Another Entrepreneurial Journey: Meet Scott & Julie Jenney

With the assistance of Mark Cory, Market President and Franchise Consultant for FranNet of Michigan, Scott and Julie Jenney made their entrepreneurial dream come true—a business operation of their own. The husband-wife co-owners are ready to share their franchise ownership journey as the owners of Fitness Machine Technicians of Detroit. Below, in his own words, Scott Jenney shares the tale of their journey with FranNet…

Background

“I graduated with a degree in business and communications and followed it up with a master’s degree from Wayne State University. I entered the world of corporate sales and worked in several different industry channels including finance, banking, and pharmaceuticals. My wife Julie is a graduate of Michigan State, and she plays an integral part of our new franchise, thanks to her exceptional organizational skills.”

On Becoming an Entrepreneur

“Was I always a bit entrepreneurial? Sure, I guess—I mean I had a pretty robust lawn cutting service that I ran in high school and a few other ventures through my sales experience, as well as working with my family business, a car dealership. We’d considered owning a business of our own for the past five years or so. We both agreed that it would be much better to be in charge of our own destiny for a change. Julie and I had become ‘Empty Nesters’ and I think we were both approaching a point in which we were tired of having our lives dictated by Corporate America. Personally, I have always enjoyed being in control of my own financial destiny.”

Why Franchising?

“Franchising seemed like the best fit for us because we were looking for a business opportunity that had a defined structure with longevity factored in. We did check out a couple of existing businesses for sale, but the Fitness Machine Technicians concept was just a really good fit for us. The brand is a new—an emerging franchise concept if you will—and the validation we heard from other owners became a very convincing point. It’s a Monday-Friday operation with regular business hours and the Fitness Machine Technicians executives had very similar mindsets. After doing a bit of research, we determined that there weren’t many big market players in the industry, and it was exciting to be part of a ground floor opportunity.“

How FranNet Helped

“Mark Cory was instrumental in helping us navigate the investigative process. He just has such a good business sense and perspective. He was a true advisor and we never felt pressured to go a certain way or make a decision we were uncomfortable with. There was nothing pushy about the process at all. FranNet has such a great system. They really help eliminate a lot of the clutter that’s out there. Mark even ended up being one of our first customers, as he had a treadmill that needed fixing! He still stays in regular contact with us to this day.”

Where Do You Stand?

“We officially opened for business in August of 2018, so we’ve been at this awhile now. Under the guidelines of our pro-forma, we ended up outpacing our benchmarks right off the bat. My previous sales experience has been beneficial, and I think we were just six months in when we needed to hire our second technician. When Covid hit, it threw us a bit of a curveball, but a lot of slack was picked up on the residential side of the business. People that could no longer go to the gym suddenly needed to get their home equipment in good working order. We love being Fitness Machine Technicians owners and look forward to what the future holds. No matter what—it belongs to us.”

For more information, please visit Scott & Julie Jenney’s Fitness Machine Technicians of Detroit page on the internet.

Another Entrepreneurial Journey: Meet Jared Rothberger

 

With the assistance of Mark Cory, Market President and Franchise Consultant for FranNet of Michigan, Jared Rothberger made a lifelong dream come true—a business operation of his own. Jared had always wanted to take the entrepreneurial path in life and the story of his journey to get there was certainly an interesting one. Below, in his own words, the CEO of Jan-Pro Detroit shares the tale of his FranNet journey…

Background

“I graduated from Michigan State with a degree in Family Community Services, which led me to working in the nonprofit world for almost 10 years. I found the work fun and impactful, but after I got married and was starting a family, it was time to seek an opportunity with higher income potential.”

On Becoming an Entrepreneur

“There’s no doubt I always wanted to own my own business. I experimented with a few business models in college, and a lot of my good friends and mentors used to meet on a regular basis and discuss our crazy business ideas—just to see if we could make them work. We’d build them out and find ways to make them more successful and the feedback loop would help us fine tune our approach.”

Why Franchising?

“My business world mentors recommended this approach and provided me with the referral to Mark Cory at FranNet of Detroit. I really had no knowledge of franchising in general and no experience in investigating these types of opportunities. But I relied on and trusted the advice from my inner circle. I went into the process with my good friend and partner, Bryan Lubaway, back in 2015. We were both young, hungry, and willing to do anything to succeed.”

How FranNet Helped

“Mark Cory at FranNet started us off by saying, ‘Give each concept a real shot.’” We came to find out that picking the right business opportunity was the biggest challenge, and I’m not at all sure how we would have fared on our own. It turns out that just having a franchise guide is incredible—especially considering the fact that there is no charge for the guidance. The entrepreneurial readiness profiles we completed automatically eliminated the concepts that didn’t match up with our personality and skill sets. Mark Cory was very thorough in helping us navigate our way to Jan-Pro, which didn’t start out at the top of our lists. After a careful review of the business model, we determined that they had the best financials and potentials. We needed something that could support two families.”

