We Bought A Franchise!

We Bought a Franchise: Maximizing Cash Flow and Marketing lessons for Franchise Success

• Jack Johnson • Season 1 • Episode 18

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Ever wondered how proactive investments can transform your business? Join us as we share the excitement of acquiring our second van for our Pinks Windows franchise and how this symbolizes our commitment to growth. 

We'll be unpacking the unique challenges and opportunities within our market, and how you can learn from our experiences. Plus, discover why you should "always be hiring" as a franchise owner.

Learn how we balance B2B and B2C work in the home services industry. Discover the critical strategies for securing larger B2B contracts to stabilize your income, even during slow periods, and the secrets behind consistent marketing on platforms like Facebook and Google. We'll also highlight the importance of daily cash flow monitoring and debate perspectives on being properly capitalized for future growth. Don't miss out on our top tips for avoiding analysis paralysis!

All on the latest episode of We Bought a Franchise podcast!

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:

Hey everyone, welcome back to the we Bought a Franchise podcast. I'm Jack Johnson.

Speaker 2:

I'm Jill Johnson.

Speaker 1:

And we are back with you today with another fun-filled episode. It's just Jill and I today, it's just us.

Speaker 1:

The feedback we get is look, you guys love the guests, love the content. We're going to keep that coming, but it's also it's good just to hear kind of what's been happening with us and with the growth of our pinks windows franchising. For those of you that don't know, the whole purpose of this podcast was for us to share our experiences as pinks franchise owners. This is a professional operation. Um, we are franchise consultants. Jill and I have been in franchising for a long time and we help people become franchise owners for a living. We helped ourselves to a franchise.

Speaker 2:

Wow, look at that. We sure did help ourselves.

Speaker 1:

But you know what? What's becoming so clear is that it's really cool to be able to take you guys on this journey with us, and so, all that put aside, I know you guys want to hear what's happening with us, and I have a list, jill a list of the things that that I thought you know were important that have happened over the past few weeks. I think the first thing is is that, um, we've got our second uh window washing power washing van. We're inspecting it tomorrow. It's exciting.

Speaker 2:

And it's cute, it's pink, um, and it's got. You know, what's really cool about this van is that we we ordered it based on what we're hearing from our customers, so it was really cool to be able to work with resi, to work with pinks and say listen, our, our customers are wanting more power washing and we weren't what we could do. Some of the jobs, but not all. Some were much more intensive or higher up windows or roofs that are really high up, and so this was built based on need and it was really cool that they listened to us and, you know, got some of our opinions on what we need and we were able to make it happen.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and we're kind of being a bit of a guinea pig in a way which I mean it's going to be great. I mean, I think again, is people that kind of live in this franchise world? That's what we're here for. I mean, that's what we liked about Pinks. We loved that it was kind of a new franchise, a fresh brand. I mean again, when you have a brand that is really marketable, it's a fun thing. So we inspect the van tomorrow.

Speaker 2:

we hope to have it on the road on friday and just in time because we've got a couple of big jobs next week that we could use it for um, so yeah, so I think that's on my list of exciting things. I think that's the most exciting thing that's really happening, because it really should take our business to the next level. And, like I said, it's cute, it's pink. Everyone keeps asking us why is your truck not pink? And now we we can say well, we have a pink truck.

Speaker 1:

We have one, and the other thing is is like look, I think we, this is, we probably don't have the business to sustain two full trucks yet, but I'm a big believer in you know.

Speaker 1:

Look at like you know, when a puppy is new and it has like the massive paws and you're like you can see that it's going to proactive instead of reactive you can see that it's going to grow into this big dog, yeah, and so our thought was let's, let's go ahead and start investing in the business we want to be tomorrow, today, yeah, south Florida is such that we have a lot of our residents are kind of gone during the summer.

