Nick Lopez with LIME Painting

Intro: Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio. It’s Franchise Marketing Radio. Ready to revolutionize your franchise with AI? Franchise now empowers franchises with advanced AI solutions, automatic processes, and enhanced marketing strategies. From personalized customer interactions to predictive analytics, we help you harness AI to drive growth and efficiency. Transform your franchise with the power of AI. Visit Franchise Now to learn more and take your business into the future. Now here’s your host.

Rob Gandley: Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio where we spotlight the trailblazers transforming the franchise landscape. I’m your host, Rob Ganley, and today we’re diving into a conversation that’s all about Craftsmanship, credibility and category disruption. Our guest is someone who’s redefining what painting means in the world of franchising. He is the founder and CEO of a premium brand that serves the top 1% of homes, blending artistry, professionalism and a scalable business model to deliver results that speak for themselves. Please welcome Nick Lopez, founder of LIME Painting. Welcome to the show.

Nick Lopez: All right. Thanks for having me.

Rob Gandley: It’s great to have you. And, you know, the audience might not know, but I. I know you pretty well. We’ve known each other for a number of years. I wasn’t around when you launched things. So it’s amazing to see where things have gone and many of your assumptions and your, I’ll say, your gut feel as an early entrepreneur were, I think, proving themselves to be correct. And the way you position in the markets, we’re going to break that down. But let’s just start with the beginning. Let’s talk about the origin of all this. How did you wind up creating this brand? And tell us a little bit about how it all merged.

Nick Lopez: Ah, thank you for saying all that, Rob. And it was fun, uh, working with you. Really, as we were emerging, uh, we hadn’t quite yet awarded a territory. And, yeah, we we, uh, did quite a bit of projects and developed a friendship. Most certainly. And so I, you know, when you mentioned seeing the evolution of the brand and, uh, you know, some of the, the vision, you know, that coming into fruition and, and seeing that all play out. But my goodness. Yeah. My story starts in college. I am from Denver, but I was out of state student first generation and, uh, had maxed out a $500 credit card just to get my flight out to East Lansing. I went there and wrestled my freshman year. I was a preferred walk on, and my, uh, hope was that I would get a scholarship and that would pay my way through school. The reality was that I didn’t get a scholarship my freshman year, and I maxed out all my credit cards. So I started a painting company, uh, called Spartan College Painters. I know, real creative. Being a Spartan going to Michigan State and I, you know, I looked at the bigger the home, the bigger the college bills. It would help me pay. And that was really my logic. And it was, you know, it was 2008, middle of the Great Recession. Keep in mind this is Michigan, the auto industry. And so it was certainly an interesting Time. You know, I’m 18. I clearly very little experience or really none.

Nick Lopez: And I folks trusted me and allowed me to paint their home, thankfully. And you know, there’s nominal barriers to entry. I quickly learned and so I kept hearing customers say things like, hey, Nick, thanks for showing up. Thanks for answering your phone. Thanks for doing a good job. And on the back end, you know, they they, uh, just, uh, gave me very basic compliments. And as an 18 year old, you just love those compliments. They keep you going. And I that built, uh, on itself. And I eventually got into my business degree where I was sitting in a marketing class and my professor was talking about positioning. And I just thought about my experience. And, uh, he talked about two accesses, one being price, one being quality. If you’re high price, high quality, that’s your lane. That’s where you stay. There is a difference between a Toyota Camry and a Mercedes-Benz, right? And, uh, it’s really the positioning in the auto industry. It’s an easy one to relate it to. And, uh, painting is no different. But in my experience, you know, I looked at the compliments I was getting, the nominal experience, uh, early on, obviously, that, uh, changed over time, but, um, that, uh, was, uh, clearly a gap there. And, uh, even though I was inexperienced, I did due diligence. Painting is not rocket science. I put my best foot forward. I cared about people. I served them well. I did what I said I was going to do, and fundamentally that was already a competitive advantage.

