Hey Friends,
I've been sponsoring this board for a few months now and I want you all to get to know me more as my experience in Corporate America is probably pretty similar to many of you all.
But before I get going, I gotta put out a little football talk! I am a Longhorn fan - and a great punching bag for almost every other fanbase out there right now. So, this season has really been great for me professionally as my time on Rivals sites has been reduced by 10x during our 6 game skid. I hate reading negativity and there really isn't much positive about our program right now, so I become much more productive with my businesses. It's a real deal, and thanks Texas - you've made me really be dialed in for a successful Q4 in all my businesses!
Allright, got that out of the way! Now, let's talk some business. Today I am going to share my story with you all as I am guessing my corporate life is very similar to many of you all. I hope you enjoy.....
MY CORPORATE CAREER
First of all, I was an awful student. And my parents would tell you that is putting it mildly. So, when I graduated with a cool 2.56 GPA from College (BS in Marketing) I went to my Dad and asked for some career advice…. he said ‘Son, you’re going to be a salesman’…and off I went.
That was in 1998. From 1998 – 2006 I traveled anywhere in the Southeast to take promotions in sales roles. I lived in Atlanta, Destin, Tampa, Jacksonville, Northern KY – finally getting an opportunity to run a new division (On Demand / Photo) of a Belgium based company, called Unibind in 2006 (our US HQ was in Alpharetta). I didn’t know jack about On Demand or Photo at the time, btw.
That’s when my income and career really skyrocketed. We landed all the big accounts in the photo space. You name them…Apple, Kodak, Shutterfly, Wal Mart, Target, CVS, Walgreen’s. We crushed it! I was loving life, living single in Atlanta (where I grew up). I was traveling all over the world, getting upgraded to first class, the free drinks, free flights for vacation – those also in first class (btw, it’s funny now knowing how many of those folks in 1st class didn’t actually pay for it). Life was awesome, I was single and making really good money for a single dude without much more than a Post Apartment rent bill each month.
Then I got married…. the first 2 years of our marriage I traveled 80% of the time. It was still palatable because I was making good money, we bought a really nice 1st house, and were still living ‘single’ hours.
2 yrs. later our first child was born and almost instantly my world changed completely. I never realized how precious my time was until then. My life consisted of constant travel and when I wasn’t traveling, I was leaving for the office before 7am and coming home after 7pm – I never saw my wife or my son. I felt like an absent husband and father and it just wasn’t enjoyable to sacrifice the money for the quality of life I had.
That’s when I decided to figure out a new way. I just had zero clue what it was. That’s when I saw a banner ad online saying something like ‘Interested in Franchise Opportunities’…. I didn’t know much about franchises just knew I didn’t want fast food. I filled out a form and that’s when everything changed.
THE PROCESS
After filling out that form my phone rang off the hook. I probably had 20 different franchisors call me and then I had this 1 franchise consultant who told me he could match me up with a business based on my skill sets and the business characteristics I was looking for in an opportunity. I had never heard of a franchise consultant but the guy was older, he sent me his bio and I felt like I could trust him.
So, I went through a consultation where I told him I was looking for a business with the 5 R’s:
We ended up buying the master franchise (called Regional Developer – I spoke of this in my first post about Ownership models) for the Floribama region. My role was to open my own franchise and develop the Floribama region by finding successful franchisees for the open territories and then helping them grow their businesses.
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS BORN
So, we sold our house in Atlanta and started a new life in Fairhope, AL. My wife and I had looked at areas across the Southeast and honed in on Fairhope due to the amazing quality of life that jumps out at you when visiting. Fairhope is an amazing little town on the Mobile Bay that has great schools and a great family atmosphere and close to the beach.
When we moved to Fairhope, we told ourselves we would need to live on a ‘Ramen noodle’ diet so to speak. We drank box wine (Bota Box wasn’t all that bad and man o man, that stuff can flow quickly!) and didn’t eat out.
I opened the agency in October of 2013 and remember those first few months like yesterday. We started out of the gates really slow! I was new to the area and had very few connections, so it took time to build our brand and relationships in the community We made a whopping $2,000 in net profit in year one with me not pulling any salary. I had a buddy tell me one day that it sounded like I just bought myself a crappy sales job. And I started to believe him…. then the light switch clicked for my business. The perfect storm of delivering great customer service, creating impactful relationships, and differentiating ourselves from competition had us hit our stride in year 2. We grossed almost 1 million in that 2nd year with me making over six figures. My business and income have grown every year since. Last year we did over $2.4MM and ranked #17 of 153 agencies in our system. My income has allowed me to diversify and buy other businesses and create an level of income that I never thought possible.
