Erin Pate, CFC, is the Founder and CEO of FranPursuit, a boutique franchise consulting firm helping aspiring business owners evaluate franchise opportunities and navigate the due diligence process with greater clarity and confidence.
With 25 years of experience in franchising, Erin has worked inside some of the industry’s most recognized franchise systems, including Interim HealthCare, Merle Norman Cosmetics, and Planet Beach. Throughout her corporate career, she directed 350+ new franchise start ups across the United States and supported hundreds of franchise owners through launch, operations, growth, and performance improvement.
Erin’s experience spans franchise brands at multiple stages of growth, from emerging concepts to growing systems and established national brands. This gave her firsthand insight into the systems, infrastructure, leadership, and franchisee support required at each stage of expansion. It also allowed her to work closely with a wide range of ownership models, including hands on owner operators, semi absentee owners, and investor groups.
At Interim HealthCare, Erin was recruited in 2011 as the organization expanded its franchise model and was tasked with developing and managing the onboarding and support process for new franchise owners. She went on to project manage 136 new franchise start ups, guiding owners through state licensing and their first 12 to 18 months of operation. Her work touched nearly every aspect of building a successful franchise location, including site selection, staffing, training, marketing, operations, financial performance, and ongoing franchisee support.
During her tenure with Interim HealthCare, Erin also worked through three private equity ownership transitions, contributing to due diligence and gaining valuable firsthand perspective on how ownership changes, investment priorities, and organizational growth can impact a franchise system and its franchisees.
That operational perspective is what differentiates Erin’s approach today.
Rather than starting with, “Which franchise do you want to buy?” Erin starts with a more important question:
“Is franchise ownership actually the right path for you?”
Through FranPursuit, Erin provides personalized education, franchise opportunity matching, and due diligence guidance based on each candidate’s goals, experience, financial position, desired level of involvement, and long term vision. Her experience working with different franchise systems and ownership models helps clients look beyond the brand name and evaluate what it will actually take to own, operate, and grow the business.
Erin also works with emerging franchise brands as a Fractional Operations Advisor, helping founders develop the systems, infrastructure, and franchisee support needed to scale successfully.
Erin is a Certified Franchise Consultant through the International Franchise Professionals Group, a partner of Kettering Executive Network, a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and a Paul Harris Fellow through Rotary International.
Her approach is simple: Consultative. Structured. Efficient.
Erin believes prospective business owners deserve more than a list of franchise opportunities. They deserve the education, resources, and experienced perspective necessary to determine whether franchise ownership and a specific opportunity truly align with their goals.
If you’re considering franchise ownership, learn more about the FranPursuit approach and take the next step with greater clarity and confidence.
Work with Erin: Buy a franchise · Franchise your business · Franchise FAQs
It depends on what you want from one. A consultant will not get you a better deal on a franchise, since franchisors do not discount fees through brokers. What a good one does is narrow several thousand brands to a handful that match your capital, your skills and how involved you intend to be, and tell you when a brand is a poor fit even though it would be an easy introduction to make.
A designation awarded through the International Franchise Professionals Group after completing its training and examination on franchise law, the FDD, franchise structures and consulting ethics. It is a professional credential rather than a licence, and it signals formal training in the disclosure rules rather than sales experience alone. Erin holds the CFC designation.
Twenty-five years in franchising, largely from inside franchisor organisations rather than as an outside adviser. She directed more than 350 franchise start-ups across the United States and has supported hundreds of franchisees through opening and operating. She is a Certified Franchise Consultant, a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and a Paul Harris Fellow.
Large brokerages typically work from a set roster of brands their organisation has agreements with. An independent consultant can be more selective about which brands to present and has more room to say a brand is wrong for you. The trade-off is scale. What matters either way is whether the person is willing to talk you out of something.
