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How Two First-Time Franchisees Built a Thriving Roofing Business — With Zero Construction Experience

• Jack Johnson

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How Two First-Time Franchisees Built a Thriving Roofing Business — Without Construction Backgrounds

In this episode, the team sits down with Kevin and Kathy, first-time franchise owners of Action Exteriors, to unpack how two non-constructors turned a leap of faith into a fast-growing exterior restoration business.

They share how they mastered insurance claims, learned the trades on the fly, built a team-first culture, and turned single-scope roof jobs into multi-trade projects that scale. Expect a real conversation about cash flow, subs, support, and the realities of ownership—not a highlight reel.

You’ll learn:
• Why Kevin and Kathy chose Action Exteriors based on culture and coaching, not hype
• How they turned insurance roofs into profitable multi-trade projects
• The keys to hiring slow, firing fast, and protecting culture early
• How to manage 30–90 day insurance receivables without running dry
• The right way to use subcontractor networks for scale and quality
• What “selling outcomes over items” really looks like in home services
• How they planned funding with ROBS and HELOC backup
• The path from residential to commercial roofing (and licensing in Oklahoma)
• Why local relationship marketing beats vanity social posting
• How they’re already thinking about their exit strategy and unit acquisitions

This episode is packed with real franchise ownership lessons—from managing cash and crews to building a scalable, sellable business with no prior construction experience.

👉 Interested in exploring franchise ownership yourself?
Visit thefranchiseinsiders.com
, head to our Team page, and read our consultants’ stories.
Find the franchise owner whose journey resonates with you—and start your own.




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Send us your questions for an upcoming episode at 305-710-0050.
From your pals in franchise ownership, Jack and Jill Johnson.

SPEAKER_00:

Hi everyone, welcome back to the We Bought a Franchise podcast. I'm Jack Johnson.

SPEAKER_04:

I'm Jill Johnson.

SPEAKER_00:

And we're here today with Kevin and Kathy Lou, who are Action Exteriors franchise owners, not even a year into their ownership journey. Of course, we have Katherine Allen, we have Brian Gross, Morgan Knowler, and David Sam Juan. The whole crew is here. Well, guys, thank you for joining our podcast. It's so great to have you. You know, we were scrolling YouTube the other day, and we see this video with you guys and Cody Sanchez. And I looked at Jill and I'm like, these guys are only like a few months into ownership and they're already like going around with Cody Sanchez. Amazing. How does that happen? So, guys, welcome to the show. How did that all come about with Cody?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, we really just got someone from Resi Brands saying Cody was very interested in our story just because we didn't have a construction background. And our stories, like she said, just really resonated with people just leaving their comfortable everyday jobs and just diving into business ownership. So that's why she wanted to interview us. And we were honestly like, oh wow, yeah, we definitely have to do this because this is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

SPEAKER_00:

But at the same time, I was like, oh man, we're about to be everywhere. So we helped Kevin and Kathy with their franchise search. I think we probably started just about a year ago. Does that does that sound right? October 24.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, about a year ago.

SPEAKER_00:

And so we started, as so many franchise searches do, looking at one franchise. I think initially you guys had wanted to talk to us about pinks. And now here you are, a year later, owners of Action Exteriors. So we were talking a little bit before we began the the podcast, and just some of the things that you guys were saying about how a job may start as a roofing job, but then all of a sudden you find all these other things. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's the that's the beauty of like, you know, us being action exteriors, we we focus a lot about the house itself, right? So for example, if we help a homeowner open an insurance claim on the roof, uh most likely maybe the gutters damage, maybe some of the siding too, especially if it's a storm. And all that can roll under one claim. Um, so that's part one, right? So we get the roof, we get the gutters, and maybe it's part of the siding. Part two is you know, we work with our supplementation team who will look at things that insurance might have missed. For example, some pipe jacks or um, you know, maybe uh decking, you know, maybe some the decking is old or too thin and needs to be upgraded to code. Um so we get that also supplement as well too. So for example, a$30,000 jaw might turn into like a 40 or 45 or 50. You just don't know, depending on the size of the house and what we find. Um, so that's that's kind of beauty of it as well, too. And throw throwing fence in there, right? Insurance cover cover fencing too, and we're actually exteriors, we'll we'll do fencing as well, too. Um so those things just those things add up.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_04:

And you guys don't have a background in construction or anything like that. Is this all new to you? Have you kind of learned this along the way?

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, essentially. I have a medical background, Kevin has a software background. So the only sort of quote construction experience we have is like rental property management and dealing with contractors, but like the actual trades part of it, we had no idea.

SPEAKER_04:

They sound like professionals when you're telling this story, so it's really exciting.

SPEAKER_03:

We had to dive deep to figure out to learn everything as we like were running the business. So we've dumped a lot of knowledge into these brains and try to hold on to as much as we could.

SPEAKER_04:

I love that.

