June 4, 2025 • 27 mins
What happens when you combine 13 years of corporate experience with the right franchise opportunity? Brian Gross's remarkable story answers this question, revealing how he transformed from a comfortable but unfulfilled financial services professional into the top-performing Art of Drawers franchisee in Tampa, Florida.
Brian's journey began where many aspiring entrepreneurs find themselves—scrolling through business listings without direction, feeling like a "professional tire kicker." The turning point came when he worked with a franchise consultant who shifted his focus from simply finding a profitable business to identifying opportunities that aligned with his strengths, goals, and desired lifestyle.
This strategic approach led Brian to Art of Drawers, a home services franchise specializing in custom pullout drawers and cabinet refacing. Unlike retail or brick-and-mortar concepts requiring lengthy build-outs, his business generated an astounding $52,000 in its very first month of operation and achieved positive cash flow within months—a testament to both the business model and Brian's execution.
Throughout our conversation, Brian shares invaluable insights about franchise selection, highlighting why home services concepts can be ideal for corporate professionals seeking quick revenue generation. He emphasizes the importance of surrounding yourself with positive, solution-oriented peers within your franchise system while avoiding the "complainers" who drain energy and productivity.
Perhaps most compelling is Brian's perspective on finding businesses that remain essential regardless of economic conditions—services people need during both good and bad times. His practical advice about starting with one unit, mastering operations before expansion, and building a strong support team of professionals offers a blueprint for franchise success.
Whether you're contemplating leaving corporate America, exploring franchise opportunities, or simply curious about entrepreneurial paths, Brian's experience provides a realistic and inspiring roadmap. Connect with Brian directly at 813-335-1080 or visit thefranchiseinsiders.com to learn how his journey might inform your own.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everyone, welcome back to the we Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson, I'm JillJohnson and today we've got a
very special guest franchiseowner, brian Gross with the Art
of Drawers.
Brian, welcome to the show.
Hi Jack, hi Jill, thanks forhaving me.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Great to have you, brian, and we've got lots of
things to share on Brian's sortof journey through franchise
ownership.
But you know, brian, we alwayslike to start the show by
learning a little bit about youand what brought you into the
franchise ownership world.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yeah, I think my story, my background, is
probably pretty familiar in thefranchising world.
I started in the corporatespace.
I worked in the financialservices sector for about 13
years and really always had adesire to do my own thing, start
my own business.
That's something I'd looked atfor years and never really knew
(00:51):
where to start or what I wasreally looking for.
But I was fortunate.
I progressed in my career,worked for a great company, kind
of got to that point where Iwas comfortable but, quite
frankly, just a little bit boredof like what is next.
I know I want to do more thanthis.
I want to that point where Iwas comfortable but, quite
frankly, just a little bit boredof like what is next.
You know, I know I want to domore than this.
You know I want to go out andbuild something.
So that's where I reallystarted looking at consulting or
(01:14):
not even consulting butfranchising a few years ago and,
you know, worked with aconsultant and ended up, you
know, doing a complete 180, apivot from my background in the
financial services sector andbuying something in home
services.
So I left my corporate job acouple of years ago and really
focused on building a kitchenrenovation business here in the
(01:36):
Tampa Florida area.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
How cool is that too?
You know, I feel like Jill andI are always.
It never ends right the homeimprovement stuff, especially
with Jill.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
There's always something to do.
There's always a project.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Today, jill's idea was because you know we're, we
want to have a sauna.
Right, we want to add a sauna.
I was just in for my physicaland we were talking.
I was talking to my doc andshe's like I'm doing the red
light sauna and I've been likelooking at these red light
saunas but they're expensive,they're like $7,000.
Jill's like what if we turnyour?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
shower into a sauna.
We have separate showers, sothat was actually me saying you
could share my shower.
So I don't know if I'm down forthat.
But yeah, we could change yourbathroom into like a nice spa
area.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I mean it sounds super cool.
But, Brian, what do you guys do?
How do you guys help homes?
You know what?
What does art of drawers do?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Art of drawers really has a few pretty specialized
product lines.
One of the things we do is webuild custom pullout drawers for
existing cabinets and wecustomize pantries.
So we go into a home, you know,and we customize pantries, so
we go into a home and we reallykind of deck out or make their
existing kitchen much moreaccessible and much more
(02:51):
functional.
And then the second thing we dois cabinet refacing.
So that's a way to get acomplete facelift in the kitchen
or in the bathroom withouthaving to tear out your cabinets
, without having to live throughthat full, multi-week
renovation in your home.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
need both of those things yeah, and is that, do you
guys do the drawers to do likethe soft, the soft we do?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
we do, we do the soft clothes.
Everything has that emphasis onquality, absolutely so that's
you know, that's what, uh, whatpeople love these days the soft
closed drawers and soft closedcar doors.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You, it's like Trey never gets the door shut the
whole way, but then it just.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
But you can't slam doors anymore or drawers.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
That's the important piece.
You can't slam it.
You can't break everythingthat's inside.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Okay, and so you worked with a franchise
consultant to help you sort ofidentify this franchise, and how
was your experience workingwith a franchise consultant?
Do you feel like it really kindof opened up a whole new sort
of world to you in terms offranchising?
Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Working with a consultant was just a complete
game changer.
You know, and I spent yearslooking at businesses.
I was, you know, my version ofTikTok or social media was kind
of scrolling through biz by celland looking at random
businesses, and it was that Ithink a lot of people would call
them kind of professional tirekickers, where, oh, the numbers
look good on this or this soundsinteresting, but with no real
(04:15):
direction, no real reason behindwhy you might actually buy or
run that business.
And once I started working witha consultant, we took a step
back and it wasn't hey, let'sjust find a business that makes
money.
It was what are you trying toaccomplish?
What are your goals?
First and foremost, what do youwant your life to look like?
What are your strengths?
(04:35):
And now let's go matchbusinesses that fit what you're
actually trying to accomplish inyour life.
And so it was just so much morethan just getting introduced to
a franchise or a few franchises.
It was really taking a stepback and dialing in what's
important, what are we trying toaccomplish?
And looking at, all of a suddennow, companies that actually
(04:56):
make sense, and it actuallybecame more challenging for me
to.
It wasn't as hard to actuallymove forward with the franchise.
It was almost more difficult tofigure out which one do I want
to move forward with, becausenow I started to have, you know,
just so many more opportunitiesthat you know made sense.
They checked all the boxes andI could actually see myself, you
know, getting off the groundand running.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I mean that happens, I would say, at least once a
month or so.
We have a client that says,what if we bought these two
franchises?
And of course you know, listen,everyone's an adult, they get
to do what they want.
