HOW franchising helped him build a BETTER LIFE

#entrepreneurship #franchisebusiness #outdoordlightingperspectives #podcast 

In this Built4Profit Podcast episode, hosts interview Ethan Fields of Bloomin’ Blinds in Nashville about his transition from a pharmaceutical career to owning a window coverings franchise. Ethan explains how Bloomin’ Blinds has expanded from repairs into interior window coverings like blinds, shades, shutters, drapery, motorization, and outdoor products such as retractable screens and awnings, noting shades as a major current trend. 

He shares why he pursued business ownership to be more present for his family, how he found the franchise through a LinkedIn outreach and a six-month discovery process, and why he ultimately left his job six months after launching in 2022 when the semi-absentee model wasn’t working. 

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Get to know Bloomin' Blinds:  https://www.bloominblinds.com/nashville/ 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

At that point, I was already probably one foot off. And so it's like we're having hard conversations to either jump in and help the boat floats or step back and watch it sink. And so about six months in, I jumped in full time and left.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Welcome to Built for Profit Podcast, where entrepreneurs share real stories and strategies that actually work. We're here to inspire, challenge, and give you the playbook to profit with purpose. Let's get into it. Let's do it. We have with us today a guest that you can feel his passion, his heart, and his faith. And his faith. That's a great way to put it. You're gonna relate to every part, I feel like, of his message, especially if you are a parent. Or I've taken the leap of faith out of corporate into being a business owner. Changing industries. Changing industries. And this industry is a$4.25 billion industry annually and skyrocketing from you know what the trend is showing. So we have with us today Ethan Fields from Bloom and Blinds. Ethan, welcome to the Bell for Problem podcast. So tell us, we got an idea based on the name, Bloom and Blinds, but tell us in your own words, Ethan, what Bloom and Blinds is, does. What could anyone listening know?

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yeah, I think the name seems a little more narrow. I often people ask us, I didn't realize you did that, because I think as a brand, we've continued to add to kind of our resources, our product, you know, availability. So bloom and blinds initially started out with a lot of repair inside the home, even window cleaning as a kind of a core, but over the years just continued to add products. So Bloom Blinds now as a whole is I would say specializing in all interior window coverings, which is your blinds, shades, shutter, drapery, interior, home automation, motorization systems inside the home, and then kind of in that outdoor living patio space, retractable screens, retractable awnings, screens and porches. So those are that's kind of the outdoor products, which again, maybe not res direct in the name, but just products and resources that we've continued to add to our business model and find to be great solutions.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

So what's trending now, Ethan? Like, I think so many people look around their home and they're like, what would make it modern or what makes things look outdated? Like, what's something trending now that people are putting in their homes?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

A lot of shades. The whole shading world of window coverings is, I mean, there's probably eight, 10, 12 types of shades, but that is a big move, kind of away from the traditional blinds and some away from the traditional plantation shutters. We still do a lot of shutters in our market, but we take anything out of a home, nine times out of ten, it's a you know, a two-inch white composite foot wood blind. That's the most common thing that's coming out, and shades are going in more times than not.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

It's like being in church, isn't it? He's talking to me. I just got rid of my plantation blind like two weeks ago. I've been looking to make it and I can see that in Nashville because that can have that sort of look. Like, you know, I feel like different areas almost have different vibes or looks or try to keep something in aesthetic with the home. Yeah, that's fascinating. Does someone need to have an eye for design to be a spectacular Bloom and Blinds franchisee?

SPEAKER_01 3:00

I would say it helps. Some of it is dependent on who you surround yourself with. So we work with a lot of interior designers where that's their wheelhouse, that's what they see and do every day. They know what's trendy they're working with, the clientele that we're working with. And so having those partnerships helps assist in that process where we're a little more on the technical side and you know, installation and operations of that and let them kind of run in the in the design world. Generally speaking, having the experience that we have and doing it as many times as we do every day, you get pretty comfortable and familiar with what is trending, what is popular, textures, colors. Nine times out of ten, this is what I would recommend. And so I would call ours a design consultant, interior design specialist, but maybe not to have as much familiarity with putting the whole home together as an interior designer would.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Then just go back a little bit because you kind of have my interest here. You know, you woke up one day and looked around and said, I'm gonna go start Blooming Binds business from being in the pharmaceutical business. So kind of hook up a little bit and connect the dots for us.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

