Profit Margins and Personal Growth: Tom Clapham’s Journey in the Franchise World

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Veterans Business Radio, brought to you by ATL vets, providing the tools and support that help veteran owned businesses thrive. For more information, go to ATL vets. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Veterans Business Radio and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, ATL vets, inspiring veterans to build their foundation of success and empowering them to become the backbone of society after the uniform. For more information, go to ATL vets. Today on the show we have Tom Clapham. He is with Gotcha Covered of Durham and Chapel Hill. Welcome. Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about got you covered. How you serving folks?

Tom Clapham: So Got You Covered is a window treatments franchise. We’ve got somewhere close to 200 locations or franchises within North America, and we offer a full range of window treatments. So pretty much anything for the inside of the windows from shades, shutters, blinds and draperies and draperies are actually making a comeback. And we do motorized and non a full range of options. And uh, I like to think of myself more of a broker than a sales person because we have really good deals with dozens of manufacturers.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How’d you get involved in this line of work?

Tom Clapham: Um, so, you know, there’s, I think, a running joke that nobody wants to, uh, sell window treatments when they grow up. Um, but, um, I mean, I think that I’ve always wanted to get into business. I’ve always been a, um, you know, a long time listener of entrepreneurship podcast. And I did end up going to grad school for business. But the reason I’m here today is because I took a path that led me through the military, and it definitely helped prepare me for, uh, the business world and for, um, ownership of, uh, of the franchise as well. I spent eight years in the Army. Half of that was enlisted. And then, uh, the other half as an officer, and, um, did end up getting the GI Bill, which I used to get an MBA from Duke. I was working my way up the corporate ladder in healthcare marketing, and then, um, I was between jobs and, uh, met a franchise broker, uh, at a military job fair. And he introduced me to a lot of franchise options that I didn’t even know were options before that. My idea of a franchise was a Dunkin Donuts. But, uh, a ton of, uh, home services, uh, franchises are available. And, um, I think that, uh, the veteran background, you know, helped me, uh, you know, not only, you know, meet that broker, but gave me a lot of good lending options as well.

Lee Kantor: So when you met with the broker and they let you know that which most people don’t realize how many franchise concepts there are, right?

Tom Clapham: Like no.

Lee Kantor: Idea. And it can be overwhelming because when you it’s one thing to think, I gotta choose between the donut shop or the yogurt shop, but now you’ve got all of these franchises in such a variety of industries, how did you kind of narrow it down?

Tom Clapham: So, you know, you get to know the broker? I mean, a good broker will be able to figure out, you know, pretty quickly. Um, you know, based on a short list of questions, uh, I mean, I wanted to be home based. I didn’t want to have a lot of overhead or employees to begin with. Uh, and, uh, she gave me, you know, a few options, uh, to take a look at. And, um, you know, one thing that, uh, I liked about got you covered from the get go was, um, uh, part of their process. I mean, it’s a two way street where, you know, you’re not just interviewing them. They’re vetting you to see if you’re going to be a good, you know, brand ambassador for them. And so one of their steps was, hey, you know, here’s a list of, uh, seven, eight, uh, franchisees. Give them a call and, uh, you know, see what you think. And so, um, through that process, I actually expanded the list, and I ended up calling ten other, uh, ten total, uh, gotcha covered franchisees and, uh, just really liked every conversation that I had and got a strong sense that it was a, you know, really good community, um, very supportive. And one of the original gotcha covers is is right here in Raleigh, North Carolina. And I went and met with them in person as well. And, uh, um, you know, from the leadership on down to the franchisees, it’s a pretty collaborative, uh, supportive, um, almost family, family type atmosphere. So it started out as a family business. And, um, actually, I think 3 or 4 years ago, uh, it became part of the five star franchising portfolio. But that family, uh, culture is still there now.

Lee Kantor: Any advice for folks who are vetting, um, possible franchisees franchises to work in? What were some of the questions you asked? What were some of the things that you talked about with these ten franchisees when you were vetting them, and they were kind of vetting you?

