Attention all entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts, do you want to learn from the success story of a family business that grew into a franchising empire? Tune in to the latest episode of Eye on Franchising, where Lance Graulich interviews the founders and CEO of Rolling Suds Powerwashing. Listen as they share their inspiring journey of how they got into power washing and eventually pivoted to commercial work, systemizing operations, investing in technology, and expanding through franchising. Discover their unique system of using chemicals and soft washing techniques to make the process easier and faster, and how they teach their franchisees to replicate their success. With a mission statement focused on relationships, this family business is selective in its franchisee search and provides comprehensive training, support, and marketing assistance. Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn from their experience and join their mission to become the biggest power washing company in the world. Listen now to the Rolling Suds Powerwashing episode on Eye on Franchising and unlock the secrets to success in the power washing industry. - The podcast features Rolling Suds Powerwashing, a family business that has been in operation for 33 years and has grown through systemizing operations and investing in technology. - The company has expanded into franchising and has experienced rapid growth, with a focus on a people-first approach and franchisee success. - Rolling Suds Powerwashing, specializes in power washing residential and commercial properties using a proprietary process and offers a comprehensive training program for franchisees. - The company is selective in their franchisee search and emphasizes exceptional service and a focus on relationships. KEY POINTS [0:5:28] By investing in larger trucks, machines, and tanks, the company was able to dramatically increase their efficiency and speed, enabling them to undertake more projects and expand their reach to a greater audience. [0:9:52] Brian Wendling Jr joined the family business in 2015, leveraging his ambition and expertise to propel the business to unprecedented levels of success and create a lasting legacy for his family. [0:11:58] By leveraging the knowledge and experience of industry giants Steve Beagleman and Aaron Harper, our growth and success have been dramatically accelerated. [0:15:14] Franchising provides aspiring entrepreneurs with an unparalleled opportunity to unlock tremendous success and prosperity through comprehensive systems and unwavering support. [0:26:27] Experience a lightning-fast transformation of your property with professional power washing, backed by specialised trucks and equipment – an investment of just $150-200k that can deliver up to three times the results! [0:28:2] Fuelled by a desire to become the biggest power washing company in the world, our company is rapidly scaling with the selective recruitment of franchisees who share our ambitious vision. [0:28:2] An ideal franchisee for this opportunity should possess an ambitious, determined attitude and the ability to recognize the untapped potential in a specialized market. With their proven sales, managerial, and operational expertise, they have the perfect recipe for success. [0:28:2] Franchisees can enjoy a comprehensive training experience, featuring both hands-on and classroom instruction, tailored support from a call center and assistance in hiring personnel and acquiring equipment - all designed to deliver an unparalleled customer experience. [0:28:54] The company has achieved remarkable growth and implemented robust systems, enabling seamless expansion into new markets and franchising opportunities. [0:30:57] Our commitment to fostering meaningful relationships with our customers and partners through our core values of compassion, courtesy, honesty, and helpfulness is unwavering. [0:31:57] Aaron has achieved an extraordinary feat, selling a staggering 200+ franchise locations by leveraging a highly personalized, people-centric approach. [0:36:26] This powerful training program offers flexible virtual learning on weekends or at night, empowering you to quickly master the essential accounting software, CRM, and more - with short, easy-to-follow videos and pictures. Have you heard the news? We are officially on YouTube. Come check out a few videos have have and give me a follow! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoAdrkPZmveJt5AQRDk8WA --- Lance Graulich Franchise Consulting Services from ION Franchising Eye On Franchising
Attention all entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts, do you want to learn from the success story of a family business that grew into a franchising empire? Tune in to the latest episode of Eye on Franchising, where Lance Graulich interviews the founders and CEO of Rolling Suds Powerwashing.
Listen as they share their inspiring journey of how they got into power washing and eventually pivoted to commercial work, systemizing operations, investing in technology, and expanding through franchising.
Discover their unique system of using chemicals and soft washing techniques to make the process easier and faster, and how they teach their franchisees to replicate their success. With a mission statement focused on relationships, this family business is selective in its franchisee search and provides comprehensive training, support, and marketing assistance.
Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn from their experience and join their mission to become the biggest power washing company in the world. Listen now to the Rolling Suds Powerwashing episode on Eye on Franchising and unlock the secrets to success in the power washing industry.
- The podcast features Rolling Suds Powerwashing, a family business that has been in operation for 33 years and has grown through systemizing operations and investing in technology.
- The company has expanded into franchising and has experienced rapid growth, with a focus on a people-first approach and franchisee success.
- Rolling Suds Powerwashing, specializes in power washing residential and commercial properties using a proprietary process and offers a comprehensive training program for franchisees.
- The company is selective in their franchisee search and emphasizes exceptional service and a focus on relationships.
KEY POINTS
[0:5:28] By investing in larger trucks, machines, and tanks, the company was able to dramatically increase their efficiency and speed, enabling them to undertake more projects and expand their reach to a greater audience.
[0:9:52] Brian Wendling Jr joined the family business in 2015, leveraging his ambition and expertise to propel the business to unprecedented levels of success and create a lasting legacy for his family.
