November 10, 2025 • 46 mins
Pool service franchise meets tech-driven recurring revenue. Discover how Puddle Pools built a scalable pool cleaning franchise across the U.S. and Canada with predictable cash flow, lean overhead, and margins that attract both operators and private equity.
The Pool Maintenance Franchise Business Model
We sit down with Puddle Pools founder Mark Amery and our full franchise consulting team to break down a home service franchise opportunity built on weekly residential routes, mandated commercial contracts, and ancillary revenue from repairs, liners, openings, closings, and cold plunge installations. Learn why B2C pool cleaning generates fast cash flow while B2B commercial accounts lock in long-term stability—even with 30-60 day payment terms.
Technology That Solves Industry Pain Points
Mark reveals how Puddle Power (their proprietary CRM and mobile app) automates scheduling, routing, e-reporting, job costing, photo documentation, and smart gate access—eliminating the three biggest challenges in pool service: labor management, pricing consistency, and customer communication.
What Franchise Owners Need to Win
Not every entrepreneur fits this franchise model. We discuss the ideal owner profile (playbook-followers, not cowboys), how weekly GSNR coaching sessions drive growth, region-specific "Puddle Huddles" for peer learning, and why this business runs lean enough to operate from your phone—or scale into brick-and-mortar when territory expansion demands it.
Franchise Investment & Growth Potential
With single-unit investments around $100K, territories closing in pool-dense markets, and expansion plans including AI-powered marketing, VR technician training, and international growth, this recurring service franchise model checks the boxes for both first-time franchise buyers and portfolio investors.
Keywords: pool franchise, pool cleaning franchise, service franchise opportunities, recurring revenue business, home service franchise, franchise investment, pool maintenance business, Puddle Pools franchise review
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Text: 305-710-0050
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:22):
Hi everyone, welcome back to the We Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson of theFranchise Insiders, and today we
have an incredible guest with afranchise that I gotta tell you
guys, when I first learned aboutthis franchise, I had no idea of
the rocket ship ride that thisthing would have this year, but
it has just been an incrediblegrowth season for puddle pools.
(00:44):
And of course, I'm speakingabout its founder, Mark Amory.
Mark, welcome to the podcast.
SPEAKER_05 (00:49):
Hey, thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_03 (00:50):
Of course.
And we're joined by our all-starteam of franchise consultants,
Katherine Allen, Brian Gross,Jay, and Carolina Arrosa, two of
our newest consultants.
And then, of course, Mr.
Chill here, David San Juan withhis stogie sitting out in the
Florida sun.
So, Mark, let's get right to it.
(01:11):
Here's my first question foryou.
SPEAKER_04 (01:13):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (01:14):
Mark, can you really run puddle pools from your
phone?
unknown (01:18):
No.
SPEAKER_05 (01:19):
Yeah, I'm just kidding.
Of course you can.
Yeah.
No, it's all a scam.
Yeah, of course you can.
It's uh that's the biggest gamechange.
You can run it remotely fromanywhere.
Phone, tablet, or that's kind ofthe one of the bonuses of
puddle.
SPEAKER_03 (01:33):
That's so cool.
I need to ask you, what ispuddle pools and what do you
guys do?
SPEAKER_05 (01:38):
Yeah, yeah, great question.
What do we do?
We do residential and commercialpool, hot tub, spa, and water
feature maintenance.
So I think the the kicker is wedo the residential side, which
is homeowners, apartments,townhomes, multi-unit, uh, and
then the commercial side, whichis your HOAs, um, your hotels,
uh, HOAs, that kind of thing.
(02:00):
So it's your regular recurringservice as well as everything in
on and around the pool, likeliners, repairs, weekly
maintenance, right up to poolinstalls, fireclass pool
installs.
So everything around everythingin the backyard, pretty much.
SPEAKER_03 (02:14):
Wow.
And I know the team, the teamhas got a lot of great questions
for you.
I have one more before we we wethrow it out to the group here.
How much of that business, as Iwas sitting at a dinner the
other night with a largeautomotive franchise and a
private equity group.
And uh, what got the privateequity group so excited about
doing a roll-up with thisfranchise, which means for those
(02:36):
of you listening out there, aroll-up is where a PE firm will
come in.
They will recapitalize afranchisee or two, um, and then
roll up more locations within.
So this particular deal is 20 to50 franchises.
And the reason why they'reexcited is that this franchise
does commercial, but that it hasrecurring revenue.
Mark, recurring revenue seems tobe just one of the most
(02:57):
important things when we look atfranchises achieving high
valuations.
So, Mark, how much of yourbusiness would you say
percentage-wise is recurringrevenue?
SPEAKER_05 (03:06):
Yeah, like 90, 95.
It's every um the beauty withpools is they have to be
maintained once a week.
I'm not sure if anybody on thecall here has a pool, but they
know once a week you have to,and some parts of the year it's
like twice a week.
It's that hot.
The kicker is when you go overto the commercial side, it's
once a day.
It has to be tested.
And in some zip codes, it'stwice a day.
So taking that regular recurringticket value from one to right
(03:28):
up to maybe even 14x.
unknown (03:31):
Wow.
SPEAKER_05 (03:31):
Once you're trapped.
Yeah, and it's mandated, it hasto be done.
It's not like, oh, we might getthe pool done or not.
In the commercial world, it hasto be done and they shut it
down.
SPEAKER_02 (03:37):
Mark, one of the things I'm really curious about
with this business, you know, Ithink about myself.
I moved from Tampa, Florida thisyear, where I look at this
business, it feels like a homerun to Washington, D.C., where
now it's it's freezing outside,right?
And so I have a shorter season.
Not everyone has a pool in theirbackyard, like in the south.
So what is the opportunity?
(03:58):
You know, I guess what's thisbusiness look like for the more
Midwest, the northern climates?
SPEAKER_05 (04:03):
Yeah, good question, man.
This is probably one of thebiggest questions is what
happens with with the colderclimates, right?
And I'm based in Vancouver.
We were born in Canada, so wehave 25 locations here, three
plus years.
That usually ends that rightthere.
Like our highest producing umCanadian location would be
Ottawa.
And you know, when they have sixfeet of snow in the middle of
(04:24):
winter, they're able to go yearround.
It's that commercial ticket thatreally brings it, you know,
through the winter.
As far as having your seasons,um, you know, Florida or you
know, the ones in the south,they have that annual once a
month, maybe a lower ticketvalue.
With when you get somebodythat's experienced all four
seasons, you have the openings,the closings, and all the fun
stuff in between.
So the revenue actually is alittle bit more if you look at
(04:47):
the at the annual at the annualspread.
So but usually if you want totalk to any of the Canadian
locations, that usually you knowends that worry right there.
Yeah.
Because it's pretty in Ottawa,it's pretty cool.
That answered that, Brad, isthat right?
SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
It does.
That's that's great.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_05 (05:02):
That's terrific.
SPEAKER_07 (05:03):
My question for you is how did you spot opportunity
in an industry that othersignored?
SPEAKER_05 (05:10):
That's a good one.
So a bit of background on my Isay myself and the team, like
our leadership team has beentogether for 13 plus years.
Uh, we had this is our fourthhome service brand.
So this is in our first rodeo.
Um, you know, we started a homeservice care, like window
cleaning and that kind of thing.
Um, then went on to pest controllandscaping.
And we always had pool as one ofthe other kind of just
(05:31):
sidebarred there.
It was actually when we alwayswanted to bring it to the US.
But it's hard for Canadian to goto the US because you'll have a
docs.
It takes about a year for allthat, all those goodies to get
put together.
But I actually bought a house,we moved in and it had a pool,
and I had no idea what I wasdoing.
And I have I had five kids, fivelittle girls, and I'm like, I am
(05:51):
not gonna burn one of them withchlorine and all that.
So I tried to get a pool personto come, and it was like
impossible, it was impossible.
Nobody was answering the phone.
It was just like the typicalthing you hear, right?
And then finally, there's oneguy who says, He says, Yeah,
dude, I'll be there on Sunday.
I'm like, okay, cool, you cancome do your thing.
And he showed up and he wascamping, and he gets out of the
car, he had one flip-flop on,like, nice guy, like like how
(06:13):
you look like when you come backfrom camping, his dog's up
front, he reeked like marijuana.
I'm like, oh my gosh.
And then he but he was fine.
He did whatever he did, and thenthat was the like, okay, guys,
we're turning on puddleyesterday.
So that's kind of how it came.
So I just saw that happen, andthen that was we started that in
in Canada, then that was the onewe wanted to bring to the US
because the opportunity,obviously, the US 10 times
(06:33):
bigger, 10 times just moreattractive.
And then uh there was no realnational, there's national
presence, but not in that B2Band B2C world.
It was, you know, ourcompetitors have B2C, which is
great.
Um, but the the commercial sideis where there's a little more
hoops to jump through.
There's certifications,licensing, uh making sure.
(06:54):
So from a franchise or level,it's easier just to say, hey,
we're doing residential, butthat's kind of how it was born.
A guy with a flip-flop and a anda dog coming back from camping.
SPEAKER_07 (07:03):
Oh my gosh.
And just talk to us a little bitabout you talked about the B2C
and the B2B side.
Kind of across the board, whatpercentage would you say is B2B
versus B2C?
SPEAKER_05 (07:15):
Yeah, great question.
It's yeah, across the board,it's B2B is right, or B to B2C
is right out of the gate.
It's just low-hanging fruit.
There's it's just easier.
It's a total digital play forus.
It's a like we're not a poolcleaning company that's started
and then went, oh, this isgreat.
Let's try franchising.
We're kind of the opposite.
We're franchising and went intothe pool space.
So we knew that that B2C sidewas more of that low-hanging
(07:38):
fruit.
We want to make sure ourplacement's great on you know,
on PPC campaigns, SEO, Meta,Google's on all of that, all of
those.
Um, but that I would say you'reprobably out of the gate first
year, maybe like 95.5, 9010.
Just because in the commercialworld it takes it's a really
it's not a digital plague.
It is to a degree, but it's morerelationship building with your
(07:59):
realtors, your property manager.
I'm sure we all I don't have totell you guys that that space
takes a little longer to get to,and what avenues do we use?
Cookie drops, lunch and learns.
It just takes time.
So, but once you're in, you'rethen you're in.
So we make it really clear toall of our franchise partners,
once you're once you turn it,you can't turn it off.
Right.
So you know what I mean?
It's not an answer saying we'refull.
(08:21):
That's not an answer.
SPEAKER_03 (08:22):
So and and and Mark, I know that your neighbors here,
Jay and Carolina, who are alsobased in Vancouver, uh have a
couple of questions for you.
But before they they go to theirquestions, I'll never forget
with our Pinks franchise, um,Brandon Downer, who will be on
our podcast next week, shamelessplug, um, saying to me, you
know, if you're gonna starttaking commercial business, make
(08:44):
sure you have at least 50 grandin your business account.
Um, and he told me, he's like,Look, the reason I'm making this
recommendation to you is that,you know, you're you guys are
gonna go take a job.
It's gonna take you a couple ofweeks to get it done.
You're gonna have to front thepayroll.
So he's like, that's gettingcommercial business is great.
And it's true, you can land bigcontracts, but you have to carry
(09:04):
um the the payroll for a fewweeks because sometimes
collecting from some of thosecommercial accounts can take 30,
60, 90 days.
Um, would you say that that'sthat's pretty fair guidance for
home services franchiseesgetting into commercial?
SPEAKER_05 (09:17):
That's bang on.
As far as as far as a dollarfigure, I'm not whatever that
is, I'm sure it varies, butyou're right.
It does in that commercialworld, it's not just homeowner
pay the bill online done.
It goes, it's got a biggerwheel, it's got to go through
eight, it's gotta go to accountspayable, it's gotta get signed
off.
So, yeah, you're right.
It does take that 30 days.
That's like 30 days sometimes isa luxury if it's 60.
And if they say it's a 60-daypayout, then it is what it is.
(09:40):
You're not gonna say I'd like itdone in 30 days.
So great, we're gonna pay you at60.
So it's yeah, you're you'reyou're you're betting on.
SPEAKER_03 (09:47):
So I've found gentle nudges every single week to
their uh accounts payabledepartment works.
SPEAKER_05 (09:55):
Small visits to the accounts payable with two big
guys with bats.
SPEAKER_03 (09:59):
Yeah, there you go.
