How Two First-Time Franchisees Built a Thriving Roofing Business — With Zero Construction Experience
October 14, 2025 • 50 mins
How Two First-Time Franchisees Built a Thriving Roofing Business — Without Construction Backgrounds
In this episode, the team sits down with Kevin and Kathy, first-time franchise owners of Action Exteriors, to unpack how two non-constructors turned a leap of faith into a fast-growing exterior restoration business.
They share how they mastered insurance claims, learned the trades on the fly, built a team-first culture, and turned single-scope roof jobs into multi-trade projects that scale. Expect a real conversation about cash flow, subs, support, and the realities of ownership—not a highlight reel.
You’ll learn:
• Why Kevin and Kathy chose Action Exteriors based on culture and coaching, not hype
• How they turned insurance roofs into profitable multi-trade projects
• The keys to hiring slow, firing fast, and protecting culture early
• How to manage 30–90 day insurance receivables without running dry
• The right way to use subcontractor networks for scale and quality
• What “selling outcomes over items” really looks like in home services
• How they planned funding with ROBS and HELOC backup
• The path from residential to commercial roofing (and licensing in Oklahoma)
• Why local relationship marketing beats vanity social posting
• How they’re already thinking about their exit strategy and unit acquisitions
This episode is packed with real franchise ownership lessons—from managing cash and crews to building a scalable, sellable business with no prior construction experience.
👉 Interested in exploring franchise ownership yourself?
Visit thefranchiseinsiders.com
, head to our Team page, and read our consultants’ stories.
Find the franchise owner whose journey resonates with you—and start your own.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hi everyone, welcome back to the We Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson.
SPEAKER_03 (00:04):
I'm Jill Johnson.
SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
And we're here today with Kevin and Kathy Lou, who
are Action Exteriors franchiseowners, not even a year into
their ownership journey.
Of course, we have KatherineAllen, we have Brian Gross,
Morgan Knowler, and David SamJuan.
The whole crew is here.
Well, guys, thank you forjoining our podcast.
(00:26):
It's so great to have you.
You know, we were scrollingYouTube the other day, and we
see this video with you guys andCody Sanchez.
And I looked at Jill and I'mlike, these guys are only like a
few months into ownership andthey're already like going
around with Cody Sanchez.
Amazing.
How does that happen?
So, guys, welcome to the show.
How did that all come about withCody?
SPEAKER_04 (00:47):
Um, we really just got someone from Resi Brands
saying Cody was very interestedin our story just because we
didn't have a constructionbackground.
And our stories, like she said,just really resonated with
people just leaving theircomfortable everyday jobs and
just diving into businessownership.
So that's why she wanted tointerview us.
(01:07):
And we were honestly like, ohwow, yeah, we definitely have to
do this because this is like aonce-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
But at the same time, I was like, oh man, we're
about to be everywhere.
So we helped Kevin and Kathywith their franchise search.
I think we probably started justabout a year ago.
Does that does that sound right?
October 24.
SPEAKER_04 (01:25):
Yeah, about a year ago.
SPEAKER_00 (01:27):
And so we started, as so many franchise searches
do, looking at one franchise.
I think initially you guys hadwanted to talk to us about
pinks.
And now here you are, a yearlater, owners of Action
Exteriors.
So we were talking a little bitbefore we began the podcast, and
just some of the things that youguys were saying about how a job
(01:47):
may start as a roofing job.
Then all of a sudden you findall these other things.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
And that's the that's the beauty of like, you
know, us being action exteriors.
We we focus a lot about thehouse itself, right?
So for example, if we help ahomeowner open an insurance
claim on the roof, uh, mostlikely maybe the gutters damage,
maybe some of the siding too,especially if it's a storm.
And all that can roll under oneclaim.
Um, so that's part one, right?
(02:13):
So we get the roof, we get thegutters, and maybe it's part of
the siding.
Part two is you know, we workwith our supplementation team
who will look at things thatinsurance might have missed.
For example, some light jacks orum, you know, maybe uh decking,
you know, maybe some the deckingis old or too thin and needs to
be upgraded to code.
Um, so we get that alsosupplement as well too.
(02:35):
So for example, a$30,000 jawmight turn into like a 40 or 45
or 50.
You just don't know, dependingon size of the house and what we
find.
Um, so that's that's kind ofbeauty of it as well, too.
And throw throwing fence inthere, right?
Insurance cover cover fencingtoo, and we're actually
exteriors, we'll we'll dofencing as well, too.
Um, so those things just thosethings add up.
SPEAKER_03 (02:56):
And you guys don't have a background in
construction or anything likethat.
Is this all new to you?
Have you kind of learned thisalong the way?
SPEAKER_04 (03:06):
Yes, essentially.
I have a medical background,Kevin has a software background.
So the only sort of quoteconstruction experience we have
is like rental propertymanagement and dealing with
contractors, but like the actualtrades part of it, we had no
idea.
SPEAKER_03 (03:25):
They sound like professionals when you're
telling this story, so it'sreally exciting.
SPEAKER_04 (03:30):
We had to dive deep to figure out to learn
everything as we like wererunning the business.
So we've dumped a lot ofknowledge into these brains and
try to hold on to as much as wecould.
SPEAKER_03 (03:42):
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (03:42):
That's great.
Um, okay.
So would you say, and team, I'msure you guys have lots of
questions, so please dive in.
But my question is it soundslike action can do more than the
the you know typical, and Idon't want to say typical, but
like a mighty dog roofing or abest choice roofing.
It sounds like you guys can do alot more than those standard
roofing companies.
(04:03):
Would would would that be fair?
SPEAKER_04 (04:05):
Yeah, so that's why like that's kind of what drew us
to action steers, because you'renot just your roofing company,
you're not just like a windowcompany.
Like when homeowners haveclaims, there's gonna always be
more, usually more than one itemthat they're gonna want fixed.
And like as property managers,as homeowners, you really just
want to work with onecontractor.
(04:27):
You don't want to deal withmultiple people and have to like
work on like so many differentpeople's timelines.
So, like as we got started, welike kind of found a way to work
with homeowners to work oncustom projects.
And like we did our first realcustom project was this.
Um, he had like a flat uh rolledroof that was leaking, and he
(04:51):
really just wanted to be able towalk out onto that rolled roof
that we turned into like anenclosed porch so that he could
just drink his coffee and readit, read his read a book.
So we turned like a dry, leakyroof into something that was
more usable for him.
So that was just like our kindof our first step of like kind
of doing creative projects thatwere exterior-based, that wasn't
(05:16):
just roofing or siding orwindows.
SPEAKER_01 (05:21):
Yeah, it allows us to be creative with the customer
as well too, and offersolutions.
And the example that Kathybrought on when we were when we
were there, you know, again, hejust wanted to fix it.
It probably would have been acouple hundred bucks, but
instead, you know, we're like,Well, what do you imagine
yourself doing out here?
And he's like, like I said, oh,I can imagine just drinking
coffee out here.
What if we close off this space,right?
(05:43):
And it will extend the roof thatway the water can shed off so
you don't have any more waterproblems in usable space in the
winter or in the summer,whatever you fancy, right?
And you could read a book here.
And he loved the idea, and thenwe sold him on the idea, and
then we completed the project.
So he's he was super happy withit.
SPEAKER_03 (06:00):
Very cool.
SPEAKER_05 (06:01):
If you were to think about maybe the three things
that have contributed to yoursuccess thus far in the past
year, what would you say thosethree things are?
SPEAKER_04 (06:19):
I would say we have a pretty good instinct on who to
hire.
So, like our main objectives isjust to hire good people.
It's like, can we trust you?
Are you gonna be able to put inthe work?
And can we just get along?
So, like, I would say that likethat was our biggest, our
(06:41):
biggest what do you call it, thethe most important portion of
our success.
I mean, like, our the first guythat we hired is still with us.
The second guy we hired ended upleaving us, but it was honestly
best case scenario.
But we learned from that andthen we just figure it out, and
(07:03):
then we just kept hiring, andthen we just interviewed well,
and then just found another goodgroup of people to bring along
with us.
SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
Yeah, it's really one of those things that we
focus on here is hiring well andgood people, right?
Like if you have the rightattitude, I can train you, I can
teach you what you need to know.
But you know, if you have allthe knowledge and I can't we
can't work together, thenthere's there's no point.
Uh it's it's it's a liability atthat point.
So understanding people,bringing them in, understanding
(07:31):
the goal, understanding thatthey're here for the ride,
because a lot of people knowthat we are brand new, right?
And that can be scary, that canbe exciting, right?
Some people like our the firsthire, he was excited about it.
He's like, oh, we get to buildthis thing from the ground up.
I can look five years from nowand be like, wow, we built this
thing together, right?
And that's the type of peoplethat we want working with us.
SPEAKER_04 (07:51):
We're just also good at making sure that our team
dynamic is really good.
You know, we've had ups anddowns and like different things,
but we just always want to comeback to our main goal is to
build this team around eachother and not just like we're
not making money unless you'remaking money, and like we're not
happy unless you're happy.
SPEAKER_05 (08:10):
Team first, team first mentality.
My n that's one of my pillars inmy company as well, really
resonates.
SPEAKER_07 (08:20):
So, can we talk a little bit more about the hiring
piece?
You know, here a lot of people,especially with I think similar
backgrounds as yours, not beingin the trades, think about home
services, a little bit scaredabout the labor pool and what
it's like hiring.
You know, and so we talk aboutsome of those big exterior
projects.
You know, immediately when Ithink of your company, it sounds
like people with roofingexperience, but then you're
(08:41):
talking about getting creativeand you know, building kind of
outdoor spaces.
So, so what does the team looklike?
You know, I'm sure there's somethe labor, but there's has to be
some design, some sales aspectto it.
So can you share a little bitmore about that piece of your
business?
SPEAKER_01 (08:55):
Yeah, for sure.
So the the hiring process isreally we just we focus on
again, people who just reallyhave the urge to grow and urge
to learn, right?
Again, we can teach um we couldteach them anything if they're
willing to learn.
And the good thing about workingwith a good franchiser like Resi
Brands is you know, we have acoach that we can rely on and
(09:17):
provide feedback with.
Um, so a lot of these projectsthat we've like custom projects
that we've sold, it's it's kindof you know trained in us
through Resi Brands.
Like, hey, you know, you can youknow provide value by asking the
customers these type ofquestions, right?
At the same time, on the backend of it, we need to also have
subcontractors who can performthat actual work, right?
(09:41):
Um, so that's been also anotherpiece um that was scary at first
of like, how do I find peoplewho can actually do the work and
do it right?
Um and actually that ended upbeing the simpler piece, right?
Hiring your own employees isactually harder than looking for
contractors or subcontractors.
(10:02):
Um and part of that reason isbecause we have a good
relationship with some of thesesuppliers, right?
We have national council withsome of the biggest suppliers in
the nation.
We can go to our suppliers andask for recommendation on uh
subcontractors.
So that's what we did, and wefound really good
subcontractors.
But for the most part, it's justyou know, again, bringing in the
(10:22):
right people that can help yousell, that can help talk to
homeowners and consult andprovide the right solution for
their needs.
That's that's the that's thebiggest piece right there.
SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
I think when you guys were um were working with
us at the end of last year, I'mpretty sure I mentioned to you
we have a client who's inLouisiana who had a a roofing
franchise and that he wasworking towards an exit.
Um he basically went two yearswith two units, and he recently
sold his franchise for sixmillion dollars, two years in.
(10:56):
Um I won't name the franchise,but um, it's incredible the
upside on roofing, same sort ofthing, subcontractor model.
And you know, I I agree becauseI think all of us have talked
about this on just about everypodcast.
I think the the art of being areally effective franchise owner
is the people pieces managingemployees.
And I think one of the mostimportant things for all of us
(11:18):
to remember is you've got tohire slow and fire fast.
And it's really hard.
It sounds easier than it isbecause you develop
relationships with people, youwant to give them a chance.
Um, but in business, hire slow,fire fast.
If someone is hurting yourbusiness, do not let them hang
around and hurt your business.
SPEAKER_06 (11:36):
Let's be honest.
Coming from a regular job toowning a business can be really
intimidating.
Kevin, with your background,Kathy, with your experience,
what helped you flip the switchfrom employee to like confident
owner?
