Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to American wealth in Franchising and Kim Daly tv.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: I am your host, Kim Daly.
[00:00:06] Speaker A: I want to educate, motivate and inspire your business ownership journey by interviewing business leaders, coaches and exceptional franchisees to learn their valuable insights and strategies that we can apply to our own business ownership dreams.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Now onto the show.
Welcome back to Create wealth through Franchising podcast and Kim Daly TV. In my studio today, a very tenured franchisee, 19 years in the making. Bart Williams from Kentucky. Welcome to the studio of Kim Daly tv.
[00:00:45] Speaker C: Well, I'm happy to be here. Thank you.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: I think we have a little bit of a celebrity in our studio today. He's being humble, but he's going to tell us his story. So before we get to all of his accolades, Bart, take us back to the beginning. 19 years ago, what was happening in your life when you thought to yourself, myself, I need to do something different and maybe I should consider a franchise?
[00:01:05] Speaker C: Well, I, like a lot of people, graduated from college and went to work in corporate America and have a big box store background and, you know, left that to go to another very large company in the country, went to work for John Deere for the corporate office in their financial services and insurance division.
And I quickly realized, having worked in both those two realms, that you really don't have a lot of control over your own destiny if you're not the one that's in charge.
And I can't say that it was a bad experience in either case whatsoever. But I did realize that if I want to be in charge of my own destiny, I've got to take action to do that. So I started, started pursuing different types of entrepreneurial courses and pathways to get to where I've gotten to today. And the franchising realm of it was what, I guess my corporate background kind of drew me into the franchising way because with franchises, you do have a lot of, you know, best practices and procedures and different things to follow and so on and so forth. So it wasn't like I was leaving my comfort zone completely. And it gave me some, you know, some definite guidelines and support that was necessary. And that led me down the path of going into a franchise versus maybe just starting a business, you know, on my own. And as far as, like, where I went to get with House Doctors, I looked at, I think, maybe seven or eight different franchises during that process. It took me about six months or so to dial in on House Doctors. And I had always, as I grew up and early in my, my working life, had done work for, you know, worked with my hands, had done carpentry and worked in construction and different things like that. And. And it kind of drew me towards, you know, House Doctors being the home improvement company, more or less. And I liked the freedom that franchise gave you versus maybe one that's a little more dialed into one specific thing, like a painting franchise or a garage door franchise or one of those, you know, I looked at it, I looked at one for guttering, you know, and I thought, you know, I don't want to just do that, you know, so House Doctors was pretty broad and what I'm allowed to do, and I've selected House Doctors over the other, you know, maybe four or five candidates that kind of bowl down to.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: And obviously it's worked out for you if you've been a franchisee now for 19 years. So that was a good decision for you, Bart.
[00:03:42] Speaker C: Yes, it was. It was a good decision. I'm on my third franchisor. Know that's not come without a hiccup or two.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: You wait, you're on your third. The company's been sold three times.
[00:03:52] Speaker C: Yes, it has. And each time that it has sold, it has been an upgrade to the franchisees, just to be honest. I mean, it's been a very positive thing from my perspective. Paul Flick, who is the president of Premium Service Brands, you know, he is a real, real genuine good guy and easy to talk to and, you know, reachable, but he has surrounded himself by a talented group of people on his team, and there's a lot of support there, which the previous franchisor didn't really have the support mechanism or the infrastructure, if you will, that Premium Service Brands has. So I think that's where, you know, I have benefited most from the last transition to where we are today.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: It's really good, and it's a really good point to bring up, because a lot of times when you come from a corporate background and your company is acquired, right, you lose your job. And so when candidates in the process ask about, like, you know, what's the franchisor's plans? And like, I believe every young franchise is probably growing to sell, right? And to Bart's point, when you sell to the right kind of new company, the new company is bringing in fresh ideas and money. Usually that then allows the franchise to infuse more support, support, and that continues the elevation of the brand. Now, it certainly can go sideways as well, but I think for the most part, I've seen these acquisitions benefit franchisees, and certainly there can be a change of culture, change of leadership, changes things a little bit. And change can be hard. I mean, let's be real, right? Like we're humans and we don't always love change. But when you zoom out and you look at the benefit of what you get versus some of the changes that you're like, oh, I liked it the way it was before.
