Why This Former New Yorker Decided to Make a Change and Open a Footprints Floors Franchise in North Carolina

Footprints Floors, a 160-plus-unit flooring franchise, gives franchisees from all personal and professional backgrounds the chance to make a change in their lives. A great example of someone who made this switch is Rob Ricco, who was working over 60 hours a week as an overhead supervisor at a large utility company in New York City when he discovered the brand. 

“I worked weekends, holidays and frequently traveled out of town for weeks at a time,” Ricco explained. “My wife, Sara, and I always talked about leaving New York and the long work hours behind us. Two kids later, we decided it was time to seek a better quality of life for our family, and settled on North Carolina for our new beginning.”

During his career, Ricco also worked in the flooring business on the side for over 20 years. Given that experience, the couple decided that exploring flooring franchises would be the best option. He soon discovered Footprints Floors; and after attending the brand’s discovery day where he met with CEO Bryan Park, it was a no brainer. The entrepreneur signed up for three territories: Durham, Winston Salem and Concord. 

As a born and raised New Yorker, Ricco sees his blue collar upbringing around a lot of tradespeople as something that makes him a successful businessman. “I got to work hard and see work paid off,” he said. This is an attitude he took with him to North Carolina, which he sees as perfect for Footprints Floors, due to its older homes, weather and new builds. 

“There's a lot of good networking here,” he said. “It's also a fast growing area, but at the same time it's an established area with plenty of tradespeople.”

When deciding which franchise to invest in, the lower cost of overhead at Footprints Floors was an extremely attractive selling point to the couple. With Footprints Floors, franchise owners do not have to build or lease a showroom, nor are they limited to any particular set of brands when completing a job. This translates to overhead that is considerably lower than that of competitors. 

The model also keeps the business home-based and scalable. Owners hire subcontractors for jobs, which allows them to focus on exceptional service and strong managerial leadership instead of navigating real estate and inventory—or worrying about eventual scaling costs.

In addition to the financial aspect, Ricco was even more impressed by the kept promises from the corporate team when it came to support. “I've been in construction my whole life, I know how much money needs to be made out there,” said Ricco. “The brand promises that they're gonna be there with you every step of the way. And they were very sincere about it. I can say to this day, they've upheld their promise.”

Footprints Floors uses a call center that is there to support all franchise owners. Call center specialists manage all new business and lead generation for franchise owners, answer all new business calls and set customer appointments. New franchisees are also provided with comprehensive training so that no prior flooring installation and/or restoration experience is required. 

“We’ve had people from all different walks of life that have been successful,” said Park. “You don’t have to have construction experience to be successful in this. In general, we’re looking for those who are people-oriented—there’s a lot of human interaction in our job between sales and project management—and we want owners who are growth-oriented. Those who are community-focused and who are excited about the work/life balance we offer.” 

Looking ahead, Ricco is looking to expand even more, hire additional employees and continue networking with fellow franchisees. 

“The camaraderie is like nothing I've ever seen before,” he said. “Everyone is willing to help each other. I'm really grateful to be a part of this culture.”

The startup costs for a Footprints Floors franchise range from $78,505 to $113,030, including a franchise fee of $69,480 for a single territory. To learn more about franchising with Footprints Floors, visit https://footprintsfranchise.com/.