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Unemployable with Jeff Dudan
Avoid These Mistakes as a New Franchise Owner | Franchise Fridays with The Designery's Casey Ridley
00:16:55
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- [00:00]
A
Hey, everybody.
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B
Welcome back to the Unemployable Podcast with Jeff Duden. I am here with Casey Ridley, the president of the Designery. Welcome, Casey.
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A
Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate you having me.
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B
Yeah. Awesome. The Unemployable podcast. Always looking to bring great franchise expertise, great franchise wisdom. You've got an incredible journey. So excited to unpack this with you here today on the podcast. Let's start with a quick introduction. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
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A
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm the founder and president of the designer brand. I've been in franchising now for about five years, but before that, I took over a small mom and pop surplus type business and I started growing that. I started, you know, reinventing the wheel a little bit in regards to the business model. We started growing a little bit from there, and it went really, really well. And from that point is where I came across the world of franchising and how incredible of a growth engine and wealth engine it could be for the people involved in it. And so I went in headfirst into this beautiful journey so far.
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B
Awesome. And you are the president of the Designery, which is a homefront brand. Can you tell us a little bit more detail about what you do inside of that role?
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A
Yeah, I mean, I work with franchise owners to support them, help them grow efficiently and strategically. I also lead the team here to help make sure that they have the right resources at their disposal in order to help the franchise owners and support them. And then, of course, just helping from a growth perspective, opening up new locations. And how do we do that effectively?
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B
Awesome. And what might be your favorite thing about working with franchise owners?
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A
Oh, that's easy. For me, it's giving an opportunity to people that don't typically have one or maybe wouldn't have had one without the world of franchising and seeing them take the time back into their lives to really give back to their communities, their families, families, and on top of all of that, still put money in their pockets. It's been an incredible thing to see these people come from a corporate career where they're working 80 hours a week and, you know, they're building someone else's dream and they jump into this and they are just given time back with their families, but also building something that really outlives them and makes such a community impact.
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B
Yeah. This isn't your first entrepreneurial experience. Can you talk a little bit about your days from the University of Georgia and what you did from there and maybe share a little bit about some of your Other entrepreneurial escapades?
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A
Yeah, absolutely. I guess I'll start out with saying go Dogs. And I'm a big Georgia fan and certainly.
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B
Oh, they're going to be this year. We're sitting here at the beginning of football season 2025. What's the prediction? What's the record?
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A
Oh, it's Definitely, I think 12 and one, you know, and with a national title run, we'll see what happens.
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B
Okay, and who's the one who. Don't they get by? It's not Florida.
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A
No. I think Texas might give us a run for our money this year. Okay, we'll see what happens. But you know, we did beat him twice last year, so we never. You never know.
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B
All right, well, but all of this will get cut, but go ahead.
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A
But yes, so. So yes, at the University of Georgia, I got really involved in the entrepreneurship program. Very hands on with entrepreneurship journeys. After that, after I went on to create the surplus business which then ultimately turned into the designer. Today I've also invested in other franchise organizations in the health and wellness space. I've opened a restaurant and have sold that restaurant. So I've kind of gone through from the franchisee perspective, franchisor perspective, small business perspective, multiple locations with the designery. So I've been kind of all over the board from a entrepreneurship perspective.
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B
Okay, fantastic. What are some of the reasons people would consider getting into franchising today?
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A
Yeah, I think one of the biggest reasons is obviously the support angle. You know, being in business is hard. You know, I mean, there's just no easy way to say it. It's a hard thing to do. And so when you can be in business with other people who have a proven track record, they give you the support, they give you the playbook, they give you the guidance. It really just allows you to grow a little bit faster. It allows you to grow a little bit more strateg and just helps you build a better business. At the end of the day, de risk things a little bit. Again, it's not easy no matter what, but it's something that you can do with other people, which is great.
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B
Yeah. Talk a little bit about that not being easy. Business ownership is full contact. You're competing with other brands, you're competing in the marketplace. How does a franchise system help somebody compete and overcome some of the normal challenges of any business?
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A
Yeah, well, I mean, one thing is vendors. You know, vendors are always, you know, looking at, at, you know, what company is going to give them the best opportunity for them. And when you're a small Business, it's hard to get in the doors of strategic vendors who can really take you to the next level. But when you're a part of a franchise, you're bringing the network of all the other franchise owners who are already doing it. And so you're able to jump in with proven, vetted, successful vendors kind of at your disposal, whereas a new business has to really start that from day one. And then the other thing is marketing. You know, when you're a small business owner, you're really figuring it out. Right. And you don't exactly know what marketing channel works, what doesn't work. You don't have any vendors to help you with that. As you get started with a franchise, you're jumping straight in with a playbook with, you know, strategic initiatives, with, you know, opportunities for a good return on your investment, with your marketing dollars. All of those things are challenges that you would typically face in a small business, that a franchise helps you overcome them a little easier.