But I think the best move isalways to start with one and get
good with good.
Get good at it, don't get overyour skis with units, don't try
and do too much.
Get really good at buyingfranchise, because here's the
(05:39):
thing, here's the thing thatmost people don't know about.
And you're right, I lovelooking at Biz by Sell too.
It's fun.
Franchise owners, if they'regoing to sell their franchise,
would strongly prefer to sell toother franchise owners in their
system because it's an easier,faster transaction.
They're not just dealing withsomeone who is analyzing a P&L,
they're dealing with someone whoreally believes in the brand.
(06:01):
And that's why I think, brian,we were on a call earlier today
and we were talking to a clientabout some of the neat things
about being a franchise owner isthat look in any franchise like
take crumble, for example,crumble cookie, which is an
outstanding franchise thatalways puts tons of pounds on me
Every time we eat it's reallygood, but the average net profit
(06:24):
and the median net profit andkudos to crumble for showing
both of these things they'revastly different, and so what it
tells us is is that there'ssome very good crumble franchise
owners and you can see them onLinkedIn.
They continue to add to theirportfolio, whereas some others
have decided, hey, maybe it'snot for me and I think in any
franchise system, that's okay.
(06:44):
It's like a classroom.
You know there's going to be Astudents, b students, c students
, d students, maybe even lessthan D.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, of course there's F students.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Was there an F student in your class when you
were good, yeah, was thereSomeone you knew was like an F.
Brian, did you have an Fstudent in your class?
I think?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
we had a few.
Yeah, there's always a few inthere.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
This brings up a great point.
As a parent because this issomething clients say to us a
lot I want to talk to everyfranchisee.
I don't want to talk to thosecherry picked franchisees that
the franchisor sends me to, andour point has always been look,
this is like the classroom.
You want to go cherry pick andfind that F student.
Well, think about it.
Think about your, your, youryounger days.
(07:26):
There's not much you can learnfrom an F student.
As a matter of fact, brian, thisbook by Scott Greenberg and
we've got to get him on thepodcast, brian have you read
this yet?
The Wealthy Franchisee I have.
This, I think, is one of themost powerful tools in
franchising.
For those of you listening, theWealthy Franchisee by Scott
Greenberg talks all aboutmindset in franchise ownership
(07:49):
and you probably see it at yourfranchise conference.
I know I've seen it at everyone I've ever been to.
The A students stick togetherand the D students stick
together and the D students loveto start shit at the franchise
conference.
Right, they want to raise theirhand, they want to give it to
the franchisor, and my opinionhas always been that the D
students, as a franchise owner,will rob you of your money
(08:10):
because they want to call youduring business hours and
complain about what's wrong.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
You know it's interesting.
You know I'm in a franchisethat has taken off very quickly
A lot of successful franchiseesin the system, you know, and a
lot of newer folks.
And you're absolutely right,getting something started it's
not easy.
It takes time, right, andthere's going to be challenges,
especially in year one.
And you see that you see thepeople that have a call and that
(08:36):
mindset is hey, I'm facing thischallenge, what did you do?
Or how do I tackle this?
Or you have that group ofpeople, just like you were
saying that's what we want, toclassify them as the complainers
.
Or the D students that are, hey, I didn't sign up for this, I
wasn't expecting this.
Or the D students that are, hey, I didn't sign up for this, I
wasn't expecting this, I needsomeone else to fix this for me.
And I think that's the coolthing about being a business
owner You're not an employeeanymore, there's no one else to
(08:59):
go to, you've got corporatesupport.
But when you have problems, youget to be creative, you get to
work with people who havefigured it out as well and go
make a change, make thingsbetter, and that's absolutely
been the case with Art of Doors.
And, to your point, there aresome people during the workday
that I see them calling, I don'tanswer because I know it's just
(09:21):
going to be negative, it'sgoing to be complaints, and you
just have to surround yourselfwith the people that are doing
it the right way, have the rightmindset, because the coolest
thing about a franchise isyou're not in it by yourself.
You've got your own businessbut you have a network of people
to go work with, to go talk to.
It's kind of like being a partof a team.
So it's so crucial to find thetop players, the people that are
(09:45):
positive, and use those toshoot your business up as well
as theirs.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, we talked about this on another podcast about
how you know other locations arenot your competitors.
You know like they are, butthey aren't.
I mean, they are maybeinternally like you want your
numbers to look a little bitbetter, but for the most part
you guys are a team and you'reworking together and you can
help each other.
Um, and I think looking at itfrom that perspective is very
different, because then you doyou have kind of like this
(10:10):
support team and you know youwant to help each other out and
share information to see eachother succeed.
You know internally you mightwant to beat them as far as
everybody but, but it'sdifferent.
It's, it's not, it's not like areal, true competitor out there.
So it's really important tohave that and I and I love that
about this.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I mean, I really now, brian, you were one of the
faster growing art of Georgefranchisees, were you not?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I was yeah, so I have the top market in the system
here in Tampa.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Wow, that's awesome.
Okay, so with us and, by theway, congrats, that's not,
that's not easy to do.
So congratulations to you andgetting to know you as we have,
I'm not surprised, you know, aspinkinks last year, I think we
we led the way.
I think we're their leadingfranchisee, and now it seems
like newer franchisees arestarting with Pinks and they're
(10:58):
like kicking our ass from dayone, Like they're like shooting
out of the gates and to Jill'spoints, like you want to be a
top franchisee, but also it'sdifferent, right.
It's like you're, you're happythat this thing that you saw
potential in that you wanted tohelp build.
You see other people doing itand thriving with it, and it's
like, yes, this is so cool, Likelook at this brand.
Like I saw a post from pinksyesterday welcoming like 10 new
(11:22):
and that's okay.
This brings us to a great thingto talk about here, which pinks,
I think, does a great job of,which is they sell franchises
and they get them open.
If you go to training, yourmarketing's already started and
you're firing up like I thinkit's like two weeks later.
That's a really key thing forthose of you out there looking
into franchise ownership howmany franchises have you sold
(11:43):
versus how many have you opened?
You sold 300, but you've opened60.
It's a red flag.
And so there's little thingslike that.
And that's why, to Brian's point, working with a franchise
consultant is so important,because we just know this stuff
right.
We work with enough franchisesand franchisees over the years
that there's certain numbersright.
(12:03):
Like you know, I went to seethe doctor this morning and
there's certain things we keeptrack of cholesterol, blood
pressure, stuff like that.
A franchise consultant can helpyou do that as well.
There's certain things we wantto see.
We don't want to see a systemlosing more than 10% of its
franchisees.
We want to see them gettingpeople open.
