After Leaving Corporate America, The Sky’s The Limit

That’s exactly how Mike Ozmon sees the potential with the new business venture he started with his wife Kristin: Fibrenew South Knoxville. He’s a recent graduate of the leather, plastic and vinyl restoration company’s extensive training program in Calgary, and has been working diligently at establishing his franchise as market leader in the Knoxville area. Prior to becoming a Fibrenew franchisee, Ozmon invested years with a national communications company, working positions from technician to maintenance. But something was missing. “Corporate America has changed so much that it seemed everywhere I went I was just a number, completely expendable,” he explains. “I was determined to secure the future for my wife and I and have more leeway in which direction we’re going.”

Ozmon has already set up his day-to-day operations with the precision of a seasoned business owner. He regularly works on the Fibrenew Apprenticeship Program Training each morning before heading out for face-to-face calls with new and potential clients. When he’s back in the office he’s researching prospects in the area who will benefit from his specialized services in repairing and restoring leather, plastic and vinyl products.

With a large market share (Chattanooga and Memphis being two to three hours away in either direction) Ozmon sees nothing but potential for his new enterprise. “McGhee Tyson airport is fairly large, and we have four or five smaller airports in the area,” he says. “And boating galore — we have lots of lakes, the Tennessee River and Douglas Lake, so lots of potential with marinas in the spring.” To add to Ozmon’s growing list of potential air and marine clients are the numerous medical and commercial operations in the vicinity.

Right now, Ozmon is preparing Fibrenew South Knoxville for exponential growth, and has forecasted his wife, Kristin, to soon join the team full time as office manager, freeing up more face-to-face contact for Ozmon and their clients...more on the interview here!

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A TORONTO BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY?

Every budding entrepreneur dreams of finding a business opportunity that’s unique in the market, has flexible work hours and of above all, presents the chance to build a dependable cash flow positive enterprise.

If you are looking to break out of the office and be your own boss, enjoy the freedom of a flexible lifestyle and build a solid financial future for you and your family, Fibrenew may be the unique opportunity for which you are looking.
leather repair service business

Fibrenew is a market leader in the restoration of leather, plastic and vinyl. We are a home-based, mobile franchise service that caters to the aviation, automotive, commercial, marine, medical and residential markets. There is leather, plastic and vinyl everywhere that becomes damaged through normal wear and tear – in homes, offices, vehicles, hospitals, clinics, gyms, restaurants, hotels and much more.

With all these potential revenue streams and high demand for our services across so many markets, our company and franchisees have grown and thrived through every rise and fall of the economy. That really speaks to the fact that there is always a need for our services. . . continue reading!

How One Man Googled His Way to Owning a Fibrenew Business

You really can use Google to find anything you want. Jeff Butler can attest. Not too long ago, after realizing the need for a new career and life direction, Butler decided to type “mobile franchises under $100,000” into the search engine and see what happened. After carefully evaluating his options, Butler narrowed it down to Fibrenew, the market leaders in leather, plastic and vinyl restoration, and founded Fibrenew Central Arizona.

In order to establish his new business, Butler dedicated two weeks to the Fibrenew training program in Calgary. “It was great,” he says. “Everyone from Fibrenew is super nice and helpful. It’s a great organization to be part of.” The training program was intense, and although Butler admits it was a lot of information to absorb in such a relatively short period (ranging from techniques to product information to general business advice), he found the subsequent Fibrenew Apprenticeship Program to be a valuable component to getting Fibrenew Central Arizona up and running. “The nice thing about the Apprenticeship Program is that you can go home, go on your iPad and see the information you’re looking for and review the videos you need instead of worrying about not being able to remember what they told us in training,” he explains. “And if I can’t find what I’m looking for, the Fibrenew support team is only a phone call away.”

Prior to the initial training, Butler shadowed fellow Fibrenew franchisee owner Dan Hoffman, owner of Fibrenew Portland, for two days. That’s when he knew he’d made a smart decision to invest in his own business. “At the end of day one, I saw Dan writing up the invoices from the day and remember thinking, ‘Not bad for a day’s work!’” Butler laughs.