Nick Lopez: And, you know, you know, and I’m in my business classes learning about just that competitive advantage. So I got curious about national companies that were focused on that sector. And I couldn’t find any. And so I talked to a mentor of mine and he said, Nick, you have to read this book. Uh e-myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. And that’s where I learned about franchising and specifically being in business for yourself, but not by yourself. That was a model that I just loved. I, I grew up an athlete. I loved the locker room aspect. And uh, for me, franchising put it all together. And that was back in 2010 where I really committed to franchising. Uh, moved home to Denver in 2013 and launched lion painting. So ran a Spartan College. Painters eventually worked with other folks across Michigan from different universities to run, you know, their, um, kind of sector within Michigan. But, uh, moved home and, and launched lime and really spent those first four years proving out the unit economics and, uh, really leveling up the business and, you know, proving it out, uh, and, uh, getting it ready to scale. And then I joined the IFA, and I joined the franchise hub, where I met you, and I went through an incubation phase of preparing to scale over a couple of years. Such a fun time and, uh, such an important period in our brand. And what has created high, you know, so much opportunity for folks that for me was, uh, something that I had recognized in college and wanted to solve that problem in the market and deliver value to an underserved market that likes to pay more, to get more.

Nick Lopez: They don’t like to overpay, but they care about quality. And clearly, home improvement could benefit from being leveled up. I in terms of having a luxury sector. I again Mercedes-Benz you can think Uber black. Um, and uh, yeah, we really started scaling in Q4 of 2020 and uh, reached the century mark. Uh, we’re working on uh, 200 locations currently. Uh, we’re we’re a high growth company. Uh, we want to do it in a diligent manner and to do it in a collaborative manner and to do it in a genuine manner that sets us up to collaborate with our partners and deliver a service in the market that it has shown across our states that we’re open in that the value that I seen in Michigan and in Denver, you know, it’s translated to so many territories and, uh, frankly, to, uh, so many, uh, awesome people’s lives. And that’s been the the best part is seeing the way that it, uh, not only changed my life, but, uh, has changed, uh, so many different, uh, folks lives across different parts of the country. And that that, for me, is why I got into franchising to make a difference, to do good. And, uh, so that’s what we’re doing. We’re making history by defining the luxury sector in the home services space.

Rob Gandley: You said so many good things in that in that answer. One of the things that I just had in my head was the and I know you’re a wrestler, right? So you’re like, I kind of like that locker room. And I’m thinking that’s exactly what a franchisee is like. It is like you, but you got to be a wrestler, though, because it’s a little different. You’re the only one out on the mat. And so, you know, in a way you’re the franchisee is yes. They got everybody around them to support them. But they got to show up and and execute, you know, the plan. But I thought that was a great analogy. If you were to pick a sport, I think that’s one of the best sports to pick. Um, but really cool. Um, but yeah, no, I mean, I know it’s it’s been, uh, it’s funny you said, uh, yeah, they liked me because I showed up and I answered my phone and I did a good job. Um, you took that to a true premium brand, right? Just doing what’s expected, which should be expected. And I understand in the home services business it’s not always the case with certain independent people. But but still then you took it further, right? You took it into line painting, which is a premium brand. I wanted to ask you about the branding, right. Because you had line painting when we met. Like you had that pretty well vetted. You had the logo. I always just remember feeling that’s how it felt to me like this. These guys are about premium. Tell me a little bit about how you’ve maintained that. How did you grow that? So in other words, I feel like the brand was there and you kind of just fit this big network into it, right? But how have you kept that going over these last several years and making sure that that is reflected in what you build.

Nick Lopez: Right. It’s hard to not stray away from the, the, the lime way. Right? But what’s made us great serving our sector, we’re really good at serving our clients. And it’s simple. We’re the friendly neighborhood painter that’s an expert, and we’re values driven. So Get Lined is a slogan that we live by at lime. It’s something that all of our owners, uh, frankly, anybody within our organization, uh, agrees to do business in that posture. Uh, you know, it stands for gratitude, enthusiasm, tenacity, love, integrity, mission excellence and discipline. Uh, you mentioned the wrestling. And, you know, that’s probably the grit that you’re speaking to. And, you know, being in a in a service based company, it’s not a sexy company, uh, per se. It’s not a cool company, per se. But, um, yeah, it is an old school contracting company. We’re a blue collar company, but we’re certainly bringing white collar sophistication and, um, really leveling up the customer experience. And, uh, that’s what we that’s how we look at it, you know, just serving our customers and bringing more value. It’s crazy to think that I’ve been doing this now, serving this customer base for just about two decades. Uh, and so we’re just continuing to level up and, uh, within a franchise organization that’s the incredible, um, benefit of a franchise, the collaboration that happens across, um, so many different regions and there’s so many skills and experience. And, uh, so if we can unite behind our process and double down there, uh, now we can leverage all of the ownership talent across the franchise. But it’s a commitment to serving each other in a posture that is collaborative and united on the customer versus, you know.

