The Smart Franchisee - Franchise, Business, Lifestyle

Today I am speaking with Shafik Mina, President of 2Inspire Kids Inc. which houses Mad Science® and Crayola® Imagine Arts Academy™ franchise concepts. Mad Science® has been franchising for the past 30 years as a science enrichment provider and is currently operating in 20 countries. Crayola® Imagine Arts Academy™ was founded in 2016 to bring art and creativity to children’s lives. 

The story of how the Mad Science® franchise started is amazing; two guys, humble beginnings, and lasers. 

Shafik shares with me the available opportunities for both franchise concepts. We discuss the cost to get into the business and even better, we talk about the profitability of the programs they offer. 

During the episode, you will learn about the different programs both Mad Science® and Crayola® Imagine Arts Academy™ offer. Shafik also breaks down the type of franchisees he is looking for in two different groups. I know you will enjoy today’s episode so listen and I guarantee you will learn a lot!

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Today I am speaking with Mari Millard a successful Two Maids & A Mop Franchisee. Mari worked for a start up and watched the company grow from one employee to a hundred employees. She saw the power in owning a business but also the huge risk involved. 

Mari started to look into franchising and realized the benefit of having a system and process. At about the same time Mari started to have kids and decided it wasn’t the right time to start a business. So she kept working, until one day she was informed she was being laid off. Mari said it was a big wake up call. 

Mari was able to purchase an existing territory with Two Maids. It wasn’t doing so well, with only 40 clients do Mari had to put a lot of work into it. 

Mari shares with me how she was able to get the fund the purchase of her business. What she learned while taking over the business and how she replaced bad employees. 

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Today I am speaking with Lee Sheridan a successful Two Maids & A Mop Franchisee. Lee spent over 20 years working in the insurance industry. Although he excelled in his field he says “I always felt like a fish out of water.”

One day Lee had had enough. He called his wife and let her know he would be quitting. Then he called Ron Holt the CEO of Two Maids & A Mop and said “lets do this.” There is a lot more to the story than that but I’ll let Lee fill you in. 

Lee shares with me how he got the business started and how he was able to fund it. He says if he were to do it all over again he would have set up his funding structure and business a little differently.  

We discuss how he dealt with having no employees show up on the first day to having great employees but no work to give them. Lee is a true entrepreneur and he talks about how he took full responsibility for the success of his business. 

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Today I am speaking with Elizabeth Lamar a successful Two Maids & A Mop Franchisee.  Liz worked for about 10 years as a manager at Applebees, working about 80 hours a week. She came to a point in her career where all though she was seeing success there was no real quality of life. She was introduced to Two Maids & A Mop by her brother who told her she needed to talk to Ron. At the time the company was just starting out and so she was hired as a corporate store manager. 

Liz says I took a chance with Two Maids & A Mop but Ron’s enthusiasm and the work schedule Monday through Friday 9-5, no nights and no weekends was really appealing. 

As a corporate employee she helped open and run quite a few stores, but after she met her now husband she decided she needed to settle down and ended up in a location in Huntsville, Alabama. 

After Two Maids & A Mop started franchising, Liz watched all the corporate stores one by one turn into franchise locations, until she was the last one left. That’s when she took an even bigger leap of faith and bought the location she was working in with a business partner. 

Liz shares with me how she is able to have the most profitable location in the Two Maids system and what she watches to keep her profitibabilty up. We discuss employees and how she looks at resumes to find the best fit for her business. We also talk about the most important aspect in marketing her business and how that helps her get customers she never knew she would be able to reach.

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Today I am speaking with Ron Holt Founder and CEO of Two Maids & A Mop. Ron always knew he wanted to own his own business and decided he needed to find a consumer service that lacked innovation. He spent time researching different fields and fell in love with the residential cleaning business. 

There was a small problem, he didn’t have enough money. So Ron worked for 6 years to save $150,000, his seed capital. Ron shares with me the initial struggles of growing a new business, including not taking home a check for 3 years. We discuss why he decided franchising was the right thing for Two Maids & A Mop. 

Two Maids & A Mop currently has 77 business partners since they began franchising in 2013. 