Hopefully that change overrides, you know, the positives, override any of that, the things that you may be giving up by a culture change. So that's great. I love that. So let's talk a little bit about how you've been in for 19 years. So take us back to the beginning, the role that you played. Has your role changed and adapted over time? Or have you kept your business at a certain growth in a certain place so that you could maintain a certain role for those 19 years?
[00:06:08] Speaker C: Oh, it's, it's changed dramatically over the 19 years. You know, when I started, it was myself and two people. You know, I have 22 employees now. So we've evolved. As a, as a company, my role has obviously changed over time. In the beginning, I was, you know, in the weeds, so to speak. I was involved in every aspect of the business and so on and so forth. And that kind of fits my personality in a way. And that was a hard thing for me to change as time went on because I was the bottleneck on growth. After I realized that I had to turn loose of some of that, you know, and it's allowed us to grow. I mean, we continue to grow. We show growth every year, and we have for 19 years. And we'll, if we finish this year where I think we'll show growth this year, you know, my role now is more of a really an administrator, more than it is, you know, very hands on. I still do some of the estimating and I still interact a lot with our customers and things like that, because that's how I built the business.
You know, 19 years ago, marketing was yellow page presence, print, radio and direct mail. That was pretty much it, other than just getting out and beating the bushes, so to speak. And I did a lot of that, and that's how I built the business.
So as we move forward from a marketing standpoint, you know, and now all of a sudden there's these Angie's out there and HomeAdvisor and Thumbtack, and those are all coming around. And, you know, you dabble a little bit with some of those and then social media takes off and you do a little bit of this and that. But mine is still really grassroots driven. I Was looking at it yesterday. 65% of our business is repeat business, 25% of our business is referral, and the other 10% is everything else. I'm very protective of my customers. I'm very protective of our brand. You know, I'm very partial to wanting the customer to have the same experience every time they contact us. You know, I hammer on those kind of things. I don't try to tell my guys how to do a job or how to, you know, to do those kind of things. I'm more about when the phone call comes in, how the phone's handled, to when we schedule an estimate, to when we go out and do the estimate, to we present our estimate, to when we go back and do the work, that the process is the same every time. I'm driven more towards those kind of things, and that's what I'm after these days. You know, I've got 16 people out in the field every day, and then the rest of us are backroom people. You know, I've got a couple of estimators and office staff and project managers. But, you know, we're going in a lot of different directions all the time. And I try to just put myself in a position where I can observe and coach, if you will, what I want to see done and the way I want it done. And it works. Is it perfect? No, it'll never be perfect. I mean, nothing ever is. So you just got to keep pushing forward and keep tweaking things. But you don't compromise on the culture that you've built. You don't compromise on your values. You don't compromise on those things. Yes, you. You can tweak how you quote something. You know, you do different things like this and that, but those things, you don't change. And that's what people recognize, and that's what keeps bringing them back to us.
[00:09:11] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Like, there's so many things I want to ask you. That was so brilliant. Okay, you started this business, or you were interested in House doctor because you had a propensity, like, to work with your hands and enjoy kind of being in that construction or carpentry environment.
So in your opinion, how important is that attraction to the widget, to one's success in a franchise?
[00:09:36] Speaker C: It's very important. I mean, obviously, you know, you can buy a franchise and be an absentee owner and be successful, but I've always looked at things like if you need to enjoy what you do, because if you enjoy it, you're going to be more passionate about it you're going to put more into it and it's going to be real.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: Now that you're on the administrator side.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: You never really were doing the handiwork, right.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: You had an interest and you enjoy the environment of it, but you didn't actually have to have the license or be the one to actually go and do the work ever.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: Correct. But I had that background a little bit, you know, and I like to see tangible things be done. I enjoy going, you know, into a customer's home and to look at their bathroom, you know, because they want it remodeled. And I see what it is now, I hear what their vision for it is and then, you know, we implement a plan to orchestrate that vision. And then I like to see the finished product, you know, and I enjoy that. I mean, I still enjoy that part of this every day. I like to get out and go to the different job sites and see the different things that we're doing and stuff like that. So I've always been kind of a easy person to talk to and communicate with and so on. So interacting with customers has never been an issue for me.
