From Mechanic to Business Owner: Residential Elevator Franchising

This episode is a recording of a live broadcast about residential elevators and franchise ownership with Casey Dyon and Alex Martin, owners with Nationwide Lifts. Residential elevators are becoming an increasingly practical accessibility solution, and franchising provides experienced elevator professionals a supported path from technician to business owner. Alex and Casey share their journeys from elevator mechanics to business owners while discussing customer misconceptions, hiring challenges, accessibility solutions, and the value of building a business franchise with the support of an established network.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:13 Journey from Technicians to Business Owners
10:02 The Importance of Residential Elevators
21:08 Educating Homeowners on Elevator Installation
28:05 Homeowner Insights Before Installation
30:53 Modernization and Lifespan of Residential Elevators
34:24 Challenges in Finding Talent for the Elevator Industry
44:34 The Ideal Franchise Owner Profile
50:25 Franchise Ownership vs. Independent Business Ownership

Transcript: 

Matt Allred (01:58.691)
Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast. Today we’re joined by two special guests, Alex Martin and Casey Dion. First, I want to say that we’re doing this because this specific topic was requested by our audience. They’ve asked for more information about nationwide lifts, franchise opportunities. And so let’s see what we can learn. So Alex, Casey, welcome to the show.

Alex Martin (02:24.124)
Thanks for having us, friend. Appreciate it.

Matt Allred (02:26.732)
You bet. You bet. Casey there.

Matt Allred (02:38.53)
Looks like we lost Casey. Well, let’s let’s go ahead and start, Alex. I’m gonna go ahead and introduce you. Alex Martin is the owner of Nationwide Lifts in California and Nevada. Alex began his career as a mechanic eighteen years ago, and in twenty fifteen, he purchased his franchise and now employs twenty-two employees engaged in installation, service, and maintenance of residential and light commercial elevators. I’ll go ahead and introduce Casey. He may he may join us again. you never know sometimes with these connections, but

Casey Dion is the owner of Nationwide Lifts in Illinois, based out of Chicago area. Casey started as a mechanic, has been in the industry over 21 years, and in 2005, he became an owner and has never looked back. So again, welcome. Glad to have you here. Alex, and again, we’ll we’ll hope Casey looks like he’s trying to get back on. There’s Mr. Casey.

Casey (03:27.6)
My temperature blew up. Sorry about that, fellas.

Matt Allred (03:33.366)
You’re good. No. Welcome. Welcome. So I did introduce you while you were out and just kind of told people a little bit about your background that you’ve been you’ve been doing this a long time, two thousand five as an owner and and over twenty one years in the industry. And and so again, both of you welcome to the to the show today.

Casey (03:51.43)
Thank you.

Alex Martin (03:51.805)
I do.

Matt Allred (03:53.666)
Yeah. Yep. This is good stuff. So first one I what I want to talk about is a little bit is how how we got here, right? How from, you know, a technician, accessibility specialist, did you get to business owner? And I’m curious, let’s just start with you, Alex. What what first attracted you to elevators?

Alex Martin (04:12.752)
so so I had the opportunity when I was in high school. I I I I’ve always been kind of a a gear head. I love turning wrenches and work working on cars, things like that. I had an opportunity with a gentleman I I met some time in high school who kind of became a mentor of mine that introduced me to the elevator industry. He’d been in it for about twenty years at the time.

And he would take me to calls on the weekends when he was on call, things like that. and so that was kind of my first introduction. before that I I I had no idea that elevators were even service and maintained. you know, you you you grow up and you you get an elevator, you push a button and you go. It’s I I did not realize what actually went into, you know, how complex a an elevator system is going from it. So that that once I was able to kind of see the intricacies of

Matt Allred (04:46.477)
For sure.

Alex Martin (05:02.745)
what it takes to to keep elevators alive and and run, that is ultimately what kind of spawned my fascination with it and and desire to to you know pursue it further.

Matt Allred (05:11.971)
Very cool. Casey, what about you? What what led you to to elevators?

Casey (05:15.819)
So I had started in accessibility equipment just kinda, you know, as a as a helper. and I thought it would be cool to start doing them because I thought I could do it. and then with the clientele that we were working with, some of like you when you go from a VPL like in someone’s home to seeing an actual elevator, I was like, Yeah, they these people need an elevator opposed to a a a w wheelchair lift.

And so that’s what sparked my interest, and and what kind of led me to it.

Matt Allred (05:52.824)
Right. So you both kind of jumped in early and just ha have stayed, right? It’s like w this is fascinating, this is good work. And at what point did you think you w might actually be an owner? I mean, was that a a massive leap? Let’s start with you, Casey. What are your thoughts on that?

Casey (06:09.057)
So I had started the accessibility company. so I ha I was, you know, an owner of that already. and then when we when we purchased our first franchise, I kinda knew that I was gonna be an owner kind of from the the very beginning. So is it it if that makes sense? you know, I came in as a as a a business owner.

