From Banking to $3.5M Kitchen Franchise

This is a transcript from Episode 32 of The Franchise Champion Show. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

Alan: My guest today spent years in corporate banking and decided he was done. He went looking for a way out, spent over a year searching, and talked to dozens of brands before finding the one that checked every box. He signed with Cabinet IQ in April 2024, and one year later had a team of over a dozen people, multiple territories, and seven figures in sales — all while keeping his corporate job.

Ryan Colburn, welcome to the Franchise Champion Show.

Ryan: Thank you, Alan. Good to be here.

Alan: I'm excited to chat with you today. I'm excited about your brand and the success you've had with it, even though you haven't been doing this for that long. Tell me a bit about your background in banking and what your day-to-day looked like before franchising.

Ryan: Sure. I went to the University of Florida, majored in finance, and made my way around some different banks — just typical corporate America. I was specifically in risk management, dealing with different types of risk. At the end of the day, it's all just different risk profiles, evaluating the risk curve, looking at data sets. Good ol' corporate America stuff. I got a little tired of it, but I've always been an entrepreneur. I've always had some kind of side hustle going since I was about ten years old.

It was time for me to make the plunge. I wasn't getting any younger. Once I made that decision, the challenging part came — figuring out what exactly I wanted to do.

Alan: Entrepreneur at heart, but you spent years in corporate. What was the thing that made you actually take the leap? There are a lot of people in the same situation who just don't do it. What caused you to make that decision?

Ryan: Honestly, I don't know why it took me so long. I just kind of felt dead inside. You're not building anything. You're not contributing. You're not generating jobs. You're just a cog in the machine. I never felt comfortable with that, but the path in my head was always: I'm a numbers guy, I'm a finance guy, get a nice job at a bank after college, and work my way up.

But there was always this burning in the back of my brain — all these different side projects. I don't know why it took me so long to make it a full-time thing.

The trigger to finally make the leap was a round of layoffs. Pretty significant. The bank cut headcount by about 20%. I hated the feeling of not being in control of my future. Regardless of the quality of my work, some McKinsey consultant who didn't really know what I did was deciding my fate. That bothered me. That was the catalyst to get off my butt and do something.

Alan: Yeah, not having control, feeling like someone could just end your career like that — it makes a lot of sense to want to take control of your own fate.

You didn't start out looking at franchises, right? I believe you started looking for local businesses to buy. What was that process like?

Ryan: You know, one thing I love to do is read through balance sheets and analyze businesses. It honestly became a hobby of mine. I read through hundreds of them, evaluating what was successful and what wasn't, even if I had no interest in buying that specific business. Sometimes I'd look at the financials and think maybe it made sense to start something in that industry.

I did have a sincere interest in finding a business to acquire, but it just never came together. I got impatient after about nine to twelve months. I found some good ones and got close a couple times, but I never found the right one.

Alan: ETA is a big thing right now. What was it that didn't end up working with the ones that seemed like a good fit? Were you getting outbid, or were the boxes just not getting checked?

Ryan: The real diamonds — the ones I was most excited about — I got beat up by private equity pretty quickly. Those were the cream of the crop. Then there were a couple of others where the businesses were solid, but I felt like I was settling.

I'm thinking of one in particular. I was pretty close to acquiring a Moroccan day spa. It was a fantastic business. Everything checked out and it got me excited just reading through the documents. But then I sat back, and once I said it out loud a couple of times, I realized maybe there was a better fit for me out there.

At the end of the day, owning a business is all sales. You're selling yourself, you're selling your service, you're selling your product. I love sales and I'm a good salesperson, but I have to believe in the product. I don't know how much I could truly care about selling 60-minute Moroccan massages. It's just about finding that balance of a good business and something you can become passionate about.

Alan: I like the way you frame that. So how did you end up turning to franchising and looking at franchise concepts?

Ryan: Like every aspiring entrepreneur, I had all my ideas written down and tried to play a few out. My first step was always to try to sell something — if we get some sales, we can build a business around it. I got some traction with a few things, but nothing that would actually make me wealthy or give me enough financial freedom to quit my job. Everything that got traction was basically a side hustle.

Franchising was always on my radar. I appreciated the idea of starting on first or second base — getting all the administrative stuff out of the way so you can just focus on selling. As someone starting a business from scratch, you can spend hundreds of hours on what I call non-revenue generating activities. You have to do them, but if that's where your first few hundred hours go, you're not going to build a business. You've got to sell things.

Stepping into a franchise, everything is already ironed out. You get the playbook, the CRM is set up, you get a task list for getting legal, getting your licenses. It sped up the time it took me to hit the streets and start actually selling.

Alan: So how did you end up with Cabinet IQ specifically? What stood out?

Ryan: I spoke to a lot of franchises. There are some really good ones out there and some really poor ones. A few things got me with Cabinet IQ.

