Brandon Downer: How Pink's Window Cleaning Franchise Turned Home Services Into Hospitality | The Franchise Insiders Podcast

Brandon Downer: How Pink's Window Cleaning Franchise Turned Home Services Into Hospitality | The Franchise Insiders Podcast

Discover how Brandon Downer built Pink's Window Cleaning from a neighborhood observation into a thriving home services franchise that treats customers like guests and technicians like hospitality professionals.

From Layoffs to Launching a Home Service Franchise

After two layoffs, Brandon Downer and his partner Carter spotted an opportunity during a neighborhood walk: local service trucks everywhere, but zero customer experience. They launched Pink's Window Cleaning with a bold premise—apply hospitality principles to blue-collar work.

Why Most Window Cleaning Services Fail Customers (And How Pink's Solves It)

Homeowners face recurring problems: no-shows, handwritten quotes, surprise pricing, and crews that don't respect their property. Pink's redesigned the entire experience: online scheduling, upfront pricing, card-on-file payments, branded uniforms, and a promise to leave every property better than they found it.

The Pink's Franchise Playbook: Culture, Systems, and Scalability

Learn why Pink's hires baristas and hospitality workers (not just window cleaners), how technology drives trust and recurring revenue, and why a memorable brand color beats a generic business name. Brandon shares the franchise growth strategy: launch timing by market seasonality, building routes that compound, and creating exit opportunities for owners.

Blue-Collar Franchise Opportunities and AI-Resistant Businesses

We explore why service-based franchises offer real wealth-building paths for younger entrepreneurs—hands-on MBAs that create jobs, build leadership skills, and generate recurring revenue streams that boost business valuation.

Ready to Explore Franchise Ownership?

Whether you're considering a home services franchise, window cleaning business, or other blue-collar opportunities, visit thefranchiseinsiders.com to take our 3-minute franchise matching assessment. Subscribe for weekly episodes and leave a review to help others discover their path to business ownership.

Keywords: Pink's Window Cleaning franchise, home services franchise opportunities, window cleaning business, blue-collar franchise, franchise ownership, service-based franchise, recurring revenue business

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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.

Chapters

• 0:21 Meet Brandon And The Pinks Origin
• 2:44 From Layoffs To Startup Spark
• 6:04 Why Home Services And Why Windows
• 9:08 Fixing Broken Service Experiences
• 12:47 Naming Pinks And Building A Brand
• 18:49 Turning Service Into A Movement
• 25:38 Culture, Hiring, And Training Playbook
• 33:05 Franchisee Support And Timing Launches
• 39:54 Recurring Revenue And Exit Paths
• 45:50 Young Entrepreneurs: Myths And Mindset
• 52:39 Blue-Collar Wealth And AI-Proof Work

Transcript

SPEAKER_05: 0:11

Hi everyone, welcome back to the We Bought a Franchise podcast. I'm Jack Johnson. I'm Jill Johnson. And today we've got an incredible guest. A guest that has changed the face of home services franchises. We have Brandon Downer, one of the original founders, one of the two original founders, right, Brandon?

SPEAKER_02: 0:30

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_05: 0:32

Of course, we have Katherine Allen and we have David Samuan. And David, of course, is a Pinks franchise owner, just like Jill and I used to be. Brandon, welcome to the show. It's so great to have you.

SPEAKER_02: 0:43

Guys, thanks for having me on. This is so fun just to hang out and just talk with y'all. I miss you guys.

SPEAKER_05: 0:49

Yeah. You know, it was owning Pinks was such fun. And you guys, you guys made it fun. You know, it's like Pinks isn't just the run-of-the-mill home services brand. Pinks is different. And this is actually where I want to start, Brandon. How on earth did this come to be? Like back in COVID, you and Carter like walking the streets of Austin. Like, how does this start?

SPEAKER_02: 1:16

Right. Well, it first started off where Carter and I were working corporate jobs, probably like a lot of people that listen to this podcast right now, and COVID hits. I was in the live music business. Carter was working for Dakova's Boots, and they laid all of us off, right? I think my company was like 60% layoffs. His was, I think 80% layoffs. And I think what is interesting, like a note I took from that, is you're a great employee until you're not, until the company needs to can you. And so basically it was interesting. Sorry, we got someone honking outside the building, but it was interesting because I think for the longest time I thought I would be this career employee guy, work my way up the corporate chain and and um, you know, become an executive or you know, vice president or a director level. And then when I finally found my spot in my career, you know, and I felt like I was in a good place, I get laid off. And so I'm kind of sitting there, you know, sitting on my hands, wondering what am I gonna do next? Called Carter up, and like you said, Jack, we were walking around town, and this was in May of 2020. Unemployment was 15% or something like that. But as we walked in the neighborhood, we counted between 15 and 20 service trucks, plumbers, cleaners, lawn maintenance guys, painters, all of that in my neighborhood within a mile radius of my house. And we just thought to ourselves, hold on, unemployment's 15%. I'm unemployed, and these guys are working and making money. And then we started to even deep dive even more, and we were just kind of spitballing and thinking about all the wealthy people we knew in our lives. And it felt like every wealthy person we knew, when you ask them what they did, they're like, oh, I pour concrete, oh, I have a painting business, I'll have a roofing business, these random blue-collar services, and we're like, hold on, all these guys are loaded, they live on the lake, they drive a nice car, and what do they do for a living? They lay roof or paint a house. And so we're like, hold on. We grew up in this town or in these suburbs of Austin, suburbs of Houston, where we were told if you go work in the trades, you're a failure. The only good jobs are working in an office, working in corporate, working as a doctor, a lawyer, a commercial real estate broker, whatever it is. And but these guys are living on the lake, these painters, these plumbers, these whatever. And so we're like, hold on. We've been told this thing our whole life, and we see something else. And so basically, we just thought to ourselves, let's start a business. Let's start a service business. We didn't know what. Um, we thought through plumbing, we thought through electricity, and we're like, man, we're not smart enough for any of that. Um, and then I we I just said, Well, what if we just clean some windows? That seems easy. I used to wash dishes in college at a sorority house. Um, I think Carter did the same thing. And so we went to Home Depot, spent$153.87, bought a squeegee, a towel, a bucket, uh, some soap, and we're like, all right, we got ourselves a business. And and again, there was no great plan for pinks, it was just we need money. Um, he just got married, you know, a year earlier. I was like living in a packed in a house with five dudes, so my expenses were low, but I was like, I still need money to you know go out and have fun and you know, try to find a spouse. So that's kind of like the origin story. I'll kind of park it there for a second.