Nick Lopez: You know, hey, I’m right, you’re right. Uh, my idea, your idea within a franchise organization or frankly, any really, um, but specifically a franchise where there’s shared ownership and there’s, uh, franchise partners and, uh, it’s just a unique model. And so you really have to be intentional about, um, you know, having a healthy, collaborative approach, but also having the systems and the infrastructure to have the feedback and then to implement it. Um, and, but, but that’s the the power of a franchise. Um, you know, our job as a franchisor is to go wide, award as many, uh, territories to qualified partners. And our partners, their job is to be number one, to be the the best friendly neighborhood painter. That’s an expert. And, uh, for us, that’s in a sector that has been highly fragmented. You know, a lot of ma and pa inconsistent experiences for the customer. And so by us uniting behind the lime Way and doubling down on our resources, and you see the power behind a national organization, you know, versus a solo, um, company. And, uh, that’s what’s really given us the success that we have. It’s our franchise partners and, uh, their alignment with our vision and what we’re doing here at lime. And so, you know, our job is to find as many folks that are passionate about that and and being just that, uh, the best friendly neighborhood painter that’s an expert for our luxury sector.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. Very cool. So that. But everything you’re saying sounds easy. Like the way you’re explaining. Oh, yeah. That’s it. But I, I know, like, in the beginning and you’re the leader, you know, you got your team around you. Which the franchisor side. Right. The home office. And then you’ve got the network. Right. And it did build up over time. But um, you, you know and I know you and I know you, you are a person of integrity. Right. And that is going to always be more important than any material gain. Right? For, for you. You have to have both. So I know that your standard is high. So just in terms of helping the team around you adopt that and that being down then downstream to the franchisee. So they then embody that. How do you do that? Is there something you can share that you kind of learned? Because I’m sure you didn’t have all the answers in the beginning, but is there something you’ve used to kind of help others lead the way you lead? Is there something that you know works well to make that happen.

Nick Lopez: Yeah. Our our owners get stuff done, right. Their leaders, their, you know, um, and you know, they’re going to come in and execute and operate and execute on the playbook. Um, which is not easy to your point, right. It takes intentional effort to be a business owner and to be a successful business owner, of course. But up front, there has to be alignment around, hey, you’re passionate and committed to being the best friendly neighborhood painter that’s an expert, and you’re aligned behind these values because if so, you can plug into our training. You can go through our onboarding. We have an entire business growth blueprint, uh, you know, which is all, uh, complemented by certifications and, uh, you name it. But that is the line weight. That is a franchise where you have access to training and support, mastermind groups, collaboration forums, uh, you know, a board of advisors working on the vision, a leadership group, a support team that is committed to, uh, everything that goes into running a national company. But even at home office. Right. I just talked about our franchise partners. But even home office there is alignment around, uh, that commitment to supporting our franchise partners in, uh, doing just that, going through our playbook and becoming a, a business owner within our, uh, empire model, within our growth platform.

Rob Gandley: Yeah, yeah. Now that’s, um, uh, like I said, getting rallying the troops under one common thought process is, much more difficult than it sounds, but it’s so important. And like, if I talk to other people, I know they’re going to say a lot of the same things you’re saying, which is the point. It’s like, but getting that done, I can always tell when when a culture is like that and people really embody the whole point right, of the brand. And I love that. So thank you. Thank you for sharing that. And I know that’s come and it’s still something you work on. You got to keep working on it.

Nick Lopez: But always always being humbled Rob every day. My gosh. Yep.

