September 15, 2025 • 33 mins
What does it take to build a successful children's hair salon franchise? Lacy Altenhofen, owner of multiple Sharkey's Cuts for Kids locations in Texas, reveals the unexpected journey that transformed her from marketing professional to thriving entrepreneur.
Driven by a desire to bring valuable services to her hometown communities, Lacy discovered Sharkey's Cuts for Kids through what she calls "serendipity" – receiving an email from the co-founder himself while simultaneously having the franchise recommended by her consultant. This perfect alignment confirmed she was on the right path, despite having no prior salon industry experience.
Her timing, however, couldn't have been more challenging. Just three and a half months after opening her first location, COVID forced temporary closures. Yet through strategic marketing, community partnerships, and unwavering dedication to company culture, her business not only survived but began thriving shortly after reopening.
What makes Sharkey's Cuts for Kids unique in the competitive landscape is their commitment to inclusivity and age-appropriate experiences. From fun cars for toddlers to Xbox stations for tweens, they've created an environment where children of all ages and neurodiversity levels feel comfortable. As Lacy explains, "We grow with the family," serving children from their first haircut through their teenage years.
For aspiring franchise owners, Lacy offers this golden nugget: "I would rather be understaffed with the right people than appropriately staffed with the wrong ones." Her focus on creating a teamwork-oriented culture stands in contrast to the traditionally competitive salon industry, where stylists often work against rather than with each other.
Ready to explore if franchise ownership might be right for you? Text us at 305-710-0050 for honest advice and guidance from experienced franchise owners who can help you navigate the process with confidence.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi everyone, welcome back to the we Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson, I'm JillJohnson and today we have a
special guest.
We have Lacey Altenhoffen.
Oh, I said that right, lacey,welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Lacey is a Sharky's Cuts forKids franchise owner and we've
been so excited, lacey, to haveyou on today, because you know,
(00:23):
sharky's is one of thosefranchises that we have worked
with forever.
We've been franchiseconsultants since 2017.
It's just one of thosecategories that just is so smart
.
We'd love to hear your storyand maybe a little bit about you
.
Oftentimes, how we like tobegin is what got you started,
what got you into franchiseownership?
(00:44):
Maybe we can take it from there.
Sure, absolutely, how we liketo begin is what got you started
, what got you into franchiseownership, and maybe we can take
it from there.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Sure, Absolutely so.
Originally I knew that wewanted to open a business in
Midland and Odessa.
I'm from Midland originally,have a lot of pride over the
community and wanted to bringsomething in the entrepreneurial
space to my communities.
But I just didn't know whatthat was.
So I began the process oflooking into opportunities.
I really hoped that we wouldfind something in the children's
(01:08):
industry, because that's wheremy heart and passion lie as a
mother, and I felt that therewere a lot of other families
that would benefit from that inour community.
But I didn't know what thatlooked like.
And then I came across Sharky'sand just felt like it was a
perfect fit for the needs of ourcommunity, for what I wanted to
(01:30):
be part of and just a veryexciting brand to partner with,
and so did you find Sharky's onyour own?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Did you work with a franchise consultant?
How did that happen?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I was actually working with a franchise
consultant and she had gone backto the drawing board to kind of
see what opportunities might bea good fit for my husband and I
.
And while she was doing that, Igot a direct email from Scott
Sharkey, the co-founder himself,and I thought well, how
interesting, because I'd alreadybecome familiarized with the
brand.
I met with her the very nextday and she said I think that
(02:03):
Sharkey's might be a goodopportunity for you.
And I said well, that's funnybecause I've got an email in my
inbox from the founder himself.
So it was just seem like it wasmeant to be.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
It's funny how that happens sometimes.
Yeah, no, it's.
That's great, how serendipitousand so okay.
So now, now you become theowner of this, of this great
franchise One of the things thatJill and I talk about.
We're franchise consultantsourselves.
(02:31):
The first 12 to 18 months offranchise ownership can be hard.
I would argue that it's thehardest point, right.
Maybe even the first six months.
Some people shoot right out ofthe gates and have tremendous
revenue.
Some people start out slow.
What was your first 18 monthslike?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Well, I've got two locations, so with my first it's
coming up on its sixth yearanniversary this November, but
we really came out of the gatevery hot.
My degree is in marketing andso I had a large focus on
marketing, community development, all of those things that I
think really gave us a greatstart in the Odessa market.
However, we were hit with COVIDat three and a half months into
(03:10):
business, so that reallyprovides a completely different
take on things.
We were rocking and rolling andthen all of a sudden our doors
were closed for two months.
So a lot of challenges thatcome with that.
But I also think that that saysa lot for the community that we
serve and for the brand thatwe're partnered with, that we
were able to not only survivethat but very shortly after
start to thrive.
(03:31):
With Midland we had the brandpresence of Odessa because we'd
been open nearly two and a halfyears at that point when we
opened that location.
So we had a little bit of that.
But then it's a different takebecause you take a little bit of
your clientele from one marketinto the other and then you have
to build both businesses up.
So I do think that there arechallenges, certainly within
(03:51):
those first 12 months.
We were fortunate enough to beable to shorten that time frame
from a profitability standpoint,but that doesn't mean that we
were excluded from any of yourdaily operations or staffing
challenges that everybodytypically sees.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
You know, I think that what Sharky's does flies
under the radar, and I supposewe should probably talk about
what Sharky's does, which ishaircuts for kids.
But what makes you guysdifferent?
What do you see in terms ofcompetition?
You know, tell us about what.
What is Sharky's?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
The Sharky's is the number one kids hair salon
franchise in the U S.
We're growing at a rapid rate.
Even um from the time that Isigned on in in 2020, 19, my
husband and I to today, thebrand is nearly tripled in size
and it was already growing at anexponential rate then.
But I think what makes thebrand itself different and what
(04:50):
really drew me to it, is theavailability for kids of all
ages and kids of allneurodiverse backgrounds.
Right, so not only do we havethe fun cars for the little ones
, but we've got the Xboxstations in the tween lounge for
the older ones.
We really do grow with thefamily, and so I think that that
separates us from really anycompetition.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
We have it.
Our son was challenging withhaircuts when he was younger, so
the distractions were welcome,so lollipops and the cars and
whatever we could do.
You know, you guys areprofessionals at this just made
it so much easier because it was, um, it was a nightmare and
it's not something you thinkabout.
You know, I never thought thatwe would have you know, just
(05:35):
solely get a haircut, but itended up being like a very
stressful yeah, and now he's somuch better as he's gotten older
.
But the value of places likeSharky's is huge, because I mean
you probably know this morethan me, but I mean a lot of
kids have a hard time in therewith the noises and the you know
, all the sensory things.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
It can be a scary and intimidating thing for someone
who's either not done one beforeor maybe had a bad experience
elsewhere.
Intimidating thing for someonewho's either not done one before
or maybe had a bad experienceelsewhere.
My son actually had the sameexperience before we opened
Sharky's, which is a lot of thereason why it resonated so
heavily with me.
I just said we have to dobetter as a community for these
families.
There has to be a bettersolution so the stylists are
(06:17):
trained to be able to handle alldifferent situations.
They're just loving and patient.
So the kids know when they comein, this is my space.
It's fun, I'm going to bewelcomed with patience and love,
and that's a real game changer.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I love that, and I love that you go through the
teenage years too, because Ithink so many of these places
are still younger kids focused,and then the kids age out, you
know, and they don't.
