Franchise Freedom or Fantasy?

by Franchise Business Review

Mitchell York is a credentialed Professional Certified Coach and entrepreneur dedicated to helping corporate executives in mid-life renew their lives through small-business ownership.

His corporate career spanned 20+ years and included senior executive positions with high-growth companies. He was president of LendingTree.com in its startup phase, creating processes and procedures to help the company position itself for rapid growth and mentoring its young management team and work force. Later, he was president of NetCreations Inc. (now ReturnPath), a leading email marketing company, where he built the executive management team and positioned the company for a successful acquisition.

Mitch was the founding publisher of TechWeb, the first technology website to sell advertising, and vice president and founder of the Internet division of CMP Media Inc., an international media company. At CMP for 17 years, Mitch published some of the nation’s largest technology newspapers and magazines. He also was senior vice president of Ziff Davis Media where he published InteractiveWeek, one of the pioneering newspapers covering e-commerce.

In late 2001, Mitch left corporate America to start his own business ventures. Since then, Mitch has worked with over 100 clients in his coaching practice. He is a certified graduate of CoachU, the world’s largest and most respected coach training institution, and has received the Professional Certified Coach credential from the International Coach Federation. Mitch is also an executive coach for ClientWise LLC, a training and coaching company in the financial services industry, and a certified career and job-search coach for the leading job- and career-counseling firm, The Five O’Clock Club.

Mitch’s own E2E adventure is a fast-growing specialty catering business. He started it by developing a new business model for a franchise that had been in business for more than 25 years. The model he created has blossomed into the most profitable business segment the franchise offers. Mitch has coached and trained hundreds of franchise owners in his best practices.

Franchise Business Review President Eric Stites caught up with Mitch recently to learn more about his business and franchising experience, and what advice he has for people considering investing in a franchise opportunity. Click the play button to listen to the interview and visit Mitch's website to buy the book!