Oh $h#t We Bought A Franchise: Harrison Fisher's Rooftop Triumphs and The Lure of Semi-Absentee Ownership

Embark on a transformative entrepreneurial adventure with Harrison Fisher, franchise owner of Best Choice Roofing  in Lafayette, Louisiana. From navigating project management at major corporations to charting new heights in the roofing industry, Harrison's tale is one of strategic moves and smart investments. He shares the inside scoop on his youthful edge in business, the compelling allure of franchising, and the alignment of his business and personal aspirations. His proactive research and expert guidance from The Franchise Insiders paint a roadmap to success, inspiring any aspiring entrepreneur to consider franchising as a viable and lucrative path.

In this episode, we also unveil the secrets behind cultivating an exceptional customer service reputation and harnessing the power of online reviews. Discover how competitive spirits among sales teams can be a catalyst for a sterling company image, and the support network of franchisors that champions growth. Harrison discusses the nuances of semi-absentee ownership and how it contributes to a harmonious work-life balance without compromising a seven-figure revenue stream. His candid reflection on the emotional ebbs and flows of entrepreneurship offers a rare glimpse into the balancing act of managing a thriving business while embracing personal freedom. Join us for an honest and motivational journey into the world of franchising with the insight of someone who's living it every day.

Visit www.weboughtafranchise.com to subscribe.
Send us your questions for an upcoming episode at 305-710-0050.
From your pals in franchise ownership, Jack and Jill Johnson.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

We have a great guest today our client Harrison Fisher. Harrison, just maybe a little over a year ago, became our client. He came to us looking for a franchise. He's now the owner of Best Choice Roofing in Lafayette, louisiana. Harrison is kicking ass with his franchise. I'm so proud of him. Harrison, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2: 0:31

Hey, appreciate it, Jack. Definitely appreciate y'all having me. It wasn't too long ago that I was listening to these type of podcasts. Now I'm sitting here on the other end of it Now.

Speaker 3: 0:40

you're our star.

Speaker 1: 0:43

Now you're officially a podcast person. Now you're on a franchise podcast and the cool thing is, harrison, people are going to want to hear from you. They're going to want to hear your story and what's enabled you to be so successful. Maybe, before we get into that, though you're a relatively young dude, it feels like most franchisees that come to us are in their forties and fifties. Are you even 30 yet?

Speaker 2: 1:06

No, I just turned 29 last month.

Speaker 1: 1:09

Wow, amazing. I mean, can you imagine if we would have started becoming business owners at 20, 28, 29?

Speaker 3: 1:16

years old. I mean, listen, I'm glad we are where we are, but, yes, there's a lot of potential, so that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:23

You're so honestly and this is not to patronize you You're so smart for getting started so early, because you know to have that sort of stability of being a business owner early on is a great thing. So, harrison, you came to us. You were already a project manager with Honeywell, I believe. Is that right? Is that what you were doing before?

Speaker 2: 1:41

Yeah, so I worked with Honeywell for a while in the chemical plants and then I went over to the contracting side. So I believe whenever we were working together, I was working for GIS Industrial, which is another contracting firm, just design and build chemical plants.

Speaker 1: 1:55

Yeah, and what struck me about Harrison was he was so confident, right he? He had already done so much research on franchises. He knew what he wanted. He knew he wanted to be in in home services. But, harrison, tell us about you. You know what, what brought you to. You know your journey of becoming a franchise owner and ultimately beginning that franchise search, your journey of becoming a franchise owner and ultimately beginning that franchise search.

