Hosted by:

Tyler Altenhofen

From Franchise skeptics to Bar-B-Clean Believers

If you’ve ever thought, “Why would I buy a franchise when I could just start a business myself?” this episode is for you.

Live from SKIP Summit in Scottsdale, Ryan sits down with Amanda and Frank Lorenz, Bar-B-Clean franchise owners in the East Valley of Arizona. They’re a married couple, both still in full-time careers, who set out to buy anything but a franchise … and ended up owning four Bar-B-Clean territories.

In this conversation, they walk through how they went from “absolutely not a franchise” to building a growing grill cleaning and repair franchise that’s on track to eventually replace Frank’s corporate banking job.

In this episode, you’ll learn

How a couple with prior business experience still chose a franchise over starting from scratch
What it’s really like to run a home services franchise while keeping full-time jobs
The role a franchise advisor can play in reducing risk and expanding your options
The pros and cons of franchising vs. independent business ownership
How to think about competition, seasonality and hiring in a local service business
The mindset shift from “I’d never buy a franchise” to “I’m so glad we did”

“We don’t want food, we don’t want employees, and we definitely don’t want a franchise”

A couple of years ago, Amanda and Frank made a commitment:

This is the year we’re buying a business. Their criteria:

No food
Not a ton of employees
And absolutely not a franchise

They’d already built businesses from scratch before and assumed franchising would mean giving up control. They wanted autonomy, flexibility and the ability to do things their way.

But as they started looking for existing businesses to buy, reality hit:

The good ones were overpriced
The numbers often didn’t make sense
Nothing really fit what they wanted

Then they stumbled on a franchise opportunity. The territory they wanted wasn’t available … but that franchise discovery introduced them to Franchise Sidekick – and into a conversation with their advisor, Desiré.

How an advisor shifted their entire path

From day one, Desiré Stephens became more than just a guide – she became the guardrails.

She helped them:

Take the Sidekick survey to clarify their goals
Narrow down brands that matched their budget, lifestyle and risk tolerance
Filter out concepts based on their non-negotiables (no food, lean teams, strong economics)
Challenge their assumptions about franchising and control

Des didn’t just send links. She was active in their discovery process by:

Asking the questions they didn’t know to ask
Challenging them when they were too quick to say “no”
Re-centering them on their objectives, not just their initial preferences

Being a franchise owner herself, Des could speak in real examples: what surprised her, what she didn’t expect and where the real work shows up. That perspective gave the Lorenzes confidence and helped reduce their fear of risk.

The brand that hooked them: Bar-B-Clean

When Des started showing them options, one concept stood out:

“I saw the logo and thought, I would be a customer of this … and I’ve never seen it before,” Amanda said.

That concept was Bar-B-Clean, a grill cleaning and repair franchise.

Why it clicked:

The logo and branding were sharp and memorable
The service itself was something they’d personally buy
There wasn’t much visible competition – but enough to prove demand
It’s lean: not a huge staff, no advanced certifications required
They could be early in the brand’s growth and choose prime territories

They then took the next steps and did their due diligence:

Multiple calls with the franchisor
Conversations with the development team
Joining every validation call they could
Talking to other franchisees
Firing off “a gazillion emails,” as Amanda put it

By the time they flew out for Confirmation Day in California, they’d done the work. They met founder Brian in person, spent time with his team and family and even got hands-on with real grill cleanings.

On the way to the airport, Amanda told the team:

“We want all the territories.”

Frank, the risk officer and banker, tapped the brakes – but only slightly. They ended up initially signing for two territories and upgraded to four within a couple of months.

Launching the franchise: Training, first calls and early chaos

Once funding was lined up through FranFund, they signed on December 31 and met their goal of buying a business that year.

December 31: Franchise agreement signed
February: Training
Early March: First paying clients and first jobs

They found success by:

Bringing their first technician with them to training
Practicing on friends’ and family’s grills to build confidence
Answering all their own phones from day one
Scripting every call and keeping it taped to the wall by the phone

Seeing that first credit card transaction come through and watching their wrapped van roll out to a job? A game-changing moment. They “looked legit” right out of the gate, which is one of the benefits they noted about buying a franchise brand vs. starting from scratch.

Building a business while keeping their full-time jobs

Both Amanda and Frank still work full-time. Here’s how they make it work:

Group text threads with each technician
Whoever can respond first, responds
Nightly “power hours” to handle emails, parts ordering and follow-ups
Clear division of responsibilities – but both can step into any role

They’re also intentional about systems:

Started with whiteboards in the home office
Graduated into more tech-enabled follow-up and tracking
Documented scripts, processes and workflows as they learned

Franchising vs. starting your own business

Ryan asked the question everyone’s thinking:

“Why not just start your own grill cleaning company?”

Why they’re glad they chose a franchise

Speed to launch: No need to invent branding, logo, website or operations from scratch.
Proven playbook: They can see the model working in other markets.
Brand credibility: Wrapped vans, professional branding and a polished website make them look established from day one.
Vendor relationships: The franchisor already has relationships with manufacturers and suppliers.
Community: Access to other franchisees for pro tips, pricing input and problem-solving.

That community has already paid off. When they expanded into fire pit services, they leaned on another franchisee for help with:

Pricing guidance
How to approach HOAs
How to talk about the service

Competition, trade shows and their big turning point

At first, Amanda was nervous seeing other grill cleaning companies in local magazines – she thought Bar-B-Clean was totally unique.

Now? She loves competition.

It proves the service category is real
It increases consumer awareness of the need
It validates that people are willing to pay for grill cleaning and repair

One of their biggest “we’re really onto something” moments came at a multi-housing trade show where they showcased their services to property managers, HOAs and maintenance directors.

They set up a basic booth and raffled off a pizza oven (a tip from another franchisee) and the results were great.

People lined up saying, “I need this. When can you come out?”
Major management companies they’d been trying to reach came straight to them
Their raffle box overflowed with leads

Amanda opened an ad for technicians from the booth because demand was so strong.

Their advice for future franchise owners

If you’re thinking about opening a business or a franchise, here’s their advice:

Frank: “Use your own judgment. Take feedback from other people, but there are going to be many who tell you it’s too risky or not a good idea. Make an educated decision based on facts, not just someone else’s opinion.”