S1 E9: Brian Knuth – Why You Don’t Have to Give Up Your Day Job to Run a Franchise
Wanting to become a franchisee is one thing, knowing which business model to invest in is quite another. Meet Brian Knuth, VP of Franchise Development at Raintree.
Brian educates potential franchise partners, identifying which franchise partnerships might work out best. But Brian is also a franchise owner of Footprint Floors, which he runs as a semi-absentee owner.
The Wolf and Brian get into a conversation about representing emerging franchise brands, how Covid rocked his business, and some of the struggles you face juggling your day job with your franchise business.
You’ll also hear why Brian knew he had to dive into Footprint Floors, and why he feels privileged to help people break away from the corporate grind and pursue a career they’re truly passionate about.
Twitter: linkedin.com/in/brian-knuth-06101654
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Episode Transcription
The Wolf of Franchises:
Welcome to franchise empires. We’re aspiring entrepreneurs learning exactly what it takes to become a successful franchise owner from one location to 10 and beyond I’m the Wolf of franchises. Hey everyone. It’s the Wolf today in the show, we have Brian new who owns a footprints floor franchise, a home service brand with a scalable subcontract model. I was pumped to get Brian on the show because he runs his business while still maintaining a full-time job. We talk through what kinds of franchises are able to be run semi-absentee and also what struggles you go through having to watch your business from the sidelines. If you’ve ever considered buying a franchise while keeping your job, this is a great conversation to listen to hope you enjoy it.
Narrator:
The Wolf of franchises is the CEO of Wolf pack franchising, as well as a creator at workweek media, all opinions expressed by the Wolf and podcast. Guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Wolf pack franchising or work week. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. The Wolf work week and Wolf pack franchising may maintain positions in the franchises discussed on this podcast.
The Wolf of Franchises:
So, like, do you mind just telling me, because I, I believe you work for the brand too, but you’re also a franchisee, is that right?
Brian Knuth:
Yeah. So, I started my relationship with the brand as really a, a hired development agency. So I I’m a partner of a franchise development firm called Raintree where we represent multiple franchise organizations and help focus on responsible growth growing at the right pace, growing with the right candidates, et cetera, et cetera. And so, yeah, as, as I started offering the franchise opportunity for footprints floors nationally, I was, I was watching the successes of all these folks that I was placing and going, man, I got to got to get my hands on it. So it actually, it was something that took me quite some time to get the infrastructure in place to do it and do it right. Largely because the brand is, is founded here in Denver where I live and it needed to be elsewhere. So I, I wasn’t able to roll up my sleeves and be actively involved in the day to day growth. But yeah, so I, I started as the quote unquote sales guy and decided I needed to put my money where my mouth is, because I was watching all these successes happening around me.
The Wolf of Franchises:
So you were just a Raintree employee and representing the brand and then obviously felt compelled enough to dive in. So could you just give like a primer on exactly what, what footprints floors does?
Brian Knuth:
We’re a contractor in the flooring space and we, we really largely, we bridge the gap between residential homeowners. That’s our target consumer that have a project or a need related to floors and a crew of tile guys, laminate, wood, whatever their specialty is. So, so we bridge the gap between a customer need and a Crewe with a skillset and we’re hired by the homeowners to really represent their project and carry it out from start to finish. So to the customer, to the homeowner, we look like a flooring company, but as you kind of peel back the curtain and you realize how the sausage is made, we’re really a coordination project management and, and accountability company, holding crews accountable to get the projects done. And then for the cruise that their value adds or they, the value add they receive from us is we book steady work in front of them We, we give them fair representation. We describe the projects of customers according to what can and can’t happen. And we really, we set our flooring guys up for success so that they can just come in work, carry on, get paid, go to the next one, rinse and repeat.
The Wolf of Franchises:
So is that essentially a subcontracting model?
Brian Knuth:
We do have direct employees as we grow the organization, but yeah, our primary role is, is teeing up work in front of subcontracted cruise.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Cool. Yeah, no, I’ve spoken to a few folks like for some franchise owners, some just their own business, but it seems to just be, you know, if you can do it right, like a good way to operate a service business, just not having to deal with necessarily hiring all the labor. Right. Just kind of booking the job and you collect your percentage of the job revenue, correct?
