SpeeDee Franchisee and Army National Guard Veteran Garland Moore Thrilled to Be His Own Boss and Give Back to the Community

When SpeeDee franchisee Garland Moore first decided to look into franchising, he knew he wanted to own a healthy business with a good profit margin. He also wanted to be his own boss and spend more time with his family.

The North Carolina native found all of this and more with the quality service-focused auto care franchise. SpeeDee offers customers a wide variety of services, including 17-point oil changes, tune-up services, state inspections, alignments and brake services. Hours vary depending on the location, but a typical SpeeDee’s franchise is open during normal business hours and closed by 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. This was all very appealing to Moore.

“These hours would allow me to be with my family,” he said. “That was a big box that was checked. I come from the restaurant industry, where I was used to working 60 to 70 hours a week.”

Today, Moore owns and operates two SpeeDee franchises in Greenville, North Carolina, less than a two-hour drive from the Tar Heel state’s Research Triangle, where he was born and raised. He purchased his first SpeeDee franchise, which was an existing location, on March 27. He opened his second franchise with the brand on June 10.

With more than 150 locations across the United States, SpeeDee prides itself on offering quality service through SpeeDee Performance Certified technicians. SpeeDee stores are locally owned, which means franchisees get to build strong and long-lasting relationships within their communities. In terms of franchising, the brand is still expanding. Franchisee benefits include comprehensive business planning assistance and technical and marketing support.

Moore held a variety of jobs before franchising with SpeeDee. Most significantly, he was in the Army National Guard for six years. He “took off the uniform” in July of 2017 and finished two years of inactive duty in July of 2019.

Earlier this year, he made a list of everything he wanted to accomplish professionally. He also looked at the top franchises listed in Entrepreneur magazine and made a shortlist of the concepts that truly interested him.

At first, he thought he would franchise with a similar auto care concept, Grease Monkey, but Ralph Yarusso, the Chief Development Officer for both Grease Monkey and SpeeDee, informed Garland of a Greenville SpeeDee franchise that was up for sale.

“Ralph knew I wanted to be a multi-unit owner within the next five years,” Moore said. “He presented the Greenville franchise opportunity to me. I liked what I saw, so I made an offer and we closed in 60 days.”

Now with two SpeeDee franchises under his belt, Moore has already fulfilled his dreams of being a multi-unit franchise owner, and all within his first year of business. That said, he has plans to open even more SpeeDee locations.

“Eventually, I’d like to open franchises in the Raleigh area, including in the nearby towns of Garner, Clayton and Cary,” he said. “It depends on where the opportunity is.”

He is thrilled everything worked out the way it did.

“I love the SpeeDee model,” Moore said. “SpeeDee offers a wide scope of services. Since I was shifting industries, I knew I had to come on board with a strong name and a lot of support.”

As someone who knows the basics of cars but had no idea how to operate a motor shop, Moore appreciates all of the support he has received from the SpeeDee leadership team.

“They’re very professional,” he said. “In old jobs, I’ve always had leadership that was very brash and ruled with an iron fist and used fear as a tool to get you to do what they wanted you to do. I didn’t get that feeling at all with SpeeDee. They’ve always been very helpful and answered all of my questions.”

Moore also receives support from other SpeeDee franchisees.

“Sometimes things go wrong and customers have issues, and when that happens, I can reach out to one of my fellow franchisees or to a member of the SpeeDee leadership team,” he said. “There is always someone I can text or call who can help me.”

Moore is active in his community and has incorporated his SpeeDee enterprise into his philanthropic efforts.

“I’ve always been a big proponent of giving back,” he said. “I put 10% of my money toward philanthropy in one way, shape or form.”

And he has not forgotten his fellow veterans. He used to work for a non-profit called Hire Heroes USA, which helps veterans enter the workforce and provides job search and resume assistance, as well as career coaching. Moore has even participated in charity motorcycle rides for Hire Heroes USA.

“I was fortunate to be able to put the SpeeDee name on a charity ride I did,” Moore said.

As someone who worked in other industries before finding great satisfaction with his SpeeDee franchises, Moore encourages prospective SpeeDee franchisees to do their research and create a list of reasons as to why they want to pursue franchising. After all, he made a list himself—and when the going gets tough, he still likes to look at that list.

“Keep that list so the days you’re tired or stressed—because everyone has those days— you can look at that list and keep going,” he said. “On the rough days, you can reassure yourself that you’re doing this for a reason.”

To learn more about franchising with SpeeDee, visit https://www.speedeeoil.com/franchise-information/.