Is franchise ownership right for you? https://hubs.ly/Q03-pnR00

What if tax season didn’t feel like a surprise bill you just accept … but a strategy you run on purpose?

On this episode of “The Sidekick Life,” Ryan and Tyler sit down with Matt Bontrager, founder and CEO of TrueBooks, to talk about what most high earners get wrong about taxes – and how to legally keep more of what you make.

This isn’t about gimmicks, loopholes or shady write-offs. It’s about understanding the rules, using them intentionally and building a plan that matches your goals.

“TrueBooks is my baby … we focus on tax and accounting for specifically real estate investors and business owners,” Matt said.

We sat down with Matt Haller, president and CEO of the ⁠International Franchise Association⁠, to unpack a powerful new report on the value of franchising and why the future of this business model depends on smart advocacy, real data and bold storytelling.

And yes … we also talk about the biggest event in franchising happening next week in Vegas. 👀

The IFA partnered with ⁠Oxford Economics⁠ to create a comprehensive, ⁠data-backed report⁠ on the impact of franchising across the U.S. economy.

But why now?

“We’re always trying to create conversation about franchising … Data is really important for us to tell the story,” Matt said.

In a world where opinions travel faster than facts, the IFA wanted something irrefutable. This wasn’t anecdotal. It includes:

• 3,000 franchisees surveyed

• Representation across 300+ industries

• Payroll data comparing franchise vs. non-franchise businesses

The goal? Ground the conversation in real numbers and protect a business model that creates wealth, jobs and opportunity.

What if franchising wasn’t driven by hype, opinions and paid rankings … but by real buyer behavior?In this episode of “The Sidekick Life,” Ryan sits down with Sidekick COO Michael Judkins to unpack something the franchise industry hasn’t seen before: The Best Damn Franchise Report. It’s a first-of-its-kind look at franchising built on real buyer data.Instead of “top franchise lists” that often feel like marketing, this report pulls insights from 73,000+ prospective franchisees and 3,500 in-depth Franchise Fit Surveys to answer the questions that actually matter:- What do today’s franchise buyers really want?- What are they avoiding?- And where are the smartest opportunities hiding in plain sight?As Michael puts it, this wasn’t just a cool internal project—it became something bigger.“We had hundreds of thousands of data points … and we’d never macro-analyzed it. Once we got into it, there was some pretty compelling information.”