Brian Knuth:
Yeah. And really it’s there’s a lot more to it. In my opinion, the attraction is I’m, I’m going after some of the highest skilled individuals, the, the guys and gals that have bought $30,000 worth of flooring equipment, they’ve trained for 10, 15, 20 years under someone else. And in return I can expect the highest deliverables. So, I, I don’t have to purchase vans, purchase $20,000 worth of flooring equipment for each crew that I’m going to train I’m going to have to manage. And then I’m going to have to wonder when do they go out and break out on their own to earn the highest amount of money in the world of trades, which is subs earn the most amount of money. Because they’ve got insurance, they’ve got workman’s comp, they’ve got applicable licensing. So, so our model is, you know, similar to what you said, but we go right after the highest paid individuals in our category and we expect the highest deliverable out of them.
The Wolf of Franchises:
I like it. And your org chart, what does that look like? I guess, you know, can you paint a picture for folks? You know, what kind of employees then you need, if you’re not hiring, you know, the technicians or, or the, the skilled labor.
Brian Knuth:
Yeah. So I think this is where I found a tremendous value in, in partnering with footprints floors as a franchise owner, you know, in, in many businesses, especially sales or service, there’s a lot of components managing leads, marketing technology, inbound, phone calls, et cetera, et cetera. And so, you know, footprints floors for us, they, they provide a dedicated receptionist. Somebody that’s going to manage, you know, the inbound and outbound reach to, to tee us up for an in-home estimate. They provide oversight on technology and continued implementation of estimations platforms. And, and the whole works. I say all of this because as, as we look at the org chart of my company as a franchise owner, we really have two main functions and those are face to face sales engagement with a residential homeowner and crew coordination and project management with our crews. And so as we look at that, and as we grow our company, we’re looking at sales individuals and we’re looking at project managers and, and as that comes together for myself and other franchise owners, we start to establish a couple of each.
Brian Knuth:
At which point we have kind of an, you know, a general manager in place that’s largely played by the franchise owner. So, so we find a tremendous amount of success in, in our organization is franchise owner comes in, learns the system, learns sales, learns, project management, builds crew relationships, and then hires under them as they reach a point of kind of capacity. So, so you kind of find that there’s only so many hours in a day. And so many days in a week, I need to divide myself by a project manager. I, I need to divide myself by a sales individual and now I kind of manage and oversee them. So even at very, very large scale footprints floors is a, is an organization of just a couple key sales people, a couple key project managers and a franchise owner, whether it’s someone like me as a, as a semi-absentee owner or an active, you know, my, my franchise peers around the country, their, their sleeves rolled up, but they’re managing their teams of people, which is just a couple sales and a couple project managers at most.
The Wolf of Franchises:
It’s helpful to have just a couple employee buckets kind of that that you’re pulling from versus, you know, some businesses do require people of all different skill levels and skill sets and multiple roles. It really sounds like with footprint floors, it’s, it’s really just two types of employees that, that you’re looking for.
Brian Knuth:
Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. Yeah. And I, I share this with folks evaluating the business and like you, I have experienced across different brands. We can all look at different businesses and chalk up responsibilities necessary to run the business that are kind of, non-money making responsibilities, things that have to happen, but they don’t directly relate to increased revenue. Right now, footprints has really created this infrastructure where they provide oversight on the non-money making functions. So I, as a franchise owner can go do what makes money, meaning they provide me with a receptionist. They provide me with people that manage the efficacy of my marketing budgets. They help with the allocation of that. They help chase down money spent in the wrong direction, because we got a bad lead. They do all of those things that have to happen. But man, if I’m doing those as an owner, I can’t be meeting with, you know, you and your wife and trying to earn your business on the flooring side.
Brian Knuth:
And likewise on the back end, I surround myself with crews that do the actual production. So, you know, can I make more money if I sanded floor so well, probably, but at the end of the day, I, I don’t want to do one floor. I don’t want to sell one floor and do the work. So it’s this, you know, really symbiotic relationship amongst a few key players where we all remove the non-money making functions from one another’s plate, allowing each of us to really focus on, you know, I could do more sales. I could do more project management.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Definitely. Yeah. I mean, it just sounds much more scalable, right? Cause like you said, I mean, if you’re, if you’re standing the floor you know, you can’t be making sales elsewhere and building up your client base. So that makes total sense. And regarding the office manager that you mentioned that, so is that on footprints floor, like corporate franchisors balance sheet or is that still part of you that you you’re paying that salary or, or hourly rate or whatever it is
Brian Knuth:
It’s on their balance sheet and this is where it’s
The Wolf of Franchises:
It’s. Oh, beautiful.
