Zoho Tools For Faster Growth

Tom DuFore 0:00

The most successful franchises share one thing in common. They're never satisfied with where the business is today. They're always thinking about the road ahead. That ambition is the fuel that drives growth, and Zoho's business software is the engine that gets you there. With the right technology, your franchise won't just run better. It'll move faster. Candidates will progress through the development pipeline more quickly. New locations will open on schedule. Decisions will get made based on better data and better insights. Zoho gives every size and style of franchise the power to move faster without breaking what works. Whether you're a single location operator building a portfolio, a multi-unit operator scaling across brands, or a regional franchise or growing into a national network, Zoho grows with you every step of the way. Built over 30 years, Zoho's software ecosystem can be configured to match how your franchise actually works. CRM, operations, marketing, HR analytics, and more all designed to work together from the start. The more of your business that runs on Zoho, the more connected it gets. Head to zoho.com slash franchise to learn more about what Zoho has to offer. That's zoho.com slash franchise. And now back to the show. Welcome

What Franchise Buyers Really Want

Tom DuFore 1:15

to the Multiply Your Success Podcast, where each week we help growth-minded entrepreneurs and franchise leaders take the next step in their expansion journey. I'm your host, Tom Dufour, CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team. And as we open today, I'm wondering if you have ever thought about what goes through the mind of a potential franchisee or someone thinking about buying a franchise. What are they thinking? What's driving them to make their decision? Well, our guest today is Kevin Brouwer, and he's a franchisee and shares a bit about his story and his vision with us. Now, Kevin is the president of Stormguard Roofing and Construction of St. Louis, where his purpose is to help others recognize and act on the opportunities in front of them. He focuses on helping people connect their goals and meaningful business direction and growth. Before becoming an entrepreneur, he built his career in corporate America. And over the past 13 years, he's grown his franchise alongside his family, his wife, two sons, and brother. And today he's actively transitioning leadership to the next generation. You're going to love this interview, so let's go ahead and jump right into it.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

My name

Leaving Corporate Travel For Ownership

SPEAKER_01 2:23

is Kevin Brouer. The company name is Strong Guard Groofing and Construction. We're part of a franchise, and we are in the St. Louis location, and I'm the president of the organization.

Tom DuFore 2:34

Excellent. Excellent. Well, Kevin, we interview on our show a lot of franchisors. We also interview experts that maybe support business owners, business leaders, and franchisors, but we have not had as many franchisees on the show. And so I'm really excited to have you on. And just to share your perspective of being a franchisee. So what led you to this whole idea of finding a franchise?

SPEAKER_01 3:04

I had been in corporate America. So we didn't start a franchise until I was 45. So I spent all my life in corporate America. So I was at uh I was in distribution, industrial distribution, and then I was in tubular fabrication as a manufacturer for a while. And then I was also in a manufacturer, but as a rep for a tape manufacturer. And so really had a lot of experience there. My life consisted of a lot of traveling. I missed my a lot of my young family's life growing up because I spent, you know, 100 plus days on airplanes plus um, you know, overnights. And so Monday morning I would get up and go to the go to the my bus, which was an airplane, and and go to wherever I was at. I'd get home Thursday or Friday and did that for a long time. Obviously, I was 45 before we started this company, and my wife so kindly put her foot down and said, You know, you've traveled enough. I'm ready for you to be home. She knew I always wanted to start a business that had been one of my goals and and just one of my markers that I had put up. And she said, now's the time. Let's see what we can do. I had lost my dad at a young age. He was an entrepreneur. Her family were in the restaurant business, they were entrepreneurs, and just didn't feel like I had enough knowledge base to start something on my own. So that's why we we went down the franchise route and we looked at multiple different concepts. A lot of the concepts were multiple sites, where you needed multiple sites to get to the multiples that I was looking for as far as size and such were concerned. We settled with Stormguard just after a pretty exhaustive search. You know, it took us a good, I'd say we were probably in the search for nine months or or better before we actually stepped across that threshold and then uh chose Stormguard. And um, you know, in April of 2014, we made that step from being employed to being an employer, you know, basically living off of uh the funds that I had generated myself over the last 30 years and in in business or 20 years in business. Yeah, it was a a huge step, a big step, scary step, but it was the probably one of the more important steps that I've taken in my life.