Speaker 2:

Snowbirds, snowbirds of our residents, um, are kind of gone, uh, during the summer. Snowbirds, snowbirds yes, it's a real thing. Not even that. We're not snowbirds and we want to leave for the summer too, so it's just really hot. It's not ideal for our business right now. So, again, something that we're learning that we'll plan accordingly, but it was. You know, this is the perfect timing. Everyone's starting to come back. Some people have been gone for months, so we can only imagine what their windows and driveways and everything was like.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, uh, we saw someone at a event this weekend that had been gone since June and just came back. Um, so that's Florida. That's not every market. I mean, we're from California, uh, and the West coast, where summertime everybody stays.

Speaker 2:

Right and more people come actually to be honest.

Speaker 1:

So anyway, every, every place is different but you learn and you see, and again it's like, um, you learn your market. Everybody's markets are different. Uh, you know, I think summer traditionally for most businesses runs a little slower, like when I was in home healthcare. Uh, that summer seemed to be a slower time, whereas, you know, the holidays and and uh, at the beginning of the year we're, we're having it.

Speaker 2:

Unless you're like ice cream, then you're brewing then yeah, that's true but then winter's your problem.

Speaker 1:

So you know, I don't know, do people ever stop eating ice cream?

Speaker 2:

I mean I mean when it's freezing outside, I'm not like excited.

Speaker 1:

But you eat it inside. I don't know any of you ice cream franchisees or franchisors out there want to weigh in on this. I don't think I've ever awarded an ice cream franchise. No no no, we didn't.

Speaker 2:

We maybe one of you guys.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but I sure I've eaten a lot of ice cream. The other thing I would say that I continue to learn and for those of you that are thinking about becoming a franchise owner, any business you're in here's probably the number one piece of advice I have for you today Always be hiring, always have your line in the water. Um, the best businesses you know they're always hiring because guess what people? They don't stay with you forever. Um, we've, we've gone through our fair share of texts. Um, I think that's pretty standard for any business. If you talk to any restaurant, you're going to see, yeah, you don't really realize it till you're in it.

Speaker 2:

You know, like we were just talking about, there's a restaurant that we go to all the time, and sometimes I mean there's people that have been there forever and then there's a lot of turnover and like gosh, you realize that that happens often. It has nothing to do necessarily with the business. It's people, it's their life experiences. What's happening? They go for other jobs, they have things come up in their lives. It's not the business that's necessarily affecting it. But, to Jack's point, even your best person, anything can happen Always be hiring.

Speaker 2:

Always be hiring, keep that job description out, keep a backlog of applications, always be networking and talking about it. It can never hurt you because even if you find the perfect person, you say, listen, we'll reach out. I've had that happen to me before where someone said I think you're a good fit for this job. We just don't have any openings, but I'll keep you in mind. I mean, I'm never going to be mad about that.

Speaker 1:

Well, some people want to work part-time as well. Some people, that's what they want to be. And then, as we're learning, like we were, um, I think we're close to winning a bid for a job. That's like a night job, where they don't want us washing during the day. So we're going to be there 11 PM to 6 AM. This was a big discussion we were having, because the concern was I mean, I'm going to be honest with you. My first concern was I sleep. I do, and, uh, I think all the science points towards getting good quality sleep. So, um, I just said, look, you know, what I don't want is to be in a position where, uh, there's going to be a crisis in the middle of the night. That's a selfish, that is purely a selfish decision on my part.

Speaker 2:

Didn't pick a business. We picked a business that runs during business hours. So that wasn't necessarily anything that, like we knew, could potentially happen. So it's new, it's something we have to evaluate and figure out if it's worth it.

Speaker 1:

So we waited and we looked at it and it, as it turns out, the guys aren't going to be on ladders or anything like that. It looks like it's really more pressure washing power, washing a surface level stuff. Um, we don't see a lot of risk in the job, um, and it pays pretty well. So I think at this point we've decided that we'd like to go ahead and take the job, assuming they want to work with us, and it'll end up being, if we do get it fairly lucrative, could be a really big piece of our October revenue. So again, things that we didn't necessarily think we'd encounter as franchise owners not that we, I guess. It's not that we didn't think we'd encounter it, but it's something we just didn't think about.