Matt Allred (06:17.794)
Okay.

Matt Allred (06:35.096)
Yeah, yeah.

Casey (06:37.32)
And then bought the franchise. I think I think I may have been the second one on in the very beginning.

Matt Allred (06:47.223)
Very cool. What what about you, Alex? What was the your thought behind actually owning a franchise or, you know, being a business owner?

Alex Martin (06:54.848)
you know, so I I I guess at the time when I first got in the industry it really wasn’t even a thought. you know, I was just trying to get experience from a mechanic, learn as much as I can. And I feel like I I my goal in life was to always eventually own my own company and I wasn’t just you know, at the time I wasn’t really sure what it was gonna do or, you know, what what industry it would be in.

But it wasn’t until years down the road for me starting in in in my career that that I started to think about the franchise as an opportunity. And and really it was just getting to know the entire nationwide family and working under, you know, that that umbrella that it kind of opened up those those opportunities for me later.

Matt Allred (07:33.251)
Sure. Why why did you choose to to stay with Fran I’m I’m just curious, all right. Did you just think at times, hey, maybe I’ll just go start my own thing, right? I mean, why the why the franchise under nationwide?

Alex Martin (07:44.893)
you know, I think there’s just the particular group really, really had me in from from from the beginning. there’s such a camaraderie around the nationwide list group and you know, w working for for for Andy when he had hired me as a mechanic, you know, seeing him as again being another huge mentor in this industry for me, and how fair he treated his employees and and and how hard he worked, you know, always, you know, motivated me to work, you know, just as hard and and learn it.

I feel like, you know, by the time that that I was journeying out and getting my license, I I just didn’t f I I I wanted to stay a part of that family. I wanted to still see I could see the growth that that nationwide lifts was was continuing to to go towards and you know I I I wanted to be a part of

Matt Allred (08:33.933)
Yeah. I mean, from your your perspective, it sounds like you you saw what was there and didn’t really want to it didn’t really entice you to go elsewhere because you saw all the benefits of having the the network, the mentorship, whatever else that that kind of came with that. Is that fair to say? Okay. And and Casey, what about you? You sound like you already kind of had your own business. What was it that that made you kind of want to buy into this?

Alex Martin (08:49.754)
Exactly. Exactly.

Casey (08:54.261)
So I had I had worked with multiple manufacturers like pretty extensively. I did a whole lot of stair lifts, some BPLs, some IPLs, I built ramps, I did all kinds of overhead ceiling lifts. So I I dealt with a lot of companies. And I tell you what, when and what and what Alex said

the the the core group at at least the nationwide lift headquarter office Lori Sue Andy have been some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my whole life and they and they have been like that since literally day one. And and so that’s that was a humongous part of it for me. and that number one it the I mean this the support

Matt Allred (09:31.459)
Mm-hmm.

Casey (09:52.881)
that that I’ve received over the years and I I needed every bit of it, okay? Every single bit of it. And and yeah, I mean, so that’s a that’s a big part of it. Obviously for me, it’s gonna be a love five I I love Andy, Lori, Sue, Alex, you know, I I I love these people, you know. So I don’t know if that makes, you know, if that works.

Matt Allred (10:00.547)
I hear ya.

Matt Allred (10:16.865)
Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s cool. I I mean for sure, for sure. I mean, it sounds like even though you had a business, what you saw was additional support, additional friends, additional ways to to build your business and and have a lot of help doing it, essentially is what I’m hearing.

Casey (10:33.526)
absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, they have supported Nelly and I since literally day one and have never once not had our back i i through anything, you know, over the years and you know how things go, you know, and they have been there for us since day one. They it’s been the greatest gift, you know, one could

Matt Allred (10:51.992)
Sure.

Casey (10:59.734)
asked for with with a a team. At least that’s the way I see it, you know. they have been just tremendous friends, colleagues, all of it. And I mean like Alex, you know, he’s been fantastic. You know, and I I knew what he was gonna do as soon as I s soon as I knew he was buying in, I knew for sure he was gonna be off to the races.

Matt Allred (11:05.761)
Yeah, yeah.

Matt Allred (11:26.883)
Cool. Very cool. No, it sounds like a a great team.

Casey (11:27.505)
So yeah, it’s been it’s been just a great yeah.

Matt Allred (11:32.257)
Yeah. Well, let’s talk for just a minute about you know, why residential elevators matter more than ever. I mean, I’m I hear more about them. I I hear from different companies. And honestly, I’ve got some friends not too far away that, you know, go to church with them and they’re like, hey, we’re thinking about getting a residential elevator. Do you know anybody? And I’m like, huh, yeah. Actually, actually I do. so I I’m curious from your perspectives, you know, what what misconceptions do some o homeowners have? I mean, in other words, our

home elevators ubiquitous enough that everybody just kind of gets it? Or are there still a lot of people that are like, my gosh, I didn’t I didn’t think that was even an option. Casey, what do you what are you seeing in in your experience?

