RTO Legend: Trooper Earle of Premier Rental - Purchase

A legend’s journey rarely starts with a grand plan. Trooper Earl just needed a job, stumbled into ColorTyme, and within two years was opening stores, learning fast, and confronting the realities of scale without modern systems. That sprint led to 16 locations, a gutsy bank-backed buyout, and a pivotal moment when financing partners pulled back. Instead of folding, he reset—and that’s where the real story begins.

We walk through how Premier Rental Purchase took shape around a simple, powerful idea: build a franchise for operators, not just investors. Trooper breaks down how he helps managers become owners with bank-ready projections, SBA 7(a) funding, and a clear picture of real costs—roughly $650K for a well-capitalized store, a 5–6K sq ft footprint, and rent targets aligned to projected revenue. He shares why reading financial statements beats watching a bank balance, how to spot trouble in trends, and what it takes to keep rent factors and labor in check.

The 2008 financial crisis tested everything. Premier exited side bets in wheels and cash services and doubled down on its core. That crucible led to Premier University—a rigorous, multi-year training build that standardized front-line execution, leadership practices, and warehouse management. Add a live national training center perched above a once-bankrupt Texas store and a corporate house where late-night conversations flip the switch from “know it” to “own it,” and you get a culture that changes businesses from the inside out.

We also explore Premier’s data backbone and mobile app strategy. By centralizing SQL-based data and syncing real-time inventory, pricing, loyalty, service, and delivery tracking, Premier meets customers where they are—on their phones—without losing the personal touch that anchors rent-to-own. Trooper’s candid on leadership transition, why he still mentors and funds deals, and how “JFO—just figure it out” became a way of life.

Curious how to go from operator to owner, survive a credit squeeze, and build a system that lasts? Hit play, then share your biggest takeaway. If this story resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it to someone who’s ready to build.

Transcript

Origins: Falling Into Rent-To-Own

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to the RTO show. I'm your host, Pete Chao, and we are doing the Legend series. Today we are talking to none other than the legend, Trooper Earl, all the way from Premiere. How's it going today, Trooper? I I hear that you've got so much going on this week, but I'm glad that you got time to sit with us. How's it going today?

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Outstanding. I'm looking forward to our discussion.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

So I wanted to take us back a little bit because these legend series are a little bit more about what happened and what got you here versus now and going forward. Of course, we'll tackle that a little bit later. But let's get started with where did Trooper Earl decide? You know, rent to own is what I want to do. Usually, uh, when we're talking about people that started and they make it to the Legends series, uh, rent to own wasn't on their radar. And then something happened, some event, some situation, some person brought them into the idea of rent to own. And then lo and behold, they take it, it takes foot, and it just takes off. Where were you when when rent to own finally, you know, you caught the rent to own bug?

SPEAKER_01 1:02

That's probably very appropriate. Uh, I just needed a job. So I got a college degree. I got out of college, started looking for things that I wanted to do with my college degree, um, ended up bartending for a while, and then my brother ran into a uh I started with ColorTime that network, and my brother ran into a color time franchisee that said I'm looking for you know a new manager at the store. And and they were to they were actually talking about a concept that I would be a kind of a uh junior partner in. And uh my brother, my older brother, encouraged me to go get go get a job, and that's what I did, and I just I never left.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

So that's usually how it starts. That's that I'm telling you, when I talk to the legends, that's usually how it starts. The rentone was never on the radar, and then something, some some situation caused him to go into it, and before you knew it, that's the direction that life took. I I did the same thing myself, believe it or not. Now, I'm not where you are, but uh 20 years 21 years ago, I actually did the exact same thing. I was working as a teller at a bank, and uh, you know, somebody was doing their job, they were going the rounds and they were talking to people that they thought would fit, and I was like, I'm not interested, but I will I will stop by. And all I all it took was one conversation, and 21 years later, here we are. So got a question for you. So, what year was this? What year were they talking to you about this that you decided color time was a good idea? Uh uh 1983. So in 83, your brother says, you know, and I think you should do something a little bit more permanent. He introduced you to the color time guys, and you come on. Now, how long did you spend with Color Time?

Early ColorTyme Growth And Equity

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Well, I was I was with Color Time for I think a total of uh nine years. So uh I started off as um a manager trainee, and it was you know one week, and then then they throw you at a store, and then I was a store manager for a year, and then I became a multi-store manager for a three-store chain for another year, and then um, so that was about two years from that point where I actually worked for somebody, and then that owner, along with another um color time person, said, Hey, we think that you're talented to make this successful. You want to go open up stores, and we'll give you a piece of the action. So I got an equity, a junior equity position, and uh I said, sure. I said, What do I need to do? And it's basically the same thing you're doing now. I said, and I get equity? I said, sure. So uh goodness, who would turn that down? Yeah, so I went in 1985 in the summer of 85. I opened up my first store in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It took off so fast that within four months I said, let's open another one in Manassas, Virginia. That took off just actually faster than the first. And I said, Well, let's look at our third. So, like I think it was the spring of 86. We opened up Williamsburg, and that took off pretty well, not as fast. And then we opened our fourth store in the fall of 86. So basically, you know, in less than a year and a half, and I went from one store to four stores. Um, and there I then I got met my match. Uh I was like, uh I was I was struggling to make them all successful and and that and pre-computers, we didn't have computers back then. So we had what's called the one-write system, where they're all handwriting all the payments and that kind of stuff. And I did that for uh seven years. Um, we got up to five stores, and then I bought my partners out. Uh, and at that point in time I became uh in I think it was 1982, um, so I guess a total of seven years, um, I became uh a franchisee with uh Color Time and I own the five stores that I had opened up, um, became my stores um at that point.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

So you decided at the end of seven years, you know, this is a good idea. Now, just curious, this position that you got when you when you acquired that ownership, was it at a great price or was it at just at a good time where it made sense to, you know what, regardless of the price, this this is where I need to be?

