How Sir Grout President Tanisha Chea Is Leveraging Franchisee Experience To Lead The Emerging Home Services Brand

Last year, multi-brand home-services franchisor Threshold Brands added hard-surface restoration franchise Sir Grout to its family of service brands. The partnership arrived at a crucial time as the home-services industry exploded during the pandemic and is on track to continue its upward trajectory for years to come. But that wasn’t the only major shakeup for Sir Grout in 2021. The brand also welcomed its new president, Tanisha Chea, who is tasked with leveraging her brand’s partnership with Threshold Brands to support widespread franchise growth. Chea, a seasoned franchise executive and current franchise owner, is well-equipped for the task. 

Chea’s career in franchising has been focused largely on foodservice marketing. She got her start as an intern at Chick-Fil-A, “where I got my first taste of corporate restaurant marketing,” she said, before climbing the corporate ladder with some of the biggest names in foodservice, including KFC, Pepsico, Taco Bell, Carrabba's Italian Grill and Krispy Kreme.

But the experience Chea is drawing on most heavily in her new role as President with Sir Grout isn’t in the restaurant or home-services industry. Along with her husband, Chea is the co-owner of an IDEA Lab Kids franchise. 

That experience, Chea says, is critical to her strategy in leading Sir Grout’s growth.

“Even before I arrived, Sir Grout was already an explicitly franchisee-focused brand,” Chea said. “That’s a big part of what attracted me to the opportunity. I know exactly what concerns franchisees have, what kind of support they need and how to communicate with them, because I am one of them.”

As a franchise owner, Chea says she is particularly in tune with the intangible, sometimes emotional challenges of the job.

“I can identify with franchise owners who are fed up with the labor market or get sticker shock looking at startup costs,” she said. “I get it. I’ve been there. I’ve had all those conversations with my husband. Having that understanding of how these issues actually feel to franchise owners is important, and it’s going to allow us to provide better support.”

Sir Grout also offered Chea the opportunity to break into the booming home services segment, a market she says she has a strong personal affinity for.

“My husband and I are big DIYers,” she said. “Every time we move to a new place, we make some major changes to the home, and we like to do it ourselves. So I’ve always been drawn to this industry. I know the products and the services, and I understand the clients.”

As for the operational strategy, Chea says the transition from foodservice to home services has been smooth. “Ultimately, the difference comes down to the product we are selling. Whether it's tacos or grout restoration, it’s all about delighting the customer and providing the services they need.”

As Chea prepares to lead Sir Grout through the next stage of its development strategy, she says she is focused on operational innovation above all else.

“The restaurant industry is extremely fast-paced, and brands are under a lot of pressure to roll out new products and services to keep customers coming back, so innovation is at the core of my approach,” she said. “My mindset is always, ‘how can we improve? What can we do that we aren’t already doing?’”

To that end, Chea has already identified a number of opportunities for innovation with Sir Grout.

“There are so many touchpoints in our industry that need to be improved,” she said. “Take for instance the window of time people are given for appointments — this is a notorious hassle. Now, this is one area where Sir Grout is already leading the industry — we say we’re going to show up at 1 p.m., and that’s when we show up — but people don’t know it yet. Clients assume it’s going to be a five-hour appointment window because that’s what they are used to from this industry. So a lot of our opportunities for growth come down to educating customers on the points of differentiation we already have.”

In Chea’s first year as President with Sir Grout, she says her primary goal is growth. “How do we take everything to the next level?” she asked. “What can we do to encourage growth among our existing franchise owners and attract new owners?” 

To accomplish that goal, Chea says she’ll be going right to the source. “I’ll be working directly with franchise owners as much as possible,” she said. Too many franchise executives see a line between the corporate team and the franchise owners, and decisions are made on one side of that line and passed over to the other side. That’s not us. We are going to grow by working closely with franchise owners to ensure that we continue to have the best franchise opportunity in our category.”

The estimated initial investment required for a Sir Grout business ranges between $121,830 to $146,710. For more information, visit: https://franchise.sirgrout.com/.