Brian Knuth:
Yeah. It, it it’s, I I’m paying for it. Right. It comes at a 2% cost, but I, I look at it as I get a full-time receptionist, the same individual that runs all of my customer contact. So there’s delivered accountability from the franchise organization. There’s a, there’s a managed and trackable KPI that we can say, Hey, they are or are not doing their job and I’m paying 2%. So, so the result, if I grow a million dollar business, which I’d be honored to do in my first couple years, I paid 20 grand for full time receptionist. Like I can’t afford that person on my own
The Wolf of Franchises:
For sure. Now it’s a no brainer. And mm-hmm, <affirmative>, you know, from, from my, I’m sure you get this at times with candidates, right. Who are looking and evaluating franchises. Sometimes they just see the, the percentages add up and it causes some reaction of you know, like it, it could just, it’s too much to handle, but when you frame it like that, right. If you, if you’re doing multi seven figures in revenue and what it really adds up to, like it’s absolutely worth the money that you’re paying for it.
Brian Knuth:
Yeah. And, and you’re absolutely right. As I, as I speak with folks who evaluate it, it’s like, you can get overwhelmed by this plus, but guess what? That’s any business, if you’re going to go effectively operated. So if I can know my percentages and I can create like this fixed balance sheet, that’s very, I hate to say it’s static, but it’s, it’s somewhat static. And wait a second, you are going to manage hiring. You are going to manage training. You are going to manage vacations. You’re going to manage someone who has a sick day and you’ve got double take it off my plate. I’ll just give you 2%. And I know I stay there.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Definitely it it’s, it’s predictable cash flow, which is super valuable for any business owner. And I, I’m curious for something I’ve noticed with home services, franchises in general is the way they’re structured from a territory perspective can really influence that initial investment. You know, there’s some that I’ve seen that they charge, you know, like 60 cents ahead or something like that in, in a territory. So, and then if you do the math on the territory of half a million people, all of a sudden, you know, you’re paying multiple franchise fees just to have a business that can be sizeable enough to support a decent income. So yeah. Do you mind just through footprint floors and how, how they’re structuring the territory there?
Brian Knuth:
Yeah, so we kind of, we have a lot of running jokes and they’re not that funny, but <laugh> Brian Park. Our, our founder and CEO is, is just an absolute spreadsheet geek. I click with him because he, he, he really runs things and decisions off of logic and math. He’s got a spreadsheet for a spreadsheet that shows you how to use another spreadsheet. And I love that. And I’m drawn to that because it’s not emotion. It’s not this erratic decision of, oh, this looks good. Let’s kind of jock it. So without getting into kind of the formulas and how he was arrived at it, he’s, he’s tracked his customers over 50,000 jobs, hundreds of thousands of estimates. And he’s created kind of a buyer profile for who consumes our services. He he’s overlaid that buyer profile against demographic information from the entire country. And before he even went on to expand nationally, he said, I’m going to develop each and every territory across the country to share a as closely as possible to share similar values, values, and customer opportunity values in, in revenue opportunity.
Brian Knuth:
And so, as we look at densely populated middle upper class geographically, that’s going to be tighter than what I own. I own Indianapolis, which is a blue collared. You know, we, we sprawl pretty big. So what for me is three territories. It’s the same value as a guy, that’s got three territories on long island that are going to be denser than mine or, or Connecticut or wherever you want to put it up. So I, I think what you’re getting at is there’s a lot of franchise organizations that have kind of thrown a dart at the wall. And, and then they draft lines based on things like highways or accessibility or rivers. And, and oftentimes what you end up with is you end up with first guy in market, get some great stuff. Second guy gets some so, so stuff, and third guy might get the lop and you may never sell the slop as a franchise owner.