Scaling To 16 Stores And Bank Leverage

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Sweat equity. It was all sweat equity. I had 22%, and the other two partners had 39. Uh, they put up the money, they pulled the clout. I just went and did the work. Um, but I got to a point in seven years that there was a partnership dispute, and I literally went to the bank and I said, I'm not worth a lot. Those guys are worth a lot more, but if I leave, they don't have they don't know how to run the stores, and they don't run the stores. Um, so the bank, I encouraged the bank to loan me the money to buy them out. And I went from 22 to 100% owner at that point, um, largely because the bank, I said, if I walk out the door, I don't know about your investment. And the bank said, Well, you know, and and literally I had a townhouse and a car, and that was about it. So um they loaned me over a million dollars to buy the other partners out, and and then um when I did that, um, there was a couple of sister corporations. I was able to acquire uh management to purchase two stores. I was in the process of opening uh uh took me to seven, the process of opening an eighth store within like four months after this purchase. I started looking at another store, and then uh at that time, Color Time Corporate came to me and said, we have three stores here we we think we you could acquire in in the Virginia area, and then another five. And so literally within nine months of me going from junior partner, I was the third largest Color Time franchisee in the country with 16 locations. Oh wow, yeah, and my one million dollar debt went up fourfold, so four million dollars. I was young and dumb and didn't care, and you know, I was like, okay, well, you know, what are you gonna do? Take my townhouse and my car. Right. Um, but it but we we I learned how to do it right. I guess probably the the lesson here is um I learned from the very beginning how to uh what rent own was all about. In my first two years, I went to quit like three times. Like, shouldn't I do something more with my career? But I was always challenged and uh I understood people, I understood our customers, I understood our employees, um, I understood the business more from a financial stand because of my college education. So I was really good at doing business projections and talking to the banks, and they understood that not only could I run the store, but I could talk on their level too, with you know, borrowing money and and how to uh how that money would be repaid. And that's how I that's how it all happened because uh every one of those things, while color time helped facilitate some things, um, the bank wanted to know where they were gonna get their money back, and I showed them on paper how I was gonna do it, and they trusted me uh in doing it.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

So how did you go? So we have 16 locations in the early 90s. How did we transition to Premier? Where did Premier come from out of ColorTime then?

Financing Pullback And Exit To Premier

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Yeah, and that's a that's a that's another story. So then um I had the the 16 stores for a couple of years, we were doing really well, and then the finance company, Chrysler First, was funding ColorTime Financial Services, which is where we actually got our money from, um, decided they wanted out of the business. And so while I was$4 million in debt, they wanted me to like pay it off or find a new loan. Like, that's not gonna happen. And so they squeezed all of the color time, if I remember correctly. Color time had about$50 million loaned out through their organization, and they reduced it to$25 million in a year. And people like me essentially got pushed into a corner. And so I um I negotiated my way out. I sold back um a majority of the stores, 11 of them, I sold them back. And the five original that I had, I left with. I financed, I they were actually financed at my original place before these new acquisitions were financed through Colortown Financial. And that's when I left the organization. I said, the organization failed me. I'd borrowed money and put a lot of things on the line to be successful with these stores. And I thought they were going the right, they were going the right direction. Um, but with the bank pulling back on what they were willing to loan out and stuff, I was caught in a bad situation. So I said, fine. And when I negotiated my way out and sold back those stores to the Color Time Corporate, who then sold them somewhere else, I'm not quite sure. Um, I I don't want to be part of this organization. So one of the other Color Time, the largest Color Time franchisee at the time, was a guy named Carlos Sardinia. He was based, he had 26 stores based in Florida and Kentucky, and he had left um six months earlier seeing the same problem that I had, and he formed Premier. And so when I got ran into my troubles with them, I and decided I want out, I joined up with him, and I was the first licensee at the time of the newfound Premier. It was called Premier Rental back then, but we we coined it Premier uh Rental Purchase Later. And shortly after me, about four other color time people in the next year joined us, and we quickly went to like 50 stores, but then there was um industry acquisitions were going on by the time publicly traded companies were buying smaller publicly traded companies in the droves at that time, in the droves, yeah. It was, and the numbers were ridiculous, and pretty much everybody sold out except me. And so I said, fine, I'll just buy the this corporate name and take care of it myself because the name on the building was you know not my name at the originally, it was Premier, and I didn't own the name, so I bought Premiere and then um kind of just settled in with my own little core stores again. I wasn't I didn't want to be part of the corporate roll-up.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

And uh so wait, let me let me so let me back up just a little bit so I understand this. When everybody was selling, and you said you got to your five, does that mean that the other premieres sold as well?

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Yeah, so um so Carlos's 26 stores, my five, and then on uh four other franchisees, we added up to about 50. And so we were like a flash in a pan. All of a sudden we went from Carlos started it with his 26. I joined on, four other people joined on within a year, year and a half. We're at 50. But then we became a target for the publicly traded companies who were acquiring and giving very good prices at the time. Yeah, and all of all of them took their money except me. I said, I I don't really want to do this, I don't want to, I think there's a better, a bigger future. So the 50 went back to five. Wow, and I bought the name.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

So right at that point in time, everybody was gone. There was nobody to hold on to it.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Okay. And was that when it became premier rental purchase versus premier rent to own?

SPEAKER_01 11:53

It did. That's exactly right. Yeah, we changed the name slightly, and and there wasn't much what I bought. I really just bought the right to keep the premier name. There wasn't really any tangible property um or assets at the time. And uh and to I guess about a year later, um one of this there's a person named Wally Landmesser, um, found me. He happens to be uh the longest-standing Premier franchisee that we have. He came to me, I guess, in 1996 or seven and said, I'd like I heard about you, I'd like um your help in opening a store. And I said, Okay, well, I can license you the name like I did. We were charging one percent at the time. And um, and so I helped him. And then I think the next year, for five years in a row, somebody found me. I wasn't really marketing, they found me, and I helped them become a premier licensee. So now I have my five stores and their five stores basically. And um, and then it started to pick up, and before I knew it, I actually sold my stores to concentrate on helping other people with their stores. And by like 2005, we had 16 locations that were all franchisees. I didn't own any store, I sold mine in this transition, so I could focus on it. And I ran into a lawyer who said, you know, you're really franchising. And I said, Yeah, but I don't have anything really to sue. And said, You think you should think about it. And so they said, We'll convert from a licensing company to franchising, which is highly regulated. And uh it was quite expensive, a lot more expensive than I thought it would be, but I did it in 2005. Um only two of the those franchisees decided they all got their opportunity to go somewhere else or leave the organization. Um, and two stores left. The others remained, and most of them are still in business with us today. And then we just grew from there.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Now you said one percent. One percent is not a lot. Now I understand that it's licensing for licensing versus franchising, but now you know that model uh, and I don't know where it's at now, but I can I can tell you right now, one percent. I think everybody would be a franchisier premiere if it was uh if it was still that good. I would imagine it's not there now.

