April 2016

To Whom it may concern

It was the first week of February when I got down to work after my training in January. Since then I’ve been working very hard, and I can’t remember how long it’s been since I had so much fun.

When I became aware of Schooley Mitchell in June of 2015, my first thought was much the same as what I hear now at many of my briefings >> “OK so what’s the catch?” The truth is there is no catch. We offer a valuable service to our clients and it costs them absolutely nothing. One can’t blame a client for thinking it’s too good to be true.

It’s not just a solid business model, with a reasonable investment, and low overhead. A Schooley Mitchell franchise provides outstanding training and execution tools in all aspects of the business.

The initial training is informative and highly focused, providing a clear vision of how to become established in the community.

Support is ongoing and responsive. The staff at Head Office are always willing to help any way they can. They say their purpose is to help Franchisees succeed, and they mean it. No request is too big or too small.

The marketing tools are effective.

The Quick Start program helps keep me focused on the main priorities.

Incremental options such as SM telemarketing are very effective. Performance to date exceeded my expectations significantly.

The warehouse provides a wealth of information and solid selling tools.

Franchisees are always willing to help, and take pleasure in each other’s accomplishments.

Production specialists are knowledgeable and efficient.

While I am still new to the organization, I have no doubt this will turn out to be among the best business decisions I will have made in my career.

Axel Nafthal

Strategic-Partner, Schooley Mitchell

March 7, 2016

Mr. Dennis Schooley

Schooley Mitchell

1030 Erie St.

Stratford, ON Canada

N4Z 0A1

Dear Mr. Schooley:

Hi there Dennis, hope all is well. Buying a franchise was certainly a new experience for me and I expect the same holds true for most. It’s had to believe I started my business six years back. We all know how fast time flies but more so when your activity directly translates to your W-2.

Looking back on the last years I have had fun and have been fortunate in the eyes of many to have made a few bucks along the way. The challenges I face every day are mostly market driven. This space is now and has been for the last twenty years in a state of flux where constant change is the norm. Your team has been particularly helpful in pursuit of more efficient tools to assist our production process and certainly a hats off to your development teams efforts to personally engage in response to those change events.

I hope to see a significant increase in my income opportunity again this year. Thanks to you and your team for your support in that endeavor.

Regards,

Greg Yuenger

Principal

GG Business Consultants

Schooley Mitchell

Dear Dennis:

A little over 7 years ago, I was in the process of evaluating several different business opportunities when I began to investigate franchises.  After being introduced to Schooley Mitchell and doing some in-depth research, I decided to purchase an SM franchise.  It has been one of the best decisions I have made in my business career.

I chose Schooley Mitchell for a number of reasons.  It was a good fit for my skill set.  My lack of a Telecom background wasn’t a limiting factor.  There is no geographic restriction and I’m free to pursue opportunities wherever my relationships take me.  There’s a good support system in place and training that provides you with great flexibility in how you can build your business.  This is not a cookie cutter approach and that really appealed to me.

Initial support was very good and head office staff provided the training and support needed to get me up and running.  The tools provided were good and the continual improvement in the tools has increased their value to my business.

As I built my business, it became apparent that one of the biggest assets of the franchise is the network of offices around North America.  You can choose to build your own staff or, as I have chosen, you can take advantage of the wide range of skills and expertise available through the other offices.  There’s vertical market and technology experience available whenever you need it.

When I began my business, I set some goals for myself and I’m happy to say that I’ve exceeded all of them.  I also really enjoy what I do and my clients enjoy the value that we create for their businesses.  With continued commitment to the right activities, and focusing on making clients happy, I’m confident that this will continue to be a great business.

Regards

Geoff Poli

April, 2016

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to recommend the Schooley Mitchell Franchise System, the management staff of Dennis Schooley and Beth McMillan and the head office staff located in Stratford, Ontario.

My wife and I became acquainted with the Schooley Mitchell Model in 2009 as we searched for opportunities that would allow us provide needed services to our local businesses and provide an income for our family, and a business that we would be proud of as it grew over time.

