We Bought A Franchise!

Oh $h#t We Bought A Franchise: Mastering Hybrid Franchise Ownership - From West Coast Breaks to Marketing Wins

• Jack Johnson • Season 1 • Episode 15

Share episode

Send us a text

Ever wondered how you can balance business ownership with a rejuvenating vacation? Learn how our hybrid franchise ownership model not only allows us to take breaks but also keeps our business thriving. We share our latest experiences, straight from our West Coast summer trip, and discuss how our franchisor's detailed advertising reports have been a game-changer in optimizing our marketing strategies, particularly through Facebook and Google ads. Plus, get ready to chuckle as we recount some heartwarming and humorous community reactions to our recognizable vans. 

Tune in as we dive into the complexities of franchise ownership, from defining absentee ownership to the trade-offs between time investment and hiring staff. Whether you're interested in a home-based business or expanding with a team, we emphasize the importance of patience and informed decision-making. And don't miss our exciting announcement about the acquisition of our second van, which we hope will significantly boost our brand exposure. 

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.

Speaker 1:

Hi everyone. Welcome back to the we Bought a Franchise podcast. I'm Jack Johnson.

Speaker 2:

I'm Jill.

Speaker 1:

Johnson. It's been a couple of weeks so excited to bring this podcast back to everyone. Jill, I've been getting such great feedback, People saying, in fact, I just talked to someone on the phone that says thank you for doing your podcast. It helps to get a sense of what business ownership is really like.

Speaker 2:

That's nice. I'm sure everyone missed us.

Speaker 1:

Do we look more tanned to you? That's what a couple of weeks on the West Coast will do for you. That's great. Yeah, I mean, look, you know there's a lot of questions people have. You know what kind of franchise model we operate with with our pinks. Some people ask if we have the CEO model or the absentee model. You, some people ask if we have the CEO model or the absentee model. You know, I don't know what it is. I think it's just we do.

Speaker 1:

It's like a hybrid, I feel like yeah, we do what we have to do to support our team and run the business, no matter if it's on the ground here in Boca Raton or if it's on the other side of the country.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, we have the flexibility, which is great, and I think that hybrid model that we were just mentioning helps us be involved but, also be able to still take a break and have a vacation.

Speaker 1:

I mean, that's an advantage of being a franchise broker. Is that we've worked with so many clients over the years and we stay in touch with a good good many of them. Is that a good many? Nope, with a lot of them, you know, you kind of get to pick people's brains. How do you do it? What do you do to be successful? Um, I mean, I think it helps to have a great franchise support, like we get from Rezzy. Um, we were just talking about how, uh, at the end of the month, they give us an advertising report. Here's what you spent on Google, here's what you spent on Facebook, here's the amount of leads that you got. And then I was able to cross-reference it with our CRM system, housecall Pro. And, okay, how many of these jobs? We have a lot of estimates, more estimates from Facebook right now than Google by a lot.

Speaker 1:

And so then it was okay, do you want to make any changes? I and I thought this was so cool and so resi asked do you want to make any changes to your ad mix? And I was like, yeah, I mean, based upon what I'm seeing, I think putting more into facebook makes a ton of sense we have great facebook ads and I think it's interesting to see the like pinks versus our.

Speaker 2:

Franchise consulting business is so different. The audience is different. One is hyper local, one is, like you know, all across the us and so you can see that sometimes google is better for one versus the other, and our facebook ads for pinks are just. They're so entertaining they're the best I mean, people watch them and they don't even like, like it's not that they don't even think of window cleaning, but like they're entertaining, you know so it's not that that has to be top of mind when they watch.

Speaker 2:

I mean, we have comments on the ads that are just like. I love this video yeah this is hilarious, this is funny and it's window washing, so like that's what I think is so cool, because we're making window washing.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, whereas when jill and I used to do facebook ads for franchise insiders they did not like us we had some scary comments.