Tom DuFore 5:14

I

How Kevin Evaluates A Franchise

Tom DuFore 5:15

think it's interesting. One of the things you mentioned there was it sounded like you had this idea of at least either a return or income that you were able to generate personally out of the business. It was helping you evaluate this. So I'd love to just hear a little bit about your evaluation process. I think it's something that a lot of times franchisors take their best guess at or just wonder about what's going through the minds of someone that was in your shoes when you were at that moment of evaluating and considering a franchise.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

You know, that's a great, really a great question. And I have the opportunity and blessing to talk to other franchisees, potential franchisees that come on when we have, you know, they interview us when folks are coming on board. But really going back to that time when I was trying to really understand what it meant, we had already made the decision that we were going to be entrepreneurial. Okay. So now at that point, I wasn't willing to work for somebody else. I want I needed to try this on my own, whether I made it or not. The evaluation for us really came down to the fragmentation of the market that we were in. And as a franchise or you know, part of their whole goal is to take a fragmented market and try and pull it in underneath one hood where you can have lots of different locations. And we felt that after evaluating the multiple ones, because some of them required more sites, some of them required, you know, people, you know, as a people business, you know, which was real heavily in the recruiting and so forth. Some of them were, and to get to the revenue that you needed to get to from a finance standpoint and generate what we had hoped to achieve, the time frames get extended. So, as an example, if you're doing a haircut place, you know, it may be a maybe 300,000, a really big one, we'll do 300,000 in year in a year. Well, 300,000 if you're making 10% is $30,000. Well, guess what? I made more than that. You know, and I'm not gonna be the guy cutting hair because that's not my thing, right? So I can't take the revenue from the haircuts that I do plus the revenue from the profits of the business to get anywhere close to where I came from. And so it's not that it isn't a great business, it just takes multiples of them. And look, once you have 10 of them, now you're making good money, right? But you also have properties and other things involved. So the reason I went down the road with StormGuard is because it was extremely fragmented. There's no nationwide company, there's still even to this day, there's not a nationwide company out there that is known in the roofing business. And so we felt that if somebody could come in and really consolidate and become a a name, a branded name that could benefit a system. And that's why we felt like a franchise might be the right answer because nobody had done it privately. And so that's how we really chose this path.

Family Business And Protecting Personal Time

Tom DuFore 8:18

How have you found that your business and your personal life are kind of coming together? And how has that changed or differed from working your corporate career?

SPEAKER_01 8:28

When you own it, you really do own it. And it it encompasses 100% of your life. You know, I'm sure you understand exactly where I'm coming from. Your conversations at home tend to focus a lot around what's happening in the business. I think, especially in the beginning, uh, you know, you're you've got to commit to however many hours it takes. It's not a matter of if you want to win, you have to commit to whatever it takes. Period. End of story. And it doesn't matter what business it's in. You have to give the equity to, and it's a sweat equity as well as financial equity to the business to to make it work. I think balancing the personal life over time. You know, I've been blessed too that my kids, so I've got a 27-year-old and a 33-year-old. And they, I, I told them in the beginning, of course, they didn't like our company because that's all we talked about, you know. And the funny thing about it is after I graduated from college and then they went out, I made them work for other companies before I let them come to work for the business. And both of them did. And both of them decided that they, you know, the circumstances worked out that they ended up joining our business. So now my family, I get to see them every day when I go to business or when I go to to work. And we're actually in the process of uh having them be more of the day-to-day and and and us less of the day-to-day. But to answer your question, how do you balance it? I think that you have to do some, you've got to find spaces and and you have to schedule your life just like you schedule your business. And if you don't schedule that private time away, then your business will eat every ounce of it. And if you're not conscientious of not only your relationships, your kids, your outside activities, you know, that third thing that you do that just makes you happy, if you don't make sure that you schedule those things, the business will consume your life. And and for some people that's okay. For a lot of people, it's not. And so I think if you're disciplined about those things that you can manage and control that. And that's what we've had to do. And you know, we've had good support from our franchise or to help us, you know, recognize some of those things. That's one advantage of being in a franchise system is you know, you've got a whole group of people that are out there that have different perspectives and have gone through things that you maybe you haven't gone through. And so sometimes you can, you know, unload some of your challenges on some of those folks, and they can help you find answers that if you're out here on your own, it seems like an island sometimes. Not to say that it doesn't seem like an island even in a franchise, but it's less of an island. Let me put it that way, because you got a group of people around you.

Tom DuFore 11:05

You talk about the franchise having a network and people to support you. Are you referring to the franchise or your fellow franchisee?