Speaker 1:

And I and I think that's business is that you're going to encounter things and you get to make decisions, and that's part of the fun of being a franchise owner, even, uh, like us, who are, you know, semi we've said the word semi absentee a lot Um, I'm really starting to lean in on the term semi involved um, because you still work the business, as you heard us say, with other franchises. In fact, I think I stole it from Horsepower Brands, who we did the podcast with last week. So these are the types of things that we're thinking about as a franchise owner. We're not kicking our feet up on the table and saying, hey, all right, run the business for us. Yes, we have a GM, yes, we have a team, but ultimately we're the ones that make these decisions, and this was one that Jill and I kind of went back and forth on, and ultimately, I think what we figured out is let's take the job on, say, a Saturday night. We've got enough guys who want to work overtime.

Speaker 2:

Right, that's the other thing to keep in mind. It's an overtime job, so anyway, yes, so we're going to try. Yeah, also, this is something that I love because you know the all the pinks franchise owners have call and so this is something that we can do and we can share our experience. So let's say it's total flop.

Speaker 2:

Okay, we know, we learned you know, don't do it, so we get on and we share it with them. So that way, when the other franchise owners encounter a situation like this, they'll have some kind of feedback as to how it went or maybe what they could do better, um, or maybe something we overlooked. So I think also, you know, with pinks being newer, it's been, you know, we have the opportunity to try the new van, try an overnight job and, you know, provide feedback that might really help other franchise owners too. So and I would love to hear that too, someone hopped on the call and said hey guys, you know, we found a very specific type of job and this is what happened. That would open our eyes to whether we should take that kind of job or stay far away.

Speaker 1:

We'll find out and we'll keep you posted.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so next time we'll tell you how the overnight job does.

Speaker 1:

The other thing I want to talk, go back to is on the the slow side of things. This is something people ask us as franchise consultants A lot. Some people say, look, I've worked in business my whole life. I'm more comfortable in a business to business type environment. What's interesting is the amount of actual business to business work that we do. I mean, like this particular job, this night job, this isn't with an individual, this is with a company.

Speaker 1:

So I would say, for those of you that are getting into home services I think it really is, whether you're with Pinks or you're looking at, you know, like last week we talked to the guys with Mighty Dog Roofing you do a fair amount of B2B work.

Speaker 1:

Um, when you're in home services, uh, whereas if we look back on the podcast we did with Dan from Fran smart, who has brands like swing bays and pay more, that's really going to be more consumer. So, uh, for those of you that are thinking about franchise ownership, that's another sort of advantage of home services, besides the lower investment and the scalability, is the ability to go B2B and B2C, which, again, if you're in a market like ours or in any market like, let's say, you're in a cold weather market. Those larger contracts are going to help you kind of get through those leaner times with residential what else you got, jill? Oh, I know what I have for you. Residential yeah, what else you got, jill, oh, I know what I have for you. Marketing did you see um that and I think we brought this up on one of the other podcasts so last month, facebook was much more effective for us than google. Yes, this month google was more effective in terms of revenue.

Speaker 1:

So it's like and we made adjustments last month based upon what happened um this month I think we spent a little less on google and got more business from it so, like, always be hiring, always be marketing, always be marketing everywhere but on the social side of things and I've seen this with google before, with our other business, um franchise insiders, there's some months where yeah you don't get anything out of Google and then you make like there's three months out of the year where you do, and so I think I would preach patience on marketing and consistency.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I think it's where you. Well, you are very quick to also want to turn it off or pull back, but for that reason it's important not to, because again, it changed. I mean, you guys are all on social media. Things change. What you're interested in, what you, it depends on what you've recently searched for. So, yes, let's say August, your windows were beautiful, but September there was a storm that came through. So you're not necessarily looking in August, but you're looking in September. So if we miss that opportunity, we miss it. So you just have to keep that in mind and just always be, always be marketing, always be out there. And, yes, definitely have patience, because if you just hyper focus on the numbers, you're probably going to want to turn it all off.