Bring them a box of donuts witha baseball bat in hand.
SPEAKER_05 (10:03):
If you don't pay, I'm kidding, but not kidding.
Yeah.
But no, you're right.
You're you're bang on.
SPEAKER_00 (10:09):
Hey Mark, uh great to connect with you.
Um I've been really lookingforward to hearing more about
puddle pools.
Um Carolina and I have been inthe senior home care franchise
business for many, many years.
I know that uh we had a lot ofmisconceptions when we were
starting, one of which was wedidn't have any experience when
we in in senior care when we gotstarted.
So I'm curious, what are thebiggest misconceptions uh that
(10:32):
people have about owning a poolbusiness?
Yeah, you're right.
SPEAKER_05 (10:35):
It's um, well, I don't know anything about pools.
And then we're really clear Ithink there's probably two.
We have maybe two of our ownerscame from the pool world.
And we jokingly said most of ourowners can't even swim, so don't
worry about it.
You're there to run thebusiness, right?
Like we don't ever want ourowners putting their hands in
the pool, is pretty much how itis.
(10:56):
That should be the partners arerunning the business.
Um, but I think that's that'sprobably the biggest
misconception.
Is I don't know anything aboutpools.
It's like, great, neither do we.
You know, so there you go.
unknown (11:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_06 (11:05):
To piggyback on that, actually, so you know,
again, as a business owner, as aformer uh franchise owner, it's
we know it's important to lookfor a business that fits, right?
That aligns with your lifestyle,your strengths, your values.
So for someone who's lookinginto business ownership and they
want to look outside of theusual fast food and gym
(11:27):
concepts, what about publicpools do you think makes it an
exciting and like meaningfuloption?
SPEAKER_05 (11:33):
I think that the number one is that reoccurring
revenue.
That's very attractive in thehome service phase.
And I think it's the frequencyof the recurring revenue.
And then on top of that, thatit's mandated.
So a public pool commercial, ithas to be done.
I think that's probably thenumber one.
Second is the scalability.
When definitely when they looklike we want obviously, we want
(11:54):
big picture thinking.
And you know, our team is alwaysum really clear that this is not
I'm retiring, I want to cleansome pools in the backyard, have
a route.
Nothing wrong with that at all,but that is not this.
This that's not what you'relooking for here.
So being able to scale, notafraid to scale.
We have when they do the math,they say 10,000 pools per
territory, and on an average,each track or vehicle does
(12:16):
roughly 60 to 70 pools a month.
When you bang that out, when youlook at like 5% market share,
you know, I don't know ifobviously those numbers or not,
but you know when you do themath and you see what that there
is no end.
So there is that's that'sprobably the most attractive
part.
And then obviously the teambuilding and I think just
through um I don't know if I'mgoing with this, but just like
(12:37):
validation too, like making surethey talk with like we're not
gonna pepper you withsuperstars.
That's like what do you get fromyou get nothing from that,
right?
You want to talk to high,middle, and low performers.
And we even the low performersaren't low, they're just like
starting, zero to six months.
Well, good, what sucked?
Are these guys great?
Are they crazy?
Like, ask all those questionsand make sure it aligns with
you, and then um it usually justas soon as theirs happens, I
(12:59):
think.
SPEAKER_03 (13:00):
We had a franchiseur text us earlier this week
saying, Hey, I just spoke toyour client, we just introduced
them, and uh he said, they toldme they're not gonna buy a
franchise unless they can talkto 10 franchisees.
He said, You better rein themin.
I said, No, actually, that's myguidance.
And I said, You absolutely needto call five to ten franchisees
like you said, good, bad, andugly, because at the end of the
(13:22):
day, the item 19 might say theaverage franchisee is making a
million bucks, but you need totalk to the franchisee and you
need to hear it from them.
Um, and it's amazing how many,and and transitioning into our
next section about scaling.
And David, I know you you've gota burning question here.
Um, but to me, as I look at abusiness like this, I look at
puddle pools, I look atespecially even in markets where
(13:45):
it's not like Florida, you know,here everybody has a pool.
Literally, everyone in myneighborhood has a pool.
And you're right, I would loveit if the if the if someone
could come two times a week.
So I look at this in and I Ilove this boring, scalable,
recurring revenue, commercial,residential.
So many times clients will callus, Mark, and they'll say, man,
(14:06):
it's my dream to own aChick-fil-A.
It's my dream to own a burgerfranchise.
And I'm like, dude, by the timeyou clean your your fifth grease
trap, it won't be a dreamanymore.
And by the time you burn throughyour fifth manager to manage a
pack of teenagers for 45 grand ayear, it won't be your dream
anymore.
And when you're managing razorthin margins and you you've got
(14:29):
a million dollar note investedin this business, that's a
nightmare.
SPEAKER_01 (14:33):
Mark, you nailed it.
I I think with uh reoccurringrevenue.
Uh, you know, right now with myfranchise, that's what's putting
me at the top.
Is that reoccurring with my GM,what he's what he's building for
us?
But uh on that note, thanks.
Uh what kind of franchiseesthrive in your system?
Oh, good question.
SPEAKER_05 (14:50):
Um, who thrives are not the cow, not the cowboys.
I don't know if that's the rightanswer, but play stick to the
program, you know what I mean?
Like everyone's a cowboy, that'sfine.
But like you invest in it for areason, don't try and come in
and change everything, right?
And I'm sure everybody's seenthat.
I think that's who the peoplethat follow the playbook and
know that this is a marathon andnot a sprint, because a lot of
(15:13):
it is a mental game, right?
Especially if they come fromemployee to now you're like
employer.
It's a different mindset, right?
So don't um stay in.
I think the people that stay intheir lane, they have the goal,
they follow the program, and itthat's that's it.
It's like it's proven, it's amodel, it works.
So of course we're all gonnadance outside and do this and do
that, but just try and stay umstay focused.
(15:34):
I think that's the number one isthose people that are not
cowboys or cow gals.
SPEAKER_07 (15:41):
And for the cow for the cowboys and the cowgals,
well, we don't we don't have thecowboys or the cowgals, but for
for those following theplaybook, how do you maintain
that consistency across the USand Canada?
SPEAKER_05 (15:53):
Yeah, it's um that's probably the biggest kicker,
even with all the brands in allthe years.
It's it's support.
Like, and it's just not, oh, wehave support.
Like, great, what kind ofsupport you have?
So there's weekly GSNRs, thegoal set and reviews, like
everybody has a puddle coach,right?
So every week they work on thebusiness, not in it, setting
three goals, making sure they'rehitting the goals, working out
those pain points.
(16:13):
So they're they're reallygradually scaling without even
knowing it and fixing any um anykinks in the system or in what
they're finding problems with.
We have four puddle huddles amonth on different topics,
right?
We keep a uh a regional, likeeverybody from Florida's on a
puddle huddle, Texas on apuddle, because they all
experience different climates,right?
To your point.
Um, and then we have uh ageneral once over just about the
(16:35):
industry and you know, maybeabout commercial or about
employees or whatever.
And then we have a growth uhstartup in Excel.
So zero to six months, six totwelve months, twelve months
plus, because everybody's in adifferent stage of their
business.
So I think that support is hugefor not only the franchise
partner, but we bring it in tothe technician level as well.
So the technicians have help,one-on-one support.
(16:56):
There's help me buttons,WhatsApp chats, and all that,
but they also get paired withthe puddle coach.
And that puddle coach has aweekly GSNR.
Different goals, like they'renot setting financial goals,
it's more so you know, we havehuge incentive poses and
programs.
Like it's not so much how do Iclean the pool, it's how do I do
that door knocking and how dowhat does that look like again
with that one-on-one with thehomeowner?
Or I'm having problems doingXYZ.
(17:18):
So having them having someletting them know that we care
and because the homeowner andthe they don't know us, like
they may know us, but they knowthe the person the person in the
field, they know the tech.
That's our you know, we all havethese hundred thousand dollar,
two hundred thousand dollarvisits, and then we're gonna put
it in the hands of a teenagerthat doesn't know what they're
doing, not a chance.
So making sure the support, Ithink, is um and then of course
your QA and audits and visitsand all that stuff.
(17:41):
But that's been the big one.
I think it's that one-on-one.
I don't know how you guys are,but I'm I need to talk to I need
to touch it, feel it, talk tosomeone, or else I'm just I
don't want any part of it.
SPEAKER_03 (17:49):
So it just means it's a great hey Mark, looking
at the data I have from youritem 19, um, I see that the
village's location that waslisted uh grossed$700,000 and
had a net of$200,000.
Is that is do I have the is thatis that right?
unknown (18:09):
Correct, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (18:10):
That's terrific.
That's a really that's anincredible margin.
Um you know, so many times,again, going back to the example
I gave before, some of theseretail food franchises can show
some pretty impressive grossesor gross revenues, but when you
really talk to their owners andand see what kind of net they're
(18:31):
achieving, sometimes it's not asimpressive.
So to know that there are leanbusinesses like this that you
can run from your phone, thatyou can scale up, um, and that
you can enjoy really terrificmargins, um, that's that's
pretty powerful.
SPEAKER_05 (18:45):
Yeah, it's it's um I think the beauty like I've
always I we have always been inhome service, so we're just
that's a real comfortable spacefor us.
I I would probably not do wellin brick and mortar, Brett.
That's just not our game.
But I think the beauty with homeservice to anybody that has a
home service is that is yeah,keeping it lean, making sure
there's we want zero overhead.
We want no overhead because thefranchise partners two concerns
(19:08):
I think naturally gonna be whenis my ROI and how much money can
I make?
Those are gonna be the twoquestions they want.
So we work for them, making surethey get that.
And the quicker they get that,the happier they're gonna be,
and then everybody's happy.
So, but yeah, I think the thehome service world in general,
just lower overhead, not evenhaving a storage facility, being
able to keep all of oursupplies, everything at the
supplier.
(19:29):
So that's uh what to be able tohit those margins.
We gotta keep it lean.
SPEAKER_03 (19:32):
I mean, that's that's why you see when we
looked at the fran when we didour franchise sales report in
September, 50% of the sales werehome services.
SPEAKER_05 (19:41):
For sure.
Yeah, it's attractive.
But it's not for everybody,right?
Some people want that brick andmortar and want that, which is
okay, right?
SPEAKER_03 (19:48):
But that's absolutely there's huge there's
benefits to that too.
If you can have a freestanding,like if you're looking at an
automotive franchise, you canbuy a freestanding building,
have the real estate, take thedepreciation.
Um but Mark, to be fair, ifsomeone had a puddle franchise
and let's say they had a bigenough territory and they
ultimately have four trucks, youcan still go get a building and
(20:11):
buy it, get a mixed-usebuilding, and and now you have a
place to put your trucks and youcan sublease.
And so that you can always bringin the real estate.
SPEAKER_05 (20:18):
That's the that's the beauty.
Like, take Rick in the villagersin the FDD, where you know he
has nine, ten technicians now.
He's in year at the end of yeartwo, right?
So he has a lot of moving partsand he still has no office.
He still runs it from Starbucks.
Everybody takes the trucks home,they pick up the equipment, and
that's just how he likes it.
That's his gig, right?
But we have another gentlemanSimon in London who wants to
(20:38):
open a storefront.
Great.
So we're trying to design itlike the Apple store, you know.
I don't know if I'm allowed tosay that, but trying to make it
nice and fresh as opposed toyour typical uh you know pool
shop.
But yeah, it gives you thateither way, whatever I think
everybody's different, right?
So whatever kind of floats yourboat and makes you happy, you
want to make sure that's that'syour that's your gig.
SPEAKER_00 (20:57):
So hey Mark, you mentioned earlier one of the
exciting things about thisbusiness is building teams.
So for new owners, like how doyou mentor or support them to
build teams and not just likeclean pools?
SPEAKER_05 (21:13):
Yeah, they don't um they don't really have the
option to go clean pools becauseout of the gate they hire a
technician.
Um I think the differentiatorhere is and correct me if I'm
wrong, I don't maybe maybe itis, maybe it's not.
So instead of like an execmodel, is you would hire a
manager to run it and then hirea technician, and then you
that's the typical.
So we eliminate that hire themanager portion.
(21:37):
The franchise partner issomewhat the manager, but Puddle
Power, our CRM or app, is Idon't want to say it's so
powerful, it is it's meant totake all of that heavy lifting
off.