SPEAKER_00:

That's great. Um, okay. So would you say, and team, I'm sure you guys have lots of questions, so please dive in. But my question is it sounds like action can do more than the the you know typical, and I don't want to say typical, but like a mighty dog roofing or a best choice roofing. It sounds like you guys can do a lot more than those standard roofing companies. Would would would that be fair?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, so that's why like that's kind of what drew us to action steers, because you're not just your roofing company, you're not just like a window company. Like when homeowners have claims, there's gonna always be more, usually more than one item that they're gonna want fixed. And like as property managers, as homeowners, you really just want to work with one contractor. You don't want to deal with multiple people and have to like work on like so many different people's timelines. So, like as we got started, we like kind of found a way to work with homeowners to work on custom projects. And like we did our first real custom project was this. Um, he had like a flat uh rolled roof that was leaking, and he really just wanted to be able to walk out onto that rolled roof that we turned into like an enclosed porch so that he could just drink his coffee and read it, read his, read a book. So we turned like a dry, leaky roof into something that was more usable for him. So that was just like our kind of our first step of like kind of doing creative projects that were exterior-based, that wasn't just roofing or siding or windows.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it allows us to be creative with the customer as well too, and offer solutions. And the example that Kathy brought on when we were when we were there, you know, again, he just wanted to fix it. It probably would have been a couple hundred bucks, but instead, you know, we're like, Well, what do you imagine yourself doing out here? And he's like, like I said, oh, I can imagine just drinking coffee out here. What if we close off this space, right? And it will extend the roof that way the water can shed off so you don't have any more water problems in usable space in the winter or in the summer, whatever you fancy, right? And you can read a book here. And he loved the idea. And then we sold him on the idea, and then we completed the project. So he was he was super happy with it.

SPEAKER_05:

Very cool. If you were to think about maybe the three things that have contributed to your success thus far in the past year, what would you say those three things are?

SPEAKER_03:

I would say we have a pretty good instinct on who to hire. So, like our main objectives is just to hire good people. It's like, can we trust you? Are you gonna be able to put in the work? And can we just get along? So, like, I would say that like that was our biggest, our biggest what do you call it? The the most important portion of our success. I mean, like our the first guy that we hired is still with us. The second guy we hired ended up leaving us, but it was honestly best case scenario. But we learned from that and then we just figure it out, and then we just kept hiring, and then we just interviewed well, and then just found another good group of people to bring along with us.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's really one of those things that we focus on here is hiring well and good people, right? Like if you have the right attitude, I can train you, I can teach you what you need to know. But you know, if you have all the knowledge and I can't we can't work together, then there's there's no point. Uh it's it's it's a liability at that point. So understanding people, bringing them in, understanding the goal, understanding that they're here for the ride, because a lot of people know that we are brand new, right? And that can be scary, that can be exciting, right? Some people, like our first hire, he was excited about it. He's like, oh, we get to build this thing from the ground up. I can look five years from now and be like, wow, we built this thing together, right? And that's the type of people that we want working with us.

SPEAKER_03:

We're just also good at making sure that our team dynamic is really good. You know, we've had ups and downs and like different things, but we just always want to come back to our main goal is to build this team around each other and not just like we're not making money unless you're making money, and like we're not happy unless you're happy.

SPEAKER_05:

Team first, team first mentality. My that's one of my pillars in my company as well, really resonates.

SPEAKER_06:

So, can we talk a little bit more about the hiring piece? You know, here a lot of people, especially with I think similar backgrounds as yours, not being in the trades, think about home services, a little bit scared about the labor pool and what it's like hiring. You know, and so we talk about some of those big exterior projects. You know, immediately when I think of your company, it sounds like people with roofing experience, but then you're talking about getting creative and you know, building kind of outdoor spaces. So, so what does the team look like? You know, I'm sure there's some the labor, but there's has to be some design, some sales aspect to it. So can you share a little bit more about that piece of your business?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, for sure. So the the hiring process is really we just we focus on again, people who just really have the urge to grow and urge to learn, right? Again, we can teach um we could teach them anything if they're willing to learn. And the good thing about working with a good franchiser like Resi Brands is you know, we have a coach that we can rely on and provide feedback with. Um, so a lot of these projects that we've like, custom projects that we've sold, it's it's kind of you know trained in us through Resi Brands. Like, hey, you know, you can you know provide value by asking the customers these type of questions, right? At the same time, on the back end of it, we need to also have subcontractors who can perform that actual work, right? Um, so that's been also another piece um that was scary at first of like, how do I find people who can actually do the work and do it right? Um and actually that ended up being the simpler piece, right? Hiring your own employees is actually harder than looking for contractors or subcontractors. Um and part of that reason is because we have a good relationship with some of these suppliers, right? We have national council with some of the biggest suppliers in the nation. We can go to our suppliers and ask for recommendation on uh subcontractors. So that's what we did, and we found really good subcontractors. But for the most part, it's just you know, again, bringing in the right people that can help you sell, that can help talk to homeowners and consult and provide the right solution for their needs. That's that's the that's the biggest piece right there.

SPEAKER_00:

I think when you guys were um were working with us at the end of last year, I'm pretty sure I mentioned to you we have a client who's in Louisiana who had a roofing franchise and that he was working towards an exit. Um he basically went two years with two units and he recently sold his franchise for six million dollars, two years in. Um I won't name the franchise, but um, it's incredible the upside on roofing, same sort of thing, subcontractor model. And you know, I I agree because I think all of us have talked about this on just about every podcast. I think the the art of being a really effective franchise owner is the people pieces managing employees. And I think one of the most important things for all of us to remember is you've got to hire slow and fire fast. And it's really hard. It sounds easier than it is because you develop relationships with people, you want to give them a chance. Um, but in business, hire slow, fire fast. If someone is hurting your business, do not let them hang around and hurt your business.

