00:58 Hey, welcome back to the show today. I'm so stoked to have Steven with us because he's not only built his own business, helping other people do the same. Steven, tell us who you are and what are you up to?  

01:10 What's up everybody? Yeah. My name is Steven. I am the CEO and founder of ResiBrands, and we are in the home service franchising space. I started a company when I was 21. Painting houses all by myself. That grew into being one of the biggest painting companies in Texas. And then we. Franchise it went well, and now we have a few other brands. Uh, at the end of the day, um, I want to show people that the blue collar trades and home services is an amazing place to make money. It's also a place to find a lot of purpose in what you do. Um, and, uh, we just, we love what we do. We're helping entrepreneurs build a business.  

01:46 I love it. I love it.  And, and in home services, especially, I mean, I would say that the typical story is my dad was a plumber. I'm going to be a plumber. My dad was a painter. I'm going to be a painter. Like how in the world did you, is that the way you fell into it? I, I seem to hear, I remember a story about you becoming a painter because of something like that, but walk us through how you like started your first Resy brand and what that meant. 

02:10 Yeah. So my parents were missionary, so I grew up in a few different countries, mostly lived in Kenya when I was a kid and my parents, um, when we would come back to the U.S., my dad painted and he would paint, uh, to make some money and, and, and during the break when he wasn't on a mission field, and then we came back permanently to the U.S., and for a little while, my dad ran a painting company. For like less than a year. No, it's not very long. He ended up being in another ministry role and doing some other stuff. But for a little bit, he ran a painting company. I'd paint for him on the weekends and whatnot and did some projects, um, for our neighbors and stuff even. And so I kind of learned how to paint there. My dad quit doing it. He moved on, and then my parents ended up moving to Texas. Um, and. My mom became a real estate agent at the same time that I was going to college. And so I started painting houses for her clients and for her real estate friends and whatnot, and would make really good money on the side. Um, and then I would go to school and not have to work at all cause I had cash. 

03:17  Love it. Love it. I did the same with window washing. I was a window washer and that's how I paid for school as a window washer. So awesome. Awesome. So you picked it up, you learn how to bid it. You got some nice referral partners and real estate agents and you were like, this isn't so bad. It was great.  Okay. So, so, so you're moving on, you're moving forward and, and you start, I've heard bits and pieces and we don't have to dive deep into your whole origination story, but you build this painting brand. You're kind of hiring friends and family. And then you're like, dude,  I know how to set this up. What inspired the franchise model? I mean, what made you think that that part of growth was the way you wanted to take your business? 

03:58 Yeah, so I had, you know, gone through these different phases as a painter. Originally when I started, uh, painting houses, it was just me, like literally. And I, when I started, it was like two weeks after we had gotten married at 12 in our bank account. And I thought I had one job booked and that guy ended up canceling. But, uh, we started knocking on doors, building from there. And I quickly grew to a few crews, and I got really comfortable during that period. And I had a few crews running. I didn't like have to do that much. Honestly. I had amazing, they took care of the jobs. I just basically did the bidding.  Right. And then I had this moment in 2018, it was kind of like a, it clicked for me. And I was, was really thinking through my business and I was like, I'm going to be stuck at the same size forever. If I don't do some things like I'm happy, my family's taken care of. I have, I have a schedule, but I noticed I was like, I want to build something bigger and something that I'm more proud of. Um, and so I put my head down and started writing SOPs. I started focusing on systems and processes, hired a manager, and just, we started scaling like crazy, double my revenue in 2019, double my revenue again in 2020, double my revenue again in 2021. We were just on a growth trajectory.  And in there, uh, I think it was in,  it must've been, it was around, I think it was around 2020. I think we were in the middle of the COVID stuff. I hired a business coach  and we started working on this plan, uh, to build locations. And so I was like, look, man, I want to do, I want to get to 10 million in revenue. We're going to do at least two million per location. We'd pick the city, started saving. I started writing all the manuals, everything. And, and then I started reading about franchising. I, a friend of mine gave me the book, the E-myth and  that book, I like finished reading it. I called my business coach. I was like, I got a franchise. And, uh, really big painting franchise, and I want to beat them and I had set that and, and so he introduced me to some people who knew franchising better. And I just kind of picked that model. And the reason that I picked that model, um, for growth was that it, Was an area where I could grow the brand, obviously build my business, make more money, but you, I got to do it in a really rewarding way, which is helping other entrepreneurs and sort of a big hierarchy that answered to me, it was instead people, the system for them to be successful. For their own. And that to me was just way more fun.  

