How to Turn Around a Struggling Franchise in 90 Days | Colleen Kraus-Mangel

How do you turn around a struggling franchise when you’re working hard, following the franchise system, and still losing money? What if the problem isn’t that you need another business strategy but that you need to change the way you’re showing up to the strategy you already have?

Earlier this year, Colleen Kraus-Mangel thought she might have to close the doors to her Assisted Living Locators franchise.

Before business ownership, Colleen had successful careers in HR and banking, but corporate life had become toxic. She worked with a franchise consultant, found Assisted Living Locators, and genuinely loved the business and believed in the work she was doing.

But for a year and a half, she struggled.

By the time I met her, the financial pressure had become so intense that she was sleeping less than two hours a night.

I knew I wanted to help her. She couldn’t afford to pay in full for The Zee Suite®, so I created a payment plan that allowed her to get started.

Colleen joined June 1, 2026.

On June 25, just 24 days later she sent me a message referring to June 1 as:

“The magical day my life changed.”

And here’s what I want every struggling franchise owner to hear:

The first turnaround wasn’t financial. It was Colleen.

She was sleeping again. She had hope again. She felt calmer, more confident and more optimistic about her future.

And from that place, she continued doing many of the same things she had been doing before.

But the results began to look dramatically different.

Facilities that had been saying no started saying yes. Commissions unexpectedly increased. Payments began arriving on time or faster. Her average placement increased from approximately $2,000 to $5,000.

For months, Colleen had wondered whether the problem was her territory a fear many struggling franchise owners can relate to.

Same territory. Same franchise. Same process. Different Colleen. Different results.

And the changes weren’t limited to her franchise.

A piece of land that had been sitting with no activity for six months suddenly found a buyer. An unexpected large sum of money came into her life. People even began asking whether she had lost weight because she physically looked different.

She looked different because she was different.

In this episode of Create Wealth Through Franchising, I go deeper into the coaching behind Colleen’s transformation and why The Zee Suite® is about so much more than positive thinking.

We talk about what happens when a franchise owner moves out of fear, pressure and desperation and begins operating from confidence, clarity, expectation and possibility.

Colleen believes these changes are sustainable because she understands how she created them.

She isn’t working harder. In some ways, she may be working less. But when the business starts working, the money is flowing, and you’re enjoying your life again, everything feels different.

Colleen was already a great student of her franchise system.

Now she is becoming a great student of applying a confident mindset to that system and creating entirely new outcomes.

So where will she be in another 90 days? A year from now?

Somewhere very, very good.

And if you’re a franchise owner who is working hard, following the system, but still struggling to create the profitability and life you expected from business ownership, Colleen’s story is for you.

Resources

Learn more about The Zee Suite®:
TheZeeSuite.com/start

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• Why Colleen left a toxic corporate career for franchise ownership
• Why she chose Assisted Living Locators and believed in the business
• What 18 months of struggling did to her confidence, finances and sleep
• Why she believed her franchise territory might be the problem
• What changed in the first 24 days inside The Zee Suite®
• Why the first transformation was emotional—not financial
• How facilities that had been saying no began saying yes
• How her average placement increased from approximately $2K to $5K
• The unexpected financial opportunities that began appearing
• Why Colleen says she isn’t working harder—and may actually be working less
• How the same franchise system and same actions began creating dramatically different results
• Why she believes her business transformation is sustainable
• What struggling franchise owners can learn from Colleen’s 90-day turnaround

Approximate Chapters

00:00 – How to Turn Around a Struggling Franchise
02:00 – Leaving a Toxic Corporate Career
04:00 – Why Colleen Chose Franchise Ownership
06:00 – 18 Months of Struggling in Her Franchise
08:00 – Losing Money and Sleeping Less Than 2 Hours a Night
10:00 – Joining The Zee Suite® on June 1
12:00 – “The Magical Day My Life Changed”
14:00 – The First Shift: Sleep, Hope & Confidence
16:00 – Same Franchise. Same Actions. Different Results.
18:00 – When Facilities Started Saying Yes
20:00 – From $2K to $5K Average Placements
22:00 – Unexpected Money and New Opportunities
24:00 – Why Colleen Physically Looked Different
26:00 – Why This Franchise Turnaround Feels Sustainable
27:15 – Where Could She Be in Another 90 Days?