Robert Stidham
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Founder and CEO of Summa Franchise Consulting and Franchise Dynamics (now a part of Summa) Robert Stidham has over 30 years of franchising and licensing experience and is considered a “global franchise industry thought leader.” He has been involved with generating over $3 billion dollars’ worth of new franchise investment during his career.
Since 1992, Robert has been involved with over 2,000 franchised business start-ups, as well as multi-unit and area-development agreements in 47 countries. He has corporate experience spanning the restaurant, business services, home services, and retail concepts space for both smaller franchisors and major companies, building two of the 25 largest service franchisors in the world and running two large international franchise companies. His roles increased franchise unit sales, revenue, and profitability while gaining market share, expanding brand awareness for both new franchise concepts and established brands alike.
A three-time nominee for the Ernst and Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” (Midwest) Award and a two-time nominee for the IFA “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award, Robert was honored with the ‘Contribution to International Franchising’ Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Global Franchise Awards.
He is an International Franchise Association (IFA) principal committee board member, a sought-after industry speaker and trainer, and a widely published author.