So from them, like even throughtraining, the technicians are
coming to training the app, likePuddle Power almost trains your
technician for you in some to adegree.
(21:59):
So they really don't have thechance.
However, there are a handful offolks, and me included, that I
need to I need to do it for atleast a month.
And that's probably goingagainst what we say, but I
that's the way my brain works.
I can't tell somebody to gochange a tire if I've never done
it.
Right.
So I just so for those they lastmaybe a month, and then it just
pushes them into exact model.
(22:19):
You just you can't keep out thecall flow coming in, the the
ground and pound relationship.
So out of the gate, we want tomake sure it's as they grow in
scale, they're and their coachweekly wouldn't let that happen
either.
SPEAKER_06 (22:32):
So can we talk about culture?
Um, so again, we owned a homecare business, senior home care
business.
And for me, establishing theculture at the very start was so
important, right?
Like it infused every aspect ofour operations, and I really
think that's what helped usweather all our storms and
really set ourselves apart fromthe competition.
So for you guys, what is theculture at Pebble Fools and how
(22:53):
has it impacted your business?
SPEAKER_05 (22:55):
I like to think it's killer.
That's a good question aboutculture.
That's huge, right?
Like you can't buy culture.
You can't just come in and buyit or say, hey, we're putting a
ping pong table in the lunchroomand we have free pizza on
Fridays.
Look at our culture, right?
It's that's not it.
It's I think it all comes fromwhen you first start, like when
you first and everybody has toknow.
Like, I know every singlefranchise partners, I know my
(23:16):
how I don't know all the kidsneed it, but I know how many
kids they have.
I know what like you need that.
I think it's just being real.
Um, and we always hire, I thinkand I was hiring from within.
So every position in puddlecoaches, even our call center,
all of the guys and gals on ourcalls all are related to or know
or referred to by somebody.
(23:37):
That I think builds culturebecause everybody has they just
kind of know each other andkeeping everybody informed, like
monthly puddle huddles,regionals, annuals, everybody
comes.
It's not like, oh, you're on thecall center, you're not coming.
It's everybody's coming.
So I think it's just a how youtreat people, maybe, and making
sure you're you know, notsending out a memo once a month
saying good work, everybody justcalling them saying, Hey man,
(23:57):
you're kicking ass, way to go.
Oh, pardon my French, but youknow what I mean.
That's just giving that likeread to come, just being normal,
I think, just builds culture andyeah, and that's that's I don't
know if there's yeah, I don'tknow if that's the right answer,
but I that's what I think isjust wonderful.
Being normal, yeah.
Just yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_07 (24:13):
Well it starts at the top, Mark, and you're at the
top, so I don't you know you'rea great guy.
Super you know, you are, butyou're so warm and engaging and
friendly and kind like thatcomes through.
And so I think you are a bigpart of building that culture
there at the top.
SPEAKER_03 (24:30):
Thank you.
I'm just hey, I think it'simportant to um I I want to
bring Brian in on this.
And Brian, this is a little bitunscripted, but as I'm listening
to all of this, Brian does a lotof work with people who are
looking at existing businesses.
Um, a lot of people these daysare looking for existing
businesses on BizByCell.
And and Brian, you work with alot of them.
You know, Mark, as we thinkabout businesses and starting a
(24:54):
new franchise versus buyingexisting, maybe Brian, what what
do you think would beinteresting for the for the
folks that are looking purely atexisting businesses to consider
um with a new franchise likePuddle?
SPEAKER_02 (25:07):
Yeah, that's a great question, Jack.
And it's interesting, you know,Mark, some of the things that
you shared, you know, just theway you've set this business up
is what a lot of people that arelooking for an existing business
is what they're asking for,right?
It's you know, it's not the SDEor maybe the financials that are
have been out there for a coupleof years, but it's I want
something that I can run thatadds to my portfolio or adds to
(25:30):
you know what other things Ihave going on that doesn't
require my full-time attention,right?
So you know it sounds like fromjust an investment mindset,
you've really set this companyup for a lot of different types
of investors.
SPEAKER_05 (25:46):
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, we've tried to um, yeah,we're trying.
You know, it's it's we're justit business is lonely, right?
It's it's lonely if you don't.
I think that's the and we canall agree here, that's the
beauty of franchise, is it takesthat loneliness out of it
because that sucks, right?
Nobody wants to be start daydrinking, but everybody wants to
have that somebody they canbounce off of or that team that
(26:06):
can, and they're not rent, it'slike in business, not you know,
buy yourself or for yourself orwhatever that it's it's more of
that yes, this is going to bethe equivalent, or this is gonna
give you more value thansomething that you're
identifying that you're notreally too sure.
And I think the beauty withfranchises because it's so
heavily governed and so which isfantastic, it's not like buying
a used car.
(26:28):
We oh, you didn't look at thisor this, you know, nothing to
the used car people out there,but it's just you don't have
that that worry, right?
So yeah, we try to make it asgive them give the franchise
partner value, is what it is.
And this is for us, this isn'tabout money.
We're we're I don't know, we'relike nine ninety-five or I'd say
100K in like we want you to getthat 100k back yesterday.
(26:49):
So then you're happy.
So that's that's kind of what wetry to try to strive towards.
SPEAKER_03 (26:54):
So I think this is a great business for someone who's
looking to completely throwthemselves into a business full
time.
I think it's a great businessfor someone to bolt onto an
existing portfolio if they wantto diversify.
Um, and and again, it's socrazy.
Like we I've been in franchisinga long time.
Mark, no one's really owned thisspace.
Uh, and I think so much of whyyou guys have been so
(27:15):
successful, one, you've got agreat brand, great support,
great culture, but also thetechnology.
And let's let's maybe transitioninto tech systems and and and
the transparency of those techsystems.
And you know, David, I know youand I were talking offline about
this before.
Maybe I know you had a question.
Maybe we'll start with you.
SPEAKER_01 (27:33):
Yeah, speaking about the app, your your app and your
e-reporting systems are gamechangers.
What impact do they have on theclients and the franchisees?
SPEAKER_05 (27:43):
Yeah, thanks for that.
That's a great point.
As far as the for the homeowner,the the client, it that's the
problem in this industry ispeople, price, and
communication.
It's one of those three that itit's either the people are just
a little different in thisindustry, clean nicely.
Uh the the price, sometimes theyget a price for this is the to
clean the pool, plus this isyour chemical price, plus you
(28:04):
needed this.
And if I was a homeowner, I hadI had no idea what pH tablets
are.
And it I don't know, like thatthat sucks.
Nobody wants that.
And the next one is thecommunication.
They don't know when they werethere, how many times they come
a week.
They don't know their name, theydon't know the name of the
company sometimes.
So um on the client side, it'sit's beautiful.
They can even log in on theirapp and see when everything was
(28:24):
done.
It has pictures, videos.
The biggest one is showing thetechnician locking the gate,
like just those little things.
Um, I think for the client goesa long way.
More so for the franchisepartner is that is definitely
the game changer.
Is like we have five people onour leadership team that are
just marketing, tech driven,SEO, app development.
(28:45):
That's what they do all day,every day.
So um for the franchise partner,it has everything from
scheduling.
You can you send agreements,invoicing, those are all your
basics, but everything to likedispatch tool.
You can watch where your textsare at all times, if they've
gone five miles over the overthe speed limit, where they are,
the weather, that's just allthings you may never use, um,
(29:06):
all from your phone and all fromthem logging in using their IP
address on their phone.
It can clock everything, right?
I think Ryan on our team he saidyesterday we had a confirmation
and he said it best.
He goes, This is like amicromanager's dream.
Like if you would some of thethings you would use and some
you wouldn't, but it it kind ofit has absolute yeah, it has
absolutely some things on therelike, hey Ryan, like enough,
nobody's thinking stuff.
But it's there for you if youwant it.
(29:27):
So it's it's got everything downto job cost.
The tech is at the job for like18 minutes compared to 28.
That's a different job cost, soyou can see your march.
So it's really important for thefranchise partners to know those
numbers.
So I think that's um again,without me rambling, that's
that's probably the two biggestones, yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (29:45):
So it sounds like it sounds like you have, you know,
I mean, thought through thetechnology piece, you have a
dedicated team so thoroughly.
What is next, Mark, for from atechnology standpoint?
Can you give us a little peek ofwhat's coming?
SPEAKER_05 (30:01):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Um, so we have there's a lot oftech coming.
So I think the biggest thingright now is you know, everybody
talks AI and like obviously Idon't think that the robots are
going to take out pool cleaningunless Elon develops a robot
that pool cleans, but that youknow, robots and water don't go
together.
I think number one is um and herTim might kill me for.
(30:22):
Saying this is chat GPT is thatis the biggest push.
So we have one team member likemyself.
I don't use Google anymore.
I have I don't know you guys, Ijust have chat just sitting on
my that's what I searched.
So the kicker is you can't payto play there.
It's not like Google to hire therank, the PPC.
It has to be strategicallyplaced, even in all of your
content, how we're searching onchat.
That's pool cleaners near me.
(30:43):
So that's kind of the next push.
Using AI in our Huddle Power,which is our app or serum, to
develop marketing programs andtools for them on the hop, the
way they go.
And the last one here is I'llgive this away here because this
is coming out.
Is these guys here, um I don'tknow if you can see these Oculus
(31:04):
or Oculus app or yeah, so whichare I don't I'm not a tech guy,
but these are so cool.
Is the training for techniciansin the field when they put these
on, additional training, it'slike they're there.
They can go cocktail change, andit's like they're changing.
So all of that technology, wehave to be 20 steps ahead of the
competition, and we gotta beright up there with with uh
(31:26):
Elon's team.
So that's kind of what we'retrying to do.
Pool cleaning, yes, but beingonce there's so much coming down
the pipe.
And again, I'm not the uh I'mnot the tech team, but uh Tyler
and Ryan and and those folksthat are developing all that.
There's a lot of cool stuff.
So making it and and just fun,right?
Like making sure like that'sthat's fun, you know?
SPEAKER_07 (31:44):
That's fun.
Yeah, that's fun.
SPEAKER_06 (31:49):
So, Mark, when you're meeting with, you know,
you're trying to develop thoseB2B relationships and they see
your technology.
Is that what sets you apart fromthe competition?
Is that what all things beingequal with all the other pool
businesses, that's what theysay, oh, that's a game changer.
I want to go with them.
SPEAKER_05 (32:04):
Good question.
That's not so much.
It plays a piece of the pie.
It's more so um, you know,getting that foot in the door
without stepping on toes and notbeing pushy.
Right.
I think that's that's differentprograms like you know, cookie
drops, lunch and lunch, but howdo we get to that?
You know, for um in the homeservice base, which I've learned
(32:27):
anyways, or our team has learnedover the time is property
managers, realtors, um, theyhave time and money.
Everybody works with time andmoney.
We can't give them more money orsave them money.
You can save them money, buttime is what they really want to
save them time.
So being able to give themeverything up front, what they
need, not having to ask to gohope for this, not have so when
our teams come to approach them,they already have those in hand.
(32:47):
They know what sites they do,they already have those quotes
to send them out.
So the other stuff is just likethe gravy.
When they see that wow, whenthey get to have that
experience, then that's usuallythe the game changer.
SPEAKER_03 (33:03):
Very cool, Brian.
I thought I think you had aquestion.
SPEAKER_02 (33:06):
Yeah, you know, so we're uh you talked a lot about
the about technology, um, youknow, really it seems like what
separates puddle pools apartfrom the competition right now.
But when you think about youknow, in the future, you know,
how are you future-proofing thisbrand?
Especially when you think abouta long-term scalability.
SPEAKER_05 (33:24):
Yeah, good question.
Again, I think it's it's it'sstaying ahead of the uh the
competitors and the industry.
Like right now, I don't want tofrag or anything, but like we're
really, really far ahead, andyou you're not gonna catch us.
There's you're you're not right.
So we want to start setting thatpath.
Um, opening up we've got ourfinalized docs and FTD and
(33:46):
everything is ready to go forAustralia, which is plans for
2028.
So that's that's another largespace for us there.
So making sure um that's readyto go, you know, the and
bringing other services into thepuddle, which will be coming
soon.
Um add-on and complementaryservices, which again additional
revenue streams for franchisepartners, that's a huge one.
(34:08):
Um kind of already haveeverything laid out.
