Why Your Corporate Job Is Actually The Risky Option

This is a transcript from Episode 22 of The Franchise Champion Show. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

Alan Regala: Welcome back to the Franchise Champion Show. If you're sitting in a corporate seat right now looking over your shoulder for the next round of restructuring, or worrying if AI is going to make your role obsolete, this episode is your blueprint out.

Today I'm talking with Stephen Tsang. Stephen is a former corporate operator who survived five rounds of restructuring before realizing he needed to take control of his own destiny. When he went looking for a business, he had two non-negotiables. It had to be recession-proof and disruption-proof.

He found it in Pestmaster. But here's the key. Stephen isn't the one spraying for bugs. He hired a general manager from day one, focused entirely on high-value government and B2B contracts. And in just ten months, he's already hitting the $15,000 mark in monthly recurring revenue.

We're going to break down exactly how he validated the model, why he chose boring services over flashy trends, and how he's building a semi-absentee asset that buys back his time. Welcome to the show, Stephen.

Stephen: Yes sir, Alan. Great to be here.

Alan: I'm so excited to have you on. So first of all, tell us about your background and how you got into franchising.

Stephen: Well, right after I got out of college, I kind of stumbled into this whole industry. I did that for about ten, thirteen years. We were actually a small business. We had about like 30 employees and actually 50 employees at one point. But the thing is, we needed to shift to what we do and all that, and we had to lay off quite a lot of people.

Long story short, the company that I was with got bought out by a multi-billion dollar company. I got to work there for another two years-ish. Thinking that wasn't for me. So long story short, my wife and I started doing some research and all that and ended up getting into pest control.

Alan: Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's quite a journey to go from working in the corporate world to going into pest control. So tell me about this tipping point of where you decided, like, hey, I'm leaving. This isn't right for me. You know, where you thought that the pain of staying finally outweighed that fear of leaving?

Stephen: Well, I mean, when I left it was kind of almost like a 50/50, right? I didn't really want to stay in that environment for long. I'm more like a small business guy. When things happen and all that, everybody kind of jumps and be like, hey, let's figure that out. Yeah, I didn't quite get that after the acquisition.

And so the thing is, you know, they paid me well. I stuck around for that period of time. And of course, in the meantime there were all those integrations going on. And then also there were a couple rounds of restructuring as well. Until my round, right. And so when that time really happened, I was literally jumping for joy. It's like finally, you know. And my previous boss version was pretty much like, hey, see, you hit the jackpot, you know.

So my wife and I kind of celebrated it a little bit. I had my little bookkeeping slash accounting services on the side already. The next day, waking up, I kind of had to ask myself, like, okay, so what's next? And I did end up deciding to, like, okay, let's turn my part time into full time. So that pretty much provided a lot of the small to medium-sized business bookkeeping, accounting, back office type of service. So I've done that for about three years.

And then, of course, all of a sudden all these AI talks and all that started to pop up. And who knows how long bookkeeping or accounting, back office and all that—to a point where they might not need human beings to do that anymore. And so in the meantime, I also started seeing quite a lot of those bookkeeping or accounting type businesses started to pop up as well. And so knowing that something is going to change, I had to do some research.

So I started looking into some boring businesses and all that. In fact, I actually wanted to purchase, you know, businesses from retirees and all that. We can talk about that later on. But that's pretty much what I started to look into. I also had some clients that would consistently buy businesses and all that as well. So, you know, that's pretty much it.

Alan: Yeah, yeah. So tell us about that. Like, what made you go and take that path of, like, okay, I want to buy something from, you know, someone who's retiring. Like, how did you even get to that place?

Stephen: Well, originally at the beginning, I, I did quite a lot of reading. I started to get to know quite a lot of people. They started to talk about buying business from retirees, buying business from other people, and all that. And of course, then we actually got connected through a franchise coach. And then when after that, then we kind of realize, like, okay, well, let me kind of look at both pathway. Let me kind of see like what, what is the difference between these two, right.

