I’ve seen it happen. A franchise brand takes off, selling territories left and right, celebrating every new deal like the biggest win. The sales team is fired up, commissions are rolling in, and everyone’s convinced they’re building the next great empire.
Then, cracks start forming. Franchisees struggle. They’re confused, overwhelmed, and frustrated. The operations team is drowning in support calls, trying to clean up the mess. Performance drops, validation tanks, and suddenly, all that explosive growth turns into an anchor dragging the brand down.
I know this playbook because I’ve watched it unfold more than once. I’ve spent years in franchising, scaling brands before acquiring my own. I’ve seen firsthand what works and what doesn’t; that’s why I went out on my own in the first place. And I can tell you with absolute certainty: if your sales and operations teams aren’t locked in together from day one, your franchise system is a ticking time bomb.
When I acquired Rolling Suds, a 30+ year-old family-owned power-washing business with just one location at the time in 2022, I wasn’t interested in playing the same game that so many emerging franchisors do, pushing growth at all costs and figuring out the rest later.
I set out to change the system. Something scalable with real-world value. Something that would provide generational wealth to the franchisees who saw our vision. Something that wouldn’t just survive aggressive expansion but thrive because of it. That meant setting a hard rule from the start: sales and operations work as one team, not two.
How I Learned the Hard Way
Before Rolling Suds, I was deep in franchise development, leading today’s largest home service brands through rapid expansion. I saw how growth could be a powerful advantage, but only when done right. Too often, sales teams focused on closing deals, showing easy operations and quick returns, while operations weren’t fully aligned to support those expectations. One thing about me, I am a big-picture guy. When something isn’t clicking, I’m going to figure out why.
When franchisees stepped in and realized what it actually took to succeed, some struggled, some stalled, and some never got off the ground. Watching that happen was gut-wrenching. These were people who put their savings and trust into the system, and when they failed, it wasn’t just on them—it was on the brand… and I took it to heart. If a franchise does not equip its owners properly, everyone loses.
Building a Franchise My Way
In year one of Rolling Suds (2023), I was signing every franchisee myself. I knew that if we were going to build the biggest power washing franchise in the world, we had to do it the right way from day one.
I personally vetted every franchisee, not to turn people away, but to ensure that anyone who joined our system had the mindset, drive, and ability to execute. If we didn’t see that, we didn’t move forward because we refuse to set someone up for failure. A great franchise is not built on collecting franchise fees; it’s built on franchisees who win.
Why Most Franchise Brands Fail This Test
Most franchise brands set sales and operations up as opposing forces. Sales is incentivized to sell as many franchises as possible, while operations is left to clean up the aftermath. That’s how brands get franchisees who shouldn’t have been approved in the first place. The result? Misalignment, weak performance, and a franchise system that’s built on shaky ground.
At Rolling Suds, we flipped that completely. Our sales team doesn’t just hand a franchisee off to operations and move on, they are accountable for that owner’s success. Our operations leaders are involved before a franchisee ever signs a contract. If they don’t think someone is a fit, they shut it down. No amount of sales momentum is worth bringing in the wrong person.
That’s why we don’t have underperforming franchisees. We don’t let them in the system to begin with.
My Playbook for Sales & Ops Alignment
When a new Rolling Suds franchisee signs, they aren’t just dumped into the system and left to figure it out. From the moment they say yes, they are plugged into a structured, high-accountability ramp-up process designed to get them cash-flowing as fast as possible. We don’t do guesswork. We don’t do “figure it out as you go.” Everything is mapped out:
- Immediate onboarding. No waiting, no confusion. They know exactly what happens next.
- Hands-on training with real execution. Not just theory—actual practice, with operations guiding every step at our HQ.
- Aggressive early-stage support. The first 90 days are critical. We track performance relentlessly, step in fast when needed, and ensure every franchisee is executing the model exactly as it’s designed.
And here’s the key: our sales teams, our operations teams, and I are in constant communication. Every week, we meet, review performance, analyze where franchisees are excelling or struggling, and adjust accordingly. If franchisees start struggling with customer acquisition, we tweak our training and lead generation strategies. If operations sees a pattern of early-stage issues, we refine how we qualify candidates before they sign. Nothing happens in a vacuum.
The Result? We’re Scaling Without Breaking
Most franchise brands that grow as fast as we have end up breaking under their own weight. Rolling Suds is different. We’ve sold over 250 territories in the first two years, and our system is only getting stronger as we scale. Why? Because we’re bringing in the right franchisees, setting them up for success, and keeping sales and operations in lockstep every step of the way.
The brands that fail are the ones that focus on selling franchises instead of making sure franchisees can actually succeed. Growth looks good on paper, but it means nothing if the people buying in aren’t set up with the right tools, training, and support.
A franchise is that owner’s future. It’s their savings, their risk, their shot at building something for themselves and their family. If the system isn’t built to help them win, then what are we even doing? A strong franchise isn’t measured by how fast it sells but by how well its franchisees perform, because their success is the only thing that actually matters.
If You’re a Franchisor, Fix This Now
If you’re a franchisor and your sales and operations teams aren’t aligned, you’re already losing. Maybe you don’t see it yet, but you will. The signs are always the same: franchisees who struggle early, support teams constantly firefighting, sales pushing candidates through even when they shouldn’t just to make quota.
Fix it now, not when it’s too late. Make your sales team accountable for what happens after the deal closes. Get operations involved before a franchisee signs. Build a structured, repeatable onboarding system that sets owners up to execute from day one. And never, ever sell someone into a business they aren’t actually ready to run.
That’s how you scale a franchise without breaking it. That’s how you build something that lasts. And that’s exactly what we’re doing at Rolling Suds.
By Aaron Harper, CEO of Rolling Suds