You are correct. I woke up, I was like, I found it. I love blinds. No, I do get asked that often, which is great about being in a small business and people wanting to know who they're doing business with and how'd you go from pharmaceuticals to to blinds? And truth be told, it was not a love for blinds, it was a lot more a love for community and people, relationships in the pharmaceutical world. I still was very solution and kind of service-based, but my relationships were across the country, kind of working my way up into management and was servicing the eastern United States. And so traveling quite a bit, flights, hotels, and a lot of those relationships were away from home. I was fairly newly married, desiring to start a family. And so actually, when we opened our location, we were pregnant with our first daughter. And so the need and desire to be home. I wanted to be a father and a husband that was home and intentional. My future in career of pharmaceuticals was not aligning with that. The end was inevitable. So I really just wanted to find something that I could be plugged into, a community, home every night, involved, and a small business allowed me to do that. Window covering just happens to be the widget and the service and the product.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Ethan, you're not gonna hook that easy. Back it up, then I'm gonna apply. Because a lot of business owners, you know, they get into business for themselves to have more time and money. And guess who knows what they have less of? Crazy how it works. But you know, you just woke up and go, no worries. We're just gonna pick this. How did you pick that brand? And you know, what was the emotion like? And talk about the conversations you had.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

I am a little bit more probably comfortable with risk. I would say some of being a business owner is betting on yourself, you know, to be honest. Truth be told, I was driving down the road. I'd been in pharmaceuticals for seven years and had a franchise consultant reach out to me from LinkedIn and she said, Hey, would you be interested in starting a business? And kind of seeing what that looks like. I was already thinking I want to do something different, but starting a business, I had no idea. You know, franchising I thought was McDonald's Chick-fil-A, which it is, but it's like 1% of it. And so just didn't realize how many business opportunities were opportunities. And so we went through the whole process for six months of, you know, how much do you want to invest and what do you want to do? What's your skill set? What are you attracted to? At the time, I was looking for a semi-absentee opportunity. I did have great flexibility and great money opportunities inside of pharmaceuticals with my time. And I thought I had the money and the resources and the time to do something on the side and make this transition a little bit easier. At the time, Bloom and Blinds had a semi-absentee opportunity. I enjoyed and connected well with the brothers and culture, you know, privately owned. I'm one of three brothers, so I'm intrigued that, you know, three brothers can run and operate a business and work hand in hand every day and just enjoyed the culture, the vibe, the support was a big thing. I was 28 years old at the time opening the business and wanted a brand that was going to support me. I feel like I needed and wanted a little more support. And Bloomin' Blinds has absolutely met the need there and been a great support. And so just connecting well with them. Again, blinds and window coverings just happen to be the product, but the culture was a good fit. The support was a good fit. So that made that jump a little bit easier.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

I mean, the commitment and the leaving, like the finality of leaving your job, is typically the emotional scary part that people are like, yeah, and when? Because it's you can commit and be all in, but you have this safety net still if you have your job. And then there is no safety net. It's just a different ship with a new baby on the way.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Yeah. So fast forward now. We have two children, a third one on the way. But at the time, my wife was coaching and teaching. So she stopped coaching after the first one. So not a huge pay cut, but a little bit. She stopped teaching after the second one, which obviously was a pay cut. So she's a stay-at-home mom now. You're right. Safety net for sure. Of I have the resources, I have the time. Let me step out a little bit. Let's get this one started. Hopefully, my goal was 12 to 18 months of the business, you know, owning and operating it out of my house, but not really being in the home or anything. Having two guys that went to training and started the business with me was the plan. And that's how we started was about six months before it became apparent that I needed to be fully involved. And so that's where the leap of faith really came in. Things were well. They just were not good enough. The people that I had started with me. They didn't have the vision for it. They didn't have the passion for it. And I didn't have the experience to teach them, train them, coach them. And so it was hard to exemplify, teach, train, coach when you've never done it and you're just trying to hope that someone else takes the ball and runs with it and runs with it well. And so six months in, we're having hard conversations. At that point, I was already probably one foot off. And so it's like we're having hard conversations to either jump in and help the boat floats or step back and watch it sink. And so about six months in, I jumped in full time and left. That was tough. You're working more hours, making less money. But it was also for a greater purpose. It allowed us to be home. Like all those things still check the box. I'm still home. I'm still invested in my community. I'm home and present for my wife and my kids. Those things have stayed, you know, a constant, which is a blessing. But that was the faith. And it was really just a lot of peace in that. I loved and followed the Lord, and there was a lot of prayers through that process. And you know, I feel like this was this is where the Lord has placed us. And honestly, a lot of it was like, I feel prepared. I feel like the Lord had prepared me for this moment in this role, whether it's business ownership, I've always done sales. So the sales was, you know, an easy transition. It's still service-based. I'm still serving people, which is a natural gift. So, you know, capable and qualified to serve people, and I'm the owner. I'm gonna sell it and serve it better than anybody because I care about it the most. And so all those things were still true. It's like, why not? Like I'm the one that needs to be in this role, not trying to hire somebody to fill it. And so that was where the piece and the preparation came in that helped maybe just alleviate or validate some of that faith and fear.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