SPEAKER_01 11:15

It's both. You know, I'm I was the third franchise in, so I was very early in this business. And as you doing all the interviews that you do, you know that no business starts in one spot and ends up in the same spot that it started. It just doesn't happen. You know, it evolves, they all change, they become something different than what the original idea was or the original intent. Now, the concept may be still similar, but it changes. It just does because you have to respond to the markets and respond to what's happening out there. So, with that being said, being a very early franchise, none of what they taught me is what I do today. So I had to be pretty entrepreneurial. With that being said, you know, we had very close friendships that we made inside the franchise system with franchisees that have become, you know, part of our family and have helped us tremendously through a lot of different stages. The franchise or has been great and they're adapting and adjusting too. We're pretty independent from our location in the respect that we understand that we have to make it happen living inside the rules that they put forth. You know, we don't fall back on them to expect them to help make our business because honestly, the franchise or is not in charge of my success. I'm in charge of that. And I have to make sure that we function as a team through the great times and through the really challenging times because you get all of them. You know, it's no matter how good the concept is, you get times that just don't seem to be working as well as others, you know. And then sometimes it's just to the moon and you're like, oh man, this is the best thing since sliced bread. And other times it's like, holy mackerel, well now, what do I got to do to make this thing happen and and and get it back on track? You know, you're gonna every business I think goes through these cycles. So we're not we're not unique to that.

Tom DuFore 13:07

If someone ends up listening into this or they're interested in learning a little bit more, how can someone learn more about what you're doing or get connected?

SPEAKER_01 13:16

LinkedIn, I'm certainly lots of folks are unconnected there on LinkedIn, as I'm sure many of them are. You know, you can follow our our our Storm Guard page that gives some information about you know our business and what we're doing. So my wife and I are pretty active in it. So she runs all the social media stuff. So you're you're getting a feel for you know what our conversations are every day. You know, I'm always trying to find groups to be a part of that discuss business because I just enjoy you know helping people in business. You know, my purpose is to help people find opportunities. That's that's why I'm here on earth. That's what I do. And whether it's through my business, whether it's through my spiritual side, or whether it's through my friends, whatever it is, through golf, I hope that I always bring that aspect to the table, that I listen to what people are are doing and and hopefully can help them, you know, find opportunities that are in front of them. But that you know, that's why God put me here. And and so I have to live that out each and every day. So I'm always looking for you know opportunities to find camaraderie and and conversation. So I think those are probably the best groups. I'd I mean somebody can email me.

Tom DuFore 14:24

Perfect.

Hiring Misses And Costly Lessons

Tom DuFore 14:25

Well, Kevin, this is a great time in the show, and we ask every guest the same four questions before they go. And we like to ask if you had a miss or two on your journey and something you learned from it.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Yeah, you know, I think we all have misses. There's no question there's gonna be misses. You know, bringing family in is not a miss. It's been one of the greatest benefits, but it certainly could have been a miss. So I would say be conscientious on that standpoint. We actually wrote contracts with each one of our family members that gave us exits and outs and expectations. And so if there's one thing that, and maybe that's more of an on-the-win side, I don't know, but it's just if you bring family in, be wise because your family unit is more important than what the business will ever be. You know, I as I said to you, I'm I'm more of a forward looker, so I don't look back at my missus too much, but they definitely determine my trail and my path going forward. You know, I used some lead generation stuff that got me in trouble from uh phone calls back in the days of the where they had the no-call lists, you know, which is pretty much gone away now. But I had a some phone calls go out through another vendor that were to uh somebody that was predatory, the lawyer that was setting that up, which gave me a real a real uh insight into how business works. So have a thick skin, understand that there's always somebody out there trying to take a nickel from you, and they will try and and find a way. And and I learned a lot from that. So I don't use those types of services any longer. I think uh another miss is uh I've had a lot of people misses. Hiring people is one of the hardest, you know, this is a people sport, and I think every business is what I would consider a people sport, and really understanding the recruiting side is a huge piece of it. I'm still not great at it. I'm still not super good at it. And even 14 years later, I can still say that if there's a room or an area for improvement, it's understanding people and how to hire people for those roles. So do yourself a favor if you're getting into business. Make sure you learn about how to hire, because it kills so much time and money when you miss.

Tom DuFore 16:38

Very, very good. Thanks for sharing that, Kevin. Well, let's look on the other side. Let's talk about a make or two, a highlight.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Having the family, and there is definitely a highlight. So I would have never thought that I could create a business that would provide income to all of my family members. So I've got my brother, my wife, and my two sons that are involved in it. I it that was a dream that I didn't ever have that we aspired to it and created. So that that was super, super cool. You know, we've been able to build a portfolio of buildings and properties that are in conjunction with what we we do, you know. So I I'm not depending on this business that I currently have as my only source of income now going forward. So it's it's really changed my outlook and and how I finish the back half of my life, you know, or the back quarter, I guess I would, or back third. I'm not sure where I'm at, but I'm trying to do uh better. And and I've also learned that, you know, as I get to the stage that I'm in, which I'm 58 years old, uh, you know, about a month and a half, you know, my job is my health now. You know, my job is no longer trying to drive the business forward because I got people that can do that. My job is my health because I want to see what it's gonna end up being and where the people that are involved in it take it. Those are my big takeaways.

