We Bought A Franchise!
Join Jack and Jill Johnson on their rollercoaster ride as the fresh faced new franchise owners of Pink's Window services in sunny Palm Beach, Florida! Peek behind the curtain at the real deal of launching and expanding a franchise – the good, the bad, and the downright chaotic!
The Johnsons are set to reveal the highs and lows, the freedom, and the fortune that come with being your own boss. Tune in to the "We bought a franchise" podcast today! 🎙️🏝️
We Bought A Franchise!
We Bought a Franchise: Steven Montgomery's journey from $12 in his pocket to building a thriving franchise empire
Imagine launching a business with just $12—sounds impossible, right?
Yet, our friend Steven Montgomery, did just that when he founded "That One Painter," which eventually led to the creation of Resi Brands.
We invite you to join us on this inspiring journey, where Steven shares the transformative impact of adding power washing services to the Pink's Windows franchise, a strategic move that's opened up new revenue streams for franchisees. Plus, there's a heartwarming moment you'll want to hear about—a chance encounter at Disney World where Stephen's entrepreneurial tale left a lasting impression on our son Trey.
Building a successful business isn't just about numbers; it's rooted in vision and purpose.
Listen in as we dive in to the mindset required to nurture a business actively, contrasting the allure of passive income with the fulfilling reality of being a present leader.
Together, we explore the broader purpose of contributing to the economy through small businesses, finding passion in entrepreneurship's ups and downs. Our discussion also touches on resilience, sharing the risks we took with our own business The Franchise Insiders and the lessons learned from having to pivot during the pandemic.
In the final stretch of our conversation, we explore the dynamic world of Resi Brands, highlighting the rapid expansion of ventures like Garage Up, Action Exteriors, and Monty's.
Throughout, the episode underscores the importance of trusted services, the power of branding, and the camaraderie that fuels the entrepreneurial spirit.
That 1 Painter franchise
Pinks franchise
Action exteriors franchise
garage up franchise
Resi Brands franchise
Visit www.weboughtafranchise.com to subscribe.
Send us your questions for an upcoming episode at 305-710-0050.
From your pals in franchise ownership, Jack and Jill Johnson.
Hi everyone. Welcome back to the we Bought a Franchise podcast. I'm Jack Johnson.
Speaker 2:I'm Jill Johnson.
Speaker 1:And we have an extra special guest with us this morning, Mr Stephen Montgomery. Stephen, great to see you.
Speaker 3:Hey, I'm excited. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:We're great man, thanks for joining. You know we've been chasing Stephen for quite some time. You know it's weird, jill, because Stephen is a friend, a partner and he's also our franchisor, that's true. So, and for those of you that don't know, the whole reason we started the we Bought a Franchise podcast is that we own a franchise called Pinks here in Palm Beach, florida, and Steven, of course, is the franchisor who found the Pinks guys and I think Steven did you convince them to franchise. Was that your doing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, they were already curious about it, but they had no plans on doing it themselves, and so when we met, it was like a perfect fit, because we're like we have every system ready to go and they had an amazing brand and so it just it was a great partnership.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's. I always tell people the story about how we were kind of know, talking because that one painter is such a great franchise. Um, yeah, you know, and truly I mean, as I look at it, we had that one painter come and paint our house, uh, a couple weeks ago, and to just see the whole model in action, um, was was really cool. Um, but we somehow, you know, we're talking about that one painter, and then we see the pinks brand and we're having this, this meeting, and I'm looking at like pink's website and I'm looking at the merch page and I'm like steven, can we talk about pinks?
Speaker 2:I remember I was like like I'm trying to get you to hold back. You're like, okay, that all sounds great, but what about paints? You guys are like we're not really ready with it yet and we're like, well, talk to us about it.
Speaker 3:So yeah, you guys were definitely one of our first. So that was it. And even when we talked about it, I was like I was a little bit nervous. I was like, dude, it's a great brand but like not all the systems are done yet. Are you sure you want to get involved? And you're like, dude, I'm in and and not only that, you guys have, you know, brought really great feedback and built a great team that's just helping the brand get better and better as well. So it's been really fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and here we are piloting a whole new, a whole new aspect of pinks which I saw you post about on LinkedIn this morning with our our pink power washing van, and that's a whole new, exciting chapter.
Speaker 3:That's very exciting and I'm glad that you spearheaded that Cause I think it's going to be really good for you guys. It's gonna be really good for you guys. It's gonna be really good for the whole brand. Anybody who adds that to their window cleaning and adds the pressure washing rig as well, it's a huge.
Speaker 1:I mean it has the potential to nearly double, I think, the revenue. Oh for sure. Yeah, I mean we're already seeing the average jobs. I mean you should see, you probably can see on our little CRM system. I mean the jobs we're doing this week are just sick dude. It's changed fundamentally what we can do.
Speaker 1:But it's like prior to getting on this with you, we were on a Pink's franchisee call and I was excited to see people that we've placed in Pink's having amazing weeks already. That's really fun as a franchise consultant to kind of get that inside view of what people are really doing. So this has been such a neat, such a neat experience for us. But, Stephen, I think you've got such a great story. I know you've told it a million times. You know we stopped Stephen when we saw him last in person in Disney World. We were both there for a franchise conference and we brought our son Trey and I stopped Stephen and I said Stephen, can you tell Trey the story about what, when you started that one painter, how much money you had in your pocket? Can we, can we talk about that and and uh and maybe share your story of how it all started?
