Myth: Going to Business School is Key to Business Success. See, it’s NO longer a SECRET that owning your own business is not just for the rich. Maybe some people haven’t heard that the cat’s out of the bag but they’ll get wind of it in no time. That’s why more and more people are quitting their 9 to 5… People now KNOW that there’s a BETTER way to provide for their families’ needs! But what they don’t know is “How to Get Started” or “What to Do Next”. Being the diligent aspiring entrepreneur that you are, you figure you’ve got 2 options to learn exactly what you need to know about “Building a Successful Business”: Business School – but who has the time and resources for that? Google – and sift through endless clickbait content that only generate more questions than answers? A lesser known (but probably the BEST) Option you actually have is to learn straight from entrepreneurs who already got the job done, like Rik Nonelle! Rik Nonelle graduated from THE Ohio State University in 1985 as a member of Beta Theta Pi with his BA in Marketing. He worked in sales, marketing and finance during his post-grad years, but decided at 29 that he’d had enough of “working for the man.” Motivated by a desire to be his own boss, Rik started Window Genie in 1994 as a small local window cleaning business. He sought for something low-tech, with little overhead and had potential for repeat business and he wanted to create an opportunity for entrepreneurs everywhere that can be easily duplicated! Window Genie opened its first franchise in Columbus, OH in 1998 and has since evolved into a national ranked franchise, operating with over 100 franchise partners in 31 states. Rik was the Founder, CEO, and President of Window Genie during different points in this Brand’s lifetime, but has now stepped down so he can focus on passing down all his knowledge to a new generation of (aspiring) entrepreneurs like yourself. Where should you start and what do you need to own a business? How did Rik grow Window Genie into the huge success that it is today? Let’s shine a light on secrets you need to know to achieve your TRUE Financial Freedom! Tune in to our Podcast to learn more about everything you WANT and NEED on franchising, investment, financing processes and options. This is Eye On Franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future. https://www.facebook.com/lance.graulich https://ionfranchising.com/ https://eyeonfranchising.com
Myth: Going to Business School is Key to Business Success.
See, it’s NO longer a SECRET that owning your own business is not just for the rich. Maybe some people haven’t heard that the cat’s out of the bag but they’ll get wind of it in no time.
That’s why more and more people are quitting their 9 to 5…
People now KNOW that there’s a BETTER way to provide for their families’ needs!
But what they don’t know is “How to Get Started” or “What to Do Next”.
Being the diligent aspiring entrepreneur that you are, you figure you’ve got 2 options to learn exactly what you need to know about “Building a Successful Business”:
A lesser known (but probably the BEST) Option you actually have is to learn straight from entrepreneurs who already got the job done, like Rik Nonelle!
Rik Nonelle graduated from THE Ohio State University in 1985 as a member of Beta Theta Pi with his BA in Marketing. He worked in sales, marketing and finance during his post-grad years, but decided at 29 that he’d had enough of “working for the man.”
Motivated by a desire to be his own boss, Rik started Window Genie in 1994 as a small local window cleaning business. He sought for something low-tech, with little overhead and had potential for repeat business and he wanted to create an opportunity for entrepreneurs everywhere that can be easily duplicated!
Window Genie opened its first franchise in Columbus, OH in 1998 and has since evolved into a national ranked franchise, operating with over 100 franchise partners in 31 states.
Rik was the Founder, CEO, and President of Window Genie during different points in this Brand’s lifetime, but has now stepped down so he can focus on passing down all his knowledge to a new generation of (aspiring) entrepreneurs like yourself.
Where should you start and what do you need to own a business? How did Rik grow Window Genie into the huge success that it is today?
Let’s shine a light on secrets you need to know to achieve your TRUE Financial Freedom!
Tune in to our Podcast to learn more about everything you WANT and NEED on franchising, investment, financing processes and options.
This is Eye On Franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future.