They don't want to go thereanymore, but you know throw a
video game in there, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You know my son is excited because that's really
the only time he gets to playvideo games, so he really loves
going up there and playing whilethey do his haircut and we have
a hard time getting him toleave, which is great.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
That's awesome, and so this is one of those brands
that you can start as like atoddler and and like what's like
the oldest uh uh range of kidsthat you see come into your
salon.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
We'll never turn a family away.
So there's really no absoluteage um age out there, but zero
to 14 is really our niche.
So that first haircut all theway up into those teenage, those
beginning of the teenage years,is really where we find the
most value for these families.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
And do you see, like, like my, like Trey, our son and
I went into a barbershop and wegot a haircut and we could book
like a father son thing thisweekend.
Do you guys do anything likethat?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yes, a lot of locations do it's.
It's up to you know, we'refranchised, so it's up to the
owner on whether or not theywant to include those packages
at their location.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
But yes, they do whether or not they want to
include those packages at theirlocation, but yes, they do.
You know, just sort of thinkingabout the first year of
franchise ownership and Jill andI have been involved now in two
franchises, one in the seniorhealthcare industry and one in
the home services industry, I'lltell you, I think that there's
always things that you can kindof see coming and there's things
that surprised, like for usI'll never forget with our pinks
(08:06):
franchise and we landed thisgreat big hoa job and it's like,
hey, great news, we just landedthis thirty thousand dollar
account.
But yeah, you think it's thedream.
And then they take 60 days topay you and it quickly becomes a
nightmare.
I mean, we were literally on ona trip and we're like having to
, you know, chase this accountevery single day.
(08:28):
That was a huge lesson learned,especially with sort of
managing payroll and things likethat For potential Sharky's
owners out there.
Was there anything that youkind of caught you off guard as
an owner, that you weren'tprepared for?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Well, I mentioned that we dealt with COVID, so I
wasn't prepared for that.
But that aside, I think justfinding a balance with making
sure that you're focused on thebusiness, growth and the overall
picture of the business and notfinding yourself in the
day-to-day operations, reallyempowering your team to do that,
is a huge lesson that I learnedand a challenge that I think
(09:03):
any new business owner is goingto go through.
You want to make sure thatyou've got the right staff in
place, they're trainedappropriately so that everyone
can do their best job in theirspace.
So for me it's marketing andmaking sure that the business is
growing appropriately, makingsure that we're fully staffed
and everybody's getting paid ontime and that sort of thing, and
for them it's providing theexperience.
So it's a give and take.
(09:24):
I think if you try to doeverything yourself and you try
to over um manage, then thebusiness suffers.
So I think that was one thingthat I learned at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, working on the business, not in it.
Um, and Sharky's is actuallyadvertised as a as a passive
franchise.
Uh, jill and and I mostexperiences we've had in this we
don't believe passivefranchising is a real thing.
Um, what would you, what wouldyou say to that?
Is the sharkies fit a more Idon't want to say passive more
(09:56):
sort of semi-involved uh modelor what's been your experience
there?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
yeah, I I would say it's a semi-passive brand for
sure, and I think that'ssomething that we talk about
within the organization all thetime.
But if you can set the pillarsup correctly and really have
your ear and your heart on thepulse of the business but be
able to stay out of the salon asmuch as possible and focus on
that business growth, yes, youcan set it up in a semi-passive
(10:23):
way, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Yeah, we have a.
So the whole mantra of ourcompany, Franchise Insiders, is
franchise owners helping futurefranchise owners.
So all of our consultants arefranchise owners, either current
or former, with a successfulexit.
And we do have one of ourconsultants who owns a home
services franchise and he has aGM and his GM does a tremendous
job running the business for him, Except last week that GM was
out on vacation and then I thinkhe was feeling a little
(10:52):
stressed out.
But I think that's really moreof the exception, not the rule.
I do think that for the mostpart, owners better be prepared
to dig in, really get involved,especially when you consider and
I'd love to hear your take onthis I think so much of running
a successful franchise, it'sreally getting that piece in
terms of managing the staff,motivating the staff, keeping
(11:15):
the staff.
What have you seen there?
What's been your experience?
What's been successful for you?
What sort of lessons learnedhave you had there?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah.
So you're exactly right In thebeginning you know it's not
going to.
It's not a turnkey where you'rejust you open the door and
people come.
There are a lot of things thatyou need to set up and have in
place in order for it to runsuccessfully.
So I do think there was a lotmore involvement on my part.
You know the first six to ninemonths of the business to get
that running properly.
But from a staffing perspective,I have found company culture is
(11:46):
my number one goal.
We have to have a good companyculture in order to be
successful.
That means teamwork, which inthe salon industry is not.
It's a faux pas A lot of timesin the salon industry the
stylists are competitive withone another.
They're kind of at aconjuncture with trying to make
sure that they can get as manyclients as possible and whatnot.
But in our business we want tomake sure that we have an
(12:08):
environment of teamwork,environment of training and
environment of communication andif those things are functioning
properly then the staff ishappy as a whole.
We tend to find betterretention, just overall
performance being better andexperience being better.
So I have found that I wouldrather be understaffed with the
right people than appropriatelystaffed or overstaffed with the
(12:29):
wrong ones.
That is a big headache, I think, for an owner when you don't
have the right company culture.
So that would be my greatestnugget of knowledge that I could
pass on to any potentialfranchisee.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Yeah, I think that's great, that's great guidance and
that is, you know, and I guess,my next question for you,
getting clients, like how doesthat happen for a Sharky's, Like
what do you do to get clientsin?
Are you guys advertising online?
Is it word of mouth Like howdoes that?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
happen everything.
So obviously we've got ourtraditional methods of social
media advertising meta ads, bothFacebook and Instagram there,
google ads those things makingsure that, as moms are going
about their daily life andthey're scrolling through
Facebook, that they're now awarethat we're there and that we're
ready to serve their family.
So that's the traditionalmethod.
(13:20):
But for me, I'm a big advocateof community involvement,
grassroots, local marketing.
I've passed out many a flyer.
I know every other kid-centricbusiness in town.
We're doing flyer swaps, we'redoing co-branded contests and
all sorts of things throughoutthe year to really make an
impact on the community and Imake sure that I partner with
brands that I trust that I knoware also providing great value
(13:42):
to families.
So that's important.
I think if you're missing thelocal piece and you're only
doing social media or Google,you're really kind of missing a
big piece of the pie there.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Yeah, is that dependent more on you to figure
out the local or just shareyourself with that, or is it
sort of like 50-50?
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
A little of both.
So there are resources in placethat owners can access that
would allow for partnerships tobe easier to be made in their
local communities.
There are national partnersthat exist that have resources
that are pre-made all thosetemplates and whatnot and then
just good introductory emailsand flyer distribution, talk
tracks and things like that thatyou can certainly utilize and
(14:23):
even train your staff to be ableto make those connections too.
So it's not just all on theowner, it's kind of a cultural
thing again.
But yes, I find that if I putthe effort in to make those
connections happen and it'spretty minimal effort, it really
is A lot of times it's placesthat I'm taking my kids the
dentist, the gym, the kids' gymsand things like that where I'm
(14:44):
able to connect with otherowners to start to really kind
of further those local marketingefforts and the school system
and things like that kind offall in line with that as well.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
You know it's so interesting thinking about the
advertising for Pink's, which isa very I don't know how much
you know about Pink's windowcleaning, but it's actually
based out of Austin, texas, whenwe would run Facebook ads and
Google ads.
