Fresh Coat Painters, the residential and commercial painting franchise, is on a roll. Over the past six months, the brand recorded three record-breaking sales months and is now gearing up to reach the 200-units within the next year. This is largely due to the brand’s proven business model and strong support infrastructure, which positions franchise owners for scalable success in their individual markets. Fred Harrison knows the power of this model well — after spending several years as a business coach helping other Fresh Coat Painters franchise owners succeed, he decided to take his own advice and become a franchisee himself in the Cincinnati area.
From Franchise Operations to Franchise Ownership
Before franchising, Harrison worked in retail management and customer service but found himself uninspired overall. After stumbling upon an opportunity to work with The Growth Coach, the business coaching franchise under the Strategic Franchising umbrella, Harrison found something he could be passionate about. Soon, Harrison had the opportunity to join the Fresh Coat corporate team as a business coach and operations manager.
“In that role, I learned more about the brand and the systems and really developed a great understanding of the franchise opportunity,” said Harrison. “I got to see the recipe behind the scenes and decided I wanted to do it on my own.”
When it comes to what appealed to Harrison, he says it was clear that Fresh Coat had high expectations of its franchisees and made sure they had everything they needed to deliver a great product to the customers. “Having that pride in what you offer is important,” he said. “You need to feel good about what you are selling. I knew I could bring professionalism to the painting industry while also creating a legacy for myself and my family.”
Additionally, Harrison says he was drawn to the lifestyle benefits offered by the business model. “One reason I did not want to stay in retail was that my time was not mine — I worked a lot of nights, weekends and holidays,” he said. “I vowed to myself that I would only do those things if it was absolutely necessary. I knew Fresh Coat would allow me to create that work-life balance and support my family as a business owner.”
Harrison officially signed on as a franchise owner in August of 2018 with the launch of Fresh Coat of Anderson, Ohio, followed by the purchase of the Loveland territory a few years later. Recently, Harrison combined the two territories as the Fresh Coat of Cincinnati East.
“With my experience on the corporate side, I had a lot of insight into operational best practices, and it allowed me to learn very quickly while also giving consistent feedback to the franchisor,” said Harrison. “As a business coach, you learn about these issues and have to worry about them on behalf of someone else, but now I get the reward for solving those issues myself.”
A Day in the Life of Fred Harrison
“Usually, my day starts with dropping my kids off at school in the morning,” said Harrison. “From there, around 9 A.M., I start to make calls and touch base with estimators and project managers to provide guidance. On Wednesdays, we have sales and staff meetings in the office. We talk through opportunities on the sales side of the business. Then I have a production meeting about what we have ahead of us and scheduling. Usually, my day ends by 5 P.M.”
Bigger picture, Harrison says he spends most of the week thinking about opportunities to grow the business, whether it is the operations, marketing or hiring. “I am kind of like the floater in the business now — the only things I am directly responsible for are invoicing and scheduling, everything else I rely on my team for,” he said. “I am the leader of the team. I help move us in the right direction and address opportunities and problems. Eventually, I want to oversee the whole territory of Cincinnati.”
Now, as Fresh Coat gears up for aggressive growth, prospective franchisees have an opportunity to follow in Harrison’s footsteps and achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.
.png?width=570&height=200&name=FCBlogCTAButton%20(2).png)