Ron shares with me how Two Maids & A Mop is disrupting the industry with its unique Pay For Performance. We discuss the investment and what Ron is looking for in a business partner. We also discuss the corporate office and Ron’s unique take on competitive sprints to drive innovation in the company and profitability for franchisees. 

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Today I am speaking Evan Carroll a successful Pigtails and Crewcuts Franchisee out of Fort Mill, South Carolina. Evan owned a business where he trained personal protection dogs. He realized early on that when you own your own business you have to do everything. He says the franchisor does a lot of the leg work, so there is a huge benefit joining a franchise. 

During all this Evan was taking his children to Pigtails and Crewcuts to get their haircut. He saw the business and really liked the model. He approached the business owner and asked to partner. 

Evan was able to partner to grow the existing location as well as start a new one. Evan has learned a lot along the way which he shares with me. We talk about how much he invested into the business, how he deals with staffing issues, and what his advice is to new franchisees. 

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Today I am speaking Dalia Wolf a successful Pigtails and Crewcuts Franchisee out of Cedar Park, Texas. Dalia was actually a customer of Pigtails and Crewcuts (well her children were) and she would speak to the owner about their experience with the business. 

When the recession hit, Dalia’s own family was affected when her husband was laid off from his tech job. They realized at that time that the “stable” income they had was actually not as stable as they thought. 

At that time Dalia remembered the conversation she had with the Pigtails and Crewcuts Franchisee. It was at that time that she realized she needed to start her own business. Dalia opened her salon on September 22nd, 2009. 

We talk about the challenges she faces in business, especially when it comes to finding the right employees. We also discuss how she was able to create a fun environment for kids all while making loyal clients out of their parents. She also shares with me how she was able to replace a revenue stream with a new idea. 

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Today I am speaking Sneha Bhavan and Reyna Patel successful Pigtails and Crewcuts Franchisees out of Los Altos, California. Reyna has worked for 16 years in the IT sector project management sector; Sneha has worked for 22 years as a senior project manager. So how did these two very successful career women end up going into business for themselves? Well lets just say it involves alcohol (which is always a great start to any journey). But I won’t ruin the story, I’ll let them tell you how that happened. 

Sneha and Reyna didn’t wait to get the ball rolling. They committed to starting a business in January, signed their franchise agreement, and signed their lease in April. They were able to start construction in September and had their doors open in December. We talk about the struggles they faced when they first opened, and what they would change if they had to do it all over again. 

Sneha and Reyna share with me how they are able to run their business with full time jobs. We discuss the challenge to find the right employees initially and the challenge of marketing their Pigtails and Crewcuts since the name wasn’t that well known in the area. 

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Today I am speaking with Wade Brannon President and CEO of Pigtails and Crewcuts. If you have children, you probably remember their first hair cut, it might have even been a traumatic experience for them (and you). Pigtails and Crewcuts entered the scene to help kids and their parents by creating a positive and fun haircut experience. 

Pigtails and Crewcuts currently have 62 locations with 60 more in development and they aren’t stopping there. Wade shares with me the growth that he expects Pigtails and Crewcuts is experiencing.  

Wade shares with me how he was introduced to Pigtails and Crewcuts and the vision he had once he acquired the business. 

Wade and I discuss the 3 revenue streams this business offers, the types of franchisees they are looking to partner with, and the system they provide franchisees.

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Today I am speaking Peter Dufall a successful Dogtopia Franchisee. Before becoming a Franchisee, Peter had a very long (33 years) and successful career in manufacturing. His original plan was to start his own manufacturing company. But through his research process he couldn’t find a business that would eliminate his risk. 

That’s when he started looking at other business concepts, and doggy day care business came on his radar. He said he looked at about 150 other business conceptually to evaluate the pros and cons. He said doggy day through his process of elimination stayed on the list. 

Peter spoke with multiple doggy daycare concepts, but said he was most comfortable with Dogtopia. They had a proven track record of success. 

Peter was one “lucky dog” even though he didn’t have the best start. We talk about who he hires, which is much different than what he was expecting initially. How he manages his schedule to make the most impact on his business. And what he is doing now that he is running at full capacity, yes I said he is running at full capacity. 

Visit us at www.thesmartfranchisee.com

Thanks for Listening! Connect with me on social media, leave us a review on iTunes, and share this episode with a friend.