We want to see a healthy item19.
We absolutely have to see anitem 19.
(12:24):
If there's no item 19, walkaway.
Don't you think?
I mean, there's a fitnessfranchise that got into a ton of
trouble in California a fewyears ago because they didn't
have an item 19 and they wereout there telling their
franchise prospects all thesenumbers right, All the money you
can make with the business, andCalifornia turned around and
slapped them on the wrist.
So again, everyone out therethinking about franchise
(12:46):
ownership, make sure there is anitem 19.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Absolutely.
You know you bring up such aninteresting point, especially, I
think, especially about therole of a consultant.
Everyone starts this process,you know, somewhere different
and you know I've started, likea lot of people, where I still
had a corporate job and I waslooking to transition right into
being self-employed.
So today I'm beingself-employed, you know, having
more flexibility with my time.
(13:09):
My next franchise I invest inwill probably be something
different than what my first onewas, but my first one on my own
, I was looking at brick andmortar, I was looking at fitness
concepts, things that weregoing to take nine, 12 months to
have a build out, and what thatgets to is, before you, cash
flow.
You are probably year two.
(13:29):
You know when I was trying toreplace a corporate income
pretty quick or starting tocashflow pretty quick, working
with a consultant, that's whereI understood, you know, the
power of home services conceptsthat you know could be started
from a home office, where youknow where I was led to Art of
Drawers, my first month inoperation, just, you know, as
you're alluding to there, jack,we did $52,000 in revenue.
The first as you're alluding tothere, jack, we did $52,000 in
(13:52):
revenue.
The first month we opened wewere cash flowing within a few
months Amazing.
So it was a business model forsomeone leaving corporate trying
to cash flow pretty quick.
That just made perfect sense.
So you know our drawers isn'tperfect for everyone, home
services isn't perfect foreveryone, just like you know
quick service, food or othertypes of models.
And that's where you can lookat.
(14:12):
Where are you?
What do you need to happen inthe first six months, 12 months?
Because for all of us that areconsultants that have walked
this path, that have experienceddifferent types of brands we
can speak to what is the reality, what does your one look like
in these different types ofconcepts?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
You know what I like about Brian.
He keeps us on track.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
As opposed to someone else that we know.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, I'm like.
I think it's because I watchedtoo many political debates where
they like ask them a questionand then they they answer with
something completely different.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
You answer the questions that we are asking you
, which is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
You're keeping.
I just don't ask anything hardand then I'll do my political
spin.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And for those of you listening I mean Brian that's an
incredible first month.
Any of you interested in art ofdrawers, I would also just
recommend make sure you reviewthe franchise disclosure
document.
Make sure you speak tofranchisees.
Brian's example is outstanding,but it's probably not the norm.
So don't go on expecting thatthat's what you're going to make
, but you know what.
Go in there with the mindsetthat you're going to give Brian
(15:14):
a run for his money.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yeah, see, that's what we were saying, like that
Brian is someone that could helpyou, but also internally a
competitor, but not externally.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
So yeah, but for all you lawyers out there, we're
putting our disclaimer in there.
Okay, so and so, for those ofyou out there, jill and I are
thrilled to announce that Brianis actually now a member of the
Franchise Insiders.
As a franchise consultant, welearned about his successful
journey.
We started getting to knowBrian a little bit and became
(15:45):
friends, and then we thought itmade sense, as we're expanding
the Franchise Insiders Insiders,brian graciously accepted
coming on board our team andBrian, we're just so thrilled to
have you and we know you'regoing to help so many clients to
find the right franchise.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Thank you, and I'm certainly thrilled to be joining
the team.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
And it's you know, it's that whole experience that
you shared that only someone whohas bought a franchise would
understand, and that's why thewhole mantra of our business is
franchise owners helping futurefranchise owners.
So every one of the franchiseowners, franchise consultants,
is either a franchise owner or aformer franchise owner that has
that experience that you canlearn from them.
(16:24):
We're just so proud of this,this growing team.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, I mean, brian, hear your story and just seeing
you know how you worked with aconsultant also, so you not only
experience being a franchiseowner and a franchisee, but
you've also worked with aconsultant.
So you've been on the otherside to know too and recognize
the importance of that and whatreally helped you, and that's
just gonna make you stronger asa franchise consultant too.
So with all of that, we'rereally happy to have you and
(16:50):
exciting stuff, yeah wanting thefranchise ins was.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
It was just such a no brainer because of, I think,
what this team brings to thetable.
And, having spent a few yearsnow in the franchise space, you
know we all see a lot of socialmedia hype, right, there's a lot
of people out there pushingentrepreneurship, you know,
selling the upside, selling thedream, and there needs to be a
balanced conversation, right,and there needs to be a sense of
(17:16):
reality, not just, hey, you cango make a lot of money or you
can be your own boss, it's hey,you can do all those.
We can find opportunities thatactually get you to where you
want to be.
Let's also talk about thereality.
Let's talk about what you'relooking for.
Let's make sure, you know,we're doing our due diligence.
And when you have this team ofeveryone who's been an owner has
(17:36):
been through an exit, you know,walk the walk of everything
that our clients are looking toaccomplish, you know that's I
think that's just reallypowerful.
You know, that's just a lot ofexperience that, collectively,
we can leverage.
That will, you know, just putour clients in a better place
and, you know, hopefully in agood place to succeed.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Well, that's a great point.
That's initially, before I wentway off the rails.
Where I was going is that whenI was talking about the crumble
numbers.
What I love about franchiseownership is you can start with
one unit, you don't have to buy10.
I know there's a lot of you outthere you want to go be a big
entrepreneur.
Jill and I we bought five units.
We probably didn't need to buyfive units.
Start with one or two.
Get good at it, get prop, asBrian said, get cash flowing,
(18:23):
make money.
Don't sink all your money in adepreciating asset.
Don't go out there and buy abunch of vehicles right away.
Be smart with your money scale.
Grow, get good and if you'regood at it, then there will be a
neighbor franchisee that willbe happy to sell you their
location for pennies on thedollar.
I promise you and the beautyfor those of you out there, if
you decide to take the plungeand try this and it's not for
you you can sell your franchise.
Sure, for the most part we'resigning 10 year agreements,
(18:45):
although I do think crumblesfine, but for the most part,
franchise agreements are 10.
Brian is yours.
10 with order drawers.
Okay, you could be two months inand have a life change and say
I got to sell this business andyou list your business on Biz by
Sell and there again you cancall Brian.
Brian, what's the best numberfor someone to reach you, by the
way, I can be reached at?
(19:06):
Okay, so you can call Brian andsay, listen, I just bought this
franchise.