I I don't I don't want to giveit away too much, but just being
10 steps ahead of everybody isis the character.
SPEAKER_03 (34:20):
And Mark, is it is it true that I think your
investment says the investmentis is for a single unit
franchise is somewhere betweensay 90, I think 90, is it 92,
and 150 for a single unit?
Does that sound right?
SPEAKER_05 (34:33):
Yeah, for single, it's like 90 to 1 and it's like
around 100k.
And then for two, it's like150-ish, 140 or something.
SPEAKER_03 (34:41):
That's pretty great.
I mean, for those of youlistening, recurring revenue,
B2B, B2C, um, the ability toenjoy great margins, to run a
business from the phone.
Um, these are pretty incrediblethings.
That's why we're seeing thisbusiness.
I don't even know how much whitespace is left in Florida.
(35:02):
Um, I know we had a client thatjust took a good chunk out of
Phoenix, which is we were soexcited that it was still there.
Because I know you guys havebeen like Vegas is gone.
Um I'm like, dude, you're solucky you're getting this
territory.
Um so for those of youlistening, this is one I would
guess, Mark, that you guys willhave most of the most of the
(35:23):
states, the key markets in theUnited States will be gone next
year.
Um, especially now that you'reopen in California, right?
SPEAKER_05 (35:29):
We just opened, yeah.
So yeah, we just closed on two,I believe.
And then one coming down thedown the line.
So yeah, we we just opened, soyeah, that's the next, and
that's much like for everybody.
It's probably easier to countthe homes that don't have pools,
you know.
SPEAKER_03 (35:43):
So yeah, yeah.
So all right, Mark, let's do alittle rapid fire session here.
Um, is it true that your yourmotto is grab life by the
cannonballs, or did ChatGPT makethat up?
SPEAKER_04 (35:55):
I made that up.
Yeah, that's I made that up.
And after I said my wife's like,can't say that.
Like I'm saying you can't saythat.
So anyway, that's it.
That was not chat.
SPEAKER_03 (36:07):
What was the first job that that truly shaped who
you are, that shaped your grit?
SPEAKER_05 (36:13):
Tim Hortons.
I worked there.
I started working when I was 13,and I started doing night shift
just before my 15th birthday.
So my parents were really hardinto working early.
So Tim Hortons lower coffee shopif you kind of like Dunkin'
Donuts eat kind of thing.
It's like hunch you get likeDunkin' Donuts.
SPEAKER_03 (36:32):
Is it has it gone consistently downhill churning
out mediocre day old donuts likelike Dunkin' Donuts?
SPEAKER_02 (36:41):
That's a hard yes.
We just offended the wholeNortheast.
That's fine.
SPEAKER_03 (36:49):
I'll tell you, it's what uh this is gonna sound
crazy, but one of the one of thethings when Jill and I moved
from San Diego to Boca Raton,Florida in 2020, we had so many
great donuts in San Diego, somany great places, and maybe
it's because it's a it's a bigsurfer community.
There is no donuts here.
They all say, oh, you gotta goto Duncan.
(37:11):
That's not a donut.
That's not a donut.
Not a donut.
SPEAKER_05 (37:14):
Not a donut.
SPEAKER_07 (37:15):
We have Johnny's donuts.
Johnny's donuts.
Nothing can be Johnny's donuts.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:21):
I don't know.
Have you had sidecar in Del Mar?
SPEAKER_07 (37:24):
I have not.
SPEAKER_03 (37:25):
Get Sidecar.
And I'll try Johnny's next timeI'm in the Bay Area.
SPEAKER_07 (37:29):
Yes.
Next time you're here, I'll buyyou a dozen.
SPEAKER_03 (37:33):
Do you guys have Lee's down there?
Lee's donuts?
No?
unknown (37:37):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (37:38):
No.
Is that up in Vancouver?
Is that in Vancouver?
It is, yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (37:44):
It is, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:45):
Jay Carolina, can you vouch for Lee's?
SPEAKER_06 (37:47):
Well, we don't have a sweet tooth.
SPEAKER_00 (37:49):
We're not really donut people, but we've heard of
Lee's time.
SPEAKER_06 (37:53):
We're more salted fat people.
So yeah, no.
Sweet, no.
SPEAKER_03 (37:57):
I'm sending you some Lees.
SPEAKER_04 (38:00):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (38:01):
Lee's is being door-dashed to the Arosis house
right now.
SPEAKER_04 (38:05):
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (38:05):
All right.
So this here's my question, andI'll I'll throw it at you, Mark,
but it's really open.
As you know, all of ourconsultants are current or
former franchise owners, just tokind of go around the room.
You've got Catherine up here,who was the MVP of her system
last year, uh, leading revenueproducer.
Are you going to do it againthis year, Catherine?
You're going to be number oneagain this year?
SPEAKER_07 (38:25):
Yes.
Love it.
Yes, I am.
Although, although, so they sendout a rocket stack every week.
And for the first time ever,McKinney, Texas is up by$1,000.
But don't worry, I have a lot ofmoney coming.
Don't you worry.
Yeah.
I mean clinch it.
But whoa.
Whoa.
SPEAKER_03 (38:43):
Let's go, Katherine.
Come on.
And then, of course, we haveBrian Gross, who successfully
exited his franchise this year,but he also was number one in
his system in his first year.
Um, Jay and Carolina werefranchise owners in a home
healthcare franchise system whowere very, very successful.
In fact, one of my favoritestories about Jay and Carolina
(39:04):
is when uh we were, andCatherine and I both worked at
this franchise.
Um, they had gone, you guys hadgone to the Philippines, I
think, for a month, and Jaycalled me and said, you know,
it's so cool.
When we came back, revenue wasup.
Our GM didn't call us, and thebusiness ran smoothly and even
grew.
That is successful franchiseownership when you can empower
(39:25):
others.
And then, of course, we haveDavid Sam Juan, who is firmly
entrenched at number four uh inthe Pink's Windows franchise
system, and he just had his mostsuccessful month.
So, Mark, the reason why I throwall this out there, and of
course, you're a franchisor of avery successful, fast-growing,
great franchise or that supportsits franchisees.
I say this because I'm gonnathrow this question out to the
(39:46):
group.
The hottest segment in homeservices in five years will be
what?
SPEAKER_05 (39:52):
Window cleaning.
Ooh, hottest one in homeservices in five years?
SPEAKER_03 (39:59):
In five years.
In five years, what will be?
Let's think about this now.
How the world is changing.
The world is changing and AI ischanging things.
Now, you're right.
I don't think we're gonna haverobotic window or pool cleaners
or window cleaners.
I think we will have robotsmaking our burritos at Chipotle
and our our you know meals atKaba.
(40:19):
I know they're gonna haverobots.
Um, from my perspective, when Ilook at home services and I look
at what's happened this year,you see HVAC continuing to sell
very consistently.
You see pool maintenance becauseof you guys selling
consistently, of course, windowcleaning with pinks.
Um what I would say is this.
I don't know if I can call outthe specific category, but what
(40:43):
I will say is what I think itwill be, which is recurring
revenue, B2B, B2C, um, and theability to be very lean and be
able to be run from a phone.
I think it's a lot of the samepieces you already have in
puddle right now.
So the future is now, Mark.
SPEAKER_04 (41:02):
Yeah, there you go.
Yeah, that's that's a goodquestion.
I don't know the answer thatone.
I haven't.
SPEAKER_07 (41:07):
I have a very important question.
I have a very importantquestion, Mark.
How many people what is thatfish have a name?
Flip your fish have a name,yeah.
Flip-flop?
How many people have a flip-floptattoo?
That's what I want to know.
SPEAKER_05 (41:24):
Three.
Yeah, I couldn't believe it.
When we went to the three, liketwo about we have husband and
wife, um, Mary and Sim.
They came to our our annual lastyear and they had them on their
arm.
And because I said it as a joke,I said, Oh, if you get that,
I'll give you a chance.
SPEAKER_07 (41:37):
On the arm, on the bicep?
On the bicep?
SPEAKER_05 (41:40):
And then Mary has her on her wrist on her wrist,
right?
And then uh I said it's a joke.
They said, We're gettingtattoos.
I said, I'll give you$500.
I thought it was a joke, andthen they said, Oh, yeah, yeah.
And I said, if you do your kids,I'll give you$200.
And then they said, Oh, okay.
And then they showed up and theyhad their tattoos.
I'm like, oh my god, please tellme you didn't tattoo the kids.
Because they got five littleones, right?
SPEAKER_04 (42:01):
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_05 (42:02):
Yeah, another Jen Dan, he just signed on and he
said, as he was, as he was goingthrough the process and he was
he signed, he goes, He goes,I've just signed.
I really need to make sure thisis it, right?
Like, there's no going back.
I'm like, dude, you're in.
You're what are you talkingabout?
He goes, Okay, great, I'll seeyou later.
But he was at the tattoo shopthere getting it done to make
sure that we wouldn't say, Ohno, you're out.
So, but yeah, we have three.
SPEAKER_07 (42:21):
Oh my gosh.
So all an opposite are full.
So they've even tattooed it.
I don't know any other brandthat has has that like type of
cult following.
That's amazing.
That's incredible.
SPEAKER_05 (42:33):
Yeah, they're yeah, they're all I'm gonna bring it
to.
That's what I said at our reasonor at our annual this year in
Cancun.
I'm gonna hire a tattoo artistin a trailer to come by and once
those My Ties start flowing,we'll start inking everybody up.
So that's it.
That's cool.
SPEAKER_03 (42:45):
And is it named, is it named after the one flip-flop
pool person that uh that youthat you hired uh to start this
whole thing off?
SPEAKER_05 (42:53):
I wish it was.
No, it's actually Mike.
Our he he heads our our um ourtraining camps.
He it was actually his daughter.
We had a little contest witheverybody and everybody's kids
guessed the name or name it, andhis daughter named it flip-flop,
and it kind of stuck.
SPEAKER_03 (43:06):
So the trucks, the hats, the branding looks
terrific.
And and I think, again, mystreet is full of mom and pop
pull route guys.
Um, and that's where I thinkPuddle has such a chance to
become the context leadernationwide.
Um, because there's no otherbrand out there that is anywhere
(43:27):
near what you guys have, and itall looks great, which is really
half the battle.
SPEAKER_05 (43:31):
Thank you.
Yeah, can't uh be in yourneighborhood soon enough.
SPEAKER_03 (43:35):
You know, I understand someone was
interested at Discovery Day,yeah, for Boca and Del Rey.
SPEAKER_05 (43:41):
We'll make it really clear that discounts will be
applied, right?
SPEAKER_03 (43:46):
I don't know.
You know, my cart, uh yeah, no,that's I that's so cool.
Guys, any last questions for thegroup?
SPEAKER_00 (43:51):
Uh I was just gonna say I'm I'm super impressed, uh
Mark.
You know, we probably representa small segment of what a
customer of yours would looklike, but we have a hot tub and
we got someone coming in everytwo weeks to service it.
And I've gone through two orthree different uh mom and pop
services.
Uh not not to say that mom andpop services can't be great, but
(44:13):
it's been frustrating because Idon't, it's that communication
piece that is lacking, and alsoa lot of the technology that you
mentioned, you won't reallythink like pooled services and
technology, but that really umempowers you know the the the
owners or the franchisees tocommunicate better with uh
someone like me.
And so that frustration levelgoes down.
(44:34):
So I'm quite excited to be ableto get you know on pool services
for our tub, right?
So yeah, there are you right inVancouver?
SPEAKER_05 (44:42):
North Van, North Vancouver.
North Van, yeah.
Well, that's Mike.
That's his territory that withhis daughter name it.
Yeah, so but yeah, it's I'mcalling him right away.
Again, discounts applied, right?
Tell him Mark something.
SPEAKER_03 (44:52):
Mark, can you guys add cold plunges?
Because me having to figure outthe chlorine in my cold plunge
is such a pain in the neck, andmy pool guy won't touch it.
SPEAKER_05 (44:59):
We do, we do cold plunges, and we start doing
those as well as um physios.
I think they do cold plunge.
I've never done it, but the coldplunge, hot one, or in the
physio, we do those as well now,too.
Yeah, just it's uh another oneof those things.
Cool.
SPEAKER_03 (45:14):
Absolutely very cool.
Mark, we're so glad we're soglad you could join us today.
This is such great informationfor those of you listening.
Again, this is the perfectdefinition of where the
franchise market is right now.