Most recently, I bought a dumpster company called Big Red. Check us out at www.rentbigred.com as this is my first venture into creating my own brand. We have 300+ dumpsters, 6 Mack Trucks, 150 Red Head Porta Potties, and Buster (the dumpster trash crusher).
QUALITY OF LIFE
Just as important as the money I have made is the quality of life it has afforded me and my family. We have unlimited PTO. I am insulated from the day 2 day in all my businesses and can work from anywhere. This summer, I spent 2 weeks in Telluride and another in Santa Fe, while it is sweltering in Fairhope, AL. In all I took over a month off this summer! Life goes by so fast and we have just come to the realization that our oldest child only has 6 more years at home. With time ticking so fast, I am so blessed to be able to be able to travel and spend time with my family whenever I want.
My daily schedule when working is super flexible as well. While I have an office at Big Red and Synergy, I am rarely in there. I work from home and have the time and ability to coach my kids’ teams (until they have complained too much about my coaching), I am able to take them to school, eat lunch with them (in non-Covid years). I play tennis 2-3 times during the week. I don’t ever ‘work’ past 5 (I won’t lie, though…I do read and shoot off a few emails at night a good bit). I use ‘work’ in parenthesis as once you own your own businesses, it definitely doesn’t feel like real work! The emails I do at night are enjoyable. Does that sound crazy to you???
So that’s my journey to franchise ownership and the American Dream that I really feel like I am living now. My guess is that many of you are in the same position I was once in while in Corporate America, if so maybe we should talk. For the last 5+ years I have been helping others find their American Dream and take life truly into their own hands. If you or anyone you know would like to learn more about business ownership or franchise opportunities, I’d love to help.
Happy Holidays,
Andy
I've been sponsoring this board for a few months now and I want you all to get to know me more as my experience in Corporate America is probably pretty similar to many of you all.
But before I get going, I gotta put out a little football talk! I am a Longhorn fan - and a great punching bag for almost every other fanbase out there right now. So, this season has really been great for me professionally as my time on Rivals sites has been reduced by 10x during our 6 game skid. I hate reading negativity and there really isn't much positive about our program right now, so I become much more productive with my businesses. It's a real deal, and thanks Texas - you've made me really be dialed in for a successful Q4 in all my businesses!
Allright, got that out of the way! Now, let's talk some business. Today I am going to share my story with you all as I am guessing my corporate life is very similar to many of you all. I hope you enjoy.....
MY CORPORATE CAREER
First of all, I was an awful student. And my parents would tell you that is putting it mildly. So, when I graduated with a cool 2.56 GPA from College (BS in Marketing) I went to my Dad and asked for some career advice…. he said ‘Son, you’re going to be a salesman’…and off I went.
That was in 1998. From 1998 – 2006 I traveled anywhere in the Southeast to take promotions in sales roles. I lived in Atlanta, Destin, Tampa, Jacksonville, Northern KY – finally getting an opportunity to run a new division (On Demand / Photo) of a Belgium based company, called Unibind in 2006 (our US HQ was in Alpharetta). I didn’t know jack about On Demand or Photo at the time, btw.
That’s when my income and career really skyrocketed. We landed all the big accounts in the photo space. You name them…Apple, Kodak, Shutterfly, Wal Mart, Target, CVS, Walgreen’s. We crushed it! I was loving life, living single in Atlanta (where I grew up). I was traveling all over the world, getting upgraded to first class, the free drinks, free flights for vacation – those also in first class (btw, it’s funny now knowing how many of those folks in 1st class didn’t actually pay for it). Life was awesome, I was single and making really good money for a single dude without much more than a Post Apartment rent bill each month.
Then I got married…. the first 2 years of our marriage I traveled 80% of the time. It was still palatable because I was making good money, we bought a really nice 1st house, and were still living ‘single’ hours.
2 yrs. later our first child was born and almost instantly my world changed completely. I never realized how precious my time was until then. My life consisted of constant travel and when I wasn’t traveling, I was leaving for the office before 7am and coming home after 7pm – I never saw my wife or my son. I felt like an absent husband and father and it just wasn’t enjoyable to sacrifice the money for the quality of life I had.