Speaker 2:

People were not fans of me and jill, I think that when you're in the public, you're going to get the good in the sure. But yeah, we tend to uh get some of the haters too yikes, okay, yeah, I mean, you do that.

Speaker 1:

You're on twitter, you're going to hear it. You're on facebook, um, but that's jill's, right, I mean, anytime you're gonna be out there, you're that's. That's just part of the deal, right? Um so, but yeah, oh, other exciting news we ordered our second van.

Speaker 2:

We did and it's. It's got a little twist.

Speaker 1:

Wait till you guys see it yeah, secret twist we can't tell you about, yeah, but yeah, super exciting. Second pinks van hitting the street.

Speaker 2:

Uh, hopefully beginning of september yeah, our van was just spotted today. Love so much when friends or acquaintances send pictures and they see like the van in action, call it pinks in the wild, um. So I just got one today. I love that, and now that we'll have two vans and the second van is going to be a little bit more noticeable- so I think we maybe ordered the second van, even a little bit before.

Speaker 1:

Technically, maybe some other folks would. But I'll tell you why I think it's a great idea Because one like Jill said it's more brand exposure. You're seeing more Pinks drive around, speaking of the Facebook posts and Instagram stuff Pinks does. They were celebrating Brandon, who's one of the founders, his engagement, celebrating um brandon, who's one of the founders, his engagement, and so you see all the. I think it was like three, three vans, three pinks trucks pull up at the same time. All the guys get out like it looks so cool and that's that's the fun of of having this brand, is that it's so it's very marketable. Yeah, it's cool.

Speaker 2:

It just it feels cool I mean I I don't know. I mean I'm not a good example because I don't notice details, but I don't know if I'd notice trucks on the road. You know, and the fact that we get so many people saying like sire truck, or take a picture or post it, um, I just think that's so cool yeah, well, and on the same token, we have, like other friends in the home services franchise community here, like our friends that have gatsby glass yeah, and so we support each other.

Speaker 1:

So, even though it's like a, it's a different franchise brand, um, look, that's not competitive. That's it's from horsepower brands really cool brand, by the way um, and so we love to support each other, like jill meets all the other home services franchise owners. I don't want to say all, but a lot of the ladies, the franchise ladies, the owners locally.

Speaker 2:

We're all trying to now that school's back in session and summer's over, we're going to try to do like a monthly lunch or something and just kind of all talk kind of what we're doing with you guys too, and just kind of share our experiences, what's going on, what's working, what's not, and, you know, finding ways to work together. So I like that. I mean it's like a sense of community and again, because this business is so hyperlocal, it brings out like a whole new audience and different people to network with.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And I know Jack's going to talk about it too but also just finding like these little, like avenues, like property managers, you know again it's like something you wouldn't normally think of, but they are gold for us.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, it's like there's two sides can help each other here. You have property managers that have multiple homes that need cleaned and once you you know, for window washing, power washing, those are pretty heavy needs. I mean we've got a property manager where we are cleaning houses for them almost every single week, between window washing and pressure washing. Um, I think we window wash every other week and then we pressure wash every. I think maybe now it's twice and let's say it's something like that, um, but you know that's one client, um, and that's a client that now all of a sudden is is, you know it's, it's consistent revenue, um, so yeah, so that's again.

Speaker 1:

As you guys think about home services franchises, for those of you that are coming from a business, you know background, it's very B2B. I mean, a lot of your bigger jobs are going to be absolutely B2B, and so I think now we're like, okay, this is great, this is a great client for us. Let's target more of them. So now we've launched, we got a list of all the property managers in our territory and so we've direct mailed them. I still need to email them.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, it's cool. I'm not. This is not going to be a discussion on direct mail, but listen however, we can reach them, we're going to try to reach them, and there's a lot of testing too. So does direct mail work? Does email work better? Does a phone call work? You know those. These are all things that we're testing in our area, and again, it could be that it does really well here and then doesn't do well in another area.