Rob Gandley: Absolutely absolutely right. Which which makes it fun right. We’re we’re both we both love franchising and and love what it offers. And it’s a it’s a continual process of learning. Uh, but it’s about people and relationships, which ultimately I believe is really why we’re all here. I mean, beyond that, uh, it’s kind of what are we doing? But it’s those relationships. And I think franchising is is amazing because it offers so many unique relationships and very gratifying ones. So you had mentioned that earlier where, um, you know, you’re seeing now some people, you know, not only have you have a big network, but you’ve got people now running these businesses for a while. They are the number one person in their market. They’re the people think painting. They they think of a lime van or the logo. And by the way, I just think it’s such a fresh brand. I always felt that it hasn’t. He said it wasn’t very sexy. And you’re right. I mean, home services really aren’t, but man, you made it about as sexy as you can make it. I don’t think anyone made there’s not as sexy or painting brand right than lime painting. So congrats on that idea. Um, but anyway. All right, so let’s keep going. Uh, let’s break down a little bit. How has. And I know you and I both share this passion, but we both like technology, right? And I know that we like to use technology where it can make the difference. Right, with those relationships with our customers making an impact. So tell me a little bit more how you’re how you’re managing things through this technological Change that. We’re all going through that at a level that’s really beyond anything we’ve seen, and it’s been going on since the day you were in business, really. You know, it’s always been a factor. But tell me a little bit more about how you’re leading. I guess start with is basic is how do you even figure out what to focus on, like because there’s probably a ton of stuff coming at you all the time. So how do you zero in on the things that matter.

Nick Lopez: Right? Yeah. You have to figure out what matters, what your strengths are, and then do everything you can to delegate to folks that can do it better. And that takes time, of course. Um, but I yeah, that’s that’s a big part of it. Certainly. Yeah.

Rob Gandley: So in terms of, in terms of like if you are evaluating like technologies or whether or not I mean, I’m sure franchisees have ideas. And you talked about interacting with them and like you said, very smart people, like they come from places that you’re like, whoa, like that background, right? I used to be a rocket scientist. Now I decided to have a line painting or something. But, I mean, there’s always very unique people and they’re very, very accomplished in many ways. And so you can learn a lot. So like, you know, how do you deal with anybody, like when you hear, hey, there’s this cool whizzbang thing I saw or this other company I know, does this thing like, how do you assess, how do you know? Alright, that’s worth time. No, that’s not worth time. And while still keeping that encouragement of hey, let’s collaborate. Like how do you balance that?

Nick Lopez: Right. If it if it doesn’t make you excited and and it’s draining you, you shouldn’t be doing it right. That’s what you should be delegating. And so that’s a good check uh, for I think the most recent one. Eventually I got to a point with my inbox where I just realized that it, uh, there were other things that I should be focused on, and so just systematizing and delegating something like that frees up so much mental bandwidth and that, you know, being the visionary at lime. We work off of iOS and you know, we implemented it back in 2020. And so, you know, our integrator, um, myself, you know, we’re um, you know, doubling down on our, uh, strengths. And for me, that strategy and vision. So you talk about technology. I just love using AI as a filter and an enhancer for architecting our vision, our strategy. Uh, and, yeah, that’s been such a, uh. Really? Gasoline? It’s a propeller for how? What we’re doing. And so that’s been a way that I’ve implemented technology and have leveled up personally.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. So, uh. And what you said was very profound. I, I, you know, it’s something I find myself and I kind of I’m in the, I, you know, transformation big picture stuff, right? I, you know, it’s a little bit of everything, but it’s a lot to do with mindset right now, people understanding how to leverage it. And one of the things you just mentioned was the strategy and the vision and the, you know, sort of architecting and brainstorming and, and really shortcutting the process of the thinking. Right? Because guys like you and I, we’ll be thinking a lot. We’re creative. We have ideas. Right? It’s always flowing. It’s hard to shut it off. In fact, one time Elon Musk was interviewed and he’s like, I don’t think anyone wants to be me because, like, you wouldn’t want to be in my head. He said a comment like that because it was just constant storm of information. Like he just to kind of zero in. Right. But it is it’s an issue. But that’s the thing is that I in many ways I think will simplify technology. It’ll remove the noise if you so use tech to simplify tech. Right in a sense. So it kind of helps you make those decisions a little quicker, see it a little clearer, right? Why am I putting energy into that? I really should just focus on this or no, we’re good where we are and maybe we level up or whatever it is, but it gets you get to that clarity really quick. So I think that’s a really good piece of advice is like, go there, brainstorm with it, interact.

