There are some people who I admire from afar and others I get the opportunity to actually speak with and Aaron Harper, CEO of Rolling Suds, a power washing company, is the latter. When we first sat down together for the Freedom Formula Podcast I had to admit that I was slightly fanboy-ing. I’ve been following his journey and to be totally honest, I want to be Aaron when I grow up.
All jokes aside, Aaron is a franchising powerhouse and has helped several businesses scale and grow within very short timelines. Both businesses he was involved in before Rolling Suds (Chem-Dry was one of them) went on to become the biggest brands in the world in their respective industries, oftentimes within two years or less.
Yeah. The guy’s a powerhouse.
Why Franchising?
Aaron got his start in the film and television industry right after college. He was on the business side of things — working on actors’ and writers’ management teams. After five years he realized he didn’t want any of the things his bosses had, so he quit.
He knew he wanted to do something different but wasn’t ready to make the jump directly into entrepreneurship. When I asked him why he wanted to trade one job for another, he said he simply didn’t feel he had the skills needed to become a business owner just yet. It’s a lesson in going out there and learning on the job before getting involved in something he had no experience in. He took action, but it was cautious action.
I asked him how he got involved in the franchising world and he laughed and said, “I didn’t find franchising, franchising found me.” After he helped those other businesses scale and franchise, he finally felt he had enough experience to replicate the process. He wanted to find an existing business, partner with them, and build a franchise arm to help them grow too.
So, why franchising? Aaron says that he “loved the idea of being able to help people become business owners.” He wasn’t passionate about carpet cleaning, drywall, or even power washing. He was passionate about helping people live out their entrepreneurial dreams.
Building a Franchise (-ing Business)
Aaron says he wasn’t looking to buy a business he knew nothing about and then run it. He was looking for an owner who was really good at their business so that he could do what he was really good at, which is building franchise systems.
So he created a different business model, which is the franchise business. He would build teams and raise capital for a given organization, and structure it in a way where the founders have very little risk.
He says that he knows he’s good at creating systems around a business so it didn’t matter if it was power washing, insulation, painting, or any other home services company. He knew he could build a franchise system around any good business, no matter the niche.
The tricky part would be taking businesses with decades of experience and condensing all of that intellectual property into an operations manual that could be given to new franchisees.
In the case of Rolling Suds, Aaron already knew how to create the SOPS on the marketing, training and recruiting employees, and all of the things any good franchisor would do. What he needed to know was how to make a power washing business profitable. When Aaron came in, they had already built a $2 million company within 34 years. How to transfer all of that knowledge into an ongoing training and coaching program for people who don’t know anything about power washing?
They did it piece by piece and block by block. Aaron and the founders started with just one power-washing truck and figured out how to make it profitable before moving on to the next, and so on. Another lesson to be learned: instead of jumping from A to Z, begin by going from A to B, then B to C. Don’t rush the process.
Start with the End in Mind
Today, Aaron is the majority shareholder and CEO of Rolling Suds. He helped them open 128 locations in 24 states to 40 franchisees within 11 months. One of the most fascinating parts of his story is the fact that he has been able to scale businesses so quickly.
He says that he starts with a large team, much larger than he needs at the time. He says that he wants to “build the team before I needed the team.” Aaron chalks it up to having the foresight necessary to know where they will be in three years and what needs to happen now to get them there.
Aaron is also very meticulous in his franchisee selection. He notes that he gets approached by people who aren’t the right fit all the time — and while it’s difficult to turn down those six-figure signup checks, ultimately he knows that only bringing on really qualified franchisees with a similar mindset to him is the best way forward.
He only works with people who are serious about making the franchise their main gig and doesn’t believe you can build something super successful if you still want to cling to a high-paying day job. He adds that the franchisees who struggle the most are those who try to keep their job and hire someone else to run the business for them.
The ultimate goal is to set the franchisee up for success, work closely with them for as long as they need, and then let them do their thing. In order to do that, Aaron has to be quite selective about the owners he teams up with.
The final lesson learned after speaking with Aaron? Begin with the end in mind. When building his own team, he thought about his future needs. When selecting franchisees, he thinks about the end goal of letting them succeed on their own.
When you’re in the midst of building a business it can sometimes be difficult to get out of the weeds and think about the bigger picture. Aaron’s success is a testament to how beneficial having this sort of mindset can be.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
This article was written by Neel from MaidThis Franchise, a remote-local franchise opportunity for people looking to escape the rat race and reach financial freedom. Learn more here.