SPEAKER_04 (11:51):
I mean, if you want to be honest, I'm still scared
of shit.
I mean, we're still just in, andthen like every day I'm looking
at books.
I'm like, ooh, all right, likeslow season is coming for us.
I'm like, are we gonna getthrough it?
Are we gonna get through it?
(12:11):
I'm like, well, there's nooption, we just gotta get
through it.
But yeah, it's still scary ashell.
SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
Yeah, and that's why we balance each other out
because I'm thinking of like,all right, six months from now,
we're gonna be doing this, we'regonna be doing this, we've got a
girl here, we gotta hire here,and she's like, Oh, cash flow,
babe.
SPEAKER_04 (12:24):
I'm like, we're not buying another truck.
I was like, we're not buying atruck during slow season, that's
just dumb.
It might be on sale, but that'sabout it.
SPEAKER_02 (12:35):
I love that because my husband and I work very
closely in our business and webalance each other every day.
There's some days where I'mlike, oh man, we gotta go big,
we have to expand.
And he's like, We're doing fine,we're doing fine, slow and
steady, slow and steady.
And I was like, No, we havemore, we have to go faster, we
have to go bigger.
Um, but I love that.
And what what's what's next foryour business and your family?
(12:56):
And what does that look like foryou two?
Are you are you trying to gobigger?
SPEAKER_04 (13:00):
Yeah, I mean, we're trying to go bigger.
So, like, not every staterequires a specific exam, like
passing a certain exam andlicensing for commercial, but
apparently Oklahoma does.
So, like, I've been studying forthis commercial roofing exam
that hopefully I should betaking in the next few weeks.
I just haven't gottenconfirmation yet.
(13:21):
But yeah, that's our next bigstep because like when it comes
to commercial, like a lot ofpeople think like big
commercial, but like smallcommercial is just like
apartments, just like regularshingle apartments.
And like that's what like ournext slow phase would be, just
to hopefully be able to take onthose like regular asphalt
shingle commercial projects.
SPEAKER_02 (13:42):
So, do you feel like right now you're leaving money
on the table by not having thatlicense?
SPEAKER_04 (13:47):
Oh, yeah.
We lost a big job from like oneof our employees.
He had a cousin who had a bigcommercial project, and then
that's what like fueled our fireto like get into the commercial
space.
SPEAKER_02 (14:00):
So that was sad.
And this is something you do youspecifically need?
You can't hire someone thatwould have that license.
SPEAKER_04 (14:07):
No, because like in order for the company to have
the commercial license, it hasto be an owner.
So it has to be one of us, andhappens to be me.
SPEAKER_02 (14:18):
Interesting.
Well, for our company andCatherine and I own the same
Soccer Stars franchise, but weI've had to leave money on the
table because I didn't have anearly childhood education
credential.
And so I just recently putsomeone on staff, and thank
goodness the business was stillthere.
But I it took me a long time tofind somebody that had that in
order to get into some of theseschools, and um, I'm very
grateful for her.
(14:38):
So she's getting paid a littlebit extra right now.
SPEAKER_03 (14:42):
Very cool.
SPEAKER_00 (14:44):
Okay, so here's the here's the question I have for
you guys.
And I'm not gonna ask you forspecific numbers because we we
do keep the show FTC compliant,but revenue-wise this year,
would you say has it been whatyou expected?
Has it exceeded expectations?
Where are you at so far?
Because I I understand, hey,listen, we're always looking at
our PL, but revenue-wise year todate, are you happy with where
(15:04):
you are?
SPEAKER_04 (15:06):
There's always wishes.
I could always wish that we didbetter.
Like, I'm never gonna settle.
But there's been ups and downs.
Like the first, like the firstfew weeks we opened, we're like,
oh, sweet, we got three jobs.
And then the second month weopened, we had one job that we
actually lost money on.
And I was like, oh, that sucks.
And then like the next twomonths, I'm like, okay, maybe
(15:28):
we'll make like be at least likelike neutral, or what do you
call it?
Like at least like most of ourexpenses for the month.
So like it's been up and down.
Like, I wouldn't say that itexceeded my expectations, nor
like I didn't know what toexpect to be honest.
SPEAKER_00 (15:47):
Okay, that's fair.
Yeah, and I agree with you.
We always can do more.
Um, I I think we always shouldshoot to do more, that's for
sure.
SPEAKER_01 (15:55):
Yeah, but it's been good though, I think.
Uh I think it was just learningthe retail side of things and
also the insurance side ofthings, right?
How to talk to homeowners andexplain to them how the whole
insurance process works.
Because let's be real, like howmany of us actually read our
insurance policy, understandsit?
Right.
So just being able to explainthat to the customer how the
whole process works and makethem trust you too, right?
(16:17):
Because don't forget, like a lotof people trust their agents
more than they do contractors,right?
So it's just providing thatvalue and building that trust to
get them to sign up with you,and then just taking through the
whole process.
So, in that aspect, we had aramp up really fast.
But ever since we learned how totalk to homeowners about
insurance and how to navigatetheir insurance claims, like
that's when we kind of reallysaw an uptick in our revenue,
(16:39):
right?
We started you know getting moreof these jobs, we started doing
supplements as well, too.
And all of a sudden our ourpipelines are full of insurance
claims.
But downside is it takes youknow 60 and 90 days to probably
collect that money.
SPEAKER_00 (16:53):
That's what I was gonna ask, because that's that's
a huge thing that every newbusiness owner needs to be
prepared for.
Is what do those receivables?
So you're saying 60 to 90 onreceivables?
SPEAKER_01 (17:02):
It can be, right?
Because some insurance carrierswill drag their feet, right?
Because I don't I don't knowwhat their timeline is usually,
but you know, we've gotten asfast as like a month, and then
some of it we're still waitingon for like two, three months
ago.
SPEAKER_04 (17:13):
Like I think we just closed out two jobs from July.
Those were pretty painful justbecause there was a lot of code
upgrades and like a lot of backand forth.
So that was a little painful.
SPEAKER_01 (17:24):
Yeah, and the back and forth is the back and forth
is more of like the so thesupplement process, the way it
works is if they miss things,like for you know, again,
flashings or they miss codeupgrades, right?
We have to ask insurance formore money or negotiate with it,
and then they have to agree topay for it, right?
And once they agreed, thenthey'll cut the check to the
homeowner, and then thehomeowner turns around and has
(17:45):
to hand that over to us as partof the job.
So that process of doing thattwo or three times, because
supplements, you can supplement,I don't know what the maximum
amount is, but there's someprojects we supplement it three
times and it's just back andforth three times.
So then it extends the length ofthe process.
SPEAKER_00 (18:01):
And then do the the subcontractors require, you
know, is it different?
Some require 50% up front, 10%up front, nothing up front.
How does that work?
SPEAKER_04 (18:10):
We normally pay the subcontractor after we are happy
with the work.
SPEAKER_00 (18:15):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (18:16):
So after we walk, do the walk around with the
homeowner and they are happy andthey suffer they sign the
certificate of completion andlike we confirm that there's
nothing else that needs to bedone, then we'll go ahead and
pay the sub because we feel likethat's only fair.
And like a lot of the subs likehave said that they actually
like working with us because weactually paid them.
Or like, yeah, we're gonna payyou.
(18:36):
As long as you do the work,we'll make sure we pay you.
So we just want to keep themhappy as well.
SPEAKER_00 (18:42):
That's smart.
That's really smart.
Yeah, because you want to,especially being new, you want
to develop a good reputation fortaking care of those
subcontractors so you can callthem in.
I mean, again, it was like, um,you know, Catherine, when we
were at home care assistants,you know, if if franchisees got
really, you know, greatcaregivers, you wanted to make
sure you kept them busy, youkept them happy, because if you
(19:04):
landed a 24-7 shift, you neededyour A player to send um to that
client.
Uh, otherwise you you're leavingso much money on the table.
SPEAKER_05 (19:14):
Same applies to my coaches.
If I get a really good soccercoach and sorry, my voice.
Um, if I get a really goodsoccer coach and you know, I'm
I'm expanding, I'm in anexpansion process myself right
now.
What are other things I can havehim or her do to keep him or her
busy um and making money?
(19:35):
So I bring them in for marketingand sales and things like that,
just to, you know, retain thattalent.
SPEAKER_00 (19:44):
So we always say that the first 18 months are
really the hardest of building anew business.
You guys are in what about monthseven right now?
Where where are you guys?
SPEAKER_04 (19:54):
We launched mid-May, so whatever that is, six?
SPEAKER_00 (19:59):
Yeah.
So you're you're you're reallyyou're really in that sort of in
the hardest part right now.
Um what would you say it's beenlike, you know, now that you're
entrepreneurs, everything youread, all the excitement you had
last year at this time lookingfor franchises, what does it
feel like at this point?
Like what uh what what would youguys say to people who are
(20:19):
thinking about becomingfranchise owners?
SPEAKER_01 (20:24):
Just be prepared, I would say, right?
Because you know, you you thinkfranchise, you think, oh,
playbook for success.
But really, it's all in yourhands, right?
Like they will give you thesupport, they'll give you the
playbook, but you still have toimplement it, right?
So you still have to do all ofthe things that business owners
have to do.
You know, you have to uh youknow create your LLC or your
(20:44):
corporation, and you have to,you know, uh get funding from
somewhere.
So all the stuff that businessowners do, you still have to do,
and you still have to manage,you still have to hire, right?
In our instance, you still haveto hire you know employees and
subcontractors, bet them out.
Um, learn your CRN system,right?
Um so franchise provides you theplaybook, concepts, and then you
(21:07):
it's still up to you to actuallyimplement it.
And you know, of course, withthe support of the franchiser,
which has been great for us, um,it's still a lot of work.
Um, but we see the we see wherewe're trying to go, and we you
just got to keep working towardsthat every day.
SPEAKER_00 (21:22):
Yeah, and as I recall, you guys uh did you guys
are you open to talking abouthow you financed your franchise?
Sure.
Did you do a home equity line ofcredit?
Am I remembering that right?
SPEAKER_04 (21:33):
That's we did that as like a backup.
So like our initial um fundingwas via ROBS, which I had never
learned about until I met Ejack.
Um, but I was like, oh sweet, Ican use pre-tax retirement
dollars and avoid all of thatobnoxious SBA paperwork so that
I can fund the business.
(21:53):
So that was like a really biggame changer because I had never
even heard anything about ROBs.
And even like when I was talkingto friends and family about
Robs, like no one honestly knowswhat it is.
SPEAKER_00 (22:05):
Yeah, I mean, we it one of the first things we do uh
is connect people to franchisingsources.
You probably worked with withBenedrends, um uh who you know,
they do those ROBs plans all daylong.
And even now with the governmentshutdown happening and people
who are waiting on SBA loans,ROBS isn't really bound by that.
You also I I love the homeequity line of credit,
(22:27):
especially with so many peoplehaving a lot more equity in
their in their houses.
Um, we used a service calledFigure, which was like we we
funded in like a week.
It was all done online, so wedidn't have to have all those
painful conversations with withbanks and things like that.
Um, but yeah, that that Rob'splan, for those of you listening
that aren't familiar, it's a wayto take your 401k from a
(22:49):
previous employer that's notconnected to your current
employer and roll it into yourbusiness in a way you're
investing it now into yourbusiness versus all those other
businesses that you don't own.
It's really a terrific way tofund the franchise.
SPEAKER_03 (23:02):
Yeah, there's so many different ways to fund a
franchise, too, that I feel likenot everyone knows.
So that's why we love, you know,working with you guys and
working with our clients to findthose sources.
Like you said, you didn't evenknow it existed.
And, you know, it's just it's somuch better.
And then to even have a backup,you know, with a home equity
line, too.
So so many different ways to dothat.
SPEAKER_00 (23:23):
100%.
SPEAKER_02 (23:24):
Yeah, I just had a conversation yesterday with a
new client, and she that was hermain question was is this
normal?
Are people doing this?
How are they funding it?
And I said, Yes, that's all ofthe above.
Everybody's funding it alldifferent ways, but they're
finding funding and they'regetting going.
And so she's really excitedbecause she was looking into
more real estate investments.
Um, but the margin marginsaren't there anymore.
(23:44):
They might have been 10 yearsago, 20 years ago, but she just
was crunching the numbers andit's not making sense.
So she's going the franchiseroute now.