Building Premier And Surviving 2008

SPEAKER_01 14:05

No, it's five percent. Okay. Uh that's pretty much gonna it's I think our competitors charge six and seven, but we're at five. And but one percent we didn't do anything really. We basically, you know, helped eat with if we created a marketing, we shared things basically, but we didn't have a corporate staff. It was basically I had my stores, they had their stores, we shared. But but it came to a point in which we all realized that all of us were gonna go out of business as the industry matured, unless we started to do things we couldn't do unless we pooled our money together, and somebody had to take ownership of that. So we originally went to 3% and then we eventually migrated to five. And you know, so that means I hired staff with the five percent, and we invested on technology and and that kind of stuff. But really, in in 200 um five, we converted to 16 stores, and by 2009, we actually got up to about 63, um, I think it was 63, six upper sixties um locations. Now we'd also gone into wheels and uh uh payday loans on car our cars, not paying loans, but rent owned cars, and we also got into um um cash services. Um and then 2008, if you all remember, was the uh the banking crisis.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

And um we so we had five different brands at the time. So Premier had Premier Home Furnishings, Rental Purchase, Premier Wheelworks, uh Premier Auto by Rent, and uh you get your cash. So five different divisions basically that were 60 some odd locations. So we went from 16 to 60 something, from five to 2008 or nine, somewhere in that ballpark. So it was you know another roller coaster ride of massive growth. And uh then 2008, the banking crisis hit, and nobody was lending any money. And so I kind of say from 2008 to 2010 or 11 or 12, somewhere in that ballpark, uh, bankers' lips were moving, but no money was changing hands. And so some of our people had a really hard time. We released our the wheel industry, the industry itself kind of cratered. Um, and uh payday loans got regulated by the Dodd-Frank regulation, so we got out of that. Um the the car business never really took off, and then we were left with our home furnishing stores, which were big, big stores, 20,000 square foot stores, retail stores that were retail and home furnishings, and they you know their rent factor was like 20 grand a month. Yeah. When that when that hit, um that period of time from 20 to or 2008 to 2010, couldn't sustain those volumes. And so they all uh worked their way out, and then we went backwards again to about the 50, 45, 50 store level, which is kind of where we're at now. And um while we've we've had increases, we've had decreases at the same time. So that shook us out in really about 2012. I might guess from 8 to 12, we were just kind of hanging in there like everybody was, um, with the change of the banking crisis that occurred in 2008.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

And it just it just kept on. So that's how many stores are in the actual premier premier uh business franchise model right now is is about 45 to 15. 47. 47, 40, 47 at the time. Now I had a question. You've done, I mean, even to this, even to this time frame that we're talking to now, and we're talking about, you know, we're at the 2008 to 2012 mark, you know, when you're talking about 83 to that time frame, you know, you've had upwards of 60 stores, you've had four different types of locations, whether it be tires or furniture or rent to own, you have all you know, the payday loans. So you have all of this. Did was there somebody with you at that point in time that helped you as a mentor or helped guide you in this business that you know really helped kind of through the year, just you know, uh a kind of like a soundboard, so to speak? And I wouldn't say one person because there's this sometimes there's several, but you know, to do as much as you have, um, it sounds like a lot to do on your own. And kudos to you if you have. Well, was there anybody back then that that kind of helped you and mentored you along the way?

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Um, yeah, um, largely yes and no. Nobody directly in the industry that that I that that helped me. There the industry's always been very helpful, and and April has always done their part uh to provide good information and that kind of stuff. Dan Witzel, um, a CPA, uh, who um I had met him, I was introduced to him by ColorTime um people. Uh he's been instrumental in our success. And um he taught me what I didn't know about rent owned from uh financial aspects. And I I tell a story which is very kind of it's funny, but I had 16 stores back in the early days with ColorTime and that, and they said you really need to have a professional accountant. My brother was helping me at the time, but um, he wasn't a CPA by trade, so I went and go visit the N Witzel and I plopped down 16 financial statements, and he told me three or or four of the financial statements that the manager was stealing from me. And I'm like, uh where do you see that on the financial statement? And I went back and he was right on all of them.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

No kidding.

Mentors, Numbers, And Reading Financials

SPEAKER_01 19:35

And he told me and he told me something about almost every one of my stores. You know, this one is you know, hanging on to old merchandise, and this one's doing this, this one's discounting the first payments, and this one's all like and I'm like, I'm looking I'm reading the financial statement, I'm like, I don't get it. Where where do you see that? And I went back and basically I realized that the numbers that was a huge turning point for me. That I could that the numbers of the business, if you know, and most people, sadly today, that are my franchisees, don't look at their financial statements, they look at their cash balance and make decisions. And I guarantee you, most small business entrepreneurs look at their cash balance and say, if there's enough money in the bank account, I'm doing all right. But if they would learn to read the financial statements, they can they can decide from the financial statements where the weaknesses are and and figure out how to improve them. And he taught me that. And that was a great education back in what was it, 1992, 93 area.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

I mean, Dan's Dan's been in this business for as long as I could remember, probably uh another legend that I wish I had time to speak to. He's absolutely uh been around and seen so many things, um, very, very respected as far as what he does and the amount of time that he spent in this industry. I agree with I agree with you 100% on that. That you could learn a lot if you know how. And I think some of the I think some of the things come from that as far as like people not doing it, owners, uh, especially when you have a one to three-store owner that's really more interested in kind of half and half, half doing ops, half doing the back end, and not really looking at the financials, is because I I and I'm I'm just saying this from a point of view of myself. I don't think they know how. Some people just haven't been like literally sat down and trained, and this is how you do it, this is what you're looking for, because they come from a place of operations, and not everybody does, but you know, sometimes you get that person that comes from operations, they want to own it because they know it very well, they believe in it, they're very passionate about it, but running the business from outside of the business versus running it from the front counter are completely different situations. And uh I I I think that it could be it could be more, it could be pushed more as far as the training and how they do, or just finding somebody to mentor them, like like you were able to to say, hey, this is what you're looking for, this is what you're gonna see, this is what's happening. Um, and I'd love to see more of that go on. Speaking of that.

Funding As A Franchise Advantage

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Well, just if I can capitalize on that, that happens to be my strength. I can and you know, I I now know I think can pick up a financial statement from any business, and not that I'm super at it, but it's not about the numbers, it's about trends and relationships. So if this number on the revenue line and this number on the cost line, and how are they changing over time, you can get a feel for the business. But when it comes to a rent-to-owned store, I can now read a financial statement and tell you a lot within five minutes, more than the operator even knows. And we teach that at Premiere. In fact, that's how we grew Premier. The the way I was able to grow the franchise, we didn't grow it like every like our competitors, around the center, Aaron's buddies, where we got you know massive amount. We got either rich people already had money, um, you know, like Aaron's was, you know, I heard one time you had to be have a six million dollar network to open up an Aaron as well. Oh wow. You don't have to, you don't have to worry about if a guy's got that kind of money, you're like, well, your banking is your problem. We provided the banking for every one of our franchisees. We're the odd franchise in the rent-to-owned system. So I make it when I to how I built my organization when it went from my five stores to eventually within basically five or five or six years to the 60s some odd, I got the funding for every one of my franchisees. So it's a service that what I provide up front, uh basically let's say I will get you the funding you need. First of all, let's determine the funding you need, and maybe it varies from store to store. And you know, what are you gonna pay yourself? How many employees you're gonna hire, you know, how fast you're gonna grow, what do you think that, you know? So I all those variables inside the business. We put that in. I built this massive, unique uh worksheet. Um that's taken me decades to build, but it's the only one of its kind in the industry. And literally within probably four hours is what we do, I can build a plan for the bank. And then we modify it, and then with Dan Witzel's help, he reviews it and proves it. Um, then we put it together in a uh a full write-up with you know pictures of the location, etc. I I've had people in a bank and gotten the money I needed, a half a million or more for a location within 48 hours.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Uh I was just about to ask you that. What so in the time frame that you'd say, let's say we're going back the last three to five years, what is the average cost of, and and when I say average, I do know that they you know it it can differ from state to state depending on how big the uh the location is and all that. But if you were to say an average, is it about five?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