SPEAKER_05: 5:03

I mean, I love that, and like you're absolutely right. I I took a picture of our street the other day, just walked outside, three service trucks outside, middle of the day. I bet I could do the same thing right now. That was so brilliant of you guys to notice that, and we've got a whole slew of things we want to ask you, but I just that before you get to your question, I know you have you have one, but Brandon Howe, why pinks? How'd you guys come up with the name? Oh, I like this story.

SPEAKER_04: 5:31

Sorry, I know it.

SPEAKER_03: 5:33

Yes, I don't know, I don't know for the rest of us.

SPEAKER_02: 5:37

So pinks I'll say this, I'll give you context around the brand, and then I'll that'll kind of lead into the name. But in 2020, at least in Austin, which like that's our world, this is Austin, Texas, right? It was so hard to get service people to show up to your house on time or at all. No one had any sort of technology at that time. I had a plumbing experience where I had like a leak in my shower, I had a hole in the ceiling of my kitchen because my shower was upstairs and it was leaking through. And the plumber showed up like five hours late for three days in a row. His apprentice fell asleep on my porch. The quote was just like on a piece of paper, and and then like they couldn't figure out what was wrong. They quoted one thing, and then when the invoice came in, it was another thing. And it was funny because as what we told, as I told my family and friends about this experience and how it was a total nightmare, everyone had that experience with some sort of service business. Whether it was something was stolen from my house, whether it was uh they, you know, the cleaners came in and they tracked mud in the house and then they left and they left it worse than they found it. And so we just felt that the service business was kind of broken. So that leads into us at the very beginning of the company wanting to have a brand that told a story that's different. A story that the trades are respectable. And we just have this core belief that without the service people of our cities, our towns would be a disaster. I don't want to live in a town where there's not a plumber, personally. I don't want to live in a town where there's no electricians, where there's no painters, where there's no lawn maintenance people, where there's no window cleaners, any of that. We need these jobs. And so we just thought to ourselves, let's try to create a brand that shows that these jobs matter and that these people that do these jobs really matter. And so we knew early on we wanted a brand. Um, and when we started thinking through what are we gonna name this thing? And at first we're like, let's name it like Capital City Cleaners. But then as we did market research, we we we saw that every single cleaner in town was a location-based name. And we didn't love that because after like five five one two cleaners, uh, ATX cleaners, capital city cleaners, all that, you don't you get them all mixed up in your brain. And so we were talking to Carter's mother-in-law about it, and she was like, What if you just name it a color? People people remember colors, and she's like, What do you but what about pinks? It's five letters, easy to remember. You make pink the accent color, so people ask, you know, where's the pink? Um, or or why is it named pinks? And there's something about just memories and colors and all that that stick in people people's brains. And so we actually didn't think about it too much after that. We were just like, All right, pinks it is, and we ran with it. That's awesome. I love it.

SPEAKER_05: 8:49

Isn't there a pink Floyd song where like one of the lyrics is by the way, which one's pink?

SPEAKER_04: 8:54

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_05: 8:55

Pink didn't have a cigar. I'm dating myself.

SPEAKER_04: 8:58

No, they're classic. No, I love that. I love the story because you know, everyone wants this like very deep, meaningful where the name comes from. But it was like, it's just like a great story in branding. And I feel like that is kind of my next question is like, you know, you guys did a great job with the name, and obviously we love the customer service. I mean, that's really what drew us to it, is is you're right. We were experiencing the same thing in South Florida where people were unreliable and not showing up, and it was just like so frustrating. So the idea of just this professionalism and you know, guaranteeing that you're gonna get, you know, hardworking team and you know, just that attentive service. And so we love that, but it's it's like you guys created a movement. So talk to us a little bit how you did that. You know, Pinks is not just, I mean, it the brand is amazing, but it's like people just want to be a part of what you guys are doing, regardless of what your services are, you know, and that's what drew us, but love to hear from you kind of how you created this movement um from you know, a home services brand.

