SERVPRO - Bill & Jan Callaway

Partnerships! Some of my clients express a desire to go into business with their spouse. Others say, ABSOLUTELY NOT! In general, partnerships with a spouse work out better than a partnership with a friend or relative. The challenge is to share the workload and responsibilities equally. Our story this month is about a husband and wife team that are working together on a daily basis and making it work. Congratulations to Jan and Bill and welcome to the world of entrepreneurship!

Bill & Jan Callaway

I first met Bill Callaway when I gave a talk on business ownership and franchising at Right Management, a national outplacement firm specializing in helping displaced workers prepare to find a job. At the same time, Bill was part of a local networking group for transitional workers that I attended periodically as a resource. Bill knew what I did, but for over 6 months showed no interest in connecting to learn about the possibilities in business ownership. The job market was tough and Bill had been out of work for over a year. He held a BA in Economics, and BS and MS in Engineering, a 6 sigma black belt in lean manufacturing and a law degree. Bill spent most of his career successfully managing projects world wide. Although he had excellent credentials, perhaps his age of 62 was a factor in landing a job. One day I got a phone call from Bill that he wanted to learn more about business ownership and franchising. His wife Jan, an office manager, was also out of work and they thought that teaming up and owning a successful business was worth pursuing. He was ready to take charge of his career and didn't want to be dependent on an employer again. He was not ready to retire. Working with Jan and Bill was fun and challenging. Jan is very outgoing and friendly, while Bill is steady and very analytical. They had a lot of enthusiasm and were open to just about any business where they could work together and had the potential of a nice income. We researched a lot of different businesses. It became apparent that they wanted to have a business where they could build a team and scale their business over time. We focused in on the cleaning businesses, both residential and commercial cleaning. They wanted to manage a team of workers, not do the actual cleaning. The residential cleaning model is a 7:30- 5:30 business, Monday-Friday. The commercial cleaning model is a Master Development model, where they would own a territory and develop it by selling franchises to individuals that wanted to do the actual cleaning. Since they would have primarily commercial customers, most of the cleaning would be done at night or on weekends. Bill and Jan would be involved in account development, back office procedures and training support for their franchise owners. They would work primarily 8-5. Bill and Jan were diligent in their validation of these two businesses. They went to Discovery Days for each of the franchises. A Discovery Day or event is an open house by invitation only where a prospective franchise candidate and the franchisor get to meet each other. Since franchise ownership is an awards process, it is very important that the opportunity is a good fit for both parties. Bill and Jan had now talked to various owners of each of the franchises and had met their management. It was almost a toss up of which one they should choose. We were all having trouble coming to clarity concerning their new career direction. A month or two earlier, our company hosted a Franchise Expo in the Chicago area. Jan and Bill came down to listen to some of the speakers, learn about lending sources and talk to the representatives of the two franchises they were considering. Jan and Bill sat in on a panel discussion of franchise owners where they shared their experiences and opened it up for Q&A from the floor. There they heard the story of two ladies that started a SERVPRO franchise in the greater Chicago area. SERVPRO specializes in fire and water restoration and mitigation. The ladies told the story of a recent job they had on New Years day for a major water cleanup project. As they described how they pitched in to help their employees, Jan turned to Bill and said, "Rule this one out. I'm not walking around in water with hip boots." But as they listened to the rest of the story and understood how they helped people in their time of need, the story just started to resonate with them. They also liked how this business could be scaled up over time, referrals came from insurance companies and the income potential was excellent. We changed our focus from the cleaning industry and Jan and Bill investigated SERVPRO. They were impressed that they were #4 in the Franchise 500 and #1 in their category. SERVPRO had an excellent reputation. Their training was top notch and all franchise owners were certified. Insurance companies trust the thoroughness of their estimates that they usually accept them as outlined. Jan and Bill attended SERVPRO's Discovery Day and met the management. This sealed the deal. In their eyes, SERVPRO was a very conservative and professional organization. This was a recession resistant business and as SERVPRO owners, they would be making a difference. They had found their new career. It was truly a journey. So what do Jan and Bill have to say about business ownership? "Running your own business is much different than corporate America. You have to wear many hats where in corporate America you wear one hat. Learning how to juggle all those hats is a challenge, and we initially performed almost every single function ourselves. Finding the right employees also had a learning curve. SERVPRO systems were a great help." I asked Jan and Bill about a couple of memorable jobs. One was a school wastebasket fire that caused all kinds of smoke damage and water cleanup from putting out the fire. Another was about a family that had a summer home that was used occasionally. Upon arrival one weekend, the family noticed water running out the front door. It turns out that the water line that was connected to the toilet broke, and that water was filling up the house and the crawl space for weeks. SERVPRO to the rescue! Lesson for you summer home owners and extended vacationers: shut off the water supply when you leave for extended periods. Jan and Bill continue to build their business and work side by side. They now have three employees besides themselves. They are no longer on the truck working in their business. They are now managing their employees and their jobs and building relationships for future business referrals. They admit that it was truly a journey of discovery. "Marty helped keep us on track so we could come to clarity. We are surprised where we ended up. We knew we weren't ready to retire and we wanted to do something. Marty was helpful in helping us figure this out." SERVPRO of Ozaukee County, located at 10650 North Baehr Road, Suite D, Mequon Wisconsin specializes in fire & water cleanup and restoration and offers the following professional services:  Fire, smoke and soot clean-up, deodorization and restoration Water removal and dehumidification Mold mitigation and remediation Deodorization - e.g. skunk odor, pet odor, tobacco/nicotine, fire, pet odor, general cooking odor, and after-life odor remediation Carpet, upholstery, drapes and blind cleaning Hazardous waste mitigation and remediation Post construction clean-up If or when you or your friends or family should require the services of Jan and Bill, they can be reached at their office 262-242-8888 or mobile phone 414-617-4223. Give them a call and their crew will restore your home or business "like it never even happened." Jan and Bill are a good team in marriage and in business. They compliment each other, share the work load and have the desire to succeed. If you have the desire to be in business with a spouse, friend or relative it will have its challenges. But if you know what you're getting into up front and work out the details in advance, it can be very rewarding. Working alongside your best friend; how much fun is that!