Brand Strategy Director Launches TruBlue Home Service Ally Franchise in North Chicagoland

After a successful 20+ year career in brand and corporate marketing for companies like James Hardie Building Products, AZEK and Oracle, Chris Czachor was ready to fulfill a lifelong dream of business ownership. Growing up watching his father operate a small business in the city, Czachor always felt the entrepreneurial pull. After decades in the corporate world, Czachor was ready for a shift in his career path, he decided to step out of the corporate suite and launch TruBlue Home Service Ally.

Czachor spent nearly two years meticulously vetting business models, seeking a structured playbook that would allow him to build a sustainable and impactful company. His search led him back to a sector he knew and loved: home services. For Chris, TruBlue of Chicagoland North is the intersection of a profitable business model and a meaningful mission to serve an underserved market.

Operating a large territory spanning across the northern Chicago suburbs, Czachor’s new business is heavily focused on handyman services, home repair and aging-in-place modifications. To deliver the highest standard of property care, TruBlue provides comprehensive senior home safety assessments through certified senior home safety specialists trained by Age Safe America. By helping busy adults maintain their properties and providing seniors with safe environments to remain in their homes, Czachor, who is also CAPS certified through NAHB, is positioned to capture a massive regional demand.

Czachor sat down with 1851 Franchise to discuss his journey from corporate marketing executive to business owner, what drew him to TruBlue and his roadmap for regional expansion. Here's what he had to say:

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What do you want us to know?

Chris Czachor: I was born and raised in Illinois, grew up in the northwest suburbs in Barrington and went to high school in Palatine. I am a lifelong Chicago person and I don't intend on leaving anytime soon. My wife and I have a 19-month-old daughter and living in Barrington keeps us close to our parents and sisters. My dad was a small business owner who owned a moving and corporate records storage business in Chicago for about 25 years. I grew up seeing it, and having my own business has always been something that I've wanted to do. My dad passed away last year, which reinforced my interest in looking at this space, but for me, it is about a huge opportunity met with a very underserved community.

1851: What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Czachor: I started working in the finance and investment world early in my career, then pivoted into the agency world and eventually went to work for my client, James Hardie Building Products. I spent a heavy portion of my career in brand management and marketing roles in the building products space with James Hardie and AZEK/TimberTech, working with the trades and contractor space. I later moved into software and technology, holding brand and corporate marketing roles at Oracle and Alteryx. Having my own business was always something I wanted to do and I spent about two years evaluating my options. I looked at buying an existing business, starting something independently and franchising. I gravitated towards franchising because I was looking for a playbook, structure and support to help a first-time business owner run lean and scale. 

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?

Czachor: Honestly, my perception on the space was a bit mixed. I had seen a lot of both good and bad press about the space.  While there were a lot of successful brands and successful franchisees out there, you also had big brands or fast-growing brands struggling with some unhappy franchisees.  Anyway you put it, there is risk in business ownership so  I knew I had to really dig into any franchise I was interested in to feel comfortable moving forward.

While it's still quite early in my journey, there does come a point in which moving forward with any franchise does require a bit of a leap of faith.  So far, working with the TruBlue corporate team has been good.  As the brand continues to experience a period of rapid growth they have been investing in the right tools and people to support their franchisees.  With that said, it's still your business and you have to hustle and run it - so while you can get support and help, in the end it's still your business to run and grow.

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

Czachor: I liked that there is a lot of flexibility in a handyman business model to serve homeowners in a lot of different ways. Ultimately, the focus on the aging-in-place space and senior home modifications struck the right balance of helping an underserved group that has a lot of needs, while building a sustainable and profitable business. And, as I mentioned before, my evaluation process was a long one and the TruBlue team was very accommodating to moving at my pace.

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

Czachor: Ultimately, I want TruBlue to be the most well-known name in the market when it comes to helping busy homeowners and aging seniors maintain safe and happy homes.  Right now, we are in our soft launch phase and I am bringing on a team of skilled handymen into the business with our full launch planned for a bit later in July.  

I currently have two territories with plans to acquire a third in the Chicagoland market next year.  As we continue to grow the business I may look to expand my territory across more of the Chicagoland market or potentially look at other opening up TruBlue locations in other markets as well.

1851: Is there anything else about your story you want us to know?

Czachor: Arriving at my decision was a long and drawn out process and having a very supportive wife was a huge part of this process!  I can't thank her enough!

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

Czachor: Looking at franchises can be very overwhelming.  There are thousands of brands out there - some good and some not so good.  I did a lot of my own research to help me understand what was out there but then I engaged with a franchise consultant to help me narrow things down and talk through my options.

Take your time.  While it's easy to get excited about a concept or brand that may be selling territories quickly, you need to do your own due diligence to feel good about the decision you are making.  You drive the pace, not the franchisor.

Talk to as many franchisees as possible.  While the franchisor will give you a list of people you can talk to, you can talk to as many franchisees as you want.  Be respectful and prepared to ask good questions when talking to them but all of their information is available in the FDD.

Figure out financing early.  There are a lot of ways to finance a business these days but get a good grasp on how you will handle that early on.  Also, plan that whatever your start-up costs state in the FDD, they will be more.  Make sure to allocate some buffer there.

About TruBlue Home Service Ally:

TruBlue Home Service Ally® provides a unique and affordable approach to helping busy adults and seniors live a worry-free life by offering trustworthy handyman, home maintenance and senior modification services. Helping you maintain your home both inside and out, TruBlue’s services include handyman projects and to-do list chores, preventative home maintenance programs, kitchen and bath remodels, seasonal work and senior modification services, all handled by professional, bonded and insured Tru-Pro® Technicians. TruBlue franchise owners are required to complete senior home safety certification programs through the NAHB and Age Safe America. As certified specialists, TruBlue franchisees are able to perform aging-in-place home safety assessments and can make recommended safety modifications as needed.