SPEAKER_01 (23:53):
Yeah, that's amazing.
And I and I I love the franchisemodel as well, too, because you
have the ability to expand,right?
Uh get more locations.
And you know, once you figureout like your CRN system, you
figure out your process, youknow, now you have your own
playbook, you know, as an owner,and then you can take that
playbook to another location,you can grow that as well, too.
And uh the model just makessense.
And you know, so far we're uhwe're I think we're doing okay.
SPEAKER_05 (24:18):
I recently got a second territory and I'm in the
process of expanding.
And so I'm with you on that,Kevin.
And um really, I wanted toreally understand the business
and the numbers and just have,you know, a year or so under my
belt, 18 months, as Jeff says,to really, you know, understand
the different revenue channelsand things like that.
(24:40):
And so now I'm expanding intothat second unit and um feeling
like I can hit the groundrunning a lot faster and be more
uh work smarter, not harder, andin terms of driving that
revenue.
So and my unit or two?
Or how how many we have four.
(25:00):
Oh, you have four.
Okay, never mind.
SPEAKER_00 (25:04):
We actually created a um an exit calculator for our
clients to to sort of aim, andit's for educational purposes,
um, to to so let's like let'ssay you wanted to set like an
exit it at three million dollarsand you wanted to to to achieve
a certain EBITDA.
Um, you can do that with ourexit path calculator because we
(25:25):
we really want people to thinkabout the exit um even while
they're just getting started.
You've got to have an aimingpoint.
Um, and and I thinkunderstanding how franchises are
valued, I think really, youknow, four four units in your
business put you in a verystrong position to grow a large
business.
And let's, you know, let's bereal, with all the franchise
(25:45):
systems that are out there, thewhat is great, and I say this
every episode is that franchisesinclude both um exit and
acquisition opportunities.
And one of the things we say toall of our clients is once you
get to month 18, we're gonna dothat review with you to
determine are we going intoacquisition mode?
Because there's always going tobe underperforming franchisees.
(26:06):
I was just talking to a CEO ofan automotive franchise about
this this morning.
There's high performers andthere's low performers.
High performers buy lowperformers for pennies on the
dollar.
SPEAKER_04 (26:16):
Um I would say one thing that I underestimated
about franchising was therelationship building.
So when we were down at ResiConand we met like so many other
franchisees through Resi, likewe met Daphne.
Daphne is crushing.
We follow Daphne all the time.
I just love her posts.
Like, I wish I had more time topost like her, but that's just
not my skill set.
(26:37):
But then like we met um Sue andDon and their story from New
England and the T1P up there wasvery resonating.
So it was just like veryawesome.
Just being like surrounded bylike a successful group of
franchisees and something thatyou can really strive to be.
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
I'm glad you brought that up because actually, and
and we love Daphne, she'sterrific.
But I actually don't know thatposting on LinkedIn does
anything for her Pinks business.
And I think now that um, andthis is my opinion, but I I
think growing a personal brandon LinkedIn for young
franchisees can becounterproductive because you
(27:15):
really should be spending thattime, you know, going to the
Rotary Club, going to theChamber of Commerce, building
the relationships with the localbusinesses.
But I think young franchiseowners actually might be wasting
time posting on LinkedIn toomuch because I don't know.
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_04 (27:32):
I wish I could just post on social more, but I'm
just not.
I just don't have that creativemindset of like posting these
very intriguing Facebook andInstagram posts, and I'm like,
oh my gosh, just let me justshoot a picture of a project we
did and describe it.
SPEAKER_06 (27:45):
Hey, like like Cody Sanchez says, just steal
somebody else's homework.
I hate posting it.
I dread it.
I wake up every morning, I'mlike dreading what am I gonna
put today and just borrowsomebody else's homework.
Don't steal, borrow.
SPEAKER_01 (27:56):
That's probably the hardest, uh, hardest part of my
day.
What do I post today?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (28:00):
I mean, like I would say, I'm a marketing person, so
like I literally wake up in themiddle of the night with like an
idea and I'm like typing it inmy notes on my phone, and I'm
like, oh, I can't wait to haveall this content.
Like, that's I wish I could dothat all day.
SPEAKER_06 (28:12):
She's usually she's usually who I copy.
SPEAKER_03 (28:15):
So it's great though, is everyone's so
different.
Like Catherine, we're more likeyou, right?
Like we're constantly throwingout ideas you probably want to
be.
Um, but you know, we'reconstantly thinking about what
to some people that's like theiryou know biggest hindrance.
You know, they don't want to doit.
And there's so many good toolsout there.
We've talked a lot about likeusing AI to help you.
And David, what you said, youknow, copy someone else's.
(28:37):
You know, there's you just makeit your own, but you don't have
to reinvent the wheel everysingle time.
There's so many things you cantake ideas here and there.
There's so many of us doingthis.
And you know, when you're, youknow, when you have a franchise,
so you have your specificlocation.
So you're not necessarily incompetition with someone else.
So if it's working in theirlocation, try it in your
(28:57):
location.
Like that might work, it maynot, you know, but you're not
taking visits away from them.
So might as well give it a.
SPEAKER_00 (29:04):
I would be careful as a franchise owner to be
sharing my my hot my ups anddowns on Facebook where
potential customers might seeme.
Um, that's where I would have, Ithink looking at use of social
media.
I if I owned an ActionExteriors, um, my thing on
Facebook would be here's thework, like you said, Kathy,
(29:25):
here's before and after.
Here's how we were able to startwith a roofing project and turn
it into this beautiful thingthat made the home more
valuable.
Um, I think sharing the life'sreally tough as an entrepreneur.
Your end clients who are goingto be buying your services, they
don't want to hear about that.
Um, so I think it's again,people need to manage their
brand in a way that's authenticon social media.
(29:46):
Um, there is a service calledHyper Fury where you can you it
actually you can pre scheduleyour posts months in advance.
And what happens is it will postto LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram.
You can choose to go to all ofthose channels or Or half, but I
think it's also being mindfulthat the LinkedIn audience is
different from the FacebookInstagram audience.
SPEAKER_01 (30:07):
100%.
And here's a story I'll sharetoo.
It's uh about LinkedIn.
So my account on LinkedIn gotbanned because I created an
action uh a new account withAction Exteriors email address,
and I didn't know you can't dothat.
So now I'm completely bannedbecause it thinks that my
personal and Action Exterior'semail is two different persons.
(30:27):
Right?
And I've tried to dispute thatmany times to get it unblocked,
but I'm like permanently bannedfor LinkedIn now.
But I will say it keeps me offat night because I remember used
to just scrolling on LinkedInbefore a bed, just like seeing
what other people are doing andother businesses.
And now I'm just focusing onlike what we need to do in our
business.
And it takes time, you know.
Now I have more time to focus onlike the business itself versus
(30:48):
just like posting on LinkedIn.
SPEAKER_04 (30:50):
So good or bad thing, whether we want him
unbanned or not.
I don't know.
That's why I created that Idon't really use much.
SPEAKER_01 (30:59):
So yeah, on that point, LinkedIn now.
If you try to look for me, youcan't find me because I was
banned.
SPEAKER_04 (31:04):
Now we know.
SPEAKER_01 (31:05):
Now we know.
SPEAKER_06 (31:08):
Well, if if you do want that fixed, I probably have
a workaround.
I have some connections overthere, so I could probably a
call.
And on that note, I'll see if wecan see that.
This is a good thing abouthaving a whole team now.
You're you're always you knowbacked by the whole franchise
insiders team.
Also on that note, theinsurance.
My wife, I think we're speakingbefore the call, she's uh an
attorney, she actually doesinsurance defense.
(31:30):
So it'd be good to connect youguys with her so you guys see
both sides, not just workingwith you know uh with the uh
companies, but also with theinsurance side.
So you see what they're lookingfor, why it's taking a long time
for delays for payment, thingslike that.
SPEAKER_01 (31:45):
Gotcha.
Absolutely.
That'd be uh that'd be nice.
SPEAKER_00 (31:48):
Yeah, and for those of you that want to create more
social media posts, um there'sanother worker, another
shortcut.
Um, Claude AI is really good atunderstanding a personal brand.
So what you can do is upload,you know, say your most
authentic, your most uh the postwhere you've had the most
interaction, whether it beFacebook, Instagram, LinkedIn,
(32:09):
um, and tell it you want to domore posts like this.
This is your voice, this is whoyou are.
And what's great about Claude isthat Claude will actually
evolve.
And so then one day you mightsay, Well, I want to post this,
and Claude will say, That's noton brand for you.
So we really do have someexcellent tools AI-wise that can
get to know you and understandyou and help you be more
(32:30):
efficient in cranking that stuffout.
SPEAKER_03 (32:32):
You listen to Claude more than me listen to it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:35):
I don't know if that's true.
SPEAKER_03 (32:37):
So you can post it, and then you're like, well,
Claude said it, it's not easy.
Uh no, but it is very cool tohave those tools.
And it, they're all there tohelp us because we're not all
marketing geniuses and noteveryone's a you know creative
director or excellent writer.
So we have these tools to use.
Um, so we always recommend usingthem.
SPEAKER_00 (32:57):
But I will say that um who was it?
It was there was anotherfranchise CEO that actually sent
me a note yesterday, and and hesaid, Your whole team is so
great at being visible on socialmedia.
So kudos to all of you guys,David, Morgan, Brian, um, and
Catherine, uh, because you'redoing a great job of staying out
(33:17):
there.
SPEAKER_01 (33:19):
I think the biggest challenge for us was just
stepping into somethingcompletely different than we're
used to and having to learn thedifferent trades because as you
can imagine, roofing itself is awhole lot to learn.
Now you're throwing in siding,right?
Now you're throwing in windows,and then gutters, and then all
exterior work, right?
Pouring concrete, fences, right?
(33:42):
And it's just a lot of knowledgeto absorb, and we had to do that
in a short amount of time.
SPEAKER_04 (33:47):
And on top of learning how to keep our books,
how to manage people, how to runa business and raise our kids.
SPEAKER_01 (33:58):
Yeah, and then you know, I I um I left my full-time
job in January or early January,so I can focus on the business.
And it has been it was needed,it was definitely needed.
I could not see myself stillhave my full-time job and doing
this business right out theget-go.
It's just it would it would havebeen too much.
Um so with all that in mind, youknow, now here we are, we're
(34:20):
we're we're caught up to speed,we're doing all right, we're
hiring and you know, puttingstrategies together for what the
end of the year is gonna looklike and you know what it's
gonna look like going into nextseason.
Um, so it at the very beginning,it was that was the biggest
challenge, just getting rampedup, understanding all the
different trades and um and justbeing a business owner.
SPEAKER_05 (34:42):
Wearing all the hats, right?
Like I came from marketing.
My role was marketing, marketingis a lot of different things,
but it was still marketing.
Coming in, you got the learningcurve, same thing.
I'm like, you sports, I don'tknow.
I I've never done this before.
And then it's just all the hats.
It's your HR hat is on, thenyour sales hat is on, then your
hiring hat is on, the payroll.
(35:03):
Like it's just I felt like atthe beginning, that's that is
like that really resonates withwhat you're saying because it's
it's the learning curve of theindustry and the business, plus
being able to transition yourmind within a given day between
sales, marketing, and HRoperations, right?
Like on the fly, um, which ishard.
(35:23):
Um, but what's what's the mostrewarding, would you say, about
owning this business?
SPEAKER_04 (35:28):
The most rewarding part so far has been like seeing
our team like like our firsthire.
He basically told Kevin, he'slike, you know, like I didn't
know what to think at first, butthis is probably the most fun
job I've ever had.
And for him to say that, we werelike, wow, we're actually doing
something great.
And like just seeing the teamactually grow and be successful
(35:50):
alongside with us has been likereally rewarding.
SPEAKER_05 (35:54):
I completely agree.
SPEAKER_01 (35:57):
And hey, I'm gonna go pick up my kid today.
Hey, boss, oh wait, okay, I'mgonna go pick up my thing.
SPEAKER_00 (36:04):
That's a key point.
You know, we had Aaron Harperfrom Rolling Sudes.
I'm sure if you guys you you'veseen Aaron, he's pretty active.
Um uh and and he was on ourpodcast two weeks ago, and he
said, let's make activeownership cool again.
