The Joint Chiropractic Franchise Review: Meet Mia, Marvin, & Gordon Thornton
How a family of entrepreneurs found success with the fast-growing chiropractic franchise
For the Gordon’s, opening a clinic with The Joint Chiropractic® wasn’t just about the potential profits and opportunities for growth, it was just as important to provide a service to their community and gave back. As a family unit, they found that calling in The Joint’s esteemed reputation for providing chiropractic franchise care.
“I had been in franchising for more than 40 years,” says Gordon Thornton. “And as we were building The Joint brand, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity for all of us.”
Gordon and his wife, Mia, and brother, Marvin, are now one of the highest performing franchise clinics in the country. More recently, the Thorntons have taken on a new role as Regional Developer of the Washington D.C. and Maryland market, with unprecedented growth on the horizon.
“Franchising allows you to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself,” Gordon said. “And what I really appreciated about The Joint was its very simple, streamlined business model. And, it’s a business that’s easy to scale and grow in multiple locations over multiple geographical locations. More than that, we saw the opportunity to really help people.”
In this interview, the Thornton’s talk about why they love their business, what opportunities are available for aspiring entrepreneurs and their hopes for the future.
Q: What’s the most emotionally rewarding aspect of running The Joint Chiropractic?
Mia: We are changing lives across the globe. The Joint Chiropractic franchise has over 600 locations nationwide, and over 1,600 licensed chiropractors. And last year, The Joint treated more than 8 million patients. Every day we wake up and I say, “Okay, we are doing something great. We are adding value back to our community.” And we’re making it affordable and convenient, which of course adds value to it as well.
Q: For potential franchisees, if they’ve never been in business before, how does The Joint Chiropractic help owners become successful?
Gordon: One is the operating platform itself. The operations manual is very well written, it’s easy to understand, easy to follow. In addition to that, there is hands-on and onsite training that takes place that allows you the opportunity to practice the things you learned in the operations manual. There’s also a new franchisee training class. Typically, it would be at corporate headquarters, but right now in the COVID environment, it’s primarily virtual. But even still, it adds to your ability to understand the operating model before you even open your first clinic.
Q: What kind of ongoing support is there?
Gordon: As you’re open and operating, you have a network of people there to support you, like field representatives at the corporate office. Your fellow franchisees are a great source. Part of the benefits of a franchise organization is that you are associated with other people who are walking the same walk and talking the same talk. So, you have this extensive list of people to reach out to who’ve experienced whatever problem or situation you’re dealing with at the moment, and most likely, has the answer for you.
Q: Why is the business model so straightforward and simple to operate?
Mia: The Joint Chiropractic has really modernized chiropractic care. With our no appointment walk-ins welcome, no insurance hassle model, it keeps it very straight to the point. We only perform routine chiropractic adjustments. So we are a wellness-based clinic. The model itself is simple. We just do chiropractic adjustments.
Q: And how has business been?
Marvin: Our clinics perform extraordinarily well. Even during the COVID environment, a steady level of new patients are coming in and we’ve seen an increase in certain areas. We’ve been able to remain viable in providing routine affordable chiropractic care to provide relief to our patients.
Q: What are your plans as Regional Developers?
Gordon: We want to recruit new franchisees into the business to bring in new thinking, new blood, and help us expand the footprint. And, our real goal is to develop the marketplace so that we can provide routine and affordable chiropractic care to this great population base that is in the greater Washington, D.C. and Maryland areas. And once we recruit them, we want to help them find their initial location, guide and support them through the build-out process and also to work with them on their pre-opening, marketing, operations, hiring, and training.
Q: What qualities do you need to thrive as an owner with The Joint Chiropractic?
Mia: We are looking for people to be in business, not by themselves, but for themselves. Ultimately, we want ambitious, determined individuals who are passionate about chiropractic care, preferably consumers of chiropractic, because when you are receiving chiropractic care, you immediately become passionate about it because of what it’s doing for you.
Ready to bring the fastest-growing of the chiropractor franchises to your community?
This healthcare franchise’s business model is simple, straightforward, and quick-to-scale. This benefits both franchisees and their customers. For in-depth details about The Joint Chiropractic Franchise healthcare opportunity, download the free franchise information report.