“Franchising is almost like a ‘cheat code’ for starting a business”

Chip Gordon knew he wanted to leave his factory job and be his own boss. So when his dad suggested a gutter cleaning business, and he discovered Shack Shine, Chip knew that was exactly what Cleveland East, Ohio needed! Now he’s our newest franchise owner, and making his dream of being a business owner a reality. 

Q: What made you want to own a business? 

When I first started working, I knew eventually I wanted to scale into working for myself. But, in order to do that I had to raise capital. So I went to work at a chemical factory, and purchased some investment properties. I said I would give myself a five year plan and then reassess and look at opportunities once I had enough capital to possibly look into starting my own business.

So, that time came and I started venturing into that and looking around.

Q: Why did you decide to go down the franchising route? 

Franchising is almost like a cheat code for starting a business. It gives you a road map so you don’t have to worry about building something from the ground up or if the revenue is going to be there. It’s a tried and true system. You have the support there, you just have to start! It helps you be able to scale your business quickly, way faster than if you were starting out on your own.

Q: Why now, what was it that made you take the leap? What did you do before this?

The major deciding factor that now was the time to take the leap was because I was out at the chemical factory for five years, just waiting for the right opportunity. I was at a point where it started taking a toll on my mental health, and my body. It just wasn’t really working out for me. I also don’t have kids right now, so I thought if I’m gonna take a leap, now is a good time to start getting set up for the future. I own two houses that I can scale into an investment into the business. My heart just wasn’t in the factory work anymore.

Q: How did you hear about Shack Shine originally? 

My dad actually kind of planted the seed first when he suggested we get into gutter cleaning a while ago. I just thought “Okay, that’s cool”, but I still have a full-time job to tend to. So I kind of put it on the back burner. But then the opportunity came to start looking at franchises. So at first I was looking at a coffee shop, but then it seemed like the revenue for that and the returns just might not be there. Plus, it takes a lot more capital to get into that industry. So a friend of mine gave me the number to a franchise consultant and they gave me a list of a few companies to look at. The only one that really caught my attention was…gutter cleaners! I started looking at other cleaning companies, contacted a few, but Shack Shine was just always the one coming out on top. So I thought, “OK, maybe it’s a sign?” I should just pursue this company and see what they look like and how well they have performed.

Q: What are you looking forward to most about being an owner? What’s your big goal – where do you see yourself taking this business? 

Being able to be the boss of my own life, running my own show and getting established. I want to make people around here familiar with Shack Shine, as well as me as a person. I just want to be the known guy around town for house detailing service and become everybody’s go-to. I want to be the biggest house detailing company in Northeast Ohio.

Q: Tell us about your territory – what makes it unique?

Ohio has a lower cost of living, and high income areas. My territory covers basically that entire high income, middle to upper-middle class area where our target crowd is. It’s a great territory because I am going to be established in the neighbourhoods where our clientele are looking to get the services done because the revenue is there, and they value professional, quality services.

Q: What do you like to do outside of work – what are your interests and passions? 

I enjoy playing recreational sports every once in a while with my friends. I like to go out and have dinner with my friends, have a couple drinks and relax, talk about whatever. One of my friends actually owns his own franchise, too. So I’ll meet with him once or twice a week and we’ll just talk about franchising as a whole and new business stuff. He’s a great support. He’s told me “I’m going to send you jobs every single chance I get”, and I’ll do the same for him. He has a concrete business so if I ever see a driveway that needs refinishing, I’ll recommend him. We can exchange door hangers and lawn signs and really help each other out, which is great.

Thank you and congratulations on your business, Chip!

Find out more about our franchise opportunities here.