And I think that is one of thegreatest things we can do as
people in the franchising world,because there's still so many
people that get fed these sortof fishtails about how you can
(36:28):
just buy a business and it'sgonna run itself.
Um and I really do think there'sso much pride in doing exactly
what you guys just said, whichis creating jobs that people
love, like creating the bestwork environment someone's ever
had, being able, as Catherinesaid, to wear all the hats and
still be able to go have moretime with your family and pick
up your and and do, you know,car drop off and pick up.
(36:50):
Um that's part of what makesbusiness ownership so great is
you being in control, yougrowing that business, um, you
being the one that makes itsuccessful.
SPEAKER_04 (37:00):
But I gotta say that like in the first few months of
ramp up, I did have manymoments.
But this is also summertime whenthe kids were off and like they
were just driving us nuts.
That like I was like, did wereally do the right thing?
Because like I feel like we havelike no time for our kids right
now.
But like that was just the thatjust comes with the part of
starting it up and like wearingall those hats where you had to
(37:21):
do so many things, and likeyou're just your mind is going
like a hundred miles an hour,you're trying to figure out all
these things.
SPEAKER_02 (37:27):
We talk about that all the time in my my household
because it feels like you haveanother child.
So it feels like I have a thirdchild, and that third child is
my business now.
So I have to now balance betweenthree, and I'm really grateful
that I stopped at two because ifI had three or four and then I
have one on the way.
Oh my gosh, congratulations.
See you be in the thick of it.
(37:48):
But I mean, I think that's justthat just goes with the
territory.
You've added this next thing,but the nice part about having
this extra um job in thiscompany that you're building is
that, like Kevin said, you canstep away whenever you want.
You can go on vacation, you cansay, we're gonna drop
everything, the company's gonnarun itself.
And I think that's just thebeauty of being in the
franchise.
It's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (38:10):
There's a question to all the owners though.
Can you really go on vacationwithout thinking about work?
SPEAKER_05 (38:15):
I was just in Italy for two weeks.
Two weeks.
I did a little teeny bit of workevery day.
I was in Italy, um, and I have agreat manager, and I really was
able to enjoy it.
I I really I there was one callI got panicked because a coach's
(38:36):
car died.
Although, and he had to get tobut um, but she yeah, just get a
good manager.
SPEAKER_01 (38:43):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (38:45):
What you were saying is like a kid, right?
When you have if anyone,everyone has kids or not puppies
to count, but at first it's alot of work, you know, and
you're kind of saying, Why did Ido this?
And you know, but you know it'srewarding, you know that it's
gonna grow.
It's like going on vacation withthe baby is very different than
when you go on vacation witholder kids, you know.
So it's the same thing with thebusiness.
(39:06):
When your business is new andyou're on vacation, there's
probably a lot of things you'regonna have to still focus on.
But ultimately, as it grows andit's stable and you've got a
good team in place, you canactually start to enjoy the
vacation.
Um, so you know, you it'll getthere.
It's just it's like everything,everything evolves, and with
growth and stability, you do getto that point.
(39:26):
Um, so sometimes it's reallyhard to see when you're in the
thick of it.
SPEAKER_00 (39:29):
But well, and at least this, you guys, when you
own a business and you'regrowing it and yeah, you're
working hard, but most peopleare not going to get pieces of
corporate exits or or mergersand acquisitions, right?
Most people who are working incorporate America, they're gonna
make their 80, 100, 200k a year.
(39:50):
But if they get fired, that'sit.
You that's it.
Money's not coming in.
When you're building a business,yes, you're gonna go through
some hard.
But I think, especially with howthe world works now, if you want
to have earlier retirement, amore comfortable retirement, if
you want to set your family upfor generational wealth, there's
(40:11):
really only one way to do it.
And that's to go out there andbuild a business, make it
successful, and either keep itand keep growing and have the
family come into it or sell it.
And so that there again is whyworking with franchise
consultants, and I and I hopeyou guys found our service
useful to you in thinking aboutall this.
But this is why it's worth it toreally have an end goal in mind
(40:33):
as you build a business and toknow what your number is.
Hey, when we're, you know, 65,we want to spend half the year
in Italy.
Um, what is your number?
And there's not enough peopleout there who really know what
their number is and what theyneed to aim at.
And that's again, the value inbuilding these businesses is
that you can aim it, you canactually get there and do it.
I've seen it done many, manytimes.
(40:55):
Um, and that, in my opinion, isthe value of building these
businesses.
Okay, so you guys, here'ssomething we haven't covered.
Um, when Kevin and Kathy firstcalled me, they were very
interested in Pink's windows.
Um, and we had multipleconversations around it, but for
whatever reason, the territory,I guess it was available, but we
didn't know it, or Rezi didn'tknow it, or something like that.
(41:17):
But here we go.
We we pivot from Pink's toaction exteriors.
Um, do you remember what thatwas like and and making that
shift from one pref preferredbrand to this whole other brand
you'd never heard of before?
SPEAKER_04 (41:30):
It was honestly came down to the fact that like I did
a lot of research about Rezi andlike I really liked the culture
and the support and all of thepeople behind it, like when we
learned that Cody was behind it,because we didn't want to just
buy a franchise to be like alittle minion to another
franchise or we wanted to belike part of a community and
(41:52):
part of like a brand that wewere proud to be part of, and
like that's what reallyresonated with us when we
learned about Resi.
So when I looked at the otherbrands, I was like, well, T1P is
already in Tulsa, Pinks wassupposedly in Tulsa.
And then I was like, huh, actionroofing.
I was like, huh, it's new.
I was like, scary, but it wouldbe kind of cool to be the first
because if we're the first, thenwe definitely would have all the
(42:15):
support and all the eyes on usto make sure that we would be
successful so that we couldcreate a pathway for other
franchisees.
But at the same time, there'sgoing to be a lot of speed
bumps.
So like we just kind of weighthe pros and the cons, and like
we just wanted to be the firstand create the pathway and just
like have the support on us andhelp grow something into
(42:36):
something bigger, which isgradually getting pretty big.
SPEAKER_01 (42:40):
Yeah, for sure.
And and on top of that, too, youknow, we we had some interviews
with you know Resi Brand and youknow, Jake from Action Roofing.
Shout out to Jake, and it justreally made us feel at home.
They're like, you know, we askedthe question, they know our
background.
Can we do this?
They're like, oh, absolutely.
Right?
They made us believe that youknow they're gonna be there to
help us, and they have been,right?
Like the reason, part of thereason why we're this successful
(43:01):
so early on is we have thesupport from them.
You know, I can contact Jakeright now if I have some
questions regarding roofing orregarding some materials, and
you know, he'd be quick torespond as well, too.
Um, and also, you know, as I'mnot sure how other franchisees
do it, but we have you knowinternal communication where I
can ask questions and get advicefrom other franchisees.
So that's been very helpful.
(43:22):
And you know, that's part of thereason again why we're so
successful up front.
SPEAKER_00 (43:26):
Do you know how many how many action exteriors
franchisees are there now?
SPEAKER_04 (43:31):
There is one another one that is scheduled to launch
this month, but I think totalsigned locations, I would say
five or six.
SPEAKER_00 (43:44):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (43:46):
I would say below 10.
SPEAKER_00 (43:47):
But you guys were the first ones.
SPEAKER_04 (43:49):
Number one.
SPEAKER_00 (43:50):
And look at that.
Had you have gone with pinks,you never would have done that
Cody Sanchez video and had allthis, you know, that like you
said, all this attention.
I think it really speaks to, andwe know, um, as David does,
being uh Resi franchise owners,their support is outstanding,
their energy is infectious.
We love their sales culture.
Um, but I think that really, Imean, the fact that they're
(44:13):
pouring into you guys the waythey are, is I think it's just
so phenomenal.
What a cool experience.
SPEAKER_03 (44:18):
Yeah, I think we had a similar um situation too when
we started too.
So we were looking at that onepainter, and then Jack saw this
like pinks in the background.
He's like, No, no, no, talk tome about that.
And they kind of said, Well, no,we're not ready, we're not
ready.
Um, and you were verypersistent, almost too
persistent, but it was the samething.
But it because we felt socomfortable with Resi, you know,
(44:40):
it's like this that's a greatopportunity for a lot of people
to come in under one, you know,brand or an idea of where they
want to be, but then there's somany other possibilities.
So like we didn't even thinkabout it.
SPEAKER_00 (44:53):
Well, we landed, we landed that big commercial job,
and Brandon came down and and wewent out and we actually
canvassed the streets of BocaRaton.
Um, no, I'm sorry, Palm Beachwith Brandon, which was awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (45:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (45:06):
Um, so no, they really are.
They're they're look, we workwith hundreds of great
franchises, but Rezi definitelyhas to be up there.
And um, they they are a greatfranchise family.
And what I love is their sort ofyouthful energy.
Um, it they really are fabulous.
So I know we're starting to runout of time.
It's amazing how fast this hasgone by.
What I'd like to do is maybe goaround the virtual room here
(45:28):
with some last thoughts.
SPEAKER_06 (45:29):
Uh I just want to thank you guys for joining the
podcast.
Um, this is amazing.
Again, a lot of your storyresonates with me.
Um, coming from Blue Collar,going into business for the
first time, joining the Resifamily.
I got to meet at ResiCon, I gotto meet Cody and the valet real
quick and say hello.
And she was amazing, you know.
But uh again, thank you forcoming on the podcast and and
(45:52):
sharing your thoughts and andand your experience.
SPEAKER_02 (45:56):
Yes, thank you, Kevin and Kathy.
And I I loved what you saidabout the support.
And I think anyone can build abusiness from scratch, but you
can't do it without scalingfast.
And the support that you get asa franchise owner is incredible.
So thank you for sharing yourstory.
SPEAKER_07 (46:10):
Absolutely.
So I'll echo what was just said.
Appreciate you bumping on.
Also just highlight somethingthat you said.
I think it's a big misconceptionin this space, and that is using
subcontractors.
You are clearly building asubstantial business, doing it
the right way withsubcontractors.
And we hear all the time, hey,there's no way I could control
the quality.
(46:30):
You know, I don't know how Icould rely on subcontractors.
And you know, I've realized thatfrom my home service business,
you hit it today.
You know, you actually can getreally quality employees, uh,
subcontractors, especially withfit vendor relationships in
place.
Um again, just something to notoverlook or just assume that's
going to be out of your control.
So thanks again for sharing yourstory today.
SPEAKER_05 (46:53):
Thank you for coming on today and sharing your story.
Um, what you said at the veryend there, I just want to touch
on that.
Uh with joining Resley Brandsand kind of the culture that
brings.
I was talking with Morgan.
We have a podcast, Best Friendsand Franchising, and I was
talking about just theimportance of the interview
process, right?
(47:13):
It's a two-way street.
They're interviewing you justlike you're interviewing them.
In my opinion, culture starts atthe top, right?
And so that starts with Rossibrands and how the values they
have as an organization and afranchiser that trickles down to
both of you, which trickles downto your employees.
And I truly believe thatculture, positive culture, is a
(47:35):
competitive edge, and that's howyou win.
Um, and you guys are winning.
So thanks for coming on.
SPEAKER_00 (47:43):
Kevin and Kathy, last thoughts from you guys?
SPEAKER_04 (47:46):
No, we just appreciate appreciate your guys'
time and like speaking with youall.
It's just um again, like withthe being a franchisee, it's
just awesome being able to meetother franchisees and just like
bounce ideas off and learnthings from each other.
SPEAKER_01 (48:01):
Yeah, and it's just crazy to think about a year ago
we were just talking to you andwe were still just full-time
employees, right?
And here we are a year later,talking to you guys and you
know, being business owners nowand part of a franchise system
that we love.
So thank you for that.
SPEAKER_03 (48:17):
We love seeing it.
So exciting.
We love following your story,and we're so happy you're able
to come on today and chat withus.
And can't wait to see what youguys do in another year.
SPEAKER_00 (48:28):
Yeah, it's really exciting.
And uh, for all of youlistening, this is really the
value of why we bring you guysthis podcast.
You get to hear not only fromexceptional guests like Kathy
and Kevin, who are growing agreat business, but you get to
hear from real franchise ownerswho are also franchise
consultants, whether it beCatherine, Brian, Morgan, David,
Jill, and myself, we arefranchise owners helping future
(48:50):
franchise owners.
