Greg Sausaman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Topper's Craft Creamery®. He is a seasoned franchise executive, having held positions with national franchise organizations: Domino's Pizza, Allied Domecq Brands, and Beef O Brady's family sports concepts prior to co-founding Topper's Craft Creamery. Additionally, he is a former franchise owner of eight Domino's Pizza franchises.

Key Takeaways:

[0:18] Today’s episode of Franchise Euphoria is brought to you by IndyFranchiseLaw.com, a leading resource in the franchise space. Head over to IndyFranchiseLaw.com learn more!

[1:00] Josh introduces today’s interview guest, Greg Sausaman, the CEO of Topper’s Craft Creamery.

[1:37] Josh welcomes Greg to Franchise Euphoria.

[2:06] Greg starts the interview by giving an overview of his history in the franchising industries which encompasses roles from both the franchisee and franchisor perspectives.

[4:54] Greg and his partner decided to create Topper’s to create a legacy company for people looking for long-term opportunities.

[6:47] From his research, Greg has found that free-standing ice cream shops are not thriving like they used to which is what led him to complementary branding.

[10:01] Greg takes a moment to explain complementary branding; he mentions that when you have two quality brands working together, it creates what is known as the “halo effect.”

[11:44] Topper’s follows the complementary branding model and has partnered with several businesses including Starbucks, Joffrey’s Coffee, Marriott, and Hilton to name a few.

[13:27] The Topper’s model is set up so that the partnerships are established at a national level rather than falling on the shoulders of the franchisee.

[15:55] Greg remembers his opportunity to meet and talk with Ed Rensi, former previous president and CEO of McDonalds, when he was writing his book Inside the Box, The Power of Complementary Branding.

[16:50] Inside the Box offers insight into how to leverage a brand inside of a brand and brings light to the discussion on complementary branding.

[18:17] In an industry that is trying to invent new concepts, one of the biggest challenges for Greg is getting people to think outside the box to achieve success.

[23:50] Greg encourages anyone who is considering either franchising their business or buying a franchise to really understand their core competencies.

[26:22] If you’d like to learn more about Inside the Box, it is available in both paperback and digital for Kindle on Amazon.com. You can also learn more about the Topper’s franchise by visiting topperscraftcreamery.com.

[27:35] Thanks for listening, and please, reach out to Josh anytime through email at [email protected]. If you enjoyed this interview, please leave us a review on iTunes.

Mentioned in This Episode:

[email protected]

www.franchiseeuphoria.com

www.indyfranchiselaw.com

https://topperscraftcreamery.com

www.insidetheboxbook.com