I'm a few months in butsomething's happened.
I got to sell my business.
Brian can help you do that.
But, more importantly, ifyou're new to franchise
ownership, if you're exploringit, call Brian too and learn how
he can help you navigate thispath as someone who's done it
himself.
And that's really what we loveto bring to the table is helping
(19:28):
people first understand.
And, brian, our process, as youknow, is such that the first
thing we do is we figure out whoyou are, figure out what types
of franchises.
We've got a whole system wherewe actually can dig into this
analysis, where we can see howyou compare to top performing
franchisees across multiplehundreds of franchises, and so
(19:48):
our first step is just to sayhere's where your strengths are
in a franchise as we see it, andhere's the franchises where you
match the types of franchises,where you match top performers
and, if you like our analysis.
The next step is we can showyou five to 10 franchises that
make sense.
So none of it is there toprovide any pressure.
It's all there to be aneducational step-by-step process
(20:10):
.
It's all there to be aneducational step-by-step process
.
And what's so wild to me, stillto this day, jill, is that
whether you call Dogtopia direct, the franchise fee is 50 grand,
let's say.
Or you work with us, it's 50grand, so you don't have to pay
a franchise consultant and itdoesn't cost you anything more
to work with a franchiseconsultant.
Yeah, no, it's incredible valueadd.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
You know, and one of the things I think you know,
people just don't know what'savailable in the space.
You know a lot of the brandsthat actually make the most
sense are probably brands you'venever heard of, that you're not
going to find on your own.
And, just like you said, youknow it's kind of like at this
point trying to go sell yourhouse on your own right or, if
(20:52):
you're a buyer, trying to buy ahouse on your own when you can
have a resource guide you everystep of the way, you know, with
nothing out of pocket.
So you know it absolutely makessense to at least start the
process with a consultant, youknow, get thinking down the
right path.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, and I think for those of you that want a major
takeaway here, the best thing wecan all tell you is when you're
thinking about what type ofbusiness you should own, do I
need it when times are good?
When times are bad?
Do I need it and will I pay forit when I need it?
And that's really the best wayto look at this is, those are
the types of businesses thattend to be the best investment.
(21:26):
Are things that people need.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, and I think to Brian's point earlier.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
What are you?
Speaker 2 (21:30):
looking for?
What are your goals?
Like, yours was to leavecorporate America and catch up.
So what types of businesseswill help you catch up first?
So that's the importance ofusing consultants like us is
that we can listen to you andwhat your goals are and find the
best fit for you too.
So, if that's really whatyou're looking for, or are you
looking for an asset that youwant to leave to your children
(21:51):
and grandchildren?
That's a totally different typeof business.
Working with a consultant willhelp you narrow that down and
get something that really fitsfor what your specific goals are
.
And then to your point, brianyou can get another franchise
later on.
Once your cashflow positive andyou're doing well, you can get
more territories.
You can go in a completelydifferent direction.
You can become a franchiseconsultant.
(22:12):
So there's so many differentthings you can do, but once you
get to that point and you canlook at what opportunity will
get you there faster if that'syour goal, yeah, and even just,
do you want employees or noemployees Subcontractor?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
you know, these are all things that are important to
kind of go over.
Brian, speaking of which, areyou guys subcontractor or do you
have employees?
Yeah, we have all independentcontractors across the board and
(22:53):
that was one of the things thatthat you can do subs and the
franchisor can deal that, and agood franchisor will tell you
all the things you need to knowbecause you've got to make sure
you do this stuff right.
One of the first things that wedo not to turn this into a long
commercial, but for those ofyou that saw the last podcast
where we had Michael Reeder,michael's got a great firm that
helps people set up theircorporation, helps them to
(23:13):
manage their finances, helpsthem to stay on top of all the
tax advantages that they have asa business owner, and that's
really it's a smart thing to do.
Have a great finance person,have a great attorney, have a
great funding source these areall things that that franchise
consultants have connections andcan connect you with great,
proven resources.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
And all that whole.
Having that team in place,especially for a first-time
business owner, is so crucial,right?
And you think about year one,where you're experiencing
running a new business for thefirst time, running a new team,
a new product for the first time, but also for a lot of us,
being a business owner for thefirst time, being able to
delegate the tax stuff, thelegal stuff, some of the
(23:56):
financial stuff, one toprofessionals that will do it
better than you will.
It's just a great investment,first of all.
But also, just freeze up yourtime to be hyper-focused on
growing your business, whetherit's generating revenue or
setting the foundation to scalein year two, year three,
generating revenue or settingthe foundation to scale in year
two, year three those are thethings you want to be focusing
on, not trying to figure outyour bookkeeping or something
(24:17):
that your CPA should be doingfor you.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Brian, what are you seeing in terms of AI's effect
on the art of drawers business?
Any changes there?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
I think, along with Art of Drawers affecting
everything, whether we realizeit or not, a lot of changes are
in place.
One of my favorite things aboutArt of Drawers is our founder,
our leadership.
They invest heavily intechnology, so we're even
rolling out new design softwarethat's coming out over the next
couple of months.
The back office or thecorporate office they're really
(24:47):
incorporating what's happeningin our economy in real time to
make changes and make sure thatour franchise stays relevant.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
And when you guys do a job, is it through your CRM?
Does it automatically once youbuild them, do they ask for a
Google review?
How does that work?
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Yeah, so everything starts with technology, with art
of drawers.
So a designer goes in and wemake a design.
You know, said rolling out newsoftware will actually be 3d
design here in the next coupleof months and we have software
in the house.
We actually price everythingright there in the home once
everything's ordered.
It's all.
You know, all of our differentcontractors all have different
roles within our software.
(25:25):
So it just moves through thesystem and everything gets
ordered right through thatsoftware.
So you know it's, it's a jobflow from day one of being in
the house to the job beingcomplete.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I mean, I think it's so cool, so timely, great fit in
the Florida market, greatbusiness to have there.
Brian, as we wrap up thepodcast, what would you say to
all those people out there wholisten and watch this podcast?
If you had any number one pieceof advice you could give, what
would that be?
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Number one piece would be one if you have that
inclination, that desire to dosomething different, you
absolutely can, and there shouldbe nothing holding you back.
There's always going to be areason to not take action right
now, but the first step is juststart the conversation, move
forward, and I think the powerof franchising and different
types of businesses are rightfor different people.
But you can truly move forwardand I think the power of
franchising and different typesof businesses are, you know,
(26:12):
right for different people.
But you can truly do anything.
You're not contained to whatyou know today.
You're not contained to whatyour background is, you know.