Speaker 3:so I started that one painter with 12 my bank account and, uh, I had just gotten married. I met my wife at college but then we both like decided college wasn't really for us. I engaged and really got married and it was like a few weeks, maybe two or three weeks, after our honeymoon I was doing a lot of subcontracting for a painting company that did a lot of pressure washing. So I was doing most of the pressure washing. Actually I did three a day, so I know pressure washing pretty well wow, so yeah, you really do know it yeah, and I was sitting in my truck and I didn't have a good setup like we have with pinks.
Speaker 3:I had. I had, yeah, like a mix, like I had like a decent rig, but it was just. It was this whole thing anyways did you have like the real?
Speaker 1:did you have like just like the roadie, or did you have like a, uh, like a tank and a trailer and that type?
Speaker 3:I didn't have the tank and trailer and stuff, just just your standard. Uh, it was a I mean at that time I don't remember which one, I'd been through a lot of them but a standard 4,500, I think PSI pressure washer, and I would do three a day for this company who had sold all these Groupons. And so I was sitting in my truck doing subcontract work for that. It was like towards the end of the day I was soaking wet, smelled like bleach and was sitting there and I was like I don't, I don't, I don't want to work for these guys anymore. I want to do something for myself.
Speaker 3:And I was doing a lot of side work. Like I had a lot of like painting gigs that I was doing on the weekends and so I thought I had one lined up for like 2700 bucks and I called my wife and I was like, hey, I did the math. With what you make at Starbucks, I think we could pay rent and if tips are good groceries, so I was like let me go out and like try to start my own painting company. She was on board, so I called my boss, was like, hey, this is my last day. I quit immediately.
Speaker 3:And then I thought I had that $2,700 job lined up, so that was me.
Speaker 3:I was going to get a half you know 50% deposit that would like fund my business and he canceled the job. So I had 12 bucks and no job and I just I had committed to my wife that I'd do whatever it took to make it work. And so I knocked on doors, called real estate agents would go to real estate offices and just pass out business cards and pretty quickly I had a number of jobs and then happy customers who started referring me and it just grew from there and so I started just me painting houses and over like a decade built one of the biggest painting companies here in Texas and then started franchising three years ago. And so Rezzy and that one painter grew really fast in the last three years. But there was like 10 years of me building one business in Austin, texas, as that foundation originally, and so sometimes I think people think like Rezzy and Pinks and that one painter were overnight successes and in my head it wasn't. It's like it's all part of one journey. That's been 13 straight years for me.
Speaker 1:It's incredible and it's incredible to see you know how, how the business has grown. You know painting. We talk about certain businesses and franchising that you can. You can really set your watch to. You know, I come from the senior care world where, if you look at the average gross revenues across the board for basically every senior care brand, it's very consistent and it's low investment and it's high need. And the same is true of painting. Painting's one of those businesses that, if you look at it, from that one painter to Serta Pro to, you know, wow, one day painting there's plenty of others. It's very consistent, the model is great. It's high, high need. You guys can do big jobs. Um, I mean, yeah, it's a great business, yeah yeah, I love it if painting is.
Speaker 3:painting is like dollar for dollar. It's the biggest improvement you can, or the most drastic improvement you can make to your home, so like there's no other service you can do that has as dramatic of an effect on the look of a home for the same price. And what's amazing about that is that it's a really great opportunity. You can make a big difference. You can get involved with interior designers, realtors, all that kind of stuff, and then even in recessions, people might not replace their kitchen cabinets, but they might choose to do a cheaper option and just paint their cabinets or hold off on the full remodel and just paint the home, and so it's it's. It's just one of those tried and true, you know, really important home services, and so painting has been been it's. I mean, it's a really good foundation to what Rezzy had and now we're, you know, tackling more and more home services as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's. You're right, I mean it's, it's. It's a very, it's a great way to change the dynamic of your home very quickly for less, which is, which is amazing, really impressed by is. We sent you a client who, who was a former franchise or at my last franchise that I was a part of in senior year, and he signed up with you guys last year and now he's adding my God, he's doubling his units that he already has and, from what I've heard, the numbers that he's been able to produce with his business are just mind boggling. I mean to the point where he might be lapping your guys locations in another year.
Speaker 3:He could. I'm a competitive so I'm going to try to not let him beat my locations, but I mean he is, he is fully neck and neck already with what we were doing, fully neck and neck already with what we were doing patients and so I mean he is, uh, built an amazing team and they bought a whole bunch more territory. Uh, that will launch next year and uh, yeah, I'm, they're just good people, like good people. They follow the system, they follow the process. Um, good people following a good system, building something great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and, and you know again, it's like Stephen you had, as we listened to your story, um, and you've talked about you know, initially I wanted to be the biggest painter in Austin and people laughed. And then I wanted the biggest, be the biggest painter in Texas, and people laughed. And now I want to be the biggest painter in the U S the world. Maybe, um, I mean, I don't know, I don't know if you've proven time and time again that nothing can stop you. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Uh, I think, like when you you commit to an idea, you commit to a goal and you just keep working at it and building off of it and you get other people to believe that same vision with you, like pretty quickly things start to feel possible. Right, and so we have a ways to go to be the largest painting company in the U? S, but, um, I genuinely believe it's going to happen, and and it's going to happen because we're amazing franchisees and I think collectively we will be the largest painting brand. And then for us, like this is something new that we've been doing, um, with that one painter, but but also with pinks. That's something that they just started doing at their executive calls and their confirmation calls. So we have franchise candidates that are on a call and they're learning about our brand and stuff.
