Latest / The Start, Scale & Succeed Podcast / Why Smart People Build The Wrong Business with Rich Potter (stage 1) - Ep. 419

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Why Smart People Build The Wrong Business with Rich Potter (stage 1) - Ep. 419 · The Start, Scale & Succeed Podcast

• 0:00
  Scott Ritzheimer: Hello, hello, and welcome, welcome once again
• 0:03
  to the Start, Scale, and Succeed podcast-the only podcast that
• 0:06
  grows with you through all seven levels of your journey as a
• 0:09
  founder. I'm your host Scott Ritzheimer, and today we're
• 0:13
  talking about that moment-the one where you realize that the
• 0:16
  job that made you successful is the very same job that's making
• 0:20
  you miserable, and you've decided to to make the leap.
• 0:24
  You're going to become an entrepreneur, but pretty quickly
• 0:27
  you realize the skills that helped you succeed as an
• 0:31
  employee just simply do not set you up for success. That
• 0:35
  especially this success that you want as an entrepreneur. And
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  here to help is the one and only Rich Potter, and Rich is a
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  multi-business owner and franchise consultant who helps
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  burned-out executives and veterans transition from
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  corporate careers into structured business ownership.
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  After more than a decade in corporate sales, he moved into
• 0:54
  entrepreneurship and has since built, scaled, and exited
• 0:56
  multiple businesses while continuing to actively operate
• 0:59
  today. His perspective is shaped by real-world experience as both
• 1:04
  an advisor and an active owner. Rich focuses on helping people
• 1:08
  avoid costly mistakes, reduce unnecessary risk, and build
• 1:11
  businesses designed to support the life they want to live.
• 1:15
  Well, Rick, we Rich, we we talk a lot on this show to
• 1:19
  entrepreneurs, but we also get an opportunity like this one to
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  talk to the pre-entrepreneur, that pre-founder who's out there
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  thinking, "Hey, there's got to be a better way. And one of the
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  things that that makes that hard is there's not really a playbook
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  you get from being an employee that translates directly into
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  success as an entrepreneur. And so some of those very first
• 1:41
  steps, things like should you buy or should you build, can can
• 1:45
  trip us up from the very beginning. Where do you see
• 1:47
  folks get this wrong, and what's the best way to think about how
• 1:50
  to set up a business that will ultimately serve your life
• 1:52
  instead of consuming it?
• 1:54
  Unknown: No, that's a great question, Scott. Again, thanks
• 1:56
  for having me. You know, I I've done a couple of different
• 2:00
  things in my life. I've done the startups. I've done the the
• 2:03
  franchises, and I think the biggest trip up is probably just
• 2:08
  not doing enough research or not enlisting help of people who've
• 2:12
  been there before, right? Like you just kind of jump into it.
• 2:16
  You know, maybe you're doing some research on on on Google or
• 2:20
  some YouTubes, but I really think it's it's good to talk to
• 2:24
  people who've been in the trenches before, people who
• 2:27
  either consult or coach or you know have have launched a
• 2:31
  business before. You know, I one of the first things I did when I
• 2:36
  quit corporate was I bought a gym, and and I did it. You know,
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  it was kind of something that needed a little bit of needed a
• 2:45
  lot of work, and it's one of those things I wish I wouldn't
• 2:48
  have. I wish I would have talked to somebody first. So yeah, I
• 2:53
  just think there's there's a lot of people been there before, and
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  I think if you just kind of you know pick people's brains before
• 2:59
  just jumping in, it can go a long ways, right?
• 3:03
  Scott Ritzheimer: I couldn't agree more. I think one of the
• 3:05
  biggest mistakes outside of either starting when you
• 3:08
  shouldn't or not starting when you should is is to not take the
• 3:14
  time in this level. We want to jump straight into being the
• 3:17
  entrepreneur as opposed to preparing for it. I couldn't
• 3:20
  agree more. I want to go back to that that idea of who who's this
• 3:26
  really for. So within the executives and folks that have
• 3:30
  had a lot of success that you see then go and and recreate or
• 3:34
  expand that success as an entrepreneur, what do you think
• 3:37
  makes a successful entrepreneur?
