College Baseball Player and Air Force Veteran Is Ready to Build His Family Business With Footprints Floors

Bob Linda is set to open his first Footprints Floors franchise location in Solano County, California in the coming weeks. Although Linda has had success in a range of workplaces, including pest control, construction and the Air Force, he found himself wanting to do more and more opportunities for his children’s futures. 

Footprints Floors is providing just that and more to this family-oriented California local. Linda was immediately impressed with Footprints Floors’ reputation and felt right at home meeting the owners and other franchisees. Beyond offering low initial costs and in-house support, Linda was really drawn to how encouraging Footprints Floors was of its franchisees and the people he met along the way. 

“They help you so much, and they are like a big family,” Linda explained. “You don’t feel as if you need to figure everything out on your own. They offer in house support like no other.”

This is just one indicator of how supported Linda has been made to feel as he begins to build a business that he hopes his children will take over one day. 

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

Linda: I played college baseball at Laney college in Oakland CA before moving to the state of Washington at age 20. I started working in Pest control.  After two years, I missed my family back home as well as the sun so I moved back to California, but I didn't really know what to do. So I joined the military like my Opa did. He was in the air force and met my Oma in Germany. Coincidentally enough I joined the Air Force as well and was too stationed in Germany. Meeting my German family and getting to travel all over Europe was a real treat.

My AFSC in the Air Force was ammo; that was my job title — as in munitions systems. When I got out of the military, I moved back to California in the East Bay. I didn't really know what to do because I couldn't really get a civilian job in ammo. I went back to pest control because it was what I knew and I was really good at it because I knew how to sell and talk to people. At 27 I bought my first house in Vallejo, CA. Got married to the love of my life on New Years 2016.

I got a job with two different pest control companies for about four years, But then I got married and had three kids who are now ages— 6, 5 and 4 — all boys. I needed more health benefits, so I got my CDL and a job with the county working in the public transit industry. Moved to South San Francisco to be closer to my job.  Did it for 2 years but working a swing shift with 2 baby boys was taking a toll on me and I was looking for an increase in pay. Living in the Peninsula and raising kids was expensive.

So I got a job for the City working in Public Works doing street construction, parks and landscaping, Storms and Sewers. I jumped around to different cities and job titles trying to find the right fit. My last job was with the Airport in Operations. Bought a house and moved my family to Fairfield, CA. I then made a decision that I wanted more in life and I wanted to give my family more. I wanted my own business.

I was looking at starting a business, and then I read up on franchising. I talked to a franchise consultant, and he introduced me to different franchises as well as  Footprints Floors. After reading FDD’s and researching different franchises I really liked the system they had there at Footprints and the model they had in place. I knew I had a better chance of success with Franchising then starting from scratch after I saw the tools and resources a Franchisee was offered.

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?

Linda: I knew a former business owner and asked him what he thought of Franchising and He said, “They just take your money. They're just money grabbers.” 

I had Family and friends who told me not to do it, but I'm not the type of person to make a decision just by listening to other people's opinions. Especially if they have never owned a Franchise themselves or if they started a business from scratch and weren't successful. I also read 99% of people are too scared to take the risk of the unknown in starting a business and leave the safety of their job. They are also jealous of the 1% of us that have the courage to do so. They will try and persuade you not to do it in order to justify their own decisions in not taking the leap. So I listened to a few franchising books and they gave me a more unbiased picture of what franchising would look like and if it was right for me. It was.    

I read some FDDs on pest control franchises at first since I basically was my own boss when I worked in the field and it was what I knew. Seemed as though the franchise could just close you down if your numbers aren't good and It looked like you'd be still working for somebody else. 

But when I talked to Footprints Floors, my whole perception changed. They never let you go through anything alone, and they wouldn’t immediately close you down if you’re not doing well. They're going to try to help you succeed. I don't think I would be able to start a business alone now that I realized all that goes into it. So the fact that franchising makes this possible for me is really a good thing. 

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

Linda: I picked them because of their low overhead. You don't have to buy a business building; you can just work from home. You don't have to hire employees. That was another concern for me since my friend who owned a business before had to close down because of how many times he was taken to court by employees. You also have to worry about sick days taken and benefits for employees, a lot more goes into it.

This isn’t the case with Footprints Floors. There are no employees; you subcontract everything. You don’t have to buy material because you are not selling materials or selling products. You are just selling yourself and the work, which I think is really good. 