Brian Knuth:
It’s a benefit to have a market that’s completely occupied by either myself or neighboring franchise partners. So we can service the community and we can have as much brand recognition as possible. But I also am a firm believer that like everybody should have an equal opportunity. And so footprints is really created that equal opportunity all the while charging the same amount to each, every, every franchise partner. So a territory is a territory is a territory. That’s okay. You and I have similar entry price. You buy one, I buy one same price. We have similar opportunities. And that validates through the launch that we’ve had from California to New York and everywhere in between franchise owners are achieving very, very similar marks if they put in the same budgets and, and energies.
The Wolf of Franchises:
So, I guess just to clarify like the, the example of Indianapolis versus long island, you know, where maybe like one county, which is a smaller geographic area, could be just as valuable as Indianapolis. Right. Are those still essentially, you know, from a franchise fee perspective going to cost the same, that’s what you were saying.
Brian Knuth:
That’s exactly right. Yeah. Okay. And, and our joke like Kyle, in, in in Chicago, we joke that he’s got a he rides a footprints floors to his customers because he’s like four zip codes as where, you know, my territories in indie are like 55 zip codes. Right. We, we put a lot of windshield time in, but yeah, that you’re exactly right. Is, is ultimately they share same values and they come at the same acquisition cost.
The Wolf of Franchises:
That’s good. Yeah. Okay. Because sometimes, you know, like we were saying right, is it, it can just be people are paying the same price for vastly different territories in, in reality. That’s right. So that’s good to see man. And on a different note. So you’re working a full time job effectively and running this franchise. Semi-Absentee can you kind of talk through what year you started and what it was like getting off the ground and now maybe, you know, I guess what stage are you at? Do you feel like you’re more in maintenance mode? Are you still in growth mode? You know, what’s that process been like?
Brian Knuth:
It it’s all the teams and the folks that have around me that help me do what I do. So there’s a lot going on around me that help me accomplish these things. But as far as my commitment and launch with footprints floors, we signed our franchise agreement. The very beginning of 2020, I actually laugh because it’s like we, we graduated training February 3rd.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Oh we fell on our,
Brian Knuth:
We fell on our face March 10th. Right. Yep.
The Wolf of Franchises:
And
Brian Knuth:
It was just quick though. It was, I mean we were almost immediately back to work, no shortage of, of opportunities and so forth. But, but ultimately, so we, we grew through the learning curves I’ve had from the very beginning. I have an operations partner named Tom. So I share with folks I’m like, listen, I’m nothing to my footprint floors business. I’m just some, some guy, right. I’m behind the scenes. If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, it carries on in fact life would probably be easier for Tom because we wouldn’t have to talk. No, I’m kidding. So since the very beginning and since inception, we had pretty grand plan to grow and really developed the greater central Indiana market. I’m not saying we had a, a slower delayed start because of COVID, but I will say that there was, there was some uniqueness behind probably a falsely inflated amount of work.
Brian Knuth:
Right. We had so much work that we were somewhat set behind on our plan because we were just trying to keep up with what was in front of us, the people that were saying yes, giving us job. I mean, it was unbelievable. We stuck with a plan to grow at particular times throughout the year because there’s, there’s some seasonality behind our business. It’s, it’s not weather influenced, but it’s holiday disruption, it’s buyer or, or consumer decisions being influenced by the holidays. And so we just don’t believe it’s healthy to hire somebody as we go into a slower time. So we set sale in the development plan hired a few key employees our, our second year, if you will. So spring of 2021 grew through last year and had some definite learning curves behind that more, you know, maturity of us as the owners and understanding what we needed. And so we’re, we’re largely in growth mode and I, I anticipate we will be for, you know, three to five years and then we’ll probably be in kind of efficiency mode trying to maximize efficiencies. But yeah, I think as a company, you know, we’re, we’re wildly successful. But growth mode for now in the next three to five years efficiency mode, hopefully the next five, six years after that. And I don’t know that it’ll ever be on kind of autopilot mode, but it, it will be for some franchise owners out there.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Definitely. Yeah. I, I can only imagine that just because I, I remember at least from even reading like information on the public markets, right where home Depot lows, their stock prices were shooting up, you know, a few months into the pandemic because of just PE everyone is home more time to do some house projects and I imagined, you know, so it probably was, you know, a quick turnaround and you said things have slowed down a little bit from like that peak at this point or is it still just kind of humming along?