Casey (12:13.21)
So I feel like customer well clients now are much more educated than they were twenty years ago. I I I feel like twenty years ago people thought the elevators cost three times at least what they actually cost. I mean, you look I I think you and I I think maybe talked about this last week, but it’s exactly right. I mean, you look at a custom oak staircase, just a standard

Matt Allred (12:23.0)
For sure.

Casey (12:42.541)
you know, first floor, second floor, oak treads, oak risers. I mean you’re at forty five thousand dollars, fifty thousand dollars for something you have to walk on. You know what mean? And so economically I I think that’s done it, you know, a lot of it I there I mean they’re still attainable, you know. I mean you don’t have to be rich to have an elevator. You c you can have one, you know.

Matt Allred (13:11.393)
Right, right. And like you say, they’re becoming a lot more people are a lot more educated. There’s a lot more options. Certainly they can Google it. Alex, what are you seeing on on your side?

Alex Martin (13:20.936)
Yeah, I think I I think you know, kind of going off what Casey said, price was a big one, a big misconception of what they actually cost. And I think the that kind of goes parallel to that was also the the the cost of construction. I think people had a this this big misconception of you know how much it was gonna cost elevator aside, but just to destroy their home and tear their home apart.

you know with with a year of construction to build a hoist way and and and you know all this all this extra work our industry has has really advanced so far that that gives a customer so many options as to what they have you know that that’s very very minimal construction you know needs for their home and and and things like that. So getting that education out there, like Casey said, the education is we can always do better, we can always do more.

to to get more information out there and and and more literature for people out there. But we’ve really made huge strides, you know, the last fifteen years or so.

Matt Allred (14:20.675)
For sure. Yeah. Well, and obviously the the aesthetics too, right? I mean you can actually have a home elevator that that actually looks nice, whereas maybe maybe twenty or thirty years ago that wasn’t wasn’t gonna look as nice, or maybe it was just a a closet. But there’s I know the the industry’s come along a long way there. And and I’m sure that a lot of your installations are, you know, new because I know some some developers want to just put in elevators from the get-go, and then some of them have to be

Alex Martin (14:31.73)
Mm-hmm. Sure.

Matt Allred (14:47.479)
You know, retrofit and and so I’m curious what kind of situations trigger a call? Like you get you get a f call from somebody like, Hey, we we may have to put an elevator in our home. What is that like? What do those situations look like? Alex, you wanna start this one?

Alex Martin (15:01.958)
Yeah. so I I I would s yeah, so we we we we kinda have two aspects in our business. one is is the the contractor side that like you said is is building the home. there’s a certain level of home where it’s it’s it’s kind of becoming an expectation. you have a a a a wool stove, you you know, you you you have

these these appliances in your kitchen and and and they kind of come with an elevator and it it’s kind of a given expectation for those builders. So that you know that’s the construction side of it. From the homeowner side, it’s the large majority of the time, it it is purely focused around accessibility. we we see w when a homeowner starts reaching out to us, it’s very often that either they’re moving their parents in with them, that that are elderly and and they live in a two story home or or it

It’s a elderly couple that that already has a two-story home and is looking to make modifications to to incorporate an elevator in there. is what we would usually see, the kind of two halves.

Matt Allred (15:58.808)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. How often, Casey, I’ll send this one to you. How often are you helping families avoid like assisted living or or, you know, selling the the the home they’ve had for fifty years and really uprooting kind of, you know, their their base?

Casey (16:18.174)
I I mean it’s it’s I mean it it would be, you know, a hundred percent of the clients that we, you know, that we take care of that that have those needs. We do a lot of vanity, you know, we we do a lot of, you know, really beautiful elevators that are not necessarily for somebody who has accessibility needs in the home. It’s more of a vanity thing and a status thing. but as far as accessibility, you know, everyone, ever every client that I go to that

that needs or or that has those needs, you know, that’s the main goal is to try to keep them in their house. so every one of them, you know.

Matt Allred (16:55.875)
Sure, sure. Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. How often do people and and obviously, Alex, you talked about the contractors that are that are putting them in from the get go, but how often are are individuals, you know, just thinking ahead 10, 20 years, right? Maybe they got a a knee that gives them a little trouble or they think, you know, when I get into my eighties, I might need this. Do you do you have a lot of people that are forward thinking, or do you get those calls that, grandma just broke her hip. We need to do something now?

Alex Martin (17:21.98)
Yeah, absolutely. we’re we’re we’re actually dealing with projects specifically right now that the customer’s coming back to us and they they did have the idea when they built their home about nine years ago, they stacked the closets on top of each other. And so they were still able to get full utilization out of their house. They they they have closets at at each floor in their home, but the plan was to always eventually when when the time came.

Matt Allred (17:41.442)
Nice.