Also, they offer in-house CSR’s which is basically someone who answers your phone and sets appointments and to top it off they only do it for Footprints Franchisees. Nobody else does that. Some companies even contract those services out. At Footprint Floors, even the CSRs are treated like family members. I think it's really awesome. There is a convention every year. Everyone gets together, and awards are given out, as well as training which is another bonus. They have a Franchisee chat room that’s always on if you have questions about something then other owners are there to answer questions and help. I am meeting really cool people, some who live near me, who own franchises and are really helpful and needed as well since California is a different animal compared to the rest of the Country. We have more hoops to jump through in order to get our business up and running.  My decision to select Footprints Floors was pretty easy.

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

Linda: I hope to get past this first year. That's my main focus right now because I know it's going to be the hardest year of my life and I have to take it one day at a time. Eventually I want to grow my business to another territory or two. Then I would like to hire one or two people to help manage jobs and sell so I can have more time for my family and more time to grow my business. Hopefully, when my kids get older, they can join the family business. I want to start a new legacy for the new generation of Lindas. That's why I named my LLC Generation Bob. My family before me has mostly just been going to work for “the man” and working their hardest until their knees and back give out. They retire on disability no longer to enjoy hobbies like racquetball and tennis.That doesn't seem fun and that's where I was headed with the manual labor jobs I was working my  whole life. I'm already experiencing back and neck problems. I want to change that for my kids. I want to give them something else to look forward to. I also want to be able to coach them in sports and be there for all their games. I want to be able to play basketball, tennis and baseball with them. That is my dream. My wife has been my rock and has supported me throughout this entire process. She wants to  join the company in a year or two, as well but for now she has enough on her plate with 3 rambunctious little boys to take care of. 

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

Linda: I want people to know that you don't have to have a college degree or come from money to have a great living. I wanted to travel the world so I joined the Air Force and did that. I wanted a house so I used my VA loan and bought a house. I wanted great health benefits so I got great jobs working for different cities and counties. I didn't have prior experience in maintenance but I had confidence and I sold myself. Those jobs don't come everyday and I had 5 of them. People said I was crazy to leave a job like that pursuing “pipe dreams' '.  Guess what? you don't have to listen to the outside voices saying you can't do something or that it's the wrong decision . Everybody in my family thought this was a bad idea. I decided I'm going to do this, and I'm going to prove everybody wrong. If I can do this, anybody can do this. 

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

Linda: I read a lot of books. I listened to a lot of audio books on franchising, which I thought were really helpful in terms of what to look for in a franchise. That helped me work out what I  should look for in FDDs. Definitely read the FDDs once you know what to look for so you can spot red flags and filter out the ones that dont feel right.

I also definitely recommend talking to a franchise consultant. My franchise consultant was amazing. His name is Scott Neal Scott@taylorestridge. Contact him if you have any questions or want to get into franchising. It doesn't cost you anything and Scott is not pushy or trying to sell you on anything. He’s now like a friend who still contacts me just to see how i'm doing. He truly cares and I definitely would not be here without his advice.

Don't decide right away. Talk to a couple of brands, and talk to the franchisees of each franchise to get their honest view. You will get the honest truth from the franchisees about the business. Lastly you will need to visit them and meet the CEO. Bryan Park is so down to earth and he truly cares about his franchisees. I was just hoping they would want me after I visited Denver.  

Then, decide for yourself. Do your own research. All the people who were telling me “no” never had a franchise, so how would they know? 

One thing to keep in mind which I wish I knew. It takes a while from the time you pay the franchise fee to when you start your business, especially if you live in CA. It's been about 6 months for me and I don't need employees or an office building. If you get a loan, get as much as you possibly can to help get you through the waiting period and first few months . 

To find out more information about costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/footprintsfloors/info 

ABOUT FOOTPRINTS FLOORS:

Upon his return to Littleton, Colorado, after serving in the U.S. Air Force, Bryan Park noticed that Denver’s flooring industry lacked a higher level of customer service and sophistication. So, in 2008, he founded Footprints Floors, which today specializes in installing hardwood floors, tile floors, backsplashes and laminates. With more than 160 territories, Footprints Floors offers franchisees a robust support system, including a call center, flexible hours for work-life balance and a low cost of entry with outstanding economics. For more information about the Franchise Times Top 500 brand, visit footprintsfranchise.com.