April 8, 2025 • 18 mins
Ever wonder what makes a house truly "smart"? Frank from Freedom Technologies pulls back the curtain on the world of home automation and reveals why so many smart devices fail to deliver on their promises.
With over 27 years of experience, Frank's journey from dismantling his father's TV at age 11 to building a thriving technology integration business is both inspiring and educational. After selling his successful Pennsylvania company with 10 vans and 35 builder clients, he moved to Southwest Florida to start fresh—arriving just weeks before Hurricane Irma hit the area!
The conversation dives deep into why proper network infrastructure forms the foundation of any smart home. As Frank explains, "It's not the product. The product works when the back end is set up the right way." This insight is particularly valuable for Florida homeowners dealing with concrete walls, rebar, and outdoor living spaces that create connectivity challenges.
What's particularly fascinating is how Frank has built his business through relationships formed in cigar lounges, connecting with influential people who share his appreciation for the finer things in life. This networking approach—which he's documenting in his upcoming book "Relationships of the Leaf"—has helped him build a client base that feels more like friendship than business.
For seasonal residents who make up 65% of his clientele, Freedom Technologies creates systems that monitor homes remotely, detecting water leaks and managing HVAC while owners are away. By consolidating functions into just one or two user-friendly apps instead of six or seven separate ones, they make technology accessible to everyone.
Need help bringing your home into the 21st century? Frank and his team, including both his sons who've joined the family business, pride themselves on being "big enough to give you the latest in technology, but small enough to treat you like family."
Freedom Technologies
Frank Potoczak
6561 Taylor Rd Naples, FL 34109
239-231-1141
Info@freedomnaples.com
freedomnaples.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, cabo, jimSchaller.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 243
of the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today we have Good NeighborFrank from Freedom Technologies
Welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely Always a pleasure to get to know people
in the community and share whatthey do with our listeners.
So without further ado, let'sjump right in.
And why don't you share alittle bit about what you do for
Freedom Technologies?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yes.
So Freedom Technologies we'reright here in Naples.
We work pretty much most ofColorado County.
We are a low voltage provider.
What does low voltage mean?
So low voltage means everythingin your home that doesn't hurt
when you touch it the wrong way.
Right, that's a good thing.
So we do security, we dosurveillance, we do networking,
we do lighting control, we doautomation, we set up home
(00:58):
theaters, I like to call it.
We bring your home to lifeafter it's been built and it's
got beautiful granite and floorsand you know all kinds of
furniture.
We're the ones that actuallybring it.
We bring the life to the party.
That's what we do.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
I love that.
I love that because withtechnology nowadays, I'm sure
there's so much you can dowithin a house now.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Oh, it's endless.
It's endless, I mean nowadays,with all the different
technologies and a lot ofdo-it-yourself products out
there.
I mean we help all kinds offolks, everything from humongous
homes and yachts all the waydown to a basic Wi-Fi system for
a food trailer.
So we go all the way through,from the little stuff all the
(01:37):
way to the big stuff, that's forsure.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Absolutely, and with technology evolving, there's
people that haven't evolved withthe technology, so they need
help, like yours as well.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, big time.
Big time, I mean down here insouthwest Florida.
It's a phenomenal market andwe've got a lot of our snowbird
friends right.
So later, over 60 years old.
They're not into the tech, andthat's what keeps us busy every
day, sometimes seven days a week.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Absolutely.
So let's back up your story alittle bit.
How does one get involved inthis industry?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Oh, boy.
So I started at 11 years oldwhen I took apart my dad's first
console TV when he was sleeping, working second shift.
So, as you can imagine, thatdidn't go too well and he's like
you took it apart, you put itback together and I know he had
to call a TV repair guy backthen.
This was what shoot early 80swhen that happened.
(02:29):
But we got it back up andworking.
I just had a knack for it, youknow, and everything from car
audio all the way up throughhigh school and college we used
to do remote starters back whereI grew up in northern Jersey.
So it all started with that.
Then went to college and got alittle bit more involved into
the design aspect of it, howthings tick and operate, and
started building my own littlecircuits and stuff like that.
(02:52):
And I was always into high-endaudio, loved two-channel audio,
whether it was 12-volt or myhome.
But we did very well with thatand when we were in Jersey still
got married and quit my job sixmonths later and told my wife
who she was pregnant, justbought a house and I said quit
my job, I'm going into business,we're going into business.