Being a new business, Butler’s start-up phase consists of hard work, planning and a go-get-’em attitude. “There’s no such thing as a typical day for me,” he notes. “A lot of times I’ll line up my day, but then by noon I’ve altered it already! I like that. I like being able to just go with the flow and plan my day as it happens.”...read more!

Successful Fibrenew Franchise Owner Balances Work & Home Life

Ann Benes and her family were looking for a small business franchise opportunity that would help supplement their farming income. Ann’s husband Pat was initially going to be the one running the business. The plan was to use the flexibility of owning and operating a Fibrenew franchise while he continued to operate the family farm. However, over 14 years later, Fibrenew Lincoln is now operated by Ann while Pat works the farm full time. The flexibility factor is still a huge perk for their family as Ann is able to work around the kids’ school and extra curricular schedules and still have plenty of extra family time.

A typical day has Ann seeing her children off to school in the morning before taking her Fibrenew vehicle out to complete various types of Fibrenew leather, plastic and vinyl repairs for her customers in and around Lincoln. Ann structures her schedule so she’s able to be home shortly after her children arrive home from school. This is when she tackles the day’s paperwork and answers emails and return phone calls. For now, it is a successful framework. When asked what the future holds for the Franchise, Ann says she just takes it year by year. As with any small business owner, their goal each year is to see growth. Down the road, one of their children may want to take part in operation or they will look at the possibility of selling the business...continue reading!

Former Real Estate Agent and Golf Pro Turned Fibrenew Franchise Owner

When Jason Neufeld was growing up, his family owned and operated a service station in downtown Winnipeg. After the family sold their business, Jason moved to Alberta where he worked as a golf pro for a few years. He and his wife then returned to their home province of Manitoba where he worked in commercial real estate until the opportunity to purchase the Fibrenew Winnipeg Franchise presented itself.

Buying an established franchise had the advantage of already having a customer base, but it also came with the expectation that Jason be ready to go to serve that customer base with expert leather, plastic and vinyl restoration services. Thankfully, he has the support of Fibrenew Franchise Head Office, his three full time technicians and his one part time technician to help him...continue reading!

Congrats to Our Fall 2016 Graduates!

Fibrenew continues to grow and expand our franchise base across Canada and USA. Congrats to the fall of 2016 graduating classes and newest franchise owners. We welcome you aboard the team!

Photo 1 left to right: Michael Carrigan of Fibrenew North Naples and Frank Costantino of Fibrenew Pittsburgh East

Photo 2 back row: Doug Bartsch of Fibrenew Surrey White Rock (left to right) Kristin and Mike Ozmon of Fibrenew South Knoxville / Elliot Rubinsky of Fibrenew Lower Bucks / Elliott Berk of Fibrenew NE San Antonio

Photo 3 left to right: Terry Black of Fibrenew St. Charles / Jeff Butler of Fibrenew Central Arizona / Julie Kapugi of Fibrenew Asheville / Kevin Carlson of Fibrenew Katy / Mike Taylor of Fibrenew Saskatoon

Photo 4 left to right: Jeff and Kim Gebhart of Fibrenew Conroe / Eddie Thompson of Fibrenew Norman-Ardmore

Source: Fibrenew Franchising

Former IT Support Specialist Turned Mobile Leather Repair Man

Since 2011, David Hunter of Fibrenew West Metro Denver has been building his Franchise on a foundation of hard work and exceptional customer service.

Before starting his Fibrenew Franchise, David worked in IT, managing desktop support. That is a far cry from the restoration project on a 5’ tall elephant he recently completed for a client. The diversity of what he does in his Fibrenew business is something he really enjoys – everyday is something new.

He typically starts his days at his home shop and then goes where the day takes him. Some days it’s completing hands-on repair work in the field and other days he tackles sales calls, networking and administrative tasks. Freedom and flexibility were two key components that brought David to the Fibrenew franchise business opportunity, and they are still important to him now.

David recently hired on a technician to help with a particularly large project, 275 pieces to be exact, for the Ritz Carleton Hotel in Denver. He plans to one day have a couple permanent technicians working with him, but he still expects to see another year or two of steady growth before he gets to that point.

David says a willingness to devote time and a commitment are needed to get a new business off the ground. After 4 years into the venture, he feels the investment he made in his Fibrenew Franchise business has been well worth it.

Source: Fibrenew Franchising