Shelf Genie - Keith Bradley

Because of the vast amounts of information on the Internet today, many wannabe entrepreneurs are becoming self directed. The old business opportunity investigators of the past have become modern day Internet clickers, hoping to find the right business or franchise on their own...click, click, and click. But, they often struggle trying to determine which one these multitudes of opportunities would be right for them. Wouldn't it be great if there were a magic lantern where you could rub it a few times and a "genie" would jump out and tell you which business or franchise is right for you? Well, this scenario sort of happened. Our story this month is about a former business executive who with the help of a "genie" found his new business and is living happily ever after. Congratulations Keith and welcome to the world of entrepreneurship!

Keith Bradley

I met Keith Bradley in November of 2009 at a Franchise Show in the Chicago area. When he stopped in our booth, he explained to me that he was in the final stages of buying a video game exchange franchise and he came to the show to talk to them in person. I asked him a few questions as to why he had selected that franchise and if he was sure that they were the best fit for him. I could tell by his hesitation that he wasn't completely sure. I suggested to him that perhaps we should work together and explore other possibilities, understanding one of two things would happen; perhaps we would discover a franchise that was a better fit for him, or it would confirm that the franchise he selected was "the one." Keith agreed and we scheduled a time to talk. Keith was 45 years old when we met. He mentioned that he has always had entrepreneurial aspirations, but life had been too busy to really stop and do it. He had worked in the financial services area for over 22 years as Director of Operations supervising a staff of over 400. The financial services industry was consolidating and his company was acquired and continued to buy larger companies. The bad news was that the companies they were acquiring had larger infrastructures and he would have to uproot his family and move to the east coast to keep his job. After of lot of consideration from his family, he decided to leave his job and try something new. With the economy at a low point, senior level positions were hard to come by. So while in the job search mode, he also decided to explore his business ownership options. Keith initially considered purchasing an existing business. But there was nothing in his locale that he liked or made financial sense. He then decided to explore franchising and that brings us back to the beginning of this story. As we started to explore possibilities for Keith, lifestyle and having time for his family was extremely important. He wanted a business where he could build equity, create a legacy and fund his retirement. Of course he wanted to enjoy what he was doing and be able to challenge himself. As a former pro baseball player, he thought something in that area would be a lot of fun. He was presently very active in softball and wanted to have time to continue that. We started to investigate a couple of franchise resales in the area and also a franchise that specialized in softball training, practice and accessories. But through our discovery journey, Keith realized that a business around his hobby didn't make good business sense. So we regrouped, reviewed his goals and needs and investigated some more. In the end, Keith decided on Shelf Genie the recognized leader in custom solutions for glide-out kitchen shelves. Shelf Genie was a relatively new franchise and Keith would be the 10th franchisee in the system, which has since grown to over 50. Keith described what was going through his mind at the time. "Going into business and investing in a franchise during the worst economic conditions in my lifetime was an intimidating thought. How could a small business survive when our economy was struggling and disposable income simply wasn't there?" He went on to say, "I was so very impressed by the systems that Shelf Genie had development. This was paramount for me. Although Shelf Genie was relatively new, they didn't spread their wings into franchising until they had done all the work upfront. Since the existing franchisees were doing well in current economic times, I thought that the business would really prosper when the economy improved." And Keith was right. It did turn out to be a good time. Two years into his business his sales continue to grow, his margins are up and his closing rate is over 60%. When asked if he would do it again, Keith replied; "Absolutely! If you have that entrepreneur in you, you will succeed. You have to trust in the franchise system. Too many times we believe that we know better than the franchisor. We make a big mistake when we take a proven system and try to change it before we've given it an opportunity to work. The key to any successful small business owner is to not make their business a job but to make their job their business." That's a great lesson for all of us. Shelf Genie is a very unique business. They manufacture and install custom Glide-Out™ shelving systems for the kitchen, pantry, bath and other creative spaces. This is the high end drawer and shelving systems you see in newer homes, yet they can retrofit them to your existing home. The franchise owner hires independent contractors to do the in-home presentations and an independent contractor to do the installation. This keeps the overhead down and allows the owner to concentrate on running and growing the business, i.e., working on their business, not in it. They utilize a variety of marketing techniques to attract customers, but "pay for performance" advertising through local newspapers really caught my attention. Rather than pay a flat fee for the ad up front, they pay for the ad as potential customers call their 800 number shown in the ad. Pretty neat! Check it out yourself at the Shelf Genie website: www.ShelfGenie.com. If you're in the greater Chicago area, please give Keith a call at 815-272-3186 for a free in home estimate or visit his showroom at 2201 Portside Lakes Ct., Plainfield, IL60586. You'll be glad you did. Keith took a calculated risk. Even though times were not ideal, he still trusted in himself and did the research to explore and understand his possibilities. He decided that the proven systems of a franchise lowered his risk and improved his changes of being successful and making money sooner. With hard work, guidance from his coach and of course his magic "genie", he found his business and new career direction.