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!
From Corporate Burnout to Franchise Success: Brian Gross's Kitchen Renovation Journey
What happens when you combine 13 years of corporate experience with the right franchise opportunity? Brian Gross's remarkable story answers this question, revealing how he transformed from a comfortable but unfulfilled financial services professional into the top-performing Art of Drawers franchisee in Tampa, Florida.
Brian's journey began where many aspiring entrepreneurs find themselves—scrolling through business listings without direction, feeling like a "professional tire kicker." The turning point came when he worked with a franchise consultant who shifted his focus from simply finding a profitable business to identifying opportunities that aligned with his strengths, goals, and desired lifestyle.
This strategic approach led Brian to Art of Drawers, a home services franchise specializing in custom pullout drawers and cabinet refacing. Unlike retail or brick-and-mortar concepts requiring lengthy build-outs, his business generated an astounding $52,000 in its very first month of operation and achieved positive cash flow within months—a testament to both the business model and Brian's execution.
Throughout our conversation, Brian shares invaluable insights about franchise selection, highlighting why home services concepts can be ideal for corporate professionals seeking quick revenue generation. He emphasizes the importance of surrounding yourself with positive, solution-oriented peers within your franchise system while avoiding the "complainers" who drain energy and productivity.
Perhaps most compelling is Brian's perspective on finding businesses that remain essential regardless of economic conditions—services people need during both good and bad times. His practical advice about starting with one unit, mastering operations before expansion, and building a strong support team of professionals offers a blueprint for franchise success.
Whether you're contemplating leaving corporate America, exploring franchise opportunities, or simply curious about entrepreneurial paths, Brian's experience provides a realistic and inspiring roadmap. Connect with Brian directly at 813-335-1080 or visit thefranchiseinsiders.com to learn how his journey might inform your own.
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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, I'm Jill Johnson and today we've got a very special guest franchise owner, brian Gross with the Art of Drawers. Brian, welcome to the show. Hi Jack, hi Jill, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Of course.
Speaker 1:Great to have you, brian, and we've got lots of things to share on Brian's sort of journey through franchise ownership. But you know, brian, we always like to start the show by learning a little bit about you and what brought you into the franchise ownership world.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think my story, my background, is probably pretty familiar in the franchising world. I started in the corporate space. I worked in the financial services sector for about 13 years and really always had a desire to do my own thing, start my own business. That's something I'd looked at for years and never really knew where to start or what I was really looking for. But I was fortunate. I progressed in my career, worked for a great company.
Speaker 3:I got to that point where I was comfortable but, quite frankly, just a little bit bored of like what is next. I know I want to do more than this. I want to that point where I was comfortable but, quite frankly, just a little bit bored of like what is next. You know, I know I want to do more than this. You know I want to go out and build something. So that's where I really started looking at consulting or not even consulting but franchising a few years ago and, you know, worked with a consultant and ended up, you know, doing a complete 180, a pivot from my background in the financial services sector and buying something in home services. So I left my corporate job a couple of years ago and really focused on building a kitchen renovation business here in the Tampa Florida area.
Speaker 1:How cool is that? You know, I feel like Jill and I are always. It never ends right the home improvement stuff, especially with Jill.
Speaker 2:There's always something to do. There's always a project.
Speaker 1:Today, jill's idea was because you know we're, we want to have a sauna. Right, we want to add a sauna. I was just in for my physical and we were talking. I was talking to my doc and she's like I'm doing the red light sauna and I've been like looking at these red light saunas but they're expensive. They're like $7,000. Just like what if we turn your?
Speaker 2:shower into a sauna. We have separate showers, so that was actually me saying you could share my shower. So I don't know if I'm down for that. But yeah, we could change your bathroom into like a nice spa area.
Speaker 1:I mean it sounds super cool, a nice spa area. I mean it sounds super cool. But, brian, what do you guys do? How do you guys help homes? You know what? What does art of drawers do?