Speaker 2: 2:20

Yeah, absolutely so. I, like I said, I was working in the chemical plants, kind of in the engineering and construction world, and while I really liked the business, it was a little bit slow for me and I wasn't living. I was living out of town. I'm from Lafayette, really wanted to get back to Lafayette, so whenever I first came to y'all, or before I first came to y'all, I wanted to make an investment and everybody talks about doing real estate. That never really had the sparkle I was looking for. So I wanted to own my own business. But I kind of looked at myself in the mirror and said I'm not really ready to make the jump and start something brand new from the ground up. So that's what kind of had me looking at franchising and someone approached me kind of out of the blue, I guess two, three years ago, about a franchise that was for sale in New Orleans. So that's my first, I guess, dip into the franchise world. First, I guess, dip into the franchise world. Looked at the FTD and kind of learned, man, you can see how much money these things can make and kind of get a game plan before you even buy in. So I like that in comparison to starting a business from scratch.

Speaker 2: 3:27

So when I came to y'all I was originally planning on getting something semi-absentee or absentee, just wanted kind of a side gig that I could keep my job, continue working for GIS and kind of have something on the side. So I ended up Googling, because at this point I'm on BizBossSell, I'm looking at every single franchise and it's overwhelming and I have a list of 20 that I like but I can't get information. I like but I can't get information on these or can't get information on those. Found out there's business can franchise consultants. So I started googling who really specialize in semi-absentee and absentee, because that is a very specific franchise. That's when I came across y'all's page and I think there was two or three consultants that I kind of researched through that we've talked about in the past and just kind of felt like y'all were a good fit.

Speaker 2: 4:17

That's when I booked my call and we dove into the semi-absentee and absentee options. And that's whenever. I don't know if you remember this, but whenever we decided man, if I'm really going to jump into this, I need to find something. I don't want it to be a side gig. I'm going to do it full time. I really I want there to be enough meat on the bones for to come out of the gate swinging. So that's whenever we found best choice roofing and, um, I think I actually mentioned I was like I really like roofing and you were like best choice roofing, I like yes. So, um, that was kind of that's kind of my story.

Speaker 1: 4:58

Wanted a side gig, started looking into it, decided to jump right in and y'all helped me every step of the way there is a text and I love your story and that your energy has always been in harrison and I still text all the time.

Speaker 1: 5:12

I mean we're always kind of yeah, we're checking in and he's he's staying on top of things. He knows he watches on LinkedIn what franchises people are buying, Um. But my favorite text from Harrison is maybe it was three months into his ownership um, of best choice. I just checked in hey, how's it going? He sends me this text and he says oh, I've been meaning to reach out to you. Here's what happened in our first half a month. He made more in his first half a month.

Speaker 3: 5:46

His business grossed more in its first half month than I made in an annual that you and I made when we worked in the casinos. Yes, I remember this. Yes, amazing.

Speaker 1: 5:51

I mean, listen, we had a lot of fun she worked at when I worked at MGM, but what you did in a half month was more than what we made in an entire year. And then what you did in your first full month, dude, I mean it's insane.

Speaker 3: 6:02

No, I remember that. That is incredible.

Speaker 1: 6:05

Roofing is one of those businesses. I mean they probably have the best item 19 in franchising. Yeah, best choice. Roofing might have the best item 19. And Harrison, you're almost a year in, would you say. You feel like you're on track to doing what those item 19 numbers showed you that you could do.

Speaker 2: 6:24

Yeah, absolutely. So I know we I was about to go into real numbers, but no. So, yeah, absolutely we're. We're tracking that. We were planning on surpassing that, you know, by like month seven or eight. But we were going to be planning to open up a second location and instead of opening up that second location, we decided to just have a sales team in the second location and not put a brick and mortar up, and that's allowed us to kind of keep our overhead down. It did kind of lower our revenue goals but it lowered our overhead, so it actually it washed out to be an actual, more profitable solution. So, as far as their item 19, we're on track to almost duplicate exactly what they say you can do in the first year.

Speaker 1: 7:09

I love that and you know, I think what you're doing is really smart. We're doing it with our Pinks franchise. It's like we just found out this week. We are leading the pack.

Speaker 3: 7:18

We are this week In revenue.