It um no, it it it when I first started doing this, more like 550, and now it's more like about 650. About sixty. And there's some added cost of labor and things, and rents have gone up and stuff. But yeah, and yes, you could open, and I've seen stores open up below five, um, but they they're just doing a hook or crook or using their credit cards or whatever it is. To do it right, to do it all with bank funding and to do it the right way. You need about five, what was five fifty, more like six three, six thirty, six fifty now. And it does vary by location.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

And so what what is the average size store for premiere nowadays? Is it five to six thousand? Are you on the larger end of stores, or is it is it really just the franchisees, you know, whatever they decide that they want to do, and there really isn't an average size?

SPEAKER_01 25:29

No, no, there's an average size. Um, most of our stores are somewhere in the belt park of five to six. Um, you know, we have a few that are a little bit below five, and we have some that are seven or eight uh thousand square feet, is what you're talking about. And then you know, the the bulk of it is is uh obviously the bigger stores are able to give more to the the showroom. Um but it we rent factor uh basically when you decide where you think the store is gonna be, our average stores are um the the medium, okay, is about 70,000 a month, um where we have stores that are significantly higher and some that are lower, but the medium is about 70,000 a month. So if you say, okay, I and you talk to a seasoned operator, and most of the time I'm working with seasoned operators who are in the same market, they work for Rennes Center, work for somebody else, and they want to own their own deal. So they know they get a gut feel for what the business is going to do because they're already working in that market and doing it. But if they say it, you know, let's say 8,000 is or 80,000 is where they want it, uh where they think their store is going to be, for example, uh, traditionally you used to want to keep your rent factor at$7,000 or 7% of that. It's now really about 10. So when we say, okay, well, if you think you're gonna have an$80,000 store and you're pretty confident of that, we need to go out looking for a location that's somewhere between five and seven thousand square feet, but you're not paying more than eight thousand a month, ten percent of what you think your estimated gross will be.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

That's that's about yeah. I I'm I'm just doing the math in my head as you're speaking, and I and I'm kind of going through the numbers, and I'm I'm with you right there. I kind of I kind of agree with you 100% on that. So I help me out here because we started at color time. You got in, you got up to so many stores, you backed out to your five stores, you grew it again, they took it out, you've grown it more. We come into the financial crisis, but then recently, recently, I've heard that you've been able to acquire the last bit of rent, or I shouldn't say Rena Center, the last bit of color time stores from Rena Center, which basically means there's and and I could be wrong on this, but there's no more color times left.

Store Economics: Costs, Size, And Rent Factor

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Well, there are color times, they're just under we I now own the brand, so we're we're leaving them as color times. So um I'll I'll I'll take you from where we last left off at 2012 or so. And I will say from 2012 to 2015, I kind of knew, even though we had 40-50 stores, I kind of knew that if we did not make a direction, we would not sustain another decade. Um, you know, we had great operators, but we didn't have a lot of systems. And so in 2015 to 17 range, we made a massive investment into um premier university training programs, a lot of uh digital services, uh website development, because websites were coming along at that time. Now you're now you the websites are now a second door to your store.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

So you have the front door and you have a door on the internet, you know.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Uh a lot of that stuff. And then, if I'm I get this right, somewhere around 2018, I got a phone call from um Bud Gates, who was Easy Home. And they had 40-something stores, 20 of them or so were corporately owned by Bud Gates and uh investment group, and another 19 or 20 franchisees, and they didn't know what to do with the franchisees, they wanted to close up, and they were gonna sell their corporate stores. So I acquired those stores, and they just had that organization was um uh Bud, I you know, it I think they didn't bud didn't know where to go with in the future, right? And I didn't wasn't able to keep them. So there's only about um we went through a period of time where many of the stores closed or sold and bought me out. I I became the a franchise or essentially, and that 19 dwindled back down to a handful, and we still have those handfuls, they converted to Premier. And then so that was another little boost for us, and then but they then there was attrition. They didn't all um most of them had gotten disenchanted with with easy home. So by the time I bought it, they were like, Listen, I just want out of the rent home business. Like, okay, well, let's figure that out. And then uh, yes, uh earlier this year, uh Color Time Arena Center um contacted me and said, Would you like to buy the Color Time franchises that we had? There were six locations that were left, and these were strong operators that had been around for literally decades. Some of them just about the time when I left Color Time, they were joining Color Time. And I said, Absolutely. So it's it was almost I have to admit, the first when I got the phone call, it was like deja vu. This is I started at Color Time and now I'm buying it. Right, right. So it was um um, so as much of it as an emotional thing as it was, but we have these, there's six stores, four franchisee, great operators. We're just we're excited to have them, and I think they're excited to be with us because they're no longer part of Renaissance, which they were a fish out of water at Renaissance. Uh, and for us, they're just they're just like us, they're entrepreneurs. Um, you know, we're we're we're down to their level. So we I I think we're able to give them better support than Renaissance was able to give them, and I think that they'll say the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

You know, something that you mentioned earlier was that you are a different type of franchise, something a little bit out of the norm. And you seem to be doing it very well because you do have a set amount of stores. We're not talking about one or two. So there's a belief in the Premier System. What would you say sets you apart and makes you that different type of franchise in the RTO network versus let's say you know you have buddies out there, you do have Rena Center uh uh franchisees and and others, uh no RR does uh franchises. What sets your franchise in your mind, in your opinion, aside from them? And why would somebody say, you know what, Premier is like is like where I want to go?