06:32 Well, I, I, I see why you did it. And I actually totally appreciate why I did it. I, I used to have an audio video company for about 11 years. And in that time I was working with all sorts of subcontractors and let's be honest, most of them are great at painting, plumbing, you know, running wire, whatever they do, but man, when it comes to running a business or marketing for the business or managing their books or all the other stuff that have to do with like, the roles that you define in your email model, they don't do that. They just do everything themselves, and then their wife gets sucked into doing invoicing, right?  

07:10 Yeah. I think like a lot of professionals in the trades, they get stuck at the technician phase. Um,  for a bit, I moved up to like the manager phase and then ultimately you have to move into the true entrepreneur leader phase. Um, and, uh, in our franchise system, our, our franchisees, I would say 95 percent have no prior experience in the trade.  

07:30 100%. In the trade that they're going into? 

07:32 Yeah. Yeah. 

07:33 Oh, you're kidding me. Wow. 

07:34 Most of them. 

07:35 So, you're hiring guys that want to run a painting franchise and they don't know anything about painting. 

07:41 Nothing about painting. So we now we have a handyman brand. We have a window cleaning brand. We have a garage door brand. And, uh,  95 percent of our franchisees had no prior experience in that trade. And so  what that, what that, the reason that works is that business is ultimately about people. It's about vision casting. It's about leadership and, and, and sales, right? Like it's, it's simple, but, uh, and then you, if you're good at those things, you can hire the painters who are great painters and they'll understand. You can hire window and garage techs. So that's, that's the model. And, and we've, we've helped people build pretty large businesses at this point. So. 

08:26 I love it. I love it. So, so the franchise model works and, and you've got a really fun array of services that you're, that you're promoting right now that you've built the model for. And for those listening. Links in the bio, go check it out. I mean, it really is Resi Brands. You've got a really fantastic offering and I'm guessing more and more will come because my guess is that some of your franchises who buy one thing are interested in buying another thing and they can still work out of the same. 

08:59 Probably. Yep. We have, uh, that one painter franchisee. He just became our first franchisee for a roof concept. Uh, so some people brands in one city and just keep growing from there. Others, you know, they want to rinse and repeat. They want to take the singular brand and then into more cities.  

09:17 Dude, I love it. Congrats. That is so cool. Now, most people don't think like you, most people do get stuck in this model of like, yeah, I built a cool $2 million painting business in Austin. I'm happy. I'm happy. And that's okay. But you had the itch to go bigger. Walk us through, walk us back a little bit. And you read the E myth, you hired a coach,  Why did you hire a coach? Why did you feel like you needed a coach to kind of help you progress as a business leader?  