[0:11:58] By leveraging the knowledge and experience of industry giants Steve Beagleman and Aaron Harper, our growth and success have been dramatically accelerated.
[0:15:14] Franchising provides aspiring entrepreneurs with an unparalleled opportunity to unlock tremendous success and prosperity through comprehensive systems and unwavering support.
[0:26:27] Experience a lightning-fast transformation of your property with professional power washing, backed by specialised trucks and equipment – an investment of just $150-200k that can deliver up to three times the results!
[0:28:2] Fuelled by a desire to become the biggest power washing company in the world, our company is rapidly scaling with the selective recruitment of franchisees who share our ambitious vision.
[0:28:2] An ideal franchisee for this opportunity should possess an ambitious, determined attitude and the ability to recognize the untapped potential in a specialized market. With their proven sales, managerial, and operational expertise, they have the perfect recipe for success.
[0:28:2] Franchisees can enjoy a comprehensive training experience, featuring both hands-on and classroom instruction, tailored support from a call center and assistance in hiring personnel and acquiring equipment - all designed to deliver an unparalleled customer experience.
[0:28:54] The company has achieved remarkable growth and implemented robust systems, enabling seamless expansion into new markets and franchising opportunities.
[0:30:57] Our commitment to fostering meaningful relationships with our customers and partners through our core values of compassion, courtesy, honesty, and helpfulness is unwavering.
[0:31:57] Aaron has achieved an extraordinary feat, selling a staggering 200+ franchise locations by leveraging a highly personalized, people-centric approach.
[0:36:26] This powerful training program offers flexible virtual learning on weekends or at night, empowering you to quickly master the essential accounting software, CRM, and more - with short, easy-to-follow videos and pictures.
Have you heard the news? We are officially on YouTube. Come check out a few videos have have and give me a follow!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoAdrkPZmveJt5AQRDk8WA
---
Franchise Consulting Services from ION Franchising
00:00:00
00:00:02 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 determine what the best businesses for you based on your investment level mindset, skill set, and life experiences. This is Eye on Franchising where we share our vision for your franchise 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 franchise. Hello everyone, and welcome back to another fabulous episode of Eye on Franchising. I'm your host, Lance Graulich. Today, franchising is often said I often say that franchising is the team sport. And here's another fabulous example of why. This crew right here, I got three people, three people on this podcast today. I got Brian Wendling Jr I have Brian Wendling Sr. And I have my old friend, Aaron Harper. They are cleaning up in the power washing business. And we're going to hear about this amazing brand. We talk about franchising being a team sport and this brand has been around almost 33 years. You get the benefit of all this knowledge and all of these learnings and we're going to hear about it today. So welcome
00:02:06 Thank you for having us.
00:02:07 Yes, thank you.
00:02:08 Awesome.
00:02:10 So, let's see Brian Senior, we're going to start with you. Give us the back story. Go way back in center field and then go out that center field fence and just keep on going. And you're from Pennsylvania, so that would be the Phillies, right?
00:02:26 Yes. We're Philly fans. Yes.
00:02:29 Well, go way back and give us that back story. Almost 33 years in business. What were you planning when you got out of high school or whatever? What were you initially planning and how the heck did you get into power washing?
00:02:43 well, I used to work in the car wash industry and then from there I was doing some detailing and then we started washing trucks. And then within the first year, we really got into power washing homes. And uh, we made some money washing homes for years. And then we really got into the commercial work and that's where we made really a lot more money and a lot more profit. 1990s when I started, my wife came in and she helped me run the office, run the whole business with me. And uh,we just started growing from there. I would say the first ten years was really just all hard work and getting it together. And then we realized that, uh, we can make a lot more money by doing more sales and getting off the truck and getting out of behind the windshield.
00:03:30 That's right. No more chuck in the truck.
00:03:33 No. Then we started realizing that a lot more commercial work would really bring in a lot more money hiring more people. Then what we really realized is we have to get everything systemized a lot better, putting a lot of big CRM program website together. Uh because it's funny. 1990, there was no really internet, so I couldn't learn stuff from other people as much as you can now. So it was a lot harder.
00:04:00 Um,I love how you just threw that in there and we'll talk about that certainly in more detail later. How technology has really changed. Franchising, I love it.
00:04:11 What really made it uhbetter was I, want to say probably 2015 or something like that. No? Maybe even no. I guess it was more like 2006. Seven, eight, we started getting bigger trucks, bigger machines, bigger tanks on the trucks to hold more water. Because obviously when you get bigger machines and you start having ten gallon machines on the trucks and we have three machines on each truck, we started going from 200 to 500 to now we have 900 gallon tanks on the trucks so that way we don't run out of water as fast. Because now with our systems in place and the bigger machines, bigger pumps, uh, we can shoot our machines four or five stories easily without having to get a lift and we can do it a lot more jobs from the ground. So we then realized that the more, faster and efficient we can do it, then the better we can get our prices down a little bit more and then we can get more jobs. So as the time went on and then 2015, Brian Jr. Came in and uh, he really helped me because then I started getting a little burnout. But as time went on, then we even started growing more and more and buying more trucks and getting more people. And then it really came down to is where can we get the business? We got to make sure we get a lot more business. So then we started different marketing plans and with the different marketing plans we have in place now we can reach out, I guess, a larger area and get more commercial work. So now we do a lot of universities, a lot of office complexes, homeowner, uh, associations, so we can go in in. And the best thing is now since we have a lot of trucks, we can actually go in and do a whole community in one day for them. And a lot of our managers are like, oh my God, that is great. Other Powers guy told me it was going to take them three weeks. I'm like, now we can do it in one day.