Speaker 3:We end the call and we say, hey, at the end of this call, I have homework for you. I want you right now to Google painter in or window cleaner in your city and I want you to find who has the most reviews and I want you to screenshot them and I want you to put who has the most reviews and I want you to screenshot them and I want you to put them as the background on your phone for the next week or so, and I want you to look at that and visualize yourself beating them and you now are the number one in your city, and if that's not something that gets you excited, if that's not going to be your goal, don't be a Resi Brands franchisee. It's not the right fit for you, because we are a highly competitive brand. We want to build significant legacy businesses, prominent ones, not just something small, and so I think with that, I think if we attract people who have that mindset which we are, together, we can build some pretty amazing things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I think visualization is one of the most powerful things. Certainly, anytime we've had high levels of success, we've had a goal and we've been laser focused on the goal and you are what your goal is. I mean, you want to get there. You've got to have an aiming point, whereas if you're just wandering and you have no aiming point, you're never going to get there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. I think there's power in seeing it every single day in front of your face, you know. So I love that you guys do that because, um, it's so easy to get distracted and forget and move on to something else. But the constant reminders will really help and fuel that competition. And I love I mean I love when we're on the franchisor calls. You know it's friendly competition, you know you want to cheer everyone on, but you also want to beat them.
Speaker 3:So.
Speaker 2:I think that that's key in these businesses, too, is like, you know, it's fun, it's like, okay, you know what these guys did great this week, but we're going to, you know, smash them next week.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, we know, no, and you guys have that competitive, you guys have that competitive spirit. Cause even when I was like, I was like, hey man, pinks is our newest brand. Uh, like, I almost tried to talk you out of it, cause I was a little bit, I was like I just wanted to. I wasn't trying to talk you out of it, but I was trying to just make sure that like, like you're starting up with a new brand, new one, are you sure that's what? And I remember you were like I'm going to be the biggest, best, pinkest franchisee. I'm going to win. That's that mindset.
Speaker 3:And look, that doesn't mean it happens overnight. It's a lot of work. It could take years sometimes to beat your competitor who's been there for a while. But that mindset of that's what I'm going after and I want to be a winner in my city. I want to build the biggest and the best window cleaning, pressure washing company in my city. That's what you have to have. Isn't that what employees want? They want to work somewhere where people actually have vision and dreams. We're going to have better teams. You're going to have a better team when they know, oh, they're going somewhere and then they see more opportunity for themselves by working with you and working for you, right, and so I think it's. I think it's huge, and I, I think a lot of business owners are. You know, that's like a missing piece for them. They just don't haven't set big enough goals for themselves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1:You know um we so there's a pinks monthly revenue record which we don't own yet. Um, but we can get there this month.
Speaker 1:And so we that's we're really using it to motivate our team and say here's the number where we have to get to, and we're laser focused on it. We are watching that schedule every day. And you know, stephen, people ask me all the time. They call, you know, and they want to know what our experiences are as Pink's franchise owners, as Resi franchise owners, owners, and they're like tell me about the ceo model, how much free time do you have? And I'm like, you know, here's the thing yes, we have a gm that that he's out there doing the the nine to five. He's out there. We have an unhappy customer, he's, he's dealing with that. But we are watching this business, we are living this business. We I'm constantly watching the schedule, watching our guys going to the jobs and are the building collecting. I'm you know, jill and I are the ones depositing the checks.
Speaker 1:So when people talk to us because for so many years, especially coming out of COVID, there was such this desire for people to have passive income and have this extra business while they kept their job and it's, we're really seeing now that people are saying wait a second. No, there's fun in building a business. It's rewarding to build a business. It's smart to have a team that can help you build your business, but ultimately you're the one that has to make it special. You know, it's like I always point to Captain Kirk back here. Captain Kirk was the difference maker. He had to make it special. You know, it's like I always point to captain Kirk back here. Captain Kirk was the difference maker he has to make. He had a team full of great people right, you know, spock's his right, right hand man. Tons of talented people, but ultimately captain Kirk had to make the call. That's right. Well, cause he's sitting here over my shoulder and he dealt with some serious crap is crap and you know when you've got con hunting you down.
Speaker 1:So all of us start well, nerdler over here uh yeah, no, I get it, but it's like that's why I have him there is that, you know. Yeah, part of it too with being a business owner is that visualization and knowing that I can. I can, you know, meet my challenges and succeed, and I should want to be the difference maker and make it special well, I think that's.
Speaker 2:I think what what you said in there was really important is could we let our GM just run the business and not touch it? Yeah, probably, you know, with within reason, but there's, there's fun and there's, you know, we want the business yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:You guys have drive and you want to build something.