09:48 Yeah, I hired a business coach cause my wife told me that I needed to.  So, uh, she, she noticed, you know, she noticed that there were areas that I was getting stuck and I think every entrepreneur gets stuck. It's just how long do you get stuck? Right. And, uh, and you got to kick that thing into four wheel drive or get out of the car and start pushing. But like, you got to get unstuck. And I've been, you know, there was a period where I was stuck painting houses. I felt like I could never trust my painters if I wasn't there. So I was always at the house. Just, and I was stuck in that mindset and finally it clicked for me, got out of that. And then it's like, I was in the manager mindset and I thought nobody else was gonna be able to sell. Nobody else was going to manage my customers for me and I was very paranoid about handing that off. And I tell people this, these brushes to me  represent delegation. They represent all the brushes I've put down. All the jobs to do that. I now trust somebody else to do because there was a moment when I was still painting homes and my guys were running behind and I had gotten back from doing an estimate or whatever. And they're not going to look like they're going to finish the house until. Maybe eight or nine o'clock at night. And we had to start in the morning. And so I picked up the brush and started painting and I'm like, no, no, no. If I keep picking up the brush, I'll never grow. And so I put the brush back down and said, Hey guys, sorry that you're taking your own slow, but I'll see you in the morning at the other house. Let me know when this one's done. And, and I stopped painting. Like I wouldn't pick up the brush anymore. And from that day, I was like, I will sell you guys do your role. I've taught you how to do it. I'm going to go sell and keep building the business. And, uh, it was a critical moment. And that's how, like you get unstuck by, it wasn't, yeah, they were all frustrated that didn't help them finish. Because that's what I normally did. So you gotta, it's a, and sometimes it means they're going to screw it up. We're worried about, but to grow, you have to have the stomach for mistakes. You have to have the stomach for other people to do something. And sometimes they're not going to do it very well. And then you have to, you have to go through that, but that's how you get unstuck.

13:41 I love it. I, you know, I really appreciate you walking us through that because that is such a big deal and it's such a. It is what keeps people stuck. And, and I've, I've now talked with hundreds of business founders who talk about the same thing. It's always people, processes, and tools. And you wrote SOPs, you, you started hiring the right people to plug into lead a project. And then the tools, we can get into that a little bit later, but I'm sure that a lot of the tools you've put together for the painting business or things you have replicated in the other, in the other businesses. And so, so I guess what I really want to know is like, you know, You know, your wife says, dude, you don't know everything. Go get a coach. You get a coach and you're like, Oh, and you read a book, which for those listening, if you have not read the Emyth, please do it. To me, that book, I read it in college and this was 25 years ago, 27 years ago. That book is my every other year reread that I always stick with. And I just recommend you do it just to, just to have that reemphasis of, I got to build my org chart. I got to figure out who's going where I gotta, you know, how do I wear these hats? 

14:50 That book is if, if you're new, a new business owner, um, It should be an every year book for probably three, four years. Um, and even then I still go back to it. I do the audio occasionally. If I've got like a long road trip, I'll throw that. And, uh, I even have like a condensed version, like a summary version. I'll throw that one on 30 minutes. Just get all the reminders. You know, it's a good book and it's totally very, very basics. It's not anything like,  there's nothing in that book that you're like, Oh wow. That's like some secret.  It's just like all these very basic things. And you wonder, and once you, they all click, you're like, that's how you run a business that doesn't need you to do everything.  

15:32 I love it. So, so as you, as you, uh, sell the franchises now and you're, you're getting people into this, I'm a business owner mode. I'm a, I'm a service-oriented guy. I I'm imagining you're trying to help them kind of jump out of the hats that we just talked about quicker than you did and quicker than most of us do. Um,  what's your, what are the big common mistakes you see the new franchisees make? Like what are some of the things that they kind of get themselves stuck in that you're like, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude. You gotta do this. Like, just highlight some of the three or four things you see most frequently. 

