The International Institute for Franchise Education (IIFE) at Nova Southeastern University will host its fourth annual IIFE Executive Summit on April 22-23, at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Top executives in franchising and entrepreneurship will join together to examine what it takes for a company to achieve and uphold greatness. This year’s agenda will focus on how franchisers can set themselves apart from the competition by discovering their company’s secret “mojo.”
“In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s critical for franchise companies to discover what they’re really good at, what sets them apart from all the other brands fighting to win consumers over,” says Cheryl R. Babcock, CFE and founding director of IIFE. “This year we’ll encourage franchisors to use the IIFE Executive Summit to discover what they do best and find new ways to capitalize on this in order to take their business to the next level.”
Designed for founders, presidents, CEOs, COOs, and key leadership team members, the IIFE Executive Summit will provide attendees with invaluable information on topics such as strategically planning a system for future growth, building and maintaining great relationships with franchisees and employees, and how to be innovative in the face of recession.
Only those in attendance will learn the results of the second annual Franchise Executive Leadership Monitor, an exclusive annual survey and analysis of current challenges faced by franchise executives developed by FRANdata and IIFE.
Featured Keynote Speaker Bo Burlingham will address the audience about focusing on what makes them great, specifically how maverick companies have rejected the traditional growth model and focused on greatness instead to achieve their business goals. Burlingham is the Editor-At-Large for Inc. Magazine and author of Small Giants: Companies that Choose to be Great Instead of Big and The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up.
This year’s panel of franchise executives includes David McKinnon, Chairman & CEO, Service Brands International; Ken Hutcheson, CFE, president of U.S. Lawns; Karen Powell, CFE, founder and CEO of Décor&You Inc.; and Shelly Sun, CFE, co-founder, and CEO of BrightStar Franchising, LLC.
Sun was named the Entrepreneur of the Year at the International Franchise Association’s 50th annual convention in San Antonio on February 7. Past attendees of the IIFE Executive Summit have included Fred DeLuca, CFE, founder of Subway; Lynette McKee, CFE, chief development officer of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants; Darrell Johnson, CFE, CEO of FRANdata; Melanie Bergeron, CFE, CEO of Two Men and a Truck; and Joe Bourdow, president of ValPak Direct Marketing, among others.