This is a franchise that peopleare very bullish on.
Uh, so if you'd like to find outmore about puddle pools and
learn if it's available in yourterritory, the best thing you
(45:34):
can go do is go tothefranchiseinsiders.com.
From there, you can go to ourteam page.
Feel free to read the bios onall of our consultants.
Um, we'd all be delighted tohelp you with your franchise
search and to find out if yourterritory is available.
If you feel like you need tojust get in touch with us right
now, though, you can text 305710 0050, and we'd be happy to
(45:56):
connect you to Puddle Pools.
For this episode of We Bought aFranchise, I'm Jack Johnson.
Mark, franchise consulting team.
Thanks for joining.
We'll see you on the nextepisode with Brandon Carter of
Pink's Windows, and uh, we'lltalk to you next time.
SPEAKER_05 (46:11):
Thanks for having me.
Hi everyone, welcome back to the We Bought a
Franchise podcast.
I'm Jack Johnson of theFranchise Insiders, and today we
have an incredible guest with afranchise that I gotta tell you
guys, when I first learned aboutthis franchise, I had no idea of
the rocket ship ride that thisthing would have this year, but
it has just been an incrediblegrowth season for puddle pools.
(00:44):
And of course, I'm speakingabout its founder, Mark Amory.
Mark, welcome to the podcast.
SPEAKER_05 (00:49):
Hey, thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_03 (00:50):
Of course.
And we're joined by our all-starteam of franchise consultants,
Katherine Allen, Brian Gross,Jay, and Carolina Arrosa, two of
our newest consultants.
And then, of course, Mr.
Chill here, David San Juan withhis stogie sitting out in the
Florida sun.
So, Mark, let's get right to it.
(01:11):
Here's my first question foryou.
SPEAKER_04 (01:13):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (01:14):
Mark, can you really run puddle pools from your
phone?
unknown (01:18):
No.
SPEAKER_05 (01:19):
Yeah, I'm just kidding.
Of course you can.
Yeah.
No, it's all a scam.
Yeah, of course you can.
It's uh that's the biggest gamechange.
You can run it remotely fromanywhere.
Phone, tablet, or that's kind ofthe one of the bonuses of
puddle.
SPEAKER_03 (01:33):
That's so cool.
I need to ask you, what ispuddle pools and what do you
guys do?
SPEAKER_05 (01:38):
Yeah, yeah, great question.
What do we do?
We do residential and commercialpool, hot tub, spa, and water
feature maintenance.
So I think the the kicker is wedo the residential side, which
is homeowners, apartments,townhomes, multi-unit, uh, and
then the commercial side, whichis your HOAs, um, your hotels,
uh, HOAs, that kind of thing.
(02:00):
So it's your regular recurringservice as well as everything in
on and around the pool, likeliners, repairs, weekly
maintenance, right up to poolinstalls, fireclass pool
installs.
So everything around everythingin the backyard, pretty much.
SPEAKER_03 (02:14):
Wow.
And I know the team, the teamhas got a lot of great questions
for you.
I have one more before we we wethrow it out to the group here.
How much of that business, as Iwas sitting at a dinner the
other night with a largeautomotive franchise and a
private equity group.
And uh, what got the privateequity group so excited about
doing a roll-up with thisfranchise, which means for those
(02:36):
of you listening out there, aroll-up is where a PE firm will
come in.
They will recapitalize afranchisee or two, um, and then
roll up more locations within.
So this particular deal is 20 to50 franchises.
And the reason why they'reexcited is that this franchise
does commercial, but that it hasrecurring revenue.
Mark, recurring revenue seems tobe just one of the most
(02:57):
important things when we look atfranchises achieving high
valuations.
So, Mark, how much of yourbusiness would you say
percentage-wise is recurringrevenue?
SPEAKER_05 (03:06):
Yeah, like 90, 95.
It's every um the beauty withpools is they have to be
maintained once a week.
I'm not sure if anybody on thecall here has a pool, but they
know once a week you have to,and some parts of the year it's
like twice a week.
It's that hot.
The kicker is when you go overto the commercial side, it's
once a day.
It has to be tested.
And in some zip codes, it'stwice a day.
So taking that regular recurringticket value from one to right
(03:28):
up to maybe even 14x.
unknown (03:31):
Wow.
SPEAKER_05 (03:31):
Once you're trapped.
Yeah, and it's mandated, it hasto be done.
It's not like, oh, we might getthe pool done or not.
In the commercial world, it hasto be done and they shut it
down.
SPEAKER_02 (03:37):
Mark, one of the things I'm really curious about
with this business, you know, Ithink about myself.
I moved from Tampa, Florida thisyear, where I look at this
business, it feels like a homerun to Washington, D.C., where
now it's it's freezing outside,right?
And so I have a shorter season.
Not everyone has a pool in theirbackyard, like in the south.
So what is the opportunity?
(03:58):
You know, I guess what's thisbusiness look like for the more
Midwest, the northern climates?
SPEAKER_05 (04:03):
Yeah, good question, man.
This is probably one of thebiggest questions is what
happens with with the colderclimates, right?
And I'm based in Vancouver.
We were born in Canada, so wehave 25 locations here, three
plus years.
That usually ends that rightthere.
Like our highest producing umCanadian location would be
Ottawa.
And you know, when they have sixfeet of snow in the middle of
(04:24):
winter, they're able to go yearround.
It's that commercial ticket thatreally brings it, you know,
through the winter.
As far as having your seasons,um, you know, Florida or you
know, the ones in the south,they have that annual once a
month, maybe a lower ticketvalue.
With when you get somebodythat's experienced all four
seasons, you have the openings,the closings, and all the fun
stuff in between.
So the revenue actually is alittle bit more if you look at
(04:47):
the at the annual at the annualspread.
So but usually if you want totalk to any of the Canadian
locations, that usually you knowends that worry right there.
Yeah.
Because it's pretty in Ottawa,it's pretty cool.
That answered that, Brad, isthat right?
SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
It does.
That's that's great.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_05 (05:02):
That's terrific.
SPEAKER_07 (05:03):
My question for you is how did you spot opportunity
in an industry that othersignored?
SPEAKER_05 (05:10):
That's a good one.
So a bit of background on my Isay myself and the team, like
our leadership team has beentogether for 13 plus years.
Uh, we had this is our fourthhome service brand.
So this is in our first rodeo.
Um, you know, we started a homeservice care, like window
cleaning and that kind of thing.
Um, then went on to pest controllandscaping.
And we always had pool as one ofthe other kind of just
(05:31):
sidebarred there.
It was actually when we alwayswanted to bring it to the US.
But it's hard for Canadian to goto the US because you'll have a
docs.
It takes about a year for allthat, all those goodies to get
put together.
But I actually bought a house,we moved in and it had a pool,
and I had no idea what I wasdoing.
And I have I had five kids, fivelittle girls, and I'm like, I am
(05:51):
not gonna burn one of them withchlorine and all that.
So I tried to get a pool personto come, and it was like
impossible, it was impossible.
Nobody was answering the phone.
It was just like the typicalthing you hear, right?
And then finally, there's oneguy who says, He says, Yeah,
dude, I'll be there on Sunday.
I'm like, okay, cool, you cancome do your thing.
And he showed up and he wascamping, and he gets out of the
car, he had one flip-flop on,like, nice guy, like like how
(06:13):
you look like when you come backfrom camping, his dog's up
front, he reeked like marijuana.
I'm like, oh my gosh.
And then he but he was fine.
He did whatever he did, and thenthat was the like, okay, guys,
we're turning on puddleyesterday.
So that's kind of how it came.
So I just saw that happen, andthen that was we started that in
in Canada, then that was the onewe wanted to bring to the US
because the opportunity,obviously, the US 10 times
(06:33):
bigger, 10 times just moreattractive.
And then uh there was no realnational, there's national
presence, but not in that B2Band B2C world.
It was, you know, ourcompetitors have B2C, which is
great.
Um, but the the commercial sideis where there's a little more
hoops to jump through.
There's certifications,licensing, uh making sure.
(06:54):
So from a franchise or level,it's easier just to say, hey,
we're doing residential, butthat's kind of how it was born.
A guy with a flip-flop and a anda dog coming back from camping.
SPEAKER_07 (07:03):
Oh my gosh.
And just talk to us a little bitabout you talked about the B2C
and the B2B side.
Kind of across the board, whatpercentage would you say is B2B
versus B2C?
SPEAKER_05 (07:15):
Yeah, great question.
It's yeah, across the board,it's B2B is right, or B to B2C
is right out of the gate.
It's just low-hanging fruit.
There's it's just easier.
It's a total digital play forus.
It's a like we're not a poolcleaning company that's started
and then went, oh, this isgreat.
Let's try franchising.
We're kind of the opposite.
We're franchising and went intothe pool space.
So we knew that that B2C sidewas more of that low-hanging
(07:38):
fruit.
We want to make sure ourplacement's great on you know,
on PPC campaigns, SEO, Meta,Google's on all of that, all of
those.
Um, but that I would say you'reprobably out of the gate first
year, maybe like 95.5, 9010.
Just because in the commercialworld it takes it's a really
it's not a digital plague.
It is to a degree, but it's morerelationship building with your
(07:59):
realtors, your property manager.
I'm sure we all I don't have totell you guys that that space
takes a little longer to get to,and what avenues do we use?
Cookie drops, lunch and learns.
It just takes time.
So, but once you're in, you'rethen you're in.
So we make it really clear toall of our franchise partners,
once you're once you turn it,you can't turn it off.
Right.
So you know what I mean?
It's not an answer saying we'refull.
(08:21):
That's not an answer.
SPEAKER_03 (08:22):
So and and and Mark, I know that your neighbors here,
Jay and Carolina, who are alsobased in Vancouver, uh have a
couple of questions for you.
But before they they go to theirquestions, I'll never forget
with our Pinks franchise, um,Brandon Downer, who will be on
our podcast next week, shamelessplug, um, saying to me, you
know, if you're gonna starttaking commercial business, make
(08:44):
sure you have at least 50 grandin your business account.
Um, and he told me, he's like,Look, the reason I'm making this
recommendation to you is that,you know, you're you guys are
gonna go take a job.
It's gonna take you a couple ofweeks to get it done.
You're gonna have to front thepayroll.
So he's like, that's gettingcommercial business is great.
And it's true, you can land bigcontracts, but you have to carry
(09:04):
um the the payroll for a fewweeks because sometimes
collecting from some of thosecommercial accounts can take 30,
60, 90 days.
Um, would you say that that'sthat's pretty fair guidance for
home services franchiseesgetting into commercial?
SPEAKER_05 (09:17):
That's bang on.
As far as as far as a dollarfigure, I'm not whatever that
is, I'm sure it varies, butyou're right.
It does in that commercialworld, it's not just homeowner
pay the bill online done.
It goes, it's got a biggerwheel, it's got to go through
eight, it's gotta go to accountspayable, it's gotta get signed
off.
So, yeah, you're right.
It does take that 30 days.
That's like 30 days sometimes isa luxury if it's 60.
And if they say it's a 60-daypayout, then it is what it is.
(09:40):
You're not gonna say I'd like itdone in 30 days.
So great, we're gonna pay you at60.
So it's yeah, you're you'reyou're you're betting on.
SPEAKER_03 (09:47):
So I've found gentle nudges every single week to
their uh accounts payabledepartment works.
SPEAKER_05 (09:55):
Small visits to the accounts payable with two big
guys with bats.
SPEAKER_03 (09:59):
Yeah, there you go.
Bring them a box of donuts witha baseball bat in hand.
SPEAKER_05 (10:03):
If you don't pay, I'm kidding, but not kidding.
Yeah.
But no, you're right.
You're you're bang on.
SPEAKER_00 (10:09):
Hey Mark, uh great to connect with you.
Um I've been really lookingforward to hearing more about
puddle pools.
Um Carolina and I have been inthe senior home care franchise
business for many, many years.
I know that uh we had a lot ofmisconceptions when we were
starting, one of which was wedidn't have any experience when
we in in senior care when we gotstarted.
So I'm curious, what are thebiggest misconceptions uh that
(10:32):
people have about owning a poolbusiness?
Yeah, you're right.
SPEAKER_05 (10:35):
It's um, well, I don't know anything about pools.
And then we're really clear Ithink there's probably two.
We have maybe two of our ownerscame from the pool world.