Rob Gandley: And it just helps you think clearer in a faster way. So I thought that was that was important. But I think a lot of people don’t do it yet. And I think that’s a disadvantage, especially for leaders like yourself. Um, so that’s that’s really cool to hear. So with, with all this, you know, going on. Right. There’s still just this evolution of people. Right? So like our buying patterns, the way we assess working with people, you know, in the consumer world it’s evolving. Right? I mean, you know, if you look at these big platforms like Amazon that has changed our our habits, our expectations of how we, you know, evaluate quality and all these things or what we want, how Now. How is the home services business evolving over these years? I know you’ve been in it for almost two decades, and you know, what would you say is something you can point to that is maybe measurably different? I know a lot of the same things, right? But you know, what is sort of evolving and what do you have your eye on in terms of just being ready for that? Like, you know, how does the buyer buy? Like, are they buying a little differently? Are they expecting a little differently? You know what I mean. Like how do you see things evolving, especially with things like AI and which makes the consumer even smarter now, right. They can even get to information even better. Right. So but anyway, what are your thoughts on that?

Nick Lopez: Oh, that’s an easy one. It’s it’s definitely been technology. Just seeing the way that technology has propelled the industry. It’s been awesome. And what has been innovative over many iterations for us across our tech stack. Uh, you know, the industry, uh, We’re constantly having to iterate is my point, because technology is ever changing and making things simpler and easier, more efficient. And and so for us, we’re always trying to get the edge by implementing the latest, greatest. And if it works for us, we double down on it. If it doesn’t, you know, we double down on what has and we’re on to the next. But technology is an amplifier and it certainly propelled our growth. And I’ve watched it, uh, really level the playing ground and give so much more value to customers, which is what it’s all about. Improving the customer experience and technology has played a big part of helping the blue collar space become a little bit more, uh, professionalized and that that white collar sophistication that that makes a customer experience that much more, uh, you know, they they have that much more peace of mind.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. And you know, what you were saying earlier is like, you’re very simple about it, but it was like, yeah, they they thanked me for calling, answering the phone and showing up on time. But you know what? Running a business like this is hard. It’s not always easy to balance all those things if you don’t have the systems, processes and technology to do it. So in a very fundamental level, it’s what enables that consistency. Right? Where you know that that that guy’s on time, he does good work. You know, he answers my questions. I it’s all those basic things. And then above that is the delight right. It’s the this is when people leave the great reviews and refer you to people. And so it becomes your quality becomes your part of your marketing. Right. So I wanted to talk a little bit about marketing just to, you know, we don’t have to go into I know there’s so much you could cover, but like just in a very simple way. What would you say is your core marketing model? And I know that you had when we worked together originally. I know there were some key things, some simple, straightforward approaches. And I’m just wondering like what is like sort of the simple version of the short answer of what does that franchisee need to focus on his first year when it comes to sales and marketing? How do you approach that, that line?

Nick Lopez: Yeah. You know, from a tech perspective, it’s automation, right? Automation that complements our, uh, you know, proven, uh, lead acquisition strategies.

Rob Gandley: Got it, got it. And, you know, I remember. So you talk about automation, you know, is it still like a big focus. And I know other home services brands. And I talked to different brands like this, but a lot of it has to do with the community you’re in. Right. So like you’re you’re in a community that you can either go into it. And I know a lot of times door knocking or leaving, leaving things on doorknobs or those types of interactions with the community, right. With the people, uh, kind of become the mayor, right. But then once you do get that first client in that neighborhood, well, that becomes an advertisement in a sense, right? I would assume. And so then the quality and what they’re saying about you and their experience is being shared. Now, that kind of multiplies throughout the the sphere there, that that local sphere, is that a big part of what you guys focus on is, is just ensuring that you’re you’re doing like once you get that deal, make sure you’re doing amazing job because the neighbors are right nearby. And hopefully you get three, four, five in every neighborhood or whatever it looks like. But like, tell me, is that a big focus of of the model?

Nick Lopez: Right. We we certainly want to compound uh, that is important. Doing a good job providing value customers uh, refer and recommend. And, uh, when we’re the friendly neighborhood painter that’s an expert. We do a great job at that. Uh, everything takes care of itself. And, uh, the number one indicator of growing a big business is referral and repeat business. And you’re not always in year one getting your first customers. The great thing is you’re in the market for ten plus years, and you’ll come to serve clients in the same neighborhoods, and you will be that friendly neighborhood painter.

