[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hello, everybody.
Happy New year 2024. Wow. Welcome to another episode of all things considered franchising. Powered by Scott Milos franchisecoach.com. All things considered franchising is a podcast dedicated to the entrepreneur, the franchise industry, independent business owners who are thinking about either franchising their business or getting into franchising, and of course, entrepreneurs who are seeking to diversify their portfolio or get into business ownership for the first time. Scottmilesfranchisecoach.com is an organization consulting organization that I started many, many years ago, helping people research and explore business opportunities, helping them zero in on the roadmap what kind of businesses they would like, and of course, introducing them to the concepts and helping them through the validation process so they can make a validated decision. I have back today another brand that I had on probably about seven, eight months ago, one of my favorite brands, although it is a brand that does require some thick skin, as I guess is the best way for me to put it. I'm pleased to welcome to the show for the first time, Danessa Itaya, who is president of brand. Not brand one, bio one. I apologize. Bio one, Danessa. Welcome to the show. Holiday hangover for me, I guess.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Thanks for having me. Yeah, no, this is great. I enjoy talking about bio one and the exciting things we've got going on over here.
[00:01:40] Speaker A: Now, you are not new, but new to the position of president with Bio one, but you're not new to franchising. Maybe tell the audience a little bit about your background, how you got into franchising, why you stay in it. I always like to ask that question because I think it's a fascinating industry and it has a lot of pluses. But tell us your story. Tell us a little bit about you.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: Happy to. Yeah.
When people say that I've been in franchising for 30 years, it makes me sound old, but I guess I am getting older.
We all are.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: Right.
I think franchising is probably one of the most amazing communities out there as it relates to just the ability to help people get into business for themselves, but not by themselves.
I think it's the charm of franchising, but I, like most people, kind of got into it by accident. I started in accounting, got an accounting assistant job. My job was to enter royalty reports for Molly made. So again, just kind of stumbled into it and had the opportunity to grow and to wear a number of different hats. I was there for about 20 years and then had the opportunity to move on and to join some other brands. So it's an amazing business model. I think folks are just being able to surround yourself with people who love doing what you do and so similar, like franchising. It's a community.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: You're absolutely right.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I've been blessed for 30 years there.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Well, it's funny, I've been in this industry for a long time, not quite as long as you, but I think it's fair to say that the industry has changed and there's been an evolution over the years. It's become a real rock foundation or a rock force, I would say, in the business community of ways for people to get into business ownership.
When people think about franchising, they immediately think subway, McDonald's.
But there is so much more outside of those four walls that there are so many different opportunities for so many people. And that brings me to know it's just one of those things that you would never think would be a franchise or a matter of fact, it wouldn't even be a business because you would think it would be in the back room, in a closet, in a police station, so to speak, or in a fire department. And that's how it runs. So tell us a little bit about bio one, its uniqueness, and we'll kind of get into the qualities or the characteristics you're looking for in your franchisees. But I guess in a nutshell, it's crime scene, or I don't know what the other word is, but it's crime scene cleanup and management.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Yes, crime scene trauma cleaning. We do essentially the cleanup that nobody else wants to do. As soon as you tell people you're in crime scene trauma cleaning, their eyebrows go up. They want to hear your grossest story.
It's really interesting, right? We're all fans of true crime podcast. We love that stuff. But it's really interesting. I think the side of what we do is that people don't necessarily think about first when they think about getting into business. And most people think, oh, I don't know. I don't know if I have the stomach for it. When you ask our franchisees why.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: Their.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Satisfaction for bio one is so high, it's the ability to give back to their community and it's the ability to help people sometimes on the worst day of their life. And so I think sometimes we forget that aspect of the business as well. We generally tend to think about cleaning up blood and guts and things like that. But when you have the ability to help someone get back into their home, or you have the ability to just be that empathetic person when they absolutely have absolutely no idea what the next step is. And that's what we hear regularly from our customers and from our franchisees.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: It's funny, running my consulting organization, talking to clients. I always like to talk about businesses that are in need versus a want.
And I remember talking and presenting this to one of my clients a couple of months ago, and they said to me, and they kind of chuckled and they know, Scott, it's one thing.
There are people that own mcdonald's and subways that don't want to open because it's snowing out. This is one of these businesses. Bio one is a business model. They said that you would hope that you never got a call, but at the same time, if you're not getting a call right, you're not doing any business. So where is the mindset of your franchisees? Obviously, you're helping within the community. You're dealing with trauma for families or certain situations. But where is the mindset of other than helping the community? Where is the mindset of your franchisee? Where is the model taking people as far as business ownership? Because it is unique. I mean, let's face it.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Yeah, it's extremely unique. And there's two components to it. One is making sure that the community knows that we exist. So that's one component of it. And who do I call when the police are out in the field and they've got this situation? Who do they call?
Who do they refer? Who do they tell the family to call? And so that's one component of it. Local boots on the ground marketing is very much a big component of our business. And so that kind of sales and marketing mindset. But the reality is, I know we touched on this is our motto is help first, business second. And so for that we've got franchisees who, they've created funds where they say, hey, no customer should have to clean up a suicide of a family member. And so for that, if for some reason you can't pay for it, we will cover it for you.
Interesting. It's pretty amazing when you think about that help first mentality. It's less about let's get the job, let's close the deal, and it's more about how do we help members in our community. So you've got that component to it, which is pretty amazing as you think about being in a business. That one is a great business model and that you can make some money out of it. But then two, being so actively tied in the community to say, hey, our community trusts us to come in, take care of something and treat them with respect and empathy.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: That's interesting.
One of the big questions, and I guess it's just kind of over the last few years, it's been a common question that people that are looking to get into business ownership for the first time, especially the first time, are asking, and the term is semi absentee. It just seems to be so popular now. I don't know where it came from. First of all, I don't know where the thought of being investing a couple of hundred thousand or $300,000 in a business and you would want to just turn over the key and have somebody run it for you, unless it's family. But with that being said, and you talked about sales aptitude, is the model really designed for an owner operator really to get out there and network?
Is it geared towards somebody who is already kind of rubbing elbows with the community and not looking to establish for the first time relationships, but somebody who already has relationships?
[00:10:07] Speaker B: So it's interesting, and we get asked this question all the time, so I'm glad you asked it.
One of our fastest growing businesses, her background, stay at home mom. She was a stay at home mom and she said, hey, I want to get into business. And she saw a need and she said, yeah, absolutely, all day long.
And then on the other hand, I've got another business that's growing phenomenally, and he's a former.
You get a little bit of both. But what I tell people is, bio one is when it was started, it was very much owner operator. It was very much someone who wanted to be involved in their community and give back.
And we talk about this concept of semi absentee, and we look at it, we call it more maybe the executive model. So you start out, you're out in the field because you need to know, you need to understand what we do, you need to understand the people aspect of this business.
And so we tell people, you start out in the field, but name of the game for the franchisee is to, we tell them it's the hazmat suit. We call it getting out of the suit.
For some folks, some of our franchisees, they say, I love being in the suit. I love that interaction with franchisees, and that's great. And they grow their business that way. Others say, hey, listen, I'm going to be in the suit, but my goal is to be out of the suit by x. And so being able to really continue to build their business and whether it's own multiple franchises, buy one franchises, or whether it's to continue to focus on one specific area from our standpoint, we've got both models. It just depends on what the franchisee wants, whether they're. I've got a part time firefighter, and this is what he does, and he just bought his second business.
And a lot of people who help him are some of his fellow.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: Interesting, interesting. So that leads me to the next question. We're talking to Danessa Itaya, who's president of Bio one, Scotty Miles, the host of all things considered, franchising. One of the questions today that comes up quite a bit is the labor market, the labor pool?
I guess I'm just trying to visualize running an ad on. Indeed, it's one thing to run, looking for sandwich line or line cooks or this or baby, whatever the business model may be.
And it's interesting because you almost answered my question.
Firemen, police officers that may be looking for part time work or whatever. But where is the labor pool coming from?
Are you surprised to see the amount of people that may be interested in something like this as a position? I mean, talk to us about the labor part of.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: Mean these days. I think it's probably top of mind for most people.
Uh, whether it's a McDonald's or whether it's a residential cleaning company. How do I get labor and where do they come from? And for bio one, it's really unique. One is there is a specific level of training that's required. So from our standpoint, we're bringing in maybe a little bit higher caliber team member, someone who perhaps comes with some restoration work or is very hands on involved. But we're not paying minimum wage either.
Cleans that we do are very specialized, whether it's drug remediation or whether it's a bio cleanup or whether it's hoarding, it's going to vary just depending on the type of job. But because of the training involved, we're bringing in a higher caliber team member that really is a technician, and they're able to really work closely with the consumer, with the customer, to be able to help them understand why we go through the processes that we do. And being able to one, be that forward facing to the customer, but then also being able to lead a team or do out in the field.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: I guess there has to be some sensitivity in this part of the business when you're dealing with people that are in.
It's one thing to be the funeral home or the funeral director, but this is actually the cart before the horse in some ways. I mean, you're dealing with the trauma well before anybody else is really dealing with it, with the families and everything. So it's interesting as far as the set up of the company, the metrics, the financials, the number of employees. Maybe just kind of walk us through investment, give us kind of an overall profile of what someone should expect when they're coming in. Who wants to investigate this or would want to move? How many employees, investment level, work from home, not work from home.
Do you need some type of off site to store equipment? Give us a little background on that.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: Absolutely.
Or our business model. Generally, what we're looking at is about anywhere from 125 to 150,000 initial investment there.
With that, you're generally looking at two team members. So sometimes it's the franchisee and then someone to help, and that's for safety reasons as well.
It's always good to go into a home or wherever it is with two people.
They do need a box truck.
Some of our franchisees start out with a trailer, but just being able to carry your supplies, being able to, depending on the type of cleaning.
And then with that, generally our franchisees will start out of their home. As their business continues to grow, they'll look to move to more of a class b, kind of light industrial area so that they can continue to grow and expand, whether that means adding additional vehicles or additional team members there.
But we work closely with whether it's hoarding jobs or whether it's bio jobs or some of the specific insurance related jobs. Big focus. Big focus for us.
For us. This year, our big focus is looking at national accounts and how can we provide with a footprint that Bioone now has the ability to be able to provide the service to different companies across the United States here.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Right. It's an interesting business model. Again, we've been talking to Vanessa Italia, who's president of Bio one. I'm Scotty Miles, the host of all things considered, franchising. Any closing thoughts?
Who picks up the phone and says, hey, Dinessa or Scotty, I want to learn more about bio one.
Where are we looking? I mean, you mentioned the executive model. The executive, obviously, people that may be involved in law enforcement or firefighters, police officers, maybe military type people. But is there anybody else that you've seen that has come into your business model that you mentioned? A housewife. But any other surprises, any other things that, any categories of people that you've seen that have come in?
[00:18:05] Speaker B: It's interesting, and maybe most franchiseors see this, but it's all over the place, right? As I look at my top performers, people always ask more than anything, I don't know if it's so much background as it is skill set. And so we're looking for people who, one, have sales and marketing mindset, two, are willing to follow a model. I think that's key in we all took a marketing course, right?
We've all balanced our checkbook. But being able to recognize, hey, we've already done the hard work and figured out the way to make this work. And so just follow, trust us. Follow the, when. When I see people veer off the model, man, it's expensive to get them back on, and they've invested.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Yeah, you make a great point, Vanessa, because I have this question and discussion with my
[email protected]. We go through this dialogue a lot in conversation about what if I fail? And obviously you want to go into business ownership with a very positive attitude. And I always like to use the phrase, failure is not an option. But in a franchise model, there's really one reason people fail, and it's because, like you said, they're just not following the system. They want to reinvent the wheel. And if you can go into franchising with an understanding that you want to delegate the processes and follow the processes, maybe come up with a good idea six months, twelve months down the road, that's great. But learn the systems, learn the processes, then you will be successful. So it's good that bio one focuses on that and making sure that people can follow a process, because that's the important part.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: It's huge.
[00:20:00] Speaker A: Yeah. It's funny because I tell clients, the reason that when you're investing in a franchise, the process can take 60 to 90 days isn't because could it be, do you want red or white? And buy it on Wednesday and pick it up on Thursday. But the idea of the 60 to 90 days is making sure that both franchiseor and franchisees are comfortable in the process.
And that's the only reason it takes 90 to 120 days.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: It's a long term relationship. I mean, I look at this and I say, hey, we date for 60 to 90 days, and with a ten year agreement that is sometimes longer than some marriages, yes, we say, let's make sure that we're good fits for each other. I think that's important.
[00:20:52] Speaker A: All right, Vanessa, real quickly, if somebody wanted to get a hold of bio one or learn more website, what's the best website they can go to? Absolutely.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: Biooneincfranchise.com. Best way to reach us. And then you can always reach out to me. Danessa
[email protected] as well.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: And then, of course, if anybody has additional questions, you can always reach out to me. Scotty Milas Denise, it's been great having you. We hope to get you back in the next six months or so just to get an update. But I find it to be a fascinating business model. And again, if somebody's really interested in getting into a business model, mean, and I don't mean it in a negative way, outside the box of what people think of a business model, this is a great start and a great organization. The training, the operational and marketing support is sensational. It's over the top. So thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: All right. This is Scotty Milas. I am your host of all things considered franchising, powered by scottmylasfranchisecoach.com. If you'd like to be a guest on all things considered franchising, feel free to visit my LinkedIn page or website, allthingsconceredfranchising.com. Scottmylasfranchisecoach.com is also a website to visit. If you're interested in learning and exploring business ownership, have some questions and want to kind of just kind of build that roadmap and business model to see what brands potentially could be a fit, feel free to reach out to me. You can also call me at 860-751-9126 I still use the phone. And two, you can also email me at
[email protected] this is Scotty Milas. Until next time, have a great day.
