Jeff Dudan

speaker

309 appearances 3 recordings 3 series first heard Nov 2024 last heard May 2025

Jeff Dudan’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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The Home Service Expert Podcast · Mastering the Art of Franchising with Jeff Dudan · 25 Apr 2025 podcast

Yeah. You've got to be careful on your rollback. Like you have to know what you're rolling back into. There's things that I've learned.

Yeah, so, you know, I had the top two people that were in my deal at the end. One was paying a little bit more. But what I didn't really fully appreciate that like we were a tuck-in. prior to them reselling. So my hold time on my rollback was short. Whereas the second place person, you know, I probably would have somebody else sold to them about the same time and they 5X their rollback.

So, you know, like just that one little thing and I roll back eight figures, right? So, I mean, it was a big chunk of money and it would have, yeah, it would have sat in there for another three or four years, but like I would have 5X that money. Knowing, looking back at it, I don't, I probably could have – I don't think anybody could have known.

But what I – the fact that I did have is that this one was – I could have got the information that they were already in process and that we were a tuck-in and that we were – whatever I rolled in was going to roll back relatively quickly. And I could have acted on it and said, well, this $8 billion private equity firm is really growing this other thing. I would have been one of the first people.

investments in there and now yeah you come in early yeah i mean i was i was relatively early and now you know they're a 2.2 billion dollar company they're the ones that own uh clockworks and everybody yeah so um yeah so like i would have been third company in at the beginning yep And so like that – the amount of economics that – so like know who you're selling to.

And there's another private equity company that I recently met. Now, there's probably one of the – like one of the more famous ones and – They do a lot in franchising, and they're huge and all of that. Now they want to fly in and meet with us. And we're not in the market or anything like that, but they just try to get to know you.

They want to get to know you and all that. But, you know, in that particular one, I mean, they have 10-, 15-, and 20-year fun lives.

Yeah, which I heard you talk about the other day, which I was going to ask you about. But the reality of it is, then, if it's not going to flip in three to five years, when are you going to get your second?

And anything I do, no, close. But they've done a great job, by the way, with their investment in ServPro. I mean, they've 3X.

They've 3X'd their revenue. So they've done a really, really good job with them. I can coach people.

Yeah, but nothing is going to change your life from here on out.

Yeah. Do you think it's rare that your equity partner gives you this much latitude to do whatever it is you want? Or was that the deal going in?

Yeah, yeah. Actually, I'm probably rolling out an education business in that space just because – You know, I do care about expanding the reach and relevance and the professionalism of the franchise industry. I mean, I've heard you say before, you know, hey, it's a lazy way to do it. If you can't do it, you know, it's a lazy way to build a business.

Yeah. And while people get big eyes. Right. And they say, well, I got this donut shop and, you know, there should be a thousand of these donut shops. But they really don't understand what it takes. But, you know, they get around somebody that and the bottom line is families get hurt. Like many franchise owners invest their life savings in a business. And it's really important that it's done well.

Let me ask you this, man. Three years from now, who's the CEO of A1?

I want kids.

Well, I think you're going to be like the Empire Carpet guy. You know who I'm talking about?

Yeah, like 588-2300. I grew up in Chicago. That's where that guy's from. And it used to be him. When I was a kid, that was him. But now he's dead. So now it's a cartoon guy. But it's still the same guy. One day, you'll still be all over the face of this and probably many other businesses. But it'll have to be the cartoon.

Yeah. So I tell my kids, like, when they want to buy something, like rims or something, I'd say, okay, you're going to spend $1,000 on this. Are you willing to give up $65,000 25 years from now? Because that $1,000, if you put it in the spreadsheet and you hit it with 8%, Right in that 25-year range, it turns into $65,000. And I'm like, are you willing to give that up?

I mean, compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. I mean, you're young. Thank God I invested in a lot of real estate young. I was just kind of a contractor. And I know you did apartment buildings, but I was just building houses and owning rental property. And everywhere I went, we bought an office building and stuff like that. And thank God. That adds up. Thank God.

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