SPEAKER_02: 9:59

So, so funny. It's so funny to hear you even say the word movement because in our mind, we're just trying to do right by the customer. And I guess how we started the movement is we just started in our backyard. And I think that's the moral of the story is like if you want to change the world, you know, change your neighborhood first, then change your town, and then you kind of build out from there. Don't, you know, you're not gonna change the world by just thinking you're gonna change the world. You got to start locally, right where your feet are. And I think that's what we did. We got hyper obsessed with the customer in the customer experience. And so we would study literally, we'd have people come up to our house to quote, we'd study how they did things from when they pulled up in their vehicle to quote the house to how they knocked on the door, to how they interacted with us, to how the quote looked when we actually received it. And so I think, and I kind of got this from Sam Walton. Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, says the customer is the boss because they're the ones with the money spending money with you, and the boss can fire you at any moment. And so, if we're not making the customer happy and doing what they want, then we're not gonna have a business. So I'm not the boss of pinks, Carter's not the boss of pinks, the customers are the boss of pinks, and so, like I said, we got hyper obsessed with the experience. What do they want to see? Do they want to be on maintenance plans where they kind of get to set it and forget it, and they just get to have clean, clean windows year-round. They get reminders when we're coming, they get a receipt when we're done, their cards on file. You know, it's all about making it easy for the customer, as opposed to you know, a pen and paper quote. There's no there's no process to follow up, there's no automated follow-up, there's no technology involved. And and that's kind of where at least five years ago, the service business was stuck. And so, how did this movement come to be? Is we just spent so much time committed to making our customers happy. When we started this thing, we had no idea how to clean windows, we had no idea how to pressure wash a driveway, but what we did have is a desire to serve the customer. And Jack, if you were my customer and I said I was gonna clean all your windows on the house, I may not know the most efficient or best way to clean it at that time, but I knew at the end of the service that you were gonna be happy. And I'm I literally wouldn't leave until you were happy. And so I think the movement started with just one customer at a time, and and we call it at Pinks, just giving the customer a wow experience. And you know, we're kind of inspired by Chick-fil-A, right? You go to Chick-fil-A, you get through the the line is the drive-thru line is in the street, and you leave there and you go, dang, that was quick. The kids serving me were super nice and respectable, and like you're kind of wowed by the experience. But what do they do when you boil it down? They serve chicken, they serve chicken sandwiches. And so our goal was to literally make people lol at how good the service was. We wanted that, we wanted the moms that we were serving to go to their parties on Friday night and be like, I had these boys that came into my house and that gave me an exceptional experience that gave me a hat and actually want to wear the hat. And that was that was the big thing is one, can we make a brand that people actually want to wear and actually want to be about? Another company we're inspired by here in Austin, Texas, is Yeti. And for some reason, I'm sure all of you guys are drinking out of a Yeti cup right now, and you might have a Yeti hat, a Yeti sticker on your truck. But when you boil down, what does Yeti do? They serve cool or they make coolers and they make cups and they sell it to people. And it's simple, right? But for some reason, they have this compelling story, and I want to be a part of it. I want to drink out of a Yeti. I want to have a Yeti sticker on my laptop because it's just cool. And so the movement was just started by us just wanting to create a brand that one that we were proud of. Because if we're not proud of it and we're not proud to put the uniform on, then everyone's gonna think we're bogus and fake. So we wanted to be proud of what we were doing, and I think that just kind of resonated with the customers across Houston.

SPEAKER_05: 14:27

I mean, I've never seen anything like it. There, there's if you go on LinkedIn right now, you will see you know, entrepreneurs that are 25 to 60 years old who have changed their profile pictures where they once were wearing a suit and tie, so now they have the pink hat and the pink shirt on. I've never seen anything like it in brand, like even with a brand like Crumble or even Chick-fil-A, you don't see a Chick-fil-A manager wearing a Chick-fil-a shirt in his pro his or her profile picture. So you guys really did something very different. The branding, and I'm being honest, when Jill and I, I don't know if you know this, when we were before we became Pink's franchise owners, um, and for those of you listening, I I think most of you know at this point that Jill and I were Pink's franchise owners, um, we were talking to that one painter, which we think is a great franchise, but in one of the slides, there was the Pinks logo. And and you know, they're giving the presentation and it's it's great. But I'm like, hey guys, can you tell me about that? What's that brand up there, that Pink's brand? And they're like, Oh yeah, this is a new brand we just added. We literally just added, they've got like two locations. I'm like, can you tell us about that? And then they started to show us like you guys with the hats, and I'm like, I bet we could put a pink's hat on everyone in Boca Braton. Like I saw that and it didn't matter. And you guys have an amazing way of teaching people how to wash windows. And I even saw the owner in I think Indianapolis talking about the process for washing windows in colder climates. Like, so there is science behind all of this, and there is strategic thinking, but the number one thing is it's how, like you said, the brand makes you feel. And when you see the uniform, first of all, the uniform does something, it like makes you instantly more handsome. I told you I wasn't gonna wear the uniform and in one night, Brandon. I just happened to try it on.

SPEAKER_04: 16:21

You always had it on. I liked it.

SPEAKER_05: 16:22

And I come out and I'm like, I I say to you, I'm like, I'm feeling pretty good in this.

SPEAKER_04: 16:26

Well, it's a it's a it's a great uniform, but it does, it's like it's it it uniforms the the crew, you know. So it's so different than when you have people come to your house and they're just well, maybe they're wearing Capolo or not even that sometimes, but everyone looks like cohesive, together, polished, you know. And it was like, I loved seeing our team. I love seeing our team together. It just with the truck, it just it was like such, and that's what drew people to it. Like a lot of the referrals. We have a truck in the neighborhood, and people would flock to it because they'd see the guys out there, they'd see the cool trucks, and they were like, What's happening? I want to know what the I don't even know what you guys are doing, but you know, tell us this looks cool. And I I love that, you know. I mean, that's really where I mean, we've got so much business from referrals. We just were so excited to put a truck in one of these neighborhoods because we know people would just flock.

SPEAKER_05: 17:15

Do you remember the grand opening? And and David and Catherine, I know you guys have got questions. I'm gonna shut up after I make this point. But we threw a grand opening party and like it we had what was it, like 50 like girls there?

SPEAKER_02: 17:28

It was a banger. I remember seeing the pictures, and it was like, it looked awesome. I was bummed I missed it.

SPEAKER_05: 17:33

It was like a room of just beautiful people, and everyone's wearing pinks and wearing pink hats, and it was just like it was again it, and I'm sitting there saying to Jill, this is exactly what I envisioned when we bought this is how people would want to.

SPEAKER_04: 17:45

Yeah, I mean, again, people like saw they they saw the logo, they saw the invite, it was like a fun party, and they were like, wait, what do you guys do again? What is this? You know, but then but then that's an easy thing to digest. Oh, we wash windows, we power. Oh, okay, cool. You know, they're what you didn't have to explain beyond that, too. It was like, it's just it was fun.