After reviewing many different opportunities what struck us was the no risk – no cost service agreements whereby the revenue we would generate from clients would be funded from a portion of the savings we would provide through our objective and independent expertise. Our clients could not spend any of their money with us.    Our current customers agree as their most common comment is something like ‘because of Schooley Mitchell’s unique approach to billing based only on actual cost savings, there was no hesitation to try their services.’

After becoming part of the Schooley Mitchell family, we have greatly appreciated the availability and helpfulness of the head office staff, who are easy to work with, pleasant, and provide us with information to assist us in growing our business as well as answering questions that develop in our marketing area.   We attend the annual conference not only to learn and understand more about the sales, marketing, technical, and business side of our industry but also to meet and grow relationships that we have established with other Schooley Mitchell Franchisees.  We cannot overstate the importance of having many other Franchisees throughout the country that we can email, call, or post discussions about our business that can assist, help and offer guidance based on their experiences.

Committing to this business cannot be taken lightly,  it is not a ‘get rich quick scheme’.  Like many opportunities, it takes your time, dedication, and commitment of resources to build something from nothing.  Although Schooley Mitchell can provide guidance, help and support, the responsibility for building your personal contacts, networking, making sales calls, providing customer service support to your clients, managing the production work, and managing the administrative duties of owning your business is dependent upon YOU and your hard work.

We are available to discuss our experiences with you and wish you the best as you consider your future.

Best regards,

Bill and Sue Wolsky

Schooley Mitchell Consultants – Lexington KY

March 2016

I had started a new business around 18 months prior to joining Schooley Mitchell. The business was not returning the amount of income that I was promised and was more of a part time job. I decided to look at a franchise opportunity and I had decided on one of two food franchises. I was contacted by a franchise consultant who worked with me in identifying other opportunities. We ended up with four opportunities that I narrowed down to Schooley Mitchell because of a large variety of factors. After I talked to many offices that were already in this organization, I decided to move forward with training.

The training was very thorough and I learned a lot about telecommunications. I had a strong sales background which helped me land 26 clients in my first year of business. I then added another forty clients in year two. I was asked to help one office out with production and then another large opportunity came which kept me busy for a few years. We have been extremely busy since then and it looks like the opportunities will continue to come to us.

I really enjoy working from a home office as I can spend more quality time with my wife and children than I was able to in previous employment. It is nice to be my own boss. When I produce for my clients, I share in their savings so I am rewarded for the effort that I am putting into projects instead of a fortune 50 company.

The income has exceeded my expectations and previous employment. I am very glad that I made the decision to join Schooley Mitchell. The offices that I work with are great. Everyone seems to really care and are very helpful in giving ideas or assistance with unusual jobs or circumstances. We have annual meetings and that helps us bond as a team as well as keep us up to date in our field.

I highly recommend joining the Schooley Mitchell team if you are a self-starter and would like to run your own business. You will be well rewarded for your efforts.

Greg Wisz

Schooley Mitchell

Grand Rapids, MI

March 26, 2016

To Whom It May Concern:

What prompted me to start my own business was an experience that I’m certain many good sales people have encountered when my employer tried to ‘shuffle the deck’ on me yet again. For the 3rd time in (3) years, they tried to reduce my compensation as they felt I was making too much money. I was good at what I did, I brought exceptional profitability to the company and I knew my worth. I finally decided that the only way I was going to stop this never-ending cycle of ‘compensation shuffle’ was to start my own business. This way, my success, determination and work ethic alone would drive my compensation.

I spent nearly a year considering many of my own ideas and evaluating a number of franchises and other business opportunities. I now think to myself ‘Thank God’ I decided not to create something from scratch. That would have been the biggest mistake of my professional career – I have no doubt.