SPEAKER_07:

Let's be honest. Coming from a regular job to owning a business can be really intimidating. Kevin, with your background, Kathy, with your experience, what helped you flip the switch from employee to like confident owner?

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, if you want to be honest, I'm still scared of shit. I mean, we're still just in, and then like every day looking the books, I'm like, ooh, all right, like slow season is coming for us. I'm like, are we gonna get through it? Are we gonna get through it? I'm like, well, there's no option, we just gotta get through it. But yeah, it's still scary as hell.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and that's why we balance each other out because I'm thinking of like, all right, six months from now, we're gonna be doing this, we're gonna be doing this, we've got a girl here, we gotta hire here, and she's like, Oh, cash flow, babe.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm like, we're not buying another truck. I was like, we're not buying a truck during slow season, that's just dumb. Right? It might be on sale, but that's about it.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that because my husband and I work very closely in our business and we balance each other every day. There's some days where I'm like, oh man, we gotta go big, we have to expand. And he's like, We're doing fine, we're doing fine, slow and steady, slow and steady. And I was like, No, we have more. We have to go faster, we have to go bigger. Um, but I love that. And what what's what's next for your business and your family? And what does that look like for you two? Are you are you trying to go bigger?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I mean, we're trying to go bigger. So, like, not every state requires a specific exam, like passing a certain exam and licensing for commercial, but apparently Oklahoma does. So, like, I've been studying for this commercial roofing exam that hopefully I should be taking in the next few weeks. I just haven't gotten confirmation yet. But yeah, that's our next big step because like when it comes to commercial, like a lot of people think like big commercial, but like small commercial is just like apartments, just like regular shingle apartments. And like that's what like our next slow phase would be, just to hopefully be able to take on those like regular asphalt shingle commercial projects.

SPEAKER_02:

So, do you feel like right now you're leaving money on the table by not having that license?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, yeah. We lost a big job from like one of our employees. He had a cousin who had a big commercial project, and then that's what like fueled our fire to like get into the commercial space. So that was sad.

SPEAKER_02:

And this is something you do you specifically need? You can't hire someone that would have that license.

SPEAKER_03:

No, because like in order for the company to have the commercial license, it has to be an owner. So it has to be one of us, and happens to be me.

SPEAKER_02:

Interesting. Well, for our company and Catherine and I own the same soccer stars franchise, but we I've had to leave money on the table because I didn't have an early childhood education credential. And so I just recently put someone on staff, and thank goodness the business was still there. But I it took me a long time to find somebody that had that in order to get into some of these tools. And um, I'm very grateful for her. So she's getting paid a little bit extra right now.

unknown:

Very cool.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so here's the here's the question I have for you guys. I'm not gonna ask you for specific numbers because we we do keep this show FTC compliant, but revenue-wise this year, would you say has it been what you expected? Has it exceeded expectations? Where are you at so far? Because I I understand, hey, listen, we're always looking at our PL, but revenue-wise year to date, are you happy with where you are?

SPEAKER_03:

There's always wishes. I could always wish that we did better. Like, I'm never gonna settle. But there's been ups and downs. Like the first, like the first few weeks we opened, we're like, oh, sweet, we got three jobs. And then the second month we opened, we had one job that we actually lost money on. And I was like, oh, that sucks. And then like the next two months, I'm like, okay, maybe we'll make like be at least like like neutral, or what do you call it? Like at least like most of our expenses for the month. So like it's been up and down. Like, I wouldn't say that it exceeded my expectations, nor like I didn't know what to expect to be honest.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, that's fair. Yeah, and I agree with you. We always can do more. Um, I I think we always should shoot to do more, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, but it's been good though, I think. Uh, I think it was just learning the retail side of things and also the insurance side of things, right? How to talk to homeowners and explain to them how the whole insurance process works. Because let's be real, like how many of us actually read our insurance policy, understands it? Right. So just being able to explain that to the customer how the whole process works and make them trust you too, right? Because don't forget, like a lot of people trust their agents more than they do contractors, right? So it's just providing that value and building that trust to get them to sign up with you, and then just taking through the whole process. So, in that aspect, we had a ramp up really fast. But ever since we learned how to talk to homeowners about insurance and how to navigate their insurance claims, like that's when we kind of really saw an uptick in our revenue, right? We started, you know, getting more of these jobs, we started doing supplements as well, too. And all of a sudden our our pipelines are full of insurance claims. But downside is it takes you know 60 and 90 days to probably collect that money.

SPEAKER_00:

That's what I was gonna ask, is that's that's a huge thing that every new business owner needs to be prepared for, is what do those receivables so you're saying 60 to 90 on receivables?

SPEAKER_01:

It can be, right? Because some insurance carriers will drag their feet, right? Because I don't I don't know what their timeline is usually, but you know, we've gotten as fast as like a month, and then some of it we're still waiting on for like two, three months ago.