That’s when I decided to figure out a new way. I just had zero clue what it was. That’s when I saw a banner ad online saying something like ‘Interested in Franchise Opportunities’…. I didn’t know much about franchises just knew I didn’t want fast food. I filled out a form and that’s when everything changed.
THE PROCESS
After filling out that form my phone rang off the hook. I probably had 20 different franchisors call me and then I had this 1 franchise consultant who told me he could match me up with a business based on my skill sets and the business characteristics I was looking for in an opportunity. I had never heard of a franchise consultant but the guy was older, he sent me his bio and I felt like I could trust him.
So, I went through a consultation where I told him I was looking for a business with the 5 R’s:
- Rewarding – Personally and Financially
- Recession proof – needed product or service
- Relationships/Networking was a key to growing the business….not hard-line negotiations (as I was always doing in my corp gig)
- Referrals drove the lead flow, not cold calling
- Resistant to tech (Amazon Proof)
We ended up buying the master franchise (called Regional Developer – I spoke of this in my first post about Ownership models) for the Floribama region. My role was to open my own franchise and develop the Floribama region by finding successful franchisees for the open territories and then helping them grow their businesses.
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS BORN
So, we sold our house in Atlanta and started a new life in Fairhope, AL. My wife and I had looked at areas across the Southeast and honed in on Fairhope due to the amazing quality of life that jumps out at you when visiting. Fairhope is an amazing little town on the Mobile Bay that has great schools and a great family atmosphere and close to the beach.
When we moved to Fairhope, we told ourselves we would need to live on a ‘Ramen noodle’ diet so to speak. We drank box wine (Bota Box wasn’t all that bad and man o man, that stuff can flow quickly!) and didn’t eat out.
I opened the agency in October of 2013 and remember those first few months like yesterday. We started out of the gates really slow! I was new to the area and had very few connections, so it took time to build our brand and relationships in the community We made a whopping $2,000 in net profit in year one with me not pulling any salary. I had a buddy tell me one day that it sounded like I just bought myself a crappy sales job. And I started to believe him…. then the light switch clicked for my business. The perfect storm of delivering great customer service, creating impactful relationships, and differentiating ourselves from competition had us hit our stride in year 2. We grossed almost 1 million in that 2nd year with me making over six figures. My business and income have grown every year since. Last year we did over $2.4MM and ranked #17 of 153 agencies in our system. My income has allowed me to diversify and buy other businesses and create an level of income that I never thought possible.
Most recently, I bought a dumpster company called Big Red. Check us out at www.rentbigred.com as this is my first venture into creating my own brand. We have 300+ dumpsters, 6 Mack Trucks, 150 Red Head Porta Potties, and Buster (the dumpster trash crusher).
QUALITY OF LIFE
Just as important as the money I have made is the quality of life it has afforded me and my family. We have unlimited PTO. I am insulated from the day 2 day in all my businesses and can work from anywhere. This summer, I spent 2 weeks in Telluride and another in Santa Fe, while it is sweltering in Fairhope, AL. In all I took over a month off this summer! Life goes by so fast and we have just come to the realization that our oldest child only has 6 more years at home. With time ticking so fast, I am so blessed to be able to be able to travel and spend time with my family whenever I want.
My daily schedule when working is super flexible as well. While I have an office at Big Red and Synergy, I am rarely in there. I work from home and have the time and ability to coach my kids’ teams (until they have complained too much about my coaching), I am able to take them to school, eat lunch with them (in non-Covid years). I play tennis 2-3 times during the week. I don’t ever ‘work’ past 5 (I won’t lie, though…I do read and shoot off a few emails at night a good bit). I use ‘work’ in parenthesis as once you own your own businesses, it definitely doesn’t feel like real work! The emails I do at night are enjoyable. Does that sound crazy to you???
So that’s my journey to franchise ownership and the American Dream that I really feel like I am living now. My guess is that many of you are in the same position I was once in while in Corporate America, if so maybe we should talk. For the last 5+ years I have been helping others find their American Dream and take life truly into their own hands. If you or anyone you know would like to learn more about business ownership or franchise opportunities, I’d love to help.
Happy Holidays,
Andy