Speaker 1: 7:20

Now listen, you're getting your ass kicked a few weeks ago. There's some great franchisees. I'm not trying to rub it in. We love our franchisee partners, but that's part of what I love about being a franchise owner is that competitive spirit of the group. But one thing that has helped us really take things to the next level is we've decided to spend more on advertising than we initially planned. We've invested in adding another tech to our jobs to get them done quicker, and what we found is that the revenue over the past two weeks has just jumped. And so at Pinks they want each truck to do a certain amount per week. And we're nailing it for the first time this week, and we're eight weeks in. We're nailing it for the first time this week, and we're eight weeks in we're nailing it. And next week we're already 70% there too. So it's funny how it happens. Right in the beginning You're like, oh man, is this really going to happen? And then all of a sudden it starts to happen.

Speaker 3: 8:13

So it's half a month in doing great.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Yeah, we can't touch what Harris. We can't touch what you did in your first day. It's amazing.

Speaker 3: 8:21

It's a goal, but it's so good to hear, because I think so many people I mean again we hear all these numbers, we hear all these expectations and sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind, and you know we love hearing from everyone, because it doesn't always move fast, but then for some people it does. That's great.

Speaker 1: 8:37

Yeah, it's true, it's true.

Speaker 2: 8:51

Harrison, how important in roofing for us, like getting Google reviews is like total digital currency, right, that that's what builds our business for roofing. Is it as important for you guys to a homeowner's house? They might have, they might have heard of us, they may might not have, and we let them know our services and a lot of people they've like. If they haven't heard of us, or even if they have, the first thing they want to do is hop on google, let me know. Um, let's see what's going on with this roofing company, because I'm in south louisiana.

Speaker 2: 9:18

We have hurricanes. Whenever we have hurricanes, we have storm chasers coming from all over the country and roofers do not have the best reputation you know, just from these big storms. That's what people remember is they had roofers that were just chucking a truck coming and might have not done the best business. So people are kind of skeptical, so they use those reviews all the time. So we make sure. I mean, one of our biggest goals is five-star reviews On my GM. We have like a list of five things of like these are the things you cannot handle without me and if anybody decides we're going to be leaving a bad review like a Google review, that is something that comes all the way to the top immediately that we can deescalate, deescalate that and make sure we leave the homeowner happy. So absolutely, we're actually about to run a little competition with our sales team to see if we can get the most reviews over the next two, three weeks.

Speaker 1: 10:17

So I love that. That is smart, yeah, and it's so important, you know, because in today's it's like you know, jill and I were just looking at um restaurants for for, uh, you know, we're going somewhere this weekend and um what do we do? We look at reviews, yeah.

Speaker 3: 10:34

I mean. But again, in a customer service based business it's very important because, especially, like you said, not a lot of people know about roofing. You know, not a lot of people are experts in window washing or power washing, so they want to see the experience. What are other people saying? Did they like them? How was their staff Like? It's very important to know that you're it's, it's that reassurance, it's that it's the referral, without having to get like an actual referral. So, um, you know, it's important in all service based business, but we're all depending on it now.

Speaker 1: 11:05

I mean we.

Speaker 3: 11:06

That's the first place we all go, just to check out and make sure someone's legit Because, like you said, there's a lot of people that aren't that you know. Come in and maybe you know it's. What is it like? A horse and pony show, whatever, dog, dog, never get those things right, um, but you know they, they look good, they talk the part and then, they. The service is bad, so the reviews really validate that.

Speaker 1: 11:29

It's, it's, it's the currency, it really is digital currency of our business especially with home services. Right, yeah, harrison. Uh, as far as like support, training, coaching, mentoring how, how's BCR been for you? On on that front.

Speaker 2: 12:01

So they've been really good. Um um, I was one of the first franchisees, so I was a single digit franchisee and, uh, going in, I knew that was going to come with some. You know, I'm learning how to be a franchisee and they're learning how to be a franchisor.

