About Eddie Sturgeon | Independent Franchise Consultant

The Foundation

I never sold a franchise.
I awarded one.

Most franchise consultants in this industry talk about selling. Eddie Sturgeon has spent his entire career thinking about it differently. A franchise isn’t a product - it’s a relationship between two businesses that will last a decade or more. It only works when both sides win. That philosophy shaped everything that came after.

Over nearly 20 years, Eddie became - to his knowledge - the most prolific real estate franchise award professional in the history of the industry. He isn’t the kind of person who leads with that. But the people he worked with know it, and when you sit across from him, you feel it immediately.

The credential that matters most isn’t the number. It’s the understanding of what happens after the agreement is signed - the terms that come due, the clauses that surface at renewal, the leverage points most franchisees never knew they had.

Eddie Sturgeon

Principal · Trusted Franchise Advisors

20+ Years in franchise sales and leadership

600+ Franchises awarded over career

#1 Worldwide franchise sales, RE/MAX

20 Countries reached growing one brand

Why This Exists

When the people who knew the industry
came to Eddie for help -
he knew it was time.

The idea for Trusted Franchise Advisors didn’t come from a business plan. It came from a pattern Eddie kept noticing - and couldn’t ignore.

Broker-owners he had known for years - experienced, successful franchisees who understood the industry from the inside - started calling him. Their renewals were approaching. They were weighing their options, including the possibility of going independent. And they wanted someone who knew the franchise agreement backwards and sideways, someone whose opinion they trusted completely, to help them think it through.

“These were people who had been in the franchise world for a long time. They knew me. They trusted my evaluation and my advice. That’s when I knew it was time.”

- Eddie Sturgeon

If the most experienced franchisees in the room were reaching out for guidance, what did that say about everyone else - the first-time buyers, the franchisees who had never negotiated a renewal, the people reading a 300-page FDD without anyone in their corner?

That gap is exactly what Trusted Franchise Advisors was built to fill. Not as a broker. Not as an attorney. As an independent advisor with two decades of experience on the franchisor side - who is now, unambiguously, on yours.

Career at a Glance

Nearly two decades at the
highest level of franchise sales.

Chapter One · RE/MAX

The largest real estate franchisor in the world. #1 worldwide in franchise sales.

Eddie spent years with RE/MAX building relationships, awarding franchises, and developing an understanding of the agreement and what it meant to franchisees in practice. He achieved the #1 ranking worldwide in franchise sales - a milestone he holds to this day with characteristic quiet confidence. “The people in this industry already know,” he says. “I don’t need to lead with it.”

Chapter Two · Executive Leadership

From 50 locations to 500+. From one country to twenty.

Eddie moved into an executive leadership role with a younger franchisor and helped scale it into something remarkable - from roughly 50 offices in 17 states to over 491 locations across all 50 states, with an additional presence in 21 countries. The organization was named the fastest-growing and then the #1 overall franchisor by both Franchise Times and Entrepreneur Magazine. Eddie was at the center of that growth.

Now · Trusted Franchise Advisors

Exclusively in your corner. For the first time.

After nearly two decades advising franchisors, Eddie crossed to the other side of the table - by design. Trusted Franchise Advisors exists for one reason: to give franchisees access to the same quality of knowledge and guidance that franchisors have always had. No commissions. No conflicts. Just honest, experienced advice from someone who has seen every side of this process.

How Eddie Works

Win–win or no deal.
That’s not a slogan.
It’s a filter.

Eddie will tell you on the first call if he doesn’t think he can help. That honesty is the whole brand. There is no version of this where Eddie takes your time, makes you feel good, and sends you down a path that isn’t right for you.

If the situation is a genuine fit - if there is real leverage to be found, a real issue to address, or a real decision to be made more clearly - Eddie will tell you that too, directly and without hype.

The practice is intentionally small. There are no associates, no junior consultants, no hand-offs. When you email or call, Eddie answers. That constraint is a feature, not a limitation. It means every client gets the same person every time - the one with 20 years of experience and no agenda beyond doing the job right.

✓

Radical honesty from the first conversation

If Eddie can’t help, he says so immediately. No wasted time, no soft-pedaling.

✓

No commissions. No franchisor relationships.

Eddie is paid by you, for your benefit. That’s the only financial relationship that exists here.

✓

You speak directly with Eddie. Every time.

Solo practice by design. No junior staff, no intake coordinators, no callbacks from someone you haven’t met.

✓

The first call is always free

No time limit, no obligation. You walk away knowing exactly where you stand - or knowing Eddie isn’t the right fit. Either way, you’re better off.

Who This Is For

Two situations. One advisor
who has seen everything.

You’re evaluating a
new franchise.

You have a Franchise Disclosure Document in front of you. It was written by the franchisor’s attorneys, and it is designed to protect the franchisor. Before you sign, you deserve someone who can read it the way Eddie does - knowing which clauses are standard, which are unusual, which can be negotiated, and which will matter most five years from now. Applies to every franchise sector, not just real estate.

Your renewal is
approaching.

Most franchisees don’t realize that the period just before the final six months of their agreement is their single greatest moment of leverage. After that window closes, options narrow significantly. If your renewal is on the horizon - even two or three years out - a conversation now could be worth more than you expect. Eddie has seen franchisees save six figures over a single renewal term.

Ready to Talk

The first call is free.
The insight is rare.

Whether you have a specific question, a document in front of you, or just want to understand your situation better - call or email Eddie directly. No intake form, no assistant, no callback list.

843-614-7779 [email protected] callmebeforeyousign.com

Call Eddie Directly Send an Email

The advisor who spent20 years on the other sideof the table.

I never sold a franchise.I awarded one.

When the people who knew the industrycame to Eddie for help -he knew it was time.

Nearly two decades at thehighest level of franchise sales.