The largest chiropractic franchise in the nation has experienced tremendous growth and increased profitability since Peter Holt took the reigns as president
In 2016, when Peter Holt became President of The Joint Chiropractic, the largest chiropractic franchise in the nation, he saw an invaluable opportunity to build the company’s culture from the ground up. His goals? To improve The Joint’s relations with its community of franchise owners and, at the same time, make the brand’s portfolio of corporate clinics profitable.
Holt was more than prepared for the task because he was building on a track record of success. Throughout his executive career, Holt’s bold leadership delivered financial and company culture success to dynamic businesses that include The UPS Store, the world’s largest franchisor of retail centers specializing in shipping, business and communications services; Tasti D-Lite LLC, a retailer of lower-fat dairy desserts; and 24Seven Vending, a subsidiary of the New Zealand publicly traded company, VTL Group Limited.
Suffice it to say, Holt’s strategic plan worked and The Joint has since seen huge success as it now has more than 500 clinics in 34 states and employs over 300 people at its corporate clinics as well as another 50 at its Scottsdale, Arizona, headquarters. Even better, the industry has taken notice and the rapidly expanding chiropractic franchise has been ranked on several prestigious annual lists of top franchise opportunities, including Franchise Gator’s ‘Top 100’ List in 2020 and Franchise Times’ ‘Top 200+’ of the top 500 franchise opportunities for 2019 and Entrepreneur’s list of top 500 franchises.
In this wide-ranging interview, Holt shares how he went about transforming The Joint Chiropractic, into one of the fastest-growing publicly traded companies.
When you came on board four years ago, you had an incredible opportunity to build The Joint from the ground up. How did you go about that?
Holt: I began by calling a three-day mission, vision and values meeting and included the entire board, all corporate employees, and key franchisees. The result? Our mission is to improve quality of life through routine and affordable chiropractic care. Our vision is to transform the traditional, often-misunderstood concept of routine chiropractic care by making it more convenient, friendly and affordable. Finally, our core values are respect, trust, integrity, accountability and excellence.
Your transformative turnaround strategy not only included reenergizing The Joint, but also building franchisee relations. Can you talk about that?
Holt: The company had been so focused on corporate-owned or -managed clinics, its franchise community stopped feeling the love. In an effort to measure the progress as we focused on rebuilding those relationships, The Joint deployed a franchisee satisfaction survey, which revealed we had a long way to go. This is why I established benchmarks going forward. The power of franchising is you are forced to listen to your franchisees.
There was some uneasiness with investors on Wall Street. How did you quell those sentiments?
Holt: I had to make some tough decisions early. I surrounded myself with people who could give me good counsel, and I relied on my own experience to make the best decisions possible. The result was me reaching out to the investor community to let them know we would not buy or build any additional corporate clinics until the corporate clinic portfolio was profitable. Additionally, the group of corporate clinics was reviewed and a strategy to restore financial strength began, whereby underperforming corporate clinics were closed or sold.
The Joint has reaped huge dividends after implementing your plan – including a new surge in clinics across the U.S. and financially reaching positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) – and it doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. What’s the key to building the premier company in the industry?
Holt: In my position as CEO, I’ve learned you have to invest time in ensuring others are translating the vision for you. As the organization develops, it becomes more about what you accomplish through others rather than any one thing you are doing by yourself.
Why is now a good time to invest in The Joint Chiropractic, franchise?
Holt: The exciting thing is building a franchise healthcare model that’s ripe for the time we’re operating in, with chiropractic treatment becoming more accepted as a practice of managing pain. We have plans of expanding The Joint Chiropractic to a potential 1,800 nationwide locations. Although it’s an aggressive goal, my responsibility is to make sure my management team has everything they need to perform at their highest level. By tapping into the collective wisdom of the team, we have a better chance of making the right decisions about the company’s growth.
*Based on an article written by Margie Wojciechowski in InBusiness Magazine. We encourage you to read the full article by clicking here.
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The Joint Chiropractic revolutionized access to chiropractic care when it introduced its retail healthcare business model in 2010. Today, the company is making quality care convenient and affordable, while eliminating the need for insurance, for millions of patients seeking pain relief and ongoing wellness.
With more than 500 locations nationwide and over seven million patient visits annually, The Joint Chiropractic is a key leader in the chiropractic industry. Named one of the Top 200+ Franchises by Franchise Times and ranked number 78 overall on Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500® list, The Joint Chiropractic is an innovative force, where healthcare meets retail. For more information, visit www.thejoint.com. To learn about franchise opportunities, visit www.thejointfranchise.com.
Business Structure
The Joint Corp. (NASDAQ: JYNT) is a franchisor of clinics and an operator of clinics in certain states. In Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming, The Joint Corp. and its franchisees provide management services to professional chiropractic practices.