SPEAKER_03:

Like I think we just closed out two jobs from July. Those were pretty painful just because there was a lot of code upgrades and like a lot of back and forth. So that was a little painful.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and the back and forth is the back and forth is more of like the so the supplement process, the way it works is if they miss things, like for you know, again, flashings or they miss code upgrades, right? We have to ask insurance for more money or negotiate with it, and then they have to agree to pay for it, right? And once they agreed, then they'll cut the check to the homeowner, and then the homeowner turns around and has to hand that over to us as part of the job. So that process of doing that two or three times, because supplements, you can supplement, I don't know what the maximum amount is, but there's some projects we supplement it three times and it's just back and forth three times. So then it extends the length of the process.

SPEAKER_00:

And then do the the subcontractors require, you know, is it different? Some require 50% up front, 10% up front, nothing up front. How does that work?

SPEAKER_03:

We normally pay the subcontractor after we are happy with the work.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Then after we walk, do the walk-around with the homeowner and they are happy and they suffer they sign the certificate of completion and like we confirm that there's nothing else that needs to be done, then we'll go ahead and pay the sub because we feel like that's only fair. And like a lot of the subs like have said that they actually like working with us because we actually paid them. Or like, yeah, we're gonna pay you. As long as you do the work, we'll make sure we pay you. So we just want to keep them happy as well.

SPEAKER_00:

That's smart. That's really smart. Yeah, because you want to, especially being new, you want to develop a good reputation for taking care of those subcontractors so you can call them in. I mean, again, it was like, um, you know, Catherine, when we were at home care assistants, you know, if if franchisees got really, you know, great caregivers, you wanted to make sure you kept them busy, you kept them happy, because if you landed a 24-7 shift, you needed your A player to send um to that client. Uh, otherwise you you're leaving so much money on the table.

SPEAKER_05:

Same applies to my coaches. If I get a really good soccer coach and sorry, my voice. Um, if I get a really good soccer coach and, you know, I'm I'm expanding, I'm in an expansion process myself right now. What are other things I can have him or her do to keep him or her busy um and making money? So I bring them in for marketing and sales and things like that, just to, you know, retain that talent.

SPEAKER_00:

So we always say that the first 18 months are really the hardest of building a new business. You guys are in what about month seven right now? Where where are you guys?

SPEAKER_03:

We launched mid-May, so whatever that is, six?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So you're you're you're really you're really in that sort of in the hardest part right now. Um what would you say it's been like, you know, now that you're entrepreneurs, everything you read, all the excitement you had last year at this time looking for franchises, what does it feel like at this point? Like what uh what what would you guys say to people who are thinking about becoming franchise owners?

SPEAKER_01:

Just be prepared, I would say, right? Because you know, you you think franchise, you think, oh, playbook for success. But really, it's all in your hands, right? Like they will give you the support, they'll give you the playbook, but you still have to implement it, right? So you still have to do all of the things that business owners have to do. You know, you have to uh you know create your LLC or your corporation, and you have to, you know, uh get funding from somewhere. So all the stuff that business owners do, you still have to do, and you still have to manage, you still have to hire, right? In our instance, you still have to hire you know employees and subcontractors, bet them out. Um learn your CRN system, right? Um so franchise provides you the playbook, concepts, and then you it's still up to you to actually implement it. And you know, of course, with the support of the franchiser, which has been great for us, um, it's still a lot of work. Um, but we see the we see where we're trying to go, and we you just got to keep working towards that every day.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and as I recall, you guys uh did you guys are you open to talking about how you financed your franchise? Sure. Did you do a home equity line of credit? Am I remembering that right?

SPEAKER_03:

That's we did that as like a backup. So like our initial um funding was via ROBS, which I had never learned about until I met Ejack. Um, but I was like, oh sweet, I can use pre-tax retirement dollars and avoid all of that obnoxious SBA paperwork so that I can fund the business. So that was like a really big game changer because I had never even heard anything about ROBs. And even like when I was talking to friends and family about Robs, like no one honestly knows what it is.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, we it one of the first things we do uh is connect people to franchising sources. You probably worked with with Benedrends, um uh who you know, they do those ROBS plans all day long. And even now with the government shutdown happening and people who are waiting on SBA loans, ROBS isn't really bound by that. You also I I love the home equity line of credit, especially with so many people having a lot more equity in their in their houses. Um, we used a service called Figure, which was like we we funded in like a week. It was all done online, so we didn't have to have all those painful conversations with with banks and things like that. Um, but yeah, that that Rob's plan, for those of you listening that aren't familiar, it's a way to take your 401k from a previous employer that's not connected to your current employer and roll it into your business in a way you're investing it now into your business versus all those other businesses that you don't own. It's really a terrific way to fund the franchise.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, there's so many different ways to fund a franchise, too, that I feel like not everyone knows. So that's why we love, you know, working with you guys and working with our clients to find those sources. Like you said, you didn't even know it existed. And, you know, it's just it's so much better. And then to even have a backup, you know, with a home equity line, too. So so many different ways to do that.

SPEAKER_00:

100%.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I just had a conversation yesterday with a new client, and she that was her main question was is this normal? Are people doing this? How are they funding it? And I said, Yes, that's all of the above. Everybody's funding it all different ways, but they're finding funding and they're getting going. And so she's really excited because she was looking into more real estate investments. Um, but the marble margins aren't there anymore. They might have been 10 years ago, 20 years ago, but she just was crunching the numbers and it's not making sense. So she's going the franchise route now.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's amazing. And I and I I love the franchise model as well, too, because you have the ability to expand, right? Uh get more locations. And you know, once you figure out like your CRN system, you figure out your process, you know, now you have your own playbook, you know, as an owner, and then you can take that playbook to another location, you can grow that as well, too. And uh the model just makes sense. And you know, so far we're uh we're I think we're doing okay.

