When CEO Lauren John Reid joined PuroSystems Inc. in 2010, the company’s PuroClean brand was already the fastest-growing franchiser in the $210 billion property damage restoration industry. But despite a decades-long track record of restoration industry experience, Reid had no concept of what it meant to run a decentralized franchising operation.
“You are dealing with a group of people that in some cases maybe were at an executive level one day, and then all of a sudden they are out of a job, and the next day they are running their own business,†Reid says.
“This is my first kind of ‘ivory tower’ experience. When you are operating a decentralized business, the branch manager or district manager or franchisee that is out there in the field — they are the brand.†Read full story.