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B
You've grown the designery from one location to now 40 or over 40 that will be open and operating next year in a short time. What are some of the characteristics that you've observed make an ideal franchise candidate?
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A
Well, certainly someone who is a good team builder. You know, being an entrepreneur and being a good designer franchise owner, you have to be able to build a good team, hold them accountable, have good KPIs in place.
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B
Sure.
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Coach them as well to build up your team. You're only strong as your weakest player. And there's. That's no different in franchising or in business as a whole. You know, so that's definitely one characteristic. Another thing that I would say is someone that's just willing to bet on themselves, someone that can kind of overcome that fear and go into it. I think in life, in business, we're often stuck in. We're fearful of taking that leap. We're fearful of going out to the community and talking to people or being interviewed or going on your local podcast. It's scary. Get over it, get over it. And if you can do that, you can pretty much do anything.
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B
Yeah, you have to have a certain amount of pride and a certain amount of fearlessness. And at the end of the day, like, we talk to our owners about. None of this is fatal. I mean, going on a television interview, yeah, it's live. But like, what's the worst thing that could happen? I mean, you probably should think about what you're going to say, but, like, go for it, right? Or get on a podcast or do A social media post. Don't be afraid to connect your face, your story with the business. It's something that we do at Homefront Brands that is really important, especially as they're entering a market and they've got to go out and have the first hundred conversations with vendors, suppliers, referral partners, which are really, really critical in the designery, which would be contractors or restoration people or builders or remodelers or anybody who might recommend somebody to get a kitchen, bath or closet. But how do you have those conversations in the very best way so that they like you, they trust you, they understand what you do, and they're. They understand what's in it for them to make a referral. So. And like, at the end of the day, you know, business is people in math and people is the art and the math is the science, and you have to be good at both.
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A
Very well said. I couldn't agree more.
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B
Ah, awesome. What might be some common misconceptions that people have about franchising?
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A
Well, I think one thing that a lot of people get wrong is that you have to have industry experience before you enter it. And a lot of people think that experience is, you know, critical to your success with the designer, but really with any brand, but it's not. You have to be willing to learn. Okay, if you have some general business ideas, that's great. Nothing wrong with that. But if you can sit there and listen to other people who have done it and learn from their mistakes, learn from their successes, and take that to build something yourself, that is what is going to make a successful business owner. So a misconception is that you have to have industry experience when you really don't.
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B
In terms of owners and coming from whatever they've been doing in their life, whether it be a career in corporate America or another business. What are some of the mindset shifts that you see that people often have to make to go from wherever they were to being a successful franchise owner?
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A
Yeah. So, you know, great question. I think, you know, one of the biggest mindset shifts that I see people need to make is being more focused on their community and their customers. You know, I think when you first get in business, it's easy to get stuck into. You know, obviously the numbers and the P and L and the startups and onboarding, all of those things that you do when you're starting a business. But you have to really shift your mind to be focused on how can I give back to my community? How can I be a big part of the community and make an Impact and how can I put my customers first? And when you do those things, all the other, other parts of the business come with it.
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B
Got it. I know this is your first franchise brand you've been affiliated with. What do you believe makes the difference between a good franchisor and a great one?
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A
Well, I think the difference between a good franchisor and a great one is going to come down to culture. It's going to be what happens in the locker rooms when no one's looking behind the closed doors. What kind of culture do does that franchisor hold themselves to? If you have a good culture, then the other decisions that are just naturally hard as part of business, they come a little bit easier. You have a playbook yourself, a guiding principle as to how to make those decisions, and then you always do right by the franchisee and your business partners in that sense. So culture is a really important part. And again, I think it's just often overlooked, and I think that's what changes a good franchisor to a great one.
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B
Are there some things that people often overlook in your experience when they're choosing a franchise brand?
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A
I think just going. Or something that's very much overlooked is really going into the depth chart. Right. What does the whole team look like and what does that support?
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B
Right.
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A
You know, so, you know, it's all. It's great to have good leadership, and that's an extremely important part, but it's just as important who you're going to actually be meeting with on a weekly or monthly basis.
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B
Right.
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Who are you going to be, you know, receiving your coaching from, who's going to be doing the training, who's going to be helping you with marketing, you know, understanding kind of the depth chart of the business is super important. And, you know, that's something I. We pride ourselves on here is, you know, again, we have very high standards, you know, not just for the leadership, but also everyone through the entire company. And when everyone is held to that high standard, then ultimately you're able to support the franchisee the best. And. And I think people overlook that, and they just look at some of the shiny things that franchisors want to just show to start with.
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B
Got it. Is there any one mistake that you typically see new franchise owners make and what advice can you give them to help them avoid it?
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A
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the biggest mistake I see people make probably comes down to, you know, something I'm sure you've probably said many times on this podcast, but genius attacks. You know, I think I Think people, you know, go in business and it's easy. You have all these vendors that might be walking in your showroom when they first see you open, or you start getting phone calls when your phone number gets listed on Google. And it's easy to kind of look at the next shiny thing and have all these ideas and attacks of hey, let's do this, let's do that, big mistake. Right? You've got to really understand the business first, get in, follow the playbook and figure it out from there. And then after that, then start having a little bit of ideas and attacks here and there that can provide value to everyone, you know, But I think people make that mistake of they get, you know, distracted on different things in the business that don't provide value to them and, and their business and their bottom line. So I think holding back from those attacks is probably a very important that I've learned and I think a lot of our franchise owners have.
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B
Is there any particular success story in franchising that you could share?
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A
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, gosh, I have so many, but if I was just going to choose one to share here, I mean, I would have to say that we've got an incredible franchise owner in the Pennsylvania market. And you know, she had a very successful corporate career. She did amazing in that corporate career, but she worked 80 hours a week. She would leave her home before her kids got up, she would come back after they had dinner, she missed field trips. You know, she did all these things for a salary that was substantial, but it was just a salary, Right. That could be taken away at any given moment. And she decided to bet on herself and joined the designery early on for us. Right. It was early on. And she has done amazing, you know, seven figure business, doing phenomenal in the Pennsylvania market. And now she's going to her kids field trips, she's eating dinner with them again, she's getting to cook with them again. Right. And she loves getting to do these things even they're coming in and being a part of the business and they're going to home shows and events with her as well. So that family impact that I've seen with that goes way beyond the numbers, which the numbers are great, but goes way beyond that. And it's just really good to see that, that change in her life and the impact that's left on her and her family and her husband and her kids and be a part of that. It's been incredible.
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B
Yeah. And to your earlier point, she was an electrical engineer and she ran plants in The United States and in Mexico. No prior experience in kitchens, bath closets, or small business or contracting. And she took her skills of process and management and applied them to the business and has been wildly successful. One of our best owners.
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A
Yeah, absolutely she is.
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Are there any trends that you've observed that you're paying attention to in franchising the next three to five years?
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A
Yeah, I mean, obviously AI and automation is a really important aspect of franchising and business right now. You know, not only what's out there, but also just how do you implement it in a responsible and effective manner that provides value to the business owner, but also to your customer as well? What does that look like? You know, we're doing a lot of testing in that, A lot of implementation in that. You know, AI is definitely a major trend. Yeah. You know, the other thing I'll say too is, you know, in the kitchen and bath space, it's. It's trending more and more to wanting to touch it. Right. Wanting to be a part of the. The space, the showroom, wanting to understand what's going in your home. You know, people, you know, this population in this country keeps growing. People need a place to live, and people also like having nice places to live and nice things in their home. None of that's changing. That trend is continuing to increase. And people like to be, you know, a part of that and be in store with that, be face to face, have that relationship with someone who's doing something in their home. We've seen that trend growing and actually moving away from maybe like a traditional E commerce type of type of thing. They like going in the store more.
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B
Got it. Last question. If there's somebody that's on the fence about franchising and they're at an inflection point and they're not sure if they want to jump in or jump out, what's the one question that they should look in the mirror and ask themselves?
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A
Yeah, the one question I would ask is, are you ready to stop building someone else's dream and build your own? Got it.
- [16:24]
B
Perfectly said. Casey, thanks for being on Franchise Friday on the Unemployable podcast.
- [16:28]
A
Thanks, Jeff, for having me.
- [16:29]
B
Yeah, awesome. And everybody out there, remember, if you want to learn more about the designery or any of the Homefront brands, go to homefrontbrands.com and as always, click the link below to get a free copy of my book, Discernment the Business Athlete's Regimen for a Great Life through better Decisions can help you through this decision. Inflection point that you're in right now. I'm Jeff Duden here with Casey Ridley. We've been on the unemployable podcast. Thanks for listening.