Calgary franchise lawyer Cory Gelmon came up with a foolproof remedy for the chronic crick in his neck. He found a good chiropractor.

Then he hunted up almost 100 more and united them in a unique U.S.-based franchise strategy he expects to make a bundle for shareholders in his microcap public holding company, Banyan Corp.

Gelmon and his brother, Michael, are partners in the enterprise. They scored well when their family business acquired the Canadian master franchise for Domino's Pizza in 1993 and sold it for a reported $5 million four years later.

So when Cory, a longtime sufferer from severe headaches and neck pain, became a born-again believer in the art and science of chiropractic, the brothers decided to apply their franchising expertise to something new.

Result: A mushrooming chain of franchised clinics known as Chiropractic USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Banyan Corp.

Larry MacDougal photo, Business Edge
The team includes CEO Michael Gelmon, left, chiropractor Jeff Schacter, president Cory Gelmon.

After doing some serious number-crunching with the aid of Calgary chiropractor Jeff Schacter, the Gelmons got started by purchasing a small chain of clinics based in Louisiana.

"We loved the uniform business format these clinics had. They had (operations) manuals, just like Domino's," laughed Michael, CEO of Banyan Corp. "Domino's manual spells out things like territories, delivery area, 'This is how much cheese to put on the pizza.' But this was laid out specifically for chiropractic operations.”

Perhaps more importantly, the brothers encountered a chiropractic practice-management consultant named C.J. Mertz. An influential name in the field, Mertz was so impressed with the project that he bought into the company. Mertz is now a "strategic partner" with Chiropractic USA, which aims its marketing efforts at the one in 10 Americans who visit chiropractors on a routine basis.

"The big benefit for our franchisees is they can now advertise as a unit. Isolated individuals can't afford to advertise in any reasonable media, such as TV," Cory explained.

Chiropractic USA has created regional marketing co-ops, with members pitching in to share advertising costs. Meanwhile, the Gelmons feel the shared brand lends credibility and "third-party validation" to each franchise.

For the privilege of setting up the Chiropractic USA shingle, franchisees pay six-per-cent annual royalties plus an advertising fee of three per cent.

"We don't charge a franchise fee for members already in practice. Those who aren't already in practice will pay $20,000," said Michael Gelmon, who added that each package includes assistance with lease negotiation, site selection, project co-ordination and training.

But it's the brand that remains the major selling point. And clinics are coming aboard rapidly, in impressive numbers - 83 franchises in 23 states since September of last year.

"We quickly realized that this strategy made perfect economic sense," said Cory. "There are other associations of practitioners out there who work under a shared name, but they don't operate on a national scale.”

For the time being, at least, the partners have refrained from importing the model to Canada, for reasons that may be obvious.

"There's a different mindset in Canada," Michael pointed out. "In Canada, we say health care is free. In the U.S., people are used to paying for it.”

Rather than operate as a corporate "pain chaser," Chiropractic USA preaches non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical wellness, a pro-active approach to treatment known as corrective care.

"It's a way of looking after yourself over the long term. You shouldn't wait until you're in pain before you see a chiropractor," said Cory, who says Schacter's regular treatments have eased a lifetime of physical misery.

"We think everyone in America should have a corrective care chiropractor on their health-care team," added his brother.

Now in their 40s, both Gelmons attended Henry Wise Wood High School in Calgary before moving on to the University of Calgary. They each studied law in England before returning home to practise.

As they developed an expertise in corporate commercial work, they found themselves representing a number of franchisees. Eventually, the brothers joined forces with their father, a Calgary developer of commercial real estate, and acquired Domino's Canada.

Michael Gelmon says their experience with Domino's gave the brothers credibility when they called on investment bankers, whose support helped them launch Banyan Corp. and Chiropractic USA.

At the moment, publicly traded Banyan (OTCBB: BANY) is listed on the Over The Counter Bulletin Board, described by the online Investopedia as a home for stocks that can be "very risky.”

But the Gelmon brothers had to start somewhere.

"As we grow in size and stature," said Michael, "we'll move up to a more senior exchange.”

(Tom Keyser can be reached at tomk@businessedge.ca)