Speaker 2:Part of it too, it's not something that we want to just hand off. We want to build something. You want to be a part of it too. It's not something that we want to just hand off. We want to see the day to day. We want to make a difference. We want to, you know, lead by example, and so you know. I mean there's fun in that too. It's not just a job, it's seeing something that you're, you know, you're creating and you're putting together. So you know. So I want people to understand that part of it too is it's not, it doesn't. When it's yours, it doesn't feel like a job. It's exciting, it's stressful, but there's a different type of excitement and motivation that you have when it's like your baby.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3:I think people should be less concerned with whether or not it's passive and whether or not they're going to enjoy business as a passion and purpose.
Speaker 3:And that doesn't matter what type of business, just like the art of building a business like you can find a lot of reward, personal purpose and passion in whether it's window cleaning, painting, senior care, whatever it might be is the fact that building a business and building something for you and your family and for the next generation, it's also part of like improving this. You know the American economy by creating new small businesses Like there's a lot of purpose in that and you can find a lot of passion in that. And then, yeah, if you build a great team and and they're able to handle most of the day today for you and it becomes a little bit more passive, then that's a win. Right, so you can do. But a lot of great business owners once one business is like almost like self-managing, they just start another one, like because they love the process. And so and I think that's that's really what people should focus on is how do I get myself out of the day to day, not so that I do nothing, but so that I can do more?
Speaker 1:Yes, well, and that's interesting, how the world has really changed. Um, and if you look at it, it's blue collar um, businesses have really taken over and we, um. I don't know if you've ever met Marco Samora, who's a co-owner of Amada senior care. He's a good dude, you'd like him. He was on our podcast a couple of weeks ago and he made a very interesting statement. Remember what he said. He said um, I wish I could go back in time and not go do the MBA. Uh, and he's like you know, if my son comes to me and says I want to do an MBA, or even just hey, dad, you know it's going to be 200, 400 grand for college, his point is I'd almost rather offer you the option to take that two to 400 K and put it into a business, because even if the business doesn't succeed, you will learn more.
Speaker 3:Um, um, yeah because you're right, in it with everybody.
Speaker 2:Learn by example. You learn as you do um you can learn in a textbook, but until you're actually in it, it's just, it's a whole different world, right? Yeah, it's just, it's a whole different world Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the whole philosophy of embracing the heart and we tell almost everyone to a T I think everyone that we talk to your first 18 months are going to be rough because you've seen there's so many franchisees that are out there that you know they get six months in and they decide to hate it.
Speaker 1:And it's everybody else's fault but theirs, when the truth of the matter is, hey, man, it's your business. The first 18 months are critical. Sometimes you're going to have to put more money into that business than you thought you would. Those are just facts. What's interesting, we have franchisees or clients who have bought franchises through us, and all kinds of different franchises, and in almost all of them you can point to the client that we spoke of earlier, who is scaling with tons of units, and at the same time someone else signed up as that client and they're just sitting there, they're complaining, they are not doing anything.
Speaker 1:And this is something that I said on a pink's group call yesterday. To prospective franchisees I said listen, mindset is so important as a franchisee, yes, no-transcript, and it's going to be easy to want to go talk to them, because it's much easier to complain than to just go work and kick ass. And so my advice is never go to that crowd. Find the top performers and be their friend and don't get into that noise, because it will hijack your business and that of all things, will steal your money.
Speaker 3:Like you guys are hitting it like right on the head, like it is. I had a new franchisee come in and, uh, he's crushing it, brand new, just launched, I don't know, maybe two months ago, crushing it and he, you know, had the misfortune of talking to a couple of bottom performers who were just complaining. And his response response he just he called me and he goes, he goes. There's a few people he's like and he's like it's poison. He's like it's poison. He's like if I he's like I had to shut that out because listening to their complaints is just going to mess me up, he goes, I am focused on building a great team and I'm going to build the best painting company in his city. And like it's just a, just a mindset. And like you had like mindset. Everybody talks about how important mindset is, but mindset is only as good as you protect it Right. And you have to protect it with what you say, but also what you listen to and who you let speak into your life or what you allow them to talk about around you, and so I think it's a huge piece. And yeah, in every single brand you have winners and losers. That's what makes averages. And yeah, in every single brand. You have winners and losers. That's what makes averages that question why not me?
Speaker 3:And they ask it in two different ways. So, like winners, look at, you know we'll talk about, like, that franchisee who's on track to to catch up soon with our corporate locations and that one painter. You know they're asking the question why not me? And it's a positive question, it's all right. Well, what are they doing that I can't do? Why can't I do that? And then there's all right, he has a good team, let me build a good team. All right, they follow this system, let me follow that system. Why not me?
Speaker 3:Right, and then you have people asking the same question, and so there, but it's like they come up with all these reasons why it won't work for them. And so it's the same question. It's just, are you coming up with a list of excuses or a list of expectations for yourself? And if you come, if you say, hey, why not me? Well, like, what are they doing that I'm not doing? And then you come up with a little bullet point, list of things that you need to do, and you set those expectations up for yourself, or you can come up with a list of excuses of why it won't work for you and that's like. It's that simple. On the difference between who's going to win and lose yeah, I think that's so perfect.