Speaker 1:

But our first direct mail campaign was not a success. We went into a neighborhood here in boca breton we can target certain neighborhoods and uh, I was like, look, it's 500 houses. We should get at least three phone calls. I don't know if we got any phone calls again. It's a discussion for another time, jill was right on that, but we're still going to try the property with your direct name.

Speaker 2:

Let's open it up. Do you guys look at your direct mail pieces? Do you call people or do you throw them in the garbage, like I do now? I may I see them before I throw them in the garbage so there is brand exposure, so I fully understand that every once in a while I've maybe like put like a holiday lighting one or something aside in the hopes of like maybe, but in the end, for me personally, I'm going to flip them all. But listen, I still like it.

Speaker 1:

But you know, again, we're going to give it another try, we're going to give it the old college try, but so, but that's just it, guys. That's the fun of business ownership is that, yes, we have Resi support, yes, they handle our Facebook and our Google for us, but we're still making decisions too on the on the front line. Hey, we just got this property manager, how can we get more property managers? And so then we can approach resi and say, hey, can you guys design a? Uh, an email for us, which they did, um. And so just for you guys who are aspiring franchise owners yes, a franchise is a business in a box, but you still have to make the business special. Anyone out there who thinks that they're just going to buy a business and it's just going to work, don't even. That's not at all how it is. You still, even if you think you're going to be semi absentee and you're going to hire a GM, you still need to make decisions. You still need to work.

Speaker 2:

And I think one thing I've really realized in this is that you know they can give you a playbook and they can give you direction, but every location is so different. So, for instance, summer is our tough time that everyone leaves. The weather's hot, there's a lot of storms, it's not like the ideal time for window washing, no one's in town and then you know you get rain once a day at some point so summers are kind of tough season, whereas if you look at someone maybe in the midwest, winter is when right having their issues.

Speaker 2:

so while you know there are similarities, there's also you really have to understand your territory and your location and make some tweaks and also, I I think, educate the franchisor on that too and say hey guys, just so you know, florida is a little bit different. And here's why, because I think it helps them to understand. So you do get an amazing blueprint and a lot of support and guidance, but, like Jack said, it's also you have to do it too.

Speaker 1:

But don't you want that Isn't that part of your American dream to make an impact?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean I think and listen. Every business is different. Some are going to have a lot more involvement. But yeah, I mean I think it's very cool to have the support and the infrastructure, but also be able to have a little bit of freedom.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean. So. If you guys are followers of our other podcasts the Inside Scoop, franchise Market Watch we show you the franchises that we help people buy and people buy through franchise brokers affiliated with us, and so maybe Pinks is a great fit for you, but maybe you're like you know what? Now I want to work from home. I don't want to have any employees. That's definitely why you want to subscribe to that podcast, because every single, not every single week, we really try guys. We try for every week, but life gets in the way. Um, but as much as we can, we share with you the franchises that people are buying. We're pretty good about the newsletter. If you want to subscribe to it, just go to franchise insiderscom, the franchise insiderscom, and subscribe.

Speaker 1:

Um, we send out a weekly newsletter on the franchises that are sold. So you know, that's just. It is that, I think and and like you know, I'm thinking about last week we're getting on an airplane and we found out that, hey, we've got this ad that's due. Um, we're lucky to be a part of this event that's happening and it's due, like yesterday. And so here's Jill, like on the plane, you know, designing this ad, but she got it done.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, we can work from anywhere. I mean, that's, that's the thing. We were six hours difference. We were all the way across the country.

Speaker 1:

Still feeling that.

Speaker 2:

I don't know what time it is right now, but anyway. But we're still able to run our business and we were also able to really enjoy our vacation and we were also able to really enjoy our vacation, so that was really the beauty of all.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's been.

Speaker 2:

There were times where we did have to take some time away from, you know, lounging at the pool or going to the beach to get some work done, but in the end we got it done and we were able to go right do what we wanted, right and but that's also because we, we pay a team, we pay a GM, we have a lead tech, so we have those boots on the ground.