So I would tell you to start aconversation, explore and when
you explore, just have an openmind, because you're probably
going to get presented ideasthat actually make sense for you
(26:32):
, that feel completely out ofleft field, and it might be fine
.
But that's the you know, and Ithink that's the exciting part
of this process is it just opensup so many avenues for what the
future can hold.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
I love it.
And for those of you that wantto learn more about Brian, visit
us at thefranchiseinsiderscom.
Brian what's that phone numberthey can reach you on again, and
my personal phone is, and youcan get a free franchise
consultation with Brian.
You can pick his brain on whatit's like to be a fast-growing
franchise owner that had anincredible first month.
Those are all great things,brian.
(27:09):
Thanks so much for joining uson the podcast today.
We're so happy to be teammateswith you and, yeah, looking
forward to continuing to helpmore and more people learn what
this entrepreneurial lifestyleis.
Is being a franchise ownerGreat?
Thank you both for having meTake care.
Hi everyone, welcome back to the we Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson, I'm JillJohnson and today we've got a
very special guest franchiseowner, brian Gross with the Art
of Drawers.
Brian, welcome to the show.
Hi Jack, hi Jill, thanks forhaving me.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Great to have you, brian, and we've got lots of
things to share on Brian's sortof journey through franchise
ownership.
But you know, brian, we alwayslike to start the show by
learning a little bit about youand what brought you into the
franchise ownership world.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yeah, I think my story, my background, is
probably pretty familiar in thefranchising world.
I started in the corporatespace.
I worked in the financialservices sector for about 13
years and really always had adesire to do my own thing, start
my own business.
That's something I'd looked atfor years and never really knew
(00:51):
where to start or what I wasreally looking for.
But I was fortunate.
I progressed in my career,worked for a great company, kind
of got to that point where Iwas comfortable but, quite
frankly, just a little bit boredof like what is next.
I know I want to do more thanthis.
I want to that point where Iwas comfortable but, quite
frankly, just a little bit boredof like what is next.
You know, I know I want to domore than this.
You know I want to go out andbuild something.
So that's where I reallystarted looking at consulting or
(01:14):
not even consulting butfranchising a few years ago and,
you know, worked with aconsultant and ended up, you
know, doing a complete 180, apivot from my background in the
financial services sector andbuying something in home
services.
So I left my corporate job acouple of years ago and really
focused on building a kitchenrenovation business here in the
(01:36):
Tampa Florida area.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
How cool is that too?
You know, I feel like Jill andI are always.
It never ends right the homeimprovement stuff, especially
with Jill.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
There's always something to do.
There's always a project.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Today, jill's idea was because you know we're, we
want to have a sauna.
Right, we want to add a sauna.
I was just in for my physicaland we were talking.
I was talking to my doc andshe's like I'm doing the red
light sauna and I've been likelooking at these red light
saunas but they're expensive,they're like $7,000.
Jill's like what if we turnyour?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
shower into a sauna.
We have separate showers, sothat was actually me saying you
could share my shower.
So I don't know if I'm down forthat.
But yeah, we could change yourbathroom into like a nice spa
area.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I mean it sounds super cool.
But, Brian, what do you guys do?
How do you guys help homes?
You know what?
What does art of drawers do?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Art of drawers really has a few pretty specialized
product lines.
One of the things we do is webuild custom pullout drawers for
existing cabinets and wecustomize pantries.
So we go into a home, you know,and we customize pantries, so
we go into a home and we reallykind of deck out or make their
existing kitchen much moreaccessible and much more
(02:51):
functional.
And then the second thing we dois cabinet refacing.
So that's a way to get acomplete facelift in the kitchen
or in the bathroom withouthaving to tear out your cabinets
, without having to live throughthat full, multi-week
renovation in your home.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
need both of those things yeah, and is that, do you
guys do the drawers to do likethe soft, the soft we do?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
we do, we do the soft clothes.
Everything has that emphasis onquality, absolutely so that's
you know, that's what, uh, whatpeople love these days the soft
closed drawers and soft closedcar doors.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You, it's like Trey never gets the door shut the
whole way, but then it just.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
But you can't slam doors anymore or drawers.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
That's the important piece.
You can't slam it.
You can't break everythingthat's inside.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Okay, and so you worked with a franchise
consultant to help you sort ofidentify this franchise, and how
was your experience workingwith a franchise consultant?
Do you feel like it really kindof opened up a whole new sort
of world to you in terms offranchising?
Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Working with a consultant was just a complete
game changer.
You know, and I spent yearslooking at businesses.
I was, you know, my version ofTikTok or social media was kind
of scrolling through biz by celland looking at random
businesses, and it was that Ithink a lot of people would call
them kind of professional tirekickers, where, oh, the numbers
look good on this or this soundsinteresting, but with no real
(04:15):
direction, no real reason behindwhy you might actually buy or
run that business.
And once I started working witha consultant, we took a step
back and it wasn't hey, let'sjust find a business that makes
money.
It was what are you trying toaccomplish?
What are your goals?
First and foremost, what do youwant your life to look like?
What are your strengths?
(04:35):
And now let's go matchbusinesses that fit what you're
actually trying to accomplish inyour life.
And so it was just so much morethan just getting introduced to
a franchise or a few franchises.
It was really taking a stepback and dialing in what's
important, what are we trying toaccomplish?
And looking at, all of a suddennow, companies that actually
(04:56):
make sense, and it actuallybecame more challenging for me
to.
It wasn't as hard to actuallymove forward with the franchise.
It was almost more difficult tofigure out which one do I want
to move forward with, becausenow I started to have, you know,
just so many more opportunitiesthat you know made sense.
They checked all the boxes andI could actually see myself, you
know, getting off the groundand running.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I mean that happens, I would say, at least once a
month or so.
We have a client that says,what if we bought these two
franchises?
And of course you know, listen,everyone's an adult, they get
to do what they want.
But I think the best move isalways to start with one and get
good with good.
Get good at it, don't get overyour skis with units, don't try
and do too much.
Get really good at buyingfranchise, because here's the
(05:39):
thing, here's the thing thatmost people don't know about.
And you're right, I lovelooking at Biz by Sell too.
It's fun.
Franchise owners, if they'regoing to sell their franchise,
would strongly prefer to sell toother franchise owners in their
system because it's an easier,faster transaction.
They're not just dealing withsomeone who is analyzing a P&L,
they're dealing with someone whoreally believes in the brand.
(06:01):
And that's why I think, brian,we were on a call earlier today
and we were talking to a clientabout some of the neat things
about being a franchise owner isthat look in any franchise like
take crumble, for example,crumble cookie, which is an
outstanding franchise thatalways puts tons of pounds on me
Every time we eat it's reallygood, but the average net profit
(06:24):
and the median net profit andkudos to crumble for showing
both of these things they'revastly different, and so what it
tells us is is that there'ssome very good crumble franchise
owners and you can see them onLinkedIn.