00:06:04 so I want to make sure the audience knows. So we have Brian Wendling, senior. Senior, you were just, speaking, and you were the founder, and president, of the brand today. Brian Wendling, Jr. Brian, you're the vice president, and you joined in 2015, dad just said.
00:06:23 Yeah, that's right, at the end of 2015.
00:06:25 So I want to hear a little bit about that. So, 2015, you see, dad was doing this when you were much younger. And at some point, like, with my dad, am I going to join him in business? Am I not? So at what point did you realize, hey, I'm joining?
00:06:44 for me, yeah, like you just said, too, I was around in my whole life. My mom would babysit me while I'm in the office playing video games. She's on the phone, my dad's in the field, all that. So growing up with it, it was always something you're around. And then in college, um, I was actually doing finance and management, and I loved that and was thinking of maybe getting into the finance world. And then I did see where, like my dad saying, for a few years, it was starting to grow more. I could see that both my parents were starting to get a little bit tired. And I looked at it like, well, I'm confident in myself, too. And I've been around this forever, and I know I'll work hard and thinking I could go off and do this finance thing maybe, or maybe I have an amazing opportunity that a lot of people don't have. I have a great life that my parents gave me in a business that's around and established. Well, what if I could come in, maybe get my mom to retire, get my dad to enjoy his life a little bit more and work on sales, because he's more of a good sales guy, and I could work really hard, and that would be a very honorable life. To repay my parents and family by growing this company, making it a lot bigger, make it even more profitable, more systems in place. I can be proud of myself. I can feel like I gave back to my parents, and we're all helping each other and with each other. And, that would be a really cool life to have and to build a legacy that way.
00:08:09 I love your story, and I just knew it listening to you. You get your finance, got your finance background. You're like, you know, my clothes, my food, everything's been paid for from this business. And if I jump into this, it's already there, it's already turnkey. I just have to actually help them now. They've helped me my whole life. How cool would it be if we could increase sales even more and join forces? So I absolutely love that you, uh, joined the family business and helped it expand. Now tell us, guys, before we get to, , Aaron Harper here. How did the transition happen? So you build this business, you're probably growing double digits over the years in revenue, which at what point did you say we want to conquer the entire United States?
00:09:07 Good question.
00:09:09 I think, like you said, we had some good years there and we're growing pretty rapidly. And then, uh, we were just thinking, well, what's next? Especially, when COVID hit for us, it was a little bit of a down year, but not too terrible. But it helped us to get more systems in place because I had a little bit more time too. And then coming out of it, we bounced back and had an amazing year. And it was actually a little bit surprisingly easier for us and especially for me, because we had even more systems in place now. So it was like, what's the next thing to do? We should start another business. And then it was like, well, this is what we know, this is what we can do very well. Why take time away from our business to start something we don't know? And also, it would be pretty awesome to help people create their own legacy in family business and whatever, and help their own families with a career and business that we can help them with, instead of just figuring out how to clean the next lady's house. So it would be more of an impact. Grow our own brand as well, and create our own legacy and for other people at the same time.
00:10:19 Yeah, and I can chime in to say that, what was great, too, is when Brian came in and he works his butt off and he really has helped us a lot. I want to say it was 2017 or 18, we actually opened up another location because we're kind of close to Philadelphia and Bucks County, but we went over to Chester County and opened up another location in Westchester. And that was really good. So then we were going to open up another location in New Jersey because we also do the whole state of New Jersey, and we do all the way down in Delaware, Baltimore, all the way Harrisburg.
00:10:50 You guys get around.
00:10:52 So we do get around, which is great. So then we were going to open up another territory in New Jersey, and that was right before COVID And then when COVID hit, we said, oh, let's just pump that a little bit and we can just run it out of our main office here and just drive all over the place. And then after that, that's when we decide. Then, well, how can we grow this and keep going more? And it's like, oh, do we have to get more offices in all kinds of cities and run it ourselves? Or let's try the franchise world so that's when we love it and give.
00:11:20 Me that sort of transition. Brian Senior you guys are talking about that, you're thinking about that, then what happens?
00:11:28 Then we met a company SMB. Steve Beagleman. He, runs, and he is great for the industry and he does a lot nationwide. But the great thing is, he literally is ten minutes up the road from us. So we got to meet him. And right away he was like, hey, I've told a lot of people that are starting a franchise that they're not ready, but you guys are so ready. You are at the prime time right now. You should do it. So we jumped in and we decided we were going to do it, and we were going to try and do it ourselves. And then last year, we met Aaron at one of the conventions, and everybody was telling us, and, we're talking with another person, too, that this is what they do. They blow up franchises. And then we started thinking, hey, maybe we should partner with somebody, and it would go a lot faster than just, u doing it ourselves.