SPEAKER_05:

I recently bought a second territory and I'm in the process of expanding. And so I'm with you on that, Kevin. And um really, I wanted to really understand the business and the numbers and just have, you know, a year or so under my belt, 18 months, as Jeff says, to really, you know, understand the different revenue channels and things like that. And so now I'm expanding into that second unit and um feeling like I can hit the ground running a lot faster and be more uh work smarter, not harder, and in terms of driving that revenue. So and I have a unit or two? Or how how many we have four. Oh, you have four. Okay, never mind.

SPEAKER_00:

We actually created a um an exit calculator for our clients to to sort of aim, and it's for educational purposes, um, to to so let's like let's say you wanted to set like an exit it at three million dollars and you wanted to to to achieve a certain EBITDA. Um, you can do that with our exit path calculator because we we really want people to think about the exit um even while they're just getting started. You've got to have an aiming point. Um, and and I think understanding how franchises are valued, I think really, you know, four four units in your business put you in a very strong position to grow a large business. And let's, you know, let's be real, with all the franchise systems that are out there, the what is great, and I say this every episode is that franchises include both um exit and acquisition opportunities. And one of the things we say to all of our clients is once you get to month 18, we're gonna do that review with you to determine are we going into acquisition mode? Because there's always going to be underperforming franchisees. I was just talking to a CEO of an automotive franchise about this this morning. There's high performers and there's low performers. High performers buy low performers for pennies on the dollar.

SPEAKER_03:

Um I would say one thing that I underestimated about franchising was the relationship building. So when we were down at ResiCon and we met like so many other franchisees through Resi, like we met Daphne. Daphne is crushing. We follow Daphne all the time. I just love her posts. Like, I wish I had more time to post like her, but that's just not my skill set. But then like we met um Sue and Don and their story from New England and the T1P up there was very resonating. So it was just like very awesome. Just being like surrounded by like a successful group of franchisees and something that you can really strive to be.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm glad you brought that up because actually, and and we love Daphne, she's terrific. But I actually don't know that posting on LinkedIn does anything for her Pinks business. And I think now that um, and this is my opinion, but I I think growing a personal brand on LinkedIn for young franchisees can be counterproductive because you really should be spending that time, you know, going to the Rotary Club, going to the Chamber of Commerce, building the relationships with the local businesses. But I think young franchise owners actually might be wasting time posting on LinkedIn too much because I don't know. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03:

I wish I could just post on social more, but I'm just not. I just don't have that creative mindset of like posting these very intriguing Facebook and Instagram posts, and I'm like, oh my gosh, just let me just shoot a picture of a project we did and describe it.

SPEAKER_07:

Hey, like like Cody Sanchez says, just steal somebody else's homework. I hate posting it. I dread it. I wake up every morning, I'm like dreading what am I gonna put today and just borrow somebody else's homework. Don't steal, borrow.

SPEAKER_01:

That's probably the hardest, uh, hardest part of my day. What do I post today? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

I mean, like I would say, I'm a marketing person, so like I literally wake up in the middle of the night with like an idea and I'm like typing it in my notes on my phone, and I'm like, oh, I can't wait to have all this content. Like, that's I wish I could do that all day.

SPEAKER_07:

She's usually, she's usually who I hope.

SPEAKER_04:

So it's great though, is everyone's so different. Like Catherine Warmore, like you, right? Like we're constantly throwing out ideas you probably want to be. Um, but you know, we're constantly thinking about what to some people that's like their you know biggest hindrance. You know, they don't want to do it. And there's so many good tools out there. We've talked a lot about like using AI to help you. And David, what you said, you know, copy someone else's. You know, there's you just make it your own, but you don't have to reinvent the wheel every single time. There's so many things you can take ideas here and there. There's so many of us doing this. And you know, when you're, you know, when you have a franchise, so you have your specific location. So you're not necessarily in competition with someone else. So if it's working in their location, try it in your location. Like that might work, it may not, you know, but you're not taking visits away from them. So might as well give it a.

SPEAKER_00:

I would be careful as a franchise owner to be sharing my my hot my ups and downs on Facebook where potential customers might see me. Um, that's where I would have, I think looking at use of social media. I, if I owned an Action Exteriors, um, my thing on Facebook would be here's the work, like you said, Kathy, here's before and after. Here's how we were able to start with a roofing project and turn it into this beautiful thing that made the home more valuable. Um, I think sharing the life's really tough as an entrepreneur. Your end clients who are going to be buying your services, they don't want to hear about that. Um, so I think it's again, people need to manage their brand in a way that's authentic on social media. Um, there is a service called Hyper Fury where you can you it actually you can pre schedule your post months in advance. And what happens is it will post to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. You can choose to go to all of those channels or Or half, but I think it's also being mindful that the LinkedIn audience is different from the Facebook Instagram audience.