They continue to add to theirportfolio, whereas some others
have decided, hey, maybe it'snot for me and I think in any
franchise system, that's okay.
(06:44):
It's like a classroom.
You know there's going to be Astudents, b students, c students
, d students, maybe even lessthan D.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, of course there's F students.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Was there an F student in your class when you
were good, yeah, was thereSomeone you knew was like an F.
Brian, did you have an Fstudent in your class?
I think?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
we had a few.
Yeah, there's always a few inthere.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
This brings up a great point.
As a parent because this issomething clients say to us a
lot I want to talk to everyfranchisee.
I don't want to talk to thosecherry picked franchisees that
the franchisor sends me to, andour point has always been look,
this is like the classroom.
You want to go cherry pick andfind that F student.
Well, think about it.
Think about your, your, youryounger days.
(07:26):
There's not much you can learnfrom an F student.
As a matter of fact, brian, thisbook by Scott Greenberg and
we've got to get him on thepodcast, brian have you read
this yet?
The Wealthy Franchisee I have.
This, I think, is one of themost powerful tools in
franchising.
For those of you listening, theWealthy Franchisee by Scott
Greenberg talks all aboutmindset in franchise ownership
(07:49):
and you probably see it at yourfranchise conference.
I know I've seen it at everyone I've ever been to.
The A students stick togetherand the D students stick
together and the D students loveto start shit at the franchise
conference.
Right, they want to raise theirhand, they want to give it to
the franchisor, and my opinionhas always been that the D
students, as a franchise owner,will rob you of your money
(08:10):
because they want to call youduring business hours and
complain about what's wrong.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
You know it's interesting.
You know I'm in a franchisethat has taken off very quickly
A lot of successful franchiseesin the system, you know, and a
lot of newer folks.
And you're absolutely right,getting something started it's
not easy.
It takes time, right, andthere's going to be challenges,
especially in year one.
And you see that you see thepeople that have a call and that
(08:36):
mindset is hey, I'm facing thischallenge, what did you do?
Or how do I tackle this?
Or you have that group ofpeople, just like you were
saying that's what we want, toclassify them as the complainers
.
Or the D students that are, hey, I didn't sign up for this, I
wasn't expecting this.
Or the D students that are, hey, I didn't sign up for this, I
wasn't expecting this, I needsomeone else to fix this for me.
And I think that's the coolthing about being a business
owner You're not an employeeanymore, there's no one else to
(08:59):
go to, you've got corporatesupport.
But when you have problems, youget to be creative, you get to
work with people who havefigured it out as well and go
make a change, make thingsbetter, and that's absolutely
been the case with Art of Doors.
And, to your point, there aresome people during the workday
that I see them calling, I don'tanswer because I know it's just
(09:21):
going to be negative, it'sgoing to be complaints, and you
just have to surround yourselfwith the people that are doing
it the right way, have the rightmindset, because the coolest
thing about a franchise isyou're not in it by yourself.
You've got your own businessbut you have a network of people
to go work with, to go talk to.
It's kind of like being a partof a team.
So it's so crucial to find thetop players, the people that are
(09:45):
positive, and use those toshoot your business up as well
as theirs.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, we talked about this on another podcast about
how you know other locations arenot your competitors.
You know like they are, butthey aren't.
I mean, they are maybeinternally like you want your
numbers to look a little bitbetter, but for the most part
you guys are a team and you'reworking together and you can
help each other.
Um, and I think looking at itfrom that perspective is very
different, because then you doyou have kind of like this
(10:10):
support team and you know youwant to help each other out and
share information to see eachother succeed.
You know internally you mightwant to beat them as far as
everybody but, but it'sdifferent.
It's, it's not, it's not like areal, true competitor out there.
So it's really important tohave that and I and I love that
about this.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I mean, I really now, brian, you were one of the
faster growing art of Georgefranchisees, were you not?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I was yeah, so I have the top market in the system
here in Tampa.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Wow, that's awesome.
Okay, so with us and, by theway, congrats, that's not,
that's not easy to do.
So congratulations to you andgetting to know you as we have,
I'm not surprised, you know, aspinkinks last year, I think we
we led the way.
I think we're their leadingfranchisee, and now it seems
like newer franchisees arestarting with Pinks and they're
(10:58):
like kicking our ass from dayone, Like they're like shooting
out of the gates and to Jill'spoints, like you want to be a
top franchisee, but also it'sdifferent, right.
It's like you're, you're happythat this thing that you saw
potential in that you wanted tohelp build.
You see other people doing itand thriving with it, and it's
like, yes, this is so cool, Likelook at this brand.
Like I saw a post from pinksyesterday welcoming like 10 new
(11:22):
and that's okay.
This brings us to a great thingto talk about here, which pinks,
I think, does a great job of,which is they sell franchises
and they get them open.
If you go to training, yourmarketing's already started and
you're firing up like I thinkit's like two weeks later.
That's a really key thing forthose of you out there looking
into franchise ownership howmany franchises have you sold
(11:43):
versus how many have you opened?
You sold 300, but you've opened60.
It's a red flag.
And so there's little thingslike that.
And that's why, to Brian's point, working with a franchise
consultant is so important,because we just know this stuff
right.
We work with enough franchisesand franchisees over the years
that there's certain numbersright.
(12:03):
Like you know, I went to seethe doctor this morning and
there's certain things we keeptrack of cholesterol, blood
pressure, stuff like that.
A franchise consultant can helpyou do that as well.
There's certain things we wantto see.
We don't want to see a systemlosing more than 10% of its
franchisees.
We want to see them gettingpeople open.
We want to see a healthy item19.
We absolutely have to see anitem 19.
(12:24):
If there's no item 19, walkaway.
Don't you think?
I mean, there's a fitnessfranchise that got into a ton of
trouble in California a fewyears ago because they didn't
have an item 19 and they wereout there telling their
franchise prospects all thesenumbers right, All the money you
can make with the business, andCalifornia turned around and
slapped them on the wrist.
So again, everyone out therethinking about franchise
(12:46):
ownership, make sure there is anitem 19.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Absolutely.
You know you bring up such aninteresting point, especially, I
think, especially about therole of a consultant.
Everyone starts this process,you know, somewhere different
and you know I've started, likea lot of people, where I still
had a corporate job and I waslooking to transition right into
being self-employed.
So today I'm beingself-employed, you know, having
more flexibility with my time.
