Small Business Spotlight: Turning Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Hustle
Turning Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Hustle | A New Series
Welcome to the new Small Business Spotlight series! I am so excited to start these interviews and share them with all of you. You can read more about why I started this series here.
Today I am interviewing Dan Wallen from the Off Leash K9 Dog Training franchise system. Dan took his side hustle and turned it into an empire.
Turning Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Hustle | Watch the Video
https://youtu.be/CsxnSQSQ-qE
Turning Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Hustle | Read the Interview
Give me some background about the franchises you own and what you do
In January 2015, I bought a location for Off leash K9 Training in Columbia, SC. I trained as a client with Off Leash a number of years before that and had stayed in touch with the owner. At the time it was just a side hustle. I had been a financial advisor for a number of years but I had gotten tired of the work. You can take a ¼ million dollar portfolio for someone and turn it into a half million and all they are interested in is when the half will turn into a million. It’s a place you can never arrive, you never have an end point, and it is always what’s the next thing. Dog training is different. You can really change things in a short period of time and have people be happy for the rest of their dog’s life. In 8 weeks I got more thank you’s and appreciation than I had in probably 8 years of being a financial advisor. It was kind of an interesting dynamic. Since that time, I have opened number of other locations, 4.5 actually.
When I bought the first business, my wife was not happy with me. I wanted this to be something we could use to contribute to our kids' college funds. It took my wife awhile to see how beneficial this could be. Once the first location was a success, she was on board with buying more locations. She has since quit her job and I closed my financial planning practice.
In 8 weeks I got more thank you's and appreciation than I had in probably 8 years of being a financial planner
How did you become interested in Franchising?
It wasn’t franchising at first but the franchising part had its advantages because once I payed off my first location, I was able to leverage that to buy additional locations. Additional locations give you additional revenue.
What does a typical day/week/month look like for you?
There isn’t anything typical about it. The phone can ring anywhere between 8 am to 10 pm. People will call during those hours and can request to chat from our websites at any time of day. So that is a disadvantage where I don’t’ set hours but I also have the freedom to do what I want during the day. If there is something I want to be doing during the day, I can be away from the phone and it’s not a problem.
What traits do you need to be successful within your system?
I think these would apply to anyone who is a business owner. The things that I look at and contemplate on are very different than most people. You have to decide that you are just going to be successful and whatever obstacles come you will overcome them and learn from them. Sometimes those mistakes will cost you money but you will learn from them. Whatever it is you will figure it out and you will learn along the way.
This started out as a side hustle where I was just contributing to my kids' college funds. I now have 4.5 businesses, I closed my financial planning practice and my wife has quit her job as well
What is the one thing you wish you knew before you got started?
I wish I would have known all of the little things I do now. The network I have developed and being in the business and doing it would have been nice to know about before I started.
What are the biggest challenges of ramping up a new franchise unit?
Marketing and cash flow are always a challenge. It is a balancing act between what you want to spend and managing your cash flow.
How did you know it was time to take this from a side hustle to your main hustle?
There were a few months were we had good revenue but then there was one month where revenues tripled. The phone was ringing all month and at the end of the month, I realized how well we had done and wondered what it would be like to open another location. And this is where franchising has am advantage. What you are doing can be repeated in other locations and you can be making significantly more.
The other thing was that it made my day happier. People would call and were thrilled that their dog was doing so well. My day just became so much more pleasant. I had more business and people were happier so I saw a huge difference in how I perceived my business.
Turning Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Hustle | Let Adler Stone Help You
So you got through the entire post and now you want to know how you can be just like Dan. Luckily for you, I have a way to help with that! You can always head over to the Adler Stone website to learn more about franchising. But you can also fill out the form below: