Music Teacher and Harry Potter Video Game Artist Franchise with Elite Window Cleaning

Tony Cavalleri and Sameer Yamdagni have had successful careers in education and 3D art, respectively, but they found themselves reassessing their situation and realizing that they wanted a different lifestyle for their families and more freedom in their future.

Cavalleri worked as a music teacher for 15 years and currently works for the Calgary Board of Education. Although his career in education has been rewarding and allowed him to share his passion for singing, he felt that his career progression was limited, as was his time with his kids given the early mornings and long working hours.

Yamdagni’s career as a 3D artist has similarly allowed him to explore his passion, in his case, for art. He has had a hand in creating popular mobile video games including Disney titles centered around Hannah Montanna and High School Musical, Harry Potter and FarmVille. He has worked as a principal character artist at Zynga and PeopleFun, but he still found himself wanting more financial freedom and variety in his career.

Together, Cavalleri and Yamdagni realized that the nine-to-five grind until 65 is not the vision they have for their future. To provide their family with a more flexible schedule and greater earning potential for the future, they decided to venture into entrepreneurship with Elite Window Cleaning, the emerging window cleaning franchise, in Calgary.  

1851 Franchise spoke with Cavalleri and Yamdagni about their journey into franchising and their plans going forward. 

PROFILE QUESTIONS

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

Cavalleri: I was a music teacher for 15 years in California before moving to Calgary four years ago, where I have been working on the board of education ever since. We decided to go into franchising to attain a little more personal and financial freedom. We just want to have a schedule that's more family friendly. Teaching was very family friendly in some ways, but it involved a lot of early mornings and I could never pick my kids up from school or drop them off. 

In teaching, there's a cap to the amount of money that you can make. While we know that entrepreneurship and business ownership is very difficult and complicated, we like the potential to continue to earn without that kind of limitation or restriction.

Yamdagni: I am a 3D artist that works in mobile video games. Currently, I work at a company called People Fun that has a game called Wordscapes as its biggest title. Previously, I worked at Zynga for many years on Wonka's World of Candy, Harry Potter Puzzles and Spells, and some FarmVille titles. In the past I worked on titles for Disney like Hannah Montana and High School Musical.

We decided to take a leap with franchising because we're both exhausted from working nine-to-five every day. We want to get to a point where we're managing a business and not actually having to sit there and work nine-to-five until we're 65. This will allow us to have more time with our family and a more flexible schedule so that we can take family vacations and things like that down the line. Our kids are seven and almost four, so it’s something we want to do now. 

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?

Cavalleri: The only lens that I had seen franchising through was in the restaurants that I've worked at as a server when I was younger. I only thought of franchising existing in the food services industry. I didn't actually understand how many different kinds of businesses were franchised until Sameer found the company FranNet when he was doing some Google searching. They presented us with three different franchises and helped us through the whole process . We had also considered a Kumon franchise, as well, with me being a teacher, but I think one of the very first things that Sharon at Happinest said was if you're buying a franchise, you shouldn't be buying a job. We decided on Elite Window Cleaning because we thought the opportunity was so much different, and really seemed to fit like what we're looking for.

Yamdagni: I am really excited about franchising because it means you're not doing it on your own. There are people who've done it before, and you're one of many franchisees. Also, your success is the franchisor's success, so there is a huge interest in helping each other out. We are first time business owners and franchising takes a lot of the fear out of the equation. 

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

Cavalleri: All the people we met and the culture both prioritize taking care of your people, which is something that is really important to me. We were also drawn to the potential for it to grow and scale. The technology that they use for completing the window cleaning is pretty cool and innovative, too; people don’t have to go up ladders. 

Yamdagni: The brand has a lot of the backend setup and ready to go; they have a whole call center that helps acquire and book around 80% of our residential bookings. They also have a whole marketing team, so we're not responsible for having to do our own marketing. 

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

Cavalleri: We purchased the two territories in the north part of Calgary, and we are looking forward to building the business and expanding to serve as many people as we can. This would  require increasing the number of employees and trucks, and that will all take some time. 

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

Yamdagni: I hadn't really considered franchising until now that I am in my 40s. Reflecting on how life is going, working a day job from nine-to-five can feel rather repetitive; as we get closer to retirement, it's not as desirable. As you age, your priorities change. Franchising really fits the need for us to have more financial freedom and flexibility in our lives. 

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

Yamdagni: Keep an open mind. When we worked with FranNet, they presented us with three franchise opportunities that were in our budget, but none of them matched what we were originally thinking about. The gentleman we were dealing with told us it’s often your third choice that ends up being your first choice. You never really know what will be the best fit for you until you learn more about the different opportunities. 

For more information on franchising with Elite Window Cleaning, visit https://elitewindowcleaningfranchise.ca/.