Brian Knuth:
It’s tough to express. So yes and no. I, I, I think things have come to maybe a, a, a more normal landscape, but as a, as a newer franchise owner in growth mode, it still seems like there’s, there’s more work than we could possibly handle. So while it’s probably slowed down a little bit, we still haven’t felt it. Because we still have, you know, we have a lot of infrastructure to put in place to capitalize on all the work opportunity that’s out there. So I, I think things have become a little bit more normal from a, a, an urgency standpoint. I’ve got two little kids, right. We did three years’ worth of damage to our property inside of like six months because kids aren’t going to school, the dogs running around the, you know, the hose is getting sprayed inside the deck because the kids are playing outside. Like our house was chaos and you just, we saw that amongst customers too. Right. A lot of wear and tear went on residential properties. But no, I, so it’s tricky to say, right. It’s I think it’s normalized, but there is still so much out there that we can’t even imagine getting to all of it.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah. I mean that’s a great problem to have sounds like you’re plenty busy and it happened the whole time. Yeah. So that’s great. Would you say, because you, do you have something right now that a lot of aspiring owners strive for and that’s that you are able to keep a W2 and run a business on the side and I’m always hesitant if people ask me about that, I’m always a little hesitant because it’s difficult to pull off and I’d say, I’m going to ask for, you know, you to follow on, on top of this, but I’d say off the bat footprint floor sounds like a scalable model in the sense that you don’t physically have to be there, like providing any sort of labor. Right. So if you did right, that’s, that’s kind of a deal breaker. If someone wants to keep their W2, right?
The Wolf of Franchises:
If you have to be in a store for 40 hours a week or, or be the one providing the, the labor for a home services business, that’s, that’s not going to fly. But number two, you also have an operating partner, which sounds like it probably takes some work off your plate too. So if someone was to ask you just, and even zooming out, doesn’t have to necessarily be about footprint floors, just trying to do the semi-absentee model from the get go. What are some things you’d advise them to look for in the franchise that enables that to actually be possible without, you know, stressing yourself out and killing yourself while, while you’re working your W2.
Brian Knuth:
So, I think there’s, there’s some very, very key aspects that footprints floors brought to the table, which is clear managing metrics and KPIs I can see, and I can look at my business inside of five minutes and identify where we’re at, what we’re failing on and what we need to put energy effort and, and strategy behind that opens up a whole can of worms as to how long that project’s going to take. Right? Do we need to focus on a new sales pitch, whatever, whatever. So to me, I think it first starts with a business that has very clear metrics and, and trackable indicators for the health of the business. The second thing, because I’m asked this question quite often, people always want to talk about like, how are you doing it? And you know, there, there’s a few things that I’ve learned over the last couple years that I, I, I was, I’m not shocked looking back, but it was a much more challenging, emotional growth for me than I ever expected.
Brian Knuth:
I was not prepared for. And didn’t maybe just, didn’t give thought to how much emotion I’m going to have to deal with. And the emotion being I’m removed from my territory. I have an operations partner that ultimately I have to support. I have to listen to, I have to provide feedback, but I also have to respect that. I have to allow for him to have the steering wheel. He’s driving our business in the direction he sees fit every day, all day. And so as much as I may want it a certain way, it’s not my choice. It’s not my decision. As much as I’m the owner, I have to empower him, provide him the support back him. Listen, try to course correct, but I, I’m not always going to get the results I’m looking for. And so that was, that was a massive, massive, you know, maturation on myself and I’m not even close to being good at it, but something I just really didn’t put credit to the other things.
Brian Knuth:
And I think, you know, a lot of us think about it is like take your budget and triple it. Why you’re going to spend more money than you ever thought you would. You’re not going to see a return as quickly as if you were the one putting in the time. Right? We, we have a couple resources. We have time and we have money. If I put my time in, in a, in a service business, the sweat equity pays me. So, you know, just be patient and be tolerant that it’s not going to be overnight profitability. I, I wish everybody wild success, but be prepared. Can, can you stomach 5, 6, 7 years before you’re making any money as an owner, not because the business isn’t making money, but because you’re redirecting capital to grow it to the next level so that you’re not vulnerable to one guy out there running your business, you’ve got an infrastructure that’s diversified.