Rob Gandley: And so with your model, I know it’s a lot to do with the esthetic beauty, because the homes you you paint are beautiful, right? Um, and so that’s a great look, much like a restaurant. You know, they have the beautiful food they can show pictures of. And I know you guys have a lot of great content around the work you do. Um, so I know that’s probably part of it. Um, so I guess, I guess the thought is, um, you know, beyond And the the actual doing the work right and doing a good job. Therefore it’s sort of a the the poster for the local area there. But but what have you found outside of that that, you know, I don’t know more more pointing towards digital. Right. Just to kind of understand like is there something that works well for a business model like this that’s related to digital? Right. Is it more social media? Is it more search related stuff? I’m sure there’s certain things you you believe you need to have foundationally, what does that look like. And and how do you guide and direct your franchisees.

Nick Lopez: Right. Um, this is exciting for us at lime. We’ve been, um, such a, um, a an in the market, uh, company. And, uh, now that we’ve grown and reached our franchise owner base, uh, that we’re currently at, and know, we’ve implemented our brand fund and so everybody pays 2% into the brand fund. And that allows us to develop, um, more proven lead acquisition strategies that, you know, just provide more leads, more appointments, uh, for our franchise partners, uh, our Franchise Advisory Council has been critical in designing that and making sure that it’s what our franchise partners want, uh, as well as just our strategy for the company and the department. I know we talked about EOS, uh, and, and so that that’s been a big, uh, level up for us, uh, in, uh, really building out, uh, more social media, uh, support on the local level, uh, as well as SEO, because those are really the two best digital, uh areas. Although they’re very expensive, they’re very competitive. When you want to continue to grow on the unit level, at least for us, you know, now, you know, we’ve implemented our brand fund and that’s going to do just that, take our brand to the next level. Uh, we we have a very experienced board of advisors that have helped us, uh, to implement it at a world class level. Our franchise partners are are really excited about it. And at the end of the day, it’s about improving the customer experience in, in, uh, communicating how we can deliver that value, uh, on a unit level. And so the fact that we are where we are without such a simple part of I’m a, I’m a marketing major. So, uh, for me, though, you know, being founder and bootstrapped and, uh, being really good at our acquisition strategies, we’ve really just focused on scaling that core part of our business. And, uh, now we’re we’re going to become monsters with marketing as well.

Rob Gandley: Yeah, yeah. No, you need the momentum. You need the the network, you know, and and what you just said simplifies a very complicated landscape. I mean, you know, like you said earlier, your inbox becomes ridiculous with all these places you supposedly can advertise better, right? Get higher quality leads or what have you. But there is a need to innovate. There’s a need to test, there’s a need to pilot, and you can’t not do it. And part of the Home office, uh, almost any brand would say is to try to, you know, prove those things out. And if they start to work at a small level, then you can roll them out at a larger level. But, you know, as a small business owner, forget it. Trying to keep up just with new Google strategies. Just just Google ads. It’s just that, right? It would be overwhelming. Too many things to talk about. So it’s great to have the brand to be able to do that. And it sounds very positive because you just need to be able to test and prove things out and then do it and do it at a large level. So that’s that’s tremendous. Um, yeah.

Nick Lopez: Do it and do it in collaboration. Rob. Do it. Do it in collaboration. That that’s key. You know, I love coming on these shows and sharing all these tips and tricks. Uh, I know the vast majority of folks won’t implement, um, but the ones that will I know it’ll improve our, our, um, our space. And the better that our space gets. Uh, that’s just good for everybody. Uh, franchising is does so many wonderful things. And so I always love sharing, uh, best practices in all my best practices have come from lessons learned, tons of mentors that that have their own lessons learned. And I love to learn from those ones and not the personal ones. But if I can share some learnings, uh, that that is, uh, certainly, uh, a high priority for me. And if I could do it in collaboration with you, that’s even better.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. No doubt. No doubt. I mean, one great tip I got from a previous guest was he thought that the marketing teams at brands should collaborate more. Like they should as a as an industry, right? We should all like how can we help each other? Because franchising in general, uh, is great for communities. It’s great for people. Right? And I just yeah, it’s like like you said, I mean, you know, the local franchisee, his job is to be, you know, the number one person, the guy, the person people think of. But there’s a huge network, almost a family of people that they interact with that, that they make a difference to. And so all of this kind of funnels in again, it’s about relationships, right? Yes. We’re providing painting another person’s providing restaurants and other persons providing children’s care and so forth. Right? All important, but they’re all local community based things that we all. So anyway, that’s why I love franchising and I appreciate it. So to kind of piggyback on what you just said, I know. So you have a book, right? And you talk about leadership a lot. Is there any, you know, just for guys like you? I mean, you’ve now done something that’s very hard to do in franchising or in any business, right? We all we know the stats of like the failure rates of things and all that. So you’ve gotten to this place where you can look back and say, yeah, I’ve learned from others, but I’ve also learned from good old Nick teaching Nick, you know, some new lessons. So, like, what would you share with other leaders like you or even, like you said, other, maybe other companies in home services that really have it on their heart to do a franchise? What would be the advice you might share as a leader?