(03:14):
She's like what have you lostyour frigging mind.
You know everybody loves thecushion and I had a pretty
decent sales job in a companyout in Pennsylvania, but she was
always supportive and you knowwe made it work.
You know we started our firstyear and doing just security
systems.
I got into installing securitysystems for homes and was doing
(03:37):
a decent amount of it in thebusiness.
At that point, technologystarted getting very popular
with intercom systems and camerasystems and stuff like that,
and the builders that I wasworking with doing the new
construction they said, frank,why can't you just do everything
for us?
Why do we have to call five orsix different subcontractors?
And I sat there myself andthought about it.
(03:57):
I'm like, why can't I do it?
I mean, it's all simple stuff.
And that was 1997 when Istarted my company, uh, in
Pennsylvania, and, uh, we leftin 2017 when we moved down to
Southwest Florida.
I sold the company.
We were working with about 35builders at that time.
We had, uh, 10 vans on the road, so it was a nice size company,
(04:19):
but I was just tired of PA, Iguess after a while in the cold,
like everyone does, right?
Yep, yep, no more shoveling.
That's yeah, and you know soagain, but yeah, the whole thing
as far as coming down toFlorida, that's a whole separate
story.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
There we go.
We can go into that later.
But, talk about opening, goingoff on your own and opening your
own business.
Obviously, we've all had sometype of challenges, whether
personally or professionally,through our journey that we can
look back at now and say, youknow what?
I'm in a better place nowbecause of it.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Something happened along your journey that helped
get you where you are today.
Well, I always felt that I hadthe entrepreneurial knack.
You know, when I was a youngkid I'd go through, sift through
people's garbage on the outsidethat they threw out where they
were throwing bicycles away, andI put bicycles together and my
friends that didn't have one,I'd rent it to them for a buck a
day, you know, when they wantedto.
(05:13):
So you know, there, wasark, newJersey, knocking on.
You know hundreds and hundredsof doors getting no.
You know hundreds and hundredsof times on a daily basis.
But you just keep going andgoing and going and I think
(05:35):
that's where I kind of builtthat resiliency that, no, is.
You know, I'm not much closerto that.
Yes, you know as far as any.
You know business tragedies andthey always say you got to fail
to learn.
I think I've been veryfortunate in some of the
decisions that I've made alongmy business career that I've
never really gone bankrupt.
(05:55):
I've never really failed.
There are some little companiesthat we started that didn't
take off like we expected themto, but it wasn't a huge failure
either.
You learn right, yeah, youlearn.
You learn from those things andyou move on After 08 and when
the market took a dump, we had alot of money in the street.
(06:15):
And that was probably one of thebiggest lessons that I had was
there was a lot of money thatwas owed to me.
And there was a lot of moneythat was owed to me and there
was a lot of money that I owedto my vendors.
That was like the top.
I mean, we were doing 500, 600homes a year and when you wake
up the next morning andeverything tanks and everybody's
calling you that the buildersare going out of business,
(06:35):
they're never going to make itand you owe $2.5 million to your
vendors, you say to yourself,holy crap, what are you going to
do?
The First thing that I did is Icalled them all.
I said listen, you know what?
I ain't got the money.
I got to collect it, just likeeveryone that you've been
selling products to, but Ipromise you I will never short
you a penny.
(06:56):
And it took two and a half yearsto pay everybody back.
You know it took two and a halfyears.
Luckily for us as a company, wehad the recurring revenue
because we do the securitymonitoring, so we had a couple
thousand accounts that waspaying us on a monthly basis and
that's what enabled us to getthrough.
The one big mistake that I didmake I didn't go after some of
(07:19):
the smaller companies in townand buy them out.
That's where I think was Icould have grown much quicker,
uh, at that point.
But then again I look at it IfI was really happy in PA, would
I be living in paradise rightnow?
So God's got a mission for usand he's got the, he's got the
map all set up, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yep Got to follow the plan.
So let's talk about myths ormisconceptions surrounding what
you do that we can kind of clearup for our listeners today.
Sure.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You know?
I think that there's.
You know there's a lot ofthings people nowadays think
because of.
I could just say you know,Amazon, Alexa or Apple Siri or
Google Nest all these thingsthat they can actually go and
just buy the stuff and plug itin and make it work Siri or
Google Nest, all these thingsthat they can actually go and
just buy the stuff and plug itin and make it work.
