Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2011 | Page 24

P O W E R

fact that his businesses have always
made money.
Merrill says that in the tanning
business there is a constant need to
reinvent the wheel. “You have to look
at what your competitors are doing
and tailor your training on a regular
basis. Basically, you have to do everything yourself that you can get with
franchising,” he says.
He became a franchisee for the first
time in 1995 with a Planet Smoothie
location (later sold), and in 2010 took
on a Cartridge World unit with a family member. Merrill says he was interested in finding a franchise that would
allow him to grow at a faster pace.
“After having seen my father, at
the age of 57, lose his rental business,
I had become rather conservative in
terms of risk and growth. My father
came from the Depression Era, so he
was afraid to borrow money to invest
in his business. By the time he lost the
business, I’d been doing his books for
years, and that resonated with me, so
early on I tended to only grow as I
could pay for things,” he says. “On
the other hand, my partner seemed
to go too far the other way. He borrowed for everything. Now I see that
there’s a happy medium, and I’m not
so risk-averse. I don’t have to pay cash
for everything.” Fortunately, he adds,
he’s been able to both self-fund and
borrow from local banks.
As the tanning industry was affected
by the economy (he takes issue with

P L A Y E R S

Name: Randy Merrill
TiTle: President
CompaNy: Merrill Co.
No. of uNiTs: 14 solar

Dimensions (not a franchise), 1
Massage Heights (another set to
open this spring), 1 Cartridge World
age: 49
family: Wife Mary, son Cole, 5,
and new baby due in April
years iN fraNChisiNg: 15
years iN CurreNT posiTioN: 15
(21 as a business owner)

the 10 percent tax the new health care
plan contains) and increasing health
warnings about skin cancer, Merrill
became fascinated by the massage industry, which was beginning to boom.
“I liked the idea of using my skill set—
helping people become healthier—and
Atlanta was very under-served in this
arena,” he says.
In 2007, while conducting due diligence on the leading massage franchises, he spent some time watching
franchisee Tom Gustoff in action at the
Massage Heights location in nearby
Sandy Springs. “I was impressed by
the infrastructure and the business
model, which is membership-based.
A lot of the companies were simply
selling massages with no commitment
on the part of the individual customer.
I knew that wouldn’t work.” Massage
Heights offers clients a luxury massage experience in a day spa setting
for a reasonable monthly fee. “With
25 million more Americans each year
getting a massage than a decade ago,
the room for growth is limitless,”
Merrill says.
By the time he went to a discovery day at Massage Heights in San
Antonio, he felt he’d found the right
fit. He joined the growing company,
which has