Q&A with Spherion Franchise Owner Brian Lytle

According to the International Franchise Association, franchising is expected to add approximately 221,000 jobs in 2024 and bring total employees to 8.9 million in the United States. Outlooks like these have plenty of people interested in franchise ownership—and especially in becoming a Spherion franchise owner. If you’re looking for the autonomy and path to entrepreneurship that franchise ownership owns, our Spherion franchise owner community is a great place to find out more about how to get your journey started.

This month, we’ve asked Spherion franchise owner Brian Lytle to tell us about his experiences in the industry. After exploring the recruiting and sales side of staffing, and several years playing in the Arena Football League, Brian became manager of three Spherion locations. By 2017, he had officially become the owner of those three Spherion franchises in California and Nevada. Let’s dive in and hear what he has to say about franchising and working with Spherion!

Tell us your Spherion story: What was your path to Spherion franchise ownership?

I am a second-generation owner of Spherion Staffing. My parents, Roger and Maureen Lytle, opened our first Nevada staffing franchise in 1990 in Reno. This Reno staffing agency operated under the brand Personnel Pool. They opened two California staffing franchise locations in Chico in 1993 and in Anderson/Redding in 1994. The brand transitioned to Interim a couple of years later and then became Spherion Staffing in 1999 after the Interim/Norrell merger. Today, both our California staffing agency locations and our Reno office operate under the Spherion brand.

I began as a temporary employee with my first job in a distribution warehouse in 1992. I continued working warehouse jobs as a temporary employee until 2001. In 2001, I began my career in my family's Spherion franchise starting in recruiting, learning sales, and then moving into management.  

From 1999 to 2003 I also played professional football. I mainly played in the Arena Football League, and from 2001-2003 I alternated between playing in the league, and working in the franchise until after my final season. Then, I transitioned to a full-time management role at all three of our locations with my home base in Reno. I officially became a Spherion franchisee in 2017 and have been managing our Reno, Chico, and Anderson (Redding) locations full-time ever since.  

Why did you choose to franchise with Spherion? 

While the decision to pick Spherion wasn't mine initially, in my 23 years of experience I have spoken to many other staffing franchisees along with independent staffing owners to compare our franchising experiences. From everything I have heard and lived, the franchise experience with Spherion is the easiest to start up, to grow and to succeed within the staffing and recruiting industry.  

What does a typical day in the office look like for you?  

Being a franchise owner, the days can vary greatly depending on what's going on in your business. The workday can be spent growing sales, doing mass recruiting for large client projects, focusing on new technology, managing change within the organization, or many other things.  

The one constant no matter what's going on is selling and recruiting. Within staffing, there's a constant need for a strong pipeline of both candidates and customers. Letting off the gas on either of those two things can cause an imbalance in your business.  

What’s one thing you know now that you wish you knew when going through the potential franchisee process?  

While nobody could have foreseen the changes of the past decade, I wish I could have prepared for how much the staffing industry shifted due to the technological advancements that have led to major societal changes in how people work. For instance, the creation of the gig economy due to new technological applications. The Internet and smartphones have made it possible for people to get jobs more easily outside of our more traditional staffing model. In 2003, I didn't anticipate having to compete with companies like Uber, essentially a taxi service, and DoorDash, a delivery service. Companies like those have become unexpected competitors.

What is the most rewarding part of being a Spherion franchise owner?  

The most rewarding part of being a Spherion franchise owner is our Spherion community. We have one of the most supportive communities in any industry from the corporate support team to our fellow owners.  If you have a problem or an issue that needs to be solved everyone is more than willing to give you advice, support, or help without question.  

Many paths can lead to becoming a Spherion franchise owner

Brian’s story shows just one of the many ways in which people begin to explore franchise ownership. While the transition away from traditional employment can feel overwhelming at first, we’ve heard time and again that franchising with Spherion gives new owners everything they need to hit the ground running, grow rapidly, and achieve their entrepreneurship goals.

If you, like Brian, are interested in starting your franchising journey, we encourage you to text, call, or email Dan Brunell, our Regional Vice President of Franchise Development, for more information. With more than 30 years of experience helping prospective franchisees succeed, Dan can give you the insights you’re looking for when considering joining our franchise community.