Entrepreneurship is Richard Simtob's passion. He has been creating income generating businesses from an early age. Today, with 26 years experience in small business ownership and, franchising, Simtob consults with successful businesses that want to grow through franchising, and last year he co-founded FranchiseSforSale.com, a new generation of on-line lead generation in franchising. Currently Simtob serves as CEO of FranchiseSforSale.com and is also a principal of Zoup! Fresh Soup Company.
Previously, as a Senior Vice President of Wireless Toyz, Simtob was responsible for the strategic direction and management of the organization’s franchise growth. He managed the expansion of the company’s franchise network from 8 to almost 200 units. His efforts were pivotal in earning Wireless Toyz recognition in the 2006 Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing, privately held U.S. companies, Entrepreneur’s 2007 “Franchise 500” and Entrepreneur’s 2007 “Fastest Growing Franchises.”
Simtob earned acclaim as a business innovator during the 1990s when he co-founded Book World Corporation, parent company of Talking Book World, America’s largest chain of retail audio book rental outlets. He built the company from a concept in 1993 to a 45-store chain. By 1999, TBW ranked number 164 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing, privately held companies, and appeared annually in Entrepreneur’s list of top 500 franchises.
Simtob is a licensed commercial real estate broker. He also owns and develops small commercial retail centers in Michigan and Arizona. Simtob is Vice President of Yad Ezra, a non-profit food bank, and is active in a range of business organizations, including the Jewish Entrepreneurs Network and the Entrepreneurs Network of Michigan. He attended the University of Western Ontario where he studied economics and business.