One was the leadership team. I really believed in them. I was franchisee number seven, which was the perfect spot for me. I wanted control over my brand. I wanted to build a business my way and not just buy a job. Being early enough to help build the brand, with founders and the corporate team behind you, actually listening to your feedback — that was important to me.

Most importantly, it was a business that worked. It was scalable. The economics made sense. A lot of franchises out there have royalties that can really hurt if you're working off 15 to 20% gross margins. To justify a franchise fee of 6, 7, or 8%, you have to have a business that can support it. Cabinet IQ certainly is one of those.

I was also drawn to the ability to scale within a single territory instead of needing 100 units. I could build a really large, special business in my local market. And it was something I could really sink my teeth into and believe in — that's when my best salesperson comes out.

Alan: That's awesome. For those who don't know, what is Cabinet IQ? What do you do for your clients?

Ryan: We're a full-service kitchen design, cabinets, and countertops company. When you go to remodel your kitchen, you typically have two options in most markets. You can go to the big box store — Lowe's, Home Depot, IKEA — and get a kitchen in a box. Or you can go to a local shop, which we like to call "homemade" rather than custom, where the service and consistency can be all over the place.

We're the much-needed option in the middle. Someone who wants a white-glove experience, a true kitchen design, and a team that's going to have your back from the initial concept through the final punch list. We're not a shop where you buy cabinets and then you're on your own finding an installer. We're involved through and through, and we get to see clients' faces when we completely transform the most important room in their home. It's truly a rewarding experience.

Short answer: cabinets, countertops, kitchens — full service with installation.

Alan: That's fantastic. Having been through a couple of remodels myself, I can attest to how much the quality and service can vary in this industry. The bar is just so low when it comes to communication and follow-through. That's why I love this space for a company that can really be the shining star. It sounds like that's what Cabinet IQ does.

Talk to us about the timeframe from when you signed to when you officially opened your showroom.

Ryan: That's an important part. A lot of people are hesitant about the retail component — they just want to get the van and go. So to answer the question: I signed in April 2024, my first showroom opened in April 2025, and my second showroom is opening in April 2026. Hopefully showrooms three and four will open by the end of this year.

Alan: Shouldn't they be April 2027 and April 2028?

Ryan: That's the plan. Hopefully number five is April 2027. But I want to go back — I'd do things differently now that I know what I'm doing.

Alan: So what happened in between? That's a really important part. What separates the best franchisees?

Ryan: It's the ones who don't wait for the showroom. The showroom is a fantastic tool — don't get me wrong — and it's necessary to build a large business. But you can absolutely build this business while one is in progress.

Without a showroom, you're kind of like "Chuck in the truck," but you're approaching it completely differently. You're bringing technology, customer service, and professionalism that the typical local operator won't. You can sell kitchens without a showroom, though it's harder to sell directly to homeowners without that differentiation. Where you can win early is with builders and designers. They don't care if you have a showroom — they care about quality service, quality product, and a reliable partner.

When you're building a $2 million new home and the cabinets are cheap particleboard that fall apart, it reflects poorly on that builder. Finding a good cabinet partner is genuinely hard, because it's a complex business to execute well. A single kitchen involves thousands of measurements that all have to be exact to the eighth or sixteenth of an inch. One wrong number causes a domino effect. The attention to detail required is underappreciated, and that's why the bar is so low. A lot of people just don't have the skill set.

Alan: This business has a residential consumer side and a B2B side working with builders and designers. Is it fairly split, or do you tend to focus on one?

Ryan: You'd probably get different answers from different Cabinet IQ franchisees. For me, it's about 50/50. Revenue skews a little higher for builders and trade partners because we're often doing full homes, which are larger tickets. Volume skews higher for homeowners. It doesn't get more than 60/40 in either direction at any given time.

Before that first showroom opens, you're going to be heavily skewed toward builders and contractors — and that's fine. That's your best path to recurring revenue in this business. We've also had homeowners where we did their laundry room, then their bathroom, and once they trusted us, we got the full kitchen. But your most reliable recurring revenue comes from trade partners doing six to fifteen homes a year.

Alan: I like the diversification. Starting B2B forces you to build those relationships early, and the recurring revenue component is really valuable. Then you layer in the residential side once the showroom is open.

What does the business look like now — team, day-to-day, year one versus year two?

Ryan: My day-to-day is still a firestorm. I'm on the phone constantly, solving problems. That's why it's so important to surround yourself with capable people who have a sense of ownership.

I feel like I'm always hiring. Right before this podcast I finished eight phone interviews, 15 minutes each. Every week I'm trying to do 15 phone interviews and then bring the best candidates in person. I have some offshore support, a couple of remote employees, and altogether we're about 20 strong right now — and that's just in my Bluffton/Hilton Head market. I'm expanding to new markets and will need to build out teams there too. We're growing rapidly and I still feel understaffed, which is crazy.

Alan: That's incredible given how recently you got started. Do you mind sharing what revenue looked like in year one and what you're tracking toward?