Not necessarily that easy, youknow.
There's all kinds of stuff thatyou have and I think the
biggest issue is that you knowwe have a Comcast router or a
(08:09):
Summit router.
It's sitting in the corner ofour house someplace, or we're in
a condo, we're in Florida,We've got concrete, We've got
rebar, We've got everything.
They set something up on theother side of the house Like
gosh, darn it, it ain't working.
You know.
So for us, I always say, nomatter what we do, whether we're
doing a, a remodel, or we'rehelping someone, we have to
start with the Wi-Fi.
(08:30):
And I think you know if anybodygets any advice out of this
podcast today is it starts withthe foundation.
It starts with your network.
If you're having any problemswith your ring doorbell, with
your cameras, with yourcomputers, TVs.
You have to have a solidfoundation on your network, and
it's not just necessarily havinga Comcast router.
They're only good for so manydevices.
Now we've got IoT, Internet ofThings.
(08:52):
We're connecting 100, 200devices with switches and this
and that.
So it's a big deal to make surethat networks are right, and
when that's not right, theyblame the product, and it's not
the product.
The product works when the backend is set up the right way.
And that's where we kind ofcome in and we say listen, we'll
help out, We'll set up a newnetwork for you.
(09:12):
We'll put access points justlike you have any commercial,
whether it's in the hospital oroffice buildings.
You've got little access pointsthat are hardwired back to your
head end.
So you've got full Wi-Ficoverage everywhere, especially
here in Florida.
Outside, we're all outsideenjoying ourselves by the pool.
You want to be on your phonewith your music and watching the
cameras seeing when the pizzais getting delivered to the
front door.
You've got to have good Wi-Fi,Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So talk about technology and things
ever-changing, but are therecertain things that are new or
maybe trending in the industrycurrently?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, so you know technology, I think every time I
take a look at it.
Now, you know I'm actually, youknow we're on a job.
Right now I'm luckily to have abeautiful studio where this is
where I'm at, but it's changingso fast, it has been changing so
fast, it's changing so fast, ithas been changing so fast.
I mean, we go to three or fourtrade shows a year just to kind
(10:09):
of barely keep up with how fastthings are changing.
The biggest thing that we'redealing with right now is
full-blown automation, what is atrue smart home.
Having an automated lightswitch and some smart
thermostats and some cameras anddoorbells from six different
manufacturers is not the easiestthing for some of the older
(10:30):
folks and having six or sevenapps.
We specialize in trying to puteverything into at least one or
two at the most apps.
So it's easy for you.
65% of our clients are thosesnowbirds.
They're here for three, fourmonths and then you know they're
up north.
So they have to have a systemnumber one that can monitor the
HVAC in the home.
They need to have a systemthat's going to monitor water
(10:50):
detection if there is a leak,and a host of other things.
So we've kind of become a go-toin southwest Florida.
To make that happen and you knowwe've got an amazing following.
We're five star rated familyoperated, but we'll get into a
little bit of that later.
So that's really what it comesdown to.
(11:10):
Anybody can go and plug stuffin and try to get it to work.
The experience comes in over 27years, as I've been in the
business is to number one, beable to pick the products that
are reliable number one.
Number two, get them to workreliably together.
And number three, make it easyfor the client, because if it's
(11:33):
not easy for the client, he'snever going to tell his friends
about it, and then he's got thatbad taste in his mouth that you
know we spent whatever we spent.
I should have never spent it.
That's the one thing that wenever want to see happen with
any of the systems that weinstall.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Absolutely.
Now it sounds like your job isvery demanding, number one with
time but when you do get amoment of free time, you move
down here for a reason.
What do you enjoy doing outsideof work?
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Wow.
So I am a big uh cigar guy and,um, believe it or not, the
whole florida story, if I couldkind of segue into that a little
bit, starts because of uh, Istarted, I never smoked
cigarettes.
Uh, got introduced to cigarsback in 2007 when I was uh in
jamaica with my wife layingthere on a hammock and a guy
(12:18):
said, hey, you want a cubancigar?
I like, yeah, I'll take a Cubancigar.
I never smoked, ever then.
But it was something thathappened that night laying there
looking at the stars, I got mybeautiful wife with me.
You know, business is greatsmoking the cigar looking at the
stars.
I'm like, man, this is reallynice.
It kind of there was, therelaxation was there.
