[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of All Things Considered Franchising. I am your host and founder of the podcast Scotty Milas. All Things Considered Franchising is powered by Scottmylasfranchisecoach.com, a franchise consulting organization that specializes in working with individuals who are interested in researching business ownership, helping you build the business model, and introducing you to potential franchise opportunities, resales, and in some cases independent businesses that may be a best fit solution.
We have a guest today that I think you're going to find very interesting and a very unique brand. A gentleman who is gentleman, stefan Figley. He's President of 1800. Packouts. He is considered a global strategic marketing person, operation executive, growth, driver and results oriented leader. Brings a lot of strategic vision to businesses.
Stefan? I should say not Steven. Stefan, welcome to the show.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Thanks Scotty, I'm glad to be here. And thanks for bringing me know.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: When people think about Franchising, they have a tendency to color inside the box. Really not think outside the box or color inside the lines. We think about McDonald's, we think about some of the larger companies, subway. We get into service based brands. We think of things like Serve Pro and just kind of those people think there's maybe ten franchises out there, but there aren't. There are about 4000 brands and you bring a unique concept, a need, not a want to the market. And it's an interesting brand. 1800 Packouts, tell us a little about how you got involved with 1800 Packouts, how this came to develop, and then tell us a little bit about and then we'll get into a little bit more about the specifics of the brand.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: Sure. So my career had built into Franchising from the marketing side in general. So I worked with multiple brands just on marketing, moved over to corporate and marketing and then started working with franchisees. So that's how I got into Franchising. And then I've been in multiple brands that have to deal with the restoration world. And the restoration world is a little bit more than what people think it is, but in general it's when a catastrophe happens, a flooded house, a fire or something in those natures, a catastrophe, if you would.
And that generates a need, as you said, Scotty. And so I had some background in it. Five star. Franchising is the platform company. They acquired 1800 Packouts, and we're looking for a leader and through some connections and interviews hooked up with them. And my background kind of fit for what we were looking for, to try and grow 1800 Packouts inside of that restoration industry.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: That's pretty interesting. And again, you touched on and as I mentioned, a need, not a want. And the business model is unique in the sense that you're not going in and doing a restoration, you're providing a service for people to get prepared for restoration. So why don't you go into a little bit about what the services that the business model is providing because it is unique and a lot of people don't think about it. And the one thing that comes to mind, and I'm going to kind of tease the audience a little bit, is that for those of us who have ever moved, we know what a nightmare it can be. And the nightmare part is not actually the move, it's the preparedness or getting prepared to move. So talk about a little bit about how 1800 Packouts provides this need and this service, helping people in the situation that you just described.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Sure. So you hit it right on the head there, it's the preparedness of it and think about trying to move. But when there's been something catastrophic happen, there's been a flood or your floors are covered in two inches of water and you got to figure out what you got to move, how you have to move it, how do you keep it dry, how do you keep it safe, as those are your belongings. So it adds a little bit of added complexity to it.
The area that we focus on is content management. It's the policyholders content that's the biggest part of our business. So if there has been a disaster, we want to take care of getting that material out of the home or out of the business so that a restoration company can come in and make it back to its normal condition. So they get rid of the water, they get rid of the soot, whatever's there and then we can bring it back. But we deal with the entire preparation pack out, we bring it back to our locations, we clean it professionally with ultrasonic tanks. We're not just throwing it out in a pressure washer and doing that. That's not what insurance companies want or expect either would the consumer. And so we do the full cleaning and then we store it until we need to bring it back and get it ready for the homeowner or the business owner. And so that's the confined area that we work in. So we work with mitigation companies that are getting rid of the water or the mold and then we're really trying to take care of the consumers, the end consumers personal belongings or their business belongings.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: So let me make sure I clearly understand, so our audience clearly understands. We're talking to stefan Figley. Who's? President of 1800 packouts.
In the event of a flood, a fire, sadly, we're talking about, we talk about hurricanes, what's going on in Florida. So as a 1800 Packouts business, you're going in and packing up the item, personal items, whatever it may be, within the home business. I'm assuming you're working with businesses as well. Walk into a business, pack it up and store it. And then as far as the restoration, are you working as a contracting source to help people find the restoration or are you providing those services as part of the overall identity of the brand, what you're doing.