And I enjoy that one on one, you know, part of it and so on. So that part of it, you know, I enjoy as well. I don't think I would have enjoyed the last 19 years nearly as much as if I were, you know, say, picked a franchise that didn't afford me the opportunity to interact with people.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Another question I had for you in there was so over the 19 years, so you mentioned that you're 65% referral, so you had to build this referred business. So what advice do you offer to the new franchisee in any home service business that doesn't have the customers to build that repeat business yet? How did you get the whole engine started? And was this something that back then house doctor was really good at teaching and coaching you on, or have they got better at that? It's kind of two questions in one, have they got better at helping franchisees over time?
[00:11:48] Speaker C: Again, there's been multiple franchisors. So you have to go back to the very beginning. In the beginning, I did a lot of just going out and meeting people in my community. I went to real estate agents, I went to insurance agents offices, I went to businesses. I went anywhere where I could get in front of people, you know, talked about house doctors, talked about how I could help them with their home or help their customers with their home. It's important in the home services business, regardless of what you're doing, that you Build a rapport with the customer, number one. I mean, if you think about it from a sales standpoint, if everything's done on the phone, it's pretty easy to tell somebody no. But when you go to their home and you look at whatever it is that you're there to look at and you engage in a little bit of conversation with them, you know, you see a picture of their kids over there on the table, and maybe, you know, they're in a soccer uniform or a volleyball uniform or football uniform, and you strike up a little thing about that, it just starts to kind of humanize things more. And when you talk to them, as you move more through the process or through the sales process of it, you get a little bit of a bond with them, and it makes it harder for them to tell, you know, hey.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: Daily Coach fans, if you're ready to.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: Begin your own journey to find the perfect franchise, please email me right now at InquireimDaily TV. My services are totally free for you. That's inquire@kimdaily.
Now back to the show.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: And it makes it more fun. It's not just a sales job. It's right. We're building relationships. And I think that's why you have such high referrals, right? Because it's not just transactional for you. You're showing you genuinely care, and the people feel that you're there to serve them and help them, right? And because you've served them well, they pay you and they come back and they refer people to you. So it's an engine that.
Where do you start it? That's the question, right? And that hopefully comes from, for the listener, from your franchisor, in terms of, like, these are the things that we do. But what I love about what Bart said is in this social media age, and now he did start 19 years ago, but I started my business 23 years ago, and I am successful because of exactly the same reason that Bart is successful. It is my belief that in the grand scheme, the marketing dollars you spend make up very little for the customers that you actually serve. The best way to build any business, in my opinion, is building that referred lead network. That takes time and energy and lots of shaking hands and kissing babies, as they say. But it's a solid foundation. And when you have those referring business to business customers, like the real estate agents or insurance agents, thinking about you and your brand because they know like and trust you and they're referring that homeowner to you, that person, when you walk into their house they already know, like and trust you because they were referred by somebody that they know, like and trust. And that's an entirely different conversation every time than a cold call from SEO, from pay per click ad. So we have to spend the Money Today in 2025 to, you know, have a social media presence. But I know it to be true in my business 23 years later, other than through YouTube. My YouTube leads rival my referrals. You've been here for 19 years. When you started this, did you have any idea that this would be the thing that would take you in your life, where you are today 19 years later, 22 employees, a thriving business, one of the top performing franchises in a very large system.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: Well, I'd hoped it would, you know, it's like anything else, you know, you have high hopes and so on. I feel like, let me say it this way, there's just a couple of industries, if you will, that I think there is a lot of security in. And one of those industries that there's a lot of security in is anybody that works in the health care industry. Because there's always going to be a need for doctors and nurses and all of the supporting staff that goes along with all those because people get sick, people have to see those. So there's always going to be that. And my wife is a nurse, I listen to her. We don't have enough help. The same volume of people every day and so on. I think the same applies to, if you want to just call it the construction industry. Just for a general umbrella. All these people have to have a place to live. You know, there's businesses, there's commercial, you know, all that stuff. So all of those just like people get sick over time and they require care and work. It's either the want to's or the have to's. You know, I mean, you have a certain degree of both. And, you know, the economic times determine what people are spending their money on. But they're going to invest a certain amount of money every year into their home, whether they want to or they have to.
