"Owning a store is easier than I thought it would be, and a lot more enjoyable,” says Brian O’Shaughnessey, owner at Ziebart of Spokane, WA. Owning a Ziebart business is more than just opening and closing your doors every day, and the support from corporate along with his belief in the products are just a couple of reasons Brian says he has achieved success with the 58-year-old franchise.
With a little over three years under his belt, Brian is still shocked with how quickly his life changed. As a former parts director at a car dealership, his job was to supply undercoating and fabric sealant. He contacted Ziebart originally to buy the products, as he was familiar with the benefits Ziebart products provided consumers and car dealers, but was instead offered a franchise. He laughed off the offer, yet within a year, he was quitting his job and was full steam ahead opening a Ziebart of his own.
“It was a lot of work opening a store, I couldn’t have done it by myself,” says Brian. “Jason and Dave (Regional Sales Managers at Ziebart corporate headquarters) came out and spent weeks with me setting up equipment. I think support is an understatement. This is beyond advice, phone calls; it was physical, hands-on, working with me side-by-side. It’s truly a partnership.” He is very enthusiastic about his franchise and says he has not had a slow day since the first day he opened. Brian attributes his only stress to having to schedule customers up to two weeks out and worrying about losing customers as a result. However, his positive reviews on Google and Yelp offset that worry and have contributed to customers traveling up to four hours to visit his location.
Brian has a dream to be a multi-unit owner on the west coast and when asked about the opportunity there he replies, “No, don’t come out to the west coast, please. I want the whole west coast to myself,” laughingly. He has customers asking him daily when he plans to expand, as they continue to come from as far away as Utah and Montana.
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