And we jokingly said most of ourowners can't even swim, so don't
worry about it.
You're there to run thebusiness, right?
Like we don't ever want ourowners putting their hands in
the pool, is pretty much how itis.
(10:56):
That should be the partners arerunning the business.
Um, but I think that's that'sprobably the biggest
misconception.
Is I don't know anything aboutpools.
It's like, great, neither do we.
You know, so there you go.
unknown (11:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_06 (11:05):
To piggyback on that, actually, so you know,
again, as a business owner, as aformer uh franchise owner, it's
we know it's important to lookfor a business that fits, right?
That aligns with your lifestyle,your strengths, your values.
So for someone who's lookinginto business ownership and they
want to look outside of theusual fast food and gym
(11:27):
concepts, what about publicpools do you think makes it an
exciting and like meaningfuloption?
SPEAKER_05 (11:33):
I think that the number one is that reoccurring
revenue.
That's very attractive in thehome service phase.
And I think it's the frequencyof the recurring revenue.
And then on top of that, thatit's mandated.
So a public pool commercial, ithas to be done.
I think that's probably thenumber one.
Second is the scalability.
When definitely when they looklike we want obviously, we want
(11:54):
big picture thinking.
And you know, our team is alwaysum really clear that this is not
I'm retiring, I want to cleansome pools in the backyard, have
a route.
Nothing wrong with that at all,but that is not this.
This that's not what you'relooking for here.
So being able to scale, notafraid to scale.
We have when they do the math,they say 10,000 pools per
territory, and on an average,each track or vehicle does
(12:16):
roughly 60 to 70 pools a month.
When you bang that out, when youlook at like 5% market share,
you know, I don't know ifobviously those numbers or not,
but you know when you do themath and you see what that there
is no end.
So there is that's that'sprobably the most attractive
part.
And then obviously the teambuilding and I think just
through um I don't know if I'mgoing with this, but just like
(12:37):
validation too, like making surethey talk with like we're not
gonna pepper you withsuperstars.
That's like what do you get fromyou get nothing from that,
right?
You want to talk to high,middle, and low performers.
And we even the low performersaren't low, they're just like
starting, zero to six months.
Well, good, what sucked?
Are these guys great?
Are they crazy?
Like, ask all those questionsand make sure it aligns with
you, and then um it usually justas soon as theirs happens, I
(12:59):
think.
SPEAKER_03 (13:00):
We had a franchiseur text us earlier this week
saying, Hey, I just spoke toyour client, we just introduced
them, and uh he said, they toldme they're not gonna buy a
franchise unless they can talkto 10 franchisees.
He said, You better rein themin.
I said, No, actually, that's myguidance.
And I said, You absolutely needto call five to ten franchisees
like you said, good, bad, andugly, because at the end of the
(13:22):
day, the item 19 might say theaverage franchisee is making a
million bucks, but you need totalk to the franchisee and you
need to hear it from them.
Um, and it's amazing how many,and and transitioning into our
next section about scaling.
And David, I know you you've gota burning question here.
Um, but to me, as I look at abusiness like this, I look at
puddle pools, I look atespecially even in markets where
(13:45):
it's not like Florida, you know,here everybody has a pool.
Literally, everyone in myneighborhood has a pool.
And you're right, I would loveit if the if the if someone
could come two times a week.
So I look at this in and I Ilove this boring, scalable,
recurring revenue, commercial,residential.
So many times clients will callus, Mark, and they'll say, man,
(14:06):
it's my dream to own aChick-fil-A.
It's my dream to own a burgerfranchise.
And I'm like, dude, by the timeyou clean your your fifth grease
trap, it won't be a dreamanymore.
And by the time you burn throughyour fifth manager to manage a
pack of teenagers for 45 grand ayear, it won't be your dream
anymore.
And when you're managing razorthin margins and you you've got
(14:29):
a million dollar note investedin this business, that's a
nightmare.
SPEAKER_01 (14:33):
Mark, you nailed it.
I I think with uh reoccurringrevenue.
Uh, you know, right now with myfranchise, that's what's putting
me at the top.
Is that reoccurring with my GM,what he's what he's building for
us?
But uh on that note, thanks.
Uh what kind of franchiseesthrive in your system?
Oh, good question.
SPEAKER_05 (14:50):
Um, who thrives are not the cow, not the cowboys.
I don't know if that's the rightanswer, but play stick to the
program, you know what I mean?
Like everyone's a cowboy, that'sfine.
But like you invest in it for areason, don't try and come in
and change everything, right?
And I'm sure everybody's seenthat.
I think that's who the peoplethat follow the playbook and
know that this is a marathon andnot a sprint, because a lot of
(15:13):
it is a mental game, right?
Especially if they come fromemployee to now you're like
employer.
It's a different mindset, right?
So don't um stay in.
I think the people that stay intheir lane, they have the goal,
they follow the program, and itthat's that's it.
It's like it's proven, it's amodel, it works.
So of course we're all gonnadance outside and do this and do
that, but just try and stay umstay focused.
(15:34):
I think that's the number one isthose people that are not
cowboys or cow gals.
SPEAKER_07 (15:41):
And for the cow for the cowboys and the cowgals,
well, we don't we don't have thecowboys or the cowgals, but for
for those following theplaybook, how do you maintain
that consistency across the USand Canada?
SPEAKER_05 (15:53):
Yeah, it's um that's probably the biggest kicker,
even with all the brands in allthe years.
It's it's support.
Like, and it's just not, oh, wehave support.
Like, great, what kind ofsupport you have?
So there's weekly GSNRs, thegoal set and reviews, like
everybody has a puddle coach,right?
So every week they work on thebusiness, not in it, setting
three goals, making sure they'rehitting the goals, working out
those pain points.
(16:13):
So they're they're reallygradually scaling without even
knowing it and fixing any um anykinks in the system or in what
they're finding problems with.
We have four puddle huddles amonth on different topics,
right?
We keep a uh a regional, likeeverybody from Florida's on a
puddle huddle, Texas on apuddle, because they all
experience different climates,right?
To your point.
Um, and then we have uh ageneral once over just about the
(16:35):
industry and you know, maybeabout commercial or about
employees or whatever.
And then we have a growth uhstartup in Excel.
So zero to six months, six totwelve months, twelve months
plus, because everybody's in adifferent stage of their
business.
So I think that support is hugefor not only the franchise
partner, but we bring it in tothe technician level as well.
So the technicians have help,one-on-one support.
(16:56):
There's help me buttons,WhatsApp chats, and all that,
but they also get paired withthe puddle coach.
And that puddle coach has aweekly GSNR.
Different goals, like they'renot setting financial goals,
it's more so you know, we havehuge incentive poses and
programs.
Like it's not so much how do Iclean the pool, it's how do I do
that door knocking and how dowhat does that look like again
with that one-on-one with thehomeowner?
Or I'm having problems doingXYZ.
(17:18):
So having them having someletting them know that we care
and because the homeowner andthe they don't know us, like
they may know us, but they knowthe the person the person in the
field, they know the tech.
That's our you know, we all havethese hundred thousand dollar,
two hundred thousand dollarvisits, and then we're gonna put
it in the hands of a teenagerthat doesn't know what they're
doing, not a chance.
So making sure the support, Ithink, is um and then of course
your QA and audits and visitsand all that stuff.
(17:41):
But that's been the big one.
I think it's that one-on-one.
I don't know how you guys are,but I'm I need to talk to I need
to touch it, feel it, talk tosomeone, or else I'm just I
don't want any part of it.
SPEAKER_03 (17:49):
So it just means it's a great hey Mark, looking
at the data I have from youritem 19, um, I see that the
village's location that waslisted uh grossed$700,000 and
had a net of$200,000.
Is that is do I have the is thatis that right?
unknown (18:09):
Correct, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (18:10):
That's terrific.
That's a really that's anincredible margin.
Um you know, so many times,again, going back to the example
I gave before, some of theseretail food franchises can show
some pretty impressive grossesor gross revenues, but when you
really talk to their owners andand see what kind of net they're
(18:31):
achieving, sometimes it's not asimpressive.
So to know that there are leanbusinesses like this that you
can run from your phone, thatyou can scale up, um, and that
you can enjoy really terrificmargins, um, that's that's
pretty powerful.
SPEAKER_05 (18:45):
Yeah, it's it's um I think the beauty like I've
always I we have always been inhome service, so we're just
that's a real comfortable spacefor us.
I I would probably not do wellin brick and mortar, Brett.
That's just not our game.
But I think the beauty with homeservice to anybody that has a
home service is that is yeah,keeping it lean, making sure
there's we want zero overhead.
We want no overhead because thefranchise partners two concerns
(19:08):
I think naturally gonna be whenis my ROI and how much money can
I make?
Those are gonna be the twoquestions they want.
So we work for them, making surethey get that.
And the quicker they get that,the happier they're gonna be,
and then everybody's happy.
So, but yeah, I think the thehome service world in general,
just lower overhead, not evenhaving a storage facility, being
able to keep all of oursupplies, everything at the
supplier.
(19:29):
So that's uh what to be able tohit those margins.
We gotta keep it lean.
SPEAKER_03 (19:32):
I mean, that's that's why you see when we
looked at the fran when we didour franchise sales report in
September, 50% of the sales werehome services.
SPEAKER_05 (19:41):
For sure.
Yeah, it's attractive.
But it's not for everybody,right?
Some people want that brick andmortar and want that, which is
okay, right?
SPEAKER_03 (19:48):
But that's absolutely there's huge there's
benefits to that too.
If you can have a freestanding,like if you're looking at an
automotive franchise, you canbuy a freestanding building,
have the real estate, take thedepreciation.
Um but Mark, to be fair, ifsomeone had a puddle franchise
and let's say they had a bigenough territory and they
ultimately have four trucks, youcan still go get a building and
(20:11):
buy it, get a mixed-usebuilding, and and now you have a
place to put your trucks and youcan sublease.
And so that you can always bringin the real estate.
SPEAKER_05 (20:18):
That's the that's the beauty.
Like, take Rick in the villagersin the FDD, where you know he
has nine, ten technicians now.
He's in year at the end of yeartwo, right?
So he has a lot of moving partsand he still has no office.
He still runs it from Starbucks.
Everybody takes the trucks home,they pick up the equipment, and
that's just how he likes it.
That's his gig, right?
But we have another gentlemanSimon in London who wants to
(20:38):
open a storefront.
Great.
So we're trying to design itlike the Apple store, you know.
I don't know if I'm allowed tosay that, but trying to make it
nice and fresh as opposed toyour typical uh you know pool
shop.
But yeah, it gives you thateither way, whatever I think
everybody's different, right?
So whatever kind of floats yourboat and makes you happy, you
want to make sure that's that'syour that's your gig.
SPEAKER_00 (20:57):
So hey Mark, you mentioned earlier one of the
exciting things about thisbusiness is building teams.
So for new owners, like how doyou mentor or support them to
build teams and not just likeclean pools?
SPEAKER_05 (21:13):
Yeah, they don't um they don't really have the
option to go clean pools becauseout of the gate they hire a
technician.
Um I think the differentiatorhere is and correct me if I'm
wrong, I don't maybe maybe itis, maybe it's not.
So instead of like an execmodel, is you would hire a
manager to run it and then hirea technician, and then you
that's the typical.
So we eliminate that hire themanager portion.
(21:37):
The franchise partner issomewhat the manager, but Puddle
Power, our CRM or app, is Idon't want to say it's so
powerful, it is it's meant totake all of that heavy lifting
off.
So from them, like even throughtraining, the technicians are
coming to training the app, likePuddle Power almost trains your
technician for you in some to adegree.
(21:59):
So they really don't have thechance.
However, there are a handful offolks, and me included, that I
need to I need to do it for atleast a month.
And that's probably goingagainst what we say, but I
that's the way my brain works.
I can't tell somebody to gochange a tire if I've never done
it.
Right.
So I just so for those they lastmaybe a month, and then it just
pushes them into exact model.
(22:19):
You just you can't keep out thecall flow coming in, the the
ground and pound relationship.
So out of the gate, we want tomake sure it's as they grow in
scale, they're and their coachweekly wouldn't let that happen
either.
SPEAKER_06 (22:32):
So can we talk about culture?
Um, so again, we owned a homecare business, senior home care
business.
And for me, establishing theculture at the very start was so
important, right?