https://www.facebook.com/lance.graulich
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
neighborly, franchise, business, people, genie, owners, franchising, successful, franchisee, brand, window, money, customers, rick, cleaning, employee, franchisor, years, window cleaning, service
SPEAKERS
Lance, Rick
Lance 00:02
Welcome to eye on franchising. Are you looking for business opportunities? Well, you are in the right place. We represent over 650 franchises and business opportunities. We will help you find your perfect franchise for free. We even have a free assessment on our website that will help us to determine the best businesses for you based on your investment level, mindset, skillset, and life experiences. This is eye on franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise’s future. I'm your host Lance Graulich. Each week we will speak to fascinating folks from the world of franchising, franchisors and founders, franchise funders and franchisees, are you looking to find your perfect franchise? Or perhaps you are an independent business owner looking to grow and scale your business by setting up a franchise? Either way, our team can help you. Ion franchising where you will learn the A to Z's of the franchise. Hello everyone and welcome back to another fabulous episode of ion franchising. I am your host, Lance Graulich. And of course, I have a special guest as always today. This gentleman is extra special, and we're going to get to hear his whole story and his early retirement. Not really but you know, most people think the goal is to build up a business, sell it and retire and that's not always the right move for everyone. Okay, I guess everybody has their opinion. So today, let's see. He hails from Ohio, the great state of Ohio. And he went, he's an Ohio State graduate 1985 and marketing degree at 29. Like a lot of people he decided he had enough working for the man and he was motivated. His motivation specifically was a desire to be his own boss. How many of your listeners out there would like to be your own boss? Well, this gentleman Rik started Window Genie. They were a guest not too long ago on the show this his brand, Window Genie 1994 He started Window Genie as a small window cleaning company. You want to do something low-tech, with little overhead. And he was quite successful, so successful, that in late 2016 neighborly the giant behemoth of franchising, we'll talk about that. They acquired Window Genie in 2016. And Rick cashed out 22 years as Founder and CEO of Window Genie. Rik Nonelle, Rik, welcome to the show.
Rik 02:44
Lance. Good afternoon, and thanks for having me. Excited to be with you today. Appreciate it.
Lance 02:47
So excited to have you, Rik. So fill in the blanks. What did I leave out in that story? I'm sure I left out a couple of hours’ worth of material but a start with the important parts.
Rik 02:59
Well, you left out like the sleepless nights, the stress, you know, employees quitting stuff that keeps people from becoming owners, but always said, you know, ownership is supposed to be tougher than your best job. So that's just this is part of the deal. But
Lance 03:12
Sorry to interrupt, but I have to jump into college. So a guy like you. In college, what did you want to do when you graduated in the first place?
Rik 03:25
Well, that's to be the funny part of the story. But I think very typical with lots of people. So I have a brother-in-law, who also hails from Ohio State, as did my sister and my brother. And today, he's a plastic surgeon, I'm pretty sure in middle school, he knew he wanted to be a doctor, maybe just not what kind of doctor, I was the path where you go to college. And I didn't know what I wanted to do. So you go to business school, and I did well in the business school. And that's what you do to get a good job. And you can't have a good job without a degree. And then you do the interviews, and off you go. And that's pretty much what I did, and where that path was gonna take me. But it didn't take long, you know, a few years, three, four or five years. And I think the one tipping-off point was I don't know what I expected in the land of being an employee. But what I felt pretty quickly as I was just out there and doing the due waking up every day working hard showing up. And all the people that were above me owners had big managers. It appeared to become very, very wealthy in their jobs, and maybe just didn't care about the people that were below them are certainly a 22-year-old college grads. And so I felt very uninspired. No one was mentoring me. No, we didn't have team lunches. I didn't feel like anybody was gonna really help me work up the ladder or motivate me to do better than I was trying to motivate myself. And really, after multiple years of doing that, I thought this it doesn't fit any longer. So I literally had zero aspirations in college or throughout my 20s to own something. But one day I woke up and it was a ton of bricks, all the things that I was feeling and lack of things I was getting from my employers, it hit me. And the only one thing it said was if I want to change, you know, and change is scary, but I was reading is why your why for starting a business is really critical. My wife said, It's time and I didn't know what I was going to do, I just do. Today's the day I've started that process of finding a business to own and run.
Lance 05:24
I love it. I love that's such a great story. So we're gonna go to the end first and then we'll kind of work backwards a little bit. So everybody's dream when they start their own business is to after all the sleepless nights and hard work and fumbling in the abyss, that dark black hole of starting your own business without a franchise, you weren't a Window Genie wasn't a franchise, it was a brand new created. You didn't have that blueprint. You didn't have that roadmap. But somehow you managed to figure it out, add revenue streams, like I said, we're gonna work backwards here. And boom, all those years later, you get bought out for a lot of money. And some people retire some people don't you chose not to, you're still wearing the Window Genie vest, and you're working and you're working, still selling window, Genie, because what are you going to do? You're not going to retire? Right? That's not you.
