I’m Sara Waskow, FranNet’s Market President for Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma.
I’d like for you to meet a former client of mine, Joe Adams. As you can tell from the picture, he’s a big dog lover and when you read about his entrepreneurial journey, you’ll see how he turned this passion into a full-time business of his own.
With the assistance of FranNet of Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma, Joe Adams found the perfect match for business ownership with an Always Faithful Dog Training franchise. Below, in his own words, he shares his FranNet journey…
Background
“I spent 38 years—almost 40, but 38 years as a distributor in the specialty foods and snacks business. For over 20 of those years, I worked as an independent operator, so I had the background and know how to run a business of my own. That experience would come in handy down the line.”
On Becoming an Entrepreneur
“As time went on, the ins and outs of working with big corporate players was beginning to disagree with my style of work. When you notice the lack of freedom and flexibility, it starts to weigh on you. Micromanagement was another one of my big dislikes. It seemed like we’d have conference calls just to set up the next conference call. The whole environment eventually became too unsuitable for me. I’m much more of a ‘doer’.”
Why Franchising?
“Sara had reached out to me about business ownership through franchising, but I slow-walked it a couple of years. There was just so much variety in the concepts out there to own. Having the road map of the business model that you follow, coupled with the corporate support convinced me that franchising was the right choice for the next chapter of my career.”
How FranNet Helped
“Sara is a good listener, that’s for sure. She presented three or four concepts for me and my wife, Nikki, to review and one of them happened to be a dog training franchise. My wife and I looked at each other and thought, ‘…this could be a sign!’ Sara was able to guide us through the process and point out how the business model didn’t require inventory and had an affordable entry level—two things on my checklist. After Sara handled the introductions to corporate and set up the validation sessions with other franchisees, we made the decision to move forward with Always Faithful Dog Training. It’s such a great match for me because I grew up on a farm and always had such a love for animals.”
Where Do You Stand?
“Before opening, I attended the franchise’s training program led by our founder, Abraham Mashal, a U.S. Marine-certified K-9 handler with over two decades of experience working with service dogs.
We opened for business in October of 2019 and got our systems online and all of our scheduling and reporting software squared away. I had my first paying customer a day later and we had no trouble meeting our benchmarks the first few months. When Covid hit, I paused for a hot moment and wondered what we’d do now. But our business skyrocketed at that point, because so many people were adopting pets and getting to know them. After a couple of weeks, they’d realize they need some help with training and basic commands, just so they can coexist.
What really drives my recurring business are the referrals I get from Thumbtack, which is an online review site. I’d say about 95% of my new clients come through that channel after reading my positive business reviews. I just love the business and if I ever need any help when struggling with a particular canine, I’m on a first name basis with Abraham and any of the other franchisees in the system. It’s become a great way for us to make a living.
For more information, please visit Joe Adam’s Always Faithful Dog Training website.