Like it infused every aspect ofour operations, and I really
think that's what helped usweather all our storms and
really set ourselves apart fromthe competition.
So for you guys, what is theculture at Pebble Fools and how
(22:53):
has it impacted your business?
SPEAKER_05 (22:55):
I like to think it's killer.
That's a good question aboutculture.
That's huge, right?
Like you can't buy culture.
You can't just come in and buyit or say, hey, we're putting a
ping pong table in the lunchroomand we have free pizza on
Fridays.
Look at our culture, right?
It's that's not it.
It's I think it all comes fromwhen you first start, like when
you first and everybody has toknow.
Like, I know every singlefranchise partners, I know my
(23:16):
how I don't know all the kidsneed it, but I know how many
kids they have.
I know what like you need that.
I think it's just being real.
Um, and we always hire, I thinkand I was hiring from within.
So every position in puddlecoaches, even our call center,
all of the guys and gals on ourcalls all are related to or know
or referred to by somebody.
(23:37):
That I think builds culturebecause everybody has they just
kind of know each other andkeeping everybody informed, like
monthly puddle huddles,regionals, annuals, everybody
comes.
It's not like, oh, you're on thecall center, you're not coming.
It's everybody's coming.
So I think it's just a how youtreat people, maybe, and making
sure you're you know, notsending out a memo once a month
saying good work, everybody justcalling them saying, Hey man,
(23:57):
you're kicking ass, way to go.
Oh, pardon my French, but youknow what I mean.
That's just giving that likeread to come, just being normal,
I think, just builds culture andyeah, and that's that's I don't
know if there's yeah, I don'tknow if that's the right answer,
but I that's what I think isjust wonderful.
Being normal, yeah.
Just yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_07 (24:13):
Well it starts at the top, Mark, and you're at the
top, so I don't you know you'rea great guy.
Super you know, you are, butyou're so warm and engaging and
friendly and kind like thatcomes through.
And so I think you are a bigpart of building that culture
there at the top.
SPEAKER_03 (24:30):
Thank you.
I'm just hey, I think it'simportant to um I I want to
bring Brian in on this.
And Brian, this is a little bitunscripted, but as I'm listening
to all of this, Brian does a lotof work with people who are
looking at existing businesses.
Um, a lot of people these daysare looking for existing
businesses on BizByCell.
And and Brian, you work with alot of them.
You know, Mark, as we thinkabout businesses and starting a
(24:54):
new franchise versus buyingexisting, maybe Brian, what what
do you think would beinteresting for the for the
folks that are looking purely atexisting businesses to consider
um with a new franchise likePuddle?
SPEAKER_02 (25:07):
Yeah, that's a great question, Jack.
And it's interesting, you know,Mark, some of the things that
you shared, you know, just theway you've set this business up
is what a lot of people that arelooking for an existing business
is what they're asking for,right?
It's you know, it's not the SDEor maybe the financials that are
have been out there for a coupleof years, but it's I want
something that I can run thatadds to my portfolio or adds to
(25:30):
you know what other things Ihave going on that doesn't
require my full-time attention,right?
So you know it sounds like fromjust an investment mindset,
you've really set this companyup for a lot of different types
of investors.
SPEAKER_05 (25:46):
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, we've tried to um, yeah,we're trying.
You know, it's it's we're justit business is lonely, right?
It's it's lonely if you don't.
I think that's the and we canall agree here, that's the
beauty of franchise, is it takesthat loneliness out of it
because that sucks, right?
Nobody wants to be start daydrinking, but everybody wants to
have that somebody they canbounce off of or that team that
(26:06):
can, and they're not rent, it'slike in business, not you know,
buy yourself or for yourself orwhatever that it's it's more of
that yes, this is going to bethe equivalent, or this is gonna
give you more value thansomething that you're
identifying that you're notreally too sure.
And I think the beauty withfranchises because it's so
heavily governed and so which isfantastic, it's not like buying
a used car.
(26:28):
We oh, you didn't look at thisor this, you know, nothing to
the used car people out there,but it's just you don't have
that that worry, right?
So yeah, we try to make it asgive them give the franchise
partner value, is what it is.
And this is for us, this isn'tabout money.
We're we're I don't know, we'relike nine ninety-five or I'd say
100K in like we want you to getthat 100k back yesterday.
(26:49):
So then you're happy.
So that's that's kind of what wetry to try to strive towards.
SPEAKER_03 (26:54):
So I think this is a great business for someone who's
looking to completely throwthemselves into a business full
time.
I think it's a great businessfor someone to bolt onto an
existing portfolio if they wantto diversify.
Um, and and again, it's socrazy.
Like we I've been in franchisinga long time.
Mark, no one's really owned thisspace.
Uh, and I think so much of whyyou guys have been so
(27:15):
successful, one, you've got agreat brand, great support,
great culture, but also thetechnology.
And let's let's maybe transitioninto tech systems and and and
the transparency of those techsystems.
And you know, David, I know youand I were talking offline about
this before.
Maybe I know you had a question.
Maybe we'll start with you.
SPEAKER_01 (27:33):
Yeah, speaking about the app, your your app and your
e-reporting systems are gamechangers.
What impact do they have on theclients and the franchisees?
SPEAKER_05 (27:43):
Yeah, thanks for that.
That's a great point.
As far as the for the homeowner,the the client, it that's the
problem in this industry ispeople, price, and
communication.
It's one of those three that itit's either the people are just
a little different in thisindustry, clean nicely.
Uh the the price, sometimes theyget a price for this is the to
clean the pool, plus this isyour chemical price, plus you
(28:04):
needed this.
And if I was a homeowner, I hadI had no idea what pH tablets
are.
And it I don't know, like thatthat sucks.
Nobody wants that.
And the next one is thecommunication.
They don't know when they werethere, how many times they come
a week.
They don't know their name, theydon't know the name of the
company sometimes.
So um on the client side, it'sit's beautiful.
They can even log in on theirapp and see when everything was
(28:24):
done.
It has pictures, videos.
The biggest one is showing thetechnician locking the gate,
like just those little things.
Um, I think for the client goesa long way.
More so for the franchisepartner is that is definitely
the game changer.
Is like we have five people onour leadership team that are
just marketing, tech driven,SEO, app development.
(28:45):
That's what they do all day,every day.
So um for the franchise partner,it has everything from
scheduling.
You can you send agreements,invoicing, those are all your
basics, but everything to likedispatch tool.
You can watch where your textsare at all times, if they've
gone five miles over the overthe speed limit, where they are,
the weather, that's just allthings you may never use, um,
(29:06):
all from your phone and all fromthem logging in using their IP
address on their phone.
It can clock everything, right?
I think Ryan on our team he saidyesterday we had a confirmation
and he said it best.
He goes, This is like amicromanager's dream.
Like if you would some of thethings you would use and some
you wouldn't, but it it kind ofit has absolute yeah, it has
absolutely some things on therelike, hey Ryan, like enough,
nobody's thinking stuff.
But it's there for you if youwant it.
(29:27):
So it's it's got everything downto job cost.
The tech is at the job for like18 minutes compared to 28.
That's a different job cost, soyou can see your march.
So it's really important for thefranchise partners to know those
numbers.
So I think that's um again,without me rambling, that's
that's probably the two biggestones, yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (29:45):
So it sounds like it sounds like you have, you know,
I mean, thought through thetechnology piece, you have a
dedicated team so thoroughly.
What is next, Mark, for from atechnology standpoint?
Can you give us a little peek ofwhat's coming?
SPEAKER_05 (30:01):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Um, so we have there's a lot oftech coming.
So I think the biggest thingright now is you know, everybody
talks AI and like obviously Idon't think that the robots are
going to take out pool cleaningunless Elon develops a robot
that pool cleans, but that youknow, robots and water don't go
together.
I think number one is um and herTim might kill me for.
(30:22):
Saying this is chat GPT is thatis the biggest push.
So we have one team member likemyself.
I don't use Google anymore.
I have I don't know you guys, Ijust have chat just sitting on
my that's what I searched.
So the kicker is you can't payto play there.
It's not like Google to hire therank, the PPC.
It has to be strategicallyplaced, even in all of your
content, how we're searching onchat.
That's pool cleaners near me.
(30:43):
So that's kind of the next push.
Using AI in our Huddle Power,which is our app or serum, to
develop marketing programs andtools for them on the hop, the
way they go.
And the last one here is I'llgive this away here because this
is coming out.
Is these guys here, um I don'tknow if you can see these Oculus
(31:04):
or Oculus app or yeah, so whichare I don't I'm not a tech guy,
but these are so cool.
Is the training for techniciansin the field when they put these
on, additional training, it'slike they're there.
They can go cocktail change, andit's like they're changing.
So all of that technology, wehave to be 20 steps ahead of the
competition, and we gotta beright up there with with uh
(31:26):
Elon's team.
So that's kind of what we'retrying to do.
Pool cleaning, yes, but beingonce there's so much coming down
the pipe.
And again, I'm not the uh I'mnot the tech team, but uh Tyler
and Ryan and and those folksthat are developing all that.
There's a lot of cool stuff.
So making it and and just fun,right?
Like making sure like that'sthat's fun, you know?
SPEAKER_07 (31:44):
That's fun.
Yeah, that's fun.
SPEAKER_06 (31:49):
So, Mark, when you're meeting with, you know,
you're trying to develop thoseB2B relationships and they see
your technology.
Is that what sets you apart fromthe competition?
Is that what all things beingequal with all the other pool
businesses, that's what theysay, oh, that's a game changer.
I want to go with them.
SPEAKER_05 (32:04):
Good question.
That's not so much.
It plays a piece of the pie.
It's more so um, you know,getting that foot in the door
without stepping on toes and notbeing pushy.
Right.
I think that's that's differentprograms like you know, cookie
drops, lunch and lunch, but howdo we get to that?
You know, for um in the homeservice base, which I've learned
(32:27):
anyways, or our team has learnedover the time is property
managers, realtors, um, theyhave time and money.
Everybody works with time andmoney.
We can't give them more money orsave them money.
You can save them money, buttime is what they really want to
save them time.
So being able to give themeverything up front, what they
need, not having to ask to gohope for this, not have so when
our teams come to approach them,they already have those in hand.
(32:47):
They know what sites they do,they already have those quotes
to send them out.
So the other stuff is just likethe gravy.
When they see that wow, whenthey get to have that
experience, then that's usuallythe the game changer.
SPEAKER_03 (33:03):
Very cool, Brian.
I thought I think you had aquestion.
SPEAKER_02 (33:06):
Yeah, you know, so we're uh you talked a lot about
the about technology, um, youknow, really it seems like what
separates puddle pools apartfrom the competition right now.
But when you think about youknow, in the future, you know,
how are you future-proofing thisbrand?
Especially when you think abouta long-term scalability.
SPEAKER_05 (33:24):
Yeah, good question.
Again, I think it's it's it'sstaying ahead of the uh the
competitors and the industry.
Like right now, I don't want tofrag or anything, but like we're
really, really far ahead, andyou you're not gonna catch us.
There's you're you're not right.
So we want to start setting thatpath.
Um, opening up we've got ourfinalized docs and FTD and
(33:46):
everything is ready to go forAustralia, which is plans for
2028.
So that's that's another largespace for us there.
So making sure um that's readyto go, you know, the and
bringing other services into thepuddle, which will be coming
soon.
Um add-on and complementaryservices, which again additional
revenue streams for franchisepartners, that's a huge one.
(34:08):
Um kind of already haveeverything laid out.
I I don't I don't want to giveit away too much, but just being
10 steps ahead of everybody isis the character.
SPEAKER_03 (34:20):
And Mark, is it is it true that I think your
investment says the investmentis is for a single unit
franchise is somewhere betweensay 90, I think 90, is it 92,
and 150 for a single unit?
Does that sound right?
SPEAKER_05 (34:33):
Yeah, for single, it's like 90 to 1 and it's like
around 100k.
And then for two, it's like150-ish, 140 or something.
SPEAKER_03 (34:41):
That's pretty great.
I mean, for those of youlistening, recurring revenue,
B2B, B2C, um, the ability toenjoy great margins, to run a
business from the phone.
Um, these are pretty incrediblethings.
That's why we're seeing thisbusiness.
I don't even know how much whitespace is left in Florida.
(35:02):
Um, I know we had a client thatjust took a good chunk out of
Phoenix, which is we were soexcited that it was still there.
