Timothy L. Katsch
Chatam, NJ 07928
TimLKatsch@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE: CEO or COO

EXPERIENCE SUMMARY

• 8 years, Training and Development (curriculum development, services)
• 7 years, Operations Management (business development, marketing)
• 6 years, Project Management (construction, legal oversight)
• 4 years, Franchise Development (services, operations, legal oversight)

EXPERIENCE PORTFOLIO

09/17 – present, Director of Operations
K9 Resorts, Fanwood, NJ (www.k9resorts.com)

• Operations and Project Manager for Luxury Dog Hotel and Daycare franchise, supervising a team of four external sales team members responsible for initial cold calls, vetting and qualifications, and mentoring through sales stage, including six-hour discovery at corporate HQs, showcasing the brand system and franchise offering, resulting in revenues of ~$1.3M annually, including royalties and rebates) eight franchises (established 9/17 to 8/18), with system-wide revenues of >$5.7M (2017)
• Manage oversight of two corporate-owned resorts; supervise two General Managers, four Assistant Managers, six supervisors, and 20 additional team members; oversee franchise operations system with two operations managers and two franchise trainers
• Research, analyze, identify, and develop real estate (via CBRE), for demographic data, pinpointing prime locations for franchises, hosting telecom-based communications to review site criteria, approving sites, and negotiating leases and Letters of Intent (LOI)
• Manage / perform / initiate business development, marketing, creation of marketing plans for franchisees; develop brand, including reviewing/approval of marketing collateral, benchmarking data, and identifying new marketing funnels; manage sales processes / procedures, including: market research, territory design with franchisees managing an annual budget of ~$60K annually
• Provide Franchise support (12 franchisees) including site visits with operations team, review profit & loss (P&L) statements; subject matter expertise (SME; knowledge consultant); quality assure legal documents
• Identified engineering techniques in facility construction saving franchise model ~$175K per buildout; spearheaded coordination of zoning attorneys, civil engineers, site planners, and architects in preparation for township approval in Cherry Hill, NJ; Apex, NC; Emerson, NJ; and Malvern, PA; executed / filed legal documents; reduced site selection / lease negotiation, financing, zoning, construction, training, grand opening, marketing via project Gantt chart reducing sale to opening of resort by six months (~24 baseline)
• Develop training curriculum and literature; train coordinators (train-the-trainer), provide oversight and facilitation to training process; improve franchisee training program, with corporate team; including research, analysis, incorporation of updated operational strategies / industry knowledge to learning management system; resulting in faster onboarding, increased brand consistency, and improved service
• Mentor / train franchise general managers and mentor assistant managers; develop curriculum and training modules for franchise owners and general managers including two weeks of training covering 15 core topics, totaling 80+ hours to six learners per class, for a total of ~60 classes annually; transition franchises from frontline training capacity to SME consulting status after one year of operations
• Initiated updates for franchise model, with original 7,200 sq. ft. (70 ‘rooms’) resort models evaluated / redesigned to ~4,800 sq. ft. (still 70 rooms), reducing initial investment by ~$367K, while increasing earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization (EBITDA), offered in early 2019; oversee construction from floor plan designs to construction bidding; all ending with certificate of occupancy (COO); oversight of buildouts valued at ~$700K-800K (four to date), with value of ~$1.4M per lease
• Led research and development (R&D) by exploring current vendor potential and new opportunities to bring value to franchisor and franchisees via interview surveys, marketing research and partners, source research, and moving to one consolidated marketing partner resulting in relaunch of marketing platform (fall 2018), resulting in quicker ‘ramping up’ of franchise branding, advertising, and sales objectives
• Perform business development in liaison with franchisees by planning, evaluating, assisting in execution of marketing plans (grand openings, marketing, advertising, business development, networking, media content (social, TV, radio) to increase brand name and recognition in demographic target market and community; researched, identified, developed additional public relations partners in vendor pools, resulting in additional/higher brand discounts, including reduced costs of franchise resorts structures by ~$58K
• Sourced demographics’ mapping software, performed data analysis on existing franchise units, created guidelines to evaluate future territories resulting in evaluation speeds of new markets increased by 80%
• Created a Learning Management System for brand, based on learning modules, for each specialization within facility to be trained / tested; results shortened employee training, orientation, onboarding by 40%
• Created an employee staffing model which predicts how many employees are needed based on occupancy, scheduled check-in/outs, and daycare averages resulting in average manhour and labor savings of ~$43.5K annually
• Authored human resources management manual discussing and outlining internal company policies and procedures for recruiting, hiring, employee relations, terminations, Paid Time Off (PTO), holidays, insurance, compensation, employee evaluations, and reporting protocols; authored employee guide establishing directly-relatable employee policies / guidelines
• Created Franchise Advisory Council Bylaws with franchise industry SMEs; phase one to start 01/19