(13:09):
My next franchise I invest inwill probably be something
different than what my first onewas, but my first one on my own
, I was looking at brick andmortar, I was looking at fitness
concepts, things that weregoing to take nine, 12 months to
have a build out, and what thatgets to is, before you, cash
flow.
You are probably year two.
(13:29):
You know when I was trying toreplace a corporate income
pretty quick or starting tocashflow pretty quick, working
with a consultant, that's whereI understood, you know, the
power of home services conceptsthat you know could be started
from a home office, where youknow where I was led to Art of
Drawers, my first month inoperation, just, you know, as
you're alluding to there, jack,we did $52,000 in revenue.
The first as you're alluding tothere, jack, we did $52,000 in
(13:52):
revenue.
The first month we opened wewere cash flowing within a few
months Amazing.
So it was a business model forsomeone leaving corporate trying
to cash flow pretty quick.
That just made perfect sense.
So you know our drawers isn'tperfect for everyone, home
services isn't perfect foreveryone, just like you know
quick service, food or othertypes of models.
And that's where you can lookat.
(14:12):
Where are you?
What do you need to happen inthe first six months, 12 months?
Because for all of us that areconsultants that have walked
this path, that have experienceddifferent types of brands we
can speak to what is the reality, what does your one look like
in these different types ofconcepts?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
You know what I like about Brian.
He keeps us on track.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
As opposed to someone else that we know.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, I'm like.
I think it's because I watchedtoo many political debates where
they like ask them a questionand then they they answer with
something completely different.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
You answer the questions that we are asking you
, which is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
You're keeping.
I just don't ask anything hardand then I'll do my political
spin.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And for those of you listening I mean Brian that's an
incredible first month.
Any of you interested in art ofdrawers, I would also just
recommend make sure you reviewthe franchise disclosure
document.
Make sure you speak tofranchisees.
Brian's example is outstanding,but it's probably not the norm.
So don't go on expecting thatthat's what you're going to make
, but you know what.
Go in there with the mindsetthat you're going to give Brian
(15:14):
a run for his money.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yeah, see, that's what we were saying, like that
Brian is someone that could helpyou, but also internally a
competitor, but not externally.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
So yeah, but for all you lawyers out there, we're
putting our disclaimer in there.
Okay, so and so, for those ofyou out there, jill and I are
thrilled to announce that Brianis actually now a member of the
Franchise Insiders.
As a franchise consultant, welearned about his successful
journey.
We started getting to knowBrian a little bit and became
(15:45):
friends, and then we thought itmade sense, as we're expanding
the Franchise Insiders Insiders,brian graciously accepted
coming on board our team andBrian, we're just so thrilled to
have you and we know you'regoing to help so many clients to
find the right franchise.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Thank you, and I'm certainly thrilled to be joining
the team.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
And it's you know, it's that whole experience that
you shared that only someone whohas bought a franchise would
understand, and that's why thewhole mantra of our business is
franchise owners helping futurefranchise owners.
So every one of the franchiseowners, franchise consultants,
is either a franchise owner or aformer franchise owner that has
that experience that you canlearn from them.
(16:24):
We're just so proud of this,this growing team.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, I mean, brian, hear your story and just seeing
you know how you worked with aconsultant also, so you not only
experience being a franchiseowner and a franchisee, but
you've also worked with aconsultant.
So you've been on the otherside to know too and recognize
the importance of that and whatreally helped you, and that's
just gonna make you stronger asa franchise consultant too.
So with all of that, we'rereally happy to have you and
(16:50):
exciting stuff, yeah wanting thefranchise ins was.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
It was just such a no brainer because of, I think,
what this team brings to thetable.
And, having spent a few yearsnow in the franchise space, you
know we all see a lot of socialmedia hype, right, there's a lot
of people out there pushingentrepreneurship, you know,
selling the upside, selling thedream, and there needs to be a
balanced conversation, right,and there needs to be a sense of
(17:16):
reality, not just, hey, you cango make a lot of money or you
can be your own boss, it's hey,you can do all those.
We can find opportunities thatactually get you to where you
want to be.
Let's also talk about thereality.
Let's talk about what you'relooking for.
Let's make sure, you know,we're doing our due diligence.
And when you have this team ofeveryone who's been an owner has
(17:36):
been through an exit, you know,walk the walk of everything
that our clients are looking toaccomplish, you know that's I
think that's just reallypowerful.
You know, that's just a lot ofexperience that, collectively,
we can leverage.
That will, you know, just putour clients in a better place
and, you know, hopefully in agood place to succeed.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Well, that's a great point.
That's initially, before I wentway off the rails.
Where I was going is that whenI was talking about the crumble
numbers.
What I love about franchiseownership is you can start with
one unit, you don't have to buy10.
I know there's a lot of you outthere you want to go be a big
entrepreneur.
Jill and I we bought five units.
We probably didn't need to buyfive units.
Start with one or two.
Get good at it, get prop, asBrian said, get cash flowing,
(18:23):
make money.
Don't sink all your money in adepreciating asset.
Don't go out there and buy abunch of vehicles right away.
Be smart with your money scale.
Grow, get good and if you'regood at it, then there will be a
neighbor franchisee that willbe happy to sell you their
location for pennies on thedollar.
I promise you and the beautyfor those of you out there, if
you decide to take the plungeand try this and it's not for
you you can sell your franchise.
Sure, for the most part we'resigning 10 year agreements,
(18:45):
although I do think crumblesfine, but for the most part,
franchise agreements are 10.
Brian is yours.
10 with order drawers.
Okay, you could be two months inand have a life change and say
I got to sell this business andyou list your business on Biz by
Sell and there again you cancall Brian.
Brian, what's the best numberfor someone to reach you, by the
way, I can be reached at?
(19:06):
Okay, so you can call Brian andsay, listen, I just bought this
franchise.
I'm a few months in butsomething's happened.
I got to sell my business.
Brian can help you do that.
But, more importantly, ifyou're new to franchise
ownership, if you're exploringit, call Brian too and learn how
he can help you navigate thispath as someone who's done it
himself.
And that's really what we loveto bring to the table is helping
(19:28):
people first understand.
And, brian, our process, as youknow, is such that the first
thing we do is we figure out whoyou are, figure out what types
of franchises.
We've got a whole system wherewe actually can dig into this
analysis, where we can see howyou compare to top performing
franchisees across multiplehundreds of franchises, and so
(19:48):
our first step is just to sayhere's where your strengths are
in a franchise as we see it, andhere's the franchises where you
match the types of franchises,where you match top performers
and, if you like our analysis.
The next step is we can showyou five to 10 franchises that
make sense.
So none of it is there toprovide any pressure.