Rebrands, Easyhome Deal, And ColorTyme Return

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Um good question. And I would say that initially we were the only franchise in 2005 that would help you with your funding. Um, not only would we get the funding, but in some cases we actually provided upfront capital, like$100,000, and they would get the rest of the bank. So so for some people, it was um that we helped them with the funding. With others, um, we didn't we look for seasoned operators, we didn't look for money people. So, you know, there were probably a lot of people who called errands and they said, Well, if you don't have six and a half million, the conversation's over with, you know, and that kind of stuff. So they could say, Well, I'm a great operator. Well, good, work for one of our franchisees. Um, so we were we we were the only ones in that niche for the longest time. And um initially we had a pretty hands-off model, which was you know how to run a rent-to-owned store, um, you know, whether you came from Aaron's, Rena Center, Buddies, Rainbow, wherever it came from. And uh we kind of let them do it their way. But I will say that over the last 20 years of doing this, the last five or six, well, that more than that, five to ten, I would say, we started to realize that you know, we had some people that kind of did it the Aaron's way or the Renaissance way or whatever, that it wasn't working. They we we as a franchise understand now that that in order to be a successful franchise, and and to be successful, we have to make sure our franchisees are successful. And so they have to be putting money in the bank on in their and for that to happen, it can't all be slightly different. They they need to be more uniform. There's still a lot of autonomy that we give them. Uh, if they're fine, if they're making money, we kind of leave them alone. But those that are struggling, we bring them back to the baseline. And a lot of them were successful because they work for somebody, and therefore the card close percentages and some of these things are like, well, I I'm working myself. Some people work harder for other people than they do for themselves. And we have to remind them that that's that shouldn't be the case. You should work harder for you, and whatever you produce goes in your bank account, not somebody else's. But some people do need um to be, they need a boss or something, or someone to tell them the ugly sometimes. And so we uh I think as a franchise uh organization, sometimes what I'm doing is when people are challenged. I have a saying when when things are not going so well, quit lying to yourself. And when things start going well, you can start lying to yourself. But yeah, but the point basically is some they have to be told the ugly. And and and um, you know, they have to be those are terrible results, and you're not doing it well, or you're you're whatever, and and and they need that kind of feedback. So why what are we different today? We're still about the operator, and we always look to say, um, I I know uh one of our franchisees is a franchisee of another system outside the rent zone, totally different. And he said that the franchise consultant comes around and he's he's all he wants to talk about is how to raise the revenues because as the revenues go up, the franchise or makes money. But when he says, Can you help me about my bottom line profit? the franchise consultant doesn't really care. And so we do care, we care about your bottom line profit, we care about your profitability, we we care about your associates. And so I think I would say we're much more in touch and much more active with our franchisees because I'm a former rent-owned guy, right? Not a professional franchise or and so there's a different level of connectivity here, and that's what I think the color time guys loved about joining us because I am connected with the business. I know their numbers as well as they do. My team knows their numbers as well as they do. Uh unlike before, where they were kind of on their own, they're a franchisee, but you know, kind of like a McDonald's, you could be a franchisee, but franchise or just cares about their their portion, not necessarily what you're doing all the time.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

So, out of all the all the 47 stores that you have now, how many out of those locations are owners? So I would imagine that some own more than one franchise uh location, correct?

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Yeah, we have about 33, I think it is 33 owners, franchisees. Uh and some are multiple franchise, you know, a couple two people owner, you know, partners. So we have a good amount of single-store franchisees, and we we have um a handful, more than a handful, uh a good amount, I guess, of multi-store people from two to um our largest is five.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

So if somebody, if somebody says, you know what, Troop, I love what we're doing here. I love Premier. I have this one store. I want to open store number two, store number three, whatever the case is. Do you also help them with the funding to get to those? Or are you, I've got you the first one, you now you know what you're going through. This is your opportunity to kind of go out there and get this done yourself.

Why Premier’s Model Is Different

SPEAKER_01 36:47

No, we help, we help with every store. We also help with store transitions. So we have just now hit our you know 20th year of franchising. And I have franchisees and like I love you, Trooper, but I've been here for 20 years, I want to do something different in my life. So we're helping them, and we have a standing$100,000 investment that to the buyer. So if a franchisee says I want to sell, and I just you know, I have a neighbor that wants to buy me, I will work with the neighbor to help him acquire the store, and I will put up$100,000 for the neighbor to help the current franchisee get out at the price he wants. You know, obviously a reasonable price. But so there's uh I and then you know, we just work it out with the neighbor, and then the neighbor has we're a junior partner in the business, and the neighbor can buy us out if that's what they want. Or they don't if they don't need our money, we don't offer it. So I mean if you don't have to, right? Yeah, so we're we're but I'm also the I don't know. I I of all the stores that we've ever opened up, I can only probably think of a less than a hand, a less than five that I was not uh involved actively in the funding. Almost everybody said, hey, you know, um uh let's do the funding. And we use mostly uh SBA 7A loans, and um those loans are very favorable. Uh long term tenure notes, uh they're and they're capped at uh 2.75 over prime. Sometimes we get more get better rates than that. And um so yeah, we've we pretty much have coordinated all the funding, and we can go anywhere with that 7A note, it can be, and we probably have done business with 20 different banks over the decades uh who do those loans, but it's a you know the federal program. So if you know how to to pitch the loan and you know how to um uh provide what they need, you can pretty much go to any bank and get the money.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

So I have a question for you because I was looking at the map on the website coming into this, and I noticed that like a chunk, I'd probably say 85%, in my visual opinion, is up in the northeast. What's going on with the rest of the country? I say everybody's kind of grouped up a little bit uh north of, let's say, well, I don't know, maybe Virginia going north all the way through to, you know, to the top of you know, the the the east side coast all the way north, and then a little bit, you know, a little bit over, you know, by the Great Lakes, but I I I see it all over there. Where what's what's what's going on with the rest of the country?

SPEAKER_01 39:17

Yeah, we we we have a stronghold from Nebraska right across the the belt the rust belt there, right on up into Connecticut. So uh it's just where the operators came from. Um, you know, we've had stores in uh Oregon and California, New Mexico, um, Alabama, we don't now. Um it it it really just came with the operators. And so we're we're franchise licensed to go anywhere in the United States. We've also looked at you know, franchising in Canada, which is very different. But uh bottom line, if someone called me from Hawaii and wanted to do it in Hawaii, I I'd do it with them. But it's the operator. It just yeah, it just so happens. And it's also if you think about it, that's where the population is too, you know. Um and and then you got some not so friendly business states like California, who are there's population in California or along the West Coast, they're not very friendly to or helpful to small business people. And this is not an easy business to get into um because the barrier to entry is you know, like we talked about earlier,$650,000. Um, and you have to build up a critical mass. There are a lot of other businesses that are franchises that are service-oriented. You just need a truck or two and small location and a telephone, and you can start making money. So with us, you gotta buy a lot of product, and so it's um it's not as not as challenging as say a McDonald's, where you've got to you know build a building and you got a several million dollar footprint and equipment and all that, but it's not as easy as say a service master. So we're we're right in there. And that's so really we just focused on the operators, and that's where the operators called us from.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

So you said that earlier, you look for operators. You don't necessarily look for somebody who's looking to open the franchise. And you know, let's say I've got uh a couple million dollars, I want to open a couple, you know, let's say a couple of stores, I'm looking at you because you know how to do it. You're looking for the people who have the passion, the knowledge, and the history and the business to get this open. So how do you because you said you you really kind of don't at that time you hadn't really been like advertising for that? You're you they find you, you find them, but like is has that changed to more recent times that you actually are looking for people now to join the premiere family, or is it I'm here, we're doing a great job, and I will I will keep the doors open for anybody who wants to walk in.