00:12:17 Boy and lightning struck for everybody in such an amazing way. And enter Aaron Harper, now CEO of Rolling Suds. So, Aaron, my old buddy. So give me your version of, how that really happened.
00:12:32 I'm just kidding. Sure. Yeah. No, happy to be here. Lance. I appreciate you, u bringing me back for a second time with Brian and Brian on here.
00:12:45 My pleasure.
00:12:46 It's so exciting to be able to talk about Rolling Suds and everything they've built and everything we've been building together since we met, so, yeah, my background is in Franchising. I've kind of stayed in the home service space since I started, worked on a couple of brands, which, you know, uh, of ChemDry and then the Patch Boys.
00:13:05 So humble. Aaron Harper is sold hundreds of units for some amazing brands. and no, this is just an amazing team. So I love it. But Aaron, keep going. Sorry, I just had to plug that for you.
00:13:22 Thank you, Lance. Yeah, we were able to, at those two brands, help a lot of entrepreneurs, get started in, business ownership in an industry that they didn't know anything about, and they were able to come in, and it was just really, exciting. And so, with the last brand I worked on about the middle of last year, we were pretty close to selling out of the country because we had grown, uh, pretty rapidly, and we had a lot of happy franchisees. So in the middle of last year, I started thinking about what I wanted to do next and what kind of brand I wanted to work on. And every kind of major franchise or in the home service space and any other spaces were actually reaching out to me, asking if I either wanted to come manage their brand, uh, do franchise development. I got a few offers to be, uh, a CEO of platform companies, and help multiple brands grow. And,Lance, I've done a ton of work with you and Francerv and the community that you're part of. And I ultimately decided to make, a leap, make a leap that a lot of franchisees, future franchisees and past franchisees, have made on their own, and decide, I'm going to take everything that I know about the systems and processes in franchising and apply that to a home service concept. and I'm going to find a business that is not yet a franchise, but would like to become a national franchise, and partner with them to help grow their business and that brand. And just to give the audience just a little bit of background. The last brand that I had worked on when I got involved, there was 100 units, 40 franchisees. But we needed to build a lot of the systems, and we were able to utilize Belfort Franchise Group, which is a large home service franchise. Or take some of the systems that I had learned from previous brands and apply them to this emerging concept where we were able to amplify the franchisees businesses. when I got involved, and I also got involved with that brand during COVID right? So it was June of 2020, and there was a lot of fear. I think at that time, people were probably still washing their groceries. so it was one of those just crazy times. But I wanted the franchisees to know that we were there for them and that we wanted to help them grow their business. And so, as I asked them what they needed, we built systems around what they needed. And so for about six months, we built these systems. And then when I felt like it was ready to start opening new locations, we opened our first location at the end
00:16:01 of October of 2020. And almost 24 months later, from October of 2020 to October of 2022, I sold 223 franchise locations for that brand. And what I'm super proud of is they all opened. so there wasn't any sold, not opened. I wasn't selling five licenses to one person or ten licenses to one person. I feel like we did it in a very responsible way. No one bought more than three territories and no one bought less than two territories to start. And everyone left training. And they were doing jobs in their marketplace. The first day they got back, had a full time employee hired prior to going to training. So I was like, this is something that I could make a little bit better and do with another brand that is maybe either more simple or just in the mobile service space. So, I looked at a lot of businesses and decided that, I wanted to take a people first numbers, second approach, because I did find a lot of good businesses that had killer numbers, but the people weren't right? And I think that's just for anyone who's thinking about buying a franchise, I think that's a good approach to take. Make sure you believe in the team and make sure you believe in the people. And then if the numbers are there, obviously that needs to be there, too. But I feel like that took me a few trial and errors of talking to people to be like, okay, that's not right for me. And so, in September at Springboard, which is a conference for emerging franchisors, it's a great conference. You know, it's been around for a long time. A lot of really good people run that conference. Brian Jr. Came to that conference and they had decided at that point, all right, we maybe don't want to do this on our own. It's kind of a completely different business. Let's look at some other options. And they were talking to some franchisors as well. And then they met Alicia and Joan and said, hey, I'm interested in growing my system and making it a national brand. And, Alicia and Joan from Franceserve texted me and said and told Brian, you need to meet Aaron. And so at that party, I came over, I met Brian.and then the next day, the conference ended at noon, and I took an Uber up to Warrington, 45 minutes from Philadelphia, saw the operation, and then Brian and I have been, ah, talking almost every day since then.
00:18:35 I love this. This is great. And obviously you guys did a deal. You figured it out, and we did.
00:18:43 Yeah, we did. we raised capital, figured out a deal in January, we closed the deal. And then in the middle of February, we, decided we were kind of ready to take it to the franchise market. And we're signing up our first franchisee on Tuesday.
00:19:00 Congratulations.
00:19:01 The first the first one.
00:19:04 I love, a lot of what all of you guys have said so far, but Aaron, you just said something. It's about everybody that's looking at business opportunities, whether they think they want a franchise or not, somewhere, somehow, people decide, I don't want to do this on my own. And the interesting thing is that's what you were just saying, where Brian Jr. Brian Senior? At some point, they realized, I don't want to do this on my own. I want someone else that's already been there. And that's the beauty of franchising truly being that sport that I always refer to, because you have all these people that want you to be successful. And that's what I've always loved about it. So let's talk. Who wants to sum up? It's been talked about, but what is Rolling Suds? What is rolling studs. You're doing commercial, you're doing residential. Why does it exist? Give me, u those highlights.