Speaker 2: 12:13

Yeah, that was known from the jump, so that there was a few gaps in the training. But the good thing about Best Choice Roofing is they are very open-eared, it's not a. They want to know feedback and they actually take action on that. They actually just came up with they did it a couple months ago but they had their first franchise advisory council franchisees that are operating, that meet two, three times a year and they come up with changes on policies and the way we handle things, the way communication is, the way we do, the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee, which is huge. So there was a few lapses but they've taking their feedback and expanded it.

Speaker 2: 12:59

I mean, one of the things was say QuickBooks support. I told them I've never been a business owner. Quickbooks is kind of foreign to me. Within a couple of months I went back to Nashville to their headquarters and we ran a refresher training with QuickBooks for a whole week, me and my general manager. So they've been very receptive and I would say they're in a very good place now with their training program yeah, we were in a similar spot with with pinks.

Speaker 1: 13:28

We were fairly new franchisees with them, so I know exactly what you're talking about. But, man, it's like anytime someone asked me the other day, they're like, can I just start my own window washing company? I'm like you could, um, but you wouldn't have the branding that we have. You would never have the coaching and the mentoring. I mean it's like I was on a um, a mentor coach.

Speaker 1: 13:51

We do a coaching call every every week with um, with our pink support team and with all the franchisees, and just every week it's a different challenge, right, every week it's go get, you know, find a new referral partner, go find leads. Today it was hey, go find contacts, go create clients that didn't come from the Google and Facebook advertising we do for you. Go find it yourself. And that's not to, you know, try and sort of schlep the responsibility on franchisees, but it's to get people comfortable with going out and eating what they kill, because the more revenue you have I mean, of course, google, facebook probably gets us 30, 40% of the way there, thumbtack gets us another, you know, 20, 30%. But the rest we've got to do, we've got to build relationships and I'm sure you guys see the same thing.

Speaker 2: 14:37

Yeah, absolutely. I mean it's funny that you mentioned the referral program because I've just typed up a referral program this morning that we're going to be running another little competition on getting in with the realtors and the mortgage companies and the home inspectors because we're seeing a shift in the market down here where homes that are being sold they will not insure the house if the roof is 10 years or older. So just like that we're we're kind of pivoting to getting in front of these clients. So the referrals are, I mean I can't even put into words how important they are.

Speaker 3: 15:12

Yeah, that's huge. I met with a realtor group here too, and they want to have a list of of of vendors. You know it makes it so much easier for them because they can just confidently hand it over and say, okay, we got to work on your roof. So here's who we recommend and those customers, those clients are more than happy to take that referral. So it's really just getting in front of them, letting them know who you are, what you do, and forming that relationship That'll, I mean, it'll be amazing for your business, because they don't want the hassle of looking someone up, they don't want to inconvenience their clients. So I think you know going in that direction for you is great, and you know we see it here too. But it's such a good program like a referral program to work with. You know, realtors or anyone that needs home services, property managers Also those are key too.

Speaker 1: 16:09

So, harrison, I'm curious. So you're working the business full time. By the way, it's surprising to me, but not so many people that come to us that reach out about semi-absentee, absentee franchise ownership end up being full-time owner operators. And that's not because the franchisor pulled some kind of trick on them, it's just because when you own a business, once it gets going, it's exciting.

Speaker 3: 16:32

You want to be involved.

Speaker 1: 16:33

But sometimes in the beginning, the idea of running it while you keep your job. You know, in life we need that kind of comfort, right? We need to know hey, maybe as I start I could do it part-time, I'll have people to help me. But then, as you get into it, you're like no, I've got this I can do it.

Speaker 1: 16:50

But my question to you is this you're working your business full-time. How's your, how's your work-life balance? Like if you want to go golf or I don't know what you like to do in your spare time, but do you find you you have more you know compared to when you were working for someone else? How is? How's like the, the, the freedom and the control and all that?

Speaker 2: 17:08

Yeah, absolutely yeah, it's. It's pretty awesome and I'm actually not working at full time anymore. Um, we were, I guess ever since I guess the first of the year. Um, my GM was in place but we were kind of both handling operations. You know, she was coming up to speed and it's my little baby, my first baby, so I was a little bit stubborn to kind of take her leash off and let her go.