Tom DuFore 17:54

Well,

EOS Coaching And Other Multipliers

Tom DuFore 17:55

the name of the show is multiply your success. And we always like to ask have you used a multiplier to grow yourself personally, professionally, or organizations you've run?

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Big multiplier for us was uh EOS. That has been a big change for me. Is when we ran EOS, we started about five years ago, and I would highly recommend EOS or systems similar to EOS to any business owner that's out there. It really dials you into how to make a business successful and keep it successful because it's easy to get off track. It really is. So other multipliers, I've used coaches. I'm a big believer that coaching is a huge part of it because you just don't have all the answers, and sometimes you're in the weeds so far. I've got a CFO, a fractional CFO. I've also got a coach, coaches for both my sons to talk outside the business too. So those are absolute multipliers for us. And then, of course, you know, local networking groups with Chamber of Commerces and things of that nature are also big multipliers for us, not only from a lead standpoint, but just so we can cheer on other entrepreneurs so we can help be a part of the community. One of the reasons that I stopped traveling was because my wife, obviously, but also I wasn't a part of my community. And these give us a chance to give back and you know, we can sponsor different things and we can advertise and sponsor at the same time, you know, and and do things that we never thought we could do when we were working for corporate America. And so those have absolutely been multipliers to what we do. So I think the title of your show is spot on, because all of us that are out here trying to do these things really use multipliers. Sometimes we just don't give it all the credit that we need. So thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Tom DuFore 19:38

Well, and the final question we ask every guest, Kevin, is what does success mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 19:43

You know, helping people. That's I mean, if I can just boil it down, it's just helping people. Success to me is that we deliver for our our employees, our family, our friends, for anybody that comes in contacts, that we help. That we at the bottom that we're we can be dependent on and that we can help people, and that our entity will go on for here until whenever, and that that's what it will do. And you know, if we do those things, then the rest of it is it it happens, you know. So success to me is that we live that mission each and every day, and that our every single person that comes in contact with our organization either lives that example or they experience that example. And and that's where I that's the goal of where we want to be.

Tom DuFore 20:41

And Kevin, as we bring this to a close, is there anything you were hoping to share or get across that you haven't had a chance to yet?

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Uh, your questions are great. You know, I I hope that uh anybody that's on the threshold or that's looking to go down this path and gives a serious consideration that, you know, make it happen. You'll never regret it. You'll learn more about yourself than you ever have. Whether it's franchise or whether it's a personal ownership, it doesn't matter. I think franchises had their place and personal ownership has its place. I would encourage each and every person that listens to the podcast to step across that threshold, even as hard and and maybe as steep as it that climb may seem. Just do it. Because every day that goes by is a day that you haven't learned what this will teach you.

Takeaways Win Win And Next Steps

Tom DuFore 21:26

Kevin, thank you so much for a fantastic interview. And let's go ahead and jump into today's three key takeaways. So, takeaway number one is when he talked about what led him to franchising. And he had, in my opinion, what sounds a lot like a classic franchise experience where he had been in corporate America for a long time and traveled a lot and was gone a lot and decided it's time to do something on our own and thought that he didn't quite want to do his own business, but rather a franchise business and go that direction. Takeaway number two is when he talked about changing from corporate employee to a franchisee. And I loved the quote he said when you own it, you own it. When you own it, you own it. Meaning you have to commit to whatever you're doing to find success and to make it work. I thought that was great. Takeaway number three, toward the end, he was talking about a multiplier and how he's created a community-based business to connect with his community, with his family being involved and being involved with the local chamber and other activities and organizations. And it's just another reminder that franchising is locally owned and operated. And just a reminder of that, even though there might be a common brand and system that everyone's following, having that local ownership goes a long way. And now it's time for today's win-win. So today's win-win is from the tail end of the episode when Kevin was talking about when you're thinking about maybe buying a franchise, maybe you're thinking about franchising your business, maybe you're thinking about joining into a franchise system or taking a new product or service or a new marketing campaign. And I loved what he said. He said, Whatever you're thinking about, just do it. He said, step over that threshold. You know, and the reality is you've probably already done the research and the preparation and the thinking and the analyzing and the review, and now it's just time to do it. So I thought that's just a great way to close. And so that's the episode today, folks. Please make sure you subscribe to our podcast and give us a review. And remember, if you or anyone you know might be ready to franchise their business or take their franchise company to the next level, please connect with us at BigSkyFranchise Team.com where you can schedule your free no obligation consultation. Thanks for tuning in, and we look forward to having you back next week.