Because I know you guys havebeen like Vegas is gone.
Um I'm like, dude, you're solucky you're getting this
territory.
Um so for those of youlistening, this is one I would
guess, Mark, that you guys willhave most of the most of the
(35:23):
states, the key markets in theUnited States will be gone next
year.
Um, especially now that you'reopen in California, right?
SPEAKER_05 (35:29):
We just opened, yeah.
So yeah, we just closed on two,I believe.
And then one coming down thedown the line.
So yeah, we we just opened, soyeah, that's the next, and
that's much like for everybody.
It's probably easier to countthe homes that don't have pools,
you know.
SPEAKER_03 (35:43):
So yeah, yeah.
So all right, Mark, let's do alittle rapid fire session here.
Um, is it true that your yourmotto is grab life by the
cannonballs, or did ChatGPT makethat up?
SPEAKER_04 (35:55):
I made that up.
Yeah, that's I made that up.
And after I said my wife's like,can't say that.
Like I'm saying you can't saythat.
So anyway, that's it.
That was not chat.
SPEAKER_03 (36:07):
What was the first job that that truly shaped who
you are, that shaped your grit?
SPEAKER_05 (36:13):
Tim Hortons.
I worked there.
I started working when I was 13,and I started doing night shift
just before my 15th birthday.
So my parents were really hardinto working early.
So Tim Hortons lower coffee shopif you kind of like Dunkin'
Donuts eat kind of thing.
It's like hunch you get likeDunkin' Donuts.
SPEAKER_03 (36:32):
Is it has it gone consistently downhill churning
out mediocre day old donuts likelike Dunkin' Donuts?
SPEAKER_02 (36:41):
That's a hard yes.
We just offended the wholeNortheast.
That's fine.
SPEAKER_03 (36:49):
I'll tell you, it's what uh this is gonna sound
crazy, but one of the one of thethings when Jill and I moved
from San Diego to Boca Raton,Florida in 2020, we had so many
great donuts in San Diego, somany great places, and maybe
it's because it's a it's a bigsurfer community.
There is no donuts here.
They all say, oh, you gotta goto Duncan.
(37:11):
That's not a donut.
That's not a donut.
Not a donut.
SPEAKER_05 (37:14):
Not a donut.
SPEAKER_07 (37:15):
We have Johnny's donuts.
Johnny's donuts.
Nothing can be Johnny's donuts.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:21):
I don't know.
Have you had sidecar in Del Mar?
SPEAKER_07 (37:24):
I have not.
SPEAKER_03 (37:25):
Get Sidecar.
And I'll try Johnny's next timeI'm in the Bay Area.
SPEAKER_07 (37:29):
Yes.
Next time you're here, I'll buyyou a dozen.
SPEAKER_03 (37:33):
Do you guys have Lee's down there?
Lee's donuts?
No?
unknown (37:37):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (37:38):
No.
Is that up in Vancouver?
Is that in Vancouver?
It is, yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (37:44):
It is, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (37:45):
Jay Carolina, can you vouch for Lee's?
SPEAKER_06 (37:47):
Well, we don't have a sweet tooth.
SPEAKER_00 (37:49):
We're not really donut people, but we've heard of
Lee's time.
SPEAKER_06 (37:53):
We're more salted fat people.
So yeah, no.
Sweet, no.
SPEAKER_03 (37:57):
I'm sending you some Lees.
SPEAKER_04 (38:00):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (38:01):
Lee's is being door-dashed to the Arosis house
right now.
SPEAKER_04 (38:05):
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (38:05):
All right.
So this here's my question, andI'll I'll throw it at you, Mark,
but it's really open.
As you know, all of ourconsultants are current or
former franchise owners, just tokind of go around the room.
You've got Catherine up here,who was the MVP of her system
last year, uh, leading revenueproducer.
Are you going to do it againthis year, Catherine?
You're going to be number oneagain this year?
SPEAKER_07 (38:25):
Yes.
Love it.
Yes, I am.
Although, although, so they sendout a rocket stack every week.
And for the first time ever,McKinney, Texas is up by$1,000.
But don't worry, I have a lot ofmoney coming.
Don't you worry.
Yeah.
I mean clinch it.
But whoa.
Whoa.
SPEAKER_03 (38:43):
Let's go, Katherine.
Come on.
And then, of course, we haveBrian Gross, who successfully
exited his franchise this year,but he also was number one in
his system in his first year.
Um, Jay and Carolina werefranchise owners in a home
healthcare franchise system whowere very, very successful.
In fact, one of my favoritestories about Jay and Carolina
(39:04):
is when uh we were, andCatherine and I both worked at
this franchise.
Um, they had gone, you guys hadgone to the Philippines, I
think, for a month, and Jaycalled me and said, you know,
it's so cool.
When we came back, revenue wasup.
Our GM didn't call us, and thebusiness ran smoothly and even
grew.
That is successful franchiseownership when you can empower
(39:25):
others.
And then, of course, we haveDavid Sam Juan, who is firmly
entrenched at number four uh inthe Pink's Windows franchise
system, and he just had his mostsuccessful month.
So, Mark, the reason why I throwall this out there, and of
course, you're a franchisor of avery successful, fast-growing,
great franchise or that supportsits franchisees.
I say this because I'm gonnathrow this question out to the
(39:46):
group.
The hottest segment in homeservices in five years will be
what?
SPEAKER_05 (39:52):
Window cleaning.
Ooh, hottest one in homeservices in five years?
SPEAKER_03 (39:59):
In five years.
In five years, what will be?
Let's think about this now.
How the world is changing.
The world is changing and AI ischanging things.
Now, you're right.
I don't think we're gonna haverobotic window or pool cleaners
or window cleaners.
I think we will have robotsmaking our burritos at Chipotle
and our our you know meals atKaba.
(40:19):
I know they're gonna haverobots.
Um, from my perspective, when Ilook at home services and I look
at what's happened this year,you see HVAC continuing to sell
very consistently.
You see pool maintenance becauseof you guys selling
consistently, of course, windowcleaning with pinks.
Um what I would say is this.
I don't know if I can call outthe specific category, but what
(40:43):
I will say is what I think itwill be, which is recurring
revenue, B2B, B2C, um, and theability to be very lean and be
able to be run from a phone.
I think it's a lot of the samepieces you already have in
puddle right now.
So the future is now, Mark.
SPEAKER_04 (41:02):
Yeah, there you go.
Yeah, that's that's a goodquestion.
I don't know the answer thatone.
I haven't.
SPEAKER_07 (41:07):
I have a very important question.
I have a very importantquestion, Mark.
How many people what is thatfish have a name?
Flip your fish have a name,yeah.
Flip-flop?
How many people have a flip-floptattoo?
That's what I want to know.
SPEAKER_05 (41:24):
Three.
Yeah, I couldn't believe it.
When we went to the three, liketwo about we have husband and
wife, um, Mary and Sim.
They came to our our annual lastyear and they had them on their
arm.
And because I said it as a joke,I said, Oh, if you get that,
I'll give you a chance.
SPEAKER_07 (41:37):
On the arm, on the bicep?
On the bicep?
SPEAKER_05 (41:40):
And then Mary has her on her wrist on her wrist,
right?
And then uh I said it's a joke.
They said, We're gettingtattoos.
I said, I'll give you$500.
I thought it was a joke, andthen they said, Oh, yeah, yeah.
And I said, if you do your kids,I'll give you$200.
And then they said, Oh, okay.
And then they showed up and theyhad their tattoos.
I'm like, oh my god, please tellme you didn't tattoo the kids.
Because they got five littleones, right?
SPEAKER_04 (42:01):
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_05 (42:02):
Yeah, another Jen Dan, he just signed on and he
said, as he was, as he was goingthrough the process and he was
he signed, he goes, He goes,I've just signed.
I really need to make sure thisis it, right?
Like, there's no going back.
I'm like, dude, you're in.
You're what are you talkingabout?
He goes, Okay, great, I'll seeyou later.
But he was at the tattoo shopthere getting it done to make
sure that we wouldn't say, Ohno, you're out.
So, but yeah, we have three.
SPEAKER_07 (42:21):
Oh my gosh.
So all an opposite are full.
So they've even tattooed it.
I don't know any other brandthat has has that like type of
cult following.
That's amazing.
That's incredible.
SPEAKER_05 (42:33):
Yeah, they're yeah, they're all I'm gonna bring it
to.
That's what I said at our reasonor at our annual this year in
Cancun.
I'm gonna hire a tattoo artistin a trailer to come by and once
those My Ties start flowing,we'll start inking everybody up.
So that's it.
That's cool.
SPEAKER_03 (42:45):
And is it named, is it named after the one flip-flop
pool person that uh that youthat you hired uh to start this
whole thing off?
SPEAKER_05 (42:53):
I wish it was.
No, it's actually Mike.
Our he he heads our our um ourtraining camps.
He it was actually his daughter.
We had a little contest witheverybody and everybody's kids
guessed the name or name it, andhis daughter named it flip-flop,
and it kind of stuck.
SPEAKER_03 (43:06):
So the trucks, the hats, the branding looks
terrific.
And and I think, again, mystreet is full of mom and pop
pull route guys.
Um, and that's where I thinkPuddle has such a chance to
become the context leadernationwide.
Um, because there's no otherbrand out there that is anywhere
(43:27):
near what you guys have, and itall looks great, which is really
half the battle.
SPEAKER_05 (43:31):
Thank you.
Yeah, can't uh be in yourneighborhood soon enough.
SPEAKER_03 (43:35):
You know, I understand someone was
interested at Discovery Day,yeah, for Boca and Del Rey.
SPEAKER_05 (43:41):
We'll make it really clear that discounts will be
applied, right?
SPEAKER_03 (43:46):
I don't know.
You know, my cart, uh yeah, no,that's I that's so cool.
Guys, any last questions for thegroup?
SPEAKER_00 (43:51):
Uh I was just gonna say I'm I'm super impressed, uh
Mark.
You know, we probably representa small segment of what a
customer of yours would looklike, but we have a hot tub and
we got someone coming in everytwo weeks to service it.
And I've gone through two orthree different uh mom and pop
services.
Uh not not to say that mom andpop services can't be great, but
(44:13):
it's been frustrating because Idon't, it's that communication
piece that is lacking, and alsoa lot of the technology that you
mentioned, you won't reallythink like pooled services and
technology, but that really umempowers you know the the the
owners or the franchisees tocommunicate better with uh
someone like me.
And so that frustration levelgoes down.
(44:34):
So I'm quite excited to be ableto get you know on pool services
for our tub, right?
So yeah, there are you right inVancouver?
SPEAKER_05 (44:42):
North Van, North Vancouver.
North Van, yeah.
Well, that's Mike.
That's his territory that withhis daughter name it.
Yeah, so but yeah, it's I'mcalling him right away.
Again, discounts applied, right?
Tell him Mark something.
SPEAKER_03 (44:52):
Mark, can you guys add cold plunges?
Because me having to figure outthe chlorine in my cold plunge
is such a pain in the neck, andmy pool guy won't touch it.
SPEAKER_05 (44:59):
We do, we do cold plunges, and we start doing
those as well as um physios.
I think they do cold plunge.
I've never done it, but the coldplunge, hot one, or in the
physio, we do those as well now,too.
Yeah, just it's uh another oneof those things.
Cool.
SPEAKER_03 (45:14):
Absolutely very cool.
Mark, we're so glad we're soglad you could join us today.
This is such great informationfor those of you listening.
Again, this is the perfectdefinition of where the
franchise market is right now.
This is a franchise that peopleare very bullish on.
Uh, so if you'd like to find outmore about puddle pools and
learn if it's available in yourterritory, the best thing you
(45:34):
can go do is go tothefranchiseinsiders.com.
From there, you can go to ourteam page.
Feel free to read the bios onall of our consultants.
Um, we'd all be delighted tohelp you with your franchise
search and to find out if yourterritory is available.
If you feel like you need tojust get in touch with us right
now, though, you can text 305710 0050, and we'd be happy to
(45:56):
connect you to Puddle Pools.
For this episode of We Bought aFranchise, I'm Jack Johnson.
Mark, franchise consulting team.
Thanks for joining.
We'll see you on the nextepisode with Brandon Carter of
Pink's Windows, and uh, we'lltalk to you next time.
SPEAKER_05 (46:11):
Thanks for having me.
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