SPEAKER_05: 18:02

And then just the the the clarity when someone finally gets their window wash and you're like, holy smokes, this is like HDR from my window. Well, that's why you need to get it every quarter. That's right.

SPEAKER_00: 18:14

Right, David. You know that's the move.

SPEAKER_02: 18:16

Lock them in, get them, get them going.

SPEAKER_05: 18:18

Well, and and for all of the people out there thinking about owning a Pinx, I would just say this. Remember, recurring revenue makes your business more valuable. So, really, if you become a Pinx franchise owner, you're thinking about this type of business, getting as many clients as possible on recurring revenue jobs as possible. It's interesting. Catherine did a um post the other day about last week we had Mark Amory, who's the CEO of Puddle Pools on, and that's a recurring, you know, model service with cleaning pools for both residential and commercial. And Catherine, you got a ton of just people just asking, what is this? What is this logo? What is it? Maybe, you know, let's dive into your question.

SPEAKER_03: 19:11

Yeah, well, I was you made me think, Brandon. So at Puddle Pulls, the fish is called flip flop, I learned on our pot on the podcast. But they're our owner. So you have owners in the LinkedIn profiles wearing the pinks. They actually have owners tattooing flipping the puffer fish on their bodies. So that's what you gotta get people like, you know how it's like mom with the heart. David, do you have a pink logo?

SPEAKER_00: 19:39

Not yet, not yet.

SPEAKER_03: 19:40

So tattooed. That's what you're up against out there in the service world.

SPEAKER_02: 19:44

Holy smokes, those guys are committed.

SPEAKER_03: 19:46

They are committed, they are committed. So, yeah, so I first off love what you just shared. I own a soccer stars franchise, youth soccer educational programming, and I am obsessed with client experience. So everything you just shared, I really resonated with me. And I'm with you. It's like, you know, it's like Nike Adidas, right? That's kind of the world I live in. It's like we want the soccer stars brand to be so cool that people are because that's a you know, Jack used to talk about this all the time when we work together about aspirational brands, building an aspirational brand, which is what you're doing. And it's yes, you do window washing, but it's the feeling you get from the brand. Like that's that's in that's the successful brands out there, is you want to be a part of the movement. Um, I also believe what you described is like the culture at Pinks. Like everything you just talked about essentially is your culture at Pinks. And I believe, and I think you believe too, culture is a competitive advantage, right? When you have a super strong culture that people want to be a part of, they're proud to be a part of, they're wearing the pinks, you know, that that's what you want to do. That's what I'm trying to do. Um, how do you hire and train employees who really embody that kind of spirit? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_02: 21:06

Yeah, it's it's a great question. And I do think that culture is it's one piece of uh it's one differentiator that I think when you're looking at pinks, I I hope and and pray that people can feel that culture, but it's it's all about the people, in our opinion. And we tell this to our owners all the time that we are a people business, we just happen to clean windows and power wash driveways. No, it's not the other way around. And so if you don't have people on your team, then you'll never scale your business. And so you have to be an effective leader in order to scale your business. And so a little bit of the secret sauce is the profile person we hire is, I think, a little bit different than our competitors. We truly like to think of our business as a hospitality business. And so the people we we recruit and that we advise our owners to recruit aren't folks with like necessarily a blue-collar background. I mean, they can have that, but the target person is actually someone in the hospitality space. Think your baristas, your bartenders, your bell hops at the hotel, your valet guys or gals. And it's just people that have a hospitality bend that are used to serving people and making people happy and putting smiles on people's faces. Because our thesis is we can teach window cleaning to anybody, and it's not rocket science, but it's hard to teach customer service to folks. And so our goal is to get people that already have that customer service bend, and we'll teach you, we'll teach you the other stuff. We'll teach you the the how to squeegee, how to waterfed pull, how to how to power wash a driveway. So just our our candidate pool is a little different. And then even with franchisees, um, as we're interviewing people, well, one, every franchisee has to talk to me or Carter, and that's just that's how it goes. I remember talking to David San Juan when he was in his discovery process and going down the line. Um, we say no to some people, but just because of that culture fit. And it's not because we think they're a bad person, it's just because we're looking for a person who wants to be in it with their employees and who really cared. And the question that we ask ourselves as we're interviewing potential franchisees is would I want to work for this person? If the answer is yes, then we're all in. And if if I would not want to work for that person, or if Carter doesn't want to work for that person, then what makes us think that, you know, an hourly employee that that was a bartender wouldn't want to work for this person, you know? And so that's uh that's kind of one of the filters we we think through when we're looking at franchisees and when we're looking at even hourly employees to that you know are out there cleaning is can we see this person developing and into a leader within our organization? And I think our our owners have this mindset of the best way that you can bless your employees is by growing the business. Because now all of a sudden there's opportunities for them to grow. David San Juan experienced it. He hired uh I think I don't know what a Dan started starting out as a tech, and then he became a lead, and then he became a manager. It's amazing, it truly is amazing. So that's kind of just a little peek into the culture, and and I would also say it all ties together. The brand helps us attract good people, and the good people help create the culture that y'all see all over the country. As in the brand and the uniforms are self-selecting. If a if an employee or a potential employee can't see them themselves wearing this, then they're not gonna want a job at Pink's anyway. But if there's um, you know, a guy or gal that is working at a restaurant, at a bar, or whatever it is, and they're like, wow, that's a cool uniform. I want to be a part of that. It just helps recruit the right people into uh the business. And it's it's super helpful.