• 3:42
  Unknown: Well, a few things. You know, I think more than than the
• 3:45
  right experience. I think it definitely takes a certain level
• 3:49
  of tenacity. You know, running a business is not easy, and
• 3:56
  there's going to be hiccups. There's going to be mistakes,
• 3:59
  and it's. I think it's that person that just never quits,
• 4:02
  right? Someone who's willing to bet on themselves and bet on
• 4:08
  their experience. But again, like it's not always about
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  experience. It's about like never giving up and never never
• 4:14
  quitting, right? I think that's a huge part of it. It's just
• 4:17
  betting on yourself and just running with it, You know, so
• 4:22
  Scott Ritzheimer: so we're faced with this big decision
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  relatively early on, and not that it's the only time that it
• 4:29
  comes up, but it's certainly an important one. Early, should we
• 4:31
  buy or should we build? And I think for a lot of folks, the
• 4:36
  initial idea is, hey, I'll just go start my own business, but
• 4:39
  that might not be the best option. What are some times when
• 4:43
  when buying in or choosing a non-build model make the most
• 4:47
  sense?
• 4:50
  Unknown: I personally, and that's why I do what I do. I
• 4:52
  think franchising is the the perfect way to build versus buy,
• 4:58
  right? And there are opportunities. Is within
• 5:00
  franchising that you can that you can buy someone's existing
• 5:03
  business, but with franchising it comes with a game plan. It
• 5:08
  comes with experts in the industry who have already built
• 5:12
  something, and they're going to share that knowledge with you,
• 5:16
  right? So you're not necessarily starting from zero. I mean, you
• 5:19
  are right, but you're also getting a lot of help. You're
• 5:21
  getting coaching. You're getting a game plan, and so you know if
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  you want to start, there's lots of businesses that are that are
• 5:29
  pretty complicated. Restoration, senior care, some of those
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  things like you have to get the legalities right or the the
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  insurance claim part of it right. And even though you're
• 5:41
  starting from zero, I think when you enlist the help of people
• 5:44
  who've been there before, and in you know in a franchise concept,
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  it really helps accelerate that growth and your your ability to
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  be successful in that business.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, what are some some unrealistic
• 5:57
  expectations that folks have when they step into franchising
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  for the first time?
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  Unknown: I think a lot of people do think it is-it's more plug
• 6:05
  and play than it is. Right? They think that the franchise is
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  going to build everything for them, while they are there to
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  support and while they're there to give you the game plan and
• 6:13
  the training. You still have to do it yourself. It's not just
• 6:17
  going to, you know, be successful overnight, especially
• 6:21
  if you don't put in that effort yourself, so that's probably the
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  biggest thing I think is just people expect more from the
• 6:28
  franchise as far as like the execution side when it's really
• 6:31
  you, you know.
• 6:34
  Scott Ritzheimer: What are because a lot of times we think
• 6:36
  of franchise and we we think of the big you know logos on the
• 6:40
  street corner, especially food type franchising. What do you
• 6:45
  see as some of the best franchising opportunities that
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  are out there right now?
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  Unknown: I think home services and I think senior care are are
• 6:53
  the best industries right now to be in. I think the the QSRs, the
• 6:57
  food and beverage stuff. I think it's really difficult with the
• 7:01
  high cost of lease and buildouts, I mean, unless you've
• 7:04
  got millions in the bank, it's a hard place to start, right? You
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  can start with a few 100,000, a couple $100,000, really, in in
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  home services and senior care. Senior care, you've got 12 to
• 7:15
  15,000 people turning 65 every single day in this country, and
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  that's going to continue for the next decade. You know, so I've
• 7:21
  seen people build businesses 10s of millions of dollars a year in
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  senior care, and same with home services. Whether it's roofing
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  or HVAC, or you know, whether it's simple landscaping,
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  artificial turf, or whatever, like people don't want to do all
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  that stuff themselves, and oftentimes can't. And so you
• 7:40
  know, there's huge opportunity in home services.
• 7:43
  Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah. So let's take someone who's who's going
• 7:46
  into. We'll we'll just choose home services for the sake of
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  it. A ton of success climbing the corporate ladder wasn't
• 7:53
  satisfying. Want to find something else? Decide on home
• 7:57
  services. We'll we'll take house cleaning or something like that
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  doesn't really matter what it is, but one of the things that
• 8:03
  you opened up with is the need to go in and ask other people
• 8:06
  who've done it. So if if I had the opportunity to sit down with
• 8:09
  someone who'd already had success in that business, what
• 8:12
  questions would you recommend that I ask?