And we we all consider this, youknow, a club.
We're all part of this greatclub, we're all learning, we're
all growing together.
But you know what's so great isthat our efforts are every day
we're building, right?
It's not just going in andmaking someone else rich.
We're building our ownbusinesses, we're building our
own family assets.
If any of you would like just totalk about franchise ownership,
(49:12):
I encourage you to go tothefranchiseinsiders.com.
Go to our team page, look up allof our franchise consultants.
You can read everyone's story.
Um, figure out who resonateswith you and whose journey you'd
like to learn more about.
And maybe they can help you withyour franchise search.
But for today, thank you fortuning in to the We Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson.
SPEAKER_03 (49:31):
I'm Jill.
SPEAKER_00 (49:32):
And we'll talk to you next time.
Hi everyone, welcome back to the We Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson.
SPEAKER_03 (00:04):
I'm Jill Johnson.
SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
And we're here today with Kevin and Kathy Lou, who
are Action Exteriors franchiseowners, not even a year into
their ownership journey.
Of course, we have KatherineAllen, we have Brian Gross,
Morgan Knowler, and David SamJuan.
The whole crew is here.
Well, guys, thank you forjoining our podcast.
(00:26):
It's so great to have you.
You know, we were scrollingYouTube the other day, and we
see this video with you guys andCody Sanchez.
And I looked at Jill and I'mlike, these guys are only like a
few months into ownership andthey're already like going
around with Cody Sanchez.
Amazing.
How does that happen?
So, guys, welcome to the show.
How did that all come about withCody?
SPEAKER_04 (00:47):
Um, we really just got someone from Resi Brands
saying Cody was very interestedin our story just because we
didn't have a constructionbackground.
And our stories, like she said,just really resonated with
people just leaving theircomfortable everyday jobs and
just diving into businessownership.
So that's why she wanted tointerview us.
(01:07):
And we were honestly like, ohwow, yeah, we definitely have to
do this because this is like aonce-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
But at the same time, I was like, oh man, we're
about to be everywhere.
So we helped Kevin and Kathywith their franchise search.
I think we probably started justabout a year ago.
Does that does that sound right?
October 24.
SPEAKER_04 (01:25):
Yeah, about a year ago.
SPEAKER_00 (01:27):
And so we started, as so many franchise searches
do, looking at one franchise.
I think initially you guys hadwanted to talk to us about
pinks.
And now here you are, a yearlater, owners of Action
Exteriors.
So we were talking a little bitbefore we began the podcast, and
just some of the things that youguys were saying about how a job
(01:47):
may start as a roofing job.
Then all of a sudden you findall these other things.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
And that's the that's the beauty of like, you
know, us being action exteriors.
We we focus a lot about thehouse itself, right?
So for example, if we help ahomeowner open an insurance
claim on the roof, uh, mostlikely maybe the gutters damage,
maybe some of the siding too,especially if it's a storm.
And all that can roll under oneclaim.
Um, so that's part one, right?
(02:13):
So we get the roof, we get thegutters, and maybe it's part of
the siding.
Part two is you know, we workwith our supplementation team
who will look at things thatinsurance might have missed.
For example, some light jacks orum, you know, maybe uh decking,
you know, maybe some the deckingis old or too thin and needs to
be upgraded to code.
Um, so we get that alsosupplement as well too.
(02:35):
So for example, a$30,000 jawmight turn into like a 40 or 45
or 50.
You just don't know, dependingon size of the house and what we
find.
Um, so that's that's kind ofbeauty of it as well, too.
And throw throwing fence inthere, right?
Insurance cover cover fencingtoo, and we're actually
exteriors, we'll we'll dofencing as well, too.
Um, so those things just thosethings add up.
SPEAKER_03 (02:56):
And you guys don't have a background in
construction or anything likethat.
Is this all new to you?
Have you kind of learned thisalong the way?
SPEAKER_04 (03:06):
Yes, essentially.
I have a medical background,Kevin has a software background.
So the only sort of quoteconstruction experience we have
is like rental propertymanagement and dealing with
contractors, but like the actualtrades part of it, we had no
idea.
SPEAKER_03 (03:25):
They sound like professionals when you're
telling this story, so it'sreally exciting.
SPEAKER_04 (03:30):
We had to dive deep to figure out to learn
everything as we like wererunning the business.
So we've dumped a lot ofknowledge into these brains and
try to hold on to as much as wecould.
SPEAKER_03 (03:42):
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (03:42):
That's great.
Um, okay.
So would you say, and team, I'msure you guys have lots of
questions, so please dive in.
But my question is it soundslike action can do more than the
the you know typical, and Idon't want to say typical, but
like a mighty dog roofing or abest choice roofing.
It sounds like you guys can do alot more than those standard
roofing companies.
(04:03):
Would would would that be fair?
SPEAKER_04 (04:05):
Yeah, so that's why like that's kind of what drew us
to action steers, because you'renot just your roofing company,
you're not just like a windowcompany.
Like when homeowners haveclaims, there's gonna always be
more, usually more than one itemthat they're gonna want fixed.
And like as property managers,as homeowners, you really just
want to work with onecontractor.
(04:27):
You don't want to deal withmultiple people and have to like
work on like so many differentpeople's timelines.
So, like as we got started, welike kind of found a way to work
with homeowners to work oncustom projects.
And like we did our first realcustom project was this.
Um, he had like a flat uh rolledroof that was leaking, and he
(04:51):
really just wanted to be able towalk out onto that rolled roof
that we turned into like anenclosed porch so that he could
just drink his coffee and readit, read his read a book.
So we turned like a dry, leakyroof into something that was
more usable for him.
So that was just like our kindof our first step of like kind
of doing creative projects thatwere exterior-based, that wasn't
(05:16):
just roofing or siding orwindows.
SPEAKER_01 (05:21):
Yeah, it allows us to be creative with the customer
as well too, and offersolutions.
And the example that Kathybrought on when we were when we
were there, you know, again, hejust wanted to fix it.
It probably would have been acouple hundred bucks, but
instead, you know, we're like,Well, what do you imagine
yourself doing out here?
And he's like, like I said, oh,I can imagine just drinking
coffee out here.
What if we close off this space,right?
(05:43):
And it will extend the roof thatway the water can shed off so
you don't have any more waterproblems in usable space in the
winter or in the summer,whatever you fancy, right?
And you could read a book here.
And he loved the idea, and thenwe sold him on the idea, and
then we completed the project.
So he's he was super happy withit.
SPEAKER_03 (06:00):
Very cool.
SPEAKER_05 (06:01):
If you were to think about maybe the three things
that have contributed to yoursuccess thus far in the past
year, what would you say thosethree things are?
SPEAKER_04 (06:19):
I would say we have a pretty good instinct on who to
hire.
So, like our main objectives isjust to hire good people.
It's like, can we trust you?
Are you gonna be able to put inthe work?
And can we just get along?
So, like, I would say that likethat was our biggest, our
(06:41):
biggest what do you call it, thethe most important portion of
our success.
I mean, like, our the first guythat we hired is still with us.
The second guy we hired ended upleaving us, but it was honestly
best case scenario.
But we learned from that andthen we just figure it out, and
(07:03):
then we just kept hiring, andthen we just interviewed well,
and then just found another goodgroup of people to bring along
with us.
SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
Yeah, it's really one of those things that we
focus on here is hiring well andgood people, right?
Like if you have the rightattitude, I can train you, I can
teach you what you need to know.
But you know, if you have allthe knowledge and I can't we
can't work together, thenthere's there's no point.
Uh it's it's it's a liability atthat point.
So understanding people,bringing them in, understanding
(07:31):
the goal, understanding thatthey're here for the ride,
because a lot of people knowthat we are brand new, right?
And that can be scary, that canbe exciting, right?
Some people like our the firsthire, he was excited about it.
He's like, oh, we get to buildthis thing from the ground up.
I can look five years from nowand be like, wow, we built this
thing together, right?
And that's the type of peoplethat we want working with us.
SPEAKER_04 (07:51):
We're just also good at making sure that our team
dynamic is really good.
You know, we've had ups anddowns and like different things,
but we just always want to comeback to our main goal is to
build this team around eachother and not just like we're
not making money unless you'remaking money, and like we're not
happy unless you're happy.
SPEAKER_05 (08:10):
Team first, team first mentality.
My n that's one of my pillars inmy company as well, really
resonates.
SPEAKER_07 (08:20):
So, can we talk a little bit more about the hiring
piece?
You know, here a lot of people,especially with I think similar
backgrounds as yours, not beingin the trades, think about home
services, a little bit scaredabout the labor pool and what
it's like hiring.
You know, and so we talk aboutsome of those big exterior
projects.
You know, immediately when Ithink of your company, it sounds
like people with roofingexperience, but then you're
(08:41):
talking about getting creativeand you know, building kind of
outdoor spaces.
So, so what does the team looklike?
You know, I'm sure there's somethe labor, but there's has to be
some design, some sales aspectto it.
So can you share a little bitmore about that piece of your
business?
SPEAKER_01 (08:55):
Yeah, for sure.
So the the hiring process isreally we just we focus on
again, people who just reallyhave the urge to grow and urge
to learn, right?
Again, we can teach um we couldteach them anything if they're
willing to learn.
And the good thing about workingwith a good franchiser like Resi
Brands is you know, we have acoach that we can rely on and
(09:17):
provide feedback with.
Um, so a lot of these projectsthat we've like custom projects
that we've sold, it's it's kindof you know trained in us
through Resi Brands.
Like, hey, you know, you can youknow provide value by asking the
customers these type ofquestions, right?
At the same time, on the backend of it, we need to also have
subcontractors who can performthat actual work, right?
(09:41):
Um, so that's been also anotherpiece um that was scary at first
of like, how do I find peoplewho can actually do the work and
do it right?
Um and actually that ended upbeing the simpler piece, right?
Hiring your own employees isactually harder than looking for
contractors or subcontractors.
(10:02):
Um and part of that reason isbecause we have a good
relationship with some of thesesuppliers, right?
We have national council withsome of the biggest suppliers in
the nation.
We can go to our suppliers andask for recommendation on uh
subcontractors.
So that's what we did, and wefound really good
subcontractors.
But for the most part, it's justyou know, again, bringing in the
(10:22):
right people that can help yousell, that can help talk to
homeowners and consult andprovide the right solution for
their needs.
That's that's the that's thebiggest piece right there.
SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
I think when you guys were um were working with
us at the end of last year, I'mpretty sure I mentioned to you
we have a client who's inLouisiana who had a a roofing
franchise and that he wasworking towards an exit.
Um he basically went two yearswith two units, and he recently
sold his franchise for sixmillion dollars, two years in.
(10:56):
Um I won't name the franchise,but um, it's incredible the
upside on roofing, same sort ofthing, subcontractor model.
And you know, I I agree becauseI think all of us have talked
about this on just about everypodcast.
I think the the art of being areally effective franchise owner
is the people pieces managingemployees.
And I think one of the mostimportant things for all of us
(11:18):
to remember is you've got tohire slow and fire fast.
And it's really hard.
It sounds easier than it isbecause you develop
relationships with people, youwant to give them a chance.
Um, but in business, hire slow,fire fast.
If someone is hurting yourbusiness, do not let them hang
around and hurt your business.
SPEAKER_06 (11:36):
Let's be honest.
Coming from a regular job toowning a business can be really
intimidating.
Kevin, with your background,Kathy, with your experience,
what helped you flip the switchfrom employee to like confident
owner?
SPEAKER_04 (11:51):
I mean, if you want to be honest, I'm still scared
of shit.
I mean, we're still just in, andthen like every day I'm looking
at books.
I'm like, ooh, all right, likeslow season is coming for us.
I'm like, are we gonna getthrough it?
Are we gonna get through it?
(12:11):
I'm like, well, there's nooption, we just gotta get
through it.
But yeah, it's still scary ashell.
SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
Yeah, and that's why we balance each other out
because I'm thinking of like,all right, six months from now,
we're gonna be doing this, we'regonna be doing this, we've got a
girl here, we gotta hire here,and she's like, Oh, cash flow,
babe.
SPEAKER_04 (12:24):
I'm like, we're not buying another truck.
I was like, we're not buying atruck during slow season, that's
just dumb.
It might be on sale, but that'sabout it.