What we found was is that onFacebook people see our brand,
see the guys, so we had clientsthat would convert for higher
(15:15):
paying jobs because they sort ofbecame brand fans, versus
people who found us on Google.
You know that was more of aknee jerk sort of a thing.
And then all of a sudden, asyou watch ChatGPT coming into
play and people using ChatGPTfor so many more things now than
Google, we've seen thatdramatically impact the
effectiveness of Google ads.
(15:35):
I'm wondering if you've seensome of those same trends with
your advertising in terms ofyour conversions.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I advertise on both platforms and they are different
.
You're exactly right.
No-transcript Google you get alittle bit of that, but I think
(16:14):
both have their own impact andtheir own value in their own
specific ways.
From an AI perspective, withSEO and converting and whatnot,
we have to make sure that we'vemanaged our reputation
appropriately on Google, thatwe're encouraging people to
leave their reviews and talkabout the experience that they
had, because if those piecesaren't there, then we get left
(16:34):
out of the AI puzzle.
So I do see an impact there.
I advertise on both platformsand I find value in each.
Sometimes Google performsbetter for us, sometimes
Facebook performs better for us.
It really just kind of depends.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I know Depends on the day Like you hit with one and
then all of a sudden it's likeyou know silence yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
And we're able to measure our creative internally,
so we can kind of see whatresonates with families.
And then too, I am the targetmarket.
I'm a mom, my kids are young,we're clients, and so I kind of
know, I think, what familieswant to see and what moms find
value in, and so we try tomarket to that, so that they can
really see what we're all about.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I mean, I think you have to sleep better at night
knowing that you've got abusiness, speaking of AI, that
is not going to be impacted byAI anytime soon.
There are franchises.
Well, not not franchises, butbusinesses like franchises.
For example, kava, um andchipotle we talked about this
last week on our podcast thatare implement, will be
(17:35):
implementing uh, robotics intothe kitchen, meaning that the
the, instead of having a personput together your burrito, it
will soon be a robot within thenext five years.
Hair cutting is probably a longway off from that, not ready to
interest To its nature.
So I mean, you've got somethingif you wanted to that I would
(17:56):
imagine over the next 10 years,if you guys wanted.
There's usually a 10-yearfranchise agreement, but let's
just say over the next fiveyears.
You guys were like you knowwhat?
We're really good at, thisSharky's thing, and we want to
grow to 20 locations On anygiven day.
10% of a franchise system, fromCrumble to Midas to Sharky's, is
(18:16):
for sale, and so one thing alot of people don't think about
when they're starting to build afranchise is you know, get
through the first 18 months,Start with like one or two units
, just like you did.
Then if you're good at it,you've got systems that really
can scale.
Then talk to your franchisorand say, look, are there other
(18:39):
franchisees?
If there are other franchiseesin Texas within driving distance
of us that might want to sell,that's a way for someone to
start kind of adding more unitsbecause they know how to do it
and there's economies of scalethere because the business is
already open and someone whoknows how to run a business well
can come in and turn anotherperforming unit into a
overperforming unit.
And I think it's an advantagethat franchise owners have.
(19:01):
That isn't talked about a lot,because right now people want to
buy existing businesses andthey want to go on to biz by
cell and find that magicalbusiness.
And what we tell people isfranchise owners tend to sell to
franchise owners.
Um, before it ever hits biz bycell.
So I don't know that.
That's really just more me sortof sorry spitballing.
You know the beauties offranchise ownership, presenting
(19:22):
both sort of acquisition andeven exit partners, like, like,
if someone gets in they justsaid hey, you know what this
franchise isn't for me.
Let's say there was aneighboring city.
They didn't like it.
They call you and say are youinterested in buying?
So that's something that againI think people as they start to
think about this and they wantto own 10 franchises one day
(19:46):
that's a great way to do it.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
You don't have to start that way, absolutely.
Yeah, I've seen a lot of that umwithin other owners that I've
got road to know over the yearswhere they now maybe they were
one unit or two unit, nowthey're five units.
So I do think that that's astrong story to tell and I get
asked that question all all thetime.
You know, when are you going toopen your third, when are you
going to open your fourth?
And for me, the way that it'sworked for me is I've taken a
(20:08):
little bit of a different roleand now I'm assisting with
corporate and helping otherfranchisees to grow and to
market appropriately and to doall the things that I've had
success with in my market.
I live in the desert about fivehours away from any major town,
five hours away from Austin,houston, san Antonio, all of
those um, those towns.
So I'm quite happy playing inmy own backyard.
(20:29):
But I certainly see the valuein scalability and I'm seeing
that with a lot of the otheradvisory board members and other
owners that I that I know andconversate with within the brand
.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah, and I think the retail concepts like Sharky's,
that's the way to do it.
Um, there are other franchises,like I'm sure when you work
with your consultant theyprobably showed you like senior
care, where you can literallytake one and grow it into a
pretty big business on a youknow, say, investment of 150k.
It doesn't have an artificialcap, but it's just a completely
different type of business.
(20:59):
But the real estate plays.
What people like is that you'vegot pretty consistent cash.
You've got a lot of clientsthat are going to be repeat
clients, which is tremendous.
That makes a business much morevaluable.
So, yeah, I think that's.
I just think it's such a smartbusiness and it's just to me
it's the beauty of franchisingthat you know most people, when
(21:20):
they pass by a shark, he cutstheir kids.
They might not even think twice, and I don't mean that in a bad
way.
Just you know it is what it is.
But the smartest investmentsare these sort of quote-unquote,
boring businesses that are justin heavy need and that's what
you've got.
So, on that, on that note, andgiven all the things that you're
doing, what advice would youhave?
Someone's listening to thispodcast right now.
(21:42):
You're saying that's a greatidea.
I love donor sharkies.
What advice would you have fromthem, from from sort of both
you know sides of the coin, sortof tempering expectations but
also letting people know whatthe possibilities are?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, I mean there's a lot of things.
I think that can be said froman advice standpoint, but
ultimately I think it comes downto what I mentioned before
culture.
But ultimately I think it comesdown to what I mentioned before
culture.
So retention and marketingReally and truly, when the
paint's on the wall and thedoors are open, that's what it
boils down to in a Sharky's Cutsfor Kids.
Do I have the right staff andam I marketing the business so
other people can see it?
So I think if an owner comes inwith that mindset and they're
(22:18):
really seeing their marketingand their staffing as an
investment to the business andnot an expense, then your mind
shift starts to change and youstart to think, oh well, if I'm
getting these sort of costs backon my marketing, then I should
probably put some more moneyinto my marketing.
That's working very well.
Let's do that.
So if you can come in withthose mindsets and then you have
(22:38):
a level of patience, I thinkit's going to soar.
If you've put those pillars inplace, things are going to take
off and it's going to do whatit's supposed to do and it's
going to thrive.
But there is a level ofpatience to it.
You can't just open it and saythey will come and I'm going to
be making $100,000 this nextmonth.
It just doesn't work like that.
You have to have a realisticexpectation in business about
(23:00):
the growth and what that lookslike and just be prepared to
make adjustments over time.
But it's a pretty simplebusiness model and it's
definitely duplicatable if youput the right things in place.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I mean, growth and business ownership is never
linear, it's always this.
But I think you've got greatperspective.