Speaker 3:Art of drawers really has a few pretty specialized product lines. One of the things we do is we build custom pullout drawers for existing cabinets and we customize pantries. So we go into a home, you know, and we customize pantries, so we go into a home and we really kind of deck out or make their existing kitchen much more accessible and much more functional. And then the second thing we do is cabinet refacing. So that's a way to get a complete facelift in the kitchen or in the bathroom without having to tear out your cabinets, without having to live through that full, multi-week renovation in your home need both of those things yeah, and is that, do you guys do the drawers to do like the soft, the soft we do?
Speaker 3:we do, we do the soft clothes. Everything has that emphasis on quality, absolutely so that's you know, that's what, uh, what people love these days the soft closed drawers and soft closed car doors.
Speaker 1:You, it's like Trey never gets the door shut the whole way, but then it just.
Speaker 2:But you can't slam doors anymore or drawers.
Speaker 3:That's the important piece. You can't slam it. You can't break everything that's inside. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so you work with a franchise consultant to help you sort of identify this franchise, and how was your experience working with a franchise consultant? Do you feel like it really kind of opened up a whole new sort of world to you in terms of franchising? Tell us about that.
Speaker 3:Working with a consultant was just a complete game changer. You know, and I spent years looking at businesses. I was, you know, my version of TikTok or social media was kind of scrolling through biz by cell and looking at random businesses, and it was that I think a lot of people would call them kind of professional tire kickers, where, oh, the numbers look good on this or this sounds interesting, but with no real direction, no real reason behind why you might actually buy or run that business. And once I started working with a consultant, we took a step back and it wasn't hey, let's just find a business that makes money. It was what are you trying to accomplish? What are your goals? First and foremost, what do you want your life to look like? What are your strengths? And now let's go match businesses that fit what you're actually trying to accomplish in your life.
Speaker 3:And so it was just so much more than just getting introduced to a franchise or a few franchises. It was really taking a step back and dialing in what's important, what are we trying to accomplish? And looking at, all of a sudden now, companies that actually make sense, and it actually became more challenging for me to. It wasn't as hard to actually move forward with the franchise. It was almost more difficult to figure out which one do I want to move forward with, because now I started to have, you know, just so many more opportunities that you know made sense. They checked all the boxes and I could actually see myself, you know, getting off the ground and running.
Speaker 1:I mean that happens, I would say, at least once a month or so. We have a client that says, what if we bought these two franchises? And of course you know, listen, everyone's an adult, they get to do what they want. But I think the best move is always to start with one and get good with good. Get good at it, don't get over your skis with units, don't try and do too much. Get really good at buying franchise, because here's the thing, here's the thing that most people don't know about. And you, you're right. I love looking at Biz by Sell too. It's fun.
Speaker 1:Franchise owners, if they're going to sell their franchise, would strongly prefer to sell to other franchise owners in their system because it's an easier, faster transaction. They're not just dealing with someone who is analyzing a P&L, they're dealing with someone who really believes in the brand. And that's why I think, brian, we were on a call earlier today and we were talking to a client about some of the neat things about being a franchise owner is that look in any franchise like take crumble, for example, crumble cookie, which is an outstanding franchise that always puts tons of pounds on me Every time we eat it's really good, but the average net profit and the median net profit and kudos to crumble for showing both of these things they're vastly different, and so what it tells us is is that there's some very good crumble franchise owners and you can see them on LinkedIn.
Speaker 1:They continue to add to their portfolio, whereas some others have decided, hey, maybe it's not for me and I think in any franchise system, that's okay. It's like a classroom. You know there's going to be A students, b students, c students, d students, maybe even less than D.
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course there's F students.
Speaker 1:Was there an F student in your class when you were good, yeah, was there Someone you knew was like an F. Brian, did you have an F student in your class? I think?
Speaker 2:we had a few. Yeah, there's always a few in there.
Speaker 1:This brings up a great point. As a parent because this is something clients say to us a lot I want to talk to every franchisee. I don't want to talk to those cherry picked franchisees that the franchisor sends me to, and our point has always been look, this is like the classroom. You want to go cherry pick and find that F student. Well, think about it. Think about your, your, your younger days. There's not much you can learn from an F student.