Where Do You Stand?

“We signed our agreements with Jan-Pro and started back in April of 2015. The first six months of running the business were terrifying, which I guess is only natural because it’s tough to leave your comfort zone working for others. But then we really got things going quickly as the master franchisee, selling Jan-Pro franchises in southeast Michigan. We made it into their coveted ‘Gold Circle’ in the second year, and eventually become one of the top-growing Jan-Pro master franchisees in the U.S.

Bryan and I parted amicably in 2019, he now has his own market in Chattanooga, Tennessee and I’m running  all of Jan-Pro in southeast Michigan. Last year, we did just shy $10 million in annual revenue, and I truly feel blessed in how things have worked out.”

For more information, please visit Jared Rothberger’s Jan-Pro of Detroit page on the internet.

Another Franchisee Journey: Getting to Know…Jim Zandee

Jim Zandee is the proud owner of a CertaPro Painters franchise serving the Detroit metro-area. He’s personally involved in every aspect of the business, which should be obvious when you consider what he’s accomplished since opening the doors back in 2013. And while he enjoys being his own boss, the job flexibility that allows him the free time to participate in tennis, cycling and other outdoor activities is another plus. But it wasn’t always this way.

Zandee, a lifelong Michigan resident, grew up in Grand Rapids and attended Hope College. The field of accounting was his career of choice and Zandee earned both an MBA and his CPA certification. The next 35 years of his work life were devoted to this professional consultancy—a majority of which was spent in Corporate America. Later on, as his time in the profession was coming to a close, he chose a narrower route, pledging his time to smaller, more local and private consulting settings to ply his trade. 

While Jim always considered the door to entrepreneurship open, it wasn’t until he reflected on the many factors he disliked when it came to working for big companies. The words you’ll soon hear should come as no surprise and have led many a professional to the same conclusion.

“How can one constantly put up with rules that really don’t make any sense?” pondered Zandee. “These corporate decisions that get made at the top of the management ladder often don’t translate well for what was intended down the chain of command.” That wasn’t all. Another common refrain made it to his list of grievances. “It was meeting after meeting after meeting,” Jim remembers. “Sometimes, it felt like a meeting was called just to set up the next round of meetings. It kept adding up—and this is before I got tired of the boom-bust downsizing exercises, not to mention the commute. And I’ve always felt like an independent go-getter, so this was no longer working for me,” said Zandee. “Finally, I took Nike’s advice to ‘Just Do It.’”

Through a referral from a friend, Jim was introduced to Mark Cory, a FranNet consultant. Together, they dove into the franchise investigative process. Initial assessments rated Zandee’s risk-taking and entrepreneurial aptitude at the 95^th percentile—a positive sign! “Based on my interests and skill set, Mark presented me with four franchising options. I vetted each of them all like crazy,” said Jim. “One stood out—CertaPro Painters.” Zandee would go on to list the factors that made this brand’s model a good fit for his new title as a business owner. “The franchise operations and support looked sound and it was clear they were an ethical company. All 12 of the current owners that I called rated CertaPro an A”.

You have to remember that, being a CPA, I have inside knowledge of what’s needed to establish a company’s well-being from a financial standpoint. They really did have a carefully planned roadmap to lead franchisees to success. In fact, the business model was so well done, I came to think of them as a successful marketing company that just so happens to offer commercial and residential painting services.” 

Zandee was also impressed with the territorial growth potential that came with his new CertaPro Painters franchise. Years later, that potential was fully revealed. CertaPro Painters has certain revenue benchmarks, all calculated using years of data and predictive analysis. Within three years, Zandee had topped a million in revenue – and last year – year six – his team topped $2 million. His business growth for revenue was the highest total and the first-ever such numbers for Michigan that CertaPro Painters have ever recorded. And Zandee still has enough time left over to conduct rigorous training sessions with his son, both of whom enjoy cycling. 

Who wouldn’t want a life like this? Being your own boss, setting your own schedule and being responsible for your own earning potential? Jim Zandee gives a great deal of credit to Mark Cory at FranNet for getting him started. “In my opinion, FranNet really focuses on what an individual’s skill set can accomplish. Everyone is different and has different wants, needs and goals—myself included. But even more—you get a sense that FranNet truly cares about you.” 

Mark Cory and Jim Zandee remain friends to this day and they stay in touch frequently. That’s easy to do when FranNet’s consultants both live and work in the areas where they consult. Recently, Cory needed his own house painted. 

Sufficed to say, he didn’t need to research any Yelp reviews to select a reputable contractor to get the job done right. 

For more information, please visit Jim Zandee’s franchise page on the CertaPro Painters website.

Can I keep my day Job AND start a business?

