With the assistance of Cynthia Mora, Franchise Consultant with FranNet of Houston, Bob and Nelly Sammons are making their entrepreneurial dream come true – owning a business that’s all their own. The couple is ready to share their franchise ownership journey as the new owners of a PetBar Boutique franchise in Katy, TX, a DIY pet bath and spa service. Below, in their own words, Bob and Nelly share the details of their journey with FranNet.
Background
BOB: “I spent my career in the energy industry, the last 14 years of which I worked for Baker Hughes – one of the largest oil field services companies. Before that, I was with smaller companies, but the industry as a whole was negatively affected by Covid. Unfortunately, there was a lot of downsizing.”
NELLY: “I was born and raised in El Salvador. We met when he was stationed there, got married and moved to the U.S., settling in the Houston area in 2013. I had already graduated from law school, but really wanted to focus on raising a family. We have two beautiful daughters. I’ve always loved dogs and even worked as a groomer, which I loved.”
On Becoming an Entrepreneur
BOB: “I guess you could say that I was always interested in becoming an entrepreneur and owning a business of my own. One of my strengths is that I’m really good at the execution part of planning – just getting things done.”
NELLY: “We both really wanted to start a business that our family could call our own.”
Why Franchising?
BOB: “I’ve watched a few friends open businesses of their own over the years and came to the conclusion that starting from scratch would be a complicated process. In addition, any new product or service offering carries a risk which can make it difficult to secure capital. Cynthia Mora of FranNet’s Houston office reached out to me through LinkedIn, and I thought, ‘Why not? I’ll take a meeting.’ We came to understand that with franchising, you just need to follow a proven business model – and with my knack for execution, it seemed to be the best option for us.”
NELLY: “Franchising was absolutely the right way to go. The concepts have a business model to follow, and we knew we’d have the support of the brand and other franchisees in the system to help us get started.”
The Investigative Process
BOB: “Cynthia did our assessments and came back with about five or so franchise concepts for us to review. There was a food-related one – a healthy meal planning service, as well as a couple of fitness concepts. But PetBar was an option. What got my attention was how their operations really weren’t affected by Covid – it was more or less recession-resistant.”
NELLY: “Once we got deeper into investigating the PetBar model, we had the opportunity to speak with three or four of the current business owners and they were all doing well and enjoyed owning the concept. I think Bob and I both were attracted to this business model because it was a good balance for both of our strengths and backgrounds.”
Getting Started
BOB: “I’d probably say that we had a shorter decision process than most – we both agreed that PetBar was our best option. The only challenge we could see was that it is still an emerging brand. Securing the capital, which we needed to launch the business, was a bit of a challenge. Initially, some of the bigger banks really weren’t as receptive as we’d hoped, despite our great credit scores and business plan. We were kind of stuck until Cynthia at FranNet referred us to Amegy Bank and we were able to secure an SBA business loan.”
NELLY: “We just had our soft grand opening in February of 2022, and we’ve begun our appointments. We just love that this is, in fact, a family business. Something we can take, make it successful by building up the trust in our community. Then one day, we may be able to pass this business on to our daughters.”
How FranNet Supported Their Journey
BOB: “Cynthia Mora was very helpful – in a lot of ways. Throughout the whole process, she was never pushy – we never felt pressured to go with a certain business model. She was really good at making us think hard about our obligations and commitments. Ultimately, she coached us to keep an open mind throughout the process and the decision-making was left solely to us.”
NELLY: “I would definitely recommend Cynthia Mora to anyone who is looking into starting a business of their own. It really helped that she’s local to the Houston area and had a complete understanding of the market here. We’re very excited to launch our PetBar location and begin a new chapter in our lives – as business owners!”
For more information, please visit Bob and Nelly’s PetBar Boutique Facebook page.