And, you know, so I think in the home services industry, there's a lot of stability in it as long as you get out and you build a reputable business and you do things the right way. Way in today's times are different. I mean, you do the social media and the Internet and everything that there is today that there wasn't 19 years ago catapults you, I think, a little faster into things today than what, you know, I did 19 years ago. But I still believe that the relationships that you build build a better customer base than the ones you get. Like you were talking about cold calls you get off a pay per click or a lead generator like Angie or something like that. And not to poke at any of those because you've got to make your phone ring, but the customer that you can have an interaction with and you do some work for and you've done good quality work, you know, the next time they need somebody, it's a lot easier for them to remember you than going to pick up a phone and start, you know, googling who to call for something. You know, I just feel like that in this business, in any kind of home services based business, it's all about building relationships.
[00:17:45] Speaker B: If you could summarize, I don't know if it's two things or three things or five things, like for the listener out there who is either in a business and is not quite successful, or for the listener out there who's not in a business but trying to figure out, I want to do it, but I want to know that I can be successful. What do you attribute 19 years of growth to in 19 years of success to?
There has to be things that you know, that you do conscientiously that are driving that success.
What are a few of those things?
[00:18:19] Speaker C: Bart, I know this might sound simplistic, but sometimes it's just as simple as answering the phone really honestly. It's about being consistent in what you do. That's one thing about being part of a franchise, is that, you know, there's systems and policies and best practices in place that you follow. And whereas if you were kind of on your own, you might not stay as true to that kind of stuff. And there might be ups and downs with how you conduct business day to day, which will lead to feast and famine situations, you know. And with what we do, though, it's constantly a certain process that we go through on a daily basis, not just internally in the office, but externally with our customers and so on and so forth. So I think consistency, you've got to be willing to get out there and see people and meet people and build relationships. That's important.
I think if you can do that, the faster you can do that, the more successful you're going to be, or faster you will. I think what most people, if they're afraid to get out and see people, they might want to not get into the home services industry, but find another type of business to be in. And I don't care what it is. I mean you know, Premium Service Brands has nine different brands and they're all in the home service business, one facet or another. But every one of them, the ones that are successful across the boards, all of them are people, driven people. You know, the franchisee is hands on with his team or her team and then with their customers and so on and so forth. And I see that common characteristic with when we get together and we have meetings or we're on franchise advisory councils and different things together, is you can tell the people that, that are successful are sincere, very genuine, focused on their customer. And I believe you gotta be focused on your employees as well. You know, I mean, I take care of my guys and gals, that they're gonna take care of the customer.
So, you know, that's kind of what I do. The end user being the customer. I want to be very happy. But to get to that point, I gotta keep my team happy, you know, and do the right things by them.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: Okay, so let me just repeat what you heard. Pick up the phone, follow the franchisor system, consistently do right by your employees and your customers. But there was one. Oh, be a human. Be able to go out and talk to other humans about what you do. So for those of you out there listening who think that success in a franchise is illusory and it's only for a small percentage of people, like owning a business is hard. Has the man said anything that sounds truly hard? Now let me tell you, what we talk about is simple, but execution of it is not always easy. Right? Simple and easy, two different things. But everything he said, any listener right now can do those four things. So I love it. I love the simplicity and truth is always simple. I have the same kind of truth in my business part where I went from an average performer to a history maker, growing my business by 350% in one 12 month period. And other people who do what I do say no, there's something when I tell them how I did it, they're like, no, there's something else you did. I'm like, why? Because you have to make it more complicated than it actually was. It's not complicated. Right. Success is about doing the usually the basic things with and executing them consistently and getting better and better every time you do it. Like that's what I think really leads to success. It's so simple and so well said by this man. So, Bart, I've enjoyed you so much. I just want to ask you one more question.
So those listeners out there who are on the sideline who haven't yet got into the game. You took a chance 19 years ago on changing your life, right? You're like, I'm tired of this. I want more control. I guess you found control. You can answer that in the answer. But the question I would ask to you is to share some advice, words of wisdom with that listener who may be you 19 years ago, who's looking for freedom, looking for control, trying to figure out, should I do this? What advice do you offer?
