Why Did We Choose A Made in the Shade Business?
People ask me this question since my better half and I signed on the dotted line and joined the Made in the Shade family in June 2021. Before I provide you all with my usual answer to that question allow me to provide some background on where we are and where we’ve been.
Where we are: I retired from a major grocery chain in January and like most recent retirees I started working on all the projects that never really got off the ground 100% around the house. Building a shed that took on a life of its own (over budget and timeline) but what a shed it is! More like a workshop, storage room and man cave all in one. Then cleaning out and organizing the garage (we have three kids so do I need to say more?) We can now park a car in the garage thanks to the sheds ability to accommodate “Stuff”. Next came painting, repairing and power washing everything that I thought needed it. Putting in a big vegetable garden was my brides idea with raised beds, fencing and an arbor. Ok you get the picture-can’t sit still BUT now the big projects are all done…My bride works for a super successful financial planner in town and has made a huge impact on that operation (mostly self-taught on all the moving parts that business has) and is really enjoying the opportunity to grow and learn in that industry.
Where we’ve been: Prior to moving to the Sunshine State three years ago, my soul mate and I owned and operated a General Store circa. 1840 in a little rural town in Vermont for ten years (many stories for another blog or two) that experience was amazing on so many levels and very saddening the day we sold. The biggest lesson we learned was the positive impact we had on the store, the team that worked with us and the town itself and conversely the impact all those influences had on us. The second biggest lesson that sticks in my mind was the freedom and the absolute terror of being our own boss, especially that first year. You see, both my bride and I had worked for corporate America for over 36 years and had great positions with Fortune 200 firms that were full of respect in the marketplace, outstanding products and services and a consistent paycheck! But once we got the taste of being our own boss and setting our own high standards on how to operate a business we knew it was a matter of time before we would own another business so we never gave up looking for that “Perfect” business to get involved with.
Even before we moved to Tallahassee three years ago, we had been looking for a business that we could grow with, but we had some pretty high standards and criteria to meet before we just jumped into something. And one criteria element was not involving a franchise operation! Was I surprised!
During our search we found an article in the Entrepreneur Magazine describing the best of best-top 200 franchises and Made in the Shade (MITS) was in there and advancing up the scale. We started investigating and reading about the organization, made calls into several MITS franchises to ask what the deal really was and each one of them were absolutely, 100% positive about the business, the franchise model, and the corporate team in San Antonio. We made an informal inquiry in the MITS company site and four months later (after much due diligence and many discussions) are now proud owners of one of the fastest and most successful franchise organizations in the world.
So the answer the question above is: We love working for ourselves, love being part of a winning team, love being able to continually grow and learn new ideas and skills.
Thanks for reading,
Dave McKnelly
