Business Opportunities Weblog

September 9, 2008 by Dane Carlson | 2 Comments

Brett Holm started his working life as a machinist in a shop where the tools he bought were the ones he would eventually sell. Now, as a Snap-on franchisee, he says these are the tools that were “a lot better” than all the others.

“I originally found out about Snap-on as a franchise business from my future father-in-law,” Holm says. He then made the decision to transition to selling Snap-on tools by first becoming the employee of a franchisee. For three years Holm worked with another franchisee in his mobile store, eventually buying his business when he retired.

Holm has turned it into a successful family business. His wife is involved in the business, he has a total of six trucks with five employees serving the Oakland, California area, and his brother-in-law is a Snap-on franchisee.

When the dot.com industry started going south several years ago, Noel Louthan, Holm’s brother-in-law, knew it was time for a change in his life. He had been the VP of an investment firm for almost a decade when he saw friends around him losing their jobs. That’s when his thoughts turned to the family business of becoming a Snap-on Franchise.

Long recognized for its top-of-the-line tools and diagnostic equipment for vehicle service technicians, Snap-on is probably not as well known as a franchise business option. And, it might not come to mind that someone such as Louthan would use dual degrees in finance and economics to pursue a mobile franchise opportunity. But he made the decision to go from an office environment to driving a mobile franchise when he researched the success his dad, Frank, and brother-in-law had in the Snap-on business.

“Dad has been a field manager and a franchisee,” says Louthan. “And Brett owns six trucks. After looking at them and working myself as a field manager, I understood the business and knew being a franchisee could be a successful business.”

Nowadays, Louthan has traded his suit and tie for khaki pants and collared shirt, calling on more than 200 customers each week. He says he chose Snap-on, rather than another franchise option because it has the best product and most market coverage…that’s what he calls a “huge head start” for any franchisee.

“The clients I call on are ‘real” people, salt of the earth and everyone’s trying to do a good job,” he says. “And they’ve come to count on me being reliable and showing up every week with the number one tool brand in the industry.”

Louthan says his degrees still come in handy when he’s working at running the business himself and has numerous examples of winning new customers over. But he’ll be the first to tell you, “It’s totally different from what I used to do!”

“I really love the challenge of running a business and making customers happy,” Holm says. “I also enjoy the mobility and freedom.” But, it’s his customers who benefit from Holm’s love of the business and its products, the ones he once used and now sells.

Last year a technician in one of the garages he calls on was using a lesser piece of diagnostic equipment by another maker. Holm offered him a demo, not wanting him to get “bogged down by the money.” The client came back to him two weeks later so appreciative, Holm says, he was almost in tears. The technician told him that the piece was a lot of money for him, but Holm’s generosity had convinced him to give him his business. Holm says it’s this kind of customer service that makes Snap-on – Snap-on.

Holm will tell you it’s the relationships in his business that make the difference. In his case, some of those just happen to be family.

For more information about Snap-on Tools Franchise opportunities, visit Snapon.com/opportunity.

In Profiles, Tools | 2 Comments