But then I always saw, you know, all of these wealthy people
(12:41):
that have done very well forthemselves in high-end magazines
and nice cars and convertibles.
They always kind of had a cigarwith them.
So I kind of attributed thatwhole lifestyle, you know, with
this cigar.
And you know, when we came downhere which was a whole separate
thing, I mean, I pretty muchsold everything.
I made a decision within amonth, closed on the house a
(13:03):
month and a half, told my wifethat we're going to move the
following year.
I says two months later we'realmost done with the remodel.
I said, screw it, we're movingthis year.
And that was two weeks beforeHurricane Irma.
So that was we're in boxes.
16 foot storm.
My wife is crying, we're allgonna die.
Holy crap, what did I do?
I sold everything up in pa andI'm like, honey, 16 feet, it
(13:24):
ain't coming this far, don'tworry about it.
You know so.
But anyway we went to for theweekend, my son and I my oldest
that's in the company with me.
We went to san diego for atrade show.
I sent her to a friend's housein atlanta with the, my two
other children and the dog.
So it was a challenge in thebeginning.
But the thing always is Frank,how did you get to where you are
(13:45):
in seven years?
How did you build such a nicecompany?
How did you build such a greatfollowing?
We see you everywhere.
You're involved in all kinds ofthings and doing barbecues and
donating money to Collier CountyWounded Warrior.
Where do you get the time forall of this stuff?
And it really comes back to mehanging out in all the cigar
(14:05):
lounges and meeting the amazingpeople that really have put me
into positions that I've metother people.
Hence I'm writing a book via aghostwriter it's going to.
It's called relationships ofthe leaf and I'm putting
together a whole littleentrepreneurial story about
where I really want to get someof the younger generation to get
(14:28):
rid of the vaping and thegarbage that they're putting.
I says go grab an all naturalstick for 10 bucks or five bucks
.
Go sit in a cigar lounge, meetsomebody, talk to somebody about
relationships, because most ofthe guys that are smoking these
cigars in these lounges that Igo to they've made it.
You know they're at the upperechelon, they're the top 1% of
people.
You know that's who you want tobe hanging out with.
And that's kind of what I did,you know.
(14:51):
And seven years later, a couplethousand customers later, like
I said, 99.99% of my clientsthat we have we're friends.
I can call any single one ofthem and say, hey, can I show
your house?
Or I get all the other phonecalls.
Hey, frank, we're going on theboat or we're going to Bimini or
we're going to.
So there's no lack of things todo when you do good and you do
(15:13):
a good job and you treat peoplefairly.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
It all comes around, it all comes back around.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
It all does and you know, god willing, like I said,
it keeps going because I'mloving life down here and now
I've got both of my sons in thebusiness and we've got some gals
in the office that are takingcare of paperwork and we're busy
as can be, and you know, but weworked hard for it.
We worked hard for it.
We worked hard for it.
In the beginning it was sevendays a week for the first two
(15:40):
years just to get our name outthere and get to where we're
going Now.
The referrals are flowing in.
The Google referrals are comingin.
I do a decent amount ofFacebook advertising because I
love to get in front of thecamera, so that we're having
some fun stuff with that as well.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
You got to enjoy what you do and have a passion for
it, for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
So is there one thing you wish our listeners knew
about freedom that they don'tknow?
Speaker 3 (16:03):
So, yeah, this is what I tell everybody when I
record my videos or anythinglike that that freedom
technologies were big enough togive you the latest in
technology, whatever you wantthat's out there, but we're
still small enough to treat youlike family, and that's, at the
end of the day, it's what it'sall about.
We treat you the way you wouldwant to be treated.
We treat your mom or yourgrandma or whoever it is.
(16:24):
That's the most important part.
Anybody can sell, anybody inthis.
You know in Southwest Floridacan sell you a bill of goods and
bill of products.
What's most important is tomake sure that the company is
there for you after the service,whether it's text messages,
whether it's phone calls on theweekend or whatever it may be.
We still respond to texts upuntil 11, 12 o'clock at night.
If I'm in the hot tub having acigar, guess what?
(16:45):
I get a text.
I still respond, and I thinkthat's how you build a solid
foundation and a solid business.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Absolutely About customer service, 100%.
So how did our listeners goabout contacting you if they
wanted to learn more or had somequestions?
Speaker 3 (16:58):
So yeah, so freedomnaples.
com is our cool website.
You can go through there andleave information there.
You can call our office at239-231-1141.