On one hand, I get to avoid some of the, like, you know, franchise fee, the royalty, and all the, everything. But on the other hand, though, I will need to take a look at, like, you know, maybe some of the, some of the, some of the things that they might not telling you, or like even some other things that happened in the past. And that might not be reflected in the, in the purchase agreement or even in the, in the whole valuation and stuff like that.

And so knowing that, you know, we need to take a look at those things for, for existing businesses, we also got connected with some of the, some of the, some of the, franchise coaches and all that. And then that, and then we've kind of got to talk to some of the franchisors as well, and then ended up the Pest Master and all that.

Alan: Yeah. Okay. So you were looking at both options for sure. Right. And of course, you know, working with a franchise coach is definitely going to expose you to other brands, including maybe the one that you end up choosing, which you did. So that's great. So let me ask you this. When you're looking at going in with the existing business, you know, there are some other people out there that are, you know, what we call searchers or people going through entrepreneurship through acquisition.

And they are specifically trying to not do a franchise business because they don't want to pay the royalty. Right. They don't want to have to pay that franchise fee. You know, they don't want to have to follow someone else's process, their rules or whatever. So on the surface, that sounds like a pretty good thing. It's like, okay, well, here we go. Like I'm just going to buy a business that's already established. They're making X amount of dollars. This is a great deal for me.

What are some things that you learned along the way, though? I know you decided, you know, not to go into that direction. You went into the franchise route. What are some of the things that kind of turned you away from that and actually made you more attracted to franchising?

Stephen: Well, there are quite a lot of factors on that, right. One would be, you know, like I mentioned before, is like, can you really trust the seller? Right. Like, are they, you know, are they really showing you, like, the real, like, the real books or like the real records and all that, that, you know, some of the things that they might be like hiding or like, you know, just got kind of swept under the, under the rug and all that. That would be one thing.

The second thing would be, let's just say if, you know, if all the, if all the record and everything is good, and you get to buy that business, you would still need to integrate that to your business, your, your operating model, right. Maybe like you are like, okay, I want to do this way and all that. Yeah. But the thing is, like, you will need to hire people. And can you really get those right people? Can you, you know, can you get to interview them? And then can you actually get them on board? And all that.

And then even after that, even after you got them on board, can you really like have them stay for a long period of time? Right. And so there are like so much risk or like, you know, so much unknown. And I don't know if you have, if you have, like, quite a lot of room to actually like try multiple rounds of that to see, like, which one is working and which is not.

On the franchise side, the franchisor and quite a lot of, like, the, the, the other franchisees, they already go through a lot of those mistakes already. Right. And then they can kind of provide a guidance and say, like, okay, this thing doesn't work. You shouldn't do that. You should be doing this way. And then, like, can you see what I was doing? And then stuff like that. And then you kind of skip quite a lot of the unnecessary learning and the unnecessary mistakes, and all the mistakes that could have been avoided.

Alan: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, there's a lot that, you know, when you're looking at existing business, you don't know what you don't know. Right. And that is, I think, one of the big pitfalls there. And yeah, I think it's, it's, it's, I mean, there's clearly risk involved in all of this. Whether it's the existing business or whether it's the franchise, there's risk involved in any business.

But you know, the one thing I think that is really important to understand is that the franchise business has been proven already, right. They have a proven model. And yeah, it's up to you to execute it and to be good at it and to do the things that you need to do in order to be successful. But there's so much support there. Right. There's support in marketing. There's support in, you know, hiring and training and all of those things. And there's the community.

And I think that is one of the other things that is kind of overlooked by quite a lot of people. The community of other owners that you have that are so willing to share the learnings that they've had. Like, how do you go about hiring people? How do you how do you do this thing? And like, hey, this is what I'm experiencing right now. Am I the only one? Or is everyone else experiencing this? Just being able to bounce things off of people.