So so I guess the the reallythe last question is just sort
of, you know, looking ahead, butas as a multi-unit franchise
owner, what, what are your goals, when, where do you see this,
this going?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Well, I don't think we ever stop.
I come from a sales background,in addition to marketing, so
I'm very sales like-minded and Iwill always want to grow the
business.
Every year, I have businessgoals.
Okay, we're going to, we'regoing to do this, we're going to
grow this way, whatnot?
So that's always first andforemost is how can we get new
clients, how can we see newfamilies, how, how can we
continue to service the clientsthat know and love us already?
(23:58):
But in addition to that, justmore of a community impact, what
I love and what pride I haveover having businesses in the
communities that I grew up isthat I'm able to grow and have a
positive impact on the placethat I live and the people that
I know and the people that Idon't know yet.
So continuing to do that,continuing to make charity
partnerships and business growthand partnering with the schools
(24:18):
, I think, is a big thing for me, and then, on the other side of
the coin, from a Sharky'sfranchise perspective, helping
other owners do the same.
I really love to be a soundingboard for growth, as a
representation of what can be,and so I think that being able
(24:41):
to continue to do that.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
It's pretty powerful and on my priority list.
You know, I've always foundthat our most successful years
is when we put a goal up on thewall and we look at it every
single day and asked ourselvesare we, are we on the way to
hitting that goal?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I do that as well.
Yeah, if you write your goalsdown, you're way more likely to
achieve them.
There's a lot of data in andaround that, um, so I completely
agree.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So you mentioned something you know, coming from
a sales background, but you youdidn't come from a haircutting
background.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Oh, so is that a requirement?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Most owners do not, um, come from the hair salon
industry.
So in the beginning, um, Ifound that as a weakness, right
Even though I knew that a lot ofother owners had not come, um,
from that background.
I really kind of viewed it as aweakness, and so I tried to
inflate my knowledge when I wastalking to the staff in the very
beginning and try to really letthem know that I knew what I
(25:33):
was talking about when I took astep back from that and I said
I'm really good at businessdevelopment, at marketing, at
sales, at personal relationshipmanagement, and you guys are
really good at what you learnedand studied in school and
personal relationship managementas well.
Let's do that together.
Then it changed everything.
So, no, most owners do not comefrom a hair background.
(25:55):
I know a little now I'm stillnot an expert, for sure, but
it's funny because my daughterwe go to school and tell her
friends all the time, and herteachers, my mom is a
hairstylist.
So she didn't understand theconcept of exactly what I do,
and so I just asked her Harper,when have I ever cut your hair?
I'm not a hairstylist.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
But, yeah, yeah, yeah .
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Well, but you know, it's like when we had home care
assistants in the beginning,which was our home care
franchise, we were like, hey, weshould target nurses because
they'll be familiar with thistype of thing and, as it turned
out, they were way too clinical.
They would be, you know,recommending someone have like
two hours of home care.
And then what we found was thatthe people who were more sales
(26:43):
had a, had a sort of strongersales background.
They were helping people getmuch longer cases, which they
needed, by the way, got someonewith dementia, and so our
franchisees that had no healthcare background were just wiping
the floor with the ones thatdid, because they knew the
fundamentals of marketing andsales and customer service.
(27:04):
And so I've always said whenpeople have asked, do I need to
have a background in this?
And my answer is no, I mean,what you need to do thing um,
and this is something thatpersonally I struggle with is
that I think you need to be areally, really strong systems
person.
You need to be able to playwithin those systems and follow
(27:25):
those prescribed game plans andbe very much a team player.
The Patriots won a lot of SuperBowls with a unspectacular cast
of characters outside of TomBrady.
It was all about the team andthe coaching, whereas some teams
have like a star player or twoand they never win the Super
(27:45):
Bowl because it's more about thestar.
It's football season, let's go.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
No, but that makes sense.
You know, again, someone comesin with salon experience and
they want to run it a certainway because that's what they've
done and that's not necessarilythe struggle, you know.
So it's it's.
It's interesting to see that.
You know that you, you have tohave somewhat of an interest,
right, but not necessarily askilled background, and then, as
you said, you learn along theway.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yes, and it's a case by yeah, exactly, it's a case by
case scenario too.
If you hire someone with anamazing personality and who's
really willing to learn, andthen you invest in that person
to make sure that they've gotthe proper training in place to
really thrive, I think thatthat's better than hiring
someone who really just wantsthe job and doesn't understand
the culture and what we do andthe value.
(28:32):
Because really and truly, thesefamilies depend on us.
They want their children tofeel confident and they want
them to have a good and smoothexperience, so we need to make
sure that we hire appropriatelyfor those that are interested in
that.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You know what I love about hearing you talk and we'll
be wrapping this up now, in aminute but, as I hear you, what
I love is this is franchiseownership done right?
It's a good thing, this hasbeen a good thing for your life
is.
What I love is this isfranchise ownership done right?
It's a good bet?
This has been a good thing foryour life, is what I'm hearing?
Yes, absolutely so.
Today, on the way to school, Iwas driving Trey to school and
he had heard me speaking with aclient.
(29:10):
And listen, one thing I knowabout franchise ownership is you
can't paint this rosy picturethat you're going to be used in
a bathtub with millions of bucks.
It does take time, it takeshard work and it can be the most
rewarding thing you've everdone.
Our life would not be what itis without franchise ownership.
So I get off the phone and hesays you know, dad, I finally
(29:33):
figured out what you do.
You stop people from messing up, and the reason he said that is
is I'll be sitting there sayingto someone look, it's not going
to be absentee.
You might not even be drawing asalary until month 12.
Okay, you know, if you thinkit's just going to be getting
into the business and easystreet, don't do it.
(29:55):
And it was just so cool how hewas like you help people from
you, help people not mess up.
And I really think, asfranchise consultants, that's
probably one of our number onejobs is to to temper
expectations, cause you wouldn't.
I don't, I don't know how youwere with with your franchise
acquisition, but we sometimessee it where people are like I
want to buy this franchise now,after two phone calls and it's
(30:16):
like no, no, you have to gothrough a diligent process.
You got to talk to five toseven franchisees.
Um.
So again, just to bring itaround, hearing you, hearing
your enthusiasm for the business, your knowledge of it, lessons
learned, I just that that makesme happy to hear.
What a great yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
And I have, you know, a very positive outlook.
I'm I'm tend to be that type ofperson, but it doesn't mean
that we haven't gone throughdifficulties.
You're exactly right.
What I, what I've told people,is that you know, the definition
of an entrepreneur is a problemsolver, which inherently means
that there will be problems.
So you really kind of have tolook introspectively to
determine am I fit and equippedto be able to handle these
problems in a healthy way formyself, for my family and for
(30:56):
the business?
And if the answer is yes, it'sprobably a great fit for you.
But there have been times overthe years now we're six years in
almost where I'm like gosh, didI make the right decision?
This is really difficult, thisis really hard.
Is this the right thing for me?
And I think just being able toput yourself back in the mindset
(31:16):
of why you did it and what youbelieve and know about the brand
will get you through thosetimes.
Then you see the rainbow on theother side where, okay, yeah,
this makes sense.
I've learned a lot through this.
This happened for a reason.
Now we're growing and thriving.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Very cool.
Any books or podcasts you'drecommend to a prospective
entrepreneur?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Gosh, I wish I had time to do that at this moment
in life.
This season of life is so busyfor us.
I say I have three jobs andthen I've got kids and travel,
ball, sports and all the things.