Alex Martin (17:45.731)
that they were gonna need an elevator, they’re able to take those those floors out of of that section and and and there they have a hoist waste. So yeah, we definitely see that quite quite a bit with customers who who are making plans and provisions for it and being that elevators can kind of fit within the confines of your your typical closet. it it doesn’t people are able to design that into that house even if they’re not gonna be putting the elevator in right away. They can still get full utilization out of you know that that square footage of their home until they’re ready to pull the trigger.

Matt Allred (18:14.541)
Sure, sure. And I’m and I’m sorry, sure a lot of people, you know, that that maybe aren’t thinking that far ahead and and maybe they don’t understand the costs, you know, maybe they’re even surprised when what? I I can’t afford this. I mean, do you do you have some of those stories that stick with you that wow, we just we just changed somebody’s life because they thought they were gonna have to move out. They thought they were gonna have to, you know, totally uproot. Share one of those if if you’ve got one. Casey.

Casey (18:41.895)
So I had a client that called us. we we talked them through it and they said, Can you get your builder and you to meet us tomorrow to go over it? and I I called my builder, Steve. We went out there and met with him and both of us both of us closed the job and had deposits before we left. And the lead came in literally 24 hours earlier.

No no drawings, no, no nothing. Close the job, had the job in in I don’t know, six or seven weeks it was. there’s there’s multiple jobs. I’ve I’ve had all all kinds of clients to close immediately. to where there was no no fussing, no, you know, no negotiating, no nothing. They liked the price. They said, Give me your best price, which is what we did, and and won the job immediately.

Matt Allred (19:12.29)
Wow.

Matt Allred (19:39.875)
How does that how does that impact their life, right? Yeah, sorry to interrupt.

Casey (19:40.89)
Multiple over the years and

Casey (19:46.415)
So with so with the elevator, so when when we’re providing so like when we’re using a builder, say a builder that say he does ten hoistways for me a year. Let’s just say you know, we have ten clients that need the hoist way built. I I usually have a couple go-to builders that that I kinda recommend to them, two or three of them, depending on the house, depending on the finishes. you know, the the plan is to try to, you know.

Whether or not they’re gonna be in the home during the construction. You know, you you you want the elevator and the finished product to to not look like an afterthought. You know, so you, you know, d just dust control, you know, mitigate the the trash and the dirt around the house from the construction. and you just try to be there for and answer all the questions that you can for which we try to do. and and do what you say.

Matt Allred (20:45.847)
Yeah. Yeah. Alex, what what kind of experiences do you have with with those kind of almost emergency type type situations?

Alex Martin (20:54.46)
Yeah, we well I’m trying to think of some specific examples that we’ve had in the past. normally I I would say any any of those types of situations, you know, barring anything that’s like a a an accident that happens, a a car accident or or or some type of health scare, a fall down the stairs for for a client, you know, we we we’ve dealt with those quite a few times. But to be able to to go in and have a fix for somebody, you know, in in my Casey said, in such a fast turnaround time.

you know, is a huge advantage, a and and helps out tremendously. I know we have a customer specifically that we we did about a year ago. and she she’s f you know, wheelchair bound. And the amenities that we were able to provide with her for that elevator to get her up, it’s it had been years since she’d seen the upstairs of her home, you know, i in in a in a two story house. And her her husband had done

Matt Allred (21:43.575)
Wow. Yeah.

Alex Martin (21:48.241)
He had done remodels upstairs and and and they had changed a whole bunch of aspects of the upstairs to accommodate her for the day that she may finally get to go up there. And the elevator was kind of the finish the finish step for that, you know, to be able to get it done. And to see the look on her face, the reaction that

that she has an opportunity now to move about her home freely, you know, e every floor, every room be able to get to it without without the assistance of somebody else. i it really gives them that freedom and and and I just kinda makes them feel whole again, you know.

Matt Allred (22:18.871)
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it sounds like an emotional experience, right? It’s almost like getting your life back. You’re actually able to to travel where you want and and get back in your own home. So that’s really cool. So I I’m gonna just invite our audience members, if you’ve had an experience with a parent, grandparent, friend, somebody struggling with stairs or mobility, share your audio your experience in the chat. just wanna invite you to to share that or or share any questions you have because we’re gonna get to questions here in a in a few minutes.

Alex Martin (22:29.702)
Yeah.

Matt Allred (22:48.731)
And we’re gonna talk for just a minute about the business of residential elevators. And so I wanna ask each of you guys, you know, how much Alex will start with you, how much education do you have to do before a sale?

Alex Martin (23:06.856)
ha h how do you mean?

Matt Allred (23:08.747)
Well, just w the customer, right? We talked about price. We talked about, you know, obviously there’s a there’s a ton of options. and I I imagine, right, that that it’s a little it’s a little scary for a homeowner to, they’re gonna bring a a skill saw into my house. They’re gonna cut a hole in my floor. What’s that gonna do to my house? What’s it gonna do to the to the looks? I mean, there’s there’s it’s probably a pretty emotional experience for them because they they don’t know what to expect. And so I’m curious what that’s kind of that.

sales slash education process looks and feels like.