 

The short answer is YES! Many people assume that having a day job eliminates them as a candidate for business ownership.  In reality, this does not have to be the case, as there are some franchise opportunities that have been proven to operate effectively with the owner in a semi-absentee role, while continuing to be employed. If you’d like to chat with me to get a better idea of how these models work, feel free to schedule a time here: www.calendly.com/markcory

Now, let me be perfectly clear, semi-absentee ownership is definitely NOT for everyone. As a matter of fact, it probably doesn’t make sense for most working people, especially if you have family commitments on top of your 9 to 5. Being a semi-absentee owner may require 10 – 20 hours a week of your time to work on the business, which begs the question; what are you doing now in those 10 -20 hours that you’re able and willing to give up? However, if you happen to be in the unique situation to be able to balance the time requirements, semi-absentee ownership may be an ideal way to keep the steady paycheck AND build a business enterprise that can produce another stream of income, provide a fallback position for the next round of layoffs, build equity and/or hasten your retirement/departure from Corporate  America!   

Here are a few of the characteristics of semi-absentee franchise models:

1.       Owner spends 10 – 20 hours per week working “on” the business  and not “in” it, manages a manager and is comfortable letting someone else handle day-to-day operations

2.       Many of the more successful models offer a service that is delivered by a skilled, and often certified/licensed employee, one of which is the manager

3.       Owner generally has little or no interest or background in the product/service/industry, but rather is focused on leveraging this semi-absentee model to build equity and residual income 

4.       Owner has transferable leadership and organizational skills (non-industry specific)

5.       The franchisor provides valuable tools and technology to help facilitate semi-absentee ownership   

Finally, a word of CAUTION; just because a franchisor represents that their model is “semi-absentee” (also sometimes referred to as “semi-passive” or “part-time”), it doesn’t automatically mean it successfully works that way in the real world. As with any franchise or business opportunity, you must conduct your own due diligence, which should include interviewing actual semi-absentee owners to uncover whether the model is working for them, and help you determine if it fits with your personal situation, lifestyle requirements and financial goals.  

Feel free to call me with any questions, or if you just want to chat. You can schedule a time to talk at www.calendly.com/markcory. My services are always at no charge and there is never any obligation. I’m always happy to help in any way that I can, including career search, business exploration and professional networking.

A JOB and a BUSINESS? Don’t rule it out. It is a big undertaking, but, if you have what it takes, semi-absentee ownership may be able to give you the best of both worlds, namely a current paycheck AND income/equity/lifestyle options for the future!

Also, I’d encourage you to attend one or more of our online events, a schedule of which can be found at www.michiganfranchise.blogspot.com.

Mark Cory    FranNet of Michigan     313-821-5060   mcory@frannet.com

Having Trouble Getting Home Services?

I know I am! Not being a do-it-yourselfer, I have to hire out for the vast majority of my home repairs and renovations. Seems like a simple task, right, merely dial a number and then write a check? My recent experience has been quite the opposite. If I am able to get someone to answer the phone or return a call, I’m told it will be a few months before they can get to my project!

Might there be an opportunity here for aspiring business owners? I believe so. There is strong demand due to the increased amount of time people are spending working and living in their homes, in addition to increased repair work as a result of natural disasters (I’m a recent flood victim myself).  Now could be a perfect time to take a serious look at owning a home services franchise. Here are a few of the advantages of being part of a franchise system in this booming sector of the economy:

1. Owner works “on” the business and not “in” it, and therefore does not need technical experience, but rather strong managerial and customer service skills
2. Most franchisors provide a call center that promptly and professionally handles inbound calls, and may even book appointments and/or close a sale!
3. Franchisors have developed effective marketing strategies to drive prospects to that call center and/or website  
4. Franchisors will train you on how to manage and market the business, and how to recruit and manage your technicians 
5. In addition to comprehensive upfront training, the franchisor will provide ongoing support to help you start and stay in business
6. Name recognition may also be a benefit depending on how long the franchisor has had a presence in your market. But, in any case, you’ll benefit from professional branding, web presence and initial handling of prospects       

The combination of heavy demand and the benefits of the franchise model can provide prospective business owners with a running start and a leg-up over the independents that are having trouble keeping up! As always, thorough due diligence is required on any franchise model to determine if it’s right for YOU.

Feel free to call me with any questions, or if you just want to chat. My services are always at no charge and there is never any obligation. I’m always happy to help in any way that I can, including career search, business exploration and professional networking.

Also, I’d encourage you to attend one or more of our online events, a schedule of which can be found in the right banner.

And good luck with those home projects!

Mark Cory    FranNet of Michigan     (p) 313-821-5060  (e) mcory@frannet.com

Four Tips to Create a Family Franchise

 Have you ever thought about the benefits of working with your family? FranNet’s Carol Ward gives 4 incredible tips on family and business. Why work for a boss you may never even see? A supportive family business feels better and makes financial sense!