So to pick up a book these daysis very difficult.
I'm really only getting time tospend in my Bible, but
hopefully in the near futureI'll be able to get more
(31:54):
acclimated with those things.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
I think your life experience, your business
ownership experience, speaksvolumes enough, and I appreciate
your straightforward approachand thanks for spending some
time with us today.
We really appreciate meetingyou and hearing your story.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Oh, thank you so much for having me.
We really appreciate it as well.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
You got it Well, everyone.
Thanks again for tuning intoanother episode of we Bought a
Franchise podcast.
If you're interested infranchise ownership, getting
just a general idea of what thisis really like, getting some
honest advice and feedback, youknow what to do Text us
305-710-0050.
For this episode, I'm JackJohnson, I'm Jill and we'll talk
(32:35):
to you next time, take care.
Hi everyone, welcome back to the we Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson, I'm JillJohnson and today we have a
special guest.
We have Lacey Altenhoffen.
Oh, I said that right, lacey,welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Lacey is a Sharky's Cuts forKids franchise owner and we've
been so excited, lacey, to haveyou on today, because you know,
(00:23):
sharky's is one of thosefranchises that we have worked
with forever.
We've been franchiseconsultants since 2017.
It's just one of thosecategories that just is so smart
.
We'd love to hear your storyand maybe a little bit about you
.
Oftentimes, how we like tobegin is what got you started,
what got you into franchiseownership?
(00:44):
Maybe we can take it from there.
Sure, absolutely, how we liketo begin is what got you started
, what got you into franchiseownership, and maybe we can take
it from there.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Sure, Absolutely so.
Originally I knew that wewanted to open a business in
Midland and Odessa.
I'm from Midland originally,have a lot of pride over the
community and wanted to bringsomething in the entrepreneurial
space to my communities.
But I just didn't know whatthat was.
So I began the process oflooking into opportunities.
I really hoped that we wouldfind something in the children's
(01:08):
industry, because that's wheremy heart and passion lie as a
mother, and I felt that therewere a lot of other families
that would benefit from that inour community.
But I didn't know what thatlooked like.
And then I came across Sharky'sand just felt like it was a
perfect fit for the needs of ourcommunity, for what I wanted to
(01:30):
be part of and just a veryexciting brand to partner with,
and so did you find Sharky's onyour own?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Did you work with a franchise consultant?
How did that happen?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I was actually working with a franchise
consultant and she had gone backto the drawing board to kind of
see what opportunities might bea good fit for my husband and I
.
And while she was doing that, Igot a direct email from Scott
Sharkey, the co-founder himself,and I thought well, how
interesting, because I'd alreadybecome familiarized with the
brand.
I met with her the very nextday and she said I think that
(02:03):
Sharkey's might be a goodopportunity for you.
And I said well, that's funnybecause I've got an email in my
inbox from the founder himself.
So it was just seem like it wasmeant to be.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
It's funny how that happens sometimes.
Yeah, no, it's.
That's great, how serendipitousand so okay.
So now, now you become theowner of this, of this great
franchise One of the things thatJill and I talk about.
We're franchise consultantsourselves.
(02:31):
The first 12 to 18 months offranchise ownership can be hard.
I would argue that it's thehardest point, right.
Maybe even the first six months.
Some people shoot right out ofthe gates and have tremendous
revenue.
Some people start out slow.
What was your first 18 monthslike?
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Well, I've got two locations, so with my first it's
coming up on its sixth yearanniversary this November, but
we really came out of the gatevery hot.
My degree is in marketing andso I had a large focus on
marketing, community development, all of those things that I
think really gave us a greatstart in the Odessa market.
However, we were hit with COVIDat three and a half months into
(03:10):
business, so that reallyprovides a completely different
take on things.
We were rocking and rolling andthen all of a sudden our doors
were closed for two months.
So a lot of challenges thatcome with that.
But I also think that that saysa lot for the community that we
serve and for the brand thatwe're partnered with, that we
were able to not only survivethat but very shortly after
start to thrive.
(03:31):
With Midland we had the brandpresence of Odessa because we'd
been open nearly two and a halfyears at that point when we
opened that location.
So we had a little bit of that.
But then it's a different takebecause you take a little bit of
your clientele from one marketinto the other and then you have
to build both businesses up.
So I do think that there arechallenges, certainly within
(03:51):
those first 12 months.
We were fortunate enough to beable to shorten that time frame
from a profitability standpoint,but that doesn't mean that we
were excluded from any of yourdaily operations or staffing
challenges that everybodytypically sees.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
You know, I think that what Sharky's does flies
under the radar, and I supposewe should probably talk about
what Sharky's does, which ishaircuts for kids.
But what makes you guysdifferent?
What do you see in terms ofcompetition?
You know, tell us about what.
What is Sharky's?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
The Sharky's is the number one kids hair salon
franchise in the U S.
We're growing at a rapid rate.
Even um from the time that Isigned on in in 2020, 19, my
husband and I to today, thebrand is nearly tripled in size
and it was already growing at anexponential rate then.
But I think what makes thebrand itself different and what
(04:50):
really drew me to it, is theavailability for kids of all
ages and kids of allneurodiverse backgrounds.
Right, so not only do we havethe fun cars for the little ones
, but we've got the Xboxstations in the tween lounge for
the older ones.
We really do grow with thefamily, and so I think that that
separates us from really anycompetition.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
We have it.
Our son was challenging withhaircuts when he was younger, so
the distractions were welcome,so lollipops and the cars and
whatever we could do.
You know, you guys areprofessionals at this just made
it so much easier because it was, um, it was a nightmare and
it's not something you thinkabout.
You know, I never thought thatwe would have you know, just
(05:35):
solely get a haircut, but itended up being like a very
stressful yeah, and now he's somuch better as he's gotten older
.
But the value of places likeSharky's is huge, because I mean
you probably know this morethan me, but I mean a lot of
kids have a hard time in therewith the noises and the you know
, all the sensory things.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
It can be a scary and intimidating thing for someone
who's either not done one beforeor maybe had a bad experience
elsewhere.
Intimidating thing for someonewho's either not done one before
or maybe had a bad experienceelsewhere.
My son actually had the sameexperience before we opened
Sharky's, which is a lot of thereason why it resonated so
heavily with me.
I just said we have to dobetter as a community for these
families.
There has to be a bettersolution so the stylists are
(06:17):
trained to be able to handle alldifferent situations.
They're just loving and patient.
So the kids know when they comein, this is my space.
It's fun, I'm going to bewelcomed with patience and love,
and that's a real game changer.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I love that, and I love that you go through the
teenage years too, because Ithink so many of these places
are still younger kids focused,and then the kids age out, you
know, and they don't.
They don't want to go thereanymore, but you know throw a
video game in there, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You know my son is excited because that's really
the only time he gets to playvideo games, so he really loves
going up there and playing whilethey do his haircut and we have
a hard time getting him toleave, which is great.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
That's awesome, and so this is one of those brands
that you can start as like atoddler and and like what's like
the oldest uh uh range of kidsthat you see come into your
salon.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
We'll never turn a family away.
So there's really no absoluteage um age out there, but zero
to 14 is really our niche.
So that first haircut all theway up into those teenage, those
beginning of the teenage years,is really where we find the
most value for these families.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
And do you see, like, like my, like Trey, our son and
I went into a barbershop and wegot a haircut and we could book
like a father son thing thisweekend.
Do you guys do anything likethat?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yes, a lot of locations do it's.