Rik 06:18
Correct. So I mean, very, very, very blessed that we built something that one was great for our owners or owners, for the most part, have been very successful, and blessed in that, you know, for me to kind of complete that trifecta and the ownership is time income and equity. And selling the franchise would be the equity portion, so lucky and blessed because it was both because there's now a lot of people trying to do with neighborly has done, they just happen to be the biggest in the world at two in 2016 is they were looking to grow. I was acquired in 16 when company sales are about 1.2 billion. Today, they're a little bit over 3 billion. So companies triple in recent years since 3 billion with a beat. Yeah, so that's our home service company over 5000 franchises in so lucky in that they had already acquired another company like ours, that it was part of an inventory that made sense to them to take care of the homeowner. And I think supercritical that how we ran the business, you have the integrity behind the operation of the company ACOTA values, Dena Dwyer and her father started that code of values that nibbly really kind of runs on today, we didn't have it identified as clearly as they did at the time. But we for sure operated under a very, very similar code of values. And that's important for neighborly, they're not just looking to write a big check to anybody. You've got to it's got to be a cultural fit, operational finance got to make sense. And it has so in those five years, you know, I stayed on as you said, I wasn't to me retiring, isn't getting a bunch of money and sitting on the beach, kind of pulling back from whatever got you there. And then maybe you do more of it, which I did five more years as president and then stepped down for a month and now back on board helping the sales team, find new passion owners become part of the team. So it's been a bit of fun, interesting, long, and great ride.
Lance 08:11
Rick, I had somebody once tell me working is much more fun. When you don't have to.
Rik 08:18
For sure, when you're when that grind, you just wake up and you're kind of blinded by the grind, got to push it forward. And you know, everybody's got an aspiration, but it's one you know, one crew 10 crews, you know, I wound up in the service industry, Lance because I didn't know what I wanted to do at 29 I identify things I didn't want to do. So what do I call a front door I just didn't want anything that had a front door. So that's why wound up in the world of service businesses. So for me now that didn't have a front door, I was gonna have trucks with wheels. So how many of those do I need to become successful? Now we have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of trucks around the country. But it's you just wake up every day and it's almost like a blind push. You just keep doing it and doing it. So it for sure is much more fun. When you've kind of hit the finish line and the finish line isn't necessarily you stop and you go play golf every day. It's just sort of Mission accomplished, but not really.
Lance 09:12
So let’s start building really your history now. So people can track there are people listening to that want to be exactly like you they want to create their own brand. And I help people set their successful independent business up to franchise I also as a broker, match people up and find them their best and perfect franchise. So when you started you just did window cleaning out of the gate, you wanted something low tech, you wanted something that you know was certainly scalable. So it was window cleaning. Let's talk about you know your first franchisee and why franchising is in the first place.
Rik 09:50
Sure, great question and I'm a good example of experience on both sides. So I was the guy that started from scratch which is a lot People consider why to pay a franchisor a bunch of money for franchise fee and then ongoing royalties. You know, there's that side. And then there's I'm gonna do it myself because it's cheaper. Well, I've done both. And I will tell anybody looking to win a genie or any neighborly brand, that if done correctly, you will spend more money trying to do this kind of business on your own than you will spend starting with us, I mean, my trial and errors and mistakes greatly exceeded the cost of what it takes to start a winner Genie or really any of the nibbly brands today. So I woke up and said, Let's go start didn't really dawn on me to start a franchise, in part because in 1994, as I started looking into various home service companies, I finally realized that when we got to this very, I'm called really a niche with window cleaning. But in the category of window cleaning, there was nothing national at the time, there are multiple opportunities today, but a 94, there was nobody. So I felt like if I'm gonna work really hard and build something that I can create, you know, maybe a great asset, maybe it's more than just in Cincinnati and I was happy if it would be just Cincinnati hopefully I had the biggest one in Cincinnati because there were 50 of them. But the plan was always if we do it well and we document every day what we're doing now we're doing as we learn, then it can be bigger than you know, just a local or even regional window cleaning company. And we started with just one service and as you said, we grew and added locations found customers were happy to let us provide additional services once we were in their homes.
Lance 11:36
So what was the next service that came to the next logical service that they're asking for?
Rik 11:42
Well, I would never have been able to guess because you just don't know what they're looking for. But we would always say thank you for the business. Appreciate the opportunity. Look forward to seeing you during the next cleaning. Is there anything else we can do for you? And they would always say something like you guys are fantastic. Do you can you pressure wash our house or do a pressure washer dapper can clean out our gutters. And after you hear that 20 3500 times you say we pay a lot of money on your service world to get in front of customers? Well, I paid to get in front of them and they like us. Let's figure out how we can provide another service and take care of the same customer same great service and stand behind it the same way. So when I begin franchise are we're on our third iteration of taglines. But our first one at launch was cleaning America's Windows decks and driveways. So it was catchy. It fitted it and said exactly what we did. And that's how we in our very first franchise owner from 1998. Still with us today in Columbus, Ohio. This lovely bike wizard and he's a buckeye.