Speaker 1:It's true and you're right. Look, it's the world.
Speaker 1:You can go into any classroom and there's A students, b students, c students, d students it's like we all have. I saw. I read this morning that the average American male lives to be 74 years old. I mean, that's not a long time, uh, and it's like, why not take your shot? Um, humans are so freaking resilient they really are. I mean you, we've talked to people that have come back from bankruptcy to full on successful entrepreneur. Yeah, so, no matter how bad you think it is, you can still pull the nose of the plane up and you can still go do everything. Who, I think? Henry ford came out and recovered from bankruptcy and changed the world. So point is is that people are always so afraid about what if I lose everything?
Speaker 2:well, steven started with 12 dollars. You know right, you can lose everything and start.
Speaker 3:Steven started with $12. Right, you can lose everything and start over.
Speaker 2:But you know you didn't have a choice, yeah.
Speaker 1:So Wait a second, can we go back to that? Your wife's working at Starbucks. You lose the big job.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:You guys have kids at that point.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:And we had no car payments and our rent was 600 bucks.
Speaker 1:Okay so it was bad, but it wasn't that bad.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it was still newlywed and her husband is wanting to start a business immediately after getting married. But she was on board. She was like, let's try now. She's always said she knew it would only get harder later. So she's like let's it now. And so we went for it and and, to be honest, like for a while it was just me literally painting houses. That was it. And eventually then it was like me hiring friends and teaching them how to paint and stuff, and it grew from there and you know, I didn't have I mean, I didn't even understand a P&L, like I didn't. I ran everything. I didn't have an LLC. I ran everything through my personal bank account for the first year until I met with a CPA at the end of the first year and she's like you don't have an LLC set up. I was like, no, I was like how do you do that? She goes well, let's get on LegalZoom together. And she literally did it there in front of me because she's like you need this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's such a good story, but I love how you said that it's like that. I don't know. It's that picture about like I don't know the iceberg or something and it's or. It's like the path is all rocky and all we see is like the big mountain, but you don't see all the things that go up to it.
Speaker 2:It's like those first 18 months are hard, you know, and you have to get through it and it's so. I see why people get discouraged. I see how it can be frustrating, but you've got to really power through it Absolutely. And you know, every time we talk to someone about it it just reinforces it for us too. I guess we do, but it's true If we look at insiders and what we're doing with pinks. You know it's not easy at the beginning.
Speaker 3:But you know, again, it's like there was, yeah, franchise insiders, like it's not easy to to to break into the consulting world and do as well as you guys have done, and I'm sure that first little while was super nerve wracking and was a grind for a while before you guys got to where you're at.
Speaker 1:The first five months of franchise insider. So jill and I decided to um take out a full page ad in southwest airlines magazine um to start up.
Speaker 1:so we had sold our house, we were both working in corporate america and we were so fed up, um, we decided on new year's eve um, jill and I have different recollections of this, but to my recollection, new year's's Eve in Huntington Beach the discussion was which one would keep the job, which one would quit, got it. New Year's morning it was we're selling the house and we're both doing it.
Speaker 2:No, it was the same story, okay.
Speaker 3:I love that. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:So then we sell the house and then we do a deal with Southwest airlines, cause the thought was, hey, business travelers are going to see the ad in Southwest.
Speaker 2:And they had a franchise section. Not yet.
Speaker 1:No, we started that. So $8,000 for a full page ad. After selling our house, maybe we had a couple hundred grand to our pocket and we rented a house. So first five months we didn't make any money. I believe it was the first five months no money. No one called them yet. No one initially. And then finally, yeah, an airline pilot. Uh, who, super cool dude. He's like I've been seeing your ads. He was a little older. He's like I basically fly from vegas to honolulu and back, you know, a couple times a week. That's my job, he's like. But I'm looking for a business for my daughter and he saw her ad, so that becomes her first sale from southwest. And southwest for us was our main branding and revenue generator and, as jill mentioned, it became so successful that southwest said, hey, we're going to create a franchise section.
Speaker 1:So we're going to give you guys a free article. And then um, other franchisors started signing up too, so at one point there was like 10 different franchises advertising in this section, and then covid came and killed it um, they just done.
Speaker 2:We're not doing the magazine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it wasn't a profit center for southwest. Southwest I don't know how, but southwest basically said we're not coming back, it's not sanitary. Um. So then jill and I had to come magazine what's that?
Speaker 3:they just got rid of the magazine because it wasn't sanitary and and it was at first.
Speaker 2:There was like a little talk like we might bring it back, but also no one was traveling, it wasn't. You know, germ-wise I have no idea. I mean it just overnight our number one ad source.
Speaker 1:That was where we got. All our business was from Southwest and we tried United, we tried American, we tried Delta.
Speaker 2:Nothing else worked.
Speaker 1:We tried like we tried a private jet magazine. Nothing else worked except Southwest was amazing for us.