08/15 – 09/17, Vice President / Chief Operations Officer
iDropped, Throop, PA (www.idropped.com)

• Assumed management of company, reporting to CEO, resulting in increased organizational growth by 928% within four years; managed budget of $1.45M annually; renegotiated vendor contracts (CONUS); initiated international supply channels for largest quantity of parts SKUs resulting in costs’ reduction of goods (COGS) from 45% of net sales to 36% (1/16 to 8/17), resulting in profit margins increased by 21%
• Managed operations director and district managers responsible for supervision of general managers of six retail stores; managed operations oversight of five franchise units (as internal consultant); managed using principles of the Five Stages of Leadership model / philosophy
• Researched / analyzed / tracked key performance indicators (KPI) for revenues and profits per royalties / revenues via customer satisfaction (surveys), quantity / quality of reviews (via review gen software), repairs per day (via point of sale system), attachment (sales) rates, in addition to standard income statement line items; monitored ratios of staffing, marketing, and training needs including: knowledge training, exploring marketing options, allocating funds, hiring requirements, and managing labor hours; incorporated standard operating procedures (SOPs) for marketing, finance, operating systems
• Performed research, analysis, mapping, monitoring of in-house, model operating system; identified benchmarks / goal setting (30-day attainable sales goals); provided training and upselling strategies to identified / associated products, resulting in 35% increase in ‘attachment rate’ sales
• Introduced a new inventory distribution via modernized adjustment structure; performed research, analysis, monitoring of inventory, resulting in reducing shrinkage by 73%, saving ~$65.7K annually; forecasted inventory requirements for five corporate locations; supervised operations manager ordering inventory with a value of ~$13,460 (weekly) or $700K annually; migrated from in-house micro warehouse of parts, labeling, and physical delivery to direct shipping of parts to stores; utilized retail store labor for labeling (saving 20 labor hours weekly; increased execution by 60%) in inventory management / delivery, eliminated entry errors to under 2%, and offset transportation shipping expenses directly
• Performed research, analysis, monitoring of P&L performance; implemented inventory adjustment accounting, resulting reduced cost of goods (COGS) from 45% of net sales to 36% (2016), minimized shrinkage (losses) 73%
• Orchestrated public relations (website blog), marketing (feature articles in Times Leader, Franchising.com, Entrepreneur Magazine on Instagram, Business News Daily and featured on CNBC, as well as social media presence; managed contracts for public relations (value ~$24K), web design (value ~$12K), and marketing (value $50K-$60K) annually

07/14 – 08/15, Vice President of Franchise Development
iDropped, Throop, PA (www.idropped.com)

• Managed franchise development project for CEO/COO to expand from five corporate stores for device repair brand and business model, including research, analysis, development, and implementation of local repair center franchise concept to expand nationally (USA), including development / management of finance, legal, operations, marketing, and real estate aspects
• Project manager for expansion of available locations in territory between New York and Tennessee, resulting in gains of five locations within 18 months; acting internal consultant
• Collected, analyzed, consolidated data, and liaised with legal counsel to develop item seven of the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD; Initial Investment document) including, but not limited to: buildout projections (leasehold improvement), initial inventory, travel expenses, legal expenses, and deposits; developed performance representation (item 19; FDD) showcasing income projections based on current repair center performance coordinating with finance consultant on data collection and organization for perspective franchisees
• Developed 300-page Franchise Operations Manual (FOM), including knowledge research on repair center operations (marketing / branding, repair techniques, point-of-sale training)
• Liaised with a marketing consultant to design a marketing plan, graphic designers branding / marketing collateral, and web design team to develop website for selling franchises

08/13 – 07/14, Director of Operations
iDropped, Throop, PA (www.idropped.com)

• Directed, researched, analyzed, managed, and initialized development of company services expansion via three custom-made, upscale-mall kiosks, in six months, providing 120 sq. ft. service centers to offer electronics repair and expand company footprint to increased ‘walk-by traffic’ demographics and target market, resulting in saving 65% off traditional store leases, cutting build-outs by 60%, and opening business sites in <50 days (versus three months), and reducing cost of site establishment by 50% • Researched, analyzed, identified, and initiated new digital recruiting and hiring system / process (Zenefits), resulting in 100% online hiring processing of qualified candidates, data processing of applications, offer letters, I-9, W-4, digital signatures, access to employee handbook and employee compensation and health benefits information, as well as HR-related tasks such as COBRA letters, employee evaluations, termination processing, saving ~416 labor hours annually (>$10-20K in payroll)
• Trained / developed 6 store managers (six months) and 12 technicians to facilitate opening of new corporate repair centers during 6-month, 3-store launch; mentored technicians for leadership skills to enable them for management positions; cross-trained employees as technicians and customer service to consolidate and reduce personnel by 40%; initiated re-training on technical repairs to reduce parts/damages, reducing overhead costs from 3% to 1% (~$8K-$10K) per location
• Researched, analyzed, identified, and initiated internal model of pricing and repair services based on launching trends of available Apple / Samsung devices, identifying / moving older models to legacy-based repair tiers to stabilize availability of parts / pricing based on age