Speaker 2: 17:35

But as of, I guess, april 1st, I've kind of stepped away, kind of let them do their thing. So I've only been working probably 20 hours a week or so, letting them kind of do their thing. So I don't know if that's considered semi-absentee, but I'm pretty bored in the mornings because I'm waiting to come in till 10. Today I went to eat breakfast at a diner by myself, like I was 90 years old, drinking coffee. So it's been nice. So the work-life balance over the past month has been great. Before that I was probably I was only working like 40 hours a week. It wasn't like I was working 60, 70, 80 hours a week. So it's been good. 80 hours a week, so it's been good. And I mean this past month, like I said, I'm working.

Speaker 3: 18:25

I've never worked this little ever we can find you something else to do.

Speaker 1: 18:34

We can help you with that, but okay, so let's just. Let's just circle back on that. So you're working about 20 hours a week and you're a pretty diligent dude, so I know you're watching your business. You have a seven figure business. You're barely a year in and you are that's absolutely semi absentee, by the way, um, and you've got a business that's growing. You've got more time freedom, yeah. So for, for those of you that are listening, that are on the fence wondering about franchise ownership, I mean, that's it.

Speaker 3: 19:00

I mean you can't find a better story.

Speaker 1: 19:05

No, that's awesome. I mean, Harrison, that's mission accomplished for what we first set out.

Speaker 2: 19:10

Yeah, um, it's. It's kind of crazy because when you're in the thick of it you're like you know there's time that business ownership is not for the faint of heart. You know there's times that you're way up high and there's times that you're way up low and uh, and my buddies always ask me that, hey, how is it owning a business compared to having a job? And I said much higher highs and much lower lows. But as long as you shake back and you have the intentions of seeing what you're trying to build. Because there's a few times that I got a little bit worried. I was like, okay, I'm going to get swallowed into this and I'm not going to be able to make another move or have another company and have the time to deal with it. But from day one, even talking with you, the whole intention was to get to a spot where you can work on your business and not in your business, and I've really taken that to heart. The intention was to get here the whole time. So I guess, for anybody listening, if that's the goal and you have those intentions, make the plan and stick to that plan and see it through, because it definitely can happen.

Speaker 2: 20:14

And I wanted to touch on. You said can you leave or take any time off? Absolutely I wouldn't say we're at a point where I can go on an open-ended vacation for an extended period of time. But next week I'll be in Cancun with my girlfriend. One of her friends are getting married, so we're going to Memphis for a couple days because one of my family members is graduating my little sister. She's going to be an eye doctor. Then we're going from there to Cancun, so it'll be six days out of the office and you know our management team here will be rocking and rolling had a franchise owner up in um vancouver and he said to me you know, you know your business is running good when you leave.

Speaker 1: 21:05

For he went um back to like the philippines and he says so we were gone for like a month. And he says, and when I came back, sales were better than when I was here. So he's like I'm excited about that, but also it's I'm also like kind of a little bit offended, like they could do more sales without me. But you know, I mean again, it's like it's like anything right, you look at like how um commercial airliners are built to to fly for 30, 40 years. Um, a good franchise should be built to where, if it is operated, if it's staffed effectively, it can do all those things and it can deliver that kind of freedom and dependability. But, harrison, you're absolutely right.

Speaker 1: 21:47

I think the best advice it's like last week our guest Hector, who owns a senior helpers franchise. He said check your ego at the door. And boy, as a franchise owner, that's something I had to learn. And what you're saying this week don't let the highs get you too high and the lows get you too low. I think that is sage advice because we all have that. We have those weeks where it's like, oh man, this is hard. And then other weeks where it's like I'm on top of the fricking world and I can't be stopped, and I think, either way, when you're in those periods, you have to remember that there's a middle ground there too, but I mean it's good to have them both.

