Great Falls Connection:
Greg Jones, Great Falls resident and CEO of the McLean-based BookKeeping Express, has gone nationwide, and not just with franchises of his accounting business. In November, Jones became the “franchise expert” for “The Big Biz Show,” a business talk radio show that airs on more than 150 AM stations across the country.
“It’s very lighthearted, very loose [and has] almost a comic sense to a certain degree,” Jones said. “It’s certainly not ‘60 Minutes.’” Every other Wednesday, he spends 20 minutes or so chatting with the show’s hosts on the air. “We decide on topics, but we typically never stay on topic,” he said.
The company he hires for public relations, Fishman PR, inquired about getting him on the show after the CEO of a company he invests in made a “Big Biz” appearance. Jones had rare qualifications, with experience on both ends of the franchise business model. He and a partner are in the process of opening their third Five Guys restaurant franchise in Florida, while he and two partners sell franchises of BookKeeping Express. Although they bought the accounting company at about the time that the economy fell apart in late 2008, they have opened 19 franchises since then, with the latest opening last week in Pennsylvania. “We’ve been selling consistently every month,” he said.