Lance 12:41
And how did yeah, he's another buckeye. So how did he get involved? I'm always I always love hearing the first franchisee-type stories. Was he a customer first?
Rik 12:53
No, that's well, they say you go to college for various reasons. One of them is connections. And I was in a fraternity go beta. And one of my fraternity brothers had an employee who had a brother and who was looking and moved down from Akron to Columbus. And you know, they trusted me because their friend knew me well from college. And off we went. I mean, it went very, very quickly. Our second one was friends with them. So number one and number two, fortunately, came very easy. And they're still around
Lance 13:25
And who was the one that convinced you? How did you start franchising? You know, in the first place? What brought you to franchising? You know, did you think of doing it on your own? What was your strategy or plan way back when?
Rik 13:38
Well, even though I studied franchises, likely I'm a student of franchising. And so while I was still running the business, I would scour every magazine, probably like a lot of your listeners do scour magazines, the internet didn't exist, but every place they could have a call that company, I would get their franchise packet. And before I started franchising, I had a stack that was literally three, three, and a half feet tall. So that's how I formed a lot of my thinking in the processes of what it was going to take. I did pay an outside consulting company, because that's a whole different area of expertise from running a local business, no matter what that business does, whether you're squeezing out frozen yogurt or cleaning a window, it's a different, different practice. So I use outside consulting comm to reset things up, I hired a local attorney, all the technical things that you have to do and take a big old pile of money and then you cross your fingers and hope that somebody is passionate about what you've been doing and believes in the mission as much as you know you and you know, everybody else on your team does at that time.
Lance 14:41
And it worked. It worked. So when you were looking for franchisees way back when How did you know who you were looking for? I mean, all these years later, you've certainly figured out and Nothing's ever perfect, but you certainly have I have figured out that system but even way back when what were you looking for in a franchisee? Obviously, somebody, I mean, somebody you want to have a meal with somebody wants to have a beer with? I mean, how does that work?
Rik 15:13
That was one of some people say when you'd have a barbecue or beer with him, I've always said, in my head, if my admin said, Hey, Rick, so and so is on the phone, I would say great, put him on hold, I'll be right there. Versus I'll tell him, I'm busy. I'll call him back. You have to do you’re trying to build nothing that kind of came from the fraternity where you have a bunch of guys in a house. And we're all different, we came from different places. But there's a reason we picked that one versus the other 30 There's just some bond or connection there. And the other big thing was, and I've said this many, many, many times that if I would have tried to start this at 26 years old, just a few years earlier, I quite possibly feel and believe that I might not have been successful. It's a terrible sensation to have the grass is always a greener concept. So if you're not really ready, and it's tough, then you think, wow, that job wasn't that bad, or my boss wasn't that bad, or my pay wasn't that bad. But when I made the decision at 29, you know, huge believer in the Why am I why was its time, and here are all the things I want to control a need to control. It wasn't a money jump. It was I want to do my own thing because of all the experiences that I've had. So when I launched and it didn't matter how tough it was, I knew this was a better direction. The first day that I opened when I made $0 was a way happier day than the day or month I made the most amount of money in any job. So I knew I was on the right track. So I looked for people that understood there, why not? My boss is now mean to me. So I want to start a business. That's terrible why?
Lance 16:55
No, you brought up something great. You know, my dad used to always say 1% of something is better than 0% of nothing also.
Rik 17:03
Correct! That's right. So it's, you know, you got to have your wide down pat, and you know, then that's, that's the easy part. But then you got to go find the thing that fits, if you're not a good sales guy, don't be in a business that requires you to communicate effectively and frequently with customers, you know, you just
Lance 17:19
Rick, you're a perfect guest, because you just fell right into sort of the next little chapter, you know, when it's so we were talking about how you know, somebody is the right franchisee for Window Genie, or in a franchise at all? And really, it comes down to what is their skill set? It's not necessarily what they've actually done always. But what is their skill set? You know, Window Genie, do you have to have sales ability, or do you just have to be a nice person?
Rik 17:49
Yeah, you don't have to, we've got a wide range of voters, as most franchises do. So you didn't have to come from selling copiers, door to door. But you have to be comfortable, that she's more of a build, you have to like engaging with people. I mean, I would fail miserably at door-to-door sales. But I feel like I'm very good at comfortable with a relationship sale, which is basically what a home service business is. For the most part, if there's an issue or a need phone raise, you talk to them. So you have to want to engage with a customer customers buy from people they like know and trust, right? So customers always only buy from people they like know and trust. So if you're that person, I've also always said if you're a terrible employee and your employee, your co-workers didn't like you and your boss hated you. That's not going to change as an owner, you're seeing traits move over there actually more magnified.
