On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to John Hewitt, a true pioneer in the tax preparation and financial services industry, having founded and scaled two companies to over $500 million in value - Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Liberty Tax Service.

Throughout his illustrious 55-year career, John has always kept his driving purpose in sight – to change lives. He takes pride in having a monumental positive impact on franchisees, employees, and customers. We'll be exploring his strategies for scaling successful empires, overcoming barriers, financing growth models, and more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

One key ingredient is getting buy-in from everyone involved. You have to have a dream that’s fairly accurate, then get your employees, customers, vendors, investors, etc to buy into where you’re going.
As a franchisee, you want your franchisor to deliver consistency and quality. Whoever offers the worst service in your system will determine what your brand name is worth. We call every customer and ask them how we did, which no one else does, in the franchise world, they send and email, text, or send them a survey. It’s been great for us because not only do we police our brand, but our customers also love being called and asked how we can improve our service to them. Plus, we get higher staff retention and get more referrals.
Anything that’s systemic should be able to be provided by software and computers. We divide issues up into ‘tip of the iceberg’. If it’s systemic – an iceberg – we’re looking for a solution; if it’s just a one-off, we don’t build systems or use software for it. I’ve been doing it this way since 1981, making things more expeditious and consistently high-quality.
Train your staff so they can go anywhere and be successful, but treat them so well that they want to stay. It comes from creating a culture and an attitude in your organisation, and the attitude starts with employees first: If you want your customers to be treated well by your employees, you have to treat your employees well, you have to listen and be loyal to your team, and build a team of people with a great attitude. You can’t teach a great attitude.

BEST MOMENTS

‘There are two major parts of growth: The amount of money you spend, and the amount of money you take in; you always have to make sure they’re balanced.’

‘I’ve been in taxes for 55 years: There are only 2 certainties in life: death and tax, it’s recession proof.’

‘In the pet industry, we’ve seen young people in the past 10 years delay having children. Sometimes I ask if they have children and they say: “I have 2 dogs, those are my children.”’

‘Brand loyalty is such a cool and important thing to have, which is why my company is called Loyalty Brands.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

John Hewitt is a visionary entrepreneur renowned for founding two of the largest tax preparation companies in the United States - Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Liberty Tax Service.

As the pioneer behind the "Hewitt" in Jackson Hewitt, John grew the company to over 1,300 offices and $483 million in sales before selling it in 1997.

Undeterred, John founded Liberty Tax in 1997 and rapidly expanded it to over 4,000 offices in the U.S. and Canada. By 2012, Liberty Tax was one of the top 100 largest retail organizations in North America.

Now, John is applying his strategic prowess to investing. He helps entrepreneurs build their own empires as CEO of Loyalty Brands. Guided by ambition and faith, he continues to compete - and win - on an extraordinary level.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.

If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.

And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

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