The Smart Franchisee - Franchise, Business, Lifestyle

Today I am speaking with Dr. Andy Konz a successful HealthSource Franchisee. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Kinesiology, Andy decided to go to chiropractic school. Andy graduated from chiropractic school and ended up working in a HealthSource clinic and the rest is history. 

Andy began to learn more about the opportunity with HealthSource and it began to spark his entrepreneurial bug. Andy said the benefit of getting into a franchise is the system and the support. In 2013 Andy took a leap of faith and purchased the clinic he was working in. 

He shares with me how he was able to get the funds together to buy the business (remember he has students loans from school). We talk about the amount of time to profitability, and the different roles that he has in his office. Andy shares advice on how to run your business while still working on expanding and growing. 

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Today I am speaking with Dr. Chris Tomshack the CEO and Founder of HealthSource. Chris took an aptitude test in the 8th grade and the results told him he was either going to be a doctor or a businessman. Well...he decided he was going to do both. 

Chris ran a very successful chiropractic clinic in Ohio. He hired on other doctors to work with him and expanded to 4 locations before hitting a turning point. He realized he could either continue to grow his own business or franchise and share his system with others looking to get into business. 

Chris shares with me the 4 key components to HealthSource and how they are bringing technology and a holistic approach to the chiropractic industry. I should also mention you do not need to me a doctor to own a HealthSource, Chris says a large number of franchisees are non-chiropractors. That’s great news for all of us out there who disappointed our parents by not becoming doctors (Hi Mom, I know I’m still not a doctor). 

Chris shares with me who he is looking to partner with, the investment to get into HealthSource and the 4 unique revenue streams the model creates for franchisees. You are going to learn a lot today...I promise!

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Today I am speaking with Dan Wattleworth a new and successful Five Star Painting Franchisee.  Dan spent the past 22 years in sales. Selling everything from securities and insurance to IT software. Dan said he always knew he wanted to start a business. 

He built his home in Texas about 7 months ago and remembers seeing the painting bill! Dan jokes that he told his wife they should get into the painting business. Well fate would have it that while Dan was evaluating 5 different franchise concepts Five Star Painting was brought to his attention. After speaking with many franchisees about the business and their experience he realized Five Star Painting was the right business for him. 

Dan has been open a little over 6 weeks now and you will get to hear about the experiences of a very new franchisee. We discuss why Dan quit his full time job and how he was able to fund the purchase of 2 territories. Dan shares with me the challenges he faced while dealing with pain crews and lessons learned along the way. 

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Today I am speaking with Michael Nungesser a successful Five Star Painting Franchisee.  Michael had a career working for a company that replaced windows and sunrooms. Michael said he was looking to get into business for himself, but was looking to partner with a franchise. He looked for an industry leader and found Neighborly. He decided to stay on board with his job until his business got off the ground. 

Michael decided to start with one territory and saw success fairly early on, he was able to quit his job within 7 months of starting the business and then after hitting $650,000 in revenue his 1st year he decided it was time to expand. Michael purchased a neighboring territory and grew his business to $1.8 million his second year. 

Michael talks about the growing pains he experienced with a new and rapidly growing business. We talk about how he learned to manage the expectations of his paint crews and protect his profitability. We discuss the breakdown of labor, materials, and other costs and as we discuss profitability. 

Michael also offers some great advice to hire painters and project managers. We also discuss his marketing strategies and what advice he would give to any new and existing business owners.

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Today I am speaking with Gary Sipes VP of Franchise Development for Five Star Painting. Five Star Painting offers white glove residential and commercial painting for their customers. Five Star Painting is also backed by Neighborly, which houses many franchise brands you may already be familiar with. The competitive advantage allows you to access national and local marketing and lead generation through the other brands. 

Gary shares with me the history of Five Star Painting and how they grew from 70 locations to 200 locations after being acquired by Neighborly. 

Gary shares with me the business model, the start up costs (as the title hints it’s around the cost of a pickup truck), and how they determine the Franchise fee. We also discuss what type of franchisee Five Star Painting is looking to partner with and why you don’t need any prior painting experience. 