So anyone listening resonates. Anyone, even if they didn't have the exact same, you know, balls lining up. We all know some of those fears, those rationales. And you hit it when you said you kind of hope that someone else will just figure it out while you're trying to drive things forward. Since there are so many people who are, I'm sure, in that situation. Like strategically, what did you start doing once you took over a hundred percent? So you step away from your role. Now I'm here, now I've got the time. But sometimes people are like, now I'm not quite sure what's my next move. You know, I've made this commitment, but what am I actually doing next?

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Yeah. So one of the guys left, which also opened the door for me to step into the role just from a financial spot and more logistically. So I stepped in, took over all things sales, had the other gentleman with me, much doing all things installation and repair. So I could help facilitate revenue, you know, for the most part. That's how business goes and how we feed our family. So, really, since day one, I've handled all things sales, and now we're in three and a half years. I brought on a salesperson a couple months ago, but up until now, I've handled sales as well as all the other hats that you wear as a business owner. But really tried to delegate, hire for, but it would also give me first hand experience in how do I do this? I mean, I I've installed and I've repaired and I've been done technical support on every single product that we've ever sold. And so now I have the experience to hire somebody to do it.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

So I can tell your confidence has shifted massively from taking on all those roles. So now you know what a rebuttal needs to look like for a customer, how to handle different situations. That's really evident. Do you feel like it would have been possible to get there without stepping in the way that you did?

SPEAKER_01 10:52

Very challenging. Bloom and Blinds as a whole has really shifted away from the semi-absentee model just because of that. I think I was honestly one of the first ones and maybe one of the last ones that have done it, have survived it, have kind of walked through it just because it's just a business that's really challenging. Semi-absentee operate it and do it without the hands-on knowledge of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

And no one's gonna take care of, I mean, really your business is like a baby. It's a new baby. And didn't you launch or open in 2022? Yes, right. Yeah. So that was your new baby, and no one's gonna quite take care of that new baby like you. And what was the biggest thing that you go? Woo! Wish someone would have told me that one. Something you can share. You're like, yeah, uh, heads up.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

I mean, I think the right people in the right role was a massive learning. It still is, you know, as you employ and grow and your needs of your business change. I listened to a podcast yesterday. So the right people in the right role is just a big, a big need. Right management style, the right training, the right onboarding. Like, how do you do all do all this well? And then I think all the hats and the marketing. So I would say the hats you have to wear, there's a lot of hats to wear inside of your business. As you grow, as your knowledge expands, your business can grow. You're looking for ways to offload those and delegate responsibly those roles and responsibilities. And so people management, the delegation of that. And then I think marketing as a whole, as a small business, it's not a one-size-fits-all. It's not a pay Google and sit back and kind of reap the rewards of the leads. We have done a lot of ground level, you know, grassroots efforts in marketing. And that's really been very beneficial and what's helped us sustain and continue to grow the ebbs and flows of marketing and social media and AI now and all the things. So you can't replace the value of your effort in community and business networking and relationship-based business.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

How do you currently, if you don't mind sharing, how do you utilize AI in your business?