Yeah.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: So we don't do the restoration, as you said. So we are focused on that one portion of the entire process of such an occasion, a situation. Now, we can refer Mitigation companies if we are the first person that the first team that has been asked to come in. It works both ways. So sometimes a Mitigation company has already been called in either by the homeowner or the business owner, an insurance carrier, and they don't necessarily do the content portion or have the capability to do a large content portion within the industry. And then that's when sometimes we get called in at that juncture to go ahead and take care. I don't like to say we just pack it up. We want to take care of those belongings, whether they're business owners belongings or there are personal effects, like you said, those are important.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: Well, you can have artwork, heirlooms, things like that. Exactly. So it's not just your favorite coffee mug. It's exactly personal items. Okay, you got it.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: And so there's an empathy level that has to come with that because people are very connected to these items. So we take that into effect as well as we go through our process.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: Great. You have an interesting background, as you said in the opening. As we said in the opening. You have a strong digital well, you have a digital marketing background. A marketing background. You've dealt with franchisees, franchiseors.
You've been an independent business owner as well. When you kind of put it all into a cereal bowl or a cereal box, so to speak, and you look at franchising in general, I'm sure you've seen some transformations.
We've come out of a pandemic where we saw a boom and people opening businesses. But if someone's considering starting up a business on their own and independent, and there's nothing wrong with it, but when you look at franchising in general, brands that five star has, such as 1800 packouts, what are you seeing? And someone who comes from experience are the advantages of starting a franchise 1800 packouts versus saying, hey, I can do this on my own?
[00:09:17] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's a great question. And the whole point of the franchise system is you have a guideline, you have some starting point, some support from it. The biggest thing that I see in the franchising world is the network. You have to investigate. The network is corporate, and the network there to support you. And how are they offering that support? That is the key element that I've seen and would recommend over my career.
You said, I'm an independent owner. My wife still runs an independent company, not involved in a franchise, completely different industry. And we've just been going through it because of some certain aspects to her industry. And she's like, I don't have anybody to talk to. And I said, yeah, this is where my team and the network come in to help and she's like, we're now trying to figure it all out on our own in a completely different industry.
And you don't have to do that if you're in a franchise network, in a very strong franchise network, like you said, this is where you get to converse with other owners. You're teamed up with them, you're partnered with them, and you also get the benefit of the growth, of the value of the brand. Everybody's working together to build that brand. This is your investment as a business owner and an entrepreneur, so you're going to build yours. But a lot of these brands that are franchised are national or have some regional aspect to them. And so all the owners are benefiting from each other's performance. So it is everybody's benefit to encourage and support everybody in growth.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: So those are the I'm glad you brought that up
[email protected] and when we're working with individuals, we tell people that, yes, the item 19 is important. If the brand is supporting it, the financials are important, what's the return on investment? All that's important. But equally, if not more important, is the internal support that you're going to get from the brand to help you become very successful.
I kind of look at this as almost like dating your significant other.
When you meet them, they're either depending on what side of the aisle you're on, they're attractive, they're conversational, but there's a lot more to a relationship and there's a lot more to a business than just getting out there and knocking on a door and saying, hey, here, I'm here to pack up your house. So it's the internal support, I think, that plays an integral role in a validated decision process. Yeah.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: And I mean, different franchises take on different areas, right? If you get to the service providers, you can't define as a franchise or I can't define every element you will ever see in the restoration industry.
It's like we need as a newer owner, you will not have experienced some of these things and you may get caught into something that is very unique and that's when you want to contact corporate, you want to be saying, hey, have you seen this before?
And if we have, we may have a franchise owner that has seen that and how they handled it and we want to put them in touch with another franchise owner sometimes. And so as folks look and investigate different opportunities, I think that's a very big element that needs to be dug into. Not like you said, the item 19, sure it's important, you got to check the validity. But it's what else is out there? Who are these folks that are validating for the brand? How many times do you contact or get contacted by a newer franchise owner? Those are questions that I would dig into a little bit deeper.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: Yeah, the toolbox. What else is in the toolbox? I mean, it's great to have a hammer and a screwdriver. But you're not going to be able to do a lot with just a hammer and a screwdriver. You need a lot of other services. The marketing side, the operational side, kind of that support team that if you do have some troubleshooting or a project you're working on something unique, there's somebody to pick up the phone and talk to. Let's talk a little bit about the character and background of some of your franchisees and where you're seeing one of the big questions.
As a consultant, I get from my clients, everybody wants the best of everything.
I want to invest $50,000 and make a half a million dollars a year. And I don't want to work. Well, we all dream, but coaching people about a reality. So one of the big things right now is that semi absentee label, that definition, and I think people have to understand that are interested in opening a franchise is that if you're going to open a McDonald's, McDonald's doesn't expect you to behind the grill, you're providing oversight. So talk about the expectations, the types of franchisees background, work environment, corporate blue collar that you're seeing coming into 1800, packouts.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: So currently we have a very wide variety coming in.
Historically speaking. We've had a lot of folks that expanded from that Mitigation or that restoration portion of the industry and they noticed that they really need to get expertise around the content or the packout side of the business that that was becoming more and more important. And that's where Packouts kind of grew from and became a franchise system. But we're seeing folks from all different aspects. So we're talking blue collar, sales oriented folks.
Corporate exits is another area, so we're seeing them coming from all over. But a big question that I'm asked as I go through the validation and the evaluation of candidates for a franchise, et cetera, is how will I fit in? What are the biggest hurdles that you face coming into this industry? And it's networking, it's less of the operations. The marketing is there. You said it like with the McDonald's, they gave you the recipe to how to be successful.
In my opinion, I think there's an element that you have to be involved a little bit unless you really know the industry so that you can help train and find the right people to put into your organization. We want to know if you want to be a semi absentee or start to be an absentee owner.
But we don't expect that necessarily right out of the gate in our business. But if that's your goal, then my job on that is to evaluate if you've got a reality to get there. Not just like, here's my money, make it happen, it should happen, what are you going to do to step yourself into that semi absenteeism or absenteeism?
And I think you're going to find that in a lot of the service industry versus like a restaurant or a food industry from the franchise system, there's going to be a difference, right?
[00:16:28] Speaker A: Absolutely. I agree with you. I would say that you're spot on, Stefan, that it's one thing to project out 1218 24 months. I don't want to work as much as I am. I want to cut back. I want to hire somebody to help me run the business. Get it? Understand. But it's really important to get into the weeds of the business initially, learn the business, and it sounds like, and correct me if I'm wrong, that a great quality for somebody to have coming into this business model is what I call that sales aptitude, that networking ability. So if you're not willing to go out and shake hands with anybody or hand out a business card or go to a Chamber event or a BNI event or whatever it may be, this may not be the opportunity. And that focuses more on the retail side of somebody who may be interested in a retail business. Am I correct to think that?
[00:17:24] Speaker B: I think that's possible, but I also think that it depends. Are you a good manager? Are you a good logistics operational manager for our business? And if you identify that and you say, I know that I'm not as strong on that sales side or that networking side, well, let's go find that right person that you employ. That's probably the first employee that you need to be putting on. It's not an end all, be all like if you're not in sales, you're not in our business, you don't want to be in our business. There's a lot to our business that has more operational management.
So I don't think it's the end all, but it's also identifying those folks that have identified that themselves.
And as a business coach and what you've done, I'm sure you see this all the time. Do you know who you are?
[00:18:16] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: That is extremely important for entrepreneurs to know what they're really good at and what they're not as good at, and then go get some people that can help you and put them around you that fill those holes a little bit.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: You're absolutely find somebody who is right. I think a lot of people have a tendency to focus on more of what they're not good at than what they're good at and don't realize that they could be good at something because they've been told you're not good at.
So there are a lot of twists and turns. Stefan, any last minute thoughts? We're running out of time here, but anything else you want to share? About 1800 packouts the franchising industry.
Maybe tell us how someone can get in contact with you to learn more, the website, or best way to get in contact with you. Again, we appreciate your time here.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: No, I really appreciate you having me on. We're happy to be part of the franchising world. Five star franchising. Our platform company has really been supportive in that and we're continuing to grow. So if you're looking for any information on us, we're online. One eight hundredpackouts.com, pretty simple. One of the other things being named with a 1800 in front of you is pretty straightforward and simple number. We're here 24/7.
If there's an interest, just give us a ring, find us online. It's very simple and we're happy to reach out and get back in touch with everybody, so really appreciate it, Scotty.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Yeah, well, thanks for coming on board. We hope to get you back in the next six months. To get an update, we've been talking to Stefan Figley, who's president of 1800 Packouts. I am Scotty Milas, the host of All Things Considered Franchising, and the founder of Scottmilosfranchisecoach.com.
You can contact me at 860-751-9126 or reach out by email
[email protected] or visit the website scottmilosfranchisecoach.com.
Stefan, thanks again, appreciate your time. Until next time, all continued success on building out the brand, I think it's an awesome story and it's certainly an awesome brand and I look forward to staying in touch.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: Really appreciate it, scotty, thanks a lot.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: Thank you and to the audience, thank you for listening and until next time, this is Scotty Milas signing off.