So I think that is, you know, you mentioned the learnings that other people have gone through before you. That's really the beauty of franchising is that you get to avoid some of those pitfalls that could have been way more painful to you if you had to go through them yourself. So I appreciate that, that you shared that.

So okay, so tell us about this whole process. Like, you know, you were introduced to a franchise coach, which is great. You were exposed to different brands. How did you eventually end up settling on Pest Master as the right business for you?

Stephen: Yeah. So like I was, I was kind of mentioning before, I was doing quite a lot of those, like, you know, reading and research on boring businesses or, you know, essential business and all that. And I started talking to, you know, some of the searchers and some of the people that has like quite a lot of those portfolio businesses in place already. And I, I did kind of start to get to know quite a lot of the, the benefits and also the drawbacks or the pros and cons on, you know, buying existing businesses.

And then when I was connected to my franchise coach—by the way, her name is Alix Berryhill—and then Alix is like, she's absolutely wonderful and helpful. And, you know, at the beginning when she first kind of asked me, like, what kind of business are you looking for? I say, like, you know, I, I kind of want to do, like, boring business. I kind of want to do, like, something that would be an essential service and, you know, something that would be like, you know, recession-proof, disruption-proof or like AI-proof.

And in the meantime, the business also need to be kind of like stable enough, like, you know, like mature enough where, like, we would kind of have a lot of those support systems and all that in place already. And she was able to kind of able to, like, okay, let me, let me think about this for a little bit. And then she came back and she was like, hey, you know, you can take a look at maybe, like, HVAC or maybe pest control and all that, right.

And then she also mentioned, like, there are also quite a lot of other opportunities as well. But like, you know, whether or not like you like it or not, like that we need to take a look. And I did kind of really narrowed down to pest control or HVAC. And I mean, I, I'm not saying that, like, you know, that my skillset or my ability would not be good enough for, like, for HVAC, but the thing is, like, for me to start to learn about, like, you know, the whole like HVAC thing would take quite a lot of time.

And in the meantime, like, yeah, I could be learning pest control, but the thing is, like, you know, the learning curve for, for, pest control is much less than HVAC. And in the meantime, based on my research and my speaking with some of the existing owners and all that, like, it looks like the, you know, pest control, the margins are relatively high. The overhead is relatively low. And when I had to, when I kind of told Alix about that, she was like, okay, well, in that case, the let me introduce you to Pest Master.

Alan: Yeah. Okay. That's great. That's great. So, you know, you went and you were thinking about what I love is that you were thinking about, okay, is this going to be able to survive a recession? Is it going to be something that AI is not going to disrupt and all these things. And, you know, I think that's exactly where people need to be thinking is like, okay, you know, finding the right business.

One of the really important things is like, is this going to, you know, is this going to be something that will stand the test of time? And, you know, and definitely essential services like pest control and HVAC and, you know, any of the home service type stuff. You know, they're, they're generally going to be around. They're not going anywhere. So I love that.

And of course, you know, the other thing I want to mention is, you know, when you're working with a franchise coach, you know, some people might be wondering, like, well, how does that work? Like, you know, do I have to pay? And, and let me just clarify that. You know, most of the time, like in your case with Alix, they're going to get compensated by the franchisor. So you, you don't pay.

And the advantage there is that you have someone who's going to actually help you to curate the right type of options for you. Right. So she knew what you were looking for, and she knew that, okay, this brand would be a good fit. And, you know, and she was clearly spot on. Right. So I think that's, that's really, you know, a great thing about working with a franchise coach.

Okay. So you mentioned talking to some existing owners. So tell me a little bit about that. Like, you know, that's called validation. And I think that's really important. What were you learning from talking to other Pest Master owners?

Stephen: Yeah. Well, like, you know, like one of the things that I was like really curious about was like on the Pest Master would be like, you know, if let's just say if somebody was coming from like corporate America or from, you know, other, other space, and the person don't have any experience on like pest control or anything like that. Right. You know, can they still be successful? Right. Like can they still do well?