I believe strongly in the franchise business model, especially for new business owners as it provides a template of success that you can follow. More importantly, it comes with a support network of many fellow franchisees who are slugging it out every day in the real world. The Schooley Mitchell franchise peers are a special group of people who live this business everyday and are always willing to offer assistance and provide advice. This fellow franchisee support network was my #1 reason for buying a Schooley Mitchell franchise. Schooley has many franchisees making exceptionally good money and I always knew that if I simply measured my activity after theirs, I would be on the right path to success.

I started my franchise operation roughly seven years ago. As I look back now, I hold no regrets and feel that it was one of the better business decisions I’ve made to date. To be perfectly honest, it has not been easy and the first couple of years were exceptionally challenging. I ‘bet’ our life savings, our kids’ college savings and even the nickels under the couch cushions on this business. I am not a huge risk taker but I knew that betting on a successful business model, my sales skills and determination was a low-risk, high-reward venture.

After much hard work, lots of help from my fellow franchisees and head office and an everyday 100% effort work ethic, it has absolutely paid off. As I look ahead, I see my labor bearing fruit with earnings greater than I’ve been able to achieve throughout a very successful sales career. I would strongly recommend to anyone with a strong work ethic and dedication to consider a Schooley Mitchell franchise operation.

Sincerely,

Don Coburn

Toledo, OH SM Franchisee

February 25, 2016

To Whom It May Concern:

What I remember was pain. Pain over the 45 minute commute to work and the 1 hour drive home every day. I remember the pain over it taking 2 weeks to find 2 minutes to pickup my dry cleaning. I remember the pain of marketing reports and opportunity funnel diagrams and upper management and everything else that corporate America reared forth at a 1000 miles an hour. It feels like a hundred years ago I wasn’t my own boss-in actuality, it’s been a little less than 14.

When I left my job to open my own business all I’d promised myself was that I wouldn’t buy another one. There were a few franchises that looked to be a good fit for me with good profit potential and a nice exit strategy but most of them seemed caught up in the ‘flavor of the day’. I needed something where my own intelligence, drive and sales ability would make or break the success and not a gimmick whose catch phrase or nutrition content could turn on a whim.

At this point I hadn’t figured out that I needed help so I struck out on my own. No lack of marketing material, no tools, no buying power, no back office support or success stories could slow me down. I’d had a career as a salesman-why couldn’t I do this for myself? My last job found me working in the telecom world and with all the seeming confusion amongst the carriers; it seemed like as good a place as any to start blazing my trail.

Maybe it could have worked; maybe not. The fact of the matter is though, there had to be an easier way so I started to look around. I was quite confidant that what I was doing, my decision to get into and stay in an I.T or telecommunications related field had to make sense. Consulting in these arenas wasn’t new but as expenditures accelerated and the clutter became more prevalent, those few good players just couldn’t keep up. The niche was there and it needed to be filled but little ole me couldn’t do it without some partners and they all wanted too big a piece.

It was here that I found Schooley. I had known about the organization from my past life with AT&T and had bumped into them on a few occasions. From the carrier side, it was again the pain I remembered first: the pain in reduced margins by their involvement. The marriage seemed to make sense if the numbers worked and in the end I feel I got a lot more value than what I paid. The marketing material; frankly I’d done the homework and knew what it cost to develop it on my own and it almost covered the franchise fee in itself. The tools, the clout with the carriers, the support from head office in those inevitable areas I waded into over my head and most importantly, the network of consultants able to share projects and expertise (a 2 way street I might add) all made it the best decision I’ve ever made.

14 years later I still work too much, but I work for myself. I still do projections but they’re for my goal setting and no one else. I’ve seen an increase in sales every year I’ve been in business and am happy to say we broke the 2 million mark.

Whatever you’re doing–stop and look hard at Schooley. If you can get out of bed by yourself, you can make this work.

Sincerely,

Neil Hostein

Schooley Mitchell

PO Box 34021

Guelph, ON

NIE 6V7

neil.hostein@schooleymitchell.com

April 2016

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been a Franchisee in the Schooley Mitchell system for almost 12 years and I have no regrets. I have enjoyed building my business into a base of over 250 clients and have grown tremendously as a business professional from being introduced to the many facets of running a small business.

