About Tony Fitzpatrick

A recognised industry expert, Tony Fitzpatrick knows both the theory and the practice of franchising. Besides creating and developing franchises for many clients he has managed his own master franchise and uses his vast experience to show others how to succeed in this booming industry. Tony is a member of the Executive Committee of the Irish Franchise Association and also serves on the Membership Committee. He speaks at seminars for potential franchisors and franchisees and writes articles on the industry for newspapers and magazines.

In his own words:

“My love affair with franchising began in 1999 when I met Dennis M. Curtin in Dublin. As the owner of the RE/MAX Ireland region, Dennis had advertised for someone who could sell franchises for him.

I knew nothing about real estate and very little about franchising, for that matter. I had been a journalist and then a PR consultant for the previous 20 years. Nor had I ever considered myself as a salesman. (But, then, we’re all salesmen in one form or another. My dentist rang me the other day, asking me to come in for a checkup. He’s selling.)

Fortunately, I was in the hands of an expert. Dennis was a legend in RE/MAX, having opened the very first franchise outside Denver, where the RE/MAX story began, in 1973.

Dennis had read an article in a local Kansas city, Missouri, newspaper about a man called Dave Liniger who had come up with a revolutionary way of selling property, turning the traditional system completely on its head. He thought Liniger’s system would work equally well in his area so he called him to ask if he could buy a franchise.

Dennis swears that Liniger put his hand over the mouthpiece, turned to his wife, Gail, and whispered: “What’s a franchise?” True or not, it’s a lovely story. Liniger went on to build the largest—in terms of annual sales—franchised real estate company in the world and Dennis became the successful owner of three RE/MAX regions with more than 350 franchised offices and 4,500 agents.

And that’s how my career in franchising began. I went to the RE/MAX HQ in Denver to learn the ropes, and after two years’ selling franchises in Ireland I moved to Britain to set up a master franchise for the RE/MAX London region.

My advice was often sought by owners of successful businesses who wanted to expand through franchising. That launched me into another exciting aspect of the industry: creating franchises to international best-practice standards, which is what I do today in countries across the globe.

My clients are as diverse as PappaRoti – famous across Asia as “the father of all buns”- cost reduction analysts ERA, Sky Business Centres, window makers Senator Windows, recruitment experts Driver Hire, Eco Car Wash, Handyman Matters, the French-based ski hire specialists Ski Republic, and newcomers such as property lettings franchise Castle Countrywide and Gino’s Gelato, makers of home made Italian-style ice cream.

I have travelled thousands of miles and worked in nine countries turning businesses large and small into successful franchises. I have learned that franchising is both an art and a science. It is the application of both that will ensure success. Knowledge is the science. Knowing when to apply it is the art.”