00:20:05 I'm going to let Brian and Brian do it because they've been building this for 33 years. And I want to perfect, I think they know better than anyone.
00:20:12 I just want to make sure people clearly understand what it is.
00:20:18 Well, we power wash the outside well, you could say power wash or soft wash. Soft wash, meaning that we use chemicals to remove mold. Mildew, algae, dirt, grease, gum, oil. But basically our main focus is really more on is cleaning the outside of buildings and homes. So we do use some chemicals and, we don't really use a high pressure, so it is more of a soft pressure. But we do use our pressure washing machines. And like I said before, with our machines, we are able then to end, the systems we put in place. We are able to shoot the chemicals four or five stories without even needing to lift. So for us, we, very fastly and efficiently can clean a large building and, , make money. Because that's really the big thing is you want to make money.
00:21:08 and that's your secret sauce right there is shooting chemicals and stuff. Four or five stories?
00:21:15 Yes.
00:21:15 That's not something you knew from the beginning?
00:21:18 No, definitely not from the beginning. And, used to do a lot more with pressure. So then you realize that you don't really need high pressure to clean a lot of surfaces. You do need some pressure in some areas to clean. Like we do a lot of parking garages and shopping centers. So for cleaning concrete, we do have big surface cleaners to use so that way we can clean big areas very fast. but yes, most of our bread and butter is using the chemicals and cleaning the outside of buildings. We'd love to see a really dirty building or a really dirty house because it just comes out so good when it's done.
00:22:03 We do rinse it down with a.
00:22:04 Lot of water afterwards, so everything does get rinsed.
00:22:07 Love it.
00:22:08 Aaron? Yeah. Let me jump in real quick. So the cool thing is they're using chemicals, but they use it in a way where the dilution is enough to where it's not actually dangerous in the sense that it's going to hurt people if it, hits. And that's the thing about what I've learned about the power washing industry as a whole, is like, there's a lot of people who are either not using chemicals or using them the wrong way or using too much pressure or using too little pressure. And anyone who kind of goes and grabs a $300 machine from Home Depot can kind of be a power washer. And what Brian and Brian have learned over the years is like, in order to kill black mold on the side of a house or algae that's corroding a roof is you have to use a certain chemical, with a certain amount of dilution in order to kill that. Otherwise it's going to come back. But if you use the wrong amount of chemical, you can actually kill plants. You can do things that can actually pretty severely damage a home. but over 33 years, they figured out how to not do that. And when a franchisee signs up today, we're able to take that 33 years of knowledge, condense it into a training program that has an ongoing learning element to it. We can teach them that process. They can come out the gate and do that. And the one thing I'll say and then I want to hear from Brian Jr. Is they're one of the only I know we haven't got into numbers yet, but they're one of the only hour washing companies in the United States that's doing over 2.2 million a year in gross revenue. And that's based upon kind of our 2022 numbers with our 2023 FDD. But there's not many power washers who are doing over $2.2 million a year, so they've really figured it out. So, anyways, I'll let Brian, jr. Jump in now.
00:23:58 Sure.
00:23:59 Yeah.
00:23:59 And I just want to say, to piggyback off what Aaron was just saying about, numbers with being able to do over 2.2 million, I mean, that's us being pretty stingy in the jobs that we choose to do. We actually got to a point where reading, like, the 80 20 book and things like that, where it was like, you know what? There are some jobs out there that everyone does that are just not as great. we still think that people should do them. But for us, growing and doing better and trying to just maximize profit, we took away certain jobs we turned down a lot and just do the jobs we want to do in order to do that, because we could do a lot more than that, even. And then on top of that, the other thing I wanted to say with using the chemicals the right way and doing the soft washing versus power washing, the other thing that we made it really big for franchisees and ourselves over the year is that it's easier. We also made it a lot easier. Whenever I hire a new employee or I'm talking to a customer that I know is going to watch us do the work, I always say it's going to be a lot easier looking. And if you do it a lot easier than what you're thinking in your head. We're not getting a ladder on the side of your house. We're not doing that kind of thing. We're not moving the machines or moving chemical. Everything's mounted on the truck. Everything's lightweight hose. It's very simple compared to how it was years ago. U that being said, also, you have to let the customers know sometimes it's going to be a lot faster than you think as well. But yeah, that's what we've been doing over the years, which is pretty cool.
00:25:30 Well, we've all buying the right equipment and having the right truck. So that's why when you see us pull up in our trucks, the truck and the equipment. We're spending over $100,000 on this truck. So it's not just a pickup with a power washer in the back.
00:25:44 And there is a perfect segue because I want to talk about that investment. What is that general investment in this business?
00:25:52 Yeah, I'll jump in on that. So the reason we get these types of trucks is because in 2019, brian and Brian really kind of perfected this process. They started buying the bigger trucks, they started getting the certain types of equipment. And that basically allows us to have what we call the professional wash method, which is a proprietary process that I've confirmed no other people in the industry are doing.