Speaker 1:

But you know, again, I'm, I'm texting with them, I'm calling with them. If we're out of town, it's still, we're still dialed in. So, again, as all of you were thinking about franchise ownership and business ownership and, hey, I've heard, some opportunities are more absentee than others. You really have to define what absentee is to you, to me, I think what we're doing is pretty absentee, because it's not like we're in an office nine to five To me, spending a couple hours a day working on a business Well, there's no such thing as like a hundred percent absentee.

Speaker 1:

No.

Speaker 2:

It's your business, you have to be involved in it, and I think that's really important to know.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

How much you put into it also depends on your staff and who you hire. If we didn't have a GM and a team here on the ground, we would have to be a lot more involved with it. But then you know if you're hiring a GM, that's obviously money that you're paying someone else to do the work. So you can find that balance. So if you really don't want to put a lot of hours in, you're going to hire someone to put those hours in.

Speaker 1:

So that's, you know, just more money out less money in, but if that's worth it to you for the freedom and the flexibility, totally do it. You have to decide. You know, I think if you're coming in with a limited investment budget, you'd be the GM, Pay yourself the GM salary so you can. You can take some money home and go work the business. I gotta say there's a part of me that you know Franchise Insiders is the company we spend most of our time on. There's always this part of me that romanticizes just running the pinks full time, being out there in the truck doing those jobs. I think it's really cool IMB or GM and what he gets to do, but it's also hard, it's hot out there, but look, Um, but it's. It's also hard, it's hot out there, Um, but look, that's home services and that's the fun of this. I mean it when I think about franchising and how it used to be to own a franchise. You had to spend, you know so much money to have like a McDonald's, Um. Now it's so accessible. I mean you can have a good home services franchise with a franchise fee of 50, 60 K and a hundred 150 K working capital. 50, 60 K and a hundred 150 K working capital Um, you could have a work from home consultative business for you know, anywhere from 30 to 80 K um, no employees. Uh, you could go semi-absentee and you could buy multiple markets and and and build a whole team. If you've got, you know again, for the price of a single family home, you could build yourself a big business.

Speaker 1:

But the key to all of this is patience. Franchise owners need patience. I think we've got patience, sometimes most of the time. Sometimes nobody's perfect. Again, you know, I hope, we hope that this podcast helps you guys. Um, we like to do these where we can just talk about our experiences. I know that all the feedback we get says this is what you guys really value. But we also have some really exciting guests on the horizon for you guys. Um, we've got some of the executives from horsepower brands joining us in about two weeks. It's three weeks, two weeks from now. Um, they have brands such as mighty dog roofing, gatsby glass. They've got a new one, varsity zone, ac. I mean, come on an ac franchise kill it here yeah, uh, so they have lots of exciting stuff.

Speaker 1:

We're going to be having, uh, the ceo of gym guys coming onto our podcast in about a month. He is a freaking dynamo out there adding territories left and right, um, and we'll continue to keep you guys posted once we launch the second van Um. I think the the next sort of question is you know where do we go from there? We're very excited about it, um, what the future holds.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we'll share it all with you guys. That's why we're here.

Speaker 1:

It just feels like this. It feels like right now, real estate is what it is, right. It's expensive. Um, this feels like the time to add businesses. This is our opinion. It feels like a good time to add businesses, to go through the next few years, build them to profitability and in a couple of years, maybe the real estate market comes back and we add. I think it's just always sort of thinking strategically on your investments and building up more revenue streams. So, yeah, very exciting stuff. For questions, please feel free to email info at the franchise insiderscom, or you can just text us 305-710-0050. Jill, that's all I've got.

Speaker 2:

I think that was a lot. That's all I've got.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, you guys. Well, thank you for joining the. We Bought a Franchise podcast. We'll talk to you next time.

Speaker 2:

Bye everyone.