Lance 18:39
You're not going to be a good franchisee either.
Rik 18:42
It's going to be a terrible, terrible experience. So you have to enjoy talking to customers. Some businesses like in neighborly, you know there's more direct selling. So there, they do have salespeople, but it's a little bit more selling because it's a larger ticket window cleaning, I just have to do a good job from the front end phone call to the presentation at the front door of the kitchen to kind of transact that, that sale. And some people just aren't comfortable with that their history says that it's not even an introverted thing. I'm certainly more introverted than extroverted. But when it comes to talking business and helping a customer, where we can help them with their problems and give them solutions, that's easy to become fully engaged with the customer. So it's really important to know your skillset and what that franchisor is looking for.
Lance 19:26
Yeah, so in the early days, when, you know, we all say within the industry that the first five franchisees are the most important, everyone's obviously important, but the first five first 10 Because you're building that foundation, and you know, there's, you want amazing positive validation so that your existing franchisees can say how amazing Window Genie is and you should join. So when you look at the cross-section of the first, you know, five amazing franchisees what What did they do before joining Window Genie, window cleaning and Window Genie is you know, there are a lot of non-sexy home services businesses, you know, people, for some reason always want to jump into food and beverage restaurant type businesses.
Rik 20:15
But I told you I told my father when the joke has been for years at the time, who we probably very graciously paved the way through Ohio State. So he was with Merrill Lynch his whole life. And I consider that but I realized the case in point that what it took to be successful as a Merrill Lynch broker was 100 cold calls a death, he was very successful at that, as was my grandfather, I looked in the mirror and realize, Rick no Nell would be terrible, at 100 phone calls a day, I could make it a few days, but I couldn't make a career out of it. So that's why that ended. But when I called him to say I figured it out, that the applause on the phone was me telling him that I was gonna take my degree and go start a window cleaning company, and him not wanting all his buddies in the office to hear, you know, how silly of an idea that was, because to your point, it's low tech. So whether it's the main business, a house painting, handyman, it's like, why, you know, what are you doing that for? Well, what if that's the best place in the world to make a lot of money without a whole lot of overhead? Well, you know, there's the win. So yeah, that first owner, one was worked in a warehouse, the other was a banker, the other was a marketing guy. So we, we were fortunate to have a spread there. So you could start to figure out with only the banker before successful at it, versus the guy that came from a warehouse. So we had good diversity, which helped understand, you know, different roles coming into the business different skill sets, because that's the other thing the franchise should do for somebody is provide help and assistance in areas where you're not so good. And if you're the world's best salesman, you don't need a franchisor to tell you how to sell rather than how to model around what they do. If you're terrible at technology, well, then they're going to help you with all things technology-related. So
Lance 21:58
I love it. And what about that camaraderie. One of the things I love doning franchises, is you know, people know, you're going to get support, or they expect and hope you're going to get great support from the corporate training team in the mentorship programs on an ongoing basis. But then you also have the brotherhood and sisterhood of existing franchisees and those best practices. As the brand starts to grow, I always I often talk about how, you know, McDonald's, it wasn't corporate that came up with the fillet of fish and, and the Big Mac though those were invented or created by franchisees. So there is a new sort of brain trust out there. How did that feel when you were growing Window Genie?
Rik 22:41
Yeah, I think one of the challenges is, and I went through that when I started the business, I was the only person that I knew whether it was high school or college friends that had started a business, the only ones that every single person that I knew was working for somebody. So when I started the business, my circle of influence was mean, there was no one to talk to. There's I can only pat myself on the back, there is no one to help. And that was, that's challenging. And I think that's a lot of people are afraid of franchising, whether it's the cost, or I thought you can paint the front door pink. It's like we live in a condo, you can't change your front door color, because there are some HOA rules. And franchising has some rules. Well, not everybody is okay with rules. But for the most part, it's, it's a way better thing to do. Well, I can say for sure today, and we're certainly a company built on culture, that one of the things that we offer, as every franchise should that's successful, or doing it correctly, is opening the door to easy access to other owners that are doing the same thing. Now, you can go independent, you know, window, there's a window cleaning Association, there's an association for everything out there and join that. But I found out on my own back in the day, that no one wanted to share their secrets, the tips of the trade because they're like, I figured it out, I'm not going to give it to you for free. Well, that's not helpful. So we try really hard to engage and give the opportunity to engage owners with other owners, whether it's an annual convention, whether it's regional meetings, we have specialized groups where they were five or eight together in a group. It's significant. You know, that's why I can say today, we have owners, for example, hitting a top-line sales number in year two or three that way back in the day, it might have taken somebody six or eight years. Yep. So that's good.