00:26:22 This is that secret sauce you're divulging right here to the audience.
00:26:26 This is the professional wash method. So what we've done, basically, when they figured that out in 2019, they realized they could probably move twice as fast depending on the guys that are on the truck, maybe even sometimes three times as fast as a normal power washer because of this method. So the trucks are expensive. But in order to get this type of return on investment, you have to have that equipment. You have to have that amount of water on a truck. You have to have a 16 foot box truck. You have to have two guys on a truck. There's all these elements that we've really condensed into kind of this professional wash method that we get to teach franchisees now. Which is cool because you started in 1990. Brian yes. So 2019, that's 29 years. Yes. So a franchisee gets to basically buy 29 years and get taught that immediately, which is really cool. Right. So the amount of that it costs, to answer your question, to get into this franchise, liquid capital is somewhere between 150 to 200, depending on how big of an area they want to buy. We have the ability to get the trucks financed with the equipment in them, a good piece of it. So that's why it's a little bit less. If they were to buy the truck outright, they're probably, looking at about 250,000. Then people will need some working capital above and beyond that. We don't recommend necessarily going and buying the truck's cash because the leasing element of it, that's just a write off, for the entire life of the lease. And so there's a lot of tax benefits to that. Also, we've found a leasing company who can provide the trucks fully wrapped with the equipment, install everything, like nicely packaged and drop shipped to anywhere in the United States, which is challenging right now with the vehicle market. So we were able to kind of identify that. So that's about the cost to get in. And again, it just depends on whether they go with a 500,000 population area or a 750,000 population area, which are kind of the two options, which is a standard market or a premium. Market. Got it.
00:28:40 And obviously, there's quite a bit of profitability in power washing because based on the systems and what you've described, you've made this a lot more efficient. And it's been mentioned, the word systems have been mentioned many, many times. And for those playing along at home, listening to this or wherever you might be at this moment, systems are meant to be changed, especially as volumes increase. There's a whole other mechanism to deal with. And, it's a good problem when you have tremendous volume in a lot of accounts. Right, guys?
00:29:13 Yes, absolutely.
00:29:15 Like, not running out of water would be a good thing, right?
00:29:18 Yes.
00:29:20 So let's talk about who you're looking for. Who is the ideal candidate? Aaron, you've been doing this a long time, so you know, who is a great candidate in general? And that funny. Could be someone from all walks of life. I mean, it's not like one industry.
00:29:38 Right? Right. So, yeah, I'll hit that one. So I've specialized in recruiting franchisees since I started. That's been kind of what I've done has been able to identify who's good for a brand and who's not. And what I'll say before getting into that is we're being very picky right now as we bring in our first ten to 15 franchisees, we want people who completely want to be part of that mission and the goals that we have. So we've turned away six people since we started, which is about one a week. So there is a lot of interest. My calendar is stacked with qualified candidates that I'm talking to on a daily basis, but we really want people who align with our goals. So let me talk a little bit about our goals first and who we are as a company. And I'll talk about what we're looking for in a candidate that works for you guys. So our mission statement is this is a relationship. So anyone we're talking to, whether it's a customer, referral partner, commercial relationship, employee, we think that the relationship comes first. And if every interaction is approached with the idea that the person we're talking to will become a long term relationship for us, then we're going to have a better kind of, experience with the people that we talk to. Right. So I make sure that potential franchisees know that our four, core values are compassionate, courteous, honest and helpful. We kind of pride ourselves on being the helpful experts that just want to make sure that people have one less thing to worry about. They don't have to worry about power washing because we're going to handle it. And so the other thing is, we want to grow to be the biggest power washing company in the world. and so the people who come on, they got to be aligned with that. And we want to scale fast. We want to scale responsibly, but we want to scale fast. And so someone coming in. We are looking for someone who wants to build to multiple trucks, the one truck operator who's going to buy one territory and do this with his son power wash buildings. That's not who we're looking for for this franchise.
00:31:52 Uh, that was so 30 years ago.
00:31:55 Yeah, exactly. So we are looking for people who want to build this with us, because we give people such a large population. I mean, half a million or 750,000 people. We want people who can franchisees, who can tack that total addressable market. And the total addressable market. I know this is something that's said a lot in franchising, right? So if you buy an area, what's the total addressable market? So if you buy a biohazard cleanup company, the total addressable market is hoarders. crime scenes, drug houses, raids, stuff like that. So the territory needs to be much larger because there's only so many of those that happen in one area. With mosquitoes, it's every person who doesn't want mosquitoes in their backyard. Right. So that's kind of the addressable market with power washing. The addressable market is every single building that we drive by. That's the addressable market. Right. So the territories, we want someone to be able to understand that when they step into a market that they're going to drive past 15 buildings on the way to their job at least. And they can go in and talk to the people who manage that building and clean it. Right. So with that being said, some of the things we're looking for is kind of hungry, aggressive approach. When you start with a new franchise, there's not as much certainty. So the guy who's looking for 17 years of data of franchisees operating, and he can't analyze the last five years and see that it's probably not the guy we're looking for because he's looking for something that's more maybe he's looking for a 500 unit established brand. We're looking for the person who wants to find the Orange Theory Fitness before it becomes Orange Theory Fitness. That's who we're really looking for, is someone who can see, oh, gosh. There's no national leader in the power washing space. There are window cleaners that do power washing. There are gutter cleaners that do power washing. But there is not 1300, 400 unit franchise system that just focuses on the niche of power washing. So really, whoever comes in needs to understand that, see that, and basically be willing to come in and provide this incredible experience to their customers. Because Brian and Brian and my goal and the team that we've built is to provide an incredible experience to our franchisees. So someone comes in as a franchisee, how can we better their experience? They're going to pay us a royalty, and in return, we're going to provide them, a litany of services. And
00:34:27 so our goal is to provide these services in a way they're not going to be able to get anywhere else. So those are some of the things we're looking for. Sales experience is good. Management experience is good. Operations experience is good. We're going to help them hire two people before they go to training and get a truck fully wrapped and turn um, leads on while they're at training. And we have a call center, and they'll have estimates lined up when they get back from training. So we really want someone who can just come in, follow a system, and be aggressive.