16:07 Yeah.I'm glad you asked for three or four. 'cause it, it really depends on the franchisee, their background. Yeah. Experiences. Uh, one, one of 'em is that what we see is they're new to the trade and so they will get kind of bogged down with the project management. Um, yeah. Or, or learning the, the trade. And they slow their sales down because they're freaked out. That's one of interesting. You have other guys are like, they're just, they're sales dudes, right? So they just, they go, go, go, go, go. And on the other side, I'm not worried about project management enough. So there's always  project management and depending on H I Z or their manager's temperament, they're going to lean too far to one side or the other. Um, and then I think that, you know,  business owner in the first year will have a day week or maybe a whole month where they just want to throw in the towel. They want to quit. They're done. They're over it. And, um, the shorter that you can be stuck in that bad mindset, like here's a reality. It's like, well, I've never met an entrepreneur. Who was like, no, my first year is perfect. No problems.  I've never met them. They're like, no, I wanted to put them on three. I'm glad I didn't, but then I want to put an eight and month 10 and then I'm on 18. It's just how long do you let your brain sit there? So it's, it's getting out of that as quickly as possible. And then making sure you're talking to people in your life, whether it's family members or other business owners or other franchisees who will help you get out of that bad mindset quickly. Because if you get around somebody else who also is upset about their first year of business, then, of course, like it's, you're not going to get out of that. And so getting other people who are driving and doing well, that's the best way to get on it. Moving forward. So I think that's some of the areas that I see franchisees, um, get stuck. Uh, and it's, the truth is they're not really any different than any other business. And every business will want to quit at some point. Some do, uh, many persevere and just keep crushing it, right? And go for it. Um, you also have  in every business, you kind of have these three, the three main legs of a stool sales, um, I would say like project management or quality control and then administration work. And, uh, it's very normal for most people to be. Really good at one. Okay. At another and terrible at the third. And,

18:31 I love that you said that quicker.

18:32 You find, you got to find out which of those three are you terrible out and hire for the other one that you're weak at. You, there's no way around it in the beginning. You got to get good at that one too. 

18:43 A hundred percent, dude. No, a hundred percent. I, I literally, um, over the past few years, I've built an assessment to help business founders understand where they sit because it's like, I look at there's 12 metrics that I think are like the big growth blockers. And, and to your point. Most people, they're, they totally nail it on like two or three things. They're just like, awesome. And then there's like five or six things they can muscle the way through. And then there's always this two or three things that they just ignore because I don't even want to think about that, you know? So I think it's really smart the way, what you're doing there. And, uh, and anyway, so as you identify those things and you help your founders, your, your franchisees discover where their strengths are, where their weaknesses are.  The other thing you mentioned  is the community part. Talk to us about the community that you built in your Resibrands kind of, uh, franchisee  thing. I don't know to what extent you've built this out, but I see that you have like a resi con and you're like getting together to support each other. How else are you supporting your founders and your franchisees?

19:48 Yeah. So our franchisees, um, I'll talk, I'll touch on the community thing. So, um, we have a lot of people come to training together, so they'll, they'll come to the training and you see them kind of move on like classes. They tend to tend to have really good relationships from people. They know it during training. Um, Some people I've got like, uh, there's three guys that they came to our discovery day to learn about it before they bought the franchise, and the three of them rolled around in my, in the back of my truck and they did the, and all three bought and all three are very close still. And so you kind of have stuff either the, the discovery process or from right.  where people build really great relationships. But then, yeah, we have resi con, which is an annual event conference that it's, uh, um, it's actually resi cons going to be a public event, um, in July. So this time it'll be  questions that are for franchisees only, but we're going to have some stuff about blue collar trades and building business. That's for anybody to attend. It's at the ACL center here in Austin. It's going to be a pretty big event. Um, we have that. We have chat. So our franchisees are helping out each other on group chats every day. Uh, and then we do rallies, regional rallies where we put on sales events and the franchisees and their teams will come also like we did just in the last few months. We did Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Portland, Oregon. And, uh, I think next, and we have one in Austin coming up, one in Miami. So we're, we're doing these events where we get 10 to 20, uh, people in a region altogether, and, uh, we just do sales tactics, sales training. And so we'll generate anywhere from 100,000 to 500,000 at those events. Um, and it's really fun, and it creates a lot of community, and then we help our friends with everything, like the way I say it is  we can't build your business for you. Um, but what we can do is give you the blueprints, the tools. Uh, the, uh, instructions, a coach to help you figure it out. Uh, all the vendors materials, like everything that you would need, like everything, it was like building a house, right? We're going to give you everything you need to build a business. And ultimately you have to put on that tool belt, build a team and do it. Um, but, uh, our commitment is that they would get the very, very best tools and resources to build a painting company, a window washing company or whatever. I love it.  