Ryan: I did about $3.5 million my first year. This year's goal was $6 million — we're not on track for six, so we're looking at somewhere in the fives. But everything is being reinvested right now into new territories, new showrooms, and expanding the team.

That said, you can absolutely build a great business with one market, one showroom, and a team of five or six and make a great living doing it. It's truly a rewarding career.

Alan: I have to say, for most businesses, that kind of revenue in year one is just impossible to do that quickly. And you have multiple territories now and you're continuing to expand. The high average ticket in kitchens and homebuilding really lends itself to building something large.

Ryan: Thank you, and I'm proud of the team. But I do want to be clear — you have to be operationally tight. In this business, it's not uncommon for someone to make a $12,000 mistake on a random Tuesday. High incoming numbers come with high outgoing numbers. You can absolutely lose money in the blink of an eye if the wrong number is off on a single job.

Alan: High reward, but real risk. Good balance to keep in mind.

Let's go back to when you first started. You've done what most people dream of — keeping a corporate job while building a business on the side, with the plan of eventually leaving once the new business was generating enough. How did that work out?

Ryan: Don't get me wrong, it takes the right setup. You can't pull that off working for a small business, but in the corporate world — especially now with remote work — it's certainly feasible. You have to know how to play the game. If you've advanced in corporate America a few times, you probably know what actually matters. My perspective is: if my manager is happy, I'm in a good spot. I focus on making that happen.

And honestly, once you start a business, you realize how easy those corporate jobs actually were. The stress level is completely different. You shut your laptop at 5, 6, or 7 pm — it doesn't matter, because you're not up at 3am worrying about making payroll or the million things on your to-do list. I kind of romanticize that now, but I don't miss it either. It's a weird balance.

It takes a special situation and you have to set yourself up for success. It's possible for some people and not for others.

Alan: For someone thinking about doing the same thing with Cabinet IQ — what's the minimum time commitment needed to be successful?

Ryan: Fair warning: I work unhealthy hours. I'm probably doing 120-hour weeks, and that is not a requirement. I haven't really slept in the past two years. That's just me — I'm impatient and I go all in.

But honestly, the minimum to be successful and actually grow? No less than 80 hours a week. I don't see how it would be possible otherwise, at least in the beginning. It's a steep learning curve — especially if you're coming from corporate banking and starting a kitchen design firm. I had to learn kitchen design, cabinets, countertops, construction, how to operate a business, how to manage people. Cabinet design alone is a career for people. The best kitchen designers in your market are making a great living because it's genuinely hard.

I just dove in and was a complete sponge. Listened to podcasts, read books, read spec books at night. You have to put in the time on the front end.

You can build a comfortable business at a more manageable pace. But if you want to build a large business quickly, you have to put in the work.

Alan: You mentioned athletics were a big part of your life growing up. How does that show up in how you run the business?

Ryan: I think athletes become leaders for a reason. I wasn't some great athlete, but I played sports growing up and still do. It teaches you a lot. I hate to lose — that goes a long way.

My sport now is golf, and a good golfer has tremendous discipline and fortitude. You show up every day and work, and sometimes you hit 150 balls and you're actually worse than when you started. But if you show up every day and keep going, you look back six months later and see how much you've progressed.

Progress isn't linear. That applies in business too. Being part of a team, embracing competition, working toward a larger goal — athletics teaches you invaluable skills for business.

Alan: I wholeheartedly agree. So for someone sitting in a corporate job right now, listening to this on their way home and thinking about making their next move — what advice would you give someone contemplating franchising?

Ryan: Bet on yourself. You don't want to be asking the "what if" question 20 or 30 years down the road. If you're this deep in the search — if you're listening to podcasts about franchising and running the numbers — you're probably wired that way. You want more. You yearn for more. If that's you, don't be sitting back in 20 or 30 years asking what would have happened if you'd done it.

It's an incredibly liberating feeling. It's incredibly stressful and incredibly hard, but it's liberating. You work for yourself. You don't report to anyone — except your clients, who call constantly. But you know what I mean.

Just go for it. Find the right brand. Find something you believe in. Don't just sign with anything. There are a lot of good actors and a lot of bad actors in franchising, and a lot of middle ground where the upside isn't clear or you don't love what you do. Find the one that works for you. Find something you can become passionate about. Make sure the economics make sense — with royalties involved in franchising, that's a whole other consideration compared to buying a business on your own.

Also, don't overlook market analysis. A business can thrive in one market and completely fail in another. Look at the demographics. Understand what makes that market work for that business and whether it translates to your market. That part of the due diligence process is just as important as evaluating the brands themselves — maybe more.

Alan: Makes complete sense. Ryan, I appreciate you sharing your words of wisdom today. Congrats on everything you've built. You do need to get some more sleep, though.

Ryan: Ha. Working on it.

Alan: Congrats on being a Franchise Champion.

Ryan: Thank you. I appreciate it.