Or email me which I love to getthe frank@f reedomnaplescom.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Very good, very good.
Any last words for ourlisteners today?
Speaker 3 (17:25):
No, just like I said, if you're planning on doing any
kind of remodel, if you'replanning on building a home, if
you're looking to do any kind oftechnology, make sure you do a
little bit of research and getmultiple quotes.
That's most important.
Again, don't be sold a bill ofgoods because then you may run
into something and definitelycheck the referrals.
Get three or four referralsfrom that particular company
you're trying to work with tomake sure that they are who they
say they are 100%, Frank.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
It's been a pleasure getting to know you.
Thank you for being such a goodneighbor and we'll see you out
in the community soon.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Thank you so much, jim, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast Estero.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPEstero.
com.
That's GNPEstero.
com, or call 239-296-2621.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, cabo, jimSchaller.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 243
of the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today we have Good NeighborFrank from Freedom Technologies
Welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me, sir.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Absolutely Always a pleasure to get to know people
in the community and share whatthey do with our listeners.
So without further ado, let'sjump right in.
And why don't you share alittle bit about what you do for
Freedom Technologies?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yes.
So Freedom Technologies we'reright here in Naples.
We work pretty much most ofColorado County.
We are a low voltage provider.
What does low voltage mean?
So low voltage means everythingin your home that doesn't hurt
when you touch it the wrong way.
Right, that's a good thing.
So we do security, we dosurveillance, we do networking,
we do lighting control, we doautomation, we set up home
(00:58):
theaters, I like to call it.
We bring your home to lifeafter it's been built and it's
got beautiful granite and floorsand you know all kinds of
furniture.
We're the ones that actuallybring it.
We bring the life to the party.
That's what we do.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
I love that.
I love that because withtechnology nowadays, I'm sure
there's so much you can dowithin a house now.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Oh, it's endless.
It's endless, I mean nowadays,with all the different
technologies and a lot ofdo-it-yourself products out
there.
I mean we help all kinds offolks, everything from humongous
homes and yachts all the waydown to a basic Wi-Fi system for
a food trailer.
So we go all the way through,from the little stuff all the
(01:37):
way to the big stuff, that's forsure.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Absolutely, and with technology evolving, there's
people that haven't evolved withthe technology, so they need
help, like yours as well.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Yeah, big time.
Big time, I mean down here insouthwest Florida.
It's a phenomenal market andwe've got a lot of our snowbird
friends right.
So later, over 60 years old.
They're not into the tech, andthat's what keeps us busy every
day, sometimes seven days a week.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Absolutely.
So let's back up your story alittle bit.
How does one get involved inthis industry?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Oh, boy.
So I started at 11 years oldwhen I took apart my dad's first
console TV when he was sleeping, working second shift.
So, as you can imagine, thatdidn't go too well and he's like
you took it apart, you put itback together and I know he had
to call a TV repair guy backthen.
This was what shoot early 80swhen that happened.
(02:29):
But we got it back up andworking.
I just had a knack for it, youknow, and everything from car
audio all the way up throughhigh school and college we used
to do remote starters back whereI grew up in northern Jersey.
So it all started with that.
Then went to college and got alittle bit more involved into
the design aspect of it, howthings tick and operate, and
started building my own littlecircuits and stuff like that.
(02:52):
And I was always into high-endaudio, loved two-channel audio,
whether it was 12-volt or myhome.
But we did very well with thatand when we were in Jersey still
got married and quit my job sixmonths later and told my wife
who she was pregnant, justbought a house and I said quit
my job, I'm going into business,we're going into business.
(03:14):
She's like what have you lostyour frigging mind.
You know everybody loves thecushion and I had a pretty
decent sales job in a companyout in Pennsylvania, but she was
always supportive and you knowwe made it work.
You know we started our firstyear and doing just security
systems.
I got into installing securitysystems for homes and was doing
(03:37):
a decent amount of it in thebusiness.
At that point, technologystarted getting very popular
with intercom systems and camerasystems and stuff like that,
and the builders that I wasworking with doing the new
construction they said, frank,why can't you just do everything
for us?
Why do we have to call five orsix different subcontractors?
And I sat there myself andthought about it.
(03:57):
I'm like, why can't I do it?
I mean, it's all simple stuff.
And that was 1997 when Istarted my company, uh, in
Pennsylvania, and, uh, we leftin 2017 when we moved down to
Southwest Florida.