Tom Clapham: Okay. So for me, I mean, from the get go, what what I wanted to, uh, put a litmus test to was, um, the financials and so, you know, without, you know, asking folks to divulge, uh, uh, info that they didn’t want to share with me. Uh, I wanted to really just get a sense of, hey, you know, I have this, uh, franchise disclosure document showing, you know, pretty strong, uh, numbers. And, uh, you know, what’s your take on that? You know, any words of caution? You know, any words of endorsement? And, um, you know, for the most part of, um, gosh, you know, the ten folks that I spoke with, I think I only got one. Hey, this is tough. Tough out here. Uh, and other than that, you know, I think it was, uh, you know, pretty much what the the numbers were saying in FD is what I was hearing from, uh, from the folks. But then, you know, other questions. Uh, uh, of course, like, hey, is there anybody else you think I should speak with? Um, one of them was like, yeah, sure. Actually, you’re a veteran. I know a veteran. Why don’t you give him a call? Um, but, um, I think, uh, you know, what’s your typical day like? Um, and, uh, you know, typical questions, I guess you would ask if you wanted to have some one on one on ones with somebody, uh, that was at, uh, um, a corporate job that you’re applying to, you know, just get a sense of the culture, the leadership, and, uh, you know, what to expect from from day one. And, uh, you know, just tips on different things from, hey, if I’m not doing my own installations, you know, how do you go about finding good installers to, um, a really good one on. Hey, um, are you paying yourself? You know, when did you start paying yourself? How long till break even? Those types of questions.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, how do you think the that having been in the military prepared you for kind of work as a franchisee, do you think you were set up for success?

Tom Clapham: Yeah, absolutely. So I think that, uh, the military was, um, really good for me in particular. I mean, I joined at a time in my life I’d already had, uh, my, I already completed my undergrad degree and, um, had worked, uh, an assortment of, uh, restaurant and retail jobs and just needed to get in gear, and so I wanted to go to grad school. Uh, but, um, my ticket to that, having put myself through undergrad, uh, myself, was the GI Bill. And so I planned on joining the military, uh, for the GI Bill in particular. Uh, but I feel like the eight years that I spent in the military was a far better education, uh, than I anticipated. So I think just things from, uh, you know, showing up, um, learning to, uh, work through problems, um, with a sense of humor. Uh, just resilience in particular. Um, definitely, um, shown up for bad days and, uh, you know, being there with a team, uh, learning to work with diverse groups and, uh, um, decision making, I’d say, you know, on the spot decision making is probably the, the main thing that, uh, you get drilled into you when you go through, uh, officer candidate training and then, uh, your, uh, your functional area schooling, uh, really not to to dilly dally and to be decisive.

Tom Clapham: Um, and, you know, whatever decision you go with might not be the right one, but commit to it and then, uh, have contingencies in place to, uh, to change course, uh, if things don’t go, uh, as well as planned in the beginning, because rarely anything goes according to plan in combat. And so you need to be able to think on your feet. And, uh, I think that was particularly true for me because what I got trained in, um, when I joined, uh, I mean, actually enlisted, uh, as a photographer and, uh, was assigned to an Intel unit in Germany, and, uh, um, was planning on doing my time and getting out and going to school. Uh, and then 911 happened when I was there and I was thinking, gosh, you know, I think being a photographer is pretty cool, but if I deploy, I didn’t anticipate being able to to do what I was doing in garrison or training. And so I, um, put in a packet for OCS and, um, I’d been a photographer with an intelligence unit, and, uh, I’d always wanted to fly. And so I said, hey, you know, let me be a pilot. Uh, the Army’s got some fixed wing aircraft, and if not, you know, fly helicopters. And I said, no, you’ve been in an Intel unit and you speak Estonian.

Tom Clapham: You’re going to stay in Intel. And so I went through three months of Intel officer training, where I learned the ins and outs of Soviet equipment for when, uh, whenever Russia came rolling across the European plains to take over Western Europe. And I graduated at the top of my class, and then three months later, I was in the streets of Mosul, um, with no training whatsoever on asymmetric warfare or how to run human intelligence operations. And, uh, it was definitely my earliest and biggest lesson in on the job training and with, uh, with window treatments. Um, you know, you get a crash course, uh, there’s, there’s a week of training, uh, at corporate headquarters. But, uh, after that, you really need to learn yourself and do the research and, uh, form relationships with all the manufacturers that, uh, that you plan on selling and representing. And so lifelong learning, I think is a core, core thing that, uh, was first introduced in the military and uh, definitely is something that, uh, is required in this role. I mean, I think that’s probably any profession. I mean, uh, definitely in the medical field, you have to do CEUs constantly. Uh, but, uh, um, resilience and, uh, you know, if, if, if at first you don’t succeed, figure it out. A lot of figuring things out.