Growth, Geography, And Operator Focus

SPEAKER_01 41:36

Um both, I guess. So in the early days, uh we had a website and people just found us. I mean, they they would hear from uh their friend who went off. Now, I have people in my organization now that they were both working at Rennes Center or something, and and they both one heard about us and he told the other, and then one joined, and the other one's like, Well, what am I waiting for? And then he joined. So there was there was a um a grassroots, I guess, you know, it filtered from one person to another. Um in when we finally kind of leveled out in from like 2012 to um say uh 2020, uh, we did try to market. We went to the franchise um International Franchise Association show in Las Vegas and and all of that looking for investors. So we're we're we're capable. We I wouldn't have said in the early days, we were not capable of helping an investor because we didn't have the infrastructure. But in that 2015 to 2018 range, we built the infrastructure. So if an investor came to us and said, I've got the money, we would certainly be able to help them. And we've actually got a new program that we're gonna announce here at our convention soon uh about um how to continue the franchise system um and offer additional uh franchise. But I guess what I'm saying, you know, I know how other people built their franchise. They went to money people, it just has never worked for us. Not that we wouldn't, but someone shows up, sure, we'd figure it out. But uh and we're capable, we just it's been our niche that to deal with the operators.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

So going back a little bit, because I want to I want to make sure that you know it it this is such a clean story, right? It goes through and you kind of tell us what were some of the really big challenges that you had when starting premiere and then kind of going from there. You have your five stories, you change the name over. What were some of the big challenges that you had to overcome at that particular point in time that might have even been new to you uh or new to the situation that kind of like this is this is not good, but you were able to overcome and then say 20 years later, this is this is where we came from.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

Uh I don't know anybody uh that that I would say that's so I've been a business now for forty years, franchising or been in licensing franchising for thirty Um I I don't know anybody that that that that's had a smooth sale. I I think if you want to be successful, you just wait for whatever the next challenge is and then you have to figure it out. I had one franchise you just told me the other day, they have a new slogan called JFO. Just figure it out. Okay. And so um, and so the that's what we did. I mean, because in the early days, I was I grew from one store to four because I could handle it and I was I could personally be at those stores, but then I realized I didn't have a system and color time back then really didn't offer a a system. Not I mean, if you know much about the industry, for 30 years it's it's really changed. You know, it was pretty had no computers and and now there's systems and processes and whatever. So um, so every all of us had to grow along with the with the change in the industry. So there was that stage, and then there was the funding stage, and then uh then there was the banking crisis stage where we were kind of like, oh, how do how do we pull this off? And so every one of those hurdles, um, you know, when I bought Easy Home, it turned into a legal mess. So then there's the legal stage. I had to learn a lot about that and and that kind of stuff. And so I've been around and I've we've seen a lot, and I I guess the answer is you just figure it out, and you don't really know what it's gonna be. Um, but you have to have that attitude that whatever it is, you'll figure it out and you'll go find the the resources that and the people who can help you get through it that might have been through it before. But uh it's it's survival. If you want to be an entrepreneur, it's just survival of the fittest, basically. It's not JFO, right?

Premier University And Standardization

SPEAKER_00 45:46

JFO. Yeah, that's gonna be that's gonna be a new catchphrase. So looking at the future, uh you said a couple things uh that I wanted to kind of go at actually, really one of the main things was Premier University. You said that you've seen some of the areas that needed to be trained on, and you created something to help with that. What can you talk to me a little bit about Premier University and what that's about?

SPEAKER_01 46:10

Oh, yeah, that was that's a massive gem. We, you know, there's there's some things I can look back and say, we did it right. We we invested heavily, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it took us three years to develop it, and we actually were a year and a half behind releasing it until it was right. But it is fully interactive, uh, started with a very big vision and just hung in there, you know, because the dollars going out were just massive. In the last year, we had seven people working on it every week, um, a different talented group to bring it to life. But what it did for us was it brought all of that knowledge that we had into a trainable um uh uh rep replicable to repeat uh mode in the sense that we could now we all talk the same language. The moment it came out, and it took about a year for everybody to kind of get up to speed and trained, and that and we have a we make sure everybody in our stores are qualified and certified, and we went through all of that process, it it changed us dramatically. It made us stable. Before it was it was, you know, we were good because somebody at the front line was good. So Premier University, and now we've ex we keep expanding it to um training for our corporate office staff, training. We hired a warehouse manager at one store, and like we need we need a warehouse manager training program, you know, how do you how do you manage a warehouse? And so it now that we've got it, we know how to add to it and add different series. But it has been one of the things that if we hadn't done that in that 15 to 18 period, I'm not so sure we'd be in business today because it we we needed to that's where that's the traditional franchising that I said we morphed from um you know loosey goosey, um everybody had autonomy a little bit, as long as you could be successful. And it's amazing how many people nobody came to me who wasn't successful in rent-owned, but then they when they became a franchisee, they became unsuccessful at owning and operating their business.

SPEAKER_00 48:19

It is it is different, it is very different.