SPEAKER_05: 25:12

That's awesome. And I'll never forget when our GM went to training with you, he'd never washed a window. Maybe he'd power washed here or there, as you know, all of us do on a you know, weekend or something like that. And he came back fully dialed in to the point where he knew what he was doing. So you guys, in a week's time less, were able to teach him how to do this proficiently. And then we started hiring, you know, techs, and then he was teaching them, and and we basically were at Jill and I's house washing all of our windows repeatedly, and he was showing them, but it was just it was amazing to see how well trained he came back and you know how good his squeegee method was. But I think that speaks volumes, and and for us as franchise consultants, that's the kind of thing we that's important to us is to know that a franchise has the horses on the back end. Ultimate ultimately, we know our clients, the franchise investor, they're responsible for making the franchise successful. It's like last night Jill and I were at an event, and I talked to someone, he said, you know, what franchise has the best margins? And I said the franchise with the most effective franchise owner does. You can't buy that. You can't buy the best margins. You can buy a great franchise, but you ultimately have to make it work. And I think you guys do a terrific job of preparing. And I'll share one more quick story. And I and I know, David, you've got a question. We have a client that is in the Northeast, and um, he just bought a franchise from you guys a couple months ago. He shared, you guys suggested that he train in spring versus, you know, right now, because he's in Maryland and the weather's just gonna be brutal. And he's like, they didn't want to send me out there in the weather right now. And here's the kicker to this is that in the state of Maryland, you guys can't collect a franchise fee because it's known as what's known as a deferral estate. You guys can't collect the franchise fee until he is trained and opened. So I think when I hear stories like that, it really makes me say, we're sending our clients to the right places. These are responsible franchisors that aren't just thinking with their their pockets, but thinking in terms of what's the best way to set franchisees up for success.

SPEAKER_02: 27:26

Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly right. And we don't want someone to launch at the wrong time, right? We'd much rather a franchisee or a franchise fee come in way later, which is fine because we're not in it for a franchise fee. We're in it for the long-term success of the franchisee, right? And and the only the only way that this thing works long term is if our franchisees are successful. And so our business, and I mean, this is kind of a duh, but we don't win unless our franchisees win. That's how it works, right? And because you know, we get paid a percent of their revenue. And so our goal is to how can we get people to launch at the right time to get all these tailwinds behind behind them so that when maybe a slower season comes, they can weather the storm and they can be okay because they they were trained at the right time and they launched at the right time. Uh in springtime is a great time to launch an exterior cleaning business. Um, it's I don't think it's any better. I mean, Florida, maybe it depends because of you all get the rainy season kind of later in the summer.

SPEAKER_03: 28:34

But what about out here in California? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 28:37

In California, you're good year-round.

SPEAKER_03: 28:38

We're good year-round. Okay, good to know for all those listening to California.

SPEAKER_02: 28:42

Absolutely. We always say California is a cheat code for exterior cleaning because even in Austin, you know, this January, it'll get it'll get cold, it'll get below freezing, and you know, it's a you can still work in it, but it makes it a little harder to do. But in California, my goodness, you know, y'all in dream weather. And there's still a lot of territories available in California. Okay, that's good. Specifically in the Bay Area in San Diego.

SPEAKER_03: 29:05

Oh, Catherine.

SPEAKER_02: 29:06

Okay, just I'm not trying to sell a franchise here, but I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_03: 29:10

I am in the Bay Area, Brandon, and uh I know a few people.

SPEAKER_02: 29:15

Okay. Okay. Let me wonderful spot. And I know the Johnsons love San Diego. We do too.

SPEAKER_05: 29:21

So that's true. I can't wait to see those pinks, those pinks bands going down the uh coast highway. You guys are amazing.

SPEAKER_01: 29:29

So um Brandon nailed it when he talked about you know the the culture that we have here at Pinks. And I say we now because you know I love this. The same the person I met day one, Brandon and Carter, are the same now, year one. I just hit a year November 1st, and it's just amazing. So again, thank you, Brandon. I think I tell you every time I see you, thank you for building what you've built. But I'm gonna move on to the younger generation, right? Jack and I are in our 40s, so there's no hiding it. But what do you think about the younger entrepreneurs that are they're getting right? And where do they sometimes get it wrong about building a real business?

SPEAKER_02: 30:07

Oh man. The young entrepreneurs, I think they get it right with getting in at the right time. If you're in your 20s, and I I understand whether you're starting buying a franchise or just starting a business, I kind of view it as you're getting your MBA, right? Especially if you're in your 20s. And so even if your business falls flat on its face, you know, two years later, you paid or or you maybe you lost some money or whatever it is to get an education. And I'm I'm not saying that's the case or that's what happens to everyone, because obviously it's not. But I think these young entrepreneurs come in with the right mindset of, I want to work for myself. I don't want to get caught in the corporate grind. And I think there's even this um this thought process that a lot of young people have of I don't want to go work corporate yet because I don't want those golden handcuffs to be put on me. And so they're almost scared, more scared today, to go get that corporate job because they know about the restricted stock units and the ESPPs and the 4K plan and the insurance and all that. And they're like, man, I would just rather jump in head first. And if if it doesn't work out, I can go get a corporate job later. And that's what we tell a lot of our young folks is swing the bat. And again, it's not swing the bat mean meaning start the business or buy the franchise or or start the project or whatever you're gonna do. Just get in the game and and you'll learn as you go. I'm the kind of guy where I learn by doing, and I've never learned any more in my life than starting pinks and starting a business. And I think I see you know business owners on my screen right here, and I would see you guys nodding your head, and I think you guys agree that there's nothing like starting a business. You will work harder than you've ever worked, you will be stressed out of your mind, you'll be dealing with employees, you know, showing up calling and sick or whatever it is, but it'll be so freaking worth it. You know, Jack and Jill, I know you guys have built this amazing franchise brokerage empire, and I know it's not easy. I know y'all make it look easy on LinkedIn, but y'all have stressful days, and there's a lot of stuff you got to deal with, but it's so worth it. And so that's kind of my message to the young entrepreneur is it's not easy. And it's not for everybody, by the way. But my goodness, it is so worth it. So I think where people go wrong, these young interpreneurs, is I think just coming with the wrong mind that I'm buying a business, I'm starting a business, this is gonna be easy. And and in a lot of ways, I think buying, starting a business, buying a franchise, it can be the hard button for a little bit, you know, especially if you haven't worked in the corporate world where you show up, you know where to go, you know what to do, you know, your calendar is kind of set for you in in some situations. Well, when you own a business, it's the opposite of that. You have to build the structure yourself, you have to build the the playbook, and unless you buy a franchise, but like you have to figure out what you're gonna do for the day. And I think people go wrong when they think that, oh, it's it's gonna be easy. I'll figure it out. It's like, no, this is starting a business is not for the faint of heart or the timid. It is for people that are ready to get in there and to work their tail off, to cry, to bleed, to sweat, and to do all the things. It's hard, but it is so worth it. And not just from a it's worth it monetarily, yes, but it's worth it for the lives that you get to change, the employees you get to hire and help create lives for, to watch a young person that you hire or an old person, but something just click for them and then them get promoted and make it to the next level, and then take that paycheck that they got from you and buy a car or buy a house with. It's one of the best feelings in the world is seeing your employees be empowered to do things and knowing that you as an entrepreneur helped make that happen for them.

