Philip Gugliotta

About Phil

Phil Gugliotta is a Certified Franchise Consultant and co-founder of Pivot Franchise Advisors, a full-service franchise consulting and development firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina and working in affiliation with FranServe.

Phil came to franchising through more than two decades in staffing and recruiting, work that put him in daily conversation with professionals weighing a change in how they earn a living. That background shapes how he approaches consulting: before talking brands, he wants to understand the person. What the candidate has done, what they are good at, what they can realistically invest, how hands-on they want to be, and what the business needs to look like in five years for the decision to have been worth it.

He and his wife and business partner, Nancy, built Pivot on that consultation-first model rather than a pitch. Their process moves from a structured discovery conversation into a shortlist of concepts that fit, then into the due diligence work that separates a brand that looks good from one that will work for a specific owner: unit economics, territory and market conditions, the franchisee support structure, and how current owners actually describe the experience.

Phil is also a franchisee himself. Alongside Nancy he signed a multi-unit agreement to bring The Swing Bays, an indoor golf concept, to the Raleigh metro, which gives him an owner's view of what the FDD, the onboarding, and the first year of operations really feel like from the inside.

His consulting is free to candidates; he is compensated by franchisors when a client selects a brand.