SPEAKER_01 12:33

The biggest way we're probably using it is one inside of the search, we have a lot of people that found us via AI. And all that's just AI doing its job because we have good, great reviews and great feedback into the whole algorithms and all the things that are on the web. AI is searching and finding those things and connecting people with Bloom and Blinds because it sees what we've already naturally put out there. And then your response time with customers, and we're working more through CRM and just those lead automations where we want to be the fastest to answer the phone, we want to be the fastest to send a response, we want, you know, high touch and great customer experience through the journey. And a lot of that is where AI workflows come into place for just making sure that what the they're top of mind and they feel that way throughout the process.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

But what you know, and it and as you're growing, because now you're expanding to different locations or territories, you said, it's probably a whole new set of learning opportunities, as I say, because how do you be consistent across all the locations and different people? And now you got more opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

More numbers, more people answering the phone, but yes, the consistent same service, same high touch, regardless of how they found us or arrived at our doorstep.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

So your third child's on his or her way.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

So we have two girls, and then in May, we're expecting our boy.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

So congratulations. Not so excited for you. But it's like you've got some uh opportunities for some kids on payroll. Yeah. New interior designers coming out. There you go. Family business on its way, right? So, Ethan, you know, to close, I think one of the things that has spoken so loudly in our conversation with you is just your faith and also your confidence in yourself and the situation to work out. Like if you're doing the right actions, it sounds like the right thing will happen. So if you are giving advice to someone either in a similar position or on the fence or just feeling, you know, scared and fear are really the things that people usually feel when they're in that type of situation. What would you say to them and how would you speak to them?

SPEAKER_01 14:20

In my opinion, I can't answer the question without a relationship with the Lord and where peace truly comes from. Revenue is not there every month. It is not consistent every month. But if you have a peace, you can find consistency there. You can find a core, you can find a foundation there. And also trusted resources, trusted people, older, wiser people. I feel like I'm continually trying to learn from podcasts, from books, from you know, there's three to four owners that have been in the business longer than I have that I'm looking up to and learning from weekly. Other people inside of business networking circles, business coaches, just trying to be a sponge and continue to learn. I think your business can only grow as much as you grow. And that's become more evident. And the longer you've been in business, there's a lot of things you don't know. And so there's security and there's affirmation in people that have already walked the journey and walked the road ahead of you that you're learning from and trying to come behind.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

I love that. It collapsed that curve of learning, right? Stand on the shoulders of giants, all that good stuff. It has been an absolute pleasure visiting with you. We can't wait to see your expansion in both personally and professionally. So if you're in Nashville area, go check out Ethan and his growing business and Blue Moon Blinds. That's right. And remember that we're on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube now. So you can get us on any of those major platforms. And also, if you know of a franchisee who should be featured on the podcast, have them go to iQforprofit.com and submit an application because, like Ethan, we like showcasing franchisees and business owners who are making a difference in their community and really profiting with purpose. And we want to share that. So, Ethan, this has been fabulous. Thank you so much for your time. And yeah, we're excited to see the story develop. There you go. Thanks, Ethan.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

We are proud that today's episode was brought to us by Imperial Design and Display. You know, Elizabeth, when you walk into a retail store and you see all the products, the merchandise, the racks, all that good stuff. Yes, everything that distracts us. There you go. That's what Imperial Design and Display does. They were a US manufacturing company, which for me, all right, made in the USA. They do everything from design to installation to program management. They get it done. Yeah. And the caliber of brands that they work with is very impressive. Not trying to be a name-dropper. Drop some names. Here we go. We're talking GameStop, William Sonoma, Blas Buy, Home Depot, Caribou Coffee, and some high caliber brands. Right. And not only do they make it look good, it's functional and they're cost conscious. Which we love. So we are proud to have them as one of our sponsors for the Build for Profit podcast that is Imperial Design and Display. And Elizabeth, I have to give a little shout out. I love a good tagline. They have a good tagline. Let's move at the speed of retail together. So Imperiald Design Display.com and click on the link to get more information about Imperial Design and Display. We'll see you in the next episode.