It's up to you know, we'refranchised, so it's up to the
owner on whether or not theywant to include those packages
at their location.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
But yes, they do whether or not they want to
include those packages at theirlocation, but yes, they do.
You know, just sort of thinkingabout the first year of
franchise ownership and Jill andI have been involved now in two
franchises, one in the seniorhealthcare industry and one in
the home services industry, I'lltell you, I think that there's
always things that you can kindof see coming and there's things
that surprised, like for usI'll never forget with our pinks
(08:06):
franchise and we landed thisgreat big hoa job and it's like,
hey, great news, we just landedthis thirty thousand dollar
account.
But yeah, you think it's thedream.
And then they take 60 days topay you and it quickly becomes a
nightmare.
I mean, we were literally on ona trip and we're like having to
, you know, chase this accountevery single day.
(08:28):
That was a huge lesson learned,especially with sort of
managing payroll and things likethat For potential Sharky's
owners out there.
Was there anything that youkind of caught you off guard as
an owner, that you weren'tprepared for?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Well, I mentioned that we dealt with COVID, so I
wasn't prepared for that.
But that aside, I think justfinding a balance with making
sure that you're focused on thebusiness, growth and the overall
picture of the business and notfinding yourself in the
day-to-day operations, reallyempowering your team to do that,
is a huge lesson that I learnedand a challenge that I think
(09:03):
any new business owner is goingto go through.
You want to make sure thatyou've got the right staff in
place, they're trainedappropriately so that everyone
can do their best job in theirspace.
So for me it's marketing andmaking sure that the business is
growing appropriately, makingsure that we're fully staffed
and everybody's getting paid ontime and that sort of thing, and
for them it's providing theexperience.
So it's a give and take.
(09:24):
I think if you try to doeverything yourself and you try
to over um manage, then thebusiness suffers.
So I think that was one thingthat I learned at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, working on the business, not in it.
Um, and Sharky's is actuallyadvertised as a as a passive
franchise.
Uh, jill and and I mostexperiences we've had in this we
don't believe passivefranchising is a real thing.
Um, what would you, what wouldyou say to that?
Is the sharkies fit a more Idon't want to say passive more
(09:56):
sort of semi-involved uh modelor what's been your experience
there?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
yeah, I I would say it's a semi-passive brand for
sure, and I think that'ssomething that we talk about
within the organization all thetime.
But if you can set the pillarsup correctly and really have
your ear and your heart on thepulse of the business but be
able to stay out of the salon asmuch as possible and focus on
that business growth, yes, youcan set it up in a semi-passive
(10:23):
way, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Yeah, we have a.
So the whole mantra of ourcompany, Franchise Insiders, is
franchise owners helping futurefranchise owners.
So all of our consultants arefranchise owners, either current
or former, with a successfulexit.
And we do have one of ourconsultants who owns a home
services franchise and he has aGM and his GM does a tremendous
job running the business for him, Except last week that GM was
out on vacation and then I thinkhe was feeling a little
(10:52):
stressed out.
But I think that's really moreof the exception, not the rule.
I do think that for the mostpart, owners better be prepared
to dig in, really get involved,especially when you consider and
I'd love to hear your take onthis I think so much of running
a successful franchise, it'sreally getting that piece in
terms of managing the staff,motivating the staff, keeping
(11:15):
the staff.
What have you seen there?
What's been your experience?
What's been successful for you?
What sort of lessons learnedhave you had there?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah.
So you're exactly right In thebeginning you know it's not
going to.
It's not a turnkey where you'rejust you open the door and
people come.
There are a lot of things thatyou need to set up and have in
place in order for it to runsuccessfully.
So I do think there was a lotmore involvement on my part.
You know the first six to ninemonths of the business to get
that running properly.
But from a staffing perspective,I have found company culture is
(11:46):
my number one goal.
We have to have a good companyculture in order to be
successful.
That means teamwork, which inthe salon industry is not.
It's a faux pas A lot of timesin the salon industry the
stylists are competitive withone another.
They're kind of at aconjuncture with trying to make
sure that they can get as manyclients as possible and whatnot.
But in our business we want tomake sure that we have an
(12:08):
environment of teamwork,environment of training and
environment of communication andif those things are functioning
properly then the staff ishappy as a whole.
We tend to find betterretention, just overall
performance being better andexperience being better.
So I have found that I wouldrather be understaffed with the
right people than appropriatelystaffed or overstaffed with the
(12:29):
wrong ones.
That is a big headache, I think, for an owner when you don't
have the right company culture.
So that would be my greatestnugget of knowledge that I could
pass on to any potentialfranchisee.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Yeah, I think that's great, that's great guidance and
that is, you know, and I guess,my next question for you,
getting clients, like how doesthat happen for a Sharky's, Like
what do you do to get clientsin?
Are you guys advertising online?
Is it word of mouth Like howdoes that?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
happen everything.
So obviously we've got ourtraditional methods of social
media advertising meta ads, bothFacebook and Instagram there,
google ads those things makingsure that, as moms are going
about their daily life andthey're scrolling through
Facebook, that they're now awarethat we're there and that we're
ready to serve their family.
So that's the traditionalmethod.
(13:20):
But for me, I'm a big advocateof community involvement,
grassroots, local marketing.
I've passed out many a flyer.
I know every other kid-centricbusiness in town.
We're doing flyer swaps, we'redoing co-branded contests and
all sorts of things throughoutthe year to really make an
impact on the community and Imake sure that I partner with
brands that I trust that I knoware also providing great value
(13:42):
to families.
So that's important.
I think if you're missing thelocal piece and you're only
doing social media or Google,you're really kind of missing a
big piece of the pie there.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Yeah, is that dependent more on you to figure
out the local or just shareyourself with that, or is it
sort of like 50-50?
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
A little of both.
So there are resources in placethat owners can access that
would allow for partnerships tobe easier to be made in their
local communities.
There are national partnersthat exist that have resources
that are pre-made all thosetemplates and whatnot and then
just good introductory emailsand flyer distribution, talk
tracks and things like that thatyou can certainly utilize and
(14:23):
even train your staff to be ableto make those connections too.
So it's not just all on theowner, it's kind of a cultural
thing again.
But yes, I find that if I putthe effort in to make those
connections happen and it'spretty minimal effort, it really
is A lot of times it's placesthat I'm taking my kids the
dentist, the gym, the kids' gymsand things like that where I'm
(14:44):
able to connect with otherowners to start to really kind
of further those local marketingefforts and the school system
and things like that kind offall in line with that as well.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
You know it's so interesting thinking about the
advertising for Pink's, which isa very I don't know how much
you know about Pink's windowcleaning, but it's actually
based out of Austin, texas, whenwe would run Facebook ads and
Google ads.
What we found was is that onFacebook people see our brand,
see the guys, so we had clientsthat would convert for higher
(15:15):
paying jobs because they sort ofbecame brand fans, versus
people who found us on Google.
You know that was more of aknee jerk sort of a thing.
And then all of a sudden, asyou watch ChatGPT coming into
play and people using ChatGPTfor so many more things now than
Google, we've seen thatdramatically impact the
effectiveness of Google ads.
(15:35):
I'm wondering if you've seensome of those same trends with
your advertising in terms ofyour conversions.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I advertise on both platforms and they are different
.
You're exactly right.
No-transcript Google you get alittle bit of that, but I think
(16:14):
both have their own impact andtheir own value in their own
specific ways.