Speaker 1:And so then we're sitting in the middle of COVID and our number one lead generators gone, and all of a sudden, covid is happening. It's like who the hell's going to ever buy a business? And so we switched to Google and, fortunately, google became our number one source. But it's again, it's it's. We could have at that moment, on any of those moments, packed it up and said we're done. But we pivoted, we changed, we evolved with the times, and I think that's just what entrepreneurs have to do. There's not always going to be this guardrail in place for you. And so I mean again it's such a. It's a cool.
Speaker 3:One day, suddenly Google will stop working because everybody starts searching on chat GBT for franchises and then you have to figure out how to get ranked. It's just a never like that's business. That's how it works. Like your vendors are going to change, your lead sources are going to change. It's like those things change over time and that's OK. You just move along with the with the way you know.
Speaker 2:You know it may not be conventional and it might be risky, but you know, you never know what you're going to get out of it. And so I think, being a business owner, you have to be able to pivot and you have to be able to change, and you have to be able to, kind of like, accept a loss and move on, you know, and not dwell on it. So you know it keeps you on your toes.
Speaker 1:I think that's perfectly said. Stephen, there's something I didn't know. We've got so many brands and stuff to talk about with you, but I also want to talk about this steven. So here's steven. He started with the the, you know, 14 bucks in his pocket, 12 dollars, excuse me, yep. Now steven's parents work for resi brands yes there are. There are sales. Mark their sales right yeah.
Speaker 3:So my. So what happened there was, we were doing so the first year of that one painter, we sold, I don't know, 27, I think, franchise units. So not bad, but but you know, uh, there's been plenty of. We've done a lot more than that, but 27 is pretty good. And we were doing a lot of like trade shows, a lot of like franchise gator type stuff and it you know we're, and then, just honestly, we're selling a lot to friends and family. And then we knew there was this great way of connecting with franchise candidates through franchise consultants. But we hadn't really tapped into that yet.
Speaker 3:We had become a member of Friendserve and not made any progress, and so I was just thinking about it one day. So I went over to my parents' house and I was actually trying to originally recruit my dad, and my dad just made too much money with the job he was at and stuff, so I wasn't even able to afford him. And so I went back over to my parents' house a few weeks later and I was like, hey, mom, so you know how you like bragging on me. She goes, yeah. I was like, do you want to do that full time?
Speaker 3:And so I gave her this. Like I didn't even give her a base salary, I gave her, like basically, a tiny little draw against future commissions and got her to quit her job. And I said here's a list of fan serve consultants. We're paying for this membership. I haven't talked to them, I don't know them, but they know a lot of people who want to buy franchises, and so she just called all of you, like just called you know, friends or consultants. Ultimately, she ended up calling you too, and and that's how we ultimately got connected is she called you and and so she started once a week, steven, once a week. And so she did such an amazing job.
Speaker 1:And at first, at first, I'm like who is this lady? Such an amazing job. And at first, at first, let me, who is this lady?
Speaker 3:yeah, that one painter, what franchise is this like I didn't know right? She set a goal for herself. She said if I call 10 franchise consultants a day, I will send. I will sell 10 units a month. That's what she convinced herself of. If I call 10 consultants a day and sometimes it was calling the same ones over and over, and sometimes it was calling new ones but she's like, if I call 10 consultants a day and sometimes it was calling the same ones over and over, and sometimes it was calling new ones but she's like, if I call 10 consultants a day, I will end up selling 10 units a month. And she sells 10 units a month, every month.
Speaker 1:She is a master of visualization. We had a really good talk the other day. Um, I was having kind of a. I have those days too sometimes where it's like man, this is, this is tough, and she basically said to me you can't do that. She says, here's what I'm doing and she's like you need to visualize that too and I'm like you know what You're freaking right Like. The way we got to our best, our most successful years ever, was by having a goal and visualizing and going for it and cutting out the noise. And there's so many people right now that want to say, well, you know the election's coming and maybe I'm put things on hold and you can, but you know, I think it's like cody sanchez was like, but it ain't going to change anything. It's ultimately you that's going to change things yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:My mom's an amazing uh person. She's an amazing coach in that way too, like she, and so so a year later, she had done so well with for us that my dad quit his job and came to work for us too, and now, actually, we have a team of six people that are on our franchise development team, and I just made her VP, and so she got promoted last week, and so it's a unique thing, right? I don't think that most franchisors have hired their parents to help them sell franchises, but my parents have done an amazing job and you know, they lead that team, and it's really cool to see.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. It's an amazing story. I mean so much of this is amazing how you guys have changed franchising. So we'd be remiss, stephen, if we didn't just talk a little bit about some of the other things that are happening. Obviously people know about that one painter, great franchise, great subcontractor model, very scalable Pinks window services. Anyone that's tuned into this podcast you're here probably because you're interested in Pinks. You know about all the fun that Jill and I are having scaling Pinks and you know, stephen, we've talked a lot about. You know all the fun that Jill and I are having scaling pinks and you know, stephen, we've talked a lot about. You know, going back to how we talked about Franchise Insiders, early struggles Just very quickly, our pinks journey has been. We really took off fast. Three months in we were hitting the monthly goal that we wanted and then summer came and here in South Florida, you know, we lose all our snowbirds.
Speaker 3:They go back up north.