00:34:56 Awesome. Let's talk a little bit about training. So what is the training that somebody gets? How many hours? Hands on training, classroom training? How does that work?
00:35:07 Sure. So we've built a really incredible training program. So we call it our Power Launch Program because we're rolling Suds, the power washing professional. So we want to give people a really, positive power Launch. So it's a six to eight week kind of ramp up training, where their franchisees have an LMS, which is a learning management system where they're watching videos on a weekly basis on how to run the business. We also have Paul's with our business coach, VP of Operations Kevin Hooven, who's awesome, and he's going to make sure that all the logistics are taken care of so QuickBooks gets set up ein, accounting, software, the CRM that is going to allow franchisees to automate their entire customer experience set up with the call center. So all this stuff is happening in those six to eight weeks prior to going to training. Vehicles wrapped, order, equipment shipped, like all that's happening along with virtual learning that's able to happen on the weekends or in the nighttime so that someone can keep their job during that time. And then that all leads up to a week long in person training at our corporate location, where Brian and Brian are located in Warrington, Pennsylvania. And we built a really cool training room, which I'll let Brian and Brian talk about, because they've really been spearheading that. But the week in person training is going to be practical application of everything they've learned in those last six to eight weeks. Everything franchisees have learned. So estimating how to talk to customers, how to answer the phone, how to deal with customer complaints, how to do how to use the CRM in practical usage for specific situations. We're going to go use the equipment. We're going to bring two technicians to training. Each franchisee is going to bring two technicians training. We're going to put them on the truck for a couple of days. We're going to teach them the professional wash method. So our goal is to basically get someone within somewhere between six to nine weeks or seven to nine weeks to know everything or a lot of what Brian and Brian have learned over the last 33 years. So they really get to step into a quick ramp up time. But I'll let Brian and Brian talk a little bit about kind of the training program they've built and a little bit more if you guys want to add more to what's, um, included in the training program.
00:37:28 Sure.
00:37:29 Yeah, I think that we build a, 20 x 40 room and we have a huge, uh, TV in there and a whole bunch of desks and all that. So we're ready for training and showing virtually everything that we've put together a lot of videos of how to do this, how to do that. And, so they can even go online and really see everything with all the videos that are in place, which is great. But to come here to our main office, see all our guys, our trucks and the equipment that we have, and for them to go out and get hands on training for a couple of days, that's a lot. I mean, they're going to learn a lot.
00:38:08 Yeah. Once they leave as well. If anything they forget about, then they have all those trainings still online and videos and pictures. We have tons of short videos and pictures with a page, two page document that explains every single little facet of that picture, uthat Kevin and I have been working on. And, they can refer to that later if they have any questions. So it makes it pretty streamlined that way as well.
00:38:34 So guys, when, uh, Brian senior, when you talked about technology earlier, as I'm listening to Aaron and all of you guys, for that matter, the CRM, turning on leads, all the different videos, it's changed a little bit since you started, right?
00:38:51 No. Yeah. If you really think about it, 1990, I started and we didn't even really have Internet then. I didn't get the chance to really learn everything quickly, and easily, as everybody has. And we're putting all these programs together and Aaron and Kevin are saying, you guys, you need to have a video on every single thing. So to the point of how do you put a nozzle in a quick connect, I'm like, oh my God, these guys, they can learn something on their own, show them everything, how to hook up a hose to a spigot.
00:39:23 but that is the value right there is how do you learn on your own without having to have an instructor standing there doing everything with you?
00:39:33 Well, that's the great thing about all this. We're putting everything in place. So anybody who buys a franchise and comes in, they will have everything raise their fingertips to learn. And we're here to help, too, because that's one of the biggest things we want, is to help people. We want people all around the country to be successful, have a good business, help their family grow, and have a good income as well. That is one of our goals. And we're really going to be happy. I can't imagine me driving to Houston, uh, and seeing a rolling Suds truck go by. It's pretty cool.
00:40:10 Going to be exciting. So talk a little bit about marketing. We were talking about turning on leads, but again, a lot of listeners out there are toying with, do I create my own business, obviously, versus buying a franchise. And they hear this and they're like, holy cow, I can't do all that on my own.
