revenue faster because you know the knowledge sharing of the lead gen sources that are and are not working.

Tom DuFore

So would you say so, kind of uh reiterating, I think, a point you're making, uh it it sounds like in addition to that, there there's uh faster adoption of some of these new suppliers or or uh maybe even systems or strategies that maybe corporates rolling out through these groups also.

Paul Masters

Uh yeah, there's both uh all of the above. That's it, that's a good way to say it.

Tom DuFore

Very, very good. Now, uh, Paul, for a franchise or that tunes into this, um, we've talked a lot about some of the kind of the benefits for franchisees. Um, what what for a franchise or that tunes in that says, well, I guess that's great, but we've got our business, you know, our our our uh franchise business coach that's kind of going out and doing the check-ins, and we've got this going, you know, do we really need another thing? You know, how would you describe the difference between kind of a general franchise support check-ins and meetings versus this mastermind? And what what might you say to that that franchise or?

Lead Gen Wins Through Sharing

Paul Masters

Yeah, it's a good question. I I don't think you know one is meant to replace the other. Uh, we just had our franchise visit, you know, from the field development uh team a couple of weeks ago. Um, there's definitely um much to be gained from that because they they see what is happening in in the system, bringing best practices. They have you know a corporate side maybe that uh we don't get to see every day. But I I think there's just something unique and powerful about when the group gets together and it is peer-led and you get real-time information. I mean, one of the things about the corporate visit, what is our own first and only corporate visit of the year. So uh these masterminds, you know, that we're hosting is, and whether we do it or not, you know, just the rhythm of the mastermind is meeting every 30 days, every 90 days. I mean, there is just an exchange of information and intelligence that is literally hot off the presses. You know, there is no substitute for uh what is happening in the field right now versus waiting for the next 12 months for the corporate visit to transpire.

Tom DuFore

Yeah, what what I really hear uh, and maybe this is a fourth C to add into it, but as I'm listening to you talk through this, it it makes me think of community and it it really creates uh within a franchise system this community of what you're describing, and even what I've seen you be able to do uh with with uh uh some of the folks you've worked with is take take a franchise system where you know, in general, they're all wearing the same shirts and they're all using the same, you know, branding and processes and systems. But I've really noticed that this kind of more of a Community structure. So when they show up at uh at the annual convention, it's not just, hey, haven't seen you in a year. Now it's real meaningful conversation. So would you talk to that a little bit?

Paul Masters

Yeah, uh I I think you're you're saying exactly what I'm attempting to say, you know, combating the isolation. And I know I've used that word several times, but um, I don't know that it can be overstated. I mean, most of us come out of corporate backgrounds, you know, we're used to being, particularly pre-COVID, you know, we're used to being in the office, we're used to being around people, we're used to being on teams, we're used to being in meetings with, you know, groups of people from finance and marketing. And suddenly we find ourselves in this environment where for many franchise owners, it's a solopreneur type environment. So you're literally all by yourself. And so, you know, creating that that team atmosphere, that sense of community, I think, you know, helps to combat uh what we uh what we had and maybe what we didn't know that we were walking away from, you know, when we took the leap, maybe from corporate to to entrepreneur.

Results For Franchisees And Franchisors

Tom DuFore

Oh, that that's really, really good stuff. Um, and uh, you know, I I would be remiss if I didn't have ask this just about results. Uh, I know that a lot of times the the franchisee that's thinking about spending their time on it is gonna say, Paul, how's this really gonna help move the needle for my franchise? Whether they've they're a veteran in the space or maybe they're and they're saying, uh, you know, I don't want to be wasting my time here. Or the new franchisee that says, I'm frantic, I'm just trying to get some revenue in the door. Uh what what might you say to those groups, uh to the franchisees that's wondering, you know, you know, what kind of results might I see through this?

Paul Masters

Yeah, I think about one franchise system that um that I host their mastermind, uh, someone that uh that you know, uh, when I first got involved with them, uh great organization, um, they have the ability to sell a number of products and services. Um, but I'm not joking when I say 99.9% of their revenue in the entire system was really derived from a single kind of legacy product. And so uh when I got involved with them, we quickly, you know, through the franchise owner's uh request, we quickly set out to uh create some diversity um in their in their product portfolio. And so, you know, two and a half years later, uh, I would um I'd guess that uh most every franchise owner in that system probably has five or six products in their portfolio now that they're selling regularly. We've seen some of the new franchise owners in the system um have a uh a mix of you know, only 50% of their revenue is derived from the legacy product, and 50% now is derived from these other products. Uh they sell more, the product margins are higher, the franchise owner is happier. I mean, uh the franchise owner is happier, the franchise owner is happier because you know their royalties are increasing. So I think that's just one example of how the collective power of the group can create more products, more revenue, more profit, and and that was because of the mastermind.

Tom DuFore

Uh, very, very good. And Paul, let's let's look at the other side for the franchise or that uh, you know, you're looking to maybe uh come in and form this. And the franchisor says, Paul, I'm I'm I'm interested, but I I've got some skepticism. You know, how is this going to really help move the needle or what kind of results might I expect? And I think your example you just shared probably applies to both, but I'd just be curious for if there'd be anything different you might add or contribute to that uh franchisor that might be uh talking to you.

Contact Details And Closing

Paul Masters

Yeah, I this is in no way meant. I mean, I know, at least hear the stories about sort of the antagonism that can exist between franchisors and franchisees. I have not personally experienced that in any of the franchise ownership that I've been involved in over the 10 years. And but the mastermind is in no way meant to say, oh, you know, the franchise or you know is all wet, they have no idea what they're doing. This is how it really works. It's meant to work in conjunction with um what the franchise what the franchise system is, you know, to enhance um the uh areas and opportunities where things are going well and to uh improve the areas where they're not. Um and you know, it's also a feedback mechanism to the franchise or to say, hey, through the collective wisdom of the mastermind, here are things they really like, here are things, you know, areas of improvement, enhancement. So it for the franchisors who want to embrace the process, I think it can be valuable information for them also in terms of improving the product or system or service that they have.

Tom DuFore

Oh, very, very good. Well, uh, I'd love to open this up to some questions uh from anyone that's tuning in here. So uh please uh type that into the chat box or raise your hand. I can unmute you while we're waiting. And Paul, while someone uh might be typing that in or chatting, how can people learn a little bit more about what you're doing or get in touch or connect?

Paul Masters

Yeah, um uh they can find me. Uh Parasosleader.com is my website. It's P-E-R-I-S-S-O-Sleader.com. Uh they can reach me at Paul at Parasosleader.com also.

Tom DuFore

Perfect. Perfect. Well, I will make sure we'll include that in some of the show notes and details here as well. Um, I'm not seeing any other questions come in at the moment. So uh with that, I'd love to close things out. And Paul, just thank you for your time here. Uh, I think this concept of mastermind group, I mean, we've worked together, collaborated together with uh clients through this process and have truly seen the value-added benefit, especially for an emerging franchise brand that started originally maybe with seven, eight franchisees in the system and now are growing uh to 20 and beyond. And um, how this has impacted that system in particular and how we know that and and even your own experiences being a uh uh franchisee in other systems also. Uh so I I really appreciate your time for being here and uh thank you everyone for tuning in.

Paul Masters

Yeah, thanks, Thomas. Good to see you as always.

Head Shot

Tom DuFore

Host