22:12 I love it. You know, I've never really been in the franchise marketplace much until this year. And, and I started an engagement with a food franchise and it was super interesting to kind of see the, uh, the roles of operators who are not owners, and the way they think about their position versus operators who are the franchisee, and the ownership that they take versus the ones that are just hired in that role. And, and I think that, um, It does work to hire people to run franchises for you. If you're, if you just want to buy and buy and keep building little franchises all over the place, but what kind of things do you recommend for first-time owners? And, and I want you to kind of speak to, um, a lot of people listening to this have started a business, and they're still in launch mode; they're trying to figure things out that you've already figured out for your franchisees. How should they be thinking about their transition out of launch mode or. Should they be looking at a franchise model? Because let's face it. I mean, you and I both know it sucks sometimes getting over that hump. It helps when you've got somebody that says, Oh dude, here's what you need to do here. 

23:23 Yes. Um, so franchising is great for a lot of people. And it's also not great for everybody. So the, what I tell people is look, so franchising doesn't make building a business easy. It makes it simple. And that's important because, when you have something difficult, being an entrepreneur is hard. Like there's no way around it. It's hard. Uh, you're going to have customers that are difficult and employees that are difficult. You're going to have all sorts of problems pop up and you're responsible for it. So, but what fantasy does is it makes it really simple. Here's the process. Here's the system. Here's how you get leads. Here's how you take care of your customers. Here's how you find your painters. Here's how you do everything. It's all written out. It's all spelled out and you have a coach to walk you through all of it. So really. thing. And so, what's great about that is for many people, that simplicity makes entrepreneurism, uh, more, um, attainable. It makes it  that they were nervous about going out on their own. Franchising makes it to where like, no, I think I can do this because they have the support, they have the community, they have the training, they have the simple system. And that makes it to where a lot of people are willing to move forward who may not have otherwise. But what you don't have control over is the system. You don't have control over the trademark brand. And so there is some rules you have to follow as a franchisee, um, that you have to follow as a, maybe a traditional entrepreneur. 

24:50 And so sometimes those rules help and sometimes those rules make it harder. 

24:52 Yeah. And, and everything should help. But of course, you know, sometimes there's things that maybe, maybe a franchising might do that way, or sometimes there's maybe systems where the system used to work and it doesn't work anymore and they haven't changed their system and they need to, but the truth is there's people who don't want that; they don't want anybody else. Telling them, Hey, this is the way we do it. This is how the, the, the brand guide works. You got to make sure it looks like this at all times, and they don't want that. They're, they're going to; they're a little more of a free spirit in that way. And they should probably go do their own thing. I'm franchising for them. Franchising is for people who want to be entrepreneurs, uh, who value systems and community. And the coach is offered. And, uh, if that's what you value, it can be an incredible place to build a business. 

25:41 Right. You know, I, I see what you're saying and I love what you said because it's all about community, having those rules, having those standards. You know, I, uh, I've got a close friend that, uh, a family that owned a print shop here in my town for a long time. Uh, on their own, and all of a sudden one day they bought into a franchise. It was a, a bigger print, you know, nationwide brand. And I was like, I asked him, I'm like, what was that for? Yeah, that's, it's really interesting that you've been running the business and being moderately successful. Why did you jump into a franchise model? And it was just to your point; they needed the guidelines. They needed the side rails. They needed someone to be like, they knew that community too, of like, Hey, this is what we're doing over here. We kind of got a similar market as you, and this is what's working for us. And they love, and they've grown much more since they become a franchisee than when they were running independent.  