00:40:29 You can.
00:40:30 And it's not easy. And I can even tell you that, over the years, I've done so many different marketing and spent a lot of money and I've made mistakes. But everybody's going to benefit from all the mistakes I've made as well.
00:40:44 Because, uyou obviously figured it all out.
00:40:46 well, I didn't figure it all out.
00:40:49 I'm always learning.
00:40:51 Like you said, you learn from your mistakes. Throw that away. We move on with different methodologies. That definitely did work for you.
00:41:00 Yes. So we do have a lot of good, uh, marketing and systems in place that we think that would really help benefit and get somebody going a lot faster if they didn't have these in place.
00:41:10 Yeah, got it.
00:41:12 go ahead. Let me just jump in on that real quick. So the marketing piece is something that we're really strong with. With the previous brand, we were able to turn leads on while franchisees were at training. And so everyone would basically be like, answering calls and booking estimates live at training. Which was really cool because someone would step outside and they'd be like, I just picked two estimates Monday, first thing. And so we were able to really create these systems. And so when I left, we had a new franchisee signing up every eight days on average. And then every six weeks, we were launching seven franchise groups in different markets across the country. And all of them were basically doing jobs in their marketplace the first week they got back. So basically what we've done now with Rolling does is instead of two different marketing companies and four months of leads included in the, upfront investment, which is what we did back then, now it's four different marketing companies and six months of leads is included in their upfront package. So you hear a lot in franchising. You need to have a grand opening budget, you need to do this, you need to do that. Well, we're doing that, but we're also taking part of the franchise fee that people invest with us, and we're investing it back into the franchisee in their local market.
00:42:25 Awesome.
00:42:25 So we're buying leads for them. We're making sure that those leads are coming in. And then what we do is basically we turn on the call center as well. So we didn't have a call center before with the previous brand. Now we do. I've trained their agents on how to convert those leads into estimates. And franchisees basically get to have that call center fill their calendar, which is going to be really cool because then they can focus on what's going to be the highest leverage activity of theirs, which is developing relationships and doing estimates and taking care of their customers and their employees. And then the one other thing is the question I get a lot is like, well, where am I going to find my people? Right? Where am I going to find the people to hire? And when you run a service business, whether it's home services or massage or anything where you're providing a service, you need to constantly be hiring. You need to make sure that you've got good people, and then you need to make sure you take care of those people. And so with the previous brand, we were able to get franchisees to hire someone before they went to training. And now we're going to do the same thing. We're going to figure out in their marketplace what an average person that does exterior cleaning is making per hour or being offered. And then we're going to tell franchisees that we're going to say, hey, we think you should increase it to $2, $3 more per hour. Here's the job posting. Here are the interview questions. Here are the qualifications. Here's what you're looking for. And also here's a portal where you can post, uh, to all the different sites. And there's everything you need right there. And so the last two to three weeks prior to going to training, we get franchisees get really aggressive here. And we basically make sure that they have two people hired prior to going to training. And so they go to training, then they've got two people. They bring those two people for at least a couple of days of training. We teach them how to use the software. We teach them the professional wash method. We teach them how to focus on customer experience. And they come to that training, they're like, oh my gosh, this is like a real deal company, right? They're not going to get $21 an hour from John's Pressure Washing, who does it by himself and needs a helper for $15. Whereas Rolling Suds franchisees are going to be making double the amount of revenue in a day, if not more than that. So paying two,
00:44:41 three $4 more per hour to keep someone long term is not a problem, right? And so those are two things that we really help with from a marketing and a hiring perspective so that franchisees can leave training with estimates lined up and they're doing work in their marketplace the first month back.
00:44:58 Yeah. I love it. So guys, there's been a lot of great information shared. So each of you give, me your final thoughts, final words of wisdom for the listeners. Brian Jr. Why don't you go first?
00:45:13 Sure. my final thoughts are that we're ready, everything's in place, we're excited, and, u look out for us in the future. When you see rolling studs trucks out there, we have our own convention and we're excited to become, uh, a part of people's families and help them build their own legacy.
00:45:32 Love it.
00:45:32 Love it. Brian Senior.
00:45:34 Yeah, I'm excited too. Let's clean America.
00:45:40 I love it. Final word for the day.
00:45:45 Go ahead, Brian. I think you had something else to say.
00:45:48 No, I was just going to say I'm excited also to help families out and help people start business and help them grow as well.
00:45:55 Love it. I'm excited for the opportunity to become the national leader in power washing by providing exceptional service to our franchisees and our customers. and grow into a 350 or 450 or 500 unit system where we're able to change a lot of lives. And that's what I'm most excited about. And so if there's anyone who's interested in becoming a franchisee, they can go on to rollingsudsfranchise.com. Hit apply now. And then they talk to me and eventually Brian and Brian and we figure out if it's the right fit. So I'm super excited.
00:46:36 Well, Brian and Brian and Aaron, thank you for being here. Rolling. Suds is going to be clean in America and come join them. Everybody, thanks for listening.
00:46:46 Thanks.
00:46:47 Thank you.
00:46:48 Thank you for being here. Gentlemen, thank you very much for listening today. Please, like, follow and subscribe. This is Lance Grallick. Until next time.