And then I, I did, I did speaking to quite a lot of the, the existing Pest Master owners. And, you know, quite a lot of them were able to kind of, you know, provide like really good feedback. And some of them was like, you know, I was coming from the military. I was coming from, like, tech. I was coming from like, you know, insurance. I was coming from like, you know, other things and all that. But like, you know, the thing is, like, you know, in, in, in, in Pest Master, if you were willing to follow the system, the odds of you being successful, it's like relatively high.

And then that, that is something that I was like really relieved and, and happy to hear. Because I want to know like whether or not that model can actually like replicate it, right. I don't want to say like, okay, well, you know, if you come from this background, then you will be successful. But like if you come from this other background, then you might not be. I want to know like whether or not that kind of template or that kind of system can be repeated again and again and again.

And based on my conversation with the, the existing owners, like they did providing like quite a lot of like really good feedback and even like metrics. And then based on, you know, some of the documentation that I got from the franchisor as well and some of the things that I asked or some of the things that I was curious, like some of the existing owners were able to kind of, you know, provide that information.

And then when, when I was matching them up, like, you know, based on like what franchisor say, based on what the existing owners say, like I would say like 70, 80% of them or maybe even higher, like some of the details all matching up. Right. And so that makes me feel a lot more comfortable and a lot more like, you know, like, like, okay, well, let me give this a shot. Let me, let me try this.

Alan: Yeah. That makes a ton of sense. So you're looking at the documentation from the franchisor. And I want to just clarify for the listeners, you know, when you're buying a franchise, the franchisor has to provide a document called the franchise disclosure document. And that is required by the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission. And in that document, there's an item 19, which is the financial performance representation.

And that is the one place where a franchisor is allowed to disclose what kind of income their franchise owners are making. And some of them provide quite a lot of detail. Some of them provide very little. And that is one of the, you know, one of the things that you're allowed to look at. And again, it's the one place that franchisors are allowed to disclose that information.

But then when you're talking to owners, though, and you're in this thing we call validation, you can ask owners directly, like, hey, you know, what are you making? And I think this is one of the most important parts of the validation process is actually getting a real sense of, you know, what can I expect from this business? Right. And if you can see that what the franchisor is saying and what the owners are telling you are generally lining up, that's a really good thing. Right.

And the fact that you were able to talk to people from all different backgrounds, and they're all saying that, like, look, you don't need to be a pest control person. You don't need to have that background. If you follow the system, you can be successful. That's really powerful. Right. Because now you know that you can do this.

So that's great. Okay, so you decided to move forward. You signed the franchise agreement. Tell us about the next steps. Like, what happened after you signed?

Stephen: Yeah. So basically after I signed, I went to, you know, their training. And the training last for about like four weeks and all that. And the training is super comprehensive. I mean, when I was talking to some of the other franchisees, like they, they would tell me that like, you know, they actually have two, they have two training. They have like, you know, the first round of training, which is the, the new franchisee type of training. And then they have like the second round of training for the, the technicians as well.

And then when I went through the, the first round of training, the training was like super comprehensive. They cover everything from like, you know, the softwares that you use, to like, you know, how do you actually like handle clients, to like, you know, what kind of chemicals that you would be using, to like what kind of pest and then how do you actually like treat them and all that.

And in the meantime, like when I got back, the first thing that I need to do is like, okay, well, I need to kind of getting my license. Right. And I need to hire my GM. Right. And, and so that, that, those were the two things that I started to tackle after I came back from the training.

Alan: Okay. So you, so you went to training. Got it. And then when you came back, you had to get your license. And of course, you know, every state is different as far as licensing goes. But you got your license. And then you were immediately looking to hire a GM. So tell me a little bit about that. Like, you know, why did you, why GM first? Like, why not, you know, why not you doing the, the pest control?