Speaker 2:

My dad used to say when business is slow, double your advertising right, which is like one of the hardest things to do, and we've had this conversation many times with our other business. It's like it's tempting to do it, but don't don't. I mean unless there's a steady flow coming somewhere else and you can really justify or see like a very consistent trend. But that's what it's important to keep an eye on the trends, because there may not be a trend. It may just be like like this, or it may actually tell you the story.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, your marketing is your lifeline and you need people. You need to be in front of people and tell people what you do. So, yeah, jill's right, always be marketing and I think the lesson here is when you think you should pull back, it probably means you should do more. And having that brand again, using Pinks as an example, you know our visible sort of brand on Facebook, um, with the, the ads that we have really helps us to build brand awareness in an industry where it's mainly mom and pops and things like that. So it's a, it's a huge, um, a huge advantage.

Speaker 2:

And it's so. I mean I still get really excited when someone's like wait, why do I know that brand? Oh, facebook you know, it's like you know that they're not necessarily in the market to use your company, but they're starting to, like know who you are, um, and that's so cool to see. So that's, that's that repetition that's ongoing. It's you know, it's not giving up because you plant that seed in their head. When they are ready or if they need to refer someone, they're going to remember you.

Speaker 1:

And it builds that buzz. Yeah, and it's fun to see someone.

Speaker 2:

They're going to remember you and it builds that buzz yeah.

Speaker 1:

And it's fun to see, yeah, it's so cool. Um, and on that note, I think also the other side is, um, again, paying attention to cashflow. I mean, you have to be careful not to get into analysis, paralysis with your, your, your sort of spreadsheet, you know, looking at where the business is, where the revenue is. But you do need to pay attention. I honestly think, as a business owner, you should, and even in your life you better be checking your money every single day.

Speaker 2:

You do, but you also can't get hung up on it no, and that's a great point. Very good advice. It's good advice for you as well, Because if you do stare at it, you're just like again so quick to make changes when you see this. But you also have to look at the longterm.

Speaker 1:

Well, quick, to make changes when you see this. But you also have to look at the longterm. Well, yeah, but it's every day. You should know where you stand with your cash, where how much is, and so we look at it. We look at revenue last week, this week, next couple, even into next month. We see where we are already and the guys at Pink's, they have this too right, they, we were just talking about this and we even look into next year. What is currently on the books for next year in terms of recurring revenue on the books for next year? Um and so, jill's right, don't don't let it paralyze you, but make sure you're aware of it. Like I can use it as a point to my GM to say, hey, our goal is to be at, you know, x next month.

Speaker 2:

We're only a third of the way there so far with what's on the box. Again, with our business, things change. There are some lovely, lovely clients who like to pay us with check instead of cash, so there's a delay, right. So sometimes we don't get the checks right away, or someone's mailing us the check, or you know there are so many things that can then potentially throw off, let's say, your weekly revenue, because you didn't get the check till the following week. So you know you have to keep those things in mind too when you're really staring at those numbers, also being aware you know that they are going to come in the next week. But sometimes even the numbers are not a hundred percent accurate, so to like live and breathe by them.

Speaker 1:

We love credit card payments.

Speaker 2:

Please. I mean, I have never first of all pay with a credit card. Get your points. When was the last time we had to do a check them passport agency, which also could be updated that whole process? But other than that, usually someone shows up to our house jobs done. Here's our credit card. If you're a cash person, you pay them cash done, deal.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we're seeing electronic payment is more ideal for the business owner actual checks that we have to deposit but you know, even when we were, when I was in the last franchise in home care, we like to sign, we wanted people to um to go on credit card or ach, right, because they were paying weekly. If your mom has dementia, she doesn't need one hour once a week, she probably needs, you know, daily, and so we've got to keep making sure that we can pay caregivers and so that's a business that had. You know really. You know, short-term accounts receivable Uh, pinks, for the most part has pretty short-term people pay us, like Jill said, on the job, um, on the on the individual side, on the business side, they pay longer, right, so that's your.