SPEAKER_01: 34:09

So I love that. I think I've hit all those emotions today and yesterday. So I love that.

SPEAKER_03: 34:15

And it's true, like the byproduct of like what I didn't expect with my business was like exactly what you just described, Brandon, which was uh a lot of you know, my my coaches are in college. Uh some are, you know, some are out of college, but it's you know, just building the team. I have about 25 soccer coaches and just helping their development. And I know that I'm not the one, you know, they're not gonna be a coach forever. Like I'm, you know, not, but if I can help them on that journey and just pay them well and recognize them and build their self-confidence in themselves, like that makes me so happy. I do training in my home, like to bring them in and really make it feel like a family. Now my team's getting too big, my home's not big enough to have everyone. But that, and then I did a post on LinkedIn the other week um about buy a franchise instead of getting an MBA. Like, I completely and it's not for everyone. It is not for everyone, but I mean, take a chance on yourself, um, you know, with a franchise. I'm with you.

SPEAKER_02: 35:18

I love what you said about how you treat your employees. And one of our core values at Pinks is leave it better than you found it. And that goes for the property. So when we show up to a property, we're gonna leave it better than we found it. We're gonna clean the windows, do everything on the scope of work that we outline out. We're not gonna track mud in the house, we're gonna pick up trash, we're gonna do all the things. But we also have that same core belief with our employees too. We're gonna leave them better than we found them. Someone's gonna come into Pinks, work for Pinks, you're gonna get mentored, you're gonna learn how to work hard, how to serve a customer. And so that whether you're with Pinks the rest of your life or the rest of your career, or you go on to the next thing, we're gonna leave you better. And you're gonna be better because you worked at Pinks. And it's not gonna be this, you know, you leave it in shambles. The goal is that you you leave the company as a more developed person, a more developed employee, and better because you worked for David San Juan or you worked for the Johnsons. That's that's the goal there.

SPEAKER_04: 36:18

Yeah, but I'm gonna throw in being a Pinks owner. I mean, I think just owning a Pinks franchise has made us better business people. 100%. Um, we've talked about this many times that it's really as franchise consultants and just everything that we've done with our own business, owning Pinks taught us so much. And it really did it. It left us better than when we were. So it goes across the board. It's the customer, it's the business owner. I mean, it really goes across the board, and you guys are really achieving that, and we can say it on all levels.

unknown: 36:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_02: 36:52

Well, thanks for saying that. That that means a lot. That means we're we're practicing what we preach. That's the goal.

SPEAKER_05: 36:57

Yeah, I mean, I it I I echo what Jill says a million percent. And I I would say, who do we? We had Thomas Scott from Up Closets on the podcast a couple weeks ago, and he mentioned that his most successful franchisees were around 25, 25 to 30, and that they were having a ton of success. And then Jill and I were on John Hayes' podcast. John Hayes has the Titus Center here in Palm Beach, which actually has, you know, a whole, you know, you can major in franchising. And so he's like, Yeah, I'm a feeder system for for up closets. There, there, you know, a lot of our graduates are going and becoming franchisees and they're highly successful. And I I just think knowing what I know now, boy, if I could have started, you know, in business ownership at 25, 27, because I remember that similar to what you said, Bran, I remember working at um for MGM uh back in 2000, right around 2000. And I remember walking through the Bellagio and meeting the president of the Bellagio, and he had, you know, like an MBA and this from USC and all this stuff. And I'm like, man, I'm never gonna be that guy. And I hated that feeling, feeling like I couldn't do something. And so I remember having the the the conversation with Jill and us saying, we've got to become entrepreneurs. For us, that's the path. Uh, and and and here we were last week, and I'm kind of going all over the place here. Jill and I were at a dinner for for a client of ours with a private equity company that is looking to buy their franchises, recap them, and empower them with millions of more dollars to go open up more franchises. And these are just hardworking guys that have built a great franchise. So franchising ultimately is such a neat path that can open you up to so many things, but you have to choose the right franchise. And I think for those of you listening and watching, uh, you know, Jill and I were Pink's franchise owners for for a little over a year, and we um recently exited our franchise by selling those franchise units to other Pink's franchise owners. And the reason I'm saying this is part of what we look for as franchise consultants for our clients are built-in exit in acquisition paths, right? Because when you get to 12, 18 months, and this is a situation where this particular the folks that we exited with in New York who bought our territory, you know, we ended up getting a great deal. They got what they wanted. We got more than we asked for. So everybody wins. So when you help someone buy a franchise, that's what we look for. We want to make sure that we place people in a system where if they're killing it, then they can go buy more locations and they can grow a bigger portfolio. But if it's not for them, they can exit and they can sell to another franchise owner. And I think that's so important. And that just speaks to what a great system you guys have built with how easy it was for us to exit and how easy it is for owners like David to scale and add more units.