Alex Martin (23:40.359)
Yeah, I so and and and I think with when you’re dealing with with you know homeowner that those issues present themselves, you know, far more than dealing with a contractor. If you’re building a new construction home, they kind of you know, most contractors usually know what’s going into it from the homeowner perspective.

It it can be a little bit tough to to sometimes lay out exactly what what what there is and and all the literature and the pictures and diagrams, things we have nowadays to to be able to show them to help them understand better of what it’s gonna take, you know, to to get into this. It it can seem a little overwhelming in in in the beginning, but you know, we’re there throughout the whole process from start to finish to make sure that that everything goes smooth. we we deal with homeowners every single week that that call our sales guys and

that they they have no idea where to start. They they maybe saw a a a Instagram post or a Facebook post about a a home elevator and it was something they had never thought about before. And they call us basically saying we need help and we have no idea where to start from and you know what resources to to do. And and for us that’s it’s it’s a lot of fun for our sales guys, you know, and those are usually what spawn the the immediate site visits where, you know, we will

typically bring our our all all all of our marketing material to be able to walk their home and and point out, you know, where where maybe the best locations for them, make sure it works for them, aesthetically they like it, things like that.

Matt Allred (25:04.269)
Right, right. so Casey, why why would you say people are so surprised by the cost? When you when you you you mentioned that they think it’s three times as much. Why are they so surprised that maybe it’s not as expensive?

Casey (25:19.997)
You know, I’m not sure. I I I’m not sure. I mean just because they typically are, I know I mean I I’ve had clients obviously not as much as s early two thousands, you know, two thousand ten, two thousand eight, in in then it was quite a bit different than now.

But it was they were substantially less than what people thought. I mean, there were elevators back then that were selling for, you know, twenty-eight thousand dollars that people thought were seventy-five, eighty thousand dollars. So you know what I mean? or or you know, putting in the hoist way, you know, back things have changed radically in the last ten years as far as cost and all all kinds of things. But

Matt Allred (26:00.013)
Time. Mm-hmm.

Casey (26:11.801)
It used to be, you know, between three and seven thousand dollars a floor is what construction costs were, depending on home finishes and things like that. But average, depending on the finishes, you know, so if you got a three-stop elevator, that’s you know, basement first second, you know, 21, you know, just call it 25 grand for construction and then 30 grand for the elevator. You know what I mean?

Matt Allred (26:39.627)
Yeah. Yeah. So while while we’re on that Yeah. While we’re on that subject, I I do I do see a comment from the audience. They’re just curious, how does I guess the cost of maintenance kind of tie into that? What does that look like? Because you know it’s one thing to buy it, right? But then you you still gotta get it maintained. What does that look like?

Casey (26:40.263)
So I think people were kind of shocked at that.

Casey (27:01.501)
You wanna take it?

Alex Martin (27:02.568)
Yeah, I can answer this. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, so the cost of maintenance, so it the cost of maintenance is gonna vary pretty drastically from from what type of equipment you have, whether it’s a hydraulic or or or a gear elevator. on the residential side though, I I I would say, you know, our our average cost for for for customers on maintenance per year, that that’s actual scheduled maintenance, it is anywhere from about six hundred to to a thousand dollars a year per per per per

Matt Allred (27:30.443)
A year. Okay. I thought you were gonna say a month, so you you said a year. So okay.

Alex Martin (27:34.128)
Yeah, yep, yeah, so so per per year. So that that includes our visits that come out you know for all of your routine maintenance schedule. Now, you know, obviously service things like that as the elevators start to age, there are some parts that are consumable, so those kind of fall more into the service side of of you know of our our industry, but we we do focus more again on the preventative maintenance, ensuring that we catch any of those issues before they become you know major problems and and wind up calling costing more, but

Matt Allred (28:00.545)
Yeah yeah.

Alex Martin (28:02.353)
you know, from a cost to own perspective, I I’d say, you know, elevators are are more and more and and getting better with every year. Every year that goes by as technology advances, you know, you know, things get better. It’s it it it definitely you know, that price range is kind of a good good middle ground to to account for.

Matt Allred (28:18.135)
Yeah. Well I know I know on the commercial side, you know, there’s a there seems to be a big kind of this dividing line between, you know, proprietary versus non proprietary in residential. Is there that same division or or not really?

Casey (28:35.277)
There there are some companies that

Alex Martin (28:36.328)
there are.

Alex Martin (28:41.704)
Go ahead, Casey, take it.

Casey (28:42.135)
Go ahead, bro. So there there are a couple companies that are proprietary that that that equipment. So like if a client goes with that particular company and let’s just say they become unhappy with them in a year and or two, there’s no one else can service that equipment but them. you know, most of our stuff is not necessarily like that. if that helps.

