About
Becoming a franchise coach has been a perfect convergence of Elaine’s professional career. With an extensive commercial real estate and finance background, she brings brokerage, analytics and customer service to her franchise consulting practice. In addition, as a two-time franchise owner, she has direct experience – the first time as an owner/operator, which she successfully operated on Cape Cod during the Great Recession of 2009, and presently, as a multi-unit franchisee of a different brand during the Corona pandemic. After more than a decade brokering commercial real estate south of Boston, she earned her Master’s in Real Estate from M.I.T. This changed the course of her career to Wall Street, where she served as a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) analyst. Similar to determining whether a stock should be a buy, sell or hold, she applies the same critical analysis to the franchise companies she elects to work with. She assesses the business strategy, the depth and strength of the management team, its financial track record, franchisee satisfaction and positioning in the marketplace, to name a few. Having “been there, done that” Elaine can fully relate to, and better serve, her candidates. Franchising isn’t for everyone, nor is every franchise suitable for each individual. It requires following a specific process. Elaine takes each candidate through a detailed consultation (1) to determine if franchising is right for them, and if it is, (2) identify the right business model (ie. executive model, owner-operator, semi-absentee, bricks & mortar, mobile or home based, recession resistant, lifestyle, socially conscious, etc…) and (3) arrive at a custom-tailored list of franchise options based upon that individual’s specific talents, skill set, time commitment, preferences/aversions, investment parameters, territory and life goals. Elaine supports her candidates during every step of their franchise evaluation with guidance, tools and resources, so that they can make a fully-informed decision. It is important to note: like a corporate headhunter, Elaine’s services come at no cost to the candidate and there is no obligation. If you are interested in learning more about franchising and if it may be a fit for you, access her LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaine-vakalopoulos/ or website www.yourfranchiseoptoins.com. Elaine received her B.S. in Business Administration (double major Finance & Marketing) from Northeastern University, an M.S. In Real Estate from MIT and holds a Massachusetts Real Estate Broker’s license.