Stephen: Well, on one hand, I, I still have my accounting business. Right. And so I need to kind of, you know, take care of my existing clients as well. And then on the other hand, like, you know, I'm, I'm also, I mean, I'm not saying that like my pest control, like technical skill or like my skill on doing the service would not be good enough, but the thing is, like, you know, let's just say like even if I were to do that, right, like maybe I would be missing out some of the things.

Or maybe, like, you know, I would be, you know, could be there could be some services where, like, I might not be doing it as good. Right. And so like, you know, like when that happens, like I would rather hire somebody that were the expert on this and then somebody would be able to kind of, you know, really focus on the daily operations and all that.

And then that way that I can kind of focus on the sales, on the marketing, and then on like the other things. Right. Like, you know, speaking with some of the property manager and all that. Because my model is a lot more focusing on the commercial side, on the government side, on like, you know, other things like, you know, speaking with property managers and all that. And so I would rather hire a GM to handle the day to day, the daily operation, the service and all that.

Alan: Yeah. Okay. So you knew from the beginning that you wanted to hire a GM. Right. And I think that's, you know, that's, that's really smart. I mean, especially if you have the, you know, other things going on. Like you've got your accounting business. And I think this is something that a lot of people struggle with. Right. It's like, okay, well, I want to start a franchise, but I also have my job or I also have this other thing.

And, you know, there's a lot of ways to do it. And one of the ways is to, you know, to hire someone to run it for you from the get go. Now, obviously, there's a cost associated with that. Right. You've got to pay that person. But the advantage there is that you can maintain your other income streams and you can build this thing while, you know, not having to do everything yourself.

So okay, so you hired a GM. How did you go about finding that person?

Stephen: Yeah. So, you know, I, I did put up quite a lot of job postings on like Indeed, on LinkedIn, and all that. And I, I received quite a lot of like applicants and all that. And I did end up interviewing quite a lot of people as well. And I, I would say like one of the most important things that I was looking for would be like, is the person a good culture fit? Right.

Like, you know, even if the person has like 20, 30 years worth of experience on pest control or like on the technical side of it, but like if the person is not a good culture fit, like the person would not be like the person that I would want to hire. Right. And so like during the, during the interview, like I, I would pretty much like, you know, try to like spend quite a lot of time on speaking with that person to see like whether or not the person would be like a good culture fit.

And when I found the person that I currently have right now, his name is Zach. And, you know, when I was speaking with him, like, you know, I, I could kind of tell that like, you know, this is somebody who is like super reliable, who is like super hardworking. And in the meantime, like, you know, he has like quite a lot of like, you know, really good experience on the pest control side as well. And so I, I pretty much like, you know, I knew that, like, you know, after two, three conversations with him, I was like, okay, this is the guy that I want to hire.

Alan: Yeah. That's great. That's great. I mean, and I think you're right that, you know, culture fit is so important. Right. Like, you know, you can have all the experience in the world, but if you're not a good fit with the, you know, with the owner and with the, you know, the vision that the owner has for the business, then it's just not going to work. So I think that's, that's really smart.

Okay. So you hired Zach. Tell us about, you know, the early days. Like, how did you go about, you know, getting your first customers?

Stephen: Yeah. So, you know, I pretty much, like, you know, I, I kind of just did what the franchisor recommended. Right. Like, you know, they, they, they provide like quite a lot of like, you know, list of like, you know, action items or like, you know, to-do's and all that. And I, I pretty much like, you know, just follow them to a T. Right. Like, you know, whether it be like, you know, doing door knockings, whether it be like, you know, sending out postcard, whether it be like, you know, doing some sort of like, you know, networking events and all that.

And then in the meantime, like, you know, I, I also start to kind of like, you know, try to figure out like, okay, well, what is the like, you know, what is the like, you know, the most effective way, or like what is the like, you know, the quickest way for me to kind of get to, you know, some sort of like, you know, recurring revenue and all that. And based on, you know, speaking with like the other franchisees and also speaking with like, you know, Pest Master corporate and all that, they all tell me that like, you know, you should be focusing on like, you know, apartment complex and all that.