Matt Allred (29:03.573)
Interesting. Okay.

Matt Allred (29:12.695)
Yeah, absolutely. Alex, any thoughts on that as well?

Casey (29:12.894)
So most of our stuff most yeah.

Alex Martin (29:19.548)
Yeah, I I would I would kind of mimic what what what Casey said is for for the most part across the board, manufacturers typically have multiple companies in all of their their sales areas that that you know they’re providing elevators to that they’re gonna have multiple companies. So if if you do run into an instance where either the company is just the customer’s not happy with that specific service company, they’re able to find others. There there are a a couple out there.

their business models have been structured more around giving precedence to one particular company in a very large region. I would say, you know, that’s that’s a great question for customers to be asking those companies when they install them is is how many competitors are are out there that that that can provide, you know, work on on that type of equipment.

Matt Allred (30:03.844)
Thank you. Which which honestly leads me kind of to my next question, which is, you know, what should homeowners know before they start? And it sounds like that’s one of the questions to ask is like, you know, how how I guess serviceable or you know, how how much can others actually provide service for this if if something happens?

Alex, you wanna take that one? The how much th should they know?

Casey (30:23.864)
Yeah, it’s very, very very important.

Alex Martin (30:30.108)
Yeah, I think that’s a great question. I mean, as a as somebody who’s gonna start looking and doing their research, that is absolutely the b the the w one of those top questions to be asking for sure.

Matt Allred (30:39.073)
What other top questions would you come up with? Maybe the maybe the top three that that a homeowner really needs to understand or dig into?

Alex Martin (30:51.474)
I would say I you know, the the the I think the questions are always be asked, but I can say, you know, what what I feel like most customers typically ask us, price is a big one, but be once it gets beyond that, it’s safety. a lot of customers just wanna know that that these are safe, right? Hollywood has built you know, they they’ve given the elevator industry a bad rap.

Matt Allred (31:10.136)
Mm-hmm.

Alex Martin (31:16.29)
you know with with elevators that are free falling down hoistways and exploding and crashing into pits and you know it’s it’s it’s great for Hollywood and it’s great for you know for for for views but it it’s really not the reality. And so a lot of customers I think if if they’re able to talk to to their sales reps and and and and be able to get a more comfortable feeling.

Matt Allred (31:17.141)
Right.

Alex Martin (31:38.192)
You y you know, the and understanding that in how inherently safe elevators are and all of the redundancies and backup safeties that they have to make sure that people are safe, you know, and and that and they’re not gonna have those concerns moving forward. That’s that’s one that we deal with a lot i in the initial sales call, you know, process.

Matt Allred (31:55.832)
Gotcha. Gotcha. so Casey, I’ve got a question I want to bounce off you. The the you know, I know on the commercial side that you know, modernization is is a big business. Do you see that on the residential side where hey, it’s you know, it’s been in here fifteen, twenty years and it’s time to to either start over or get a new controller. Does that exist on the residential side?

Casey (32:18.619)
So it does. It’s it’s very, very small. It at least for me. It’s very small. I have only found a couple. we were able to use the sling package, the piston, and then just modded every all the electrical components in the elevator, COP, all a new controller, new pump or whatever the case may be. But it’s very it it’s much much of a much more of a smaller aspect to the residential side.

just because of the cost, you know, on some of those. you know, on a commercial you may have five to, you know, forty floors that you’re changing, you know.

Matt Allred (32:52.568)
Gotcha.

Matt Allred (32:58.999)
For sure, for sure. So what what I guess in that regard, what’s the life span, if you will, of of a residential elevator, before it would need to be modernized or or, you know, whatever that process looks like.

Casey (33:14.515)
So the the the elevators that we have been putting in, say the last, you know, ten solid years, I don’t see any reason why these elevators can’t run forty years. I mean, as long as they’re maintained and and repaired without any problems at all. All right, what do you think? That’s a good one. I’d like to know your answer on that, Alex. I mean, I don’t I don’t see why any of these tractions that we’re putting in today

Wouldn’t be totally functional in fifty years from now, forty, you know.

Alex Martin (33:47.837)
Yeah. Yeah, I I I would definitely say the same. I mean we we you know we see it it seems a a lot more frequently than than Casey does. you know, we have elevators that are fifteen plus years old, residential and commercial. but you know, focusing on on on you know the the residential side here, the packages now that come out for manufacturers for other manufacturers equipment that is they’re either out of business,

or or or they’re that they’re no longer available to source those parts. The the mod packages now that that are out there, you know, really enable you to to continue the life of that elevator well past the 10 to 15 year expectancy that maybe some people might have that perception of. And and a lot of that too is based around electronics. electronics are constantly advancing and and constantly changing. And you know manufacturers have to eventually decide to say, okay, you know, this product’s been on the market for a decade or more.

