Entrepreneurial Friends from South America Paint a Bright Future as Franchisees

Adrian Asallas Lederman and Fernando Leon Cartier have both had their fair share of entrepreneurial ventures. The friends met in Peru and, given their shared passion for business ownership, it was only a matter of time before they joined forces. 

Leon Cartier grew up in Peru and worked in both corporate roles and as a business owner, with his most recent venture being an apiary concept. Recently, he and his family moved to the U.S. for his wife’s career and Leon Cartier saw an opportunity for himself in this transition.

“I thought I would try following the American dream, so I started looking for a business opportunity,” he said.

As for Asallas Lederman, he is originally from Uruguay, but has studied in Washington, D.C., where he achieved his MBA. He lived in Peru with his wife for some time before moving to  Brazil, where he currently resides. After some research, he found the perfect opportunity with Fresh Coat* Painters and approached Leon Cartier at once. Asallas plans to move to the U.S. again in the near future to run and grow the company. 

“He was here in the States visiting different franchises,” said Leon Cartier, “and last year on my birthday, he came to my house and gave me an awesome birthday present by saying ‘I have the franchise for us.’”

The two look forward to offering high quality  commercial and residential painting services to their community in Boca Raton, Florida and creating many job opportunities within their business.

1851 Franchise spoke with the pair about their journey into franchising with Fresh Coat Painters and their plans for the future.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Leon Cartier: I have more than 15 years of experience in the corporate world. I’ve worked in sales, marketing, trade marketing, planning for different companies, mass consumption and telecommunications. I have learned a lot about sales and relationships, which has helped me establish my own businesses too. I’ve always been an entrepreneur. In Peru, I had my own bee farm.

Seven months ago, my family relocated to the U.S. because my wife’s career and the move has provided better opportunities for our kids. I thought I would try following the American dream, so I started looking for a business opportunity. I couldn’t decide if I should purchase an existing business or purchase a franchise initially. Since business in America was new to me, I decided to go with franchising because you get support and coaching.

Adrian and I have known each other for a long time; our wives have known each other for 15 years or so, and we knew each other from when Adrian lived in Peru. We would see each other at different weddings and things like that, but we hadn’t seen each other in a while. 

Adrian was ahead of me doing research. He was here in the states visiting different franchises, and last year on my birthday, he came to my house and gave me an awesome birthday present by saying “I have the franchise for us.” 

Asallas Lederman: I am from Uruguay originally, but my wife is Peruvian so we moved to Peru. After some time, we moved to the USA, where I did my MBA in Washington, D.C.

After three years living in Washington, D.C., we moved back to Peru where I did commercial software sales for technology companies. I also started my own company, which I had for a few years. I went back and forth between corporate roles and owning my own businesses. 

Two years ago, my wife received a job offer to move to Brazil, so we decided to try a new adventure and moved to Sao Paulo. I always wanted to invest and start a business in the U.S. So once we settled in Brazil, I started doing research on different businesses and franchises in the U.S.

At first, I looked at different franchise concepts but their business models didn’t fit my needs. Then, I started looking at different painting franchises and Fresh Coat was the right fit.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Leon Cartier: I am very pro-franchise. When I was working on the corporate side, we would subcontract a lot of businesses to work with us. It’s similar to franchising because you give them the brand name, the process and the direction they need. 

Franchising is a great business model. You don’t have to invent anything or make mistakes, because it is already proven to work. It’s a safe way to start a business. 

Asallas Lederman: My father was an entrepreneur and our family had our own business. He owned two factories in Uruguay. That is where I learned to do business and started my passion for entrepreneurship. The only franchises I knew back then were American brands such as McDonald’s and Burger King; my perception was that it must be expensive. I thought you needed to be a millionaire to have one. 

I always wanted to own my own business so, when Starbucks started in the 90s, I remember that I was searching for opportunities and I wrote to Starbucks to say I wanted to start a franchise in Uruguay but they never responded. I thought it was out of reach.

Eventually, I realized that there are brands that require a much smaller investment that still help you start a business with support.This is the beauty of the franchise model. 

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Leon Cartier: Fresh Coat is growing and doing all the right things to grow. The other franchisees that we met with the brand are great. It is a great team. Fresh Coat to me offers the right support. They use some very efficient technology, strong branding and clear processes. 

They are first a marketing business and then a painting business. Yes, you have to hire the right people, but if you don’t market yourself, you won’t sell anything. 

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Leon Cartier: We want to make this business one that we can make a living off of, and we want to grow as much as we can. We look forward to scaling over time and giving great jobs to a lot of people. If we can do this in one territory, we can do it in another. 

Asallas Lederman: We want to, of course, make a good living and be able to support our families. Our plan is to grow as much as we can with this brand and be the preferred painting company in Boca Raton and surrounding areas. We are very excited to help people improve their quality of life by making their homes more beautiful.

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Asallas Lederman: We talk a lot about being a “people’s company.” We care about the community we are going to serve. Beyond that, we also want to give employees a good environment by making sure they are happy and well paid. In return, we ask them to deliver  quality projects, because our company isn’t just about making a profit, it’s about offering a high quality service and making other people’s lives better. 

Leon Cartier: We are making people’s lives more colorful. 

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Leon Cartier: There is always a risk  because not every franchise is successful, so you have to do your research, but if you feel confident and see the process they are doing, it’s a great model. 

Make sure you select a concept that makes sense based on your background and choose a brand that you feel is doing the right thing. Running a business in America can be overwhelming with all the different aspects like insurance and payroll, but having the support of a franchise helps.

Asallas Lederman: Choose a franchise and brand that goes with your lifestyle and that you can identify with. It is important to understand that you will be working with a product or service for many years and you want to wake up every day thinking about the excitement to serve your customers. Before you make any investment, make sure that you choose the right franchisor; the one that has a strong corporate structure and culture, and that has the right team of professionals in place to provide you with the support you need to run your business

ABOUT STRATEGIC FRANCHISING SYSTEMS:

Strategic Franchising Systems has been creating and providing affordable franchise business models to help people achieve their dreams for over 30 years. The franchise development company has five unique home-based, low-cost franchise opportunities: Nationally recognized painting franchise Fresh Coat, senior home-relocation and estate sales concept Caring Transitions, business and sales coaching concept The Growth Coach, fast-growing natural pet food and pet grooming brand Pet Wants and the only national provider of total house care, inside and out, for seniors and busy families, TruBlue. Strategic Franchising Systems has been designed to help franchisees win.  For more information, visit https://strategicfranchising.com/.