The business model of Schooley Mitchell allows me to have a common agenda with my clients and create a win-win proposition. It also allowed me to have flexibility in the way I choose to develop and grow my practice.

The financial rewards have been tremendous – I gave up a career where I earned over $175K a year to join Schooley Mitchell and have attained a much higher level of financial security.

The training, support, and systems provided through Schooley Mitchell have been helpful in guiding me to attain my goals. The system itself is always evolving and I’m looking forward to future enhancements that will help increase my profits.

I was able to operate in the black within the first year of operations and I have now reached the upper echelon of revenues within the Schooley Mitchell system. I am certainly looking forward to the future, not only to increase my own results, but to participate in the great business with great people. I have built lasting relationships with fellow Franchisees, my clients and the staff at head office.

I would not hesitate to recommend Schooley Mitchell to anyone that has the ability to sell and build good relationships. There is no limit to the potential and the enjoyment that can be achieved in this franchise opportunity.

Yours truly,

Sean Fox

February 25, 2016

Mr. Dennis Schooley

Schooley Mitchell

1030 Erie St.

Stratford, ON Canada

N4Z 0A1

Dear Dennis,

I wanted to take a few moments to share with you some thoughts looking back on my tenure as a Schooley Mitchell franchisee and what I see in the future for me.  From the beginning when I was first contacted by your organization and after our first face to face meeting together, I had the feeling that being part to this organization would be something special. And it has turned out to be truly more than that. The future is without ceilings for me and your business model is very unique in what it offers. I am grateful to be able to work as hard as I want and to have those rewards come directly to me, rather than a traditional business model where I’m working to enrich an entity which has little regard for me as a person.

I have benefitted greatly from the continuously improved analysis tools in the Warehouse which make my analysis better and timelier, to the wonderful assistance I receive from every member of Head Office Staff whenever I call or inquire, to the many consultants across the country that are always willing to assist me in answering any questions that I might have. I have been able to collaborate with my colleagues on opportunities and best practices that help me pursue the best possible outcomes for my clients and prospective clients, and the power of the system has really helped me raise my game.

The annual conferences are amazing events filled with informational sessions by Head Office and Consultant professionals, vendors truly engaged to help us in our pursuits of cost effective solutions for our clients, great roundtable discussions with colleagues, and valuable discussions among our consultant community with opportunities to network after conference hours and during breaks to truly maximize the learning and sharing opportunities.  I’m looking forward to this year’s conference which will undoubtedly be the best conference I’ve attended to date.

I know there are unlimited opportunities for me to grow professionally and financially and I look forward to a long and productive tenure as a Schooley Mitchell franchisee and want to thank you again for allowing me into this outstanding organization.  Business is great and I’m looking for more!

Sincerely,

Jerry Sarno
Schooley Mitchell of St. Joseph, MI

To whom it may concern,

I joined Schooley Mitchell (SM) in August of 2009. I had worked in the telecommunications industry for 30 years at that point. My corporate career had been successful, and with the state of the economy and the industry at that time I decided that operating my own consulting practice was the direction I wanted to take. I had written a business plan for my own practice, but felt I was lacking a unique value proposition. Learning about Schooley Mitchell and how we serve our clients provided me with a way to express that unique value.

I had looked at several franchise and licensing opportunities in the telecom and technology industry, including competitive operations, and decided to go with Schooley Mitchell after a thorough investigation and lots of discussion. I find the SM Head Office support enthusiastic and valuable.

With over six years of experience now, I believe that one of the most valuable components Schooley Mitchell brings to the table is the network of consultants. The willingness to add value, perform joint venture operations, and sharing of market critical information from my colleagues has been a great asset to my practice. Telecommunications is a constantly changing field, and carriers and clients are always seeking to provide more value at a better price. Keeping abreast of these changes is one of the best values we can provide to our clients.