12/12 – 08/13, Technical Trainer / Store Manager
iDropped, Throop, PA (www.idropped.com)

• Managed second brick and mortar store for company; established / executed a local marketing plan, consisting of radio, grassroots, and social media advertising for retail stores
• Researched, analyzed industry and repair techniques and devices, identified training agenda, designed / developed curriculum, implemented process for test devices training, initiated apprenticeship program, and wrote / developed repair manuals for devices serviced; scheduled technicians / management to cross-train in knowledge and repairs for core devices and services for ~10 weeks
• Responsible for human resource tasking, including recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and supervising four technicians and six customer service representatives responsible for repairing mobile phones, tablets, or computers, via drops, water damage, or normal wear and tear within one hour, and sales of electronic accessories from cases and screen protectors, to charging cables and speakers
• Designed, modified / executed, and oversight of technical training of technicians, and general managers; develop / write training manuals, develop training curriculum; industry research for new tools / technology
• Oversee re-training for each new device launch (iPhones, Samsung), resulting in >18 general managers, and 70 technicians trained/retrained (hands-on) for 40+ industry product launches, over five years (~200 training sessions) (including travel to TN and NY sites)

07/09 – 12/11, non-related career / employment, Hawley, PA

FORMAL EDUCATION

• 12/09, Bachelor of Science, Economics, Sate University of New York, Binghamton, NY; Courses: Calculus for Business & Management, Micro Economics, Macro Economics, Economics of Poverty & Discrimination, Microeconomic Theory, Macroeconomic Theory, Statistical Methods, US Financial Systems, Economic Analysis of Law, International Monetary Economics, Financial Accounting, Risk Management & Insurance

CAREER TRAINING / CERTIFICATIONS

• 2018, Certification, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY; Topics: Business Communication, Teamwork & Collaboration, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, Storytelling in the Workplace, and Public Speaking
• 2018, Certified Franchise Executive (CFE), Institute of Certified Franchise Executives (ICFE), Washington, DC
• 2018, Certificate, Project Management, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY; Topics: Project Management Life Cycle, Best Practices for Project Management Success, International Project Management
• 2017, Professional Certificate, Retail & Omni Channel Management, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Topics: Retail Fundamentals, and Omni-Channel Statement & Management

TECHNICAL / COMPUTER

• FranConnect
• Google G-Suite / Google Sketch
• Quickbooks
• MS Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
• Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

PUBLICATIONS / SME REFERENCE QUOTES

• Katsch, T. (2017, March 9). Repair technician to VP: Success is more than a one-man job. Business News Daily. Retrieved from: www.businessnewsdaily.com/9804-tim-katch-idropped-career-path.html
• Johnson, G. (2018, July). Your path to achieving excellence in franchising. Franchising World, 50:7, p. 28 -30.
• Coach-Up® coaching system for providing career growth approaches to problematic employee issues or behaviors, including evaluative methods, verbal approaches, tools to encourage positive work behavior versus penalties / demotions (trademark pending; 2018)

VOLUNTEER / COMMUNITY / TRADE ORGANIZATIONS

• 09/18 – present, Board of Governors ICFE (Certified Franchise Executive; CFE)
• 04/16 – present, member, International Franchise Association (IFA), City, ST
• 05/18 – present, member, Project Management Institute PMI, Flemington, NJ Chapter

KEY & TRANSFERABLE SKILL WORDS: accounting, benchmarks, business development, certificate of occupancy (COO), coaching, construction bidding, consultant, Curriculum development, demographic target market, Director of Operations, employee relations, facility construction, Financial, Franchise Development, Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), franchise operations, Franchise Operations Manual (FOM), franchise system, human resources management, Income projections, inventory distribution, key performance indicators (KPI), learning management system, Letters of Intent (LOI), Management / managers, marketing funnels, marketing research, negotiation, operational strategies, Operations Management, policies, profit & loss (P&L), Project Management, public relations, quality assure (QA), research analysis, research and development (R&D), revenues, sales, staffing model, standard operating procedures (SOPs), subject matter expertise (SME), technicians, train-the-trainer, Training and Development (T&D), training curriculum, vendor contracts, warehouse