Lance 24:31
What do you attribute? What are you tribute that too? I mean, is it the fact that the brand has just grown dramatically more awareness overall?
Rik 24:41
No, I don't think it's that I mean, I think it certainly helped in the last five years with neighborly because we all it's there's a lot of intense expensive cross-marketing being done. But I think it really is a relentless, dogged determination to make your system better, which is what we all should do once you start the business. So you find two What support looks like if I understand how your marketing how you pay employees,
Lance 25:04
Quicker ramp up, I'm sure.
Rik 25:06
Ramp up is significantly quicker, you know, back in the day it was I will stand, what do you want versus here's the requirement today feels more heavy-handed to some people. But the reality is, if we can show you the numbers, you're gonna grow significantly faster when you spend tax over 20 years ago, and it was, hey, do what you want. Because as an independent owner, you kind of do what you want, which is what I did. But there's no one telling you, is that enough money to get you over the break-even home? And did you have enough money to sustain getting to break even, which is why a lot of independents fail, because they have no idea of the data or the metrics necessary to one get to break even or to to then ultimately become successful? So we worked really hard at scaling that over 20 years.
Lance 25:49
Yeah, the independence we talked about earlier a little bit, you know, that black hole or that kind of abyss, when you're an independent concept, you don't have that blueprint, you don't have that map, if you will, to know where you're going to go. It's never been done before. So overall, so lets you know, you mentioned the cross-marketing, the cross-pollination, I guess you can say one of the powerful things about neighborly that I loved hearing is that if you're opening, let's say, a Window Genie in a market, that, obviously there's no Window Genie, there are going to be other neighborly Home Service brands in those markets. So the marketing department has those names and phone numbers and addresses of all of those folks that have been neighborly customers over the years that they can now market to say, Window Genie is nowhere. I love that. I think that's pretty amazing and powerful.
26:41
Yeah, and that's there's a lot of depth to that concept. So for example, we enter a market, we now have another kind of people on our team, you know, operating with a similar code of value, identical code of values. But for example, I have an owner in North Jersey, that every Thursday, they have a gallery for breakfast with five other ratings. So they all have different, they all do different things. Somebody is fixing, you know, appliances and somebody is painting something and we're cleaning something. But we all have similar problems, concerns, and challenges, finding employees, keeping employees, finding customers, you know, fixing trucks, all those kinds of things. The second thing is they've spent a tremendous amount of money on a neighborly app. So now customers can go to a neighborly app and request service. The difference between that and a HomeAdvisor which is just an aggregator you have no idea who you're getting you to have multiple quotes really kind of drills down on is multiple companies doing multiple things that are all kind of in a similar mindset. And then to your other point. So if we enter a market when for example, Molly maid cleans a home, they'll get a thank you for using Molly made email, but then also get a follow up it says, you know, here are all the other neighborly brands that are here in town to assist you around your home. So Window Genie is getting grouped in with 1000s We have about 8 million active customers enabled 8 million active not told us active participating customers that are being shared every day. So certainly neighborly, for any of the brands is a unique opportunity that isn't afforded to somebody you know, even energy a pre-acquisition, it's a whole different animal.
Lance 28:23
It's really fantastic. neighborly becomes the one brand and trust in the home services space. And it's easy. Okay, just pick somebody from neighborly and I know I'm going to get my great service and, and high value. So I think that's phenomenal. You know, when did you really know when you were building? Window Genie? Rik, When did you know you made it? When did you really know that? You know, you call dad again. You gave the example of a dad. When was a dad now proud of you and said my son made it he's an entrepreneur.
Rik 28:56
You know, I think beyond I think this sounds I don't have it sound. I don't know if any true entrepreneur ever feels like they've made it. I feel like there's always something more you could be doing. I know at the time of the acquisition, it's like God, we still need x more markets, reps, more vans in the system wrecks more owners, or more top line. It's clear obviously when you sign off and you sign a contract and they wire you some money with a bunch of zeros on it. That feels like it. But you still have in your head cash we still and that's part of the reason I stayed on for five more years is I You never know how high you're pushing. So you just keep pushing. But yeah, you kind of felt like when you started getting high rankings on either entrepreneur 500 Or you started having private equity groups, you know, call or email or mail frequently and you're like, well, we must be doing something right. We ignore those for years and years for
Lance 29:54
People they want to do.