Texas City Training Center And Culture

SPEAKER_01 48:22

Yeah. So once we did Premier University out, and then uh another thing we did was in 2000, uh, well, uh let me back up for a second. In um, I think it was 2016-17, I had this guy named Angelo Gugacello, who had was working for a an independent RTO company in Texas City, Texas, and the the the French, or the not franchisee, but the his owner ran into financial trouble and the bank ended up with the bank. The bank ended up with the business, excuse me. So he contacted me and said, you know, I'm tired of this. I've done this for 20 years or whatever, I want to own my own store. And you know, how much money do you have? I'm like, practically none. I said, okay, we'll figure it out. And we eventually bought what was a broke store in Texas City, Texas. Um, and and it wasn't making much money. It was ugly, it was in terrible shape, etc. We bought it, and um over nine years now it is the largest store by volume um and profitability in our organization. It is it is so well run. It's because of him, he's he's just he's just great. He is and we did it on very little money, but in 2019, they had a part of the back room um that had an upper deck about 1200 square feet that was kind of a storage. You have like a big hole in the floor where they would, you know, so whatever whoever had the building before us it had a dumb weight or whatever, they lift things up to the upper store, but it was basically not used. We created a virtual uh we created a training center, um, so our national training center above a store. So you kind of go up and you're you've you don't even realize you're in a store. You're it's almost like the Houston um center, whatever the Houston um aerospace center. TV's everywhere, it's fully digitized, you're you know, and we can zoom people in and and the training center. So we took what was Premier University and created a live training session. We're running live training sessions and programs there, and um, and then you walk down out of the center, and before you know it, you walk right into a store. So we created a training center and a store together, and it just so happens, thank God, that what was once a bankrupt store that nobody wanted, by the way, before they before the bank sold it to us, they called Renissarians, everybody else, everybody said, No, we don't want that. And still they didn't want it, they couldn't give it away, and they basically gave it to us and a cheap price. And then I'll say one more thing. Then when I realized we were gonna send people down there to Texas, I I live in Virginia, and you know, other people on my staff live somewhere else other than Virginia, and most of our franchisees are somewhere else other than um uh or somewhere else other than Texas, um, that we started to host things and and the hotel costs were just killing us. So I ended up buying a house down there on the water, kind of nice because it's close to the water. Nice. Uh it's our it's our corporate house. And I couldn't imagine, it was we did it for cost savings reasons. And I couldn't imagine what was gonna happen when I did it. But I will tell you that at the center during the day, we're talking to the head. Um, and then at night we go to the house and we'll drink and party and you know look at the ocean and all that stuff. And it's what changes people is what happens in the heart. At night, they're kind of like, do I want to go back? Am I ready for this or whatever? I don't I and they all the events we do are generally multi-day events, so they come and they spend the night and that kind of stuff. Right. Usually a couple nights. Uh the transformation happens at the house. It it doesn't happen at the store. The store at the center, it's all about the information to the head. I can just tell you, um, you know, I've I've I've just I've seen it. I can act, you can almost see it. Some people kind of break into tears, or some people are getting mad at themselves, like, but it's it's at the house when we're in a relaxing mode or just just chilling that it you can just see the gears chaining and and something sparks them and says, I'm gonna go back and make my business better. You don't see it at the center, center's too much information.

SPEAKER_00 52:46

That's I love to hear that. I mean, I I'd love to see it. I mean, honestly, that that's you know, it's always those ideas that you've got to try, right? You've got to you you you know that there's something missing, and you try, you try different avenues, you try different things, and when you see them work, it's such a payoff. You know, and you see it in real time when somebody's struggling or somebody has ideas, and then you can see them turn, the light come on in real time, and then go back changed, and and not always because it's always the information that always helps, right? The information always helps, and it's better to know everything that you can, but sometimes it's the person inside. You know, it's what drives you, it what it's what fuels you, it's what gets you up and getting you to work every day, and when you can touch that, that's a huge thing. That's that's great to hear. I mean, congratulations on that. I also seen talking about getting ahead and moving forward. There is a Premier Mobile app. Yep. And where did that where did that come from? What was the so I I know that that's pretty much where everybody is headed. What can you do on the Premier Mobile app?

Premier Mobile App And Data Backbone

SPEAKER_01 53:49

Well, we we've got a version out there now, and a new version is scheduled for release at our convention. And literally, we're planning on you can do everything um on the mobile app. Uh you can uh we from a technology basis, we took a decision 15 years ago, or when actually maybe it was only 10, 10, 12 years ago when we first got cloud servicing or computing, you know, when that first started coming out. And we made a a decision, it seemed right at the time, and thank God we did, that we were gonna try to consolidate all of our information on our servers. So whenever I talk to people in services or whatever, where's that information gonna be hosted? And I said, well, no, either it either hosted on our server or we um or we have access to download it from your server, depending on what you know whatever third party we're working with. Bottom line is when you and and we also excuse me, we're a SQL uh uh house, basically, everything's in SQL. So when you bring all that information, we have HR data, we have marketing data, we have uh versorant data, which we use versar end at our stores, we have other data. When you have it all in one area, you can you can see things or you can create reports or you can create automation. So with the mobile app, uh more and more businesses going there. We we probably all do our business with banking or whatever on the app. When you go on our mobile app, you can see live what the inventory is at all of our stores. And it's in real time. So if they if you sell something at a store, it comes off the mobile app. If you change the price at the store within a certain couple of minutes or whatever, it sinks. You change the price in birth rent, it changes on our website.

SPEAKER_00 55:35

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 55:35

Um so it changes on the website, but also changes in the mobile app. So we have the website. I look at the website as passive. The website does nothing for you unless you decide you're going there. Or you click on a link that takes you there. A mobile app, once you get it downloaded, and one of the there's some features in there that you need to download the app, like for example, bonus points, and that we when they have if they have the mobile app downloaded, it then calculates all their payments on time and stuff and gives them points that they can use for different things. But most people just hit the redemption and say, send these points to the store. So when they show up to make their next payment, they have the points are there, they can use the points to make their payment. So if they download the mobile app, now it's not passive, it's active. We can communicate with them, we can send them push notifications, we can do things, we can tell them that this weekend there's a sale going on, whatever. And so we're still working through that technology. It's been very difficult. Um and it's been very expensive. But the idea eventually is that I while we want people to come to our stores, they don't want to come to our stores. There's a pain in the butt for them to come to our store, right? You know, they want to be able to shop and pay and do all their business from their couch.

SPEAKER_00 56:55

Well, we're we're in an Amazon world right now. That's that's the way it is.

Leadership Transition And Mentoring

SPEAKER_01 57:00

And so we hope they can pay, they can make they can pay their payments, they can um do um it says schedule a service call, they can track a delivery that's coming to their house. There's um we have some loyalty rewards things, we have some fun things that we do there, games that we so the point is, yeah, we we we we believe that that the um our customer will become more of a digital customer, not because we choose to, we still look further and come to the store, but that's just the way the world's gone.

SPEAKER_00 57:32

It has. It has, it's it's a digital world out there. It's really great to hear how far you and Premier have come. And you know, sounding the way it is, uh, as far as much as you put into it, you said you've been in the rent-to-owned industry for 40 years. How much longer are you going to be in the industry?

SPEAKER_01 57:50

Five to ten. So I've told even my team, my my franchisees know that I'll be around for at least five, but maybe closer to ten. But I'm I'm transitioning to more of chairman of the board and out of a CEO. And I've got some wonderful people that are working with me now, younger. This is a this is an energy business. If if you want a store to do well, you got to bring the energy every day. Um, and it's no different. So when you bring uh my energy level is is dropping as I get older, I guess. Um maybe not my brain power, but my my energy level is, and I'm trying to transition out of being CEO over the next five years or so and uh be more active in the investment side from then on, uh helping people in on the mentoring side. Um I love going to our Texas City uh training center and our corporate house, and just and then I I have a franchisee that was one of my original franchisees from 20 years ago, um, and we helped him get in business and all of that. And uh about a year ago he came down and spent a couple days with me just one-on-one, and that's where we do some planning for additional stores or whatever the problem is. And we realized at the end of that, I thought, you know, you and I have spent more time in two days together than we have in 20 years combined.