From an AI perspective, withSEO and converting and whatnot,
we have to make sure that we'vemanaged our reputation
appropriately on Google, thatwe're encouraging people to
leave their reviews and talkabout the experience that they
had, because if those piecesaren't there, then we get left
(16:34):
out of the AI puzzle.
So I do see an impact there.
I advertise on both platformsand I find value in each.
Sometimes Google performsbetter for us, sometimes
Facebook performs better for us.
It really just kind of depends.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I know Depends on the day Like you hit with one and
then all of a sudden it's likeyou know silence yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
And we're able to measure our creative internally,
so we can kind of see whatresonates with families.
And then too, I am the targetmarket.
I'm a mom, my kids are young,we're clients, and so I kind of
know, I think, what familieswant to see and what moms find
value in, and so we try tomarket to that, so that they can
really see what we're all about.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I mean, I think you have to sleep better at night
knowing that you've got abusiness, speaking of AI, that
is not going to be impacted byAI anytime soon.
There are franchises.
Well, not not franchises, butbusinesses like franchises.
For example, kava, um andchipotle we talked about this
last week on our podcast thatare implement, will be
(17:35):
implementing uh, robotics intothe kitchen, meaning that the
the, instead of having a personput together your burrito, it
will soon be a robot within thenext five years.
Hair cutting is probably a longway off from that, not ready to
interest To its nature.
So I mean, you've got somethingif you wanted to that I would
(17:56):
imagine over the next 10 years,if you guys wanted.
There's usually a 10-yearfranchise agreement, but let's
just say over the next fiveyears.
You guys were like you knowwhat?
We're really good at, thisSharky's thing, and we want to
grow to 20 locations On anygiven day.
10% of a franchise system, fromCrumble to Midas to Sharky's, is
(18:16):
for sale, and so one thing alot of people don't think about
when they're starting to build afranchise is you know, get
through the first 18 months,Start with like one or two units
, just like you did.
Then if you're good at it,you've got systems that really
can scale.
Then talk to your franchisorand say, look, are there other
(18:39):
franchisees?
If there are other franchiseesin Texas within driving distance
of us that might want to sell,that's a way for someone to
start kind of adding more unitsbecause they know how to do it
and there's economies of scalethere because the business is
already open and someone whoknows how to run a business well
can come in and turn anotherperforming unit into a
overperforming unit.
And I think it's an advantagethat franchise owners have.
(19:01):
That isn't talked about a lot,because right now people want to
buy existing businesses andthey want to go on to biz by
cell and find that magicalbusiness.
And what we tell people isfranchise owners tend to sell to
franchise owners.
Um, before it ever hits biz bycell.
So I don't know that.
That's really just more me sortof sorry spitballing.
You know the beauties offranchise ownership, presenting
(19:22):
both sort of acquisition andeven exit partners, like, like,
if someone gets in they justsaid hey, you know what this
franchise isn't for me.
Let's say there was aneighboring city.
They didn't like it.
They call you and say are youinterested in buying?
So that's something that againI think people as they start to
think about this and they wantto own 10 franchises one day
(19:46):
that's a great way to do it.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
You don't have to start that way, absolutely.
Yeah, I've seen a lot of that umwithin other owners that I've
got road to know over the yearswhere they now maybe they were
one unit or two unit, nowthey're five units.
So I do think that that's astrong story to tell and I get
asked that question all all thetime.
You know, when are you going toopen your third, when are you
going to open your fourth?
And for me, the way that it'sworked for me is I've taken a
(20:08):
little bit of a different roleand now I'm assisting with
corporate and helping otherfranchisees to grow and to
market appropriately and to doall the things that I've had
success with in my market.
I live in the desert about fivehours away from any major town,
five hours away from Austin,houston, san Antonio, all of
those um, those towns.
So I'm quite happy playing inmy own backyard.
(20:29):
But I certainly see the valuein scalability and I'm seeing
that with a lot of the otheradvisory board members and other
owners that I that I know andconversate with within the brand
.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah, and I think the retail concepts like Sharky's,
that's the way to do it.
Um, there are other franchises,like I'm sure when you work
with your consultant theyprobably showed you like senior
care, where you can literallytake one and grow it into a
pretty big business on a youknow, say, investment of 150k.
It doesn't have an artificialcap, but it's just a completely
different type of business.
(20:59):
But the real estate plays.
What people like is that you'vegot pretty consistent cash.
You've got a lot of clientsthat are going to be repeat
clients, which is tremendous.
That makes a business much morevaluable.
So, yeah, I think that's.
I just think it's such a smartbusiness and it's just to me
it's the beauty of franchisingthat you know most people, when
(21:20):
they pass by a shark, he cutstheir kids.
They might not even think twice, and I don't mean that in a bad
way.
Just you know it is what it is.
But the smartest investmentsare these sort of quote-unquote,
boring businesses that are justin heavy need and that's what
you've got.
So, on that, on that note, andgiven all the things that you're
doing, what advice would youhave?
Someone's listening to thispodcast right now.
(21:42):
You're saying that's a greatidea.
I love donor sharkies.
What advice would you have fromthem, from from sort of both
you know sides of the coin, sortof tempering expectations but
also letting people know whatthe possibilities are?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, I mean there's a lot of things.
I think that can be said froman advice standpoint, but
ultimately I think it comes downto what I mentioned before
culture.
But ultimately I think it comesdown to what I mentioned before
culture.
So retention and marketingReally and truly, when the
paint's on the wall and thedoors are open, that's what it
boils down to in a Sharky's Cutsfor Kids.
Do I have the right staff andam I marketing the business so
other people can see it?
So I think if an owner comes inwith that mindset and they're
(22:18):
really seeing their marketingand their staffing as an
investment to the business andnot an expense, then your mind
shift starts to change and youstart to think, oh well, if I'm
getting these sort of costs backon my marketing, then I should
probably put some more moneyinto my marketing.
That's working very well.
Let's do that.
So if you can come in withthose mindsets and then you have
(22:38):
a level of patience, I thinkit's going to soar.
If you've put those pillars inplace, things are going to take
off and it's going to do whatit's supposed to do and it's
going to thrive.
But there is a level ofpatience to it.
You can't just open it and saythey will come and I'm going to
be making $100,000 this nextmonth.
It just doesn't work like that.
You have to have a realisticexpectation in business about
(23:00):
the growth and what that lookslike and just be prepared to
make adjustments over time.
But it's a pretty simplebusiness model and it's
definitely duplicatable if youput the right things in place.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I mean, growth and business ownership is never
linear, it's always this.
But I think you've got greatperspective.
So so I guess the the reallythe last question is just sort
of, you know, looking ahead, butas as a multi-unit franchise
owner, what, what are your goals, when, where do you see this,
this going?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Well, I don't think we ever stop.
I come from a sales background,in addition to marketing, so
I'm very sales like-minded and Iwill always want to grow the
business.
Every year, I have businessgoals.
Okay, we're going to, we'regoing to do this, we're going to
grow this way, whatnot?
So that's always first andforemost is how can we get new
clients, how can we see newfamilies, how, how can we
continue to service the clientsthat know and love us already?
(23:58):
But in addition to that, justmore of a community impact, what
I love and what pride I haveover having businesses in the
communities that I grew up isthat I'm able to grow and have a
positive impact on the placethat I live and the people that
I know and the people that Idon't know yet.