I sold the company.
We were working with about 35builders at that time.
We had, uh, 10 vans on the road, so it was a nice size company,
(04:19):
but I was just tired of PA, Iguess after a while in the cold,
like everyone does, right?
Yep, yep, no more shoveling.
That's yeah, and you know soagain, but yeah, the whole thing
as far as coming down toFlorida, that's a whole separate
story.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
There we go.
We can go into that later.
But, talk about opening, goingoff on your own and opening your
own business.
Obviously, we've all had sometype of challenges, whether
personally or professionally,through our journey that we can
look back at now and say, youknow what?
I'm in a better place nowbecause of it.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Something happened along your journey that helped
get you where you are today.
Well, I always felt that I hadthe entrepreneurial knack.
You know, when I was a youngkid I'd go through, sift through
people's garbage on the outsidethat they threw out where they
were throwing bicycles away, andI put bicycles together and my
friends that didn't have one,I'd rent it to them for a buck a
day, you know, when they wantedto.
(05:13):
So you know, there, wasark, newJersey, knocking on.
You know hundreds and hundredsof doors getting no.
You know hundreds and hundredsof times on a daily basis.
But you just keep going andgoing and going and I think
(05:35):
that's where I kind of builtthat resiliency that, no, is.
You know, I'm not much closerto that.
Yes, you know as far as any.
You know business tragedies andthey always say you got to fail
to learn.
I think I've been veryfortunate in some of the
decisions that I've made alongmy business career that I've
never really gone bankrupt.
(05:55):
I've never really failed.
There are some little companiesthat we started that didn't
take off like we expected themto, but it wasn't a huge failure
either.
You learn right, yeah, youlearn.
You learn from those things andyou move on After 08 and when
the market took a dump, we had alot of money in the street.
(06:15):
And that was probably one of thebiggest lessons that I had was
there was a lot of money thatwas owed to me.
And there was a lot of moneythat was owed to me and there
was a lot of money that I owedto my vendors.
That was like the top.
I mean, we were doing 500, 600homes a year and when you wake
up the next morning andeverything tanks and everybody's
calling you that the buildersare going out of business,
(06:35):
they're never going to make itand you owe $2.5 million to your
vendors, you say to yourself,holy crap, what are you going to
do?
The First thing that I did is Icalled them all.
I said listen, you know what?
I ain't got the money.
I got to collect it, just likeeveryone that you've been
selling products to, but Ipromise you I will never short
you a penny.
(06:56):
And it took two and a half yearsto pay everybody back.
You know it took two and a halfyears.
Luckily for us as a company, wehad the recurring revenue
because we do the securitymonitoring, so we had a couple
thousand accounts that waspaying us on a monthly basis and
that's what enabled us to getthrough.
The one big mistake that I didmake I didn't go after some of
(07:19):
the smaller companies in townand buy them out.
That's where I think was Icould have grown much quicker,
uh, at that point.
But then again I look at it IfI was really happy in PA, would
I be living in paradise rightnow?
So God's got a mission for usand he's got the, he's got the
map all set up, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yep Got to follow the plan.
So let's talk about myths ormisconceptions surrounding what
you do that we can kind of clearup for our listeners today.
Sure.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You know?
I think that there's.
You know there's a lot ofthings people nowadays think
because of.
I could just say you know,Amazon, Alexa or Apple Siri or
Google Nest all these thingsthat they can actually go and
just buy the stuff and plug itin and make it work Siri or
Google Nest, all these thingsthat they can actually go and
just buy the stuff and plug itin and make it work.
Not necessarily that easy, youknow.
There's all kinds of stuff thatyou have and I think the
biggest issue is that you knowwe have a Comcast router or a
(08:09):
Summit router.
It's sitting in the corner ofour house someplace, or we're in
a condo, we're in Florida,We've got concrete, We've got
rebar, We've got everything.
They set something up on theother side of the house Like
gosh, darn it, it ain't working.
You know.
So for us, I always say, nomatter what we do, whether we're
doing a, a remodel, or we'rehelping someone, we have to
start with the Wi-Fi.
(08:30):
And I think you know if anybodygets any advice out of this
podcast today is it starts withthe foundation.
It starts with your network.
If you're having any problemswith your ring doorbell, with
your cameras, with yourcomputers, TVs.
You have to have a solidfoundation on your network, and
it's not just necessarily havinga Comcast router.