SPEAKER_02 (12:35):
I love that because my husband and I work very
closely in our business and webalance each other every day.
There's some days where I'mlike, oh man, we gotta go big,
we have to expand.
And he's like, We're doing fine,we're doing fine, slow and
steady, slow and steady.
And I was like, No, we havemore, we have to go faster, we
have to go bigger.
Um, but I love that.
And what what's what's next foryour business and your family?
(12:56):
And what does that look like foryou two?
Are you are you trying to gobigger?
SPEAKER_04 (13:00):
Yeah, I mean, we're trying to go bigger.
So, like, not every staterequires a specific exam, like
passing a certain exam andlicensing for commercial, but
apparently Oklahoma does.
So, like, I've been studying forthis commercial roofing exam
that hopefully I should betaking in the next few weeks.
I just haven't gottenconfirmation yet.
(13:21):
But yeah, that's our next bigstep because like when it comes
to commercial, like a lot ofpeople think like big
commercial, but like smallcommercial is just like
apartments, just like regularshingle apartments.
And like that's what like ournext slow phase would be, just
to hopefully be able to take onthose like regular asphalt
shingle commercial projects.
SPEAKER_02 (13:42):
So, do you feel like right now you're leaving money
on the table by not having thatlicense?
SPEAKER_04 (13:47):
Oh, yeah.
We lost a big job from like oneof our employees.
He had a cousin who had a bigcommercial project, and then
that's what like fueled our fireto like get into the commercial
space.
SPEAKER_02 (14:00):
So that was sad.
And this is something you do youspecifically need?
You can't hire someone thatwould have that license.
SPEAKER_04 (14:07):
No, because like in order for the company to have
the commercial license, it hasto be an owner.
So it has to be one of us, andhappens to be me.
SPEAKER_02 (14:18):
Interesting.
Well, for our company andCatherine and I own the same
Soccer Stars franchise, but weI've had to leave money on the
table because I didn't have anearly childhood education
credential.
And so I just recently putsomeone on staff, and thank
goodness the business was stillthere.
But I it took me a long time tofind somebody that had that in
order to get into some of theseschools, and um, I'm very
grateful for her.
(14:38):
So she's getting paid a littlebit extra right now.
SPEAKER_03 (14:42):
Very cool.
SPEAKER_00 (14:44):
Okay, so here's the here's the question I have for
you guys.
And I'm not gonna ask you forspecific numbers because we we
do keep the show FTC compliant,but revenue-wise this year,
would you say has it been whatyou expected?
Has it exceeded expectations?
Where are you at so far?
Because I I understand, hey,listen, we're always looking at
our PL, but revenue-wise year todate, are you happy with where
(15:04):
you are?
SPEAKER_04 (15:06):
There's always wishes.
I could always wish that we didbetter.
Like, I'm never gonna settle.
But there's been ups and downs.
Like the first, like the firstfew weeks we opened, we're like,
oh, sweet, we got three jobs.
And then the second month weopened, we had one job that we
actually lost money on.
And I was like, oh, that sucks.
And then like the next twomonths, I'm like, okay, maybe
(15:28):
we'll make like be at least likelike neutral, or what do you
call it?
Like at least like most of ourexpenses for the month.
So like it's been up and down.
Like, I wouldn't say that itexceeded my expectations, nor
like I didn't know what toexpect to be honest.
SPEAKER_00 (15:47):
Okay, that's fair.
Yeah, and I agree with you.
We always can do more.
Um, I I think we always shouldshoot to do more, that's for
sure.
SPEAKER_01 (15:55):
Yeah, but it's been good though, I think.
Uh I think it was just learningthe retail side of things and
also the insurance side ofthings, right?
How to talk to homeowners andexplain to them how the whole
insurance process works.
Because let's be real, like howmany of us actually read our
insurance policy, understandsit?
Right.
So just being able to explainthat to the customer how the
whole process works and makethem trust you too, right?
(16:17):
Because don't forget, like a lotof people trust their agents
more than they do contractors,right?
So it's just providing thatvalue and building that trust to
get them to sign up with you,and then just taking through the
whole process.
So, in that aspect, we had aramp up really fast.
But ever since we learned how totalk to homeowners about
insurance and how to navigatetheir insurance claims, like
that's when we kind of reallysaw an uptick in our revenue,
(16:39):
right?
We started you know getting moreof these jobs, we started doing
supplements as well, too.
And all of a sudden our ourpipelines are full of insurance
claims.
But downside is it takes youknow 60 and 90 days to probably
collect that money.
SPEAKER_00 (16:53):
That's what I was gonna ask, because that's that's
a huge thing that every newbusiness owner needs to be
prepared for.
Is what do those receivables?
So you're saying 60 to 90 onreceivables?
SPEAKER_01 (17:02):
It can be, right?
Because some insurance carrierswill drag their feet, right?
Because I don't I don't knowwhat their timeline is usually,
but you know, we've gotten asfast as like a month, and then
some of it we're still waitingon for like two, three months
ago.
SPEAKER_04 (17:13):
Like I think we just closed out two jobs from July.
Those were pretty painful justbecause there was a lot of code
upgrades and like a lot of backand forth.
So that was a little painful.
SPEAKER_01 (17:24):
Yeah, and the back and forth is the back and forth
is more of like the so thesupplement process, the way it
works is if they miss things,like for you know, again,
flashings or they miss codeupgrades, right?
We have to ask insurance formore money or negotiate with it,
and then they have to agree topay for it, right?
And once they agreed, thenthey'll cut the check to the
homeowner, and then thehomeowner turns around and has
(17:45):
to hand that over to us as partof the job.
So that process of doing thattwo or three times, because
supplements, you can supplement,I don't know what the maximum
amount is, but there's someprojects we supplement it three
times and it's just back andforth three times.
So then it extends the length ofthe process.
SPEAKER_00 (18:01):
And then do the the subcontractors require, you
know, is it different?
Some require 50% up front, 10%up front, nothing up front.
How does that work?
SPEAKER_04 (18:10):
We normally pay the subcontractor after we are happy
with the work.
SPEAKER_00 (18:15):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (18:16):
So after we walk, do the walk around with the
homeowner and they are happy andthey suffer they sign the
certificate of completion andlike we confirm that there's
nothing else that needs to bedone, then we'll go ahead and
pay the sub because we feel likethat's only fair.
And like a lot of the subs likehave said that they actually
like working with us because weactually paid them.
Or like, yeah, we're gonna payyou.
(18:36):
As long as you do the work,we'll make sure we pay you.
So we just want to keep themhappy as well.
SPEAKER_00 (18:42):
That's smart.
That's really smart.
Yeah, because you want to,especially being new, you want
to develop a good reputation fortaking care of those
subcontractors so you can callthem in.
I mean, again, it was like, um,you know, Catherine, when we
were at home care assistants,you know, if if franchisees got
really, you know, greatcaregivers, you wanted to make
sure you kept them busy, youkept them happy, because if you
(19:04):
landed a 24-7 shift, you neededyour A player to send um to that
client.
Uh, otherwise you you're leavingso much money on the table.
SPEAKER_05 (19:14):
Same applies to my coaches.
If I get a really good soccercoach and sorry, my voice.
Um, if I get a really goodsoccer coach and you know, I'm
I'm expanding, I'm in anexpansion process myself right
now.
What are other things I can havehim or her do to keep him or her
busy um and making money?
(19:35):
So I bring them in for marketingand sales and things like that,
just to, you know, retain thattalent.
SPEAKER_00 (19:44):
So we always say that the first 18 months are
really the hardest of building anew business.
You guys are in what about monthseven right now?
Where where are you guys?
SPEAKER_04 (19:54):
We launched mid-May, so whatever that is, six?
SPEAKER_00 (19:59):
Yeah.
So you're you're you're reallyyou're really in that sort of in
the hardest part right now.
Um what would you say it's beenlike, you know, now that you're
entrepreneurs, everything youread, all the excitement you had
last year at this time lookingfor franchises, what does it
feel like at this point?
Like what uh what what would youguys say to people who are
(20:19):
thinking about becomingfranchise owners?
SPEAKER_01 (20:24):
Just be prepared, I would say, right?
Because you know, you you thinkfranchise, you think, oh,
playbook for success.
But really, it's all in yourhands, right?
Like they will give you thesupport, they'll give you the
playbook, but you still have toimplement it, right?
So you still have to do all ofthe things that business owners
have to do.
You know, you have to uh youknow create your LLC or your
(20:44):
corporation, and you have to,you know, uh get funding from
somewhere.
So all the stuff that businessowners do, you still have to do,
and you still have to manage,you still have to hire, right?
In our instance, you still haveto hire you know employees and
subcontractors, bet them out.
Um, learn your CRN system,right?
Um so franchise provides you theplaybook, concepts, and then you
(21:07):
it's still up to you to actuallyimplement it.
And you know, of course, withthe support of the franchiser,
which has been great for us, um,it's still a lot of work.
Um, but we see the we see wherewe're trying to go, and we you
just got to keep working towardsthat every day.
SPEAKER_00 (21:22):
Yeah, and as I recall, you guys uh did you guys
are you open to talking abouthow you financed your franchise?
Sure.
Did you do a home equity line ofcredit?
Am I remembering that right?
SPEAKER_04 (21:33):
That's we did that as like a backup.
So like our initial um fundingwas via ROBS, which I had never
learned about until I met Ejack.
Um, but I was like, oh sweet, Ican use pre-tax retirement
dollars and avoid all of thatobnoxious SBA paperwork so that
I can fund the business.
(21:53):
So that was like a really biggame changer because I had never
even heard anything about ROBs.
And even like when I was talkingto friends and family about
Robs, like no one honestly knowswhat it is.
SPEAKER_00 (22:05):
Yeah, I mean, we it one of the first things we do uh
is connect people to franchisingsources.
You probably worked with withBenedrends, um uh who you know,
they do those ROBs plans all daylong.
And even now with the governmentshutdown happening and people
who are waiting on SBA loans,ROBS isn't really bound by that.
You also I I love the homeequity line of credit,
(22:27):
especially with so many peoplehaving a lot more equity in
their in their houses.
Um, we used a service calledFigure, which was like we we
funded in like a week.
It was all done online, so wedidn't have to have all those
painful conversations with withbanks and things like that.
Um, but yeah, that that Rob'splan, for those of you listening
that aren't familiar, it's a wayto take your 401k from a
(22:49):
previous employer that's notconnected to your current
employer and roll it into yourbusiness in a way you're
investing it now into yourbusiness versus all those other
businesses that you don't own.
It's really a terrific way tofund the franchise.
SPEAKER_03 (23:02):
Yeah, there's so many different ways to fund a
franchise, too, that I feel likenot everyone knows.
So that's why we love, you know,working with you guys and
working with our clients to findthose sources.
Like you said, you didn't evenknow it existed.
And, you know, it's just it's somuch better.
And then to even have a backup,you know, with a home equity
line, too.
So so many different ways to dothat.
SPEAKER_00 (23:23):
100%.
SPEAKER_02 (23:24):
Yeah, I just had a conversation yesterday with a
new client, and she that was hermain question was is this
normal?
Are people doing this?
How are they funding it?
And I said, Yes, that's all ofthe above.
Everybody's funding it alldifferent ways, but they're
finding funding and they'regetting going.
And so she's really excitedbecause she was looking into
more real estate investments.
Um, but the margin marginsaren't there anymore.
(23:44):
They might have been 10 yearsago, 20 years ago, but she just
was crunching the numbers andit's not making sense.
So she's going the franchiseroute now.
SPEAKER_01 (23:53):
Yeah, that's amazing.
And I and I I love the franchisemodel as well, too, because you
have the ability to expand,right?
Uh get more locations.
And you know, once you figureout like your CRN system, you
figure out your process, youknow, now you have your own
playbook, you know, as an owner,and then you can take that
playbook to another location,you can grow that as well, too.
And uh the model just makessense.
And you know, so far we're uhwe're I think we're doing okay.
SPEAKER_05 (24:18):
I recently got a second territory and I'm in the
process of expanding.
And so I'm with you on that,Kevin.
And um really, I wanted toreally understand the business
and the numbers and just have,you know, a year or so under my
belt, 18 months, as Jeff says,to really, you know, understand
the different revenue channelsand things like that.
