Operator Diversifies by Embracing Opportunities

Wes Snyder of Fishers, Indiana, wanted to leave the corporate world, so he purchased a Fastsigns franchise in 1999 after his oldest daughter was born. He liked that it was a B2B business that allowed him more free time with his family than he might have had with a QSR business.

"There are about 700 Fastsigns nationwide. We built ours into one of the seven or eight biggest ones in the network," Snyder says. "In the fall of 2016, my oldest daughter was a senior in high school, and I just kind of had this feeling that it was a great business—I loved the business—but I just had this feeling that that wasn't the last thing I was ever going to do."

He kept equity in the business when he sold it. He also retained his appreciation for Fastsigns and its parent company, Propelled Brands. A couple of years after the sale, he and his business partner, Jeff Parsons, developed a new approach for investing in Fastsigns locations. They look for general managers who want to become owners.

"Maybe they're financially qualified from a bank standpoint, but they're not financially qualified by the franchisor," Snyder says. "We'll partner with them. We'll give them some equity up front."

He says franchising continues to provide a comfortable living for his family. It also gives him the ability to affect other people's lives in positive ways.

"Franchising allows us to partner with some good people, to really build leaders, and to give people, who maybe otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity, a path to ownership," Snyder says.

He has seven Fastsigns locations in his system. He didn't have a plan to diversify, but a broker approached him about Pirtek locations in Indianapolis. The company makes hydraulic hoses.

"It's an industrial franchise, B2B, and there's not many of those around," Snyder says. "It made sense."

He now owns five Pirtek units, and he's also developing another brand. "I wish I could say I had this all planned out, but it's really more happenstance than anything," he says. "Once Propelled Brands bought My Salon Suite, it just made a lot of sense."

My Salon Suite became his third brand, and he owns four locations. Snyder says he's still interested in expanding his business in other ways, but the details have to be right. When checking out a fresh opportunity, he takes a firsthand approach.

"I've got to really do my market research," he says. "What are the businesses there that would be buying my product? Are there enough that are going to support this territory?"

Research might start on the Internet, but he drives or flies to potential locations. "I'd much rather go to the market and drive around to see what's there," he says. "I actually put my own two eyes on it, talk to people, and figure out really what's going on."