I hop on and hop off around 14 Google Meets per day.
This quick-fire, quick-connect technology allows me to be part of conversations I’d normally miss out on. I can maximise my day with back-to-back calls – interviews, meetings, support calls, podcasts, and everything else. But, sometimes, nothing beats being in person.
Walfinch recently hosted their Annual Walfinch Conference, held at Crowne Plaza Gerrards Cross, where franchisees had the priceless chance to meet face to face, network, learn and generate growth plans heading into 2026.
If you’re a naturally curious person, this is why you should invest in a franchise that puts your learning first.
You can’t beat that in-person focus
As great at Google Meets are, I often feel it’s a quantity over quality situation. In-person, however? That’s where the magic happens. Focus stays sharp. Entrepreneurs feel present. Notifications are silenced. Your diary isn’t stacked up.
At our 2025 Conference, we did 5 Round Table Discussions – short, focused chats on various topics (from social media and Brand Building to implanting the Entrepreneurial Operating System). These helped us get away from a seminar and presentation-heavy day, allowing a freer flow of conversation. Everyone present was focused, curious and invested in the learning opportunities. Why? Because we’d put our phones away and really listened.
You get to know your network
Nobody talks about how isolating being in a franchise can be, at times – no, really. Whilst part of a network, franchisees don’t always reach out to each other (especially if they’re new).
In person events provide the network with the perfect opportunity to get familiar with each other and clock where particular areas of knowledge reside. One of my favourite aspects of our annual Conferences is the sense of camaraderie in the room – you just don’t get that on Zoom! Sharing problems, sharing plans, learning and growing together.
Celebrate those big wins
It’s obvious but, when you’re in the room, you feel it; the success, the celebration, but most importantly – you can feel the ambition grow. Attending in-person events, such as our Conference, allow franchisees to look back on the wins on the past year, and fire them up to plan their next one. They ask themselves:
What went well?
What am I currently not doing, which I could be?
What can I do better next year?
How do I make it happen?
The ‘how’ question, is my favourite one here – the action. Our Walfinch Conference was structured around our new campaign ‘5 To Thrive’, which suggests treating big challenges in rules of 5. We had 5 Round Tables, 5 items on our annual scorecard and shared the technique of breaking things down into just 5 steps – just to name a few ways we interpreted and applied 5 to Thrive.
With a large franchise, you might not always find the time to meet in person on the regular – but before you invest, get a sense of the in-person calendar. It could be the difference between surviving and thriving.
