121 | Beyond Command and Control: Scaling Franchise Relationships | Brian Schnell

Brian Schnell, Partner and Chair of the Franchise Practice at Faegre Drinker, brings nearly four decades of franchise law, operations, and executive leadership to one of franchising's most persistent tensions: the breakdown between franchisors and franchisees. In this conversation with host Brendon Dennewill, Brian challenges the command-and-control model still used by too many brands and makes the case for a collaborative leadership philosophy rooted in trust, franchisee voice, and unit-level profitability. If you lead or advise a franchise system and want to understand what separates sustainable brands from those that stagnate, this episode is required listening.

What You'll Learn

• Why franchisee voice matters more than franchisee vote
• The first habit of highly successful franchise systems
• When command and control actually destroys brand equity
• How leadership gaps compound as systems scale
• What most franchise disputes actually start as
• The role private equity is beginning to play in franchising's future
• Why data without the human element still leads to bad decisions

Resources Mentioned

• 2026 Franchise Summit
• Faegre Drinker 
• "The Five Habits of the Highly Successful Franchise System"  framework developed by Brian Schnell and Bill Killian
• "The AI-Driven Leader" by Geoff Woods 
• HubSpot CRM 
• IFA (International Franchise Association)

Is your business ready to scale? Take the Growth Readiness Score to find out. In 5 minutes, you’ll see: 

• Benchmark data showing how you stack up to other organizations
• A clear view of your operational maturity 
• Whether your business is ready to scale (and what to do next if it’s not)

Let's Connect

• Subscribe to the RevOps Champions Newsletter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Explore the show at revopschampions.com. 

Ready to unite your teams with RevOps strategies that eliminate costly silos and drive growth? Let's talk!