• 8:15
  Unknown: It's a good question. I every time I present a brand and
• 8:19
  we we start looking at franchising. I tell my clients
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  that the most important part is the validation phase, and that
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  is talking to other owners. Right? It's more important than
• 8:29
  talking to me. It's more important talking to the sales
• 8:31
  rep. Get in there and talk to the owners and figure out what
• 8:32
  the day to day is like. So you know, you want to know like how
• 8:35
  long did it take them to make their money back? You know what?
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  What are your margins? What is it? Ask them. Like what? What?
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  What is it that you should be asking? Right? Because a lot of
• 8:49
  times you don't even know what to ask, but they know what to
• 8:51
  tell you about that business. You know what is what's the
• 8:54
  unexpected? You know how much money does it really take? The
• 8:58
  franchise is telling me it takes $150,000 to start. Well, how
• 9:03
  much is it going to really take me to be profitable? You know,
• 9:05
  how many employees do I need? How many cars do I need? Just a
• 9:09
  lot of good questions. But like to talk about the length of time
• 9:13
  to profitability. Talk about the ROI. Talk about you know what is
• 9:17
  it about it you don't like. If you find out from the owners
• 9:20
  what they don't like, and maybe that'll help you know if if you
• 9:24
  can deal with some of those some of those things or not.
• 9:29
  Scott Ritzheimer: Sometimes when we're sitting from the sideline,
• 9:33
  it can feel a whole lot more risky jumping into the game.
• 9:36
  What would you say to someone who's kind of teetering on that
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  edge right now and wondering if this is really something that
• 9:41
  could work for them,
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  Unknown: yeah, I think that's something I see a lot,
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  especially as you start getting closer to making that decision
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  and signing that franchise agreement. You know, again, I
• 9:54
  just think it comes back to like looking at look at your career.
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  You know, look at all the times that. You you know you took a
• 10:02
  leap. You were afraid to take that promotion or take that
• 10:06
  move. You know, look back and and it worked out for you,
• 10:09
  right? Like you are where you are because you believed in
• 10:12
  yourself and you took that leap. So you're it's going to come to
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  a point where starting that business is scary as can be. And
• 10:20
  you know again, just go back to that. Bet on yourself and go
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  forward. If you've if you've done all the research, if you've
• 10:26
  talked to other owners, if you've gone through this whole
• 10:29
  phase of validating that that opportunity is valid in your
• 10:32
  market and you can do it, then just believe in yourself and go
• 10:36
  for it.
• 10:37
  Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, there's a question that I ask all my
• 10:41
  guests, Rich, and and I want to ask it of you. And and the
• 10:44
  question is this: What is the biggest secret that you wish
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  wasn't a secret at all? What's that one thing you wish every
• 10:50
  founder watching or listening today knew?
• 10:55
  Unknown: Man, what is the biggest secret? That that I I
• 11:04
  think that entrepreneurship is how I put this like it's not
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  that illustrious I don't know it's it's hard right and that's
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  not a secret though but it's it's something that that you can
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  do. That I think with the right training and the right
• 11:25
  application and enough financial backing, I think it's something
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  that just about everybody can do. You know, I think that if
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  you've got the right tools, if you've got the right support,
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  it's it's not it's not a secret. It's it's something that you can
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  do with the right amount of effort and and you know self
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  belief.
• 11:47
  Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah. If someone wants to take that step
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  forward and they'd love to hear about what types of franchising
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  opportunities out there, where can they reach out to you? Where
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  can they find more out about the work that you do?
• 11:56
  Unknown: Yeah, I'm all over LinkedIn, so you can connect
• 11:58
  with me there. You can visit my website at franchiseheroes.co is
• 12:04
  probably the best place to reach out.
• 12:07
  Scott Ritzheimer: Fantastic, fantastic. Well, Rich, thank you
• 12:09
  so much for being on the show. It's a real privilege and honor
• 12:12
  having you here with us today. And for those of you watching
• 12:14
  and listening, you know your time and attention mean the
• 12:16
  world to us. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as
• 12:20
  I know, I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.
• 12:28
  Hey everyone, Scotty Timer here. Thank you so much for listening
• 12:31
  to the Start Scale and Succeed podcast. I hope this episode
• 12:34
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• 12:38
  now. If you want to discover what level you're in? Take our
• 12:42
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• 12:45
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• 12:50
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• 12:53
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• 12:56
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• 12:59
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• 13:03
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• 13:07
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• 13:10
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• 13:14
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