If you are interested in learning more about the opportunity with Five Star Painting text FIVESTARBIZ to 87000

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Today I am speaking with John Cotthaus a successful Zoom Room Franchisee.  John’s wife Kristy always wanted to own her own dog training business, but John wasn’t so sure about going into business alone. It was when Kristy presented the idea of Zoom Room that John was willing to listen.  

Long story short they drove 3 ½ hours to go visit a “local” Zoom Room to learn about the business and really liked what they saw. 

John and Kristy signed on with Zoom Room in Fall of 2013 but they weren’t able to get their location open until July of 2015. Talk about some serious delays. We discuss how they dealt with the delay and how they managed their finances during that time. 

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Today I am speaking with Heather Gillihan a successful Zoom Room Franchisee.  Heather has a very interesting background. She’s a rocket scientist, joined the U.S. Army right out of college, moved to alaska for a short while for work, and she lived in Israel for 4 years before she started her business. Oh and her husband is in the Airforce and they met while on a mission. What has she not done?? 

I’ll let her share the story of how she found Zoom Room and how you can buy a business even if you didn’t know you wanted one. 

Heather has been a franchisee since May of 2014 and opened her location in June of 2015. We talk about the necessity to find the right location, demographic, and community when opening a business. 

She shares with me her grassroots marketing strategy and how it helped her become profitable quickly. We talk about the struggle every business owner faces when they don’t have enough staff and how the three revenue streams work in the Zoom Room model. 

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Today I am speaking with Mark Van Wye CEO of Zoom Room. Zoom Room is an indoor dog training gym (this is what I imagine heaven looks likes but probably with more dogs). Mark says we don’t train dogs we train the people that love them. Zoom Room appeals strongly to millennials and well-educated active individuals, especially women. Their key revenue streams include dog training classes, socialization events, and retail products.

Zoom Room’s goal is to own the entire space of dog training. They even wrote a book on it! 

Zoom Room currently has 9 locations with 3 more in development. Their goal is to add another 100 locations in the next 4 years. Zoom Room offers franchisees a large system of support including a field rep who is available 24 hours a day to offer help. Mark says we also focus on technology, developing apps, working on our websites and SEO but we also have over 2000+ 5 star reviews. 

Mark and I discuss the investment to get into Zoom Room and the 3 revenue streams they offer. We also discuss their model and how they focus on socializing and positive reinforcement. We also talk about their revenue model and why they choose class packs over.

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Today I am speaking with Krupal Patel a successful Beerhead Bar and Eatery Franchisee. Krupal worked for a public accounting firm as a senior auditor but he had a secret! He was a craft beer home brewer (try saying that five times fast). He even won awards for him home brewing skills. But enough about the beer, Krupal said he always knew he wanted to start his own business and even looked into getting a franchise. 

His franchising journey was about 2 ½ years. He spent it looking at different concepts, he said once he found Beerhead he felt an instant connection. He purchased an existing corporate location and worked on rebranding the location and bringing it up to speed with the new Beerhead Bar and Eatery concept. 

Krupal’s biggest fear when starting his business was that he had no business experience. We talk about the issues he faced while he rebranded and how he was able to market himself to the local corporate offices and hotel nearby. 

Krupal shares with me that he has held almost every position in his business which gave him not only practical experience but has also made him really business savvy. 

Krupal and I discuss food costs, how he is actually able to maintain a selection of 500 beers while still keeping an eye out for his bottom line, and the advice he would give to a new franchisee. 

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Today I am speaking with Greg Goodrich Co-Founder of Beerhead Bar and Eatery. Greg by profession is a lawyer, but he always had the entrepreneurial bug. Greg got into business with his lifelong friend Pat who had owned a chain of sports bars. 

They saw the craft beer market really taking off but realized they needed to add their own unique twist to it.  500 different Craft beer selections + live music + corner bar feel + Beer Pros.   

Greg said they knew they were going to franchise from day 1 so they focused on systems and processes to create a business was easy to replicate. 

Beerhead is still relatively a small franchise. With 10 locations open currently and another 7 to be open soon. Greg says they have intentionally slowed their growth to ensure they maintain standards for their franchisees and continue to develop a larger infrastructure. 

Greg says to open a Beerhead Bar and Eatery you do not need to have restaurant experience or even craft beer experience. They are looking for franchisees will follow their system. 

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