Speaker 1:Summer was really slow and it's hot, and then now all of a sudden it's like dude, we're jammed. So Pinks has been a great journey for us, but Steven, what else is cooking at?
Speaker 3:Resi Brands. What should people know about? Yeah, we have Garage Up, which is garage door repair and garage renovation, and then we just now are officially have a new franchise brand called Action Exteriors, which is roofing, gutters, siding and windows, subcontractor model, super high ticket. That's as of a week ago that we have the FDD live and so a lot of interest. I've done over 30 interest calls at this point, so we have a lot of people interested right now. We're only selling in 10 states right now. So we're starting yeah, storm markets and southern states where it's more year round activity. Uh, we are. It'll be 14 to 16 states soon after a few uh, a little more paperwork and whatnot's done. But 10 states right now. It'll go to 14 to 16, somewhere around there, and then that'll probably be the only states we sell in for for about a year, until until we feel like the model is also proven for the north northern states with less storms. But right now we're focusing on more storm states.
Speaker 3:So really, really, really good brand. I think the branding is phenomenal. Really good system that we've put together for it. We're really excited about it. And then coming next year will be Monty's Handyman Services, which we're building here in Austin right now it's going really, really well. We've got a team Handyman about to hire another one, we've got a sales guy. It's going very well, but we're working out everything for the franchise system still so, sometime next year we'll be franchising that as well for Handyman Services.
Speaker 1:Steven, we have a client who owns a Best Choice Roofing in Louisiana and he's I don't even think he's 30, um, yeah, and man, his first year, holy smokes. I mean roofing, and you're adding on windows next. I mean, if you all out there listening can get your hands on a roofing business, dude they are.
Speaker 3:I mean, they're some of the best numbers in franchising and what I can tell is like this is the coolest looking franchise in the roofing space. Like the branding is. We're not done with the full website and stuff yet, but like you, when you guys we've sent out little teasers but we're going to do some videos, you're going to see what it looks like. This is going to be the coolest thing in roofing and exterior renovation like hands down.
Speaker 1:Very cool. It's a great space and Monty's that's a great space too, because there's so many people out there like me who have no idea how to do anything around the house. I mean, we've got like at least three light bulbs.
Speaker 2:We're not a good team. We're literally waiting for one more thing to break so we can call someone. So we're living with light bulbs out.
Speaker 1:We have three light bulbs out Cause I don't know how to change them. I mean, honestly, I can't.
Speaker 3:It's not my deal. I I'm a decent painter right, but I don't do much around the house now.
Speaker 2:I mean it's great. We, we live in a um. You know, we live in a community and so there's, a. Facebook page and I would say the number one question in there is who has a good handyman?
Speaker 2:you know, because you want someone that's trusted. You want someone that someone else has used. You want the referrals because you never know who you're letting in your house. You know, I mean this with all home services. But the handyman thing, really, because you may be really good at painting and doing other things, but there's other things you're not great at.
Speaker 3:So yeah, all that junk drawer, sort of like to do list Right and that's. We also have a maintenance plan built in and so we can come out to your house every other month and take care of all those like checking the light bulbs, water filters, AC filters, smoke detector, batteries, Like. We have like a checklist that we're working through. We're improving it right now, but, uh, that's all we're selling. We've been selling like four memberships a week, um, um to our, to our membership program, and so, uh, that's that's been going really well and I think it adds reoccurring revenue to a handyman service which is typically kind of just one day jobs. Um, this, this is. I think it's gonna be huge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's great. Anyone I can get on like a subscription or reference is like perfect, so I don't have to think about it. They're here You've been sending your laundry out, so it's like a no brainer.
Speaker 3:I need to do that. I need to do that yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, listen, it's we're all about things, things that allow us to put our time into more productive endeavors, and so any service that can make our life easier is is a great thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's exciting. Well, yeah, monty's action. Monty's will be next year action. If anybody's interested, I would love to chat about it. It's it's a very, very good business to be in. That's what I'll say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're a action. It's, it's a very, very good business to be in. That's what I'll say. Yeah, we're Action Exteriors. For all of you that want to talk to us and have us introduce you over to Rezzy for Action Exteriors text us 305-710-0050. Or even if you go right to Rezzy Brands, just mention that you found out about Action through the we Bought a Franchise podcast and they'll take great care of you. But, like Steven said, it's one of those um franchises that probably is not going to last long. I mean you, if you want to get your hands on mighty dog or best choice, um, they're mainly not available at this point. They're mainly sold out. So now you can have the power of Resi brands behind um a great concept, whether it be action or in the future.
Speaker 1:Montys and Steven, I just want to say one more thing in terms of what Rezzy does, because one of the questions people ask me is hey, does their advertising and marketing, does it really work? And I in the beginning I'm like look, I probably would count on maybe 30, 40% of our business coming from this is not you guys saying it's me saying it um, from their marketing efforts. But as I look at our calendar today, 95% of our estimates are from Facebook, google, instagram, the efforts that you guys do, um, so when people ask about oh man, is it worth it to pay the royalty? Of course, because you know what? If we didn't pay that royalty for that marketing, we'd have to hire that person and we'd have to pay them 50 grand a year. And guess what? They quit on us at the worst possible moment. So having that ability to have you guys cover that for us is wonderful. And your team reaches out every single month and says hey, here's the response from each channel.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I saw your truck, I took a picture of it again because they're seeing the logo, they're seeing the oh yeah, I mean again, I laugh because it's window washing. It would have never in a million years recognized a window washing brand somewhere. But they're seeing the brand, and so you guys are doing such an amazing job with that and it's helping us yeah.