Speaker 3: 22:25

You know you can't have the highs without the lows and all of that, but it's to be expected that's what you're going to encounter and that you know they don't always stay. So when you're low, you're not going to be there forever. High, it's great.

Speaker 1: 22:42

But you know, this is not necessarily your new reality too.

Speaker 3: 22:44

So I love that too.

Speaker 1: 22:44

Yeah, absolutely. Oh, I'm sorry, Harrison, go ahead.

Speaker 2: 22:46

Well, I was going to say yes last week's episode whenever he said check your ego at the door. That really hit home. Because no matter in franchise business ownership, while you have all the support you need, you have to be able to use it and you have to admit to yourself that you need that help. And no matter where you come from before, you will only get out of of a franchise what you put into it. So you could be the best employee in the world, the have the most money in the world. Whoever, if you don't put the work in, you will not get it. And vice versa. You could. You could come from the other side of the ladder and really dig in and pour into it and you will get what out, get out what you put in. So the check the ego at the door.

Speaker 2: 23:32

It it doesn't matter where you come from or who you are. You better get ready to work and get your stuff in place.

Speaker 1: 23:41

A hundred percent, a hundred percent. Well, harrison, we are at the 2023 minute mark. Here. I think we've covered a lot. Is there anything? Anything else you want to cover? Any message you might have to someone exploring franchises? I think, for the message I'd love to hear from you is I want to see more people who are under 30 exploring franchise ownership and I think that to see you here you are a year into barely not even a year into franchise ownership with a seven-fig figure business with more time freedom. What, what would your message be to to younger franchise investors?

Speaker 2: 24:21

Just go ahead and do it. Get a consultant, because that is a big, scary world out there trying to figure out what business to operate in, and people like Jack and Jill live it. They know. They know the ins and the outs, they know the good ones, they know the bad ones. So I would highly recommend working with a consultant. Number two, if you're really looking to get into business.

Speaker 2: 24:39

I look myself in the mirror and I said are you ready to open up your own business? And my answer was no. But I admitted to myself that I was not ready to do that. But I said if I have a playbook and a support team behind me, can I do it? And the answer was absolutely so. If you feel like you're ready to take that risk, I would highly recommend just go for it. Invest in yourself the best thing you could ever do. My dad told me that never I he, my father was not um in on this decision-making process. Uh, I just wanted to make it on my own and by the time I bought in and told him, all he said was I'm proud of you for investing in yourself. You'll never regret it and I take those to heart. So, um, go for it. Find a, get you a good consultant.

Speaker 1: 25:28

Take the leap dig in, get you a good consultant, take the leap, dig in. I love it. And you know it doesn't feel good, I mean I know. So we've got our franchise consulting business. That's that's what we spend most of our time on. But to have pinks and to have it growing, to have that asset growing and have other people helping us do it, to be a part of that, it just helps me sleep so much better at night to see that kind of rising up and growing. Like you said, to invest in ourselves, I love it. It just you can see your future Like. For us, we bought a franchise because we wanted it to get to a place where, in you know, within five years, that can really be our breadwinner. And you know, with over 3,500 different franchises out there, harrison's right, you know you don't just have to work with Jill and me.

Speaker 1: 26:13

There's a lot of franchise consultants, but I do recommend anyone out there who's looking at a franchise. Just like you use a realtor to explore home ownership, use a franchise consultant, one who has a lot of connections and a lot of experience. I think that's a great, that's great advice.

Speaker 3: 26:31

Yeah, and thank you for that.

Speaker 1: 26:32

Yeah, thanks, harrison, absolutely so. Harrison, thank you so much for being on our podcast. You. You've been a great, you know, friend and client and we hope to continue our dialogue with you. And for this week, I'm Jack.

Speaker 3: 26:45

I'm Jill and I guess.

Speaker 1: 26:47

I'm Harrison and we bought a franchise. We all bought a franchise. We'll talk to you on the next episode.

Speaker 3: 26:53

Thanks again, Harrison it was great having you on the podcast.