26:33  Yeah. There's a story. I don't remember his name. So there's a burger King franchisee who he died a few years ago, but his family just sold last year. Uh, his burger King, he had 1000 burger King. And he sold it back to Burger King's holding company for his family. Did they sold it back for a billion dollars? So they got a billion dollars. 

26:59 That's a whopper of a deal. 

27:00 That's a whopper of a deal. Here's the cool thing. I was researching that story. Cause whenever I see big headlines like that about franchise stuff, I kind of like to dig and learn as much as I can about the individual or what those deals are like. guy, he had his own burger shop, and he had something like, I don't remember the exact number, so don't hold me to this. It was like 20 or 30 stores. Um, and they weren't going very well, and so they were kind of in a tough spot and he didn't know what to do. So he reached out to Burger King and said, can I turn all these into Burger King? You guys have customers, you guys have people coming through; you have proven systems; great marketing. He turned them all into Burger Kings and then he grew it to a thousand Burger Kings. That's by buying other owners and stuff. And then his family sold it for a billion bucks after his death.  

27:45 Bad gig. 

27:47 Not a bad deal. 

27:49 Listen, listen, I, I gotta tell you, you know, for those listening who are in the services industries, this is not a bad play. Like truthfully, your dad taught you the trade. You're good at it. But you may not be the best business owner. I highly suggest you take a look at what these guys are doing. Resi brands has a system. They have processes and tools and, and, and I'm telling you. It's all about systems, processes, tools, and, and the people are ancillary. Like you can plug people in if you know what roles to put them in. And so, so Steven, like, I got to know, like with you building this model out, what attracted the eyes of a Cody Sanchez? Cause she's, she's, I just, I'm so curious. What does she bring to the table and helping you? And what does she see in what you're building to want to be a part of what you're building? 

28:52 Yeah. So, um, Cody, you know, she does a lot of videos on like boring businesses and stuff. You had seen one of our brands, I think on a podcast or something. And so she reached out and she also lives  Austin. So it was easy for us to connect. She did some content about our, one of our companies. And then, um, she saw what our systems were and all the potential. And so she, after she reached out to do a video together, um, Uh, she then was here, and after meeting with my team and doing the interviews and stuff, she texted me afterwards and was like, Hey, I want to talk about partnership. And I was surprised by, and wasn't on my,  to be honest,  like wasn't really on my radar. Not definitely wasn't something I was going to ask. Um, and so we talked in a few months of due diligence and whatnot. We partnered up and ultimately like Cody's. She's well known in the small business space, especially when it comes to acquisition, but also the whole boring businesses are a goldmine. And for her to step in with Resi validates that one blue collar services are a great place to build businesses to franchising is a great option. It's not the only option, but it's a good one. And then, uh, ultimately like, you know, three, it was a way with her audience and stuff for us to, to grow our brand. And so, um, all around, it's been a really, really great thing and we've been happy with it. So yeah. 

30:13 Love it. Well, that's impressive. Uh, and it's really cool what you're doing. And it's such a short period of time. I mean, you're talking from, uh, 2011 and 2017, 18 is when he's first started. Thinking about the concept of other stores. I love what you're doing, man. How many total franchisees have you got now?  

30:32 So we, uh, nearly 200 owners and, uh, our owners own about an average of three territories. So we're, we're just over 600 total territories on a franchise. 

30:46 Wow. Congrats. That is so awesome. Way to go.

30:47  Yeah. It's been a, it's been a wild three years. 

30:48 I love it. I love it. Well, way to go. And, uh, and for those listening who are in the services industry, especially who just don't know how to run the business side, I highly recommend you take a look at rising brands. And for those of you looking to build a one or 2 million, maybe even three or 4 million franchise, doing stuff that's fun, being creative, and being out there in the field. Feels good. Take a look at this. Take a look at this opportunity and I hope it works for you. Steven, thanks so much for your time today, man. I really appreciate talking to our audience.

31:19 Thank you. I appreciate your time.