Speaker 1:As a matter of fact, brian, this book by Scott Greenberg and we've got to get him on the podcast, brian have you read this yet? The Wealthy Franchisee I have. This, I think, is one of the most powerful tools in franchising. For those of you listening, the Wealthy Franchisee by Scott Greenberg talks all about mindset in franchise ownership and you probably see it at your franchise conference. I know I've seen it at every one I've ever been to. The A students stick together and the D students stick together and the D students love to start shit at the franchise conference. Right, they want to raise their hand, they want to give it to the franchisor, and my opinion has always been that the D students, as a franchise owner, will rob you of your money because they want to call you during business hours and complain about what's wrong.
Speaker 3:You know it's interesting. You know I'm in a franchise that has taken off very quickly A lot of successful franchisees in the system, you know, and a lot of newer folks. And you're absolutely right, getting something started it's not easy. It takes time, right, and there's going to be challenges, especially in year one. And you see that. You see the people that have a call and that mindset is, hey, I'm facing this challenge, what did you do? Or how do I tackle this? Or you have that group of people, just like you were, saying that's what they want, to classify them as the complainers or the D students that are hey, I didn't sign up for this, I wasn't expecting this. I need someone else to fix this for me.
Speaker 3:And I think that's the cool thing about being a business owner You're not an employee anymore, there's no one else to go to, you've got corporate support. But when you have problems, you get to be creative, you get to work with people who have figured it out as well and go make a change, make things better, and that's absolutely been the case with Art of Doors. And, to your point, there are some people during the workday that I see them calling. I don't answer because I know it's just going to be negative, it's going to be complaints, and you just have to surround yourself with the people that are doing it the right way, have the right mindset, Because the coolest thing about a franchise is you're not in it by yourself. You've got your own business but you have a network of people to go work with, to go talk to. It's kind of like being a part of a team. So it's so crucial to find the top players, the people that are positive, and use those to shoot your business up as well as theirs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we talked about this on another podcast about how you know other locations are not your competitors. You know like they are, but they aren't. I mean, they are maybe internally like you want your numbers to look a little bit better, but for the most part you guys are a team and you're working together and you can help each other. Um, and I think looking at it from that perspective is very different, because then you do you have kind of like this support team and you know you want to help each other out and share information to see each other succeed. You know internally you might want to beat them as far as everybody but but it's different.
Speaker 2:It's, it's not, it's not like a real, true competitor out there. So it's really important to have that and I and I love that about this.
Speaker 1:I mean, I really now, brian, you were one of the faster growing art of George franchisees, were you not?
Speaker 3:I was yeah, so I have the top market in the system here in Tampa.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's awesome. Okay, so with us and, by the way, congrats, that's not, that's not easy to do. So congratulations to you and getting to know you as we have, I'm not surprised, you know, as pinks last year I think we we led the way. I think we're their leading franchisee, and now it seems like newer franchisees are starting with pinks and they're like kicking our ass from day one, like they're like shooting out of the gates and to Jill's points, like you want to be a top franchisee, but also it's different, right, it's like you're you're happy that this thing that you saw potential in that you wanted to help build. You see other people doing it and thriving with it and it's like, yes, this is so cool, like look at this brand. Like I saw a post from pinks yesterday welcoming like 10 new and that's okay. This brings us to a great thing to talk about here, which pinks, I think, does a great job of, which is they sell franchises and they get them open. If you go to training, your marketing's already started and you're firing up like I think it's like two weeks later. That's a really key thing for those of you out there looking into franchise ownership how many franchises have you sold versus how many have you opened? You sold 300, but you've opened 60. It's a red flag. And so there's little things like that.
Speaker 1:And that's why, to Brian's point, working with a franchise consultant is so important, because we just know this stuff right. We work with enough franchises and franchisees over the years that there's certain numbers right. Like you know, I went to see the doctor this morning and there's certain things we keep track of cholesterol, blood pressure, stuff like that. A franchise consultant can help you do that as well. There's certain things we want to see.