Rik 29:56
Yeah, so you get a sense of it. But I think any true entrepreneur If you set the bar high, every time you get close, you kind of reset it. So I don't know if I ever would have felt we were. Because when you when are you truly there, you can set a goal of 100 million, well you get 200, then it's 200 in 200 million, then you're 300. So I don't know, if you ever feel like you've, you've topped out,
Lance 30:17
You reminded me a lot of my entrepreneurial friends. And I've always been an entrepreneur, there's a saying you might have heard of done beats perfect. And, you know, it's really what you're saying, you know, you're never going to be perfect, you're always going to strive for more. And that is the goal of the visionary, which is what you are and, and certainly what you were in the early days of, of Window Genie. And in some instances, that's the problem for so many entrepreneurs out there that are looking at business opportunities and are looking at a franchise. I tell people to step one is you have to be willing to start. Otherwise, it's never a great time. Well, now's not a good time, Lance, you know, maybe in six months, I talked to people sometimes for two years before they pull the trigger on buying a franchise.
Rik 31:09
Super true. Yeah, I mean, that goes back to the way I mean, when your Y is right, you're ready to jump in tomorrow. If your y is not right, you get all the reasons you know why you can't also I say to somebody, if you're the person, that it home in your fridge before your family decides to switch from Coke to Pepsi, you're going to draw out a bunch of spreadsheets and analyze what that move looks like. ownerships gonna be really tough because you're a business owner, you've got 100 decisions a day to make. And if you only make 20 of them, because of your spreadsheet thing, we have 80 to carry over to tomorrow, and now tomorrow you have 180 And then you never ever never catch up in business becomes very overwhelmed. Yeah, so you got to get it close. And then work on getting it really right later. But ownership is about being flexible, getting close, you have to hit the bull's eye every time. But to your point, none of it matters to you to jump off. I'm a big believer in the belly flop into the deep end, don't put your baby toe in the pool.
Lance 32:05
Check it off the list done beats perfect. You know, Rick, I want to read off. I have a list in front of me. And I think this is really important. Everything from Franchise Business Review, Entrepreneur Magazine, Money Magazine, Inc, magazine, and Window Genie has received these accolades over the years. top home-based business, fastest-growing top low-cost brand, a fastest-growing private company. You know, I interviewed David who is the president of Window Genie on a previous podcast. And David was fantastic. And you know, and David was a franchisee talk about believing in your own product in your own system. He was a franchisee of Window Genie. And, you know, when, when, while you were the founder, and then I heard he sold for well over a million dollars, he sold his franchise in about eight years. So that's one of the things that people need to understand, you know, the journey song, don't stop believing. You know, you can do this. This is why franchising is so successful. David followed a system and became a millionaire. And now he's president of the brand. So tell me how much you like making millionaires?
Rik 33:22
Yeah, I think that's one of the best parts about what I've done for 20 years in India would tell you when a genie impacted his life more than he ever could have imagined. So that's the beauty of franchising, at least from my position over all those years is those that can't help themselves and don't let you help them. You know, as a franchise owner, you really need to be infinitely coachable. And David was one of the most instantly coachable owners we've ever had. So it is really fun. And it's kind of what gives my purpose to helping somebody that can change their life, you got a tough run through the recession prior, we've got a lot of owners that came from whether it was making x amount of dollars or just really didn't like their job to, you know, creating significant income. I've got owners that take six, or eight weeks of vacation a year because they can and they want to and it matters to them. So the build-up of ownership, and that only comes from ownership, you'll never get that as an employee, you can find your way to the corporate ladder and get four weeks, the only way to really attain and control those things is through ownership. And David was a shining example of he got in there. He worked hard, and I used to say the old everybody every franchise advertises and says follow the system. And it almost sounds overused but what does it really mean it really has to mean every top successful owner that I have, will say you got to follow the system. The people on the bottom that struggle the most are the ones that just don't follow the system. They know everything. They're not coachable, but following the system, and again, make sure the company you align with has a system follow The system and work hard every day, find what faith is, I don't know for sure what's going to happen. But I have faith that if I just keep doing this, I'm going to get there. Yeah, you know, and he was successful in building a great bottom line. And I think because in part neighborly, he's able to get up probably above average multiple on it. And you know, he was right for his wise, like mind helping and coaching people up to be successful owners. And that's what he's doing today now as president of energy.
Lance 35:29
Follow the system, and trust the process. That's another one that we hear often with franchising, you're, you're in business for yourself, not by yourself. You know, it's, I still can't believe I'm looking at the list of accolades here. And we know the reasons that people want to join Window Genie, and you're still around. So I'll have everything in the show notes on how to get in touch with, you know, your brand or people can, of course, reach out to me. But let's talk a little bit in the final moments more about what is your process today? So there's the first phone call, there's some sort of Meet the Team discovery day. And eventually, there's an opportunity, it's a two-way street, you know, you're selecting them, they're selecting you as well. So get give me a little rundown of that.