Nick Lopez: Oh, wow. I would share, Make sure that you have done your due diligence on what it means to be a franchisor versus, you know, whatever it is that you do could be health and wellness, fitness, home services. When you start to scale and go into franchising, you hear it all the time. It’s a totally different business. Uh, and so that should be taken with the utmost diligence. And, and, you know, you definitely want to prepare to put your best foot forward. You or your group and partners, however you’re going about it for me, just solo founder led. But, um, my gosh, it’s been an obsession. Uh, I don’t think I took a Saturday off in my 20s. Uh, you met me in that time period. I started franchising. I was 29 when we started scaling. But I met you right before that and I, you know, all the way back to 2018, I was probably, uh, I don’t know how many over a decade into this franchise vision to scale and deliver value to, to our client base. And, uh, that is a, a great responsibility. And so when you go into a franchise partnership, uh, it is the most powerful growth model, uh, in the world, really. And but it has to be done in alignment, uh, through values, skill set and, and, uh, really thorough expectations.

Nick Lopez: Uh, and look, you’re not going to be perfect. Your first ten franchise, uh, partners. Right. But your partners know that. And you work in collaboration and you work in collaboration with your partners over different phases. And so that’s a great responsibility not only to our customer, but to our franchise partners, their employees, the home office, uh, we impact a lot of people in a lot of communities. And that’s why franchising is so collaborative in nature. Right? The industry within an organization. It’s rooted in collaboration. And, uh, you know, the franchise relations piece, vendor relations, uh, industry relations. It’s it’s a it’s a great space to be in. And, uh, it’s only getting started in so many ways. It’s it really, uh, is a transformative, uh, growth vehicle to do good in communities and to improve the customer experience. And with AI and automation, it’s only going to be it’s only going to accelerate, uh, the value that franchising brings to communities. Uh, marketing’s going through so many different awesome changes. I feel like us implementing our brand fund and doubling down on marketing, it’s so it’s so plug and play these days. Uh, it’s a it’s really a great time to be in franchising. To be in business.

Rob Gandley: Yeah I love it. Yeah. It is the it is like the resistance. Like the things that would slow your idea flow down and your ability to take action and see things work or not work. It’s much easier with AI, right? It has made life a bit easier, especially for, uh, the marketing side of things. Just all the content and all the different things you’re trying to get done. And yeah, it just it does break those barriers down. So it’s going to be fun. I’m going to enjoy it too. So we’re going to be we’re going to be learning from each other. I can’t yeah. Can’t wait. But so, um, you know, you talk about.

Nick Lopez: You talk about where I spend my time. Rob. That’s where I spend it nowadays. Try to protect as much of my time and focus on technology and marketing.

Rob Gandley: Yeah, I love that. That’s my passion right there. The the tech shaped marketer. I’ve always been that guy. They didn’t have that name back in, you know, 2000. But it was this weird blend of having some technical skill and loving marketing and sales. So but then I learned franchising and then put it all together and I’m enjoying my life, so it’s been great.

Nick Lopez: But yeah.

