Quit my six figure corporate sales job to buy a home service franchise. On pace to do $2M+ this year. AMA.
About 14 months ago I walked away from a stable six-figure corporate sales job and started a restoration and cleaning franchise.
No background in home services. No family business. No industry connections. Just a sales/marketing background, and some savings.
At the time, I knew absolutely nothing about restoration. I couldn’t tell you how drying equipment worked, how insurance claims operated, or what it actually took to run a service business. I just knew I didn’t want to spend the next 30 years wondering what would’ve happened if I took a shot on myself.
Fast forward to today and we have multiple crews running 24/7, several vehicles, a warehouse, and a business that should clear $2M in revenue this year. We also recently launched a second company because we realized we want to build something bigger long term in the home service space.
From the outside it probably looks like a success story. In a lot of ways it is. But I also think people online massively sugarcoat entrepreneurship.
Nobody really talks about the stress side of it. Wondering if cash flow is going to line up for payroll. Hiring someone you thought was a great fit and realizing they aren’t. Getting a call in the middle of the night because a pipe burst and your crew needs help. Fighting with insurance companies over claims while trying to take care of customers at the same time. Working constantly and still feeling behind.
There were definitely moments early on where I questioned whether leaving corporate was the dumbest decision I’d ever made.
I still think betting on yourself is worth it, but I don’t think enough people talk honestly about what it costs to build something. It’s stressful, exhausting, and there’s a level of responsibility that’s hard to understand until other people’s livelihoods depend on decisions you make every day.
Everybody wants the upside that comes with success, but very few people are actually willing to make the sacrifices it takes to get there once things stop being exciting and start getting hard. It’s easy to say you want freedom, money, or ownership when you’re watching entrepreneurship content online. It’s different when you’re stressed, exhausted, missing time with family, making decisions with incomplete information, and still showing up every day because people are depending on you.
I’m not a guru and I’m not selling anything. Just figured some people thinking about leaving corporate or buying a business might appreciate hearing from someone actually in the middle of it instead of another influencer pretending everything is easy.
AMA