Speaker 1:

Hey, we just signed up this B2B account, how great. But they're not going to pay us for 30 days. So there is sort of, for those of you that are thinking about how great B2B is, sometimes the account receivables on B2B are longer, right, 30 days. We had one that had like an issue getting us paid and it turned into 60 days, I mean didn't we get like a whole bunch of checks at one time?

Speaker 1:

That was like the whole night, um, but the nice thing is is that we bank through chase and so everything. It's easy to just electronic deposit all the checks, and so that's it's. It's. Yeah, I mean, it's cool, it's. It's it's fun to have a business that's growing and people are paying you for your services and you're doing good services.

Speaker 1:

And so, you know, for those of you out there that listen to our podcast, you're clearly interested in franchising, you're interested in pinks, or maybe you're just a fan of what is it like to own a business and, um, you know, as you can see, there's there's lots of things to think about. Um, I think my, my, my thought for all of you would be is being overcapitalized is better than being undercapitalized. So, if you ever want to have that conversation with with us as franchise consultants hey, I'm thinking about this what should I do? I think where people sometimes go wrong is that their, their, their eyes are bigger than their stomach and they want, you know, 20 territories, and then there's nothing left to to build the franchise with. So, make sure, if you ever want to make sure you're properly, properly capitalized, you can always set up a call with us. Just go to.

Speaker 1:

We bought a franchisecom or text 305-710-0050, and we're happy to help you out and kind of figure out what that is. But, yeah, okay. So Joe, we covered new van, we covered always be hiring, we covered the different types of jobs that we're seeing, we talked about cash flow management, we talked about marketing. What else have we not covered?

Speaker 2:

We're getting our red hats tomorrow.

Speaker 1:

I mean, that's the biggest news of the day. Pink's now has red hats, yeah, and they're here tomorrow.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they might actually be.

Speaker 1:

Is it like this same material? Is it like a cloth hat?

Speaker 2:

No, I think it's not. I don't know, I have no idea, but I've been waiting for them. So so we'll wear them next time so you guys can see them, or I'll rally show you. Um, that's always exciting, um, and yeah, oh, you know what else? Um something that we've done, um recently that I thought was really cool. So we've done a lot of um sponsorships, so we just were a sponsor in a very big local like charity event here too, and I thought that was really cool to get the name out. And yeah, um, you know, just to just that presence. And then one thing that we did too, um that we saw finally, like come full circle, was a auction item donation, and that I mean I forgot about it.

Speaker 2:

The auction, I think, was like in March or something, um, and it was redeemed, and so we had the client, and not only did the client redeem it I think for residential but they owned a business, so it ended up turning into something so much bigger.

Speaker 1:

Um comp job that then turned into like a I don't know some. I don't want to see decent job.

Speaker 2:

It's actually a good size, so again it's it's like a chance you take, right, it's a chance that, yes, you donate and it might be a comp job, but what that turned into was awesome. So, um, you know, it's also kind of taking chances here and there, especially as you're growing, to kind of get your name out, donate to some auctions. You know, I mean it's still it's going to get your guys some jobs in comp. Cleans is something that pinks does too. That, I think, is also very cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, that's you if we job booked, we'll go comp clean a business or something to just you know. One, it's good practice for the guys and two, it's good exposure and you never know what it can turn into.

Speaker 1:

There was a pizzeria here where the guy was. The owner was reluctant to book a job with us and I said, listen, why don't let us show you what we can do? Maybe throw us a few slices? And he said, sure, and so it's things like that. Oh, I know what I want to tell you. Um, I interviewed a person for a commission only sales job yesterday. Um, because our GM, sal, if you're listening, love you. Thank you for all you do.