Speaker 1:We don't want to see a system losing more than 10% of its franchisees. We want to see them getting people open. We want to see a healthy item 19. We absolutely have to see an item 19. If there's no item 19, walk away. Don't you think? I mean, there's a fitness franchise that got into a ton of trouble in California a few years ago because they didn't have an item 19 and they were out there telling their franchise prospects all these numbers right, all the money you can make with the business, and California turned around and slapped them on the wrist. So again, everyone out there thinking about franchise ownership, make sure there is an item 19.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. You know you bring up such an interesting point especially, I think, especially about the role of a consultant. Everyone starts this process, you know, somewhere different and you know I've started, like a lot of people, where I still had a corporate job and I was looking to transition right into being self-employed. So today I'm being self-employed, you know, having more flexibility with my time. My next franchise I invest in will probably be something different than what my first one was, but my first one on my own, I was looking at brick and mortar, I was looking at fitness concepts, things that were going to take nine, 12 months to have a build out, and what that gets to is, before you, cash flow.
Speaker 3:You are probably year two when I was trying to replace a corporate income pretty quick or trying to cashflow pretty quick, working with a consultant. That's where I understood, you know, the power of home services concepts that you know could be started from a home office, where you know where I was led to Art of Drawers. My first month in operation, just you know, as you're alluding to there, Jack, we did $52,000 in revenue the first month we opened. We were cash flowing within a few months Amazing. So it was a business model for someone leaving corporate trying to cash flow pretty quick. That just made perfect sense.
Speaker 3:So you know, our drawers isn't perfect for everyone, home services isn't perfect for everyone, just like you know quick service, food or other types of models, and that's where you can look at. Where are you? What do you need to happen in the first six months, 12 months? Because for all of us that are consultants that have walked this path, that have experienced different types of brands, we can speak to what is the reality. What does your one look like in these different types of concepts?
Speaker 1:You know what I like about Brian. He keeps us on track.
Speaker 2:As opposed to someone else that we know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm like. I think it's because I watched too many political debates where they like ask them a question and then they they answer with something completely different.
Speaker 2:You answer the questions that we are asking you, which is wonderful.
Speaker 3:You're keeping. I just don't ask anything hard and then I'll do my political spin.
Speaker 1:And for those of you listening I mean Brian that's an incredible first month. Any of you interested in art of drawers, I would also just recommend make sure you review the franchise disclosure document. Make sure you speak to franchisees. Brian's example is outstanding, but it's probably not the norm. So don't go on expecting that that's what you're going to make, but you know what. Go in there with the mindset that you're going to give Brian a run for his money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, see, that's what we were saying, like that Brian is someone that could help you, but also internally a competitor, but not externally.
Speaker 1:So yeah, but for all you lawyers out there, we're putting our disclaimer in there. Yeah, no-transcript to have you, and we know you're going to help so many clients to find the right franchise.
Speaker 3:Thank you, and I'm certainly thrilled to be joining the team.
Speaker 1:And it's you know, it's that whole experience that you shared that only someone who has bought a franchise would understand, and that's why the whole mantra of our business is franchise owners helping future franchise owners. So every one of the franchise owners, franchise consultants, is either a franchise owner or a former franchise owner that has that experience that you can learn from them. We're just so proud of this, this growing team.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, brian, hear your story and just seeing you know how you worked with a consultant also, so you not only experience being a franchise owner and a franchisee, but you've also worked with a consultant. So you've been on the other side to know too and recognize the importance of that and what really helped you, and that's just gonna make you stronger as a franchise consultant too. So with all of that, we're really happy to have you and exciting stuff, yeah wanting the franchise ins was.
Speaker 3:It was just such a no brainer because of, I think, what this team brings to the table.
Speaker 3:And, having spent a few years now in the franchise space, you know we all see a lot of social media hype, right, there's a lot of people out there pushing entrepreneurship, you know, selling the upside, selling the dream, and there needs to be a balanced conversation, right, and there needs to be a sense of reality, not just, hey, you can go make a lot of money or you can be your own boss, it's hey, you can do all those. We can find opportunities that actually get you to where you want to be. Let's also talk about the reality. Let's talk about what you're looking for. Let's make sure, you know, we're doing our due diligence. And when you have this team of everyone who's been an owner has been through an exit, you know, walk the walk of everything that our clients are looking to accomplish, you know that's I think that's just really powerful. You know, that's just a lot of experience that, collectively, we can leverage. That will, you know, just put our clients in a better place and, you know, hopefully in a good place to succeed.