SPEAKER_00 59:11

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 59:12

Because you know, we meet each other at conventions, we talk on Zoom, whatever it is, we you know, go. But the the the intense long-term interaction for two days hanging out together, it is really meaningful. And I enjoy that, so I can do that for the rest of my life. And and and and and it's very rewarding when I can actually say that while everybody has a job and everybody so they can make money to take care of their family, I believe Premier has done a really good job of taking care of other people's families, and that's very rewarding to me.

SPEAKER_00 59:45

Well, that's I mean, you know, right now we're in a digital world, and sometimes it's great to remember that we were we are a society built, we are a social society. Um, being next to people, being close to people, being able to talk face to face, interact, problem solve, uh, be excited to, you know, it's not just going through the trenches, it's also through the highs and everything in between. You know, you want to celebrate your birthday, you want to celebrate the successes with people, it's not the same over the screen, just like when you're having a hard time. People don't usually go on a virtual world to tell you, they might complain on Facebook or or TikTok nowadays, but if you want to get over that, that's a that's a conversation. I don't know many people who have good sessions over you know, uh virtually. You know, if you really want that close connection, it's something that has to be done in person, and I I agree with that. Let me let me ask you a question, because then you know you before you move off that if I can add to that one.

Advice For Aspiring Owners And Closing

SPEAKER_01 1:00:41

Sure. Now when people say, Why would I want to join Premier? I don't even try to sell them anymore. I just say, look, um, if you're willing to pay for a plane ticket, I'm willing to feed you when you get down there or whatever, come for a couple of days, and I'll show you uh a store that was once bankrupt, that's now massively successful. And you and I can hang out for a couple of days and you'll just see it. And so that's so we don't even I don't do it anymore because it because it's everything I try to say over the phone to somebody and why, whatever, whatever. Look, if you're if you're really interested in us, take a couple of days of your time and a plane ticket, and then I'll show it to you, and I won't sell it to you because it sounds so canned when you're trying to sell it to them, it's not real, right? And that's what you're talking about. It's the digital world of trying to tell them over, or can you send me a brochure? Can you send me prospectus or an FUMIT, what's called franchise disclosure document, whatever. So yeah, but you want to know who we are? Get on a plane and come see us. Let me show you.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:38

That's it. Yeah, yeah. So let me let me ask you in closing, what you have gone and done quite a bit from you know, running a couple of stores to owning a couple of stores to letting those stores go to growing this franchise that you, you know, this franchise situation that you have as premier rental purchase. You've had a couple of different businesses, you've had stores come, you've had stores go, you've had people who are you know positively interested in the business uh do well, and you've had people in the interest in the business get out of the business because they didn't do so well with all that knowledge. Somebody that's coming in, somebody that is maybe in operations now that wants to be where Trooper Earl is, or an owner of their own situation, whatever that might be, what is the advice that you would give to them to say, you know what, if I knew this or these couple of things coming up in the time frame that I did, I think it would have made a huge, huge difference?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:32

Um, yeah, good. That's a good question. Um so you know, my kids, I tell them about the same thing, and I tell uh prospective people uh the same thing. One, there is a statistic that's out there and it varies, but basically somewhere around 90% of franchise uh owners are still in business after five years, but somewhere around 90%, 80, 90 percent of independent small business owners don't even make it through the first year. So if you want to be a business owner, you're there is a much greater likelihood of success being part of a franchise. You know, you don't see very too many McDonald's stores close, you know. So they they they have these years or decades of building a system and you come in with that system. Um and that that's a so if I and and me, I've I I I have great respect for the independents in the uh RTO business who you know started or up their brand and however, and they're still in business after 30 years. I don't know how they did that all on their own because I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for initially color time and and other people who helped me out. Um the other thing is I would say passion and energy. Um I just was you know uh was raised in an environment where you know I had passion. I have passion for this business. And you can tell passion by just the speed at which they talk or the voice, the tone of their or how they use their hands when they talk, whatever. Do they have passion in what they're doing? And can they bring energy to the business, whatever they're doing? Because if they can do that, in most cases they'll be successful, I think. Um, you know, obviously you got a certain amount of street smarts and book smarts to to get through some things, and then it's I bel I still believe it's a relationship business for us, and I believe most businesses are relationship business. You know, my relationship with Dan Witzel, uh, it doesn't help me on a day-to-day basis, but he helped me learn some things that were very invaluable to me. Um uh my my employees, uh my uh franchisees, their employees. Um so I I would just say uh pick if you want to be in an industry, um your chances with a good franchise, there are bad ones, um, is far greater than trying to do something on your own, unless you're creating an industry on your own for the first time. You know, you're you're you're in a you're you you have an idea that's is it is its own industry. Number two, um, you know, if you don't love it and you don't bring the passion, um, yeah, I don't think you can be successful in anything. Or why do it, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

Agreed.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:14

Um, and then the third is um technology is important these days, but um your success will always be based upon your relationship with vendors or banks. The time to talk to a banker is when you don't need money, you know. So that I'm telling it's true. You've I follow bankers, and I build relationships with bankers. And yeah, you the time to so build a relationship with your employees, our associates and friends and vendors.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:43

So well, I appreciate the news, I appreciate the insight, and I appreciate you spending time with us today on this on this journey that we've spent, kind of discussing where you've been, where you've where you've grown, where you've learned, and you know, hopefully where we're going in the next few years. Guys, I appreciate you listening to us. And Trooper Earl kind of just tell us what's going on with Premier Rental Purchase. If you have any questions, please hit me up at the show, Pete at the RTO Show Podcast.com. You can also just go to the podcast as far as the online and see what we're doing there. You can also buy some swag there at www.thertoshowpodcast.com. Make sure you buy some swag. You can also uh help out the show by becoming a sponsor. If you want to know more about us, you can hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube where you're going to see this, where you can subscribe so you don't miss anything. Trooper, I really appreciate you being with us today. A lot of insight and a lot of understanding of where you've been and where Premiere has been and kind of where it's going. And I really hope you much much success in the next few years that you have. And I hope that you get to hit that director position, um, you know, looking over and uh above and beyond everything and kind of just getting everybody to uh to understand that this is a passionate business. And when we have people who are looking to invest in us, that's the way to go. And I appreciate that. And I appreciate you guys sitting us and listening today. And I will tell you guys as always get your collections low to get your sales high. Have a great one.