Knowing the range of experience across the SM network and their levels of achievement I can see that success comes with diligent and consistent work and great relationships with clients. The biggest steps are taken when a consultant secures the trust of a client and provides valuable results. Referrals from existing clients are the key way to grow my business.

Knowing what I do now, and having learned a great deal in the last 6+ years, I would do it again.

Sincerely,

Paul McMenamin

February, 2016

Testimonial Letter

I joined SM in March of 2003 after spending over 25 years in the life and health insurance industry. The insurance industry had changed in many respects and I was looking for something that offered autonomy, a potentially high income, no pressure to buy and a straightforward, uncomplicated product or service. When I discovered SM I realized it was exactly what I looking for. The premise is simple and risk free: if we don’t save you money you don’t pay us anything.

The basic training provided me with the tools I needed to get started. By following the training exactly I found that everything Dennis Schooley told me was true and in my second full year I was earning a six figure income. The training never ends because the telecom business is constantly evolving and that is something that I find to be highly stimulating.

The support from Head Office has been nothing but superlative. I have always been given the help I needed from the very beginning and it continues today. The quality of Head Office people is second to none. No problem is too trivial for them and no franchisee is left adrift. Their actions constantly prove their dedication to the success of every franchise.

The Warehouse is a gold mine for a franchisee’s needs. Whether the topic is sales and marketing or administration of one’s business the Warehouse covers it all. The tools are the absolute best in the industry and are invaluable in analyzing a client’s potential savings.

‘Pulse’ is a stay in touch tool that my clients look forward to receiving. While every edition can’t be all things to all people there is usually something every client can glean from the book reviews or videos.

In the insurance industry I attended conventions that were of a very high caliber and I was pleasantly surprised to find that SM’s Annual Conference is as good or better. Always in an exotic location it is filled with golden nuggets of knowledge. The round tables with my peers are always extremely helpful in finding ways others run their business and deal with their clientele.

I have found Dennis Schooley to be a leader with exceptional skills. His background as an accountant combined with highly polished sales ability provide for a very eclectic mixture that enables him to back up everything his says with positive, productive actions. Dennis is trustworthy and passionate about each and every franchisee’s success.

I would be pleased to have a telephone conversation with anyone interested in a career with Schooley Mitchell.

John Campbell, Strategic-Partner

To Whom It May Concern:

I have had the pleasure and opportunity to join Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consulting in January 2010. As I sit here today it is remarkable what I have learned and how I have grown as a business owner. I have put in a lot of work and effort, but the Schooley Mitchell vehicle has served me well.

My previous experience was in sales and management, but owning my own business was always a dream of mine; Because the initial investment into Schooley is very low, and the market they service is very high I knew this was the chance for me to open up my own shop; It has been a little like driving a race car as a 16 year old and I can tell you I have grinded the gears a little, but my pit crew at Corporate office has always been there for me with a knowledgeable and quick response; With tools like the First Week’s Training, Marketing Manual, The Warehouse, Evolving Markets Program, Bid Board, Quick Start Program, Webinar’s, and Online Training just to name a few we are given so many different ways to help us grow our business.

The Annual Conference is incredible. The things I have learned there and the relationships I have built with the other Franchisees are priceless. I probably talk with 8-10 other Consultants every month and this collaboration of ideas; problem solving and working together has been outstanding to my office. There are some phenomenal people who decided to join Schooley Mitchell.

One of the most rewarding things about being a Schooley Mitchell Consultant is how much my clients love me; The story is usually the same. Your Clients may first be sceptical, but then they decide to give you a chance and it’s always around 4-6 months after you implement their savings when the light goes off. You now have had time to build the relationship, and they can see their bill go way down and their like “yes this really works”. I once sat in a meeting where the CEO told one of the providers we were looking at using “We will do whatever Dave tells us to do.”

I would like to thank everyone in the Schooley Mitchell organization for their efforts, hard work, leadership, contributions and most importantly their passion to make this big machine a better company.

Dave Huggins