Speaker 1:Well, that's a great point. That's initially, before I went way off the rails. Where I was going is that when I was talking about the crumble numbers. What I love about franchise ownership is you can start with one unit, you don't have to buy 10. I know there's a lot of you out there you want to go be a big entrepreneur. Jill and I we bought five units. We probably didn't need to buy five units. Start with one or two. Get good at it, get prop, as Brian said, get cash flowing, make money. Don't sink all your money in a depreciating asset. Don't go out there and buy a bunch of vehicles right away. Be smart with your money scale. Grow, get good and if you're good at it, then there will be a neighbor franchisee that will be happy to sell you their location for pennies on the dollar. I promise you and the beauty for those of you out there, if you decide to take the plunge and try this and it's not for you you can sell your franchise. Sure, for the most part we're signing 10 year agreements, although I do think crumbles fine, but for the most part, franchise agreements are 10. Brian is yours. 10 with order drawers.
Speaker 1:Okay, you could be two months in and have a life change and say I got to sell this business and you list your business on Biz by Sell and there again you can call Brian. Brian, what's the best number for someone to reach you, by the way, I can be reached at? Okay, so you can call Brian and say, listen, I just bought this franchise. I'm a few months in but something's happened. I got to sell my business. Brian can help you do that. But, more importantly, if you're new to franchise ownership, if you're exploring it, call Brian too and learn how he can help you navigate this path as someone who's done it himself. And that's really what we love to bring to the table is helping people first understand.
Speaker 1:And, brian, our process, as you know, is such that the first thing we do is we figure out who you are, figure out what types of franchises. We've got a whole system where we actually can dig into this analysis, where we can see how you compare to top performing franchisees across multiple hundreds of franchises, and so our first step is just to say here's where your strengths are in a franchise as we see it, and here's the franchises where you match the types of franchises, where you match top performers and, if you like our analysis. The next step is we can show you five to 10 franchises that make sense. So none of it is there to provide any pressure. It's all there to be an educational step-by-step process. It's all there to be an educational step-by-step process. And what's so wild to me, still to this day, jill, is that whether you call Dogtopia direct, the franchise fee is 50 grand, let's say. Or you work with us, it's 50 grand, so you don't have to pay a franchise consultant and it doesn't cost you anything more to work with a franchise consultant.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no it's incredible value add. You know, and one of the things I think you know, people just don't know what's available in the space. You know a lot of the brands that actually make the most sense are probably brands you've never heard of, that you're not going to find on your own. And, just like you said, you know it's kind of like at this point trying to go sell your house on your own right or, if you're a buyer, trying to buy a house on your own when you can have a resource guide you every step of the way. You know, with nothing out of pocket. So you know it absolutely makes sense to at least start the process with a consultant. You know, get thinking down the right path.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think for those of you that want a major takeaway here, the best thing we can all tell you is when you're thinking about what type of business you should own, do I need it when times are good? When times are bad? Do I need it and will I pay for it when I need it? And that's really the best way to look at this is, those are the types of businesses that tend to be the best investment. Are things that people need.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think to Brian's point earlier.
Speaker 1:What are you?
Speaker 2:looking for? What are your goals? Like, yours was to leave corporate America and catch up. So what types of businesses will help you catch up first? So that's the importance of using consultants like us is that we can listen to you and what your goals are and find the best fit for you too. So, if that's really what you're looking for, or are you looking for an asset that you want to leave to your children and grandchildren? That's a totally different type of business. Working with a consultant will help you narrow that down and get something that really fits for what your specific goals are. And then to your point, brian you can get another franchise later on. Once your cashflow positive and you're doing well, you can get more territories. You can go in a completely different direction. You can become a franchise consultant. So there's so many different things you can do, but once you get to that point and you can look at what opportunity will get you there faster if that's your goal, yeah, and even just, do you want employees or no employees Subcontractor?