SPEAKER_01:

100%. And here's a story I'll share too. It's uh about LinkedIn. So my account on LinkedIn got banned because I created an action uh a new account with Action Exteriors email address, and I didn't know you can't do that. So now I'm completely banned because it thinks that my personal and Action Exteriors email is two different persons. Right? And I've tried to dispute that many times to get it unblocked, but I'm like permanently banned for LinkedIn now. But I will say it keeps me off at night because I remember used to just scrolling on LinkedIn before a bed, just like seeing what other people are doing and other businesses. And now I'm just focusing on like what we need to do in our business. And it takes time, you know. Now I have more time to focus on like the business itself versus just like posting on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_03:

So good or bad thing, whether we want him unbanned or not. I don't know. That's why I created that I don't really use much.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, on that point LinkedIn now. If you try to look for me, you can't find me because I was banned.

SPEAKER_03:

Now we know.

SPEAKER_01:

Now we know.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, if if you do want that fixed, I probably have a workaround. I have some connections over there, so I could probably a call. And on that note, I'll see if we can see that's the good thing about having a whole team now. You're you're always you know backed by the whole franchise insiders team. Also on that note, the insurance. My wife, I think we're speaking before the call, she's uh an attorney, she actually does insurance defense. So it'd be good to connect you guys with her so you guys see both sides, not just working with you know uh with the uh companies, but also with the insurance side. So you see what they're looking for, why it's taking a long time for delays for payment, things like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Gotcha. Absolutely. That'd be uh that'd be nice.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and for those of you that want to create more social media posts, um there's another worker, another shortcut. Um, Claude AI is really good at understanding a personal brand. So what you can do is upload, you know, say your most authentic, your most uh the post where you've had the most interaction, whether it be Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, um, and tell it you want to do more posts like this. This is your voice, this is who you are. And what's great about Claude is that Claude will actually evolve. And so then one day you might say, Well, I want to post this, and Claude will say, That's not on brand for you. So we really do have some excellent tools AI-wise that can get to know you and understand you and help you be more efficient in cranking that stuff out.

SPEAKER_04:

You listen to Claude more than me listen to it.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know if that's true.

SPEAKER_04:

So you can post it, and then you're like, well, Claude said it, it's not easy. Uh no, but it is very cool to have those tools. And it, they're all there to help us because we're not all marketing geniuses and not everyone's a you know creative director or excellent writer. So we have these tools to use. Um, so we always recommend using them.

SPEAKER_00:

But I will say that um who was it? It was there was another franchise CEO that actually sent me a note yesterday, and and he said, Your whole team is so great at being visible on social media. So kudos to all of you guys, David, Morgan, Brian, um, and Catherine, uh, because you're doing a great job of staying out there.

SPEAKER_01:

I think the biggest challenge for us was just stepping into something completely different than we're used to and having to learn the different trades because as you can imagine, roofing itself is a whole lot to learn. Now you're throwing in siding, right? Now you're throwing in windows, and then gutters, and then all exterior work, right? Pouring concrete, fences, right? And it's just a lot of knowledge to absorb, and we had to do that in a short amount of time.

SPEAKER_03:

And on top of learning how to keep our books, how to manage people, how to run a business and raise our kids.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and then you know, I I um I left my full-time job in January or early January, so I can focus on the business. And it has been it was needed, it was definitely needed. I could not see myself still have my full-time job and doing this business right out the get-go. It was just, it would, it would have been too much. Um, so with all that in mind, you know, now here we are, we're we're we're caught up to speed, we're doing all right, we're hiring and you know, putting strategies together for what the end of the year is gonna look like and you know what it's gonna look like going into next season. Um, so it at the very beginning, it was that was the biggest challenge, just getting ramped up, understanding all the different trades and um and just being a business owner.

SPEAKER_05:

Wearing all the hats, right? Like I came from marketing. My role was marketing. Marketing is a lot of different things, but it was still marketing. Coming in, you got the learning curve, same thing. I'm like, you sports, I don't know. I I've never done this before. And then it's just all the hats. It's your HR hat is on, then your sales hat is on, then your hiring hat is on, the payroll. Like it's just I felt like at the beginning, that's that is like that really resonates with what you're saying because it's it's the learning curve of the industry and the business, plus being able to transition your mind within a given day between sales, marketing, and HR operations, right? Like on the fly, um, which is hard. Um, but what's what's the most rewarding, would you say, about owning this business?

SPEAKER_03:

The most rewarding part so far has been like seeing our team like like our first hire. He basically told Kevin, he's like, you know, like I didn't know what to think at first, but this is probably the most fun job I've ever had. And for him to say that, we were like, wow, we're actually doing something great. And like just seeing the team actually grow and be successful alongside with us has been like really rewarding.

SPEAKER_05:

I completely agree.

SPEAKER_01:

And hey, I'm gonna go pick up my kid today. Hey, boss, oh wait, okay, I'm gonna go pick up my thing.

SPEAKER_00:

That's a key point. You know, we had Aaron Harper from Rolling Sudes. I'm sure if you guys you you've seen Aaron, he's pretty active. Um uh and and he was on our podcast two weeks ago, and he said, let's make active ownership cool again. And I think that is one of the greatest things we can do as people in the franchising world, because there's still so many people that get fed these sort of fishtails about how you can just buy a business and it's gonna run itself. Um and I really do think there's so much pride in doing exactly what you guys just said, which is creating jobs that people love, like creating the best work environment someone's ever had, being able, as Catherine said, to wear all the hats and still be able to go have more time with your family and pick up your and and do, you know, car drop off and pick up. Um that's part of what makes business ownership so great is you being in control, you growing that business, um, you being the one that makes it successful.

SPEAKER_03:

But I gotta say that like in the first few months of ramp up, I did have many moments. But this is also summertime when the kids were off and like they were just driving us nuts. That like I was like, did we really do the right thing? Because like I feel like we have like no time for our kids right now. But like that was just the that just comes with the part of starting it up and like wearing all those hats where you had to do so many things and like you're just your mind is going like a hundred miles an hour, you're trying to figure out all these things.

SPEAKER_02:

We talk about that all the time in my my household because it feels like you have another child. So it feels like I have a third child, and that third child is my business now. So I have to now balance between three, and I'm really grateful that I stopped at two because if I had three or four and then I have one on the way. Oh my gosh, congratulations. See you'll be in the thick of it. But I mean, I think that's just that just goes with the territory. You've added this next thing, but the nice part about having this extra um job in this company that you're building is that, like Kevin said, you can step away whenever you want. You can go on vacation, you can say, we're gonna drop everything, the company's gonna run itself. And I think that's just the beauty of being in the franchise. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

There's a question to all the owners though. Can you really go on vacation without thinking about work?

SPEAKER_05:

I was just in Italy for two weeks. Two weeks. I did a little teeny bit of work every day. I was in Italy. Um, and I have a great manager, and I really was able to enjoy it. I I really there was one call I got panicked because a coach's car died. Although, and he had to get to but um, but she yeah, just get a good manager.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04:

It's like what you were saying, it's like a kid, right? When you have if anyone, everyone has kids or not puppies to count. But at first it's a lot of work, you know, and you're kind of saying, Why did I do this? And you know, but you know it's rewarding, you know that it's gonna grow. It's like going on vacation with the baby is very different than when you go on vacation with older kids, you know. So it's the same thing with the business. When your business is new and you're on vacation, there's probably a lot of things you're gonna have to still focus on. But ultimately, as it grows and it's stable and you've got a good team in place, you can actually start to enjoy the vacation. Um, so you know, you it'll get there. It's just, it's like everything, everything evolves and with growth and stability, you do get to that point. Um, so sometimes it's really hard to see when you're in the thick of it.

SPEAKER_00:

But well, and at least this, you guys, when you own a business and you're growing it and yeah, you're working hard, but most people are not going to get pieces of corporate exits or or mergers and acquisitions, right? Most people who are working in corporate America, they're gonna make their 80, 100, 200k a year. But if they get fired, that's it. You that's it. Money's not coming in. When you're building a business, yes, you're gonna go through some hard. But I think, especially with how the world works now, if you want to have earlier retirement, a more comfortable retirement, if you want to set your family up for generational wealth, there's really only one way to do it. And that's to go out there and build a business, make it successful, and either keep it and keep growing and have the family come into it or sell it. And so that there again is why working with franchise consultants, and I and I hope you guys found our service useful to you in thinking about all this. But this is why it's worth it to really have an end goal in mind as you build a business and to know what your number is. Hey, when we're, you know, 65, we want to spend half the year in Italy. Um, what is your number? And there's not enough people out there who really know what their number is and what they need to aim at. And that's again, the value in building these businesses is that you can aim it, you can actually get there and do it. I've seen it done many, many times. Um, and that, in my opinion, is the value of building these businesses. Okay, so you guys, here's something we haven't covered. Um, when Kevin and Kathy first called me, they were very interested in Pink's windows. Um, and we had multiple conversations around it, but for whatever reason, the territory, I guess it was available, but we didn't know it, or Rezi didn't know it, or something like that. But here we go. We we pivot from Pink's to action exteriors. Um, do you remember what that was like and and making that shift from one pref preferred brand to this whole other brand you'd never heard of before?

SPEAKER_03:

It was honestly came down to the fact that like I did a lot of research about Rezi and like I really liked the culture and the support and all of the people behind it, like when we learned that Cody was behind it, because we didn't want to just buy a franchise to be like a little minion to another franchise or we wanted to be like part of a community and part of like a brand that we were proud to be part of. And like that's what really resonated with us when we learned about Resi. So when I looked at the other brands, I was like, well, T1P is already in Tulsa, Pinks was supposedly in Tulsa. And then I was like, huh, action roofing. I was like, huh, it's new. I was like, scary, but it would be kind of cool to be the first because if we're the first, then we definitely would have all the support and all the eyes on us to make sure that we would be successful so that we could create a pathway for other franchisees. But at the same time, there's going to be a lot of speed bumps. So like we just kind of weigh the pros and the cons, and like we just wanted to be the first and create the pathway and just like have the support on us and help grow something into something bigger, which is gradually getting pretty big.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, for sure. And and on top of that, too, you know, we we had some interviews with you know Resi Brand and you know, Jake from Action Roofing. Shout out to Jake, and it just really made us feel at home. They're like, you know, we asked the question, they know our background. Can we do this? They're like, oh, absolutely. Right? They made us believe that you know they're gonna be there to help us, and they have been, right? Like the reason, part of the reason why we're this successful so early on is we have the support from them. You know, I can contact Jake right now if I have some questions regarding roofing or regarding some materials, and you know, he'll be quick to respond as well, too. Um, and also, you know, as I'm not sure how other franchisees do it, but we have you know internal communication where I can ask questions and get advice from other franchisees. So that's been very helpful. And you know, that's part of the reason again why we're so successful up front.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you know how many how many action exteriors franchisees are there now?