And so I, I pretty much like, you know, I, I did kind of start to shift my, you know, my energy, my effort on that side of the house. And I, I was able to kind of get connected with like quite a lot of the property managers. And then I was able to kind of provide like, you know, service to some of the, some of the apartment complex. And then fast forward to now, we are now in 21 apartment complexes.

Alan: Wow. That's amazing. So in how many months? How long have you been open?

Stephen: Ten months.

Alan: Ten months. Okay. So in ten months you've gotten 21 apartment complexes as clients. That's incredible. So tell me about that. Like, how did you, you know, how did you go about getting connected with these property managers? Like, what was your approach there?

Stephen: Yeah. So, you know, I, I pretty much like, you know, I, I did quite a lot of research on like, you know, who are some of the, like, you know, the property management companies that are in the area. And then I, I started to kind of, you know, reach out to them. And I, I would say like, you know, out of like maybe ten that I reach out to, like maybe one or two would respond. Right. And so like, you know, the response rate is not super high.

But like the thing is, like, you know, when they do respond, like I would kind of, you know, try to, you know, set up a time to meet with them or like, you know, set up a time to kind of, you know, have a conversation with them and all that. And then during that time, like, you know, I would pretty much like, you know, try to like, you know, understand like what are some of the pain points that they're currently having with their current like pest control provider.

And then I would pretty much like, you know, try to kind of, you know, position myself and position Pest Master as like, you know, the solution to their problem. Right. And so like, you know, that's pretty much like what I, what I did. And, you know, I, I was able to kind of, you know, get quite a lot of like, you know, really good like response from them. And then from there, like, you know, we were able to kind of, you know, start to like, you know, do business together.

Alan: Yeah. Okay. So you, you reached out. You set up meetings. You listened to what their pain points were. And then you positioned yourself as the solution. That makes a lot of sense. And I think that's, you know, that's, that's really good sales. Right. Like, you're, you're not just like, hey, you know, I've got this service. Do you want to buy it? You're like, okay, what are you struggling with? And then you're like, okay, well, here's how we can help you with that.

So I think that's, that's really smart. And the fact that you've gotten 21 in ten months, that's, that's really impressive. So tell me about the recurring revenue aspect of this. Like, you know, you mentioned earlier that a lot of these are recurring. So what does that look like?

Stephen: Yeah. So like most of the, most of them are recurring. So we either go in once a month, two times a month, or every single week, depending on like, you know, the needs of that, that apartment complex. And so like, you know, that's, that's the, that's the beauty of it. Right. Like, you know, we don't have to constantly, like, you know, trying to hustle and trying to get new clients and all that all the time. Like, you know, we, we do have like, you know, a pretty stable like recurring revenue coming in every single month.

And so like, you know, that, that's, that allow us to kind of, you know, focus a lot more on like, you know, the service side of it. And then also like, you know, trying to kind of, you know, continue to expand and continue to grow. But like at the same time, like, you know, we don't have to worry about like, you know, where is the next, like, you know, paycheck coming from or like, you know, where is the next client coming from and all that.

Alan: Yeah. That's, that's huge. I mean, the recurring revenue model is, is so powerful. Right. Because you're right. Like, you know, you don't have to constantly be out there hustling for the next client. You've got this base that's coming in every month. And then you can build on top of that. So that's, that's really smart.

Okay. So you mentioned earlier that you're at about $15,000 in monthly recurring revenue. Is that right?

Stephen: Yes, sir.

Alan: Okay. That's, that's fantastic. I mean, in ten months to be at $15,000 a month recurring, that's, that's really impressive. So congratulations on that. That's, that's great. And so, you know, obviously you're, you're building this thing. And, you know, it sounds like things are going really well. What are some of the challenges that you've faced along the way?

