Former Stay-At-Home Mom Returns to Workforce with Illinois Footprints Floors Franchise

After seven years spent focused on her children and family, Alissa Ruiz, a former real estate agent turned entrepreneur, opened her Footprints Floors* franchise serving Plainfield and Joliet, Illinois November 28th. While Alissa will be the primary operator, focusing on customer meetings and everyday operations, her husband Daniel, who has experience in business and banking, will be involved in the business via back-office support as needed.

For the duo, Footprints Floors’ flexible model, customer-first approach, well-developed training and strong unit-level financials made it the prime fit as Alissa looked to return to the workforce with her own business.

1851 Franchise spoke to the couple about their journey into franchising and their plans for the future.

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

Alissa: I have actually been a stay-at-home mom for the past seven years, but I always knew I wanted to get back in the workforce. But the question was, “What should I do that's going to be flexible for our family life?” We have three young kids, so I wanted to still be there for them and not have to work nights and weekends. I was a realtor before I had children, and that was great, but again, I don’t really want to work evenings and weekends. I want to be able to have a flexible lifestyle so that if they have a classroom party, for example, I can go to that. 

Daniel:  I've gone more of a corporate route, working at a consulting firm for a while, then for a big bank that took us to London. We lived in London for a while, and then we moved back about a year and a half ago. A lot of my job has been around business planning and optimization and finding efficiencies. We stumbled upon the Footprints Floors model, and it seemed like a great opportunity.

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?

Daniel: We thought about starting our own business, but the benefits of a franchise are you've got a proven business model and the support that you get from the business model. One of the things I really loved about Footprints Floors was the call center team and how they manage everything for you. They remove a lot of the noise and the peripherals so you can focus on what you need to do, which is going out and selling and delivering projects. 

Whether it be helping you with marketing and getting leads to your website or the call center team that drops things on your calendar, there’s so much more support that happens to really hone in your focus on the value-add activities that you should focus on. You’re really hitting the ground running, whereas if you’re starting your own business, you have to figure all of those things out yourself, and you probably can’t afford to have all of those extra resources.

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

Alissa: The people in the system. Even the owner, Bryan Park, will pick up the phone and is active in the system.

Daniel: For me, it started with the financials, and that's why we looked at franchising in general. It was a very affordable startup cost, extremely low overheads and high potential for returns. That's a pretty good combination of factors. 

It's the support network that we've seen and everyone that we've talked to since day one. I truly believe they want to help. They're not just doing it because they feel sort of obligated to; people seem to really care and want to help you succeed, because then it helps the whole brand succeed. 

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

Alissa: We’re hoping to get a second territory, maybe in 2024, if all goes well with the first. 

Daniel: I will say that I’m staying at my corporate job and will just be helping behind the scenes. I mention that because it means Alissa will not have pressure to put food on the table and can make longer-term decisions and make sure she’s really doing the right thing for the business.

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

Daniel: We lived in London, but in general, we’ve moved around a lot since we met. We’ve seen a lot of different places, and now we’re laying our roots and choosing to start the business in this community. I think it’s great for our kids.

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

Daniel: Just do your research and get to know people at the end of the day. I say this in the corporate world, too. People work for people, people hire people and people sell to people. You’re going to get numbers and facts, but you really have to meet people to understand what you’re buying into. Ultimately, it’s a long-term commitment that you’re signing up for, and it’s not like you can reverse that decision overnight. You really need to make sure that you’re getting in with the right group of people.

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 150 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 https://footprintsfranchise.com/.