(24:40):
And so now I'm expanding intothat second unit and um feeling
like I can hit the groundrunning a lot faster and be more
uh work smarter, not harder, andin terms of driving that
revenue.
So and my unit or two?
Or how how many we have four.
(25:00):
Oh, you have four.
Okay, never mind.
SPEAKER_00 (25:04):
We actually created a um an exit calculator for our
clients to to sort of aim, andit's for educational purposes,
um, to to so let's like let'ssay you wanted to set like an
exit it at three million dollarsand you wanted to to to achieve
a certain EBITDA.
Um, you can do that with ourexit path calculator because we
(25:25):
we really want people to thinkabout the exit um even while
they're just getting started.
You've got to have an aimingpoint.
Um, and and I thinkunderstanding how franchises are
valued, I think really, youknow, four four units in your
business put you in a verystrong position to grow a large
business.
And let's, you know, let's bereal, with all the franchise
(25:45):
systems that are out there, thewhat is great, and I say this
every episode is that franchisesinclude both um exit and
acquisition opportunities.
And one of the things we say toall of our clients is once you
get to month 18, we're gonna dothat review with you to
determine are we going intoacquisition mode?
Because there's always going tobe underperforming franchisees.
(26:06):
I was just talking to a CEO ofan automotive franchise about
this this morning.
There's high performers andthere's low performers.
High performers buy lowperformers for pennies on the
dollar.
SPEAKER_04 (26:16):
Um I would say one thing that I underestimated
about franchising was therelationship building.
So when we were down at ResiConand we met like so many other
franchisees through Resi, likewe met Daphne.
Daphne is crushing.
We follow Daphne all the time.
I just love her posts.
Like, I wish I had more time topost like her, but that's just
not my skill set.
(26:37):
But then like we met um Sue andDon and their story from New
England and the T1P up there wasvery resonating.
So it was just like veryawesome.
Just being like surrounded bylike a successful group of
franchisees and something thatyou can really strive to be.
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
I'm glad you brought that up because actually, and
and we love Daphne, she'sterrific.
But I actually don't know thatposting on LinkedIn does
anything for her Pinks business.
And I think now that um, andthis is my opinion, but I I
think growing a personal brandon LinkedIn for young
franchisees can becounterproductive because you
(27:15):
really should be spending thattime, you know, going to the
Rotary Club, going to theChamber of Commerce, building
the relationships with the localbusinesses.
But I think young franchiseowners actually might be wasting
time posting on LinkedIn toomuch because I don't know.
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_04 (27:32):
I wish I could just post on social more, but I'm
just not.
I just don't have that creativemindset of like posting these
very intriguing Facebook andInstagram posts, and I'm like,
oh my gosh, just let me justshoot a picture of a project we
did and describe it.
SPEAKER_06 (27:45):
Hey, like like Cody Sanchez says, just steal
somebody else's homework.
I hate posting it.
I dread it.
I wake up every morning, I'mlike dreading what am I gonna
put today and just borrowsomebody else's homework.
Don't steal, borrow.
SPEAKER_01 (27:56):
That's probably the hardest, uh, hardest part of my
day.
What do I post today?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (28:00):
I mean, like I would say, I'm a marketing person, so
like I literally wake up in themiddle of the night with like an
idea and I'm like typing it inmy notes on my phone, and I'm
like, oh, I can't wait to haveall this content.
Like, that's I wish I could dothat all day.
SPEAKER_06 (28:12):
She's usually she's usually who I copy.
SPEAKER_03 (28:15):
So it's great though, is everyone's so
different.
Like Catherine, we're more likeyou, right?
Like we're constantly throwingout ideas you probably want to
be.
Um, but you know, we'reconstantly thinking about what
to some people that's like theiryou know biggest hindrance.
You know, they don't want to doit.
And there's so many good toolsout there.
We've talked a lot about likeusing AI to help you.
And David, what you said, youknow, copy someone else's.
(28:37):
You know, there's you just makeit your own, but you don't have
to reinvent the wheel everysingle time.
There's so many things you cantake ideas here and there.
There's so many of us doingthis.
And you know, when you're, youknow, when you have a franchise,
so you have your specificlocation.
So you're not necessarily incompetition with someone else.
So if it's working in theirlocation, try it in your
(28:57):
location.
Like that might work, it maynot, you know, but you're not
taking visits away from them.
So might as well give it a.
SPEAKER_00 (29:04):
I would be careful as a franchise owner to be
sharing my my hot my ups anddowns on Facebook where
potential customers might seeme.
Um, that's where I would have, Ithink looking at use of social
media.
I if I owned an ActionExteriors, um, my thing on
Facebook would be here's thework, like you said, Kathy,
(29:25):
here's before and after.
Here's how we were able to startwith a roofing project and turn
it into this beautiful thingthat made the home more
valuable.
Um, I think sharing the life'sreally tough as an entrepreneur.
Your end clients who are goingto be buying your services, they
don't want to hear about that.
Um, so I think it's again,people need to manage their
brand in a way that's authenticon social media.
(29:46):
Um, there is a service calledHyper Fury where you can you it
actually you can pre scheduleyour posts months in advance.
And what happens is it will postto LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram.
You can choose to go to all ofthose channels or Or half, but I
think it's also being mindfulthat the LinkedIn audience is
different from the FacebookInstagram audience.
SPEAKER_01 (30:07):
100%.
And here's a story I'll sharetoo.
It's uh about LinkedIn.
So my account on LinkedIn gotbanned because I created an
action uh a new account withAction Exteriors email address,
and I didn't know you can't dothat.
So now I'm completely bannedbecause it thinks that my
personal and Action Exterior'semail is two different persons.
(30:27):
Right?
And I've tried to dispute thatmany times to get it unblocked,
but I'm like permanently bannedfor LinkedIn now.
But I will say it keeps me offat night because I remember used
to just scrolling on LinkedInbefore a bed, just like seeing
what other people are doing andother businesses.
And now I'm just focusing onlike what we need to do in our
business.
And it takes time, you know.
Now I have more time to focus onlike the business itself versus
(30:48):
just like posting on LinkedIn.
SPEAKER_04 (30:50):
So good or bad thing, whether we want him
unbanned or not.
I don't know.
That's why I created that Idon't really use much.
SPEAKER_01 (30:59):
So yeah, on that point, LinkedIn now.
If you try to look for me, youcan't find me because I was
banned.
SPEAKER_04 (31:04):
Now we know.
SPEAKER_01 (31:05):
Now we know.
SPEAKER_06 (31:08):
Well, if if you do want that fixed, I probably have
a workaround.
I have some connections overthere, so I could probably a
call.
And on that note, I'll see if wecan see that.
This is a good thing abouthaving a whole team now.
You're you're always you knowbacked by the whole franchise
insiders team.
Also on that note, theinsurance.
My wife, I think we're speakingbefore the call, she's uh an
attorney, she actually doesinsurance defense.
(31:30):
So it'd be good to connect youguys with her so you guys see
both sides, not just workingwith you know uh with the uh
companies, but also with theinsurance side.
So you see what they're lookingfor, why it's taking a long time
for delays for payment, thingslike that.
SPEAKER_01 (31:45):
Gotcha.
Absolutely.
That'd be uh that'd be nice.
SPEAKER_00 (31:48):
Yeah, and for those of you that want to create more
social media posts, um there'sanother worker, another
shortcut.
Um, Claude AI is really good atunderstanding a personal brand.
So what you can do is upload,you know, say your most
authentic, your most uh the postwhere you've had the most
interaction, whether it beFacebook, Instagram, LinkedIn,
(32:09):
um, and tell it you want to domore posts like this.
This is your voice, this is whoyou are.
And what's great about Claude isthat Claude will actually
evolve.
And so then one day you mightsay, Well, I want to post this,
and Claude will say, That's noton brand for you.
So we really do have someexcellent tools AI-wise that can
get to know you and understandyou and help you be more
(32:30):
efficient in cranking that stuffout.
SPEAKER_03 (32:32):
You listen to Claude more than me listen to it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:35):
I don't know if that's true.
SPEAKER_03 (32:37):
So you can post it, and then you're like, well,
Claude said it, it's not easy.
Uh no, but it is very cool tohave those tools.
And it, they're all there tohelp us because we're not all
marketing geniuses and noteveryone's a you know creative
director or excellent writer.
So we have these tools to use.
Um, so we always recommend usingthem.
SPEAKER_00 (32:57):
But I will say that um who was it?
It was there was anotherfranchise CEO that actually sent
me a note yesterday, and and hesaid, Your whole team is so
great at being visible on socialmedia.
So kudos to all of you guys,David, Morgan, Brian, um, and
Catherine, uh, because you'redoing a great job of staying out
(33:17):
there.
SPEAKER_01 (33:19):
I think the biggest challenge for us was just
stepping into somethingcompletely different than we're
used to and having to learn thedifferent trades because as you
can imagine, roofing itself is awhole lot to learn.
Now you're throwing in siding,right?
Now you're throwing in windows,and then gutters, and then all
exterior work, right?
Pouring concrete, fences, right?
(33:42):
And it's just a lot of knowledgeto absorb, and we had to do that
in a short amount of time.
SPEAKER_04 (33:47):
And on top of learning how to keep our books,
how to manage people, how to runa business and raise our kids.
SPEAKER_01 (33:58):
Yeah, and then you know, I I um I left my full-time
job in January or early January,so I can focus on the business.
And it has been it was needed,it was definitely needed.
I could not see myself stillhave my full-time job and doing
this business right out theget-go.
It's just it would it would havebeen too much.
Um so with all that in mind, youknow, now here we are, we're
(34:20):
we're we're caught up to speed,we're doing all right, we're
hiring and you know, puttingstrategies together for what the
end of the year is gonna looklike and you know what it's
gonna look like going into nextseason.
Um, so it at the very beginning,it was that was the biggest
challenge, just getting rampedup, understanding all the
different trades and um and justbeing a business owner.
SPEAKER_05 (34:42):
Wearing all the hats, right?
Like I came from marketing.
My role was marketing, marketingis a lot of different things,
but it was still marketing.
Coming in, you got the learningcurve, same thing.
I'm like, you sports, I don'tknow.
I I've never done this before.
And then it's just all the hats.
It's your HR hat is on, thenyour sales hat is on, then your
hiring hat is on, the payroll.
(35:03):
Like it's just I felt like atthe beginning, that's that is
like that really resonates withwhat you're saying because it's
it's the learning curve of theindustry and the business, plus
being able to transition yourmind within a given day between
sales, marketing, and HRoperations, right?
Like on the fly, um, which ishard.
(35:23):
Um, but what's what's the mostrewarding, would you say, about
owning this business?
SPEAKER_04 (35:28):
The most rewarding part so far has been like seeing
our team like like our firsthire.
He basically told Kevin, he'slike, you know, like I didn't
know what to think at first, butthis is probably the most fun
job I've ever had.
And for him to say that, we werelike, wow, we're actually doing
something great.
And like just seeing the teamactually grow and be successful
(35:50):
alongside with us has been likereally rewarding.
SPEAKER_05 (35:54):
I completely agree.
SPEAKER_01 (35:57):
And hey, I'm gonna go pick up my kid today.
Hey, boss, oh wait, okay, I'mgonna go pick up my thing.
SPEAKER_00 (36:04):
That's a key point.
You know, we had Aaron Harperfrom Rolling Sudes.
I'm sure if you guys you you'veseen Aaron, he's pretty active.
Um uh and and he was on ourpodcast two weeks ago, and he
said, let's make activeownership cool again.
And I think that is one of thegreatest things we can do as
people in the franchising world,because there's still so many
people that get fed these sortof fishtails about how you can
(36:28):
just buy a business and it'sgonna run itself.
Um and I really do think there'sso much pride in doing exactly
what you guys just said, whichis creating jobs that people
love, like creating the bestwork environment someone's ever
had, being able, as Catherinesaid, to wear all the hats and
still be able to go have moretime with your family and pick
up your and and do, you know,car drop off and pick up.
(36:50):
Um that's part of what makesbusiness ownership so great is
you being in control, yougrowing that business, um, you
being the one that makes itsuccessful.
SPEAKER_04 (37:00):
But I gotta say that like in the first few months of
ramp up, I did have manymoments.
But this is also summertime whenthe kids were off and like they
were just driving us nuts.