So continuing to do that,continuing to make charity
partnerships and business growthand partnering with the schools
(24:18):
, I think, is a big thing for me, and then, on the other side of
the coin, from a Sharky'sfranchise perspective, helping
other owners do the same.
I really love to be a soundingboard for growth, as a
representation of what can be,and so I think that being able
(24:41):
to continue to do that.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
It's pretty powerful and on my priority list.
You know, I've always foundthat our most successful years
is when we put a goal up on thewall and we look at it every
single day and asked ourselvesare we, are we on the way to
hitting that goal?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
I do that as well.
Yeah, if you write your goalsdown, you're way more likely to
achieve them.
There's a lot of data in andaround that, um, so I completely
agree.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So you mentioned something you know, coming from
a sales background, but you youdidn't come from a haircutting
background.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Oh, so is that a requirement?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Most owners do not, um, come from the hair salon
industry.
So in the beginning, um, Ifound that as a weakness, right
Even though I knew that a lot ofother owners had not come, um,
from that background.
I really kind of viewed it as aweakness, and so I tried to
inflate my knowledge when I wastalking to the staff in the very
beginning and try to really letthem know that I knew what I
(25:33):
was talking about when I took astep back from that and I said
I'm really good at businessdevelopment, at marketing, at
sales, at personal relationshipmanagement, and you guys are
really good at what you learnedand studied in school and
personal relationship managementas well.
Let's do that together.
Then it changed everything.
So, no, most owners do not comefrom a hair background.
(25:55):
I know a little now I'm stillnot an expert, for sure, but
it's funny because my daughterwe go to school and tell her
friends all the time, and herteachers, my mom is a
hairstylist.
So she didn't understand theconcept of exactly what I do,
and so I just asked her Harper,when have I ever cut your hair?
I'm not a hairstylist.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
But, yeah, yeah, yeah .
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Well, but you know, it's like when we had home care
assistants in the beginning,which was our home care
franchise, we were like, hey, weshould target nurses because
they'll be familiar with thistype of thing and, as it turned
out, they were way too clinical.
They would be, you know,recommending someone have like
two hours of home care.
And then what we found was thatthe people who were more sales
(26:43):
had a, had a sort of strongersales background.
They were helping people getmuch longer cases, which they
needed, by the way, got someonewith dementia, and so our
franchisees that had no healthcare background were just wiping
the floor with the ones thatdid, because they knew the
fundamentals of marketing andsales and customer service.
(27:04):
And so I've always said whenpeople have asked, do I need to
have a background in this?
And my answer is no, I mean,what you need to do thing um,
and this is something thatpersonally I struggle with is
that I think you need to be areally, really strong systems
person.
You need to be able to playwithin those systems and follow
(27:25):
those prescribed game plans andbe very much a team player.
The Patriots won a lot of SuperBowls with a unspectacular cast
of characters outside of TomBrady.
It was all about the team andthe coaching, whereas some teams
have like a star player or twoand they never win the Super
(27:45):
Bowl because it's more about thestar.
It's football season, let's go.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
No, but that makes sense.
You know, again, someone comesin with salon experience and
they want to run it a certainway because that's what they've
done and that's not necessarilythe struggle, you know.
So it's it's.
It's interesting to see that.
You know that you, you have tohave somewhat of an interest,
right, but not necessarily askilled background, and then, as
you said, you learn along theway.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yes, and it's a case by yeah, exactly, it's a case by
case scenario too.
If you hire someone with anamazing personality and who's
really willing to learn, andthen you invest in that person
to make sure that they've gotthe proper training in place to
really thrive, I think thatthat's better than hiring
someone who really just wantsthe job and doesn't understand
the culture and what we do andthe value.
(28:32):
Because really and truly, thesefamilies depend on us.
They want their children tofeel confident and they want
them to have a good and smoothexperience, so we need to make
sure that we hire appropriatelyfor those that are interested in
that.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You know what I love about hearing you talk and we'll
be wrapping this up now, in aminute but, as I hear you, what
I love is this is franchiseownership done right?
It's a good thing, this hasbeen a good thing for your life
is.
What I love is this isfranchise ownership done right?
It's a good bet?
This has been a good thing foryour life, is what I'm hearing?
Yes, absolutely so.
Today, on the way to school, Iwas driving Trey to school and
he had heard me speaking with aclient.
(29:10):
And listen, one thing I knowabout franchise ownership is you
can't paint this rosy picturethat you're going to be used in
a bathtub with millions of bucks.
It does take time, it takeshard work and it can be the most
rewarding thing you've everdone.
Our life would not be what itis without franchise ownership.
So I get off the phone and hesays you know, dad, I finally
(29:33):
figured out what you do.
You stop people from messing up, and the reason he said that is
is I'll be sitting there sayingto someone look, it's not going
to be absentee.
You might not even be drawing asalary until month 12.
Okay, you know, if you thinkit's just going to be getting
into the business and easystreet, don't do it.
(29:55):
And it was just so cool how hewas like you help people from
you, help people not mess up.
And I really think, asfranchise consultants, that's
probably one of our number onejobs is to to temper
expectations, cause you wouldn't.
I don't, I don't know how youwere with with your franchise
acquisition, but we sometimessee it where people are like I
want to buy this franchise now,after two phone calls and it's
(30:16):
like no, no, you have to gothrough a diligent process.
You got to talk to five toseven franchisees.
Um.
So again, just to bring itaround, hearing you, hearing
your enthusiasm for the business, your knowledge of it, lessons
learned, I just that that makesme happy to hear.
What a great yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
And I have, you know, a very positive outlook.
I'm I'm tend to be that type ofperson, but it doesn't mean
that we haven't gone throughdifficulties.
You're exactly right.
What I, what I've told people,is that you know, the definition
of an entrepreneur is a problemsolver, which inherently means
that there will be problems.
So you really kind of have tolook introspectively to
determine am I fit and equippedto be able to handle these
problems in a healthy way formyself, for my family and for
(30:56):
the business?
And if the answer is yes, it'sprobably a great fit for you.
But there have been times overthe years now we're six years in
almost where I'm like gosh, didI make the right decision?
This is really difficult, thisis really hard.
Is this the right thing for me?
And I think just being able toput yourself back in the mindset
(31:16):
of why you did it and what youbelieve and know about the brand
will get you through thosetimes.
Then you see the rainbow on theother side where, okay, yeah,
this makes sense.
I've learned a lot through this.
This happened for a reason.
Now we're growing and thriving.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Very cool.
Any books or podcasts you'drecommend to a prospective
entrepreneur?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Gosh, I wish I had time to do that at this moment
in life.
This season of life is so busyfor us.
I say I have three jobs andthen I've got kids and travel,
ball, sports and all the things.
So to pick up a book these daysis very difficult.
I'm really only getting time tospend in my Bible, but
hopefully in the near futureI'll be able to get more
(31:54):
acclimated with those things.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
I think your life experience, your business
ownership experience, speaksvolumes enough, and I appreciate
your straightforward approachand thanks for spending some
time with us today.
We really appreciate meetingyou and hearing your story.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Oh, thank you so much for having me.
We really appreciate it as well.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
You got it Well, everyone.
Thanks again for tuning intoanother episode of we Bought a
Franchise podcast.
If you're interested infranchise ownership, getting
just a general idea of what thisis really like, getting some
honest advice and feedback, youknow what to do Text us
305-710-0050.
For this episode, I'm JackJohnson, I'm Jill and we'll talk
(32:35):
to you next time, take care.
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