It's all there to be aneducational step-by-step process
(20:10):
.
It's all there to be aneducational step-by-step process
.
And what's so wild to me, stillto this day, jill, is that
whether you call Dogtopia direct, the franchise fee is 50 grand,
let's say.
Or you work with us, it's 50grand, so you don't have to pay
a franchise consultant and itdoesn't cost you anything more
to work with a franchiseconsultant.
Yeah, no, it's incredible valueadd.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
You know, and one of the things I think you know,
people just don't know what'savailable in the space.
You know a lot of the brandsthat actually make the most
sense are probably brands you'venever heard of, that you're not
going to find on your own.
And, just like you said, youknow it's kind of like at this
point trying to go sell yourhouse on your own right or, if
(20:52):
you're a buyer, trying to buy ahouse on your own when you can
have a resource guide you everystep of the way, you know, with
nothing out of pocket.
So you know it absolutely makessense to at least start the
process with a consultant, youknow, get thinking down the
right path.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, and I think for those of you that want a major
takeaway here, the best thing wecan all tell you is when you're
thinking about what type ofbusiness you should own, do I
need it when times are good?
When times are bad?
Do I need it and will I pay forit when I need it?
And that's really the best wayto look at this is, those are
the types of businesses thattend to be the best investment.
(21:26):
Are things that people need.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, and I think to Brian's point earlier.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
What are you?
Speaker 2 (21:30):
looking for?
What are your goals?
Like, yours was to leavecorporate America and catch up.
So what types of businesseswill help you catch up first?
So that's the importance ofusing consultants like us is
that we can listen to you andwhat your goals are and find the
best fit for you too.
So, if that's really whatyou're looking for, or are you
looking for an asset that youwant to leave to your children
(21:51):
and grandchildren?
That's a totally different typeof business.
Working with a consultant willhelp you narrow that down and
get something that really fitsfor what your specific goals are
.
And then to your point, brianyou can get another franchise
later on.
Once your cashflow positive andyou're doing well, you can get
more territories.
You can go in a completelydifferent direction.
You can become a franchiseconsultant.
(22:12):
So there's so many differentthings you can do, but once you
get to that point and you canlook at what opportunity will
get you there faster if that'syour goal, yeah, and even just,
do you want employees or noemployees Subcontractor?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
you know, these are all things that are important to
kind of go over.
Brian, speaking of which, areyou guys subcontractor or do you
have employees?
Yeah, we have all independentcontractors across the board and
(22:53):
that was one of the things thatthat you can do subs and the
franchisor can deal that, and agood franchisor will tell you
all the things you need to knowbecause you've got to make sure
you do this stuff right.
One of the first things that wedo not to turn this into a long
commercial, but for those ofyou that saw the last podcast
where we had Michael Reeder,michael's got a great firm that
helps people set up theircorporation, helps them to
(23:13):
manage their finances, helpsthem to stay on top of all the
tax advantages that they have asa business owner, and that's
really it's a smart thing to do.
Have a great finance person,have a great attorney, have a
great funding source these areall things that that franchise
consultants have connections andcan connect you with great,
proven resources.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
And all that whole.
Having that team in place,especially for a first-time
business owner, is so crucial,right?
And you think about year one,where you're experiencing
running a new business for thefirst time, running a new team,
a new product for the first time, but also for a lot of us,
being a business owner for thefirst time, being able to
delegate the tax stuff, thelegal stuff, some of the
(23:56):
financial stuff, one toprofessionals that will do it
better than you will.
It's just a great investment,first of all.
But also, just freeze up yourtime to be hyper-focused on
growing your business, whetherit's generating revenue or
setting the foundation to scalein year two, year three,
generating revenue or settingthe foundation to scale in year
two, year three those are thethings you want to be focusing
on, not trying to figure outyour bookkeeping or something
(24:17):
that your CPA should be doingfor you.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Brian, what are you seeing in terms of AI's effect
on the art of drawers business?
Any changes there?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
I think, along with Art of Drawers affecting
everything, whether we realizeit or not, a lot of changes are
in place.
One of my favorite things aboutArt of Drawers is our founder,
our leadership.
They invest heavily intechnology, so we're even
rolling out new design softwarethat's coming out over the next
couple of months.
The back office or thecorporate office they're really
(24:47):
incorporating what's happeningin our economy in real time to
make changes and make sure thatour franchise stays relevant.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
And when you guys do a job, is it through your CRM?
Does it automatically once youbuild them, do they ask for a
Google review?
How does that work?
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Yeah, so everything starts with technology, with art
of drawers.
So a designer goes in and wemake a design.
You know, said rolling out newsoftware will actually be 3d
design here in the next coupleof months and we have software
in the house.
We actually price everythingright there in the home once
everything's ordered.
It's all.
You know, all of our differentcontractors all have different
roles within our software.
(25:25):
So it just moves through thesystem and everything gets
ordered right through thatsoftware.
So you know it's, it's a jobflow from day one of being in
the house to the job beingcomplete.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I mean, I think it's so cool, so timely, great fit in
the Florida market, greatbusiness to have there.
Brian, as we wrap up thepodcast, what would you say to
all those people out there wholisten and watch this podcast?
If you had any number one pieceof advice you could give, what
would that be?
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Number one piece would be one if you have that
inclination, that desire to dosomething different, you
absolutely can, and there shouldbe nothing holding you back.
There's always going to be areason to not take action right
now, but the first step is juststart the conversation, move
forward, and I think the powerof franchising and different
types of businesses are rightfor different people.
But you can truly move forwardand I think the power of
franchising and different typesof businesses are, you know,
(26:12):
right for different people.
But you can truly do anything.
You're not contained to whatyou know today.
You're not contained to whatyour background is, you know.
So I would tell you to start aconversation, explore and when
you explore, just have an openmind, because you're probably
going to get presented ideasthat actually make sense for you
(26:32):
, that feel completely out ofleft field, and it might be fine
.
But that's the you know, and Ithink that's the exciting part
of this process is it just opensup so many avenues for what the
future can hold.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
I love it.
And for those of you that wantto learn more about Brian, visit
us at thefranchiseinsiderscom.
Brian what's that phone numberthey can reach you on again, and
my personal phone is, and youcan get a free franchise
consultation with Brian.
You can pick his brain on whatit's like to be a fast-growing
franchise owner that had anincredible first month.
Those are all great things,brian.
(27:09):
Thanks so much for joining uson the podcast today.
We're so happy to be teammateswith you and, yeah, looking
forward to continuing to helpmore and more people learn what
this entrepreneurial lifestyleis.
Is being a franchise ownerGreat?
Thank you both for having meTake care.
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