We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heidi Hillman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Heidi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
I knew I wanted to get into franchising based on some informational podcasts I had been listening to in the Summer of 2022. During that time, I was working a full-time corporate job and running the operations of a boutique fitness studio I had equity stake in. It was an interesting spot to be in; knowing I didn’t want to work in the corporate world anymore while at the same time realizing the effort and time I put into a boutique business was for a place that didn’t value my expertise and want to grow the way I envisioned. So, having a real conversation with yourself and your support system about wanting to be your own boss and launching a business is step one.
Once I felt confident in stepping away from both of my jobs and ultimately pursuing franchising, I had to figure out the best way to find the right brand. That includes identifying what’s important to you when looking for a franchise.. are you interested in a brand that’s already in your area? A new emerging brand that isn’t even in your state yet? One that has hundreds of units across the country? Additionally, you have to decide the industry vertical you’d like to be in and in what capacity.. would it be something you care about personally? Something you’ve never worked in before? Do you want to be a passive owner or an active owner/operator? Do you care about the technology used, the profit margins, the resources at the corporate organization? I had my research cut out for me.
In addition to continuing the podcasts that initially got me interested, I had to weigh the pros and cons of all the questions (and more) above. Next, I decided to hire a franchise consultant. Think of it like a commercial real estate agent; they work to help you find the right match and if a deal goes through, the brand pays them a finder’s fee for bringing you on as a franchisee. My franchise consultant was so helpful. He was my sounding board throughout the whole process and genuinely cared about what brand we landed on. After taking various personality and cognitive assessments, my consultant matched me with 10 brands and did introductions. The brand representative from each place set up calls with me to pitch me on why someone should invest in their brand. Let’s just say, that first round of interviews was tough. I didn’t feel like any of the brands aligned with the things that I previously decided were important to me. I wanted a service-based operation, with good profit margins, robust technology, and something that was a true need in our city, whether I knew anything about the industry or not. I was left feeling hopeless, but quickly remembered there are over 3,000 franchising brands in the country. Eventually, I was connected with the brand Splash and Dash, a dog grooming and bathing boutique.
Splash and Dash checked all of my boxes on paper, so the discovery process began. Once finding it, I needed to get buy-in from my husband Shawn, and eventually, feedback from our families. While everyone knew the extensive research and work I was doing to find the right fit, I don’t think any of us expected for me to be pitching them on dog grooming and bathing, ha! Luckily everyone saw what I saw in the brand, so it was time for Shawn and me to fly to Discovery Day and meet the corporate team and see a currently open location. In this case, it was in Louisville, Kentucky. After a day of presentations, Q&As, and meeting the team, we knew we wanted to invest. But what started with one location, turned into wanting to own the entire territory of our city, Charlotte, NC. Charlotte is the 17th largest city in the country and there was other interest from prospects in our area to invest in the brand, so we ultimately decided on a territory that holds five locations.
After that, things got crazy, it was go time. Everything that followed was a year of finding a commercial space for the first location (ultimately finding a second space we couldn’t pass up at the same time), bidding out the projects of building each location, managing the projects, finding staff, creating an employee handbook, setting up both stores in their entirety, going through multiple inspections, all while watching online trainings, flying to in person trainings, learning the POS system, training employees, doing a ton of local pre-opening marketing, influencer reach out, PR pitching to the media, and the list goes on. From idea (July 2022) to decision to pursue (January 2023) to inception (first location opened July 2024 and second opened November 2024), it was about a two-year process. I’ve learned so much along the way and cannot wait to open the three remaining locations!
Heidi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I got into Splash and Dash through a lot of franchise researching (described in detail in the previous question :)) We provide dog grooming, mini grooming, and bathing / brushing. We also cut nails, clean ears, brush teeth, spa day facials and offer various types of shampoo for any type of hair or skin sensitivities. We service all dog breeds of mostly any size.
A major difference between us and the traditional grooming and bathing business, is they run an operation that keeps a customer’s dog all day. This prohibits the option for the business to scale and increase capacity and profit. It also isn’t flexible for the dog parent. We have all dogs in and out in less than 4 hours, as opposed to the usual 8, providing us with more space and time in the schedule to service double the dogs and provide our customer with more drop off and pickup options.
The last few years, Charlotte residents have had significant difficulty in finding a grooming / bathing business that can fit their dog in for a service. We provide a resolution to this congestion at other like businesses by having more availability and now, more locations than most. Additionally, those who have come to us from another groomer/bather business have said that our technology also sets us apart; we have a text notification system that confirms appointments and notifies them when their dog is ready for pickup and our online booking system is easy to navigate.
I am beyond proud of the locations and team we have built so far. We are people who truly care about the health and well-being of your dog. The corporate core values of Splash and Dash shine through at our local locations and that’s because of our people. Everyone who greets you at the front desk will do so with positivity and care, whether your first appointment or your 50th. We will know your name, your dog’s name, we will make detailed notes about anything that is important to you so we can deliver a first class experience every time and we will be honest; we will never charge you for a service we couldn’t complete, cut your dog super short due to matting without calling and discussing with you first, and always report anything we find on your pet that we may suggest you get checked out by a veterinarian. I will always be an active owner in this business and will never compromise these values at any cost!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
As someone who is very Type A and likes to control situations, especially in business, I’ve come to unlearn that I can do everything by myself. Prior to owning this business, I found myself in situations and work relationships where I was heavily relied on and I liked that because not only did it make me feel like I had purpose, but I also always felt like I could do tasks better myself than if I assigned them to someone else. That lead to total burnout. In owning this business, I’ve learned that I have purpose in a lot of ways that don’t relate to the daily operations, and to delegate more often to my manager so that I can really focus my attention on working ON the business as opposed to IN the business.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I’m thankful we’ve hit over 1,000 followers on our business Instagram in the first 3 months of opening the first location. Besides having the advantage of getting to post very cute dogs, I find that when starting a new social media account for your business, post frequently and see what resonates with users. I used to think that there were only certain times you should post and everything had to be perfect on each post, and while I think creating an aesthetic and the business’ “voice” is so important, you won’t know what gets you followers and engagement until you try posting various things. I also advise engaging with local media outlets, even if you have little to no budget for social media marketing, and tell your story in a way that makes them feel the need to report it to local constituents. For example, I pitched a local media newsletter about how our bathing and grooming concept is a resolution to an ongoing problem in our city and it interested them enough to reply and eventually write an editorial piece about us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://splashanddashfordogs.com/charlotte-mora/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/splashanddashcharlotte/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DqCoJkwQK/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-hillman-12241013/
Image Credits
Robert Kisiah