SPEAKER_03:

There is one, another one that is scheduled to launch this month, but I think total signed locations, I would say five or six.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

I would say below 10.

SPEAKER_00:

But you guys were the first ones.

SPEAKER_03:

Number one.

SPEAKER_00:

And look at that. Had you have gone with Pinks, you never would have done that Cody Sanchez video and had all this, you know, that like you said, all this attention. I think it really speaks to, and we know, um, as David does, being uh Resi franchise owners, their support is outstanding, their energy is infectious. We love their sales culture. Um, but I think that really, I mean, the fact that they're pouring into you guys the way they are, is I think is just so phenomenal. What a cool experience.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I think we had a similar um situation too when we started too. So we were looking at that one painter, and then Jack saw this like pinks in the background. He's like, No, no, no, talk to me about that. And they kind of said, Well, no, we're not ready, we're not ready. Um, and you were very persistent, almost too persistent, but it was the same thing. But it because we felt so comfortable with Resi, you know, it's like this that's a great opportunity for a lot of people to come in under one, you know, brand or an idea of where they want to be, but then there's so many other possibilities. So like we didn't even think about it.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we landed, we landed that big commercial job, and Brandon came down and and we went out and we actually canvassed the streets of Boca Ratan. Um, no, I'm sorry, Palm Beach with Brandon, which was awesome.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so no, they really are. They're they're look, we work with hundreds of great franchises, but Rezi definitely has to be up there. And um they are a great franchise family. And what I love is their sort of youthful energy. Um, they they really are fabulous. So I know we're starting to run out of time. It's amazing how fast this has gone by. What I'd like to do is maybe go around the virtual room here with some last thoughts.

SPEAKER_07:

Uh I just want to thank you guys for joining the podcast. Um, this is amazing. Again, a lot of your story resonates with me. Um, coming from Blue Collar, going into business for the first time, joining the Resi family. I got to meet at ResiCon, I got to meet Cody and the valet real quick and say hello. And she was amazing, you know. But uh again, thank you for coming on the podcast and and sharing your thoughts and and and your experience.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, thank you, Kevin and Kathy. And I I loved what you said about the support. And I think anyone can build a business from scratch, but you can't do it without scaling fast. And the support that you get as a franchise owner is incredible. So thank you for sharing your story.

SPEAKER_06:

Absolutely. So I'll echo what was just said. Appreciate you bumping on. Also just highlight something that you said. I think it's a big misconception in this space, and that is using subcontractors. You are clearly building a substantial business, doing it the right way with subcontractors. And we hear all the time, hey, there's no way I could control the quality. You know, I don't know how I could rely on subcontractors. And you know, I've realized that from my home service business, you hit it today. You know, you actually can get really quality employees, uh subcontractors, especially with fit vendor relationships in place. Um again, just something to not overlook or just assume that's going to be out of your control. So thanks again for sharing your story today.

SPEAKER_05:

Thank you for coming on today and sharing your story. Um, what you said at the very end there, I just want to touch on that. Uh with joining Resley Brands and kind of the culture that brings. I was talking with Morgan. We have a podcast, Best Friends and Franchising. And I was talking about just the importance of the interview process, right? It's a two-way street. They're interviewing you just like you're interviewing them. In my opinion, culture starts at the top, right? And so that starts with Rossi brands and how the values they have as an organization and a franchiser that trickles down to both of you, which trickles down to your employees. And I truly believe that culture, positive culture, is a competitive edge, and that's how you win. Um, and you guys are winning. So thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_00:

Kevin and Kathy, last thoughts from you guys?

SPEAKER_03:

No, we just appreciate appreciate your guys' time and like speaking with you all. It's just um again, like with the being a franchisee, it's just awesome being able to meet other franchisees and just like bounce ideas off and learn things from each other.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and it's just crazy to think about a year ago we were just talking to you and we were still just full-time employees, right? And here we are a year later, talking to you guys and you know, being business owners now and part of a franchise system that we love. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_04:

We love seeing it. So exciting. We love following your story, and we're so happy you're able to come on today and chat with us. And can't wait to see what you guys do in another year.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's really exciting. And uh, for all of you listening, this is really the value of why we bring you guys this podcast. You get to hear not only from exceptional guests like Kathy and Kevin, who are growing a great business, but you get to hear from real franchise owners who are also franchise consultants, whether it be Catherine, Brian, Morgan, David, Jill, and myself, we are franchise owners helping future franchise owners. And we we all consider this, you know, a club. We're all part of this great club, we're all learning, we're all growing together. But you know what's so great is that our efforts are every day we're building, right? It's not just going in and making someone else rich. We're building our own businesses, we're building our own family assets. If any of you would like just to talk about franchise ownership, I encourage you to go to thefranchiseinsiders.com. Go to our team page, look up all of our franchise consultants. You can read everyone's story. Um, figure out who resonates with you and whose journey you'd like to learn more about. And maybe they can help you with your franchise search. But for today, thank you for tuning in to the We Bought a Franchise podcast. I'm Jack Johnson.

SPEAKER_04:

I'm Jill.

SPEAKER_00:

And we'll talk to you next time.