Brian Knuth:
So things like that. I always prepare people. You know, I, I sit in a seat where I get shown quite often as, as a franchise development rep and they go, oh, you’re a service business, your point of entry is relatively low, right? It’s a hundred thousand dollars. I’m going to enter in at the lowest point of entry and have the highest expectations of returns. Well, it, it, it doesn’t work that way, right? The guys are gaining these massive returns on that low entry. They put their sweat, they put their tier into it. So if you want, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. And if you find one of those call me, right, I’ll probably buy 10
The Wolf of Franchises:
Of them.
Brian Knuth:
<Laugh> but I’m like, so, so those are the things that I think are easy, but be realistic. Budgets are going to need to be big, be patient. Timeframe’s going to be slow. Most people don’t put in the energy that an owner will put in. And lastly, it’s just, you know, be prepared emotionally and, and, and that goes beyond just your own personal skill capabilities, et cetera, right? It’s, it’s like a healthy household, a supportive spouse, a, you know, a family that’s going to be there and, and help pick your spirits up when times are tough. Like it, it takes a village, raises kids. It takes a village to grow a business as well, in my opinion. So just, you know, think about some of those outside influences and is your, is your life really in a position where you can take that charge? Because I am a w two, I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’m an owner of, you know, the company that I’m a w 24, but I have full support of my partners in that business. You know, my, my partners know that I have a side hustle, most companies don’t like to hear that their employees have a side hustle. So like, is that really set up? Like, or are they going to be wondering where you’re dividing your time?
The Wolf of Franchises:
That yeah, that there’s so many good points in there. And I, I think right, buying a franchise is such a, it’s a family decision and you probably know that best just from the development experience. That’s where I learned that, where, you know, we, I had some deals and sales cycles that lasted six to nine months and the end of it, it ends up getting crushed because the, the buyer’s spouse kind of comes in at the last second and isn’t comfortable with the deal. And, and that can kill it. So it really is a family decision. Right. And even what you’re just saying about your emotions, I, I think sometimes unless you’ve done it and I don’t blame folks who haven’t done it for thinking, but they kind of just see the numbers on a spreadsheet, but they’re not, you know, the, the emotions never show up on the spreadsheet.
The Wolf of Franchises:
And especially if it’s a brick-and-mortar franchise where there’s construction and things like that, you know, I tell people who see a franchise that maybe it’s advertised as semi-absentee, but the reality is if there’s construction going on, you got to hire people and things like that. And you’re, you’re the one throwing the money behind it. Like you’re going to want to be there and be very involved and very hands on because it’s, it’s just stressful. And it’s your capital, your skin in the game. That’s on the line here. So yeah, I just, I, I really like that point.
Brian Knuth:
It’s a tough one. I think a lot of folks and I AF I oftentimes ask people to set the numbers aside, like, don’t look at the P L don’t look at the profitability. Don’t, don’t get blinded by that because that’s achieved by people that are genuinely engaged and passionate about what it takes to make whatever widget successful. So let’s identify like, can you enjoy doing what we do? Can you fit in, do you find similarities with successful owners or do you find similarities with some of the owners that aren’t quite as successful? Because that’s a good indicator of what your P and L might look like. There’s so many opportunities out there that make great money, but you really have to find something that you can devote your time, energy skill sets and, and passion towards. And the result of that with, with time should hopefully be success, but it’s not going to happen overnight
The Wolf of Franchises:
A hundred percent. And that’s a theme I see with most of the owners on this show is that they just have a, a longer term mindset and patient capital is kind of the way I like to put it as well. So forgive me if you mentioned this already, your operating partner though, was that a personal connection or, or did you have to go out and find one?
Brian Knuth:
It ended up being a personal connection through a, a close friend of mine, but yeah, I, I had to go out and find one and through networking it, it was, it’s quite interesting how close that person was when we ended up finding them. But I really didn’t have a relationship so much as a very close friend of mine had a relationship with this individual and timing was right on all Accords.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Beautiful. Okay. And was that a job posting or, you know, like on what’s it called indeed or something like that? Or was it more just you boots on the ground? Like personal networking.