Top Franchise Brokers Award Given to Mark Cory, FranNet by 1851 Franchise

 Recently, on 1851, Mark Cory was awarded the Top Franchise Brokers Award for 2021 by 1851 Franchise.

Here's a portion of the interview:

As a franchise owner himself, Mark Cory is well-equipped to guide aspiring franchise owners through the process of finding the perfect business match.

Mark Cory is a bit of a Renaissance man. Prior to launching his FranNet business in 2002, he was senior vice president for Olympia Entertainment where he oversaw the operations of dozens of theaters, comedy clubs and entertainment venues. His career also includes time as a CPA, school board member, pension fund trustee, and church and civic volunteer. 

Nowadays, his focus is on helping people achieve their dream of business ownership in the Detroit, Ann Arbor and East Michigan areas as a franchise consultant and owner of FranNet of Michigan. He guides them through the hundreds of franchise opportunities in his region to find the perfect fit that helps them reach their goals. 

1851 Franchise spoke to Mark Cory about his experience as a consultant and some of the words of wisdom he has for both aspiring franchise owners and franchisors looking to attract quality candidates.

1851 Franchise: What makes you successful as a franchise consultant?
Mark Cory: The Three P’s: Patience, Persistence and (the lack of) Pushiness. Also, the ability to instill in my clients, through words and actions, a sense of confidence that I have their best interests at heart and can offer pragmatic advice and guidance to help them make the right decision.

1851: What advice do you have for people wanting to become franchise owners?
Cory: Make sure you have valid reasons for wanting to be in business. The “why” is more important than the “what.” For example, the fact that you think someone needs to bring soft-serve ice cream to your neighborhood is not, in and of itself, justification for you to make the commitment to do so. On the other hand, if you think business ownership could be the path to achieving your financial, job satisfaction and lifestyle goals, you’ve now got something to go on and are more likely to accept the initial sacrifices that it will take to eventually reap the rewards.  

1851: What does winning look like for you?
Cory: Success to me is hearing from my clients that they’re happy with their decision, are achieving great success and are grateful for the small role I played in pointing them in the right direction.

To read the full interview on the 1851 Franchise website, click here.

Harness Your Passion: Finding the Right Business

Passion. Motivation. Success. These three simple words can steer your life from feeling unfulfilled to a happier plane of professional and financial existence. FranNet’s Carol Ward speaks about her own inspiring story of just that!

Four Reasons to Buy a Franchise in 2021

 Many people think opening a business right now is a bad idea. FranNet’s Carol Ward dispels that myth and tells you why a new business now makes complete sense and will lead you to a life of financial freedom!

6 Things You Can Do Right NOW

With the vaccination effort underway, there’s certainly light at the end of the tunnel. Aspiring entrepreneurs have been sensing this optimism over the past several months, as they’ve strategically selected and launched businesses in great numbers. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, business formation in the US was up 37% in November 2020 compared to the prior year, and Americans are opening new businesses at the fastest rate in a decade.

Yet, we’re nowhere near back to “normal”, as most of us are still taking precautions and spending much more of our work and leisure time at home than we did pre-pandemic. If you’ve wanted to explore business ownership, but haven’t been able to carve out time, or thought it was not feasible to investigate in this environment, here’s a possible course of action:

At Home To-Do List

1. Take care of yourself
2. Take care of your family (can’t do this without #1; think how many times you’ve heard “put on your own oxygen mask first, before assisting other passengers”)

Then, if time permits and you’re serious about making a positive change, 

3. Complete your online, confidential Personal Franchise Assessment at www.frannet.com/mcory/cq/
4. Have a brief phone call with me to discuss the results and decide on next steps, if any.
5. If it’s mutually determined that NOW is a good time to begin the franchise search process, schedule a virtual, no-fee consultation with me to craft your “Business Model” and begin researching one or more franchises that best fit your criteria
6. Have weekly coaching calls with me so that I can monitor your progress, provide additional research tips and help you stay on track and reach a sound decision. I’ll continue to remind you that NO is always a perfectly acceptable answer to any or all of the franchise options

PLEASE NOTE: Even under normal circumstances, roughly 90% of your research can be done by phone and online. In today’s environment, many franchisors have made it possible through technology for candidates to complete 100% of the process virtually!

Feel free to call me with any questions, or if you just want to chat. My services are always at no charge and there is never any obligation. I’m always happy to help in any way that I can, including career search, business exploration and professional networking.

Also, I’d encourage you to attend one or more of our online events, a schedule of which can be found at www.frannet.com/mcory.

I wish good health and happiness to you and your family, now and always!

Mark Cory FranNet of Michigan 313-821-5060 mcory@frannet.com