We’ve we’ve all we’re already three iterations past that point. And you know, we we we just can’t sustain keeping those parts on the shelf anymore, you know, as we advance. And that’s where the headaches, you know, you usually come for customers with older ones. But in in the world that we live in now where where you know you you have you know steel steel guide rails and steel rail brackets and steel slings.

that stuff is gonna last forever. You know, it’s it really, you know, out outside of a a very, you know, a very small circumstance, you know, they’re gonna last forever. And i if you’re going in there after fifteen, twenty years and and spending half the cost of a brand new elevator to to to to mod it, you know, to update it, we we do that quite often.

Matt Allred (35:23.713)
Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean it’s and you’re right. there’s a lot of a lot of rapidly advancing, especially electronics and and some but it sounds like there’s a lot of aftermarket parts and and things out there that that, you know, manufacturers saying, Hey, we can we can actually provide parts for this. So it it’s it’s a unique thing. And obviously none of us can look into the future and say, that’s absolutely gonna be obsolete. But I’m sure you’re gonna get a lot of those questions as as people are

you know, trying to decide what to put in their home and, you know, what’s going to be serviceable. especially if they’re if they’re thinking in advance and saying, hey, in 20 years I might, you know, be be not, you know, I I might need this. Well then they’re they don’t want to they don’t want to make it obsolete in those 20 years when they actually need it. So yeah, yeah. Yeah. so I’m just gonna invite the audience, you know, we are getting some some comments and some questions, but the question for you audience is what would stop you from putting an elevator in your home?

Alex Martin (36:09.702)
Absolutely, absolutely.

Casey (36:10.786)
Yeah.

Matt Allred (36:22.753)
I’m just curious to know what what that would be and and maybe we can look at that here in a few minutes. so I want to talk a little bit about the franchise leading the team. Alex, we talked about in your intro, right? That you’ve got twenty two employees. Casey, I don’t remember number of employees, but but you guys obviously got to lead the team and and building the franchise. And so let’s talk a little bit about finding the talent and what do you find most difficult about that, Casey?

Casey (36:52.544)
Geez, I don’t even know how to answer that. you you just you you it you know, 10 years that would have given me a totally different answer than today. now, I mean, the the ideal guy that I’m looking for now, I mean, obviously to to find someone, you know, all of the good guys are working for people. You know, all the all the good guys and so I’m looking for a young, hungry, intelligent, talented.

Matt Allred (37:01.623)
Ha ha ha.

Casey (37:28.918)
men, you know, who who who wanna work hard and

Matt Allred (37:31.959)
What about women? Do you have any women on your team that are that any women on your team that are mechanics or

Casey (37:37.135)
not in not in the field not in the field, no.

Matt Allred (37:41.325)
Okay. Just curious.

Casey (37:43.02)
Yeah, it’s very, very heavy equipment we’re tossing around. so yeah, no women in the field, not yet.

Matt Allred (37:50.039)
I d I do know of female mechanics, so that’s why I’m throwing it out there. Yeah.

Casey (37:54.88)
no, I I’ve I’ve known a couple too. I had a female inspector who was great named Wanda and she was she was fantastic. And she she worked at union company for years and years, downtown Chicago, which was crazy. And but yeah. So talent I’m I’m looking for young, hungry talent.

Matt Allred (38:22.655)
Is so what’s what’s the hardest thing? Is it is it that they’re just not interested or or where or they don’t like the type of work or what what what is it?

Casey (38:37.083)
I I mean it’s it’s maybe a different podcast, but it’s today it’s been very, very hard to to find people who even want to come to work. and if you find somebody who c who wants to come to work, you know, can they tie their shoes? so it’s been it’s d finding help over the last four years have has been challenging, at least for me.

Matt Allred (39:07.807)
No, I hear you. So four years, you’re you you’re kind of speaking, you know, COVID time and it it did seem like I don’t fully understand it, right? But it seemed like the the workforce somehow got impacted by by COVID and just cause I’ve heard it some from so many people. that somehow that was that was a an interesting time. Alex, what do you see on your end as far as the challenges of of finding the talent?

Casey (39:08.042)
So

Alex Martin (39:31.656)
Yeah, we’ve you know, we’ve had it we’ve adopted in our business more of a a mentality of starting with the young guys and and kind of molding them and morphing them and training them into, you know, what our company, what our morals and ethics are and how we, you know, service and maintain elevators and and and kind of bring the training in house. one aspect that’s tough in our industry is is is how niche we are and and

I think a lot of people that I run into have the same perception that I did when I was eighteen, was that you just get in an elevator and you push a button and the thought that somebody services this and maintains it, you know, wasn’t even something I ever considered. And so, you know, as we get the el you know, the the the the

education out there and the information, just like we talked about with customers, it it goes the same with mechanics that you know, we we bring out new guys that are green, that we hire on and they they look at elevator controller like it’s it’s it’s rocket science. I mean they’re they’re blown away. They had no clue, you know, of of what goes into it. So trying just trying to find the the guys that are motivated that that want to do this. And like Casey mentioned, you know, there’s there’s some incredible mechanics out there, great guys and and you know

Matt Allred (40:28.653)
Sure, sure. Yeah.

