Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2011 | Page 20

“The difference between being rich
and being poor is just one or two decisions,
and I know what it’s like to be on
both ends of the spectrum.”
pissed off. So on the flight back to Atlanta
I kept thinking ‘If this guy can make a
living owning hair salons, well, he’s no
smarter than I am, so I need to get into
that racket.’ A few months later I bought
my first Great Clips.”
Thomas and Simon now are partners
on some stores. That works well, says
Thomas, who sees himself as the actionoriented half of a team complemented by
Simon’s more methodical, detail-oriented
approach.
Thomas’s approach to growing his business is pretty simple. He buys stores on
the cheap, fixes the operations, and then
advertises aggressively. “As a franchisee,
it’s my job to get customers in the door

the first time, and then it’s my employees’
job to earn their repeat business,” he says.
When it comes to hiring, Thomas
insists his locations be run by a richly diverse group of people. His goal: hire good
people of all demographics, gain their respect by treating them with respect, and
then motivate them. “Every one of my
employees is smarter or better than me in
some way, shape, or form,” says Thomas.
“I might be the boss, but in no way am I
‘better’ than them.”
It hasn’t always been easy for this nowsuccessful franchisee, not by a long shot.
Starting with almost no money, Thomas
got into franchising by borrowing from
the banks. And by his own admission, he

PERSONAL
Key accomplishments: I buy “distressed” stores. I buy crap and turn it into
money. I’m ADHD and I enjoy turnarounds. I’m also president of Great Clip’s
Atlanta co-op, which is the top performing co-op in the country. Besides having
97 percent participation and zero franchisee failures in 5 years, we’re also one
of Great Clip’s fastest-growing large markets in the country, based on increase of
AUV. I also helped establish Smoothie King’s Atlanta co-op in 2010. In 2008 and
2009, Atlanta was their worst-performing market in the country. But by getting
franchisees to work together (rather than trying to put each other out of business), in 2010 Atlanta was Smoothie King’s fastest-growing market in the country
(up 10.1 percent).
Biggest mistake: Opening an apparel business just before 9/11.
Smartest mistake: Buying my first few stores without really knowing what the
hell I was doing, without doing my due diligence, without reading the fine print.
How do you spend a typical day? Analyzing each store’s numbers. And
by pointing to the moon and then trying to motivate my staff/team to get there.
Work week: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays plus 10 hours on the weekend. I
love what I do. It’s kind of like a sport.
Favorite fun activities: Being involved in my kid’s sporting events. Watching “Shark Tank” with my kids. Exercising. I don’t read books, watch much network TV, go to professional sporting events or concerts, or sit on the beach. That
stuff bores me.
Exercise/workout: Weights, exercise, sprint triathlons, tennis.
Favorite stuff/tech toys: iPhone, iPad.
What are you reading? Though I don’t read novels, I read tons of Internet
articles about business, competition, and politics.

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue III, 2011

Do you have a favorite quote or advice you give? “Life’s short.
Grow fast.”
Best advice you ever got: “Be careful… debt service can kill you.” (from
my friend, Grant Simon).
Formative influences/events: At 39 years old I found myself working for
a bottled water company. I was driving a delivery truck, wearing a silly uniform
with bow tie, and delivering 5-gallon bottled water to homes and offices. It was
a humbling (if not humiliating) experience for someone who was VP of a large
women’s apparel manufacturing company for the previous 10 years. But I did
what I had to do to keep from going broke and losing my house. The owner of
that company was arrogant, an “elitist” in every sense of the word. On several
occasions, I heard him refer to his delivery staff as “a bunch of knuckle-dragging
morons.” That was kind of a Leona Helmsley moment for me. The difference between being rich and being poor is just one or two decisions, and I know what it’s
like to be on both ends of the spectrum. So I try to run my business the opposite
of how that former boss would do it. I respect all my employees.
In 2007, I had 5 stores and things were starting to look decent for me
(though I still didn’t have much cash flow). Then I got invited to the Multi-Unit
Franchising Conference with all these heavy hitters like Charles Smithgall and Gary
Grace. I honestly felt like a tick turd around all the huge franchisees with 30-plus
stores. But after having a few beers and getting to know some of them, I realized
they really weren’t that much different from me—except they were rich. So I left
that conference thinking, Hell, if they can do it, I can do it. That conference completely changed my perspective.
How do you balance life and work? Thank god for the iPhone.