Speaker 1:

Um, he's great at closing deals, but we need more um appointments for him. Yeah, I think it's the going in and the meeting the decision makers and setting up the appointment. Up the appointment where we feel like there's a lot of sort of money being left on the table where we can support him and our business growth. So that's something that we're we are adding to the team, hopefully soon. Our thought is is that because he wants to make, we're going to actually teach him how to be a tech? Because learning how to be a tech isn't it? We know how to teach it because pink's taught us um, and so we're going to teach him how to be a tech. We're going to teach him how to do estimates and uh, that way he can go out, like jill said, and if he has to he can take one of our guys with him and go do a cop clean, to get an appointment or show someone what we can do. So stay tuned as we move forward into this new sort of horizon in our pinks franchise.

Speaker 2:

We're excited about it. I mean, listen, we had a lot to share with you today, but sounds like next time we'll have a bunch of new stories for you about the van, the staffing and the hats, I mean the red hats is like a to be continued.

Speaker 1:

Everybody's tuning in for the red hats.

Speaker 2:

I think they're cute.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I mean I don't know why they're not pink, but I mean red is is very trendy this fall, so you know they're building up awareness, they're there, they're, they want to get you excited so that when that pink hat finally comes around, like the pink fan well, and they did one for this like I don't know if he's a rock star or country music star, it had like his name on it. I don't go to the pinks merch page. You can see it's already sold out. Um, but like these, these hips I mean I'm 49, I don't know what the hell's going on in music, but these like hipster musician guys, yeah, you know, they all go to austin, they all have to play the concerts in Austin.

Speaker 2:

I wore my pink socks. We have socks too, you guys. They're actually very cute. I wore them to the chiropractor the other day. Long story, but anyway, he said oh, what are those socks? I told him we owned a company. He said, cool, I follow-up and he's like, why are you not wearing your pink socks? So again, like it, it helps. The brand awareness is really cool. We are so fortunate to have such a cool brand to. I mean it's just like yeah so cute.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I wanted to say something. Um, we had that one painter, which is our sister brand, paint our garage and our doors and they were amazing.

Speaker 1:

Oh so cool, like they did a great job um, the owner sent us a thank you note which, for those of you there, when you're going to become franchise owners, this is a nice touch Send your, send your clients um, thank you notes. Um, what we do is we have our lead tech leave a thank you note. Um, cause, of course, pinks is pinks gives us the cards to leave. Um, we write thank you notes to all of our clients. That's part of our process, but it was a really nice touch to get this thank you letter from the that One Painter owner. So for those of you that are new franchise owners, old franchise owners, thinking about franchise owners, little touches like that, I think, make a huge difference. Like we leave behind the thank you note the hat, the beer, koozies, sometimes socks.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes socks. If we have them, those are a hot commodity.

Speaker 1:

So anyways, that's what we've got this week. Jill, that's what I've got. You got any other?

Speaker 2:

thoughts. No, I think that was it. I just had to throw the hat comment in there Of course, here we are, guys.

Speaker 1:

We're here to keep it real for you. Jill and I are happy that you're kind of sharing this journey with us. If you'd ever like to talk to us about what it's like to be a franchise owner, if you'd ever like a second opinion on your franchise search, or maybe to do your first franchise search, we won't bite. Text us 305-710-0050. Happy to give you a complimentary franchise consultation. And make sure you go to weboughtafranchisecom and subscribe to to our podcast, and we'll look forward to the next episode, which we are. I think we're going to have another exciting guest guests.

Speaker 2:

We have a lot of guests, you guys, so we have really exciting things coming up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and it's. We're kind of branching into different types of guests, so whether it's franchisors, franchise owners or people that can actually connections for you to have that can help you as a franchise owner. So make sure you stay tuned and we'll talk to you next time on the we Bought a Franchise podcast.

Speaker 2:

Bye everyone.