Unpredicted Entrepreneur

Discover the truth about franchising and business ownership! In this episode of Unpredicted Entrepreneur, Sara Waskow and Roxanne Rapske talk with Joe and Mandy Chapman, owners of Stand Strong Fencing of Fort Worth, about their journey from the mortgage industry to running a thriving fencing franchise. 

Learn the real benefits of franchising, how support from Horsepower Brands helped them scale quickly, the challenges o...

"People get caught up in paying a royalty, thinking of it as an expense. It's really an investment. You're able to leapfrog years of trial and error. I'll give you an example. The typical non-franchised home service business has an average revenue of $100,000to $200,000 the first year, whereas in a system like ours, the first year is a half million average. So yes, you're paying a royalty, but think about how many trials a...

“My father used to say, ‘Never go into business with a partner, much less a family member.’ And to some degree, he's right. But look, business is hard. It's hard to get something off the ground by yourself. You need to have other people with skin in the game. I think in our situation, a lot of divine intervention occurred. We filled in each other's gaps as far as skill sets go, and the things that we enjoy. I have more of ...

"If you’re pursuing a business, it's going to take some steps of faith. If you have the opportunity to do something from the start, like I did, I had to get a lot of black eyes, bloody noses, and stubbed toes, all to put myself in a position where I can educate someone on a clear path. So I do think franchising is a really proven strategy. It’s important to find the system that's right for you and the right culture fit of ...

"As a business owner, you have to be willing to invest in yourself. We have budget and line items for social media, marketing, office supplies, for our lawyers, and different things, but we don't necessarily have a budget for our clothes and how we show up. You might have logo-branded material, okay, great, but how are you going to differentiate yourself, and how is that going to make you stand out from your competitors?"<...

"As an emerging brand and a relatively new business (I started the company in 2021), it's been incredibly valuable to partner with franchisees who bring such diverse experience and expertise from their respective backgrounds. One of the things I love most is the collaboration. We work closely together, and I’ve learned so much from them. It’s also been fascinating to connect with people from all over the country, each with...

“A lot of people go into franchising thinking there's the corporate structure of who you're franchising with, which is true and it's great, and franchising is a great model, but you still have this one problem you forget you have to deal with. It's called people. 

People are not easy. There's not a book that tells you exactly how to respond to every person, every day, every scenario. The biggest challenge I see is o...

“We're so different. If you built us from the ground up right now, you couldn't make us any more different than we are. Yet, we make great business partners because we have a common goal. One of the things that I always try to coach people on, when I'm talking to them about leaving corporate America and considering owning a business, is their WHY. It seems kind of trite, but it is about the WHY. 

What are you trying...

“Our investment is $59,500.00. That’s for a 10-year franchise agreement. It gives you the rights to market anywhere in the U.S. Our franchisees are allowed to have 200 protected businesses at any one time in our CRM system, so that way they're protected. No other franchisee can target those prospects. Two hundred prospects will take you a few months to work through. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it is a lot. 

The way...

“I like to give everyone a checklist of the basics of marketing. I think you should have a one-liner. You should know how to talk about your business in a way that makes people shut up and listen. Everyone wears a sign that says, ‘Make me feel special.’ Rather than cramming your brand down someone's throat, talk about the problems that your company solves on behalf of your clients and make sure that they can understand the...

“We’re continuing to open up studios of our own. We just opened up a studio in Indianapolis that's ours. We're opening up a second one in Indianapolis this year. Courtney and Dustin, our first franchisees to sign on, opened their second studio the day after we opened our studio in Indianapolis. It was a great learning process and so much fun to go through this process shoulder to shoulder with them. We're constantly growin...

“For almost two years, I had this constant back and forth of not feeling fulfilled. I didn't necessarily feel as happy as I once was growing my career in the corporate world. But then I had this other side of me thinking I had nothing to complain about. I had a fairly senior position. I was very well compensated. Then I'd say to myself, ‘Shut up, dummy. Tons of people would love to have your job.’ I was the primary breadwi...

“I think our biggest aha moment was when we were trying to figure out the right profile of candidates to join HOMEstretch. For us, it ultimately boiled down to the people themselves. Part of what we wanted to do at the outset was create a really dynamic culture where everybody believed in our mission of becoming the national leader in the home preparation space, and we got people in the door who truly wanted to create big ...

“It is so long. But it was sure worth it. It's similar to taking a personality test where you’re trying to figure out what will work. Initially, I thought I would have to do something in insurance. That's what I have a background in. And then you said something to the effect that my new business may not be something I’ve done before. So, I thought ‘ok go big or go home! Let's see what the test questions and assessments wil...

“Talk to other business owners in your area to learn about permitting and their experiences. Understand your local fire code requirements and ADA regulations, as these vary by state. If you're in a hurricane-prone area like I am, you may need extra insurance coverage. I also planned for at least six extra months of operating capital. Get involved in local groups like the Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce to network with o...

“What I love to share is that high success in franchising only happens when you pick the right business. Do the self-introspection first. Do the modeling. Very few people have purchased a business before. They don't know all the different things they need to consider. We take them through 10 to 14 different criteria. We look at their skill sets and seek to understand the transferable skills they enjoy. What are the things ...

“Every moment of my life, from being a practicing lawyer to coming here and working in a gas station where I was breaking down boxes, cleaning and stocking the shelves, I was never bummed out. I knew this was a learning opportunity for me. I learned about the community and building customer relationships. I also learned the details of working hard. Every moment presented to you in your life - get something out of it. Your ...

“During that time, we didn't just build out Massage Envy. The free cash flow allowed us to make other real estate and private equity investments. I firmly believe that a business is a vehicle to help you generate other income-producing assets. Some people aim to simply replace working for the man by running their own business. I get that. The reality is you can do so much more when you build a business, and by diversifying...

“After 25 years of working for some pretty big global corporations, you’re working for a business, but they're more like institutions than they are businesses. It sometimes feels like you're dealing with a lot of conceptual aspects of how this giant machine operates, and you're pretty far away from seeing the value it creates for individual consumers. 

In the case of a small business like this, it's all about the bu...