This year during National Small Business Week, I am feeling especially appreciative of the small business owners Neighborly depends on for its achievements.
As a parent company, we may be a multi-billion-dollar organization today, but the success of each of our 19 franchised brands is ultimately due to the individual franchisees who make up those brands. The signs on the doors of their businesses may have national or even global recognition, but the men and women who built those businesses and keep them running day in and day out are local citizens seeking to provide their communities with the various home services they need.
From franchisee to C-level executive
Today, in my role as president and CEO of Neighborly, I am responsible for oversight of 22 brands, comprised of nearly 3,700 franchisees and 850 corporate associates, all working toward a collective goal… Not exactly what you’d call a “small business.”
But the career starter that led me to this point – opening and operating my own Rainbow International carpet cleaning franchise about 35 years ago – definitely started in the form of small business ownership. And had it not, I don’t know that I would be the business leader that I am today.
Lessons learned from small business ownership
A few years back, I wrote an article for the IFA’s Franchising World magazine, all about the lessons I learned from my days as a franchise owner. Since that article was published, so much has changed for our organization as a whole: We’ve grown by more than 1,000 franchisees, acquired 10 new brands, undergone multiple private equity transactions, and of course, we changed our name. But even in light of so much change and growth, the personal advice I share in the article in the form of three key lessons learned remains the same to this day:
- You are primarily responsible for your success, meaning leadership requires being proactive.
- Sometimes all you have to do is show up if you’re looking to become successful (a.k.a., there is no substitute for being an active participant).
- Find and allow someone to hold you accountable, whether that’s a business partner, your franchise coach, or in the position I’m in now, a solid team of executives.
Leadership standards = Values
As I’ve moved into my role as the leader of the multi-brand, global company Neighborly is today, these three lessons learned from my time as a small business owner have never lost their importance. In a way, this ties back to our emphasis as a company on letting your values guide your business. These are the values I developed as a small business owner, and without them at the forefront of all of my leadership efforts to this day, I do not think I would have found success in this role.
During this week and every week, I commend all small business owners across the country on the hard work they do to make their endeavors successful. You could say I’ve “been there, done that,” and I know that had I not had the experiences and faced the challenges of small business ownership myself, I would not be the leader I am today.
So, here’s to all small business owners and the contributions they make not only to our Neighborly family, but to their local economies and society as a whole.
To learn more about how you can start your own business by franchising with Neighborly, click here.
Written by Mike Bidwell, President & CEO, Neighborly for LinkedIn