Rik 36:15
Sure. Yeah, I think it's really important that some people have the misconception that you ought to be really lucky that I'm considering joining your company. Well, that sounds great. But that's not true. It is really critical. I mean, it starts there, you have to win us. But also, we have to want you it's got to be a great fit, cultural fit, a background fit, territory, all those things. But it really starts with, from my perspective, that first call, which is 3060 minutes, where we're not digging deep, we're kind of staying very high level. Why, obviously, why are you considering doing this in semi spot, I'm ready in my I don't even my wife and I always like to say, so you're going to quit your job, go to zero income, lose your 401k in contribution, no vacation any longer invest $150,000, for the hook green in prayer, that you make some money someday, and she's fully behind you that they will you know, maybe she does need to be involved. So it's a big decision. So we're going to talk about what you're looking to do and why goes back to the why. And then answer questions about us to make sure it makes sense. You know, we're not looking for somebody to clean a window, we have guys out there that we pay well to go do that second call, we get a lot deeper. So you can really start to understand the nuts and bolts and mechanics of the business to figure out if I wake up every day and my feet hit the floor, can I go full speed and charge ahead every day and make this business work? Then we're gonna have you talk to some owners. That's the critical part that I never had, let me understand what makes this machine tick. Do I fit? Does it make sense? Can I do that? Can I see myself doing it? And if you do you move forward, if you don't get stopped, and then to meet the team, de, it's a great opportunity for you to meet us as a team and for us to meet you intimately and figure out if we're all doing together make sense? So it's an easy, smooth process, but one that really makes sense before you jump in.
Lance 38:05
Yeah, and I tell people I said, look, it's a very natural process. There's an evolution, from when you go to, you know, call one, let's say to the end when you start to validate, it's pretty natural, and you either fit or you don't. And either they're going to tell you or you're going to tell them. It's not forced. I always tell people, that it's not like somebody asked you to slide your credit card on-call number one. So
Rik 38:31
Yeah, I always say when we're sitting there, mute the TV, the first thing I say is, please raise your hand if you think I'm gonna ask you to write a check or sign a contract. And somebody's like, Well, I'm not really sure we're not raising your hands if you think I'm going to throw your car keys on the roof. So you can't leave here today. Nope, not that either. So it's not a sales day. It's not a pressure day. And again, some organizations do that. That's not the neighborly way for sure. But it's it's coming together to figure out as you said, it's exactly it's a natural progression. At some point, we got to get to a place where we've met neither makes sense, nor it doesn't. So it is a natural, smooth progression, with no pressure to figure out are both sides doing the right thing together because it is a team it is a family and everybody needs to be comfortable with that decision.
Lance 39:14
Wonderful. So final thoughts for the day. Any final parting words of wisdom?
Rik 39:22
Uh, you know, great question. Didn't see that one coming. But I will tell you if you look at the painting in the background, you know, the word grit. So when Mary Thompson, who was the CEO of neighborly after the acquisition, she will tell you she was very concerned that a founder was going to stick around because normally somebody sells their company, they take their money and they go do whatever they're going to do. Well, I mean, I did that but I was still wanting to be with the company. And Mary started you know, she was in the military. She was a Marine. She jumped out of helicopters that she was a franchisee. She became the president of the brand. neighborly recruited her. She became the President of mov Mr Rooter, and now CEO. And so she's got a wealth of experience, and we had a chat or whatever since he visits about what makes a successful owner. And we both kinds of said almost at the same time. It's that four-letter word right there, which is grit. And it's hard to define grit. Somebody will say, do you have grit, but it is the word I think that separates those that become really successful or even successful versus those that don't. And I can ask if somebody is lying signature line on my email says, Stay gritty. The name of the President's calling Mr. Gritty because it's just it is the word, you got to work hard. And following all those things. You got to be gritty because when the going gets tough, you got to figure it out and stick to it. It's supposed to be hard. But the result and outcome of having a successful business are greater than working for somebody. So it's supposed to, it's intentionally harder, but it's not for everybody because it takes a lot of grit to get there. But when you do it correctly, and you're the right person, the best thing you can ever do obviously.
Lance 41:00
I love it. And that was a great way to end it. Rick, thank you for being here. Stay gritty. Stay happy, which I know you will. And thank you so much for being here.
Rik 41:10
Lance, I appreciate the invite. Thank you so much.
Lance 41:13
Thank you very much for listening today. Please like, follow, and subscribe so you don't miss anything here at eye on franchising. Visit our website at eyeonfranchising.com e y e o n franchising.com and complete our free assessments so we can assist you in finding your perfect franchise. This is Lance Graulich. Until next time.