Speaker 3:And that's where, like marketing I think is not always fully understood is marketing is like marketing is a whole picture, like it's. Running ads on facebook is one piece. It's very critical piece in in marketing. But the branding, um, the way that a van looks, the way that the swag feels when you wear it, like all these things matter and they're all connected right down to the, how the franchisee represents the brand when they go up to the house. It's all part of a marketing strategy, right? And and ultimately that's something we want to excel at is making more content, more eye-catching content and ads than anybody else has for that, for that industry. And so, um, pink's, you know, we, I think, has spearheaded that and we're now implementing a lot of those strategies across all of our brands and I think it's going to be like we.
Speaker 3:We believe that Rezzy will be the largest trades franchise in the world, but not only that. We believe it will be brands that people actually remember and talk about and and that'll make them the most well-known. We're talking about household names. Will it happen for every single one of our brands? I don't know, but I think it will happen for a lot of them and I think it's already happening for pinks that one painter is getting recognized a lot now in different places and more influencer projects and stuff happening, and so I think that's the new era of advertising. It's not just pay-per-click, it is thinking about marketing as a holistic strategy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got to be across all channels. I think that's exactly right and it's changing. You're seeing. You got to use them all because it's always, like you said, it's always evolving.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, I think it's important to remember like building a business like we're talking about is a very, very rewarding endeavor and whether it's Rezzy another franchise or something on your own, like, I tell people all the time like, get into business. Like get into business. Like it's going to be hard. Every single franchisee I've ever met, I've ever talked to, they've all wanted to quit, normally somewhere around month four to month eight. There's going to be a bad day, sometimes a bad month, sometimes a bad quarter. Right, you guys said summer was rough because all the snowbirds like and there's, yeah, but that's, that's the journey and it makes it more like worth it when, a more rewarding, when you do have your wins.
Speaker 3:Everything was easy. You, you wouldn't, you wouldn't feel that proud of yourself when you finally built something. You're proud. You know what I mean. Like you actually built it and accomplish it. You can be proud of yourself now because you, you weathered those storms, you went through those bad days, you went through the you know, doubt and the questions of like, oh, why did I do this? It was so much easier when, when I had my steady nine to five or whatever, and and it's like yeah, but like on the other side of it. It is so much more fun and rewarding. I think people should do it, but it doesn't mean that it's easy, and a franchise makes it simple, but it does not make it easy, and so I think it's a worthy endeavor and I think people should go for it.
Speaker 1:You know, on my wall you can't see it, but there's the sign from my grandfather's general store, from maybe 1920 Johnson store, and I have that up there on my wall. Uh, and if my grandpa just worked in some company, um, that wouldn't be up on my wall If grandpa was a successful accountant. No offense to accountants, you're wonderful people that help us.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, we appreciate you, but I don't know that.
Speaker 1:I would have anything up on the wall. And to all of you out there who are considering, you know, making this change, no, nothing's promised, but that ability to build something, take it from people that have, from Steven, on a smaller scale, us. It changes your world, um, and there's no prouder feeling than when you build something and you're highly successful at it and you do good things and you help people and you have changed the world, steven. You have changed the world. You have changed franchising Um. Yes, you have, you've changed franchising Um. You are making home services. You are making home services cool. I like to give horsepower brands a lot of credit for starting sort of the revolution.
Speaker 3:I appreciate that and that's what we want to do. We want to help franchisees build prominent, successful businesses in their local market, but we also want them to have the benefit of a nationally recognized brand. And I and that's that's very rarely been done in home services. You think it's? It's? It is done quite often in, like retail or food. Um, but it's been very hard for people to achieve that in home services and that's what we want to do. I believe it is. What will set us apart longterm is having nationally recognized home service brands and that's a huge advantage as a franchisee.
Speaker 3:If you're part of a brand that's nationally recognized, pretty soon, like, you won't know where some of the leads came. Just because they come, because people know about. I tell people all the time once, when branding is done properly, not just marketing, not just pay-per-click and all that, but branding is done properly. Like when I go to the fridge and I grab a Coke I don't know which which one of their advertisements uh, made me buy, or like, grab that Right, and neither does Coca-Cola. They don't know why I grabbed that. They have no idea. Branding eventually it, it, it when done well, can be so much bigger than any marketing campaign and that's what we're hoping to achieve with our brands and home services. If it's going to take time, none of it will happen overnight, but I do believe that's what we're going to set up. We're going to build the coolest, most recognized home service brands.
Speaker 2:You're getting there, for sure You're doing it man. We're huge supporters, but you're doing it.
Speaker 1:Steven, this has been a lot going on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's fun and we have some really fun stuff planned for this next ResiCon, so can't wait. We're excited to be there this next year. Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1:All right, my friend, thank you for joining us and we'll look forward to our continued friendship and partnership.
Speaker 3:Awesome, appreciate it.