By Brian Rolf, President of Northeast Florida Pet Nutrition, LLC, and owner of eight Pet Supplies Plus stores across Florida (including locations in Jacksonville, Orlando, St. Augustine, and Atlantic Beach). After serving in the military for 20 years, Rolf retired and chose to become a franchisee with Pet Supplies Plus, opening his first Pet store in 2016.
Trust your military background when stepping into business ownership. Whether you served in the Marine Corps, Navy, Army, or Air Force, you understand the power of determination, leadership, and resilience. Just as you overcame challenges during your military service, you’re capable of tackling the obstacles of building a successful business. If you’re a fellow veteran considering franchise ownership, your military experience and commitment to service could be the key to your success.
Here are three ways you can leverage your military background to thrive in franchising:
Be a Leader
In the military, leadership isn’t just about giving orders; it’s about inspiring trust, encouraging teamwork, and getting the best out of the people around you. As a franchise owner, you’ll need these same leadership skills to manage your employees and ensure smooth operations across all your locations. Your military background has already given you the tools to lead by example, motivate a team, and keep everyone focused on the mission of your business.
Just like in the military, your decisions will have a direct impact on your team. It’s crucial to approach challenges with a strategic mindset, balancing the long-term vision of your business while addressing the immediate needs of your employees. Effective leadership means knowing when to pivot strategies, how to communicate clearly with employees, and how to support your team during both calm and tough times.
Another important part of being a leader is surrounding yourself with a reliable team – one that will help you get the job done with maximum efficiency. I call it a “leadership petri dish.” Similar to the military, where different perspectives help you adapt and respond to challenges, having a diverse set of voices in the room helps you continuously learn and grow. Whether it’s about staffing and training, customer engagement, or strategic growth, a strong team can truly set your business apart from the competition.
Embrace Collaboration and Innovation
While in service, we are often part of a larger mission where teamwork and sharing ideas are crucial to accomplishing the goal. That mindset translates seamlessly into owning and operating a business. As a franchise owner, you can draw from your military experience to embrace collaboration and innovation, not only within your team but across the entire franchise system.
Always play an active role within your brand and explore new ways to improve services, products, and culture. For example, I created a program that was implemented into the Pet Supplies Plus franchise system, and I was also heavily involved in the evolution of another. The program I developed recognizes top-performing employees – those who are instrumental in driving store success through customer engagement, inventory management, and overall store rhythm. The initiative eventually became known as the company-wide “Leader of the Pack” program. My mindset is simple: when one franchisee succeeds, we all succeed, and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate each other’s successes.
I also worked closely with the corporate team to evolve our rewards program, improving it to better serve customers while providing value for franchisees. These experiences demonstrate how a commitment to working together can leave a lasting impact on both franchisees and corporate partners to create a stronger and more unified system.
Recruit and Hire with Intention
Success often depends on the strength of the people around you. Whether it’s the military or business, this principle holds true and is essential for achieving positive results. When transitioning into franchise ownership, it’s crucial to recruit the right individuals who will help execute your vision and move your business forward.
Focus on hiring people who complement your strengths and help fill the gaps in your skillset. Just like in the military, each employee should bring their own set of unique skills and expertise to contribute to the operation. You won’t know everything about every aspect of the business, and that’s okay. What matters is that you hire individuals who are experts in areas where you’re less experienced, ensuring your team is well-rounded.
For example, I didn’t come from a retail background, and that knowledge is needed for a pet retail brand. One of the first decisions I made as a franchisee was to hire someone who had worked at Target to be a part of the leadership team and provide firsthand expertise in retail operations. Having someone with that background by my side has been instrumental to the growth and success of our stores.
Hiring the right people is only part of the equation – retaining them is just as important. In the military, you learn how to inspire loyalty, trust, and a sense of shared purpose within your team. Bring those same leadership qualities into your business by investing in your team’s development and creating an environment where they feel valued and supported. People want to stay where they feel appreciated and where they can grow, so make sure to focus on retention just as much as you do on recruitment.
Veterans, in many ways, make for the ideal franchisee. We bring a wealth of knowledge and leadership that are directly applicable to business ownership. You already have all the tools needed to build a thriving franchise, just like I did. All it takes is the courage to step into the unknown. If you leverage the skills developed while in service and trust the process, you’ll succeed in ways you never imagined.