O’Driscoll’s Role Expands to President of Franchising and COO
HomeFront Brands, an umbrella franchisor made up of emerging residential and light commercial property service brands, has promoted Michael O’Driscoll to president of franchising. He retains his role of chief operating officer and brings 36 years of franchising experience to the position. Homefront Brands are The Designery, which recently added Nancy Baio as director of franchise development; Window Hero; Temporary Wall Systems; BiltRite Home Inspections; Top Rail Fence and Mozzie Dome.
“I am deeply honored by the opportunity to work alongside the Dudan family and all the team at HomeFront Brands as we seek to build the most responsible franchise business model in the U.S. with the franchisee’s success at the center of what we do,” O’Driscoll says.
He knew Chairman and CEO Jeff Dudan’s reputation as an effective and values-based franchise leader and was inspired by his vision, commitment and more. Dudan looks forward to seeing O’Driscoll take on this expanded role. “We know that he will continue to leverage his 35-plus years of experience to benefit our fast-growing family of franchisees and team members.”
A Franchising Pro’s Background
O’Driscoll got his start in franchising while working at his father’s company and saw firsthand how transformative franchising can be. Over the past three decades, he has served as Citibank’s head of franchise finance in Australia and held a variety of senior management positions in home services, consumer finance, building materials distribution, courier services, home-building and more. He is former board director of The Franchise Council of Australia and currently serves on the International Franchise Association’s Membership Committee.
In O’Driscoll’s view, the future of franchising is bright. While there are regulations, he notes that all business sectors face those and is confident in the sector’s durability. To him, it is the franchisees who will make or break the sector, so they should be treated well. He is excited about building a business model that contributes to enhancing the reputation of franchising.
Improving Operations
For entrepreneurs looking into franchising, O’Driscoll urges them to start with a self-assessment. They should consider what their strengths and goals are and then research brands that might fulfill that. He encourages potential franchisees to seek franchisors that value franchisee success and to work hard using their brand’s proven business model.
In order for franchisors to make their development process more seamless, O’Driscoll suggests that they document, analyze and measure it. He adds that franchisors should be careful and thoughtful about setting expectations for candidates, and he says that receiving candidates’ feedback is important to refining the process.