Brian Knuth:
Yeah. And, and someone else personal networking. Right. I won’t act like I was set on a mission to find something. I think I think the stars aligned because this other individual was kind of on a mission trying to figure something out as well. And a, as we were having just a conversation and lunch, he’s like, man, if, if there were ever a guy I’d invest my money in, he just became available. And, and that kind of, that was kind the tipping point for our conversations and relationships. And I share with folks that are looking at doing stuff like this, like the decision that, that Tom and I, and I do have this, this other gentleman who brought Tom to the table, he and I partnered, it was, he had Tom, I had the idea. We both had capital let’s invest in Tom. So the idea and the decision of, of moving forward with footprints was pretty quickly.
Brian Knuth:
It was, you know, a month in and we, we knew we wanted to go, it took us six months to draft out what, what I call our, our divorce agreement. Right. We, we put together a divorce agreement before we got married. We spelled out buyouts. We spelled out what happens if someone passes away and what, what do spouses look like in this corporate arrangement? And, and there’s an equity play as well, right. He earns equity through his sweat equity. And, and so we, we took, it, took a while to sit down and have what, what I think. And I tell folks, it’s, it’s challenging to, to sit with a friend and an attorney and almost put each other in positions that are nasty. And how are we going to deal with this? If we don’t like each other, because today we do, let’s pencil it up. Because tomorrow when we don’t, we agreed on how we’re going to treat each other when we don’t like each other.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah. That’s when shit gets real, man. <Laugh> exactly. Yeah. You know, that’s
Brian Knuth:
Hopefully we never get there. But if we do, we got a big old agreement that says we all have to play ball a certain way.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah. Well, I mean, it’s, it’s sounds like you guys were thorough at least. I feel like that’s, I mean, that’s definitely the better way to go about it versus problems arise. And usually someone ends up getting screwed if it wasn’t agreed upon prior to things going south. So that that’s good that you guys took that step honestly, but yeah, I guess zooming out, you know, just because I figured, hey, you, you have development experience you know what, and I’m going to try to not make this too broad, but there’s a lot of franchises out there, right? 4,000 plus franchise brands in the us probably way more than that. I’m not even sure. But that’s just the staff that I see cited at the most. If someone’s going to go look, let’s say they’re in tech or finance or, or some job. And they’re just, you know, they want to, they want to be their own boss. They want to have their own business and have the ability to build that business, but they’re going to go the franchise route. I mean, how do you advise folks just to tackle and, and filter through the litany of brands out there?
Brian Knuth:
That’s a huge question and there’s a lot to it and it’s a, it’s an intimidating project. But I, I, I think I often times find myself asking, asking my prospects the same question I is to really look internally and be truthful with, with themselves and to be willing to accept that as you go through a process of discovery with different brands and you speak to different, you know, franchise experts and so forth, you you’re going to learn some things about yourself. Some things you may not like some things you may like some weaknesses, some strengths, some non-negotiables and just be honest, be real and, and really start taking notes on yourself. As you go through this process, there are so many options out there that are extremely successful, extremely lucrative. There’s a give and take with everything out there. Right? I, I, I, I don’t know if there’s a perfect brand.
Brian Knuth:
So I oftentimes encourage people start thinking that you are going to make a decision at like 85% happiness satisfaction, joy pop. There’s going to be like 15%. I don’t like this. Or I’m, I’m kind of indifferent on this or I don’t know. And there’s fear. So I would say, look internally first and, and, and make sure you’re ready for that task. And then from there be prepared, it’s big. There’s a lot that’s going to happen. There’s a lot of resources. There’s, there’s podcasts, there’s franchise consultants. But I, I, I always encourage that. People just kind of start leaning on some franchise experts and, and speaking with consultants and reading, there, there are great books out there that there’s no shortage of resources in the world of franchise discovery, which can be, it can be derailing towards an end goal, right? You, you, your, your goal is to find and identify the right business and make a decision.
