Adam Wallace has always been familiar with the phrase “blessing in disguise,” but he only recently discovered its true meaning.
Wallace, owner of TruBlue Farmington Valley in Farmington, CT, had been with his previous employer for 20 years and was a general manager in a manufacturing plant overseeing 75 employees and three different product lines in a 42,000 square foot plant.
But, after having a few disagreements with the owner, Wallace found himself in the unfamiliar position of being unemployed.
He took time off to think about his next step and one thing was immediately apparent: he wanted to be his own boss.
“I never wanted to be in a position again where someone could control my destiny,” Wallace stated during a recent interview from his TruBlue office in Farmington.
Armed with this goal, Wallace hit the internet, researching businesses he could buy. What he found was a lot of flower shops, car washes and package stores for sale, so he avoided those. An opportunity for a home care business piqued his interest because he has a lot of family in the medical field, but that particular business didn’t get back to him.
This prompted Wallace to search for other home care franchising opportunities, which led him to Home Helpers, a company owned by the Strategic Franchising family of brands. And that’s when Wallace first saw the TruBlue logo and knew he had found his calling.
TruBlue – which offers maid, landscaping and handyman services – fit more in line with Wallace’s work experience. He called TruBlue, flew out to the company headquarters in Cincinnati, OH shortly after that to meet with them, and then bought his franchise in June 2013.
Being the first TruBlue franchise in Connecticut, Wallace had his pick of the territories he wanted. Together with the franchisor, he performed market research about demographics in the state and they mapped out a territory for him with about 200,000 people in it. After a training stint back in Cincinnati, Wallace opened for business on October 1, 2013.
And then …
“It’s been crazy,” Wallace summed up his first year in business. “It’s been a crazy year.”
The lead generating system has been bringing him more leads that he can currently handle. The franchisee has four full-time employees and was planning on hiring a fifth employee that afternoon. He has five vehicles on the road full time and he’s outgrowing the warehouse space that he rents.
This sudden growth spurt, while welcomed for the business, has meant his weekdays have been absolutely hectic.
“The work life balance has been mostly work, but that’s been getting it up and going,” he said. “That’s been dedication to work.”
In the near future he sees things settling down, giving him more time to dedicate to his family once the business settles into a rhythm.
For anyone interested in joining TruBlue, Wallace recommends being prepared, knowing what you’re in for and being familiar with what your territory will require. For example, he said, he pushes a lot of snow in Connecticut, which would obviously not be the case in Florida, which would have different requirements.
He also said that the future certainly looks bright with TruBlue. While the brand markets itself toward seniors, it’s not only that age group that is requesting the company’s service. Even 30-40 year olds are interested in hiring the company.
“People aren’t handy like they used to be,” Wallace said. “So, there is a big demand for us.”
That demand is a big part of what has turned out to be Wallace’s blessing in disguise.
For more information visit: Website: www.trubluehousecare.com