They're only good for so manydevices.
Now we've got IoT, Internet ofThings.
(08:52):
We're connecting 100, 200devices with switches and this
and that.
So it's a big deal to make surethat networks are right, and
when that's not right, theyblame the product, and it's not
the product.
The product works when the backend is set up the right way.
And that's where we kind ofcome in and we say listen, we'll
help out, We'll set up a newnetwork for you.
(09:12):
We'll put access points justlike you have any commercial,
whether it's in the hospital oroffice buildings.
You've got little access pointsthat are hardwired back to your
head end.
So you've got full Wi-Ficoverage everywhere, especially
here in Florida.
Outside, we're all outsideenjoying ourselves by the pool.
You want to be on your phonewith your music and watching the
cameras seeing when the pizzais getting delivered to the
front door.
You've got to have good Wi-Fi,Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So talk about technology and things
ever-changing, but are therecertain things that are new or
maybe trending in the industrycurrently?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, so you know technology, I think every time I
take a look at it.
Now, you know I'm actually, youknow we're on a job.
Right now I'm luckily to have abeautiful studio where this is
where I'm at, but it's changingso fast, it has been changing so
fast, it's changing so fast, ithas been changing so fast.
I mean, we go to three or fourtrade shows a year just to kind
(10:09):
of barely keep up with how fastthings are changing.
The biggest thing that we'redealing with right now is
full-blown automation, what is atrue smart home.
Having an automated lightswitch and some smart
thermostats and some cameras anddoorbells from six different
manufacturers is not the easiestthing for some of the older
(10:30):
folks and having six or sevenapps.
We specialize in trying to puteverything into at least one or
two at the most apps.
So it's easy for you.
65% of our clients are thosesnowbirds.
They're here for three, fourmonths and then you know they're
up north.
So they have to have a systemnumber one that can monitor the
HVAC in the home.
They need to have a systemthat's going to monitor water
(10:50):
detection if there is a leak,and a host of other things.
So we've kind of become a go-toin southwest Florida.
To make that happen and you knowwe've got an amazing following.
We're five star rated familyoperated, but we'll get into a
little bit of that later.
So that's really what it comesdown to.
(11:10):
Anybody can go and plug stuffin and try to get it to work.
The experience comes in over 27years, as I've been in the
business is to number one, beable to pick the products that
are reliable number one.
Number two, get them to workreliably together.
And number three, make it easyfor the client, because if it's
(11:33):
not easy for the client, he'snever going to tell his friends
about it, and then he's got thatbad taste in his mouth that you
know we spent whatever we spent.
I should have never spent it.
That's the one thing that wenever want to see happen with
any of the systems that weinstall.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Absolutely.
Now it sounds like your job isvery demanding, number one with
time but when you do get amoment of free time, you move
down here for a reason.
What do you enjoy doing outsideof work?
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Wow.
So I am a big uh cigar guy and,um, believe it or not, the
whole florida story, if I couldkind of segue into that a little
bit, starts because of uh, Istarted, I never smoked
cigarettes.
Uh, got introduced to cigarsback in 2007 when I was uh in
jamaica with my wife layingthere on a hammock and a guy
(12:18):
said, hey, you want a cubancigar?
I like, yeah, I'll take a Cubancigar.
I never smoked, ever then.
But it was something thathappened that night laying there
looking at the stars, I got mybeautiful wife with me.
You know, business is greatsmoking the cigar looking at the
stars.
I'm like, man, this is reallynice.
It kind of there was, therelaxation was there.
But then I always saw, you know, all of these wealthy people
(12:41):
that have done very well forthemselves in high-end magazines
and nice cars and convertibles.
They always kind of had a cigarwith them.
So I kind of attributed thatwhole lifestyle, you know, with
this cigar.
And you know, when we came downhere which was a whole separate
thing, I mean, I pretty muchsold everything.
I made a decision within amonth, closed on the house a
(13:03):
month and a half, told my wifethat we're going to move the
following year.
I says two months later we'realmost done with the remodel.
I said, screw it, we're movingthis year.
And that was two weeks beforeHurricane Irma.
So that was we're in boxes.
16 foot storm.
My wife is crying, we're allgonna die.
Holy crap, what did I do?
I sold everything up in pa andI'm like, honey, 16 feet, it
(13:24):
ain't coming this far, don'tworry about it.
You know so.