Brian Knuth:
But there’s always one more you can evaluate. So if, if you look internally and you start internally first and you put down some sort of list of what you’re trying to accomplish, and that’s monetary, that’s time, that’s longevity, that’s exit strategy, that’s legacy that whatever it may be. And when you find that don’t be afraid, you got to move forward. Because you can kill yourself with, with, you know, paralysis analysis. There’s so many options and so many cool ones, right? You can, I think a lot of times, you know, people that are willing to move forward with stuff like this, like I’m an excitable person. I can chase a shiny object with the next guy. <Laugh> you just got to pull the trigger and go.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Definitely, definitely. And that’s a paralysis by analysis was what I felt happened with a lot of candidates back in my development days, because there, there is no perfect opportunity. You know, you’re never going to be a hundred percent confident that a business is going to do everything you want to, you know, and I like that you said 85% because you kind of just become comfortable with the fact that you’re never going to have that perfect opportunity, but you’re going to be willing to live with it. And if you don’t have that mindset, I mean, I swear I’ve spoken to candidates who within the first phone call, they say, yeah, I’ve been looking at franchises for years. So that’s why I’m stumbling this one. And whenever they say that, I’m like, oh boy, like this isn’t, it’s a done deal. They’re not going to, they’re not going to do anything because they just get stuck. Cause they can’t find the perfect opportunity, but it, the reality is it doesn’t exist. And there’s, I feel like there’s always that leap of faith that you’re going to have to take.
Brian Knuth:
Yeah. And, and my personal one, right? What was the chasm I had to get over? I’m kind of an, a type personality. I kind of like taking control. I kind of like betting on myself because I know I can win. Well guess what, Brian, you can’t do this. It’s not available in Denver and your family is not moving to Indiana. So you don’t like the fact that you’re going into this kind of without control, but either do it or don’t. And I, and I had to do it and now I’ve learned, like I said, emotionally, and, and I’ve matured and I’m like, man, why was I hung up on that 15? You know, the, just run with it. Yeah. Be patient. Like you said, I love your comment. I’m going to steal that. The what did you call it? PA patient capital. Yeah. Be
The Wolf of Franchises:
Patient. I definitely still laugh from someone from some other podcast, but you can run with it. <Laugh>
Brian Knuth:
All right.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah. alright man. Well, this is this is good. I guess just final question would be, you know, do you have any you and your team, any aspirations to expand beyond a Indianapolis? Or you personally, are you thinking of doing this again with a different brand? Maybe
Brian Knuth:
The answer to that is, is absolutely. We, we, I have a personal goal of five revenue streams by the time I’m ready for retirement. Love that, hoping that they can, you know, kind of weather one another because they’re not, I, I hope they all fire at once, but I hope they all don’t miss fire at once. Right. So hopefully they’re counterbalancing one another. And, and so that’s a personal goal, but as a team, we do have a goal to expand. We, we, we are tempering our expectations and, and continuously talking about it. The goal would be to expand this inside of the current system we’re in, but also, I, I think there’s a possibility to take it into some different verticals, some different industries as well, more than likely for me, it’s in service. I have, I don’t want to say a soft spot, but a natural attraction towards service. I just think it’s, it’s never going away, but yeah, whether that’s painting or roofing or I’m not sure, but that’s definitely a goal it’s down the road. I got to kick that can down the road because our current focus is building what we got in front of us.
The Wolf of Franchises:
For sure. For sure. No, but that, that sounds like an interesting plan and yeah, I’ve, I’ve met a few service owners who own a couple different businesses in, in the different verticals and it, it can make for, you know, some nice kind of just increase in, in revenue per customer. Right. If, if you’re the floor guy, you can also say, Hey, I can do house painting or landscaping, et cetera. And it seems like a, just a good strategy, but yeah man, look, this was a good conversation. I’m glad you could jump on. Where would you say, you know, if you’re any active on any social media if folks want to reach out to you about footprint floors or, you know, check out the other brands you have at Raintree, what what’s the best spot for people to reach you?
Brian Knuth:
I got to make the plug of Raintree growth.com. We’re a, we’re, what’s considered an FSO or franchise sales organization as I started with. We help our franchise partners with responsible growth. And so it’s a safe assumption that if you’re taking a look at any of our brands, they’ve been vetted, they’ve been run through the ringer, they have viable concepts with dedicated support and infrastructure. And so it’s, it’s a great place to start and, and, you know, learn about what’s out there and what we represent. And then from there again, learn about what you’re looking for as, as a potential franchise owner yourself.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Awesome. Yeah. And we’ll, we’ll plug that in the show notes. So, if folks want to check it out, they can click through it from there. But alright Brian, thanks again. And we’ll talk soon. Thanks for listening to franchise empires. We’re coming to you soon with actionable insights to take the next step on your franchise journey. So make sure to subscribe on apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen.