Franchise Euphoria The Importance of Maintaining a Niche with Ken and Ryan Parsons of Brothers Gutters
Ken graduated college with a History degree in 1996 and began teaching shortly after. Ken kept busy in the summer working as a gutter installer for a local company. By the end of the season he became inspired to learn the gutter trade and start his own business. In 1999, Ken essentially threw his degree into the gutter and started the company that would later by called “The Brothers that just do Gutters”. By 2002, the business had achieved great success. Ken realized he needed a partner to take his operation to the next level. Who better to fill this role than his own brother, Ryan Parsons?
Ryan had just finished earning his degree when Ken began recruiting him to join the gutter trade. After working two years for a start-up as a graphic designer, Ryan agreed to team up with his big brother temporarily while searching for a new job. During this time, he came to share Ken’s vision and by 2004 he was co-owner of business. Ryan now holds the titles of both Co-Owner and Chief Solutionist©.
Key Takeaways:
[0:18] Today’s episode of Franchise Euphoria is brought to you by IndyFranchiseLaw.com, a leading resource in the franchise space. Head over to IndyFranchiseLaw.com learn more!
[1:06] Josh introduces today’s guests, Ken and Ryan Parsons, the co-founders of Brothers Gutters.
[1:33] Ken gives a brief overview of what led this duo to start their own gutters franchise.
[6:02] Initially Ken and Ryan were getting inquiries from clients about doing more than just gutters in their services, but they explain why this decision ultimately didn’t pan out in the end.
[9:00] A lot of the reason for Ken and Ryan’s “re-focus” had to do with the education they were receiving at the time. While they were interested in learning other trades, they were learning a lot about different business principles which encouraged them to select an industry of expertise they could focus on.
[11:58] Brothers Gutters focuses on both residential and commercial clients.
[14:33] The advantage Brothers Gutters has over someone who generally does housing work is that the level of expertise and care is unmatched.
[17:44] The ideal Brothers Gutter franchisee is someone who is in the gutter industry but they’re having problems systematizing and scaling their business.
[21:10] Ken touches on what it took to get them to a “passive” business where they can focus on other aspects of operations such as coaching the leaders they have hired to run the business.
[22:42] Ken and Ryan knew they wanted to franchise this business back in 2007 and then spent until 2014 crafting their model and perfecting the systems to make it a business that will run itself.
[28:31] If you want to learn more about Brothers Gutters, you can visit www.brothersfranchise.com.
[29:08] Thanks for listening, and please, reach out to Josh anytime through email at josh@franchiseeuphoria.com. If you enjoyed this interview, please leave us a review on iTunes.
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