SPEAKER_02: 39:52

Yeah, absolutely. It's one of the biggest compliments we can receive is when David San Juan buys another territory, right? Because he's trying it out in one and then he likes it, so he buys another. And that's a fantastic just compliment to us. So you know you have to say anything, it just means a lot that that's happening. Or or in y'all situation. Of course, we would love for y'all to establish pinks to owners, but we know that you're you're scaling your other business, and y'all need to be full seam ahead and full focus on that.

SPEAKER_04: 40:21

Well, we're the the ultimate pinks fan, so team pinks always.

SPEAKER_02: 40:26

Oh, I know. I know y'all are. I love it. We're and we're TFI fans over here, man. We're just we're we're cheering you guys on, and uh it's been so fun to just like watch you guys build this amazing team and see guys like David, Catherine, and many others jump on board to help people, maybe who are looking or trying to figure out what their next move is. And I really do believe in what you guys do because you guys are kind of like the the gatekeepers, the counselors. Like I know Jack, just from like spending two or three days with you whenever I came to Palm Beach to visit you guys, it's like it would be 7 p.m. and you're on the phone with a client, 8 p.m., 9 p.m. on the phone with a client because you care. And you want to make sure that when that client is running their performa, because they got home at 6 p.m., they put their kids down by 7:30, now they have some free brainwaves to test out what's going on or perform out this business opportunity, you're there for them. And I think that's amazing. And I mean, that's one of the reasons why we wanted you guys in the system in the first place, is because you guys care about your people, you care about your clients, and I don't know, it's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_04: 41:37

Well, you were calling like Pink's customers at like nine at night.

SPEAKER_03: 41:44

I wasn't expecting the brilliance that Jack and Jill, the brilliance that Jack and Jill, I think, had with building our team was the whole concept of franchise owners helping franchise owners. Yeah, that is the the brilliance of their brainchild baby. Um, because you know, David and I and Morgan and and Brian, like we do know what it means to own a franchise. Um, I just think that's kind of a superpower our team has that not other, you know, some do, other consultants, but not a lot. And so we just are able to offer that guidance and insight that's so, you know, valuable because we're just we're living it. We're living it, you know, day to day. So I think that helps us.

SPEAKER_05: 42:30

And under the leadership of Jack and Jill, who are incredible in the work that they do, you put those two things together and it's I mean, we learn as much from you guys as you learn from us, but no, it's it's it's and thank you, Catherine. Um, just the tools that we've created for our clients, you know, to help them think like owners. Like before we send them to you, Brandon, we have them take a whole financial calculator that shows them after they pay the franchise fee and after they allocate the working capital, here's your 12 to 18 month, you know, living fund. Because honestly, you should be prepared to live off of that as you grow your business. Here is your exit path calculator. If you want to grow a business, you can sell. So we can help our clients really look at all of this stuff from so many angles. Really, I think ultimately, I think our secret ulterior motive here is that we want to create the most prepared a student franchisees in the world. And and so by us being, you know, whether you're talking to Catherine, who was MVP and number one revenue producer in her system in year one, or you're talking to David, who I think he's always, you know, around four or five in the pink's ecosystem, you're talking to people that have done it and have done it at a high level. And you know, it's like when people come to us, and not to turn this into a franchise insiders commercial because we want to hear more about you, but you, you know, when people come to us, it's it's like when you go to the doctor, right? If you've got high blood pressure, you've got to take blood pressure medication. And so you don't say to the doc, yeah, you know, I think I'm gonna take vitamin C instead. And and sometimes people will come to us and they'll say, I really want this franchise, but we'll have them take a personality assessment. It's like, dude, that doesn't fit you. And by the way, you spending$2 million to open up that McDonald's, and it might take you 10 years to get your cash back. If you're an institutional investor that can buy 10 McDonald's, then it's a fine thing. But if you're, you know, normal everyday people like us, much better to invest in like a Pinks, where you might spend 150 to you know, 250,000 and grow a business that can scale and be a lot more efficient.

SPEAKER_02: 44:33

Right. Yeah, that that's that's uh that is a goal. And you know, I think what McDonald's does is great and it's it's amazing, and they can roll those things out. But I do think for for a good portion of the population, you know, having$2 million laying around in between the couch cushions, they just don't have that. Right. And and so yeah, I I think the service business is an interesting opportunity for a lot of folks in the country that want to do their own thing, but that maybe don't want to start from zero. They'd rather start with a system, a brand, the how-tos, the playbook, the SOPs, all of that. And I think that's where we come in. And not just us, but other service franchises as well.

SPEAKER_05: 45:21

And what's so fun, Brandon, is that you know, for example, you know, Jill and I live in a neighborhood where I would say everybody else feels like is a doctor, lawyer, finance bro, right? That's it. You you pretty much heart surgeon, lawyer, yeah, and we're the franchise people, and it's so fun. Well, what do you guys do for a living? Oh, well, we we're we have a franchise uh brokerage business and we wash windows. And I love being able to say that because it's like, and all due respect to the doctors and the lawyers and and the finance people, we need you and thank God for you. But it's so cool to be doing it this way, to be building real wealth with everyday businesses that people need and can't be replaced by AI.

SPEAKER_02: 46:07

That's it's so funny. Me and Carter and Steven were talking about that yesterday. About I don't want to make any like bold predictions because I don't want to be wrong on the record, but we don't we don't foresee AI taking a window cleaner shop for for some time now. Maybe I'll e buy words in five years, but for right now.