Rob Gandley: But I tell you, you you you made a comment. I said, you’re in good company because another guy made a comment like that and he’s very well known guy named Bill gates. And he said, he goes, I don’t think I took a weekend off my first ten years. So you’re right in there, man. That’s hey, there’s the there’s the key. Just don’t work. Don’t take off for ten years. There you go. Right. But it takes passion. It takes commitment and conviction. And you had that. And so, you know, it’s not really work when you’re when you’re just being who you’ve been called to be. So that’s good. Um, so looking ahead and as we wrap up, I want to make sure you have a minute just to share with the audience just a little bit more about where you see the brand going and where you’re expanding. And if there’s priorities in the country where you’re really focused on. But tell me a little bit more about some of your vision and future here over the next, say, five years. How does that look for us?

Nick Lopez: We’re so obsessed right now about unit level economics, uh, franchise owner profitability, uh, that that’s an obsession for us and, uh, being the best in market, uh, location by location. And, uh, the more we focus on those two things, you know, everything takes care of itself. So in terms of long term, you know, I don’t really. I feel like things change so rapidly, especially these days. How we just we just try to max out what we can in about 6 to 12 month periods. And, uh, we might do a little bit of two year, three year. But again, so much changes, especially being in a high growth company. Uh, it’s always evolving. Um, so yeah, for us it’s just about being, uh, the best friendly neighborhood painter market by market and driving as much profitability, um, to our customer or, excuse me, to our franchise partners. Uh, like you said earlier, easier said than done. Uh, but, uh, we have, uh, so much traction and momentum in those areas. And the more we just consistently apply focus there, the more we collaborate. Rate I. You know, we we walk into what we’re being intentional about. So yeah, as a company we’re focused on being the number one market by market and uh, improving profitability.

Rob Gandley: You know, and the great thing is you’re right a lot. I love that answer, by the way, Nick, I mean, it’s a guy that knows you’re right. You can’t plan five years out anymore. It’d be kind of not wouldn’t make sense to. Right. There’s just so much on the horizon. Um, but I love what you said because it’s. It is the things. There’s things that will never change. And things like unit level economics. Right. Profitability, which is translate happy franchisees, happy communities, happy customers. Right. That is that’s not going to change how you do that might change, but that’s not going to change, which is good. So you stay focused on that part. And uh, that that is the that is the key. So I appreciate you, man. I appreciate you being on the show today. Uh, before I do let you go, do you want to share the website or just any way that if someone’s inspired to maybe get involved with lime, uh, and maybe start their own territory, what have you, can you share a little more information with the audience?

Nick Lopez: Absolutely. And and thanks for having me on. I was really looking forward to, uh, this show, but, uh, you can check out my show. It’s called the Level Up with Nick Lopez Show. You can find it on any podcast platform. Uh, I have the pleasure of talking to thought leaders in business, franchising, high performance personal development. I talk to a lot of franchise partners, uh, a lot of franchising discussions. Thought leaders. Uh, definitely recommend checking it out. Obviously, I’m a little biased. Uh, but, yeah, you can find me there. Linkedin. I’m constantly putting stuff up there. So if you you want to follow me directly, uh, you can check out my LinkedIn page as well.

Rob Gandley: Yes, sir. And it’s lime painting, right. Is that. And then lime painting franchise com I believe is the two domains. Am I right? Yeah.

Nick Lopez: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Rob Gandley: Beautiful. So as I said, guys, you just heard it from Nick. You should follow Nick. And yes, that would be a tremendous show to also plug into along with Franchise Marketing Radio. But I tell you, I love I love franchising, like, no matter what, who you bring to it, no one can argue with the, the the the the amazing creation of the concept. Right. Just it’s the only true business opportunity that really exists. Everything else is sort of just bait and switch, I think. But this is true, right? You know, it’s like you said earlier, I just wanted to say that, you know, a lot of times the franchisee side and the franchisor side, a lot of times is this idea that the franchisees looking at the franchisor, well, it’s also who you’re bringing in these amazing people. And so I think that’s just an important dynamic that makes franchising so like unique like that you have almost like this mastermind. That’s huge. But it’s also not just a mastermind like most masterminds are different businesses, right? We might all be CEOs but different industries, right? Which is good. It’s helpful but like to to be able to mastermind with people in the same role and in the same industry. That’s just different. That doesn’t exist in many places. So except franchising. So I love it. And I’m sure everybody you interview does too. So they must they you know I recommend plug into that that podcast. So thanks again Nick I appreciate having you on. And I just want to say thank you again to the audience. Please share the show if you find value. And bye for now.