Speaker 1:you know, these are all things that are important to kind of go over. Brian, speaking of which, are you guys subcontractor or do you have employees?
Speaker 1:Yeah we have all independent contractors across the board and that was one of the things that that you can do subs and the franchisor can deal that, and a good franchisor will tell you all the things you need to know, because you've got to make sure you do this stuff right. One of the first things that we do not to turn this into a long commercial, but for those of you that saw the last podcast where we had Michael Reeder, michael's got a great firm that helps people set up their corporation, helps them to manage their finances, helps them to stay on top of all the tax advantages that they have as a business owner, and that's really it's a smart thing to do. Have a great finance person, have a great attorney, have a great funding source these are all things that that franchise consultants have connections and can connect you with great, proven resources.
Speaker 3:And all that whole. Having that team in place, especially for a first-time business owner, is so crucial, right? And you think about year one, where you're experiencing running a new business for the first time, running a new team, a new product for the first time, but also for a lot of us, being a business owner for the first time, being able to delegate the tax stuff, the legal stuff, some of the financial stuff Wanting professionals that will do it better than you will is just a great investment, first of all. But also just freeze up your time to be hyper-focused on growing your business, whether it's generating revenue or setting the foundation to scale in year two, year three, generating revenue or setting the foundation to scale in year two, year three those are the things you want to be focusing on, not trying to figure out your bookkeeping or something that your CPA should be doing for you.
Speaker 1:Brian, what are you seeing in terms of AI's effect on the art of drawers business? Any changes there?
Speaker 3:I think, along with Art of Drawers affecting everything, whether we realize it or not, a lot of changes are in place. One of my favorite things about Art of Drawers is our founder, our leadership. They invest heavily in technology, so we're even rolling out new design software that's coming out over the next couple of months. The back office or the corporate office they're really incorporating what's happening in our economy in real time to make changes and make sure that our franchise stays relevant.
Speaker 1:And when you guys do a job, is it through your CRM? Does it automatically once you build them, do they ask for a Google review? How does that work?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so everything starts with technology, with art of drawers. So a designer goes in and we make a design. You know, said rolling out new software will actually be 3d design here in the next couple of months and we have software in the house. We actually price everything right there in the home once everything's ordered. It's all. You know, all of our different contractors all have different roles within our software. So it just moves through the system and everything gets ordered right through that software. So you know it's, it's a job flow from day one of being in the house to the job being complete.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think it's so cool, so timely, great fit in the Florida market, great business to have there. Brian, as we wrap up the podcast, what would you say to all those people out there who listen and watch this podcast? If you had any number one piece of advice you could give, what would that be?
Speaker 3:Number one piece would be one if you have that inclination, that desire to do something different, you absolutely can, and there should be nothing holding you back. There's always going to be a reason to not take action right now, but the first step is just start the conversation, move forward, and I think the power of franchising and different types of businesses are right for different people. But you can truly move forward and I think the power of franchising and different types of businesses are, you know, right for different people. But you can truly do anything. You're not contained to what you know today. You're not contained to what your background is, you know. So I would tell you to start a conversation, explore and when you explore, just have an open mind, because you're probably going to get presented ideas that actually make sense for you, that feel completely out of left field, and it might be fine. But that's the you know, and I think that's the exciting part of this process is it just opens up so many avenues for what the future can hold.
Speaker 1:I love it. And for those of you that want to learn more about Brian, visit us at thefranchiseinsiderscom. Brian what's that phone number they can reach you on again, and my personal phone is, and you can get a free franchise consultation with Brian. You can pick his brain on what it's like to be a fast-growing franchise owner that had an incredible first month. Those are all great things, brian. Thanks so much for joining us on the podcast today. We're so happy to be teammates with you and, yeah, looking forward to continuing to help more and more people learn what this entrepreneurial lifestyle is. Is being a franchise owner Great? Thank you both for having me Take care.