Lee Kantor: Now, what about when it comes to training your employees? Do you feel like you benefited from some of the training you got in the military that may be transferred into some of the work you’re doing at got you covered?

Tom Clapham: Sure. That’s a that’s a great question, Lee. I’d say that, uh, um, you know, I think there’s, uh, uh, definitely some resentment of, uh, really experienced, uh, um, noncommissioned officers, you know, sergeants, master sergeants that have been in the military for decades, taking orders from, you know, a butter bar who was a lot younger than them. And I’d say probably the same held true for me coming into this industry where, you know, in my first year, um, selling window treatments, uh, I found a couple of experienced installers and, uh, um, you know, I did my best to, um, try to instill a sense of customer service with them, which, um, you know, I, I don’t install my own products. I work with, um, installers who might be working for the competitor one day and then for me the next, and so on. The technical aspects, I assumed the role of, hey, you know, I’m fresh out of office or school. You know, um, their knowledge of the product and installing it is far superior to mine. So I will respect that there. And, uh, um, really any, any guidance that I tried to provide was simply, along the lines of communication and representing the gotcha covered brand when they were in the home.

Lee Kantor: So now, um, that you’ve been doing it for a minute. Ah, is it what you expected?

Tom Clapham: I absolutely love it. Uh, I didn’t expect to love it. Uh, so I’d say. No, I’m. I’m really happy. Uh, I would do it all over again. I think it was a bit harder than I anticipated. Um, the things that I love about it are a being my own boss, um, and, um, being able to, uh, you know, meet, meet people and, uh, get to see how they live. I mean, it’s a pretty intimate job. Um, uh, it, um. It helps folks. I mean, it’s a feel good business, I think. I mean, when a job is done and done, well, you know, there’s definitely just that immediate sense of of, uh, thrill of that job well done. And, um, you know, changing that that person’s home for the better. And, uh, I love it. Um, you know what? You know, I’d say I even surprised myself in actually outperforming, um, the projections that I’d made for myself for selling. Um, and, um, these don’t sell themselves, though. I mean, there’s a lot of competition in the market. And so I think that’s probably the thing that, um, um, I’m adjusting to is, um, you know, actually, you know, trying to build referral networks. And so, you know, if there’s a competitor that’s been in the market for 20 years, they got a little bit of a head start on getting in with the local builders. And so there’s some catch up there. But um, um, what I didn’t expect was that I couldn’t just advertise my way to success. So, you know, having spent 20 years in, in healthcare marketing, I thought, okay, I’m just going to advertise my leads to me. But no, it really does take a lot of And salesmanship and farming relationships to get a steady flow of customers. So that’s part of that lifelong learning. And that’s definitely where a lot of my focus is today.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you think that, um, just as part of buying a franchise, a lot of prospective franchisees think that they’re buying an established brand. So that’s going to do some of the heavy lifting when it when it comes to marketing and advertising, that they have a brand. They’ve been talking about it. It existed for years. So that’s going to make it easier for me to come into a market. And I can kind of piggyback on that. That’s that’s part of why you pay a royalty and pay a franchise fee. And sometimes that doesn’t mean as much, um, as you as the franchisee thinks it does when they when they become the boots on the ground and they have to actually kind of drum up business.

Tom Clapham: Yeah. No, that’s absolutely true. And boots on the ground. You said it. I mean that’s that’s where it’s at. And I mean, I mentioned that there’s, uh, uh, got you covered, uh, here in Raleigh that’s been here for, for three decades. And, um, you know, one of my initial worries was, hey, how am I going to get out from under the shadow of if anybody ever says, got you covered around here, you know, they’re going to, you know, be thinking of, uh, got you covered, Raleigh. But but it’s a the inverse is also true. You know, they’ve established, you know, really good brand equity, uh, uh, adjacent to my market. And so and it does give a little bit more of, of, uh, momentum to me in my boots on the ground efforts because, uh, people have heard of gotcha covered. Um, but, um, you know, I definitely, uh, definitely think that, uh, there is an onus, uh, for anybody, I mean, uh, window treatments, I mean, um, a business owner, you know, whatever they’re selling really needs to invest their time, energy and soul into what they’re doing and believe in what they’re doing. And, you know, believe that, uh, it’s their calling. Um, I mean, I’ve been in jobs before, uh, corporate jobs where I did not believe in what I was selling. And, um, uh, consequently, I didn’t do as good a job as I could have, uh, in those jobs.

