BROADCASTS.com

b'

Bill Brice. He\\u2019s currently the CEO of AlphaTrust Corporation which he launched in 1998, to capitalize on the sustained long-term shift from paper-based document businesses to fully electronic document processes. Bill is considered as one of the industry\\u2019s pioneers and he\\u2019s a leading authority of electronic signatures, especially around generating real economic impact and brand enhancement. He served as chairman of the board for the Electronic Signature and Records Association and is currently a member of the board of directors. Before his electronic signatures company, he started his entrepreneurial career, when in college, by co-founding Brice Foods and is chairman and CEO. He grew the company into a global enterprise best known for its chain of frozen yogurt stores. The company grew into 1500 franchise locations and 43 countries with manufacturing operations on 4 different continents. For his work, he was awarded as The Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the International Franchise Association, which is the world\\u2019s oldest and largest organizations representing franchising worldwide.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? \\u2013 Crossing the Chasm
• What CEO do you follow? \\u2013\\xa0 N/A
• Favorite online tool? \\u2014 HubSpot
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\\u2014 7
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \\u2013 \\u201cAt that time, I wished I would know what happened with the internet before it happened\\u201d

\\xa0

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:23 \\u2013 Nathan introduces Bill to the show
• 02:36 \\u2013 Bill was based in Dallas and that\\u2019s where he started his yogurt company
• • 02:57 \\u2013 Bill\\u2019s was the first company to bring frozen yogurt in Texas
  • 03:15 \\u2013 Frozen yogurt was first popularized in California
  • 03:32 \\u2013 Bill wanted to pioneer the first operational chain selling frozen yogurt in Texas
• 03:39 \\u2013 Bill has turned to franchises and now has 1500 franchise locations
• • 04:00 \\u2013 The first franchise was $150K, $20K franchise fee and 5-6% royalties
• 04:34 \\u2013 The frozen yogurt company had $150M in revenue
• 04:50 \\u2013 In 1996, the franchise sold because someone wanted to buy it
• 05:09 \\u2013 Franchise valuation is similar with other businesses
• 05:31 \\u2013 The franchise was cash flow multiple
• • 05:42 \\u2013 6-10x was the best multiple
• 06:15 \\u2013 Bill was making a lot of software on the side of the yogurt business
• • 06:53 \\u2013 Bill was annoyed by the amount of paperwork a business had to go through
  • 07:16 \\u2013 A computer was about automating business
  • 07:35 \\u2013 Bill had a completely different team for his yogurt company than his e-signature company
• 07:41 \\u2013 AlphaTrust is completely privately owned and funded
• • 08:00 \\u2013 Being privately funded allows them to focus on what they are doing
• 08:20 \\u2013 AlphaTrust is in a specialized segment of a market
• • 09:10 \\u2013 AlphaTrust started on the enterprise businesses in the late 90s
  • 09:24 \\u2013 Some of AlphaTrust\\u2019s clients are General Motors, ADP and AT&T
  • 09:36 \\u2013 Some of the big companies have millions of documents processed yearly
  • 09:42 \\u2013 AlphaTrust specializes in the high performance processing of documents
  • 09:52 \\u2013 AlphaTrust\\u2019s customers still deploy and embed their software on premise
  • 10:12 \\u2013 AlphaTrust also operates cloud systems for their customers, but they support the plan and model the customers want
• 10:38 \\u2013 The pro-side of AlphaTrust is quite small
• • 10:53 \\u2013 It accounts for only 10-15% of the revenue
  • 10:56 \\u2013 The rest of the revenue comes from licenses
• 11:50 \\u2013 Average initial contract value is $50K-$500K
• • 12:00 \\u2013 Some of the customers pay for perpetual licenses
• 12:40 \\u2013 AlphaTrust currently has 300 large enterprises
• 13:10 \\u2013 Team size is 20
• 13:22 \\u2013 AlphaTrust does direct sales, but they also have partner channels\\xa0
• 13:46 \\u2013 AlphaTrust has 20-30 specialists around the world who are part-timers
• 14:36 \\u2013 AlphaTrust is happy with how they\\u2019re doing at the moment
• 14:59 \\u2013 Bill MIGHT sell the company to Salesforce if an offer comes
• 16:10 \\u2013 The Famous Five

\\xa0

3 Key Points:

• The franchise business is the same as any other business \\u2013 even when it comes down to the valuation.
• Working with big enterprises can set you apart in a saturated space.
• Saying \\u201cyes\\u201d to an acquisition isn\\u2019t a terrible idea; instead, it\\u2019s just a good way to exit.

\\xa0

Resources Mentioned:

• The Top Inbox\\xa0 \\u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• Organifi \\u2013 The juice was Nathan\\u2019s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia
• Klipfolio \\u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Acuity Scheduling \\u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator\\xa0\\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible\\xa0\\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books
• Freshbooks \\u2013 Nathan doesn\\u2019t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives