Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Molly Maid - Ryan and Rick Swan


I've mentioned in previous stories, that the business you choose should be the vehicle to the life you want, not be your life. In other words, the business should work for you, not you work for it.
This month's story is about a young man that had a full life outside of work. He needed a business that would fit into his active lifestyle, utilize his skills and provide the income he needed so he could "clean up".
With the help of his father Rick, Ryan Swan is our Entrepreneur of the month.  Congratulations Ryan and welcome to the world of entrepreneurship!
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  Ryan & Rick Swan

Ryan and Rick Swan

Rick Swan had been referred to me by Pat McAdams, the Budget Blinds franchise owner I featured several months ago. Rick was recently retired after a very successful career in the supermarket industry. When I first spoke to Rick, he explained that his son Ryan was bored with his current job, had entrepreneurial aspirations and wanted to explore his possibilities.

Ryan had graduated two years prior and was currently working as a salesman for a large food distributor. He felt unsatisfied and unappreciated and knew this wasn't what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Ryan was extremely fortunate to have a dad that was willing to team up with him and help launch a new business venture.  Both Rick and Ryan appreciated the "business in a box" structure of a franchise and the training and support was extremely important to them. Our dilemma was finding the right business fit for Ryan.

Over several meetings it became apparent that Ryan didn't have a clear focus of the type of business he wanted. Ryan is an avid softball fan and plays 5 nights a week. So having his nights free was very important to him. Being a normal young man in his twenties, he also wanted his weekends free for his outside interests. Ryan also wanted to be a hands-on owner, be able to scale up his business over time and provide a good return on investment for his time and money.  Rick was going to help out with the initial seed money and more important, help out in the initial ramp up of the business and utilize his business experience to help his son.  It was a true pleasure working with a father and son team that had similar goals and the ability to work together cohesively.

During the exploration and discovery process, we validated several business types. This helped Ryan focus on the type of business that would best fit his goals and needs. We realized that a simple business was preferable, with minimal technology requirements. Retail was appealing, but the investment levels weren't in line with their requirements. There was also the appeal of starting out small and scaling up over time.

We focused in on service type businesses and decided on Molly Maids, a residential cleaning business owned by Service Brands, a franchise conglomerate. During their validation, they talked to Molly Maid owners at various stages of their business. They found the owners very helpful in describing the good things as well as challenges involved in running their businesses. The cooperation of the franchise owners, the solid training and support of the franchisor, the professional management model plus the normal working hours were their deciding factors.

Molly Maids of Southern Milwaukee County has been open about 18 months. They have 14 employees and service over 300 homes. In Rick's and Ryan's own words, "We are running ahead of our business plan projections. We add new homes weekly and look forward to being the home cleaning franchise of choice in Milwaukee County.  Marty Barnes was very instrumental in our decision process. We are growing our business, have time to play softball and enjoy our weekend free time."
If you live in southern Milwaukee county and need your home, apartment, condo or office professionally cleaned, please give Ryan or Rick a call at 414-427-6100. Molly Maid Home Service Professionals are bonded and insured. Molly Maids was voted BEST VALUE by Good Housekeeping Magazine for 2007. Give them a call. They'll add sparkle to your life.
Ryan has taken control of his future and hasn't compromised his lifestyle. He is being rewarded for his efforts and "cleaning up" in the process. By the way, Ryan and Rick manage and promote the business. The cleaning is the responsibility of their employees. They are working "on" their business, not "in" it.

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