August 12, 2025

The #1 Dog Grooming Franchisee in America - Jacob Lee

Listen Later

1 hour 7 minutes

🎙️ Guest:

Jacob Horton, Multi-Unit Franchisee at Scenthound and Co-Founder of SBA Source

📍 Location:

Birmingham, AL & Nashville, TN

If you’re a multi-unit franchisee considering selling your locations, get in touch https://www.fdcapitalgroup.com/

Interested in buying a franchise? Reach out here: https://www.frandawgs.com/buy-a-franchise

🔥 Episode Summary:

Jacob Horton went from PowerPoint presentations to puppy baths, and built the #1 Scenthound location in the country.

In this episode, we unpack:

Why Jacob left nuclear engineering and consulting to dive into franchising

The turning point that made him abandon a traditional acquisition search in favor of building a pet grooming empire

How he evaluated over a dozen franchises before choosing Scenthound

The systems he built to drive over 1,000+ active members at a single location

What he’s learned from scaling to 6 stores (on the way to 20)

How a homegrown call center and sales CRM became his unfair advantage

His new startup: SBA Source, the software platform simplifying SBA loans for franchisees

Jacob’s business is proof that boring, recurring revenue models—paired with operational excellence—can create serious compounding growth.

📌 Key Stats:

Opened 6 Scenthound locations in 3 years

Averaging $185K in four-wall EBITDA per location

Built a 5-person in-house sales team + call center

Generated 1,000+ members at his top location

Recently launched SBA Source to fix the broken SBA loan process

🔗 Links:

SBA Source

Jacob's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-lee-9803a480/

🧠 Topics Covered:

[00:00] Jacob’s journey from nuclear engineering to franchising

[06:00] Why he abandoned the ETA path

[09:00] The business case for pet grooming (vs. daycare)

[13:30] Building trust and loyalty through health-focused grooming

[15:00] Opening a Scenthound: real estate, pre-sale, and staffing strategy

[19:00] How many members to break even (and to thrive)

[20:00] The secret weapon: a custom-built call center + CRM

[27:00] Evolution of store ops: from 2 units to 6 and beyond

[33:00] His labor strategy—and how he built the best grooming team in town

[39:00] The playbook for local marketing + Facebook lead gen

[44:00] Why he started SBA Source and how it works

[54:00] His long-term goal: 20 stores + building a legacy

...more

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FranDawgs

By Patrick Buckley

5

1111 ratings

August 12, 2025

The #1 Dog Grooming Franchisee in America - Jacob Lee

Listen Later

1 hour 7 minutes

🎙️ Guest:

Jacob Horton, Multi-Unit Franchisee at Scenthound and Co-Founder of SBA Source

📍 Location:

Birmingham, AL & Nashville, TN

If you’re a multi-unit franchisee considering selling your locations, get in touch https://www.fdcapitalgroup.com/

Interested in buying a franchise? Reach out here: https://www.frandawgs.com/buy-a-franchise

🔥 Episode Summary:

Jacob Horton went from PowerPoint presentations to puppy baths, and built the #1 Scenthound location in the country.

In this episode, we unpack:

Why Jacob left nuclear engineering and consulting to dive into franchising

The turning point that made him abandon a traditional acquisition search in favor of building a pet grooming empire

How he evaluated over a dozen franchises before choosing Scenthound

The systems he built to drive over 1,000+ active members at a single location

What he’s learned from scaling to 6 stores (on the way to 20)

How a homegrown call center and sales CRM became his unfair advantage

His new startup: SBA Source, the software platform simplifying SBA loans for franchisees

Jacob’s business is proof that boring, recurring revenue models—paired with operational excellence—can create serious compounding growth.

📌 Key Stats:

Opened 6 Scenthound locations in 3 years

Averaging $185K in four-wall EBITDA per location

Built a 5-person in-house sales team + call center

Generated 1,000+ members at his top location

Recently launched SBA Source to fix the broken SBA loan process

🔗 Links:

SBA Source

Jacob's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-lee-9803a480/

🧠 Topics Covered:

[00:00] Jacob’s journey from nuclear engineering to franchising

[06:00] Why he abandoned the ETA path

[09:00] The business case for pet grooming (vs. daycare)

[13:30] Building trust and loyalty through health-focused grooming

[15:00] Opening a Scenthound: real estate, pre-sale, and staffing strategy

[19:00] How many members to break even (and to thrive)

[20:00] The secret weapon: a custom-built call center + CRM

[27:00] Evolution of store ops: from 2 units to 6 and beyond

[33:00] His labor strategy—and how he built the best grooming team in town

[39:00] The playbook for local marketing + Facebook lead gen

[44:00] Why he started SBA Source and how it works

[54:00] His long-term goal: 20 stores + building a legacy

...more

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