Stephen: Yeah. So, you know, I, I would say like, you know, one of the challenges would be like, you know, hiring the right people. Right. Like, you know, I, I did go through like quite a lot of like, you know, interviews and all that to kind of find like, you know, the right, the right GM. And then in the meantime, like, you know, we also need to hire like, you know, technicians as well. And so like, you know, that, that's, that's one of the challenges.

The second challenge would be like, you know, especially at the beginning, like, you know, not knowing like what to expect. Right. Like, you know, I, I was pretty much like, you know, I was following the system, but like at the same time, like, you know, I, I didn't know like whether or not the results would come as fast or like whether or not like, you know, I need to be patient and all that. And so like, you know, that, that was like one of the things that, you know, I was like constantly kind of like, you know, asking myself.

And then the third thing would be like, you know, managing my time. Right. Like, you know, I still have my accounting business. I still have the pest control business. And then I also have like, you know, family and all that. And so like, you know, trying to balance all of those things and trying to make sure that like, you know, I'm giving enough time and attention to each one of those things, that's, that's definitely like one of the challenges as well.

Alan: Yeah. I mean, I think those are all, you know, those are all very real challenges. Right. And I think, you know, the hiring piece, I mean, that's, that's so critical. And, you know, it sounds like you, you did a great job with Zach. And, you know, the patience piece, I think that's, you know, that's something that a lot of people struggle with. Right. It's like, okay, I'm doing all these things. When is it going to start working?

And, you know, I think the fact that you were able to follow the system and trust the process, that's, that's really important. Right. Because, you know, the system is there for a reason. It's been proven. And if you follow it, you know, it's going to work. It just takes time. And then the time management piece, I mean, that's, that's always a challenge, especially when you're trying to do multiple things.

So, you know, it sounds like you're, you're navigating all of that pretty well. So that's, that's great. Okay. So looking forward, you know, what are your goals for the business? Like, where do you see this going?

Stephen: Yeah. So, you know, I, I pretty much like, you know, I want to continue to grow the recurring revenue side of it. Right. Like, you know, I want to be able to kind of, you know, get into more apartment complexes. I also want to be able to kind of, you know, get into like, you know, some of the government contracts as well. And then also like, you know, some of the like, you know, commercial, like, you know, businesses and all that.

And then in the meantime, like, you know, I also want to be able to kind of, you know, hire like, you know, one or two more like technicians as well. And so that way that we can kind of, you know, continue to scale and continue to grow. And then the ultimate goal would be like, you know, to be able to kind of, you know, have like, you know, a pretty sizable like recurring revenue where, like, you know, I don't have to worry about like, you know, the business on like a day-to-day basis. And then I can kind of, you know, focus a lot more on like, you know, the high level strategy and all that.

Alan: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. I mean, that's, that's the semi-absentee model. Right. Like, you know, you're building this thing so that it can run without you having to be in the day-to-day. And, you know, it sounds like you're, you're on the right track for that. So that's, that's great.

Okay. So I want to, I want to kind of circle back to something that you said at the very beginning, which was, you know, you went through five rounds of restructuring before you finally got laid off. And, you know, I think there are a lot of people listening who are, you know, maybe they're in a similar situation as you. Whereas, as far as like, this isn't—maybe they know this isn't the thing that's for them right now. Like, they're making good money, but they're like, how do I get out?

What's the purpose, you know. Right, right. It's like, how do I get out? I don't want to leave the money that I'm making right now, but I don't want to keep doing what I'm doing. You know, any tips for those people in that situation?

Stephen: You just got a second job. Really. You know, whether or not voluntarily or involuntarily, right. Like, you know, you can get—but now when I look back though, that phone call with the HR manager along with my immediate manager at that time was the best call that I could have ever received, right? I was already super happy, you know. Like, I know that I wouldn't want to stay there for a long time.

And then finally they made the move rather than me making the move. So like that part was great. And as you mentioned, like, you know, back then I was getting paid a pretty nice salary and only doing probably maybe like 20 hours worth of work. You know, and so it was comfortable. But the thing is, do I like it? I don't, you know.