Lee Kantor: And then ultimately, your success is going to be based on how well you do when it comes to serving your community and building those relationships with the people that matter most to you, and obviously doing a good job and them being happy with the, you know, the products that you put in their home. Um, how how is that part going? Are you getting a lot of repeat business or referrals or some of the signals that, hey, this thing is going, you know, to take on a life of its own? If I can just kind of keep pumping that lever there.

Tom Clapham: Yeah. A year and a half in. Um, I just looked at this last week. A year and a half in. I’ve got, uh, three, uh, repeat customers. Um, uh, who, uh, found me, uh, through Google or or my own marketing efforts. But, um, I think the real tell is that I’m starting to get that that repeat business from referral partners. So realtors who, um, have sent me business in the past are sending me, um, customers again. And that that I think is the real sign of, hey, this is going to work. Um, because, you know, customers are only going to need window treatments.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, once in a while. Yeah. So you need the you need the multiplier. People who are the ones that are touching multiple people that are your prospects.

Tom Clapham: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So for me, that’s that’s, uh, realtors, general contractors and interior designers, and I’ve had repeat customers from all three. And my, my focus from my marketing, uh, is to find more of those folks than are in their trust.

Lee Kantor: So in your mind, the more of those people you know that eventually that’s going to hit the bottom line of your business.

Tom Clapham: Yep. Yep. Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So that’s the ball you just have to keep your eye on.

Tom Clapham: That’s right.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Tom Clapham: Gosh, I mean, um, I’d say that, um, uh, there’s, uh, a lot of growth in my market. I mean, that’s one thing that I do feel incredibly confident in is that the, uh, the Raleigh-durham-chapel Hill area is growing. Uh, we’ve got a Disney community that’s coming in, and, um, um, if I look at, you know, what I’ve done and what I’ve yet to do, it’s commercial business that, um, that I really haven’t done much of across the country. Um, the franchisor says that that, um, we should see about 80 over 20 in, uh, residential versus commercial mix. And, um, um, you know, for me, it’s been about 9010, and that’s okay. I mean, um, when I say commercial, I’m not talking about, you know, big medical office buildings or anything like that. I’m looking to get in with commercial builders, uh, mid-sized, uh, um, builders who are doing, you know, three, 4000, uh, rooftop communities. Uh, there’s a lot of that going on here. And it’s, you know, trying to find those purchasing managers, you know, joined, uh, the Home Builders Association. Um, I’m in a prominent BNI group, and I visit other BNI groups in the area several times a week. Um, um, trying to get in with, uh, with some of those builders in the area.

Tom Clapham: So folks like Dickerson, Garmin, uh, David Weekley are our big names here. Uh, but, uh, you know, really, I mean, it’s, uh, it’s something where, um, I’d say that for me personally, probably the thing that I need to to do most. It’s not so much as the hunting or the farming of referral partners. Um, it’s really, you know, continuing to go out there and doing what I love and, um, uh, not be afraid to make money. Early on, I was, I think I wouldn’t say that I was afraid to make money, but I, I having listened to so many podcasts on entrepreneurship, I just had it in my head that, hey, you know, it’s okay to lose money in the beginning to, uh, to build up your experience and build up your, your branding. And, uh, um, I feel like I did myself a disservice by, uh, really running paper thin margins in order to try to get those Google reviews up. And so that’s my number one, uh, objective for my my third year is, um, actually, um, go out there and raise the margin a little bit, uh, to a point where it’s still competitive, but, uh, you know, not give away the business.

Lee Kantor: Now, if somebody wants to connect with you or learn more about got you covered in Durham Chapel Hill, what is the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Tom Clapham: So yeah, if if you Google got you covered, um, and you’re in Durham or Chapel Hill, you’ll find me. If you’re in Raleigh, you’ll find the Raleigh team. You’ll be in good hands. Either way. It’s a great franchise, great products, from Hunter Douglas to Graber to Alta and many more.

Lee Kantor: And that’s g o t h a c o v e r.com. And then you could drill down to the community near you and Durham chapel Hill is where Tom is.

Tom Clapham: That’s right.

Lee Kantor: Well, Tom, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Tom Clapham: Thank you. Lee, thanks so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Veterans Business Radio.