Mentors: FRANCHISES
Summary of Qualifications Eric is small business and nonprofit attorney filling the void between “Big Law” and the LegalZooms of the world. Eric is the founder of Perkins Law, PLLC, serving small businesses and nonprofit organizations across Virginia. Eric helps small business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs structure and form new business entities and memorialize their key relationships and transactions in writing so they can plan ahead, operate more profitably, and stay out of trouble. Eric is also active in franchising. He has worked with franchisees representing more than 75 franchise systems and also helped several companies grow through franchising. He is active with the Virginia Franchise Forum and is also a member of the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising. Eric is also active in the tennis community as chair of the national tennis rules and regulations committee for the USTA and co-author of “Richmond – One of America’s Best Tennis Towns” chronicling over 100 years of RVA tennis history. Ready to meet with this mentor? Talk with your Lead...
Summary of Qualifications In Tom Lawrence’s forty-year entrepreneurial career, he has progressed from owner of a Valpack franchise, to President of the Valpak Dealers’ Association, to VP of franchise operations for Valpack. As founder and CEO of Richmond-based FranNet, Tom makes time to consult, teach, and speak at the Small Business Development Center, the SBA, and SCORE. He enjoys putting his experience to use helping others who wish to start their own business. Tom began his entrepreneurial career in 1975 with the purchase of Valpak of Virginia. Initially specializing in direct sales, in 1981, he became President and the sole owner of that business. Valpak of Virginia was repeatedly ranked in the top 5% of the over 200 Valpak franchises. In 1987, Tom was elected President of the Valpak Dealers’ Association and served three terms in this position. In this role (held concurrently with ownership of his own franchise), Tom represented, to the franchisor, the interest of all Valpak franchisees, heading policy-making and marketing committees and was the chief adjudicator of intra-franchise disputes. In 1991, Tom sold the Valpak of Virginia franchise and was hired by Cox Enterprises, the corporate parent of Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, Inc. His new role involved the design and implementation of Valpak’s first Field Support program and involvement in the recruiting of potential franchisees. In 1994, he was promoted to Vice President of Franchise Operations. In this position, he retained responsibility for field support, had increased involvement in franchisee recruiting and was given management responsibility for Valpak’s five franchisor-owned operations. Additionally, he assumed responsibility for designing training programs for new franchisees as well as...