And now it's like, okay, well, if let's just say one client fires us. Big deal. You know, it's not like—well, put it that way. We want to provide the best customer service as possible. But the thing is, at the end of the day, you can't really make everybody happy. It's impossible. Right?

So like, let's just say if at the end of the day, if some clients, whether it be on my accounting side or the pest control side, some would be like, hey, you know, I found somebody cheaper somewhere. Hey, thank you so much for your work. Or like, hey, I really don't like working with you or whatever. At the end of the day, it's one out of maybe like 40, 50, 60, 70. At the end of the day, sure, it will have some sort of impact on your income, but then it's not going to be like you losing your job. You lose 100% of it. Right?

So then I guess, like, you know, to your listeners out there, right, ask yourself that question. Which one, which pathway in the long run, in the long term is more risky. You're losing 100% right there, or you're losing maybe like two, three percent if you were to lose a client. So I think the answer is clear. It's just that you need to know the right amount, the right people, right. And you just kind of willing to take the risk.

Alan: Yeah. Yeah. No, I love that. Yeah. You took the leap and you mentioned, you know, you weren't happy with what you were doing before. Are you happy with what you're doing now?

Stephen: On the accounting side, I don't know. Right. So it's like, you know, especially now during the peak season, I'm constantly like, why am I doing what I'm doing right now? But on the pest control side though, I'm actually starting to enjoy that, really. I mean, I was talking to Zach the other day. I actually enjoy doing the German roaches, so—

Yeah, I mean, people might think it's super gross and all that. Yes, it's gross, but in the meantime, I don't know why. It might be because of where I was brought up and all that. Like, you know, I see roaches and all that everywhere. So like, to me, it's almost like I'm kind of immune to that, right. But I actually enjoy what I'm doing right now for the most part.

Alan: Yeah. Yeah. That's great. That's fantastic. Well, Stephen, it's been great having you on the show. If folks in the DFW area would love to get their pests taken care of, residentially or in apartment complexes or in government buildings, what's the best way for them to get a hold of you?

Stephen: Yeah. So I'm not sure if you can provide my email and all that. Yeah, but my email is S—as for Stephen—S-T-S-A-N-G, my last name, at pestmastr—spelled P-E-S-T-M-A-S-T-R dot com.

Alan: Awesome, awesome. Well, it's been a pleasure having you on the show, Stephen. I appreciate you joining us and congratulations on being a franchise champion.

Stephen: Thank you. I appreciate that.

Alan: Stephen is a smart operator. He survived five rounds of corporate restructuring, but eventually the layoff still came. The decision was made for him. So much for job security. Luckily, he had his accounting side hustle to fall back on.

Now, Stephen chose a semi-absentee path with the franchise business, hiring a GM from day one, hitting $15K a month recurring revenue in under a year. I mean, that's amazing. He's crushing it. But there isn't just one way to do this. Many of you want to keep your job while you build. Just like Stephen had his accounting business as the main thing. That is totally a valid option.

However, for many people, the fastest way to replace your income isn't straddling the fence. It's diving in. When you can dedicate full-time focus to a new business for the first 12 to 24 months, your odds of success go up and you build the foundation for true semi-absentee ownership much faster.

So the question isn't just which franchise. It's which approach fits your risk profile. Do you have the runway to go all in for maximum speed? Or do you need the security of a paycheck while you build more gradually? Neither is wrong, but you need to know the trade-offs.

This is exactly what we figure out together. I help corporate professionals discover if franchising makes sense for you, and if so, find your perfect fit. Whether that's a semi-absentee model or a full-time replacement vehicle, my service is 100% free. Click the link in the description or go to athletetoowner.com/ready to book a call. Let's find the path that gets you freedom on your terms.

Thanks for listening to The Franchise Champion Show. I'm Alan Regala. Let's get you winning at franchising.