[00:22:27] Speaker C: Well, the first thing I would say is, this is not a 9 to 5 job. It wasn't 19 years ago and it's not today. I'm not telling you I'm putting in 65, 70 hours a week. That's not what I'm saying. But if you want a 9 to 5 job, you probably need to stay where you are and let somebody else tell you what to do every day. If you want to be your own boss and you want to truly have control of your own fate and destiny, then you've got to be willing to take the step, you know, whatever that business is going to be that you may jump into, you've got to be willing to take that step. But when you take that step, you're investing not only time, but you're investing a lot of money in that as well. And you better be willing to put the time in to make it successful.
And what I mean by that is, is again, I'm not saying you got to work yourself 60, 70 hours a week. I'm not saying. But you've got to make good use of your time. You can't, you know, put your shingle on the wall or whatever it is that you're going to do and say, okay, I'm open, and just sit there and look at the phone and go, ring, ring. It doesn't work that way. You know, it doesn't. You've got to be willing to get out and see people and do things. And, you know, if you go down the franchise path, you're going to have systems and practices and so on and so forth that have been developed way in advance of you being a part of it, that have been tried and true and will continue to be tweaked as things change. But it gives you a good path to follow.
So follow the path, but don't be so rigid that you don't step off of it just a little bit. You know, I mean, I've always been told that I was probably the most outside of the box thinking person that bought a franchise. I've heard that over the years, because I always look for reasons to do something, not not to do them. And, you know, I've gotten into some things over the years. I mean, the biggest thing I got into was we manage a resort and it's a 200 home gated community, and we take care of all the properties and everything in the resort. And that's really not. If you read your franchising agreement, there's nothing in there about anything like that. And, you know, that was nine years ago that I started that. And, you know, the franchisor at the time scratched his head when I approached him about that. I was thinking about doing this because I didn't want to go down that journey with him standing back, going, no, no, you can't do that. You can't do that. But you just got to look for opportunities. You got to have your eyes open all the time. And at the end of the day, if it's not been a good day, you know, you just go to bed at night and wake up the next morning and go back out and try again. You know, I mean, you got to keep going back out and doing it, because there is going to be rejection. There isn't everything, you know, and not every day is going to be a great day, but you'll find over time that the good days will take over. And, you know, the hiccups that you have now, that's just what they are. They're just a little hiccup every once in a while that you have to deal with. So roll your sleeves up, go to work, listen to the people around you, and, you know, we leverage, or I leverage my franchisee group that, you know, the House, Dr. Brand, all of us that are out here doing this and have been doing it for. Well, I'm the oldest one now, so, you know, all the ones that are new, I enjoy talking with them and I kind of feed off of their energy and the newness that they have and the excitement about it, you know, I think that's a great thing, you know, so there's a lot to be said about the franchisee path, you know, going down it. And I think that if you are wanting to do something on your own, you have to be willing to make it happen. And if you don't know whether you're willing to make it happen, you probably don't need to start.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: I love it and I'm so happy to meet you today. I'm so happy that franchising has proved to be an amazing adventure for you, just as it has for Kim Daly. And that's what we want for those listeners out there. So, Bart, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, your amazing experience in franchising today as our special guest. It was a pleasure to meet you. So for those who are on the sideline, who are tired of just listening to the stories, who want to start writing their own story, well, you know that Kim Daly wants to be your franchise consultant and your daily coach. So this is your call to action. It's as simple as following the link in the description below. I personally will reach out to you within 24 hours to open up the conversation. Not to talk you into investing in a franchise, but to help you get educated and discover what a franchise could do for you. I'm going to help you select the right business based on your goals and interests and finances and skills. Skills. But then I'm also going to coach your mindset so that you can move beyond your limiting beliefs, so that you can talk yourself back from that fear edge that you're going to find yourself at any time. You step out of your comfort zone and start thinking in a new way.
And with a little bit of luck, and if it's the right timing for you, you might go on and become the next franchisee who may be able to come back a year later and be in my hot seat. And that's the dream come true for Kim Daly. So if you're ready to begin your journey, please follow the link in the description right now because I'm. I can't wait to meet you.
[00:27:34] Speaker A: You can find more content just like this on my YouTube channel at KimDaily TV. And if you're inspired to take the next step to explore franchises matched to you, please email me right now at InquireimDaily TV. That's InquireimDaily TV.
