Q&A: Northborough man eschews corporate culture for flooring franchise

Sean Donohoe was looking for one thing else. One thing new. He’d spent about 20 decades in company income, offering telecommunications to midsize and substantial corporations, and it experienced burnt him out. Then COVID strike.

“Honestly, I experienced gotten sick of the corporate society, of corporate lifestyle,” Donohoe reported, “like so many other persons in the course of COVID.”

Donohoe commenced searching into many business enterprise ventures. He searched for something new. Would he purchase an current enterprise? Would he commence a little something new? He’d accomplished operate setting up floors when he was young, and for whichever purpose the concept caught. Additionally, he could piggyback on a franchise known as Footprints Flooring, which was started in Littleton, Colorado, by Bryan Park in 2008 just after he returned property from serving in the U.S. Air Power. Now, the company specializes in putting in hardwood floors, tile flooring, backsplashes, and laminates and has much more than 160 territories. Its franchises can use the company’s support program, which features a simply call middle and versatile hours.

Donohoe doesn’t do the installations himself. In its place he sells and coordinates them, and he makes use of a sequence of subcontractors he keeps occupied. There’s no storefront and no established hrs of procedure. Donohoe is the team, and he’s functioning all over assisting individuals determine on how they could update their homes with new flooring. No more company society.

Why a franchise and not develop your very own thing?

For me, Footprints Floors does all the stuff that I do not like accomplishing: marketing, scheduling appointments, all that stuff. If somebody clicks on a Fb ad of mine or an Instagram ad or even if they phone the number on the back of my truck, that actually rings to my admin out in Colorado, who works for the firm. She schedules all the appointments, runs my calendar for me. All I have to do is aim on escalating the organization.

How do you develop a flooring small business in this day and age?

It normally takes a good deal of hard work. You require to make guaranteed your buyers are often satisfied, and they are going to give you referrals and hopefully long run business enterprise. At this stage, even this early in my job or in this organization at least, I would say about 30{ec3984a59f336e74413ebe8cd0979a3fa414de3884cb1e2a06779d998b58dc95} of my business enterprise is possibly repeat consumers or referrals from preceding buyers.

If you concentration on people’s networks for referrals, do you continue to want to put out electronic adverts?

I absolutely do that, but people adverts charge funds. If somebody presents me a referral or asks me two days following I complete their 2nd ground to do their full to start with ground for them, that is free of charge for me. We genuinely do try, not just me but all the franchise homeowners throughout the region, for 100{ec3984a59f336e74413ebe8cd0979a3fa414de3884cb1e2a06779d998b58dc95} client gratification. It is a lofty intention to be certain, but so considerably we’re there.

What element of this enterprise is various from corporate society?

1st of all, I’m accomplishing it for myself. Of course, I have the franchise, and you will find kind of a company design you are meant to stick to but it is really a prosperous company model, so I follow it. What is distinctive is it really is totally on my personal. If I just determine, “Hey, I’m going to hang out with my youngsters for the working day,” I block my calendar, make absolutely sure absolutely nothing goes on there, and I just choose a cost-free day without having any worries. In corporate profits, you are usually chasing that quota range, and if you might be not, times off really don’t happen or it happens with a whole lot of guilt included. Now, I am not reporting to anybody. I signify, all my financial figures go to the company workplace, but that all just occurs instantly through my bookkeeper.

In the previous handful of years we’ve viewed a spike in men and women seeking to possibly obtain, promote, or correct their homes since during COVID we all used much more time in our properties. Is there continue to that spike?

It has slowed. I’m not an pro, but the serious estate agents I have spoken to and home finance loan bankers who I am in a community with, they keep telling me it is because fascination charges are so superior. A whole lot of people today are expressing, “We’ll take the dwelling off the market place. We are not heading to go get a new household trigger we you should not want to spend 6, 7, 8{ec3984a59f336e74413ebe8cd0979a3fa414de3884cb1e2a06779d998b58dc95} interest. Let us just maintain correcting up our dwelling. We are likely to remain right here, so let us make it as livable as attainable.” I am operating around proper now, starting up to hit the chaotic time. I’m managing two to a few careers a 7 days, regardless of whether it is refinishing hardwood or installing hardwood, tile, laminate, vinyl.

I’m maintaining 9 guys fast paced each and every week.

What are the important troubles experiencing people today wanting to commence a business in 2023?

The largest concern for a whole lot of people is the financial climate, regardless of whether you consider we’re in a recession or feel we are hitting a economic downturn, no matter of definitions. That’s almost certainly the most significant total of panic for persons, in particular as they’re just starting off out.

Certainly often I go, “Oh boy.” I try out to stay away from news in typical, so I will not have to listen to a good deal of it. But to me, which is absolutely what my selection a single issue is. Are folks heading to be eager to spend their money to enhance their properties? So significantly they have, but it’s nevertheless early in 2023. Which is my major challenge.

This job interview was performed and edited for size and clarity by WBJ Personnel Author Kevin Koczwara.