That like I was like, did wereally do the right thing?
Because like I feel like we havelike no time for our kids right
now.
But like that was just the thatjust comes with the part of
starting it up and like wearingall those hats where you had to
(37:21):
do so many things, and likeyou're just your mind is going
like a hundred miles an hour,you're trying to figure out all
these things.
SPEAKER_02 (37:27):
We talk about that all the time in my my household
because it feels like you haveanother child.
So it feels like I have a thirdchild, and that third child is
my business now.
So I have to now balance betweenthree, and I'm really grateful
that I stopped at two because ifI had three or four and then I
have one on the way.
Oh my gosh, congratulations.
See you be in the thick of it.
(37:48):
But I mean, I think that's justthat just goes with the
territory.
You've added this next thing,but the nice part about having
this extra um job in thiscompany that you're building is
that, like Kevin said, you canstep away whenever you want.
You can go on vacation, you cansay, we're gonna drop
everything, the company's gonnarun itself.
And I think that's just thebeauty of being in the
franchise.
It's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (38:10):
There's a question to all the owners though.
Can you really go on vacationwithout thinking about work?
SPEAKER_05 (38:15):
I was just in Italy for two weeks.
Two weeks.
I did a little teeny bit of workevery day.
I was in Italy, um, and I have agreat manager, and I really was
able to enjoy it.
I I really I there was one callI got panicked because a coach's
(38:36):
car died.
Although, and he had to get tobut um, but she yeah, just get a
good manager.
SPEAKER_01 (38:43):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (38:45):
What you were saying is like a kid, right?
When you have if anyone,everyone has kids or not puppies
to count, but at first it's alot of work, you know, and
you're kind of saying, Why did Ido this?
And you know, but you know it'srewarding, you know that it's
gonna grow.
It's like going on vacation withthe baby is very different than
when you go on vacation witholder kids, you know.
So it's the same thing with thebusiness.
(39:06):
When your business is new andyou're on vacation, there's
probably a lot of things you'regonna have to still focus on.
But ultimately, as it grows andit's stable and you've got a
good team in place, you canactually start to enjoy the
vacation.
Um, so you know, you it'll getthere.
It's just it's like everything,everything evolves, and with
growth and stability, you do getto that point.
(39:26):
Um, so sometimes it's reallyhard to see when you're in the
thick of it.
SPEAKER_00 (39:29):
But well, and at least this, you guys, when you
own a business and you'regrowing it and yeah, you're
working hard, but most peopleare not going to get pieces of
corporate exits or or mergersand acquisitions, right?
Most people who are working incorporate America, they're gonna
make their 80, 100, 200k a year.
(39:50):
But if they get fired, that'sit.
You that's it.
Money's not coming in.
When you're building a business,yes, you're gonna go through
some hard.
But I think, especially with howthe world works now, if you want
to have earlier retirement, amore comfortable retirement, if
you want to set your family upfor generational wealth, there's
(40:11):
really only one way to do it.
And that's to go out there andbuild a business, make it
successful, and either keep itand keep growing and have the
family come into it or sell it.
And so that there again is whyworking with franchise
consultants, and I and I hopeyou guys found our service
useful to you in thinking aboutall this.
But this is why it's worth it toreally have an end goal in mind
(40:33):
as you build a business and toknow what your number is.
Hey, when we're, you know, 65,we want to spend half the year
in Italy.
Um, what is your number?
And there's not enough peopleout there who really know what
their number is and what theyneed to aim at.
And that's again, the value inbuilding these businesses is
that you can aim it, you canactually get there and do it.
I've seen it done many, manytimes.
(40:55):
Um, and that, in my opinion, isthe value of building these
businesses.
Okay, so you guys, here'ssomething we haven't covered.
Um, when Kevin and Kathy firstcalled me, they were very
interested in Pink's windows.
Um, and we had multipleconversations around it, but for
whatever reason, the territory,I guess it was available, but we
didn't know it, or Rezi didn'tknow it, or something like that.
(41:17):
But here we go.
We we pivot from Pink's toaction exteriors.
Um, do you remember what thatwas like and and making that
shift from one pref preferredbrand to this whole other brand
you'd never heard of before?
SPEAKER_04 (41:30):
It was honestly came down to the fact that like I did
a lot of research about Rezi andlike I really liked the culture
and the support and all of thepeople behind it, like when we
learned that Cody was behind it,because we didn't want to just
buy a franchise to be like alittle minion to another
franchise or we wanted to belike part of a community and
(41:52):
part of like a brand that wewere proud to be part of, and
like that's what reallyresonated with us when we
learned about Resi.
So when I looked at the otherbrands, I was like, well, T1P is
already in Tulsa, Pinks wassupposedly in Tulsa.
And then I was like, huh, actionroofing.
I was like, huh, it's new.
I was like, scary, but it wouldbe kind of cool to be the first
because if we're the first, thenwe definitely would have all the
(42:15):
support and all the eyes on usto make sure that we would be
successful so that we couldcreate a pathway for other
franchisees.
But at the same time, there'sgoing to be a lot of speed
bumps.
So like we just kind of weighthe pros and the cons, and like
we just wanted to be the firstand create the pathway and just
like have the support on us andhelp grow something into
(42:36):
something bigger, which isgradually getting pretty big.
SPEAKER_01 (42:40):
Yeah, for sure.
And and on top of that, too, youknow, we we had some interviews
with you know Resi Brand and youknow, Jake from Action Roofing.
Shout out to Jake, and it justreally made us feel at home.
They're like, you know, we askedthe question, they know our
background.
Can we do this?
They're like, oh, absolutely.
Right?
They made us believe that youknow they're gonna be there to
help us, and they have been,right?
Like the reason, part of thereason why we're this successful
(43:01):
so early on is we have thesupport from them.
You know, I can contact Jakeright now if I have some
questions regarding roofing orregarding some materials, and
you know, he'd be quick torespond as well, too.
Um, and also, you know, as I'mnot sure how other franchisees
do it, but we have you knowinternal communication where I
can ask questions and get advicefrom other franchisees.
So that's been very helpful.
(43:22):
And you know, that's part of thereason again why we're so
successful up front.
SPEAKER_00 (43:26):
Do you know how many how many action exteriors
franchisees are there now?
SPEAKER_04 (43:31):
There is one another one that is scheduled to launch
this month, but I think totalsigned locations, I would say
five or six.
SPEAKER_00 (43:44):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (43:46):
I would say below 10.
SPEAKER_00 (43:47):
But you guys were the first ones.
SPEAKER_04 (43:49):
Number one.
SPEAKER_00 (43:50):
And look at that.
Had you have gone with pinks,you never would have done that
Cody Sanchez video and had allthis, you know, that like you
said, all this attention.
I think it really speaks to, andwe know, um, as David does,
being uh Resi franchise owners,their support is outstanding,
their energy is infectious.
We love their sales culture.
Um, but I think that really, Imean, the fact that they're
(44:13):
pouring into you guys the waythey are, is I think it's just
so phenomenal.
What a cool experience.
SPEAKER_03 (44:18):
Yeah, I think we had a similar um situation too when
we started too.
So we were looking at that onepainter, and then Jack saw this
like pinks in the background.
He's like, No, no, no, talk tome about that.
And they kind of said, Well, no,we're not ready, we're not
ready.
Um, and you were verypersistent, almost too
persistent, but it was the samething.
But it because we felt socomfortable with Resi, you know,
(44:40):
it's like this that's a greatopportunity for a lot of people
to come in under one, you know,brand or an idea of where they
want to be, but then there's somany other possibilities.
So like we didn't even thinkabout it.
SPEAKER_00 (44:53):
Well, we landed, we landed that big commercial job,
and Brandon came down and and wewent out and we actually
canvassed the streets of BocaRaton.
Um, no, I'm sorry, Palm Beachwith Brandon, which was awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (45:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (45:06):
Um, so no, they really are.
They're they're look, we workwith hundreds of great
franchises, but Rezi definitelyhas to be up there.
And um, they they are a greatfranchise family.
And what I love is their sort ofyouthful energy.
Um, it they really are fabulous.
So I know we're starting to runout of time.
It's amazing how fast this hasgone by.
What I'd like to do is maybe goaround the virtual room here
(45:28):
with some last thoughts.
SPEAKER_06 (45:29):
Uh I just want to thank you guys for joining the
podcast.
Um, this is amazing.
Again, a lot of your storyresonates with me.
Um, coming from Blue Collar,going into business for the
first time, joining the Resifamily.
I got to meet at ResiCon, I gotto meet Cody and the valet real
quick and say hello.
And she was amazing, you know.
But uh again, thank you forcoming on the podcast and and
(45:52):
sharing your thoughts and andand your experience.
SPEAKER_02 (45:56):
Yes, thank you, Kevin and Kathy.
And I I loved what you saidabout the support.
And I think anyone can build abusiness from scratch, but you
can't do it without scalingfast.
And the support that you get asa franchise owner is incredible.
So thank you for sharing yourstory.
SPEAKER_07 (46:10):
Absolutely.
So I'll echo what was just said.
Appreciate you bumping on.
Also just highlight somethingthat you said.
I think it's a big misconceptionin this space, and that is using
subcontractors.
You are clearly building asubstantial business, doing it
the right way withsubcontractors.
And we hear all the time, hey,there's no way I could control
the quality.
(46:30):
You know, I don't know how Icould rely on subcontractors.
And you know, I've realized thatfrom my home service business,
you hit it today.
You know, you actually can getreally quality employees, uh,
subcontractors, especially withfit vendor relationships in
place.
Um again, just something to notoverlook or just assume that's
going to be out of your control.
So thanks again for sharing yourstory today.
SPEAKER_05 (46:53):
Thank you for coming on today and sharing your story.
Um, what you said at the veryend there, I just want to touch
on that.
Uh with joining Resley Brandsand kind of the culture that
brings.
I was talking with Morgan.
We have a podcast, Best Friendsand Franchising, and I was
talking about just theimportance of the interview
process, right?
(47:13):
It's a two-way street.
They're interviewing you justlike you're interviewing them.
In my opinion, culture starts atthe top, right?
And so that starts with Rossibrands and how the values they
have as an organization and afranchiser that trickles down to
both of you, which trickles downto your employees.
And I truly believe thatculture, positive culture, is a
(47:35):
competitive edge, and that's howyou win.
Um, and you guys are winning.
So thanks for coming on.
SPEAKER_00 (47:43):
Kevin and Kathy, last thoughts from you guys?
SPEAKER_04 (47:46):
No, we just appreciate appreciate your guys'
time and like speaking with youall.
It's just um again, like withthe being a franchisee, it's
just awesome being able to meetother franchisees and just like
bounce ideas off and learnthings from each other.
SPEAKER_01 (48:01):
Yeah, and it's just crazy to think about a year ago
we were just talking to you andwe were still just full-time
employees, right?
And here we are a year later,talking to you guys and you
know, being business owners nowand part of a franchise system
that we love.
So thank you for that.
SPEAKER_03 (48:17):
We love seeing it.
So exciting.
We love following your story,and we're so happy you're able
to come on today and chat withus.
And can't wait to see what youguys do in another year.
SPEAKER_00 (48:28):
Yeah, it's really exciting.
And uh, for all of youlistening, this is really the
value of why we bring you guysthis podcast.
You get to hear not only fromexceptional guests like Kathy
and Kevin, who are growing agreat business, but you get to
hear from real franchise ownerswho are also franchise
consultants, whether it beCatherine, Brian, Morgan, David,
Jill, and myself, we arefranchise owners helping future
(48:50):
franchise owners.
And we we all consider this, youknow, a club.
We're all part of this greatclub, we're all learning, we're
all growing together.
But you know what's so great isthat our efforts are every day
we're building, right?
It's not just going in andmaking someone else rich.
We're building our ownbusinesses, we're building our
own family assets.
If any of you would like just totalk about franchise ownership,
(49:12):
I encourage you to go tothefranchiseinsiders.com.
Go to our team page, look up allof our franchise consultants.
You can read everyone's story.
Um, figure out who resonateswith you and whose journey you'd
like to learn more about.
And maybe they can help you withyour franchise search.
But for today, thank you fortuning in to the We Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson.
SPEAKER_03 (49:31):
I'm Jill.
SPEAKER_00 (49:32):
And we'll talk to you next time.
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