SPEAKER_04: 46:24

We have it on uh we're recording it. So no.

SPEAKER_05: 46:27

No, I mean they're going into the I think if you own a chip if you're Chipotle or Kava, which is gonna put those robots into place. I saw Elon got his trillion dollar earnings package, so now he's promised he's gonna put robots in in homes and those types of things. It should be very interesting, but you're right. I I I don't see those jobs going away. Um, and I think that's when we when people ask what businesses make the most money, usually it's businesses you've never heard of. Right? It's it's those things you never would have thought of, but are right in front of your face.

SPEAKER_02: 46:59

Yeah, secret engineers are unusual. And something I would just encourage listeners to go do, and maybe I'm just a nerd and I do this, but any service truck you see, any restaurant you see, any storefront you walk by, just start trying to calculate and understand the economics of that business. Yes. What's that what's that employee getting paid? What's the rent on that building? What's the rent on that van? What are those window cleaners making out there? Okay, and then you know, you start to make assumptions and back into all these businesses, and you go, okay, it's not actually rocket science, but it's just having a genuine curiosity in what's going on around you. And then you see it, say, oh my gosh, you know, that shoe repair shop that I drive by every day, which is the most random business I I could think of in this moment, that guy's probably netting$300,000. How the heck is that happening? He repairs shoes, you know, like it's it's hilarious. That those folks are all around. You just got to kind of open your eyes and and have that curiosity to see it.

SPEAKER_04: 48:02

Yeah, I think having an open mind, I mean, I think that's what we love when we're talking to our clients is like showing them these opportunities that they just would have never thought of. And that's that's where we come in, you know. It's like we're here to guide them and make sure that they're not fixated on the fast food restaurant because it's visible and everybody sees it because we really crunch the numbers. And what are you really going to make if you own that? And you know, they don't think about, like you said, like the rent and the overhead and all of that. And so really kind of open their eyes, like you said, to what is out there and what you know will work for them. So it's exciting to be able to do that and help people figure that out.

SPEAKER_05: 48:42

We actually created a really cool tool that includes.

SPEAKER_02: 48:46

Oh, so there's a there's a million ways to make a million dollars. Yes.

SPEAKER_05: 48:49

And I think you're gonna see more of it. One so for those, we've got a lot of listeners who say, look, I'm not ready for a franchise consultation, but I'd like to see what franchises might fit me. So we actually created a tool where they can answer a series of questions. And basically, what we did is we took all 200 franchises that we and our affiliates have helped place this year. And um we put in all the data, what they cost, what the involvement is. After someone answers these questions, they're gonna get three uh to seven different franchises that match them that would fall into the list that might be a Pink's Windows or a Bodo Restoration or um, you know, anything that you might think about from real franchises that people have actually bought this year, reputable franchises. I'm I'm famous for saying most franchises are junk, which I absolutely believe. There's 4,000 franchises out there. We work with 789 of them, and I don't think we could work with any more. But people can get a real taste. And if they go to the franchiseinsiders.com, they can use this to see. Who knows? Maybe pinks will show up on your list. And then that's a great way to get a toe in the water and then perhaps have a real franchise consultation and talk to some franchises because and and learn and get a chance to learn from Brandon and Carter and Mark from from Puddle Pulse and all the great franchises that are out there. But you know, Brandon, you've been so generous with your time today. Um, I wonder if we could just do a quick sort of blast around the horn with any thoughts or questions. David, let let's uh let's let's kick it off with you.

SPEAKER_01: 50:21

Again, thank you for for everything you've built. I'm benefiting, my family's benefiting from it. I don't know if off. Finish this sentence for me. In five years, the next great blue-collar franchise will be. No pressure, Brandon.

SPEAKER_04: 50:40

That's a hardball.

SPEAKER_02: 50:42

Something that we start again.

SPEAKER_04: 50:43

In other words, I love that.

SPEAKER_01: 50:45

Okay, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02: 50:46

I love it. David, thank you for your commitment to pinks and being an awesome owner. You you're why we do it, truly. So thank you.

SPEAKER_05: 50:57

Catherine, no pressure.

SPEAKER_03: 50:59

I'll go. So no, thanks for coming out, Brandon. So nice to meet you. I I've heard so much about you from the team, so it felt like I knew you, but now I'm I now do, and I'll I'll connect with you on LinkedIn. Love what you've built. I I resonate so much with everything you shared with obsess obsession around the client experience and just the culture you built. I my background's marketing and branding, so just I love it as well. And just keep up the great work and I hope to send some clients your way soon.

SPEAKER_02: 51:31

Come on, we're ready, we're ready.

SPEAKER_05: 51:34

Yeah, and and I think this has been amazing. I can't believe it's taken us so long to get you on, Brandon. But you know, the thing, what you and Carter and Rezi brands have built with Pinks is just incredible. Again, there is nothing like it. I've never seen a group of franchise owners so all about the brand, the movement, wearing the uniform. You really have created this ecosystem of passionate brand advocates, which is unparalleled. And you know what? They're doing great work out there. You guys are creating this tremendous brand. It really, for anyone interested in seeing if Pinks is the right franchise for you, I urge you to go to thefranchiseinsiders.com. My suggestion, go to the team page, read about our franchise consultants, see who you might want to work with. There's certainly no cost, no obligation. We'd be happy to speak to you and see if Pinks might be the right fit. Brandon, we so appreciate you for coming on. And for this week's episode of We Bought a Franchise, I'm Jack Johnson.

SPEAKER_04: 52:30

I'm Jill Johnson.

SPEAKER_05: 52:31

And we'll talk to you all next time.

SPEAKER_04: 52:32

Thank you. Thanks, guys.