But anyway we went to for theweekend, my son and I my oldest
that's in the company with me.
We went to san diego for atrade show.
I sent her to a friend's housein atlanta with the, my two
other children and the dog.
So it was a challenge in thebeginning.
But the thing always is Frank,how did you get to where you are
(13:45):
in seven years?
How did you build such a nicecompany?
How did you build such a greatfollowing?
We see you everywhere.
You're involved in all kinds ofthings and doing barbecues and
donating money to Collier CountyWounded Warrior.
Where do you get the time forall of this stuff?
And it really comes back to mehanging out in all the cigar
(14:05):
lounges and meeting the amazingpeople that really have put me
into positions that I've metother people.
Hence I'm writing a book via aghostwriter it's going to.
It's called relationships ofthe leaf and I'm putting
together a whole littleentrepreneurial story about
where I really want to get someof the younger generation to get
(14:28):
rid of the vaping and thegarbage that they're putting.
I says go grab an all naturalstick for 10 bucks or five bucks
.
Go sit in a cigar lounge, meetsomebody, talk to somebody about
relationships, because most ofthe guys that are smoking these
cigars in these lounges that Igo to they've made it.
You know they're at the upperechelon, they're the top 1% of
people.
You know that's who you want tobe hanging out with.
And that's kind of what I did,you know.
(14:51):
And seven years later, a couplethousand customers later, like
I said, 99.99% of my clientsthat we have we're friends.
I can call any single one ofthem and say, hey, can I show
your house?
Or I get all the other phonecalls.
Hey, frank, we're going on theboat or we're going to Bimini or
we're going to.
So there's no lack of things todo when you do good and you do
(15:13):
a good job and you treat peoplefairly.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
It all comes around, it all comes back around.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
It all does and you know, god willing, like I said,
it keeps going because I'mloving life down here and now
I've got both of my sons in thebusiness and we've got some gals
in the office that are takingcare of paperwork and we're busy
as can be, and you know, but weworked hard for it.
We worked hard for it.
We worked hard for it.
In the beginning it was sevendays a week for the first two
(15:40):
years just to get our name outthere and get to where we're
going Now.
The referrals are flowing in.
The Google referrals are comingin.
I do a decent amount ofFacebook advertising because I
love to get in front of thecamera, so that we're having
some fun stuff with that as well.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
You got to enjoy what you do and have a passion for
it, for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
So is there one thing you wish our listeners knew
about freedom that they don'tknow?
Speaker 3 (16:03):
So, yeah, this is what I tell everybody when I
record my videos or anythinglike that that freedom
technologies were big enough togive you the latest in
technology, whatever you wantthat's out there, but we're
still small enough to treat youlike family, and that's, at the
end of the day, it's what it'sall about.
We treat you the way you wouldwant to be treated.
We treat your mom or yourgrandma or whoever it is.
(16:24):
That's the most important part.
Anybody can sell, anybody inthis.
You know in Southwest Floridacan sell you a bill of goods and
bill of products.
What's most important is tomake sure that the company is
there for you after the service,whether it's text messages,
whether it's phone calls on theweekend or whatever it may be.
We still respond to texts upuntil 11, 12 o'clock at night.
If I'm in the hot tub having acigar, guess what?
(16:45):
I get a text.
I still respond, and I thinkthat's how you build a solid
foundation and a solid business.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Absolutely About customer service, 100%.
So how did our listeners goabout contacting you if they
wanted to learn more or had somequestions?
Speaker 3 (16:58):
So yeah, so freedomnaples.
com is our cool website.
You can go through there andleave information there.
You can call our office at239-231-1141.
Or email me which I love to getthe frank@f reedomnaplescom.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Very good, very good.
Any last words for ourlisteners today?
Speaker 3 (17:25):
No, just like I said, if you're planning on doing any
kind of remodel, if you'replanning on building a home, if
you're looking to do any kind oftechnology, make sure you do a
little bit of research and getmultiple quotes.
That's most important.
Again, don't be sold a bill ofgoods because then you may run
into something and definitelycheck the referrals.
Get three or four referralsfrom that particular company
you're trying to work with tomake sure that they are who they
say they are 100%, Frank.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
It's been a pleasure getting to know you.
Thank you for being such a goodneighbor and we'll see you out
in the community soon.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Thank you so much, jim, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast Estero.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPEstero.
com.
That's GNPEstero.
com, or call 239-296-2621.
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