Frankie Graves, a meticulous planner, took proactive steps on his journey to go entrepreneurial. As you’ll note from his story, once you’ve been bit by the ownership bug, it’s a hard feeling to ignore…
Frankie Graves recently became one of the newest House Doctors franchisees, a home improvement and handyman service. His northwest Houston location came online in February, and he is optimistic about the direction of his new career…
Background
“I’m originally from Louisiana, but I moved to Texas about 18 years ago. For the past 29 years, I was an oil and gas engineer. My specialty was reservoir engineering—solving problems by using predictive modeling on a certain area of interest. At its core, my team at Noble Energy would study the flow of fluids, modeling millions—and up to one billion data points. We were finding ways to complete this type of modeling much faster than ever before.
But the oil & gas industry is a volatile and staffing cut began shortly after the Chevron acquisition. The outlook for replacing my job in the oil & gas industry wasn’t exactly ideal.”
On Becoming an Entrepreneur
“It’s safe to say I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. About seven years ago, I developed a career backup plan and got my residential and commercial inspector’s license. I quickly learned the benefits of having the type of independence as a business owner that you can’t replicate in corporate America. It not only gave me experience, but confidence in doing it alone.”
Why Franchising?
“Though I was able to start a business of my own, there were still a lot of hassles. A lot of things to learn, to get right, and file correctly in order to comply as a business owner. I learned that franchising allows you to skip past all these factors. Franchises, with their proven business models, were like a recipe that’s already available when you want to back a cake.”
How FranNet Helped
“I met Diana Trondsen through LinkedIn and was skeptical about it at first, but after a virtual meeting, my mind had changed. Throughout the investigative process, Diana helped me get past my routine methodical way of thinking and keep an open mind. We had regularly scheduled update calls through the process, but I never felt pressured to make a decision. Everything she presented me, I checked out when I did my own due diligence and research. After going through several concepts, I found one that aligned really well with my inspection business.”
Where Do You Stand?
“At the end of December last year, I became the owner of a House Doctors franchise. It was a really good fit for me because I have an innate knowledge about home repair from my inspection experience. Applying the knowledge, I already have means to know when work is done correctly. And that makes me able to provide better service to my clients.
I hired my first two employees and started taking appointments in February of this year. Looking back, my journey with FranNet to get to this opportunity wouldn’t have been possible without great communication—on both sides. You just can’t underestimate its value.”
For more information, please visit Frankie Graves’ House Doctors Handyman of Houston Northwest.
Frankie Graves
House Doctors of Northwest Houston
(832) 521-8400
[email protected]