Alex Martin (40:42.364)
Companies are are are really taking care of those guys to make sure that they keep them on board. So finding new talent and and getting, you know, licensed guys that that, you know, are are are are willing to jump ship, it it can be tough sometimes, you know.

Matt Allred (40:53.719)
Yeah. Yeah. Well and it’s, you know, it’s everywhere, right? And there’s a re reason I I bring it up, you know, because elevator careers, right, is what I like to talk about a lot. And and talent’s a talent’s a an issue in every every area of the business from from what I see. So yeah, just wanna just wanna bring that up and and talk about it because I do see and and do talk to people all the time that that’s their biggest limiting factor, right? Hey, if I could get I mean, I had a client just this week, well, today’s Monday.

Alex Martin (41:09.789)
Yeah.

Matt Allred (41:22.391)
I guess it was last week. He said, I need I need like six mechanics, right? And I’m like, Yeah, that’s that’s a lot, right? He could obviously do a lot more work with six more mechanics. Exactly. Yeah.

Casey (41:30.046)
Yeah, you and everybody else.

Alex Martin (41:33.852)
Yeah. Yeah, I feel I feel like we’re we’re we’re all dealing with that. I mean that that is our our our single biggest, you know, bottleneck right now that we have to deal with is is employment and and getting the guys that that are qualified to be in the field and and you know taking care, although the work is there. you know, we have plenty of that. It’s just finding guys to be able to keep up with time frames and and you know, keep our customers happy. It’s just yeah, definitely a difficult, difficult time there right now.

Matt Allred (41:45.698)
Yeah.

Matt Allred (41:59.396)
Sure. Sure. Well, I’m and I’m sure it kind of becomes a a full time job, as it were, right? Just kind of building building the, you know, putting the the time into education to loyalty. I mean, ultimately somebody could turn around and say, I don’t want to do this, right? I’m to go flip burgers. I’m going to go, you know, do something else. but it ultimately you you you gotta do it or or you won’t have anybody, right? You’ve gotta you’ve gotta be on that.

Casey (42:02.174)
Yeah

Matt Allred (42:31.267)
So what what does it mean to build go ahead.

Casey (42:31.299)
Yeah.

What what Alex had said too, there’s there’s just so much th wrapped into it. You know, it’s like having guys care, you know, and it’s you know, what I try to treat our clients with service and everything else is how would I want somebody to treat my son if he was in a wheelchair? Or my mother if she was in a wheelchair? You know, so you you you you wanna provide a level of service that that you can s you know, you wanna sleep at night. You wanna be you know you wanna feel good about yourself.

Matt Allred (42:37.773)
Go ahead, Casey.

Casey (43:07.153)
And you know, finding people that have that same kind of drive, you know, it’s it’s one out of a hundred, you know. I don’t know what the number is, but it’s it’s been tough, at least for me.

Matt Allred (43:18.135)
Wow. Wow.

Casey (43:24.289)
And with with young guys w with with with young guys too, and it’s like you try to tell them like, you know, the elevator industry has been fantastic, you know, it it’s been great to me and everybody I care about. You know what I mean? And you know, to try to sell that to them is tough. It’s really tough.

Matt Allred (43:24.439)
Yeah. Yeah. Well I don’t think you’re the only

Matt Allred (43:37.923)
Mm-hmm.

Matt Allred (43:50.69)
Right, right. Well and and yeah, I guess if if people are young enough, they they haven’t seen much of the world and so they don’t may not recognize just how good of an opportunity it is. You know, you you grab right out of high school and they haven’t they haven’t seen the world. And so it’s like, yeah, this is this is kinda cool, but but I want to try sixteen other things and then I’ll then I’ll realize that, man, I wish I’d have stuck with that, you know, twenty years later.

Casey (44:01.261)
You mean

Matt Allred (44:19.679)
It happens, right? We all we all make make choices and and so yeah, it does become a kind of a full time part, it sounds like, of of what you do is building building a team, building camaraderie, building the loyalty as much as possible and and hoping some people stick around and and really experience what there is for them to to have because it sounds like there’s there’s a lot that they can learn and and do that they may not appreciate at the time.

Casey (44:48.243)
and there’s there’s so much when it comes to installing the elevators, there’s there’s so many level ups that that our mechanics get. I mean there’s carpentry, there’s rigging, there’s electricity, there’s yeah, it’s yeah, it’s a level up for sure.

Matt Allred (45:07.971)
For sure.

Matt Allred (45:12.685)
So what I’m hearing in part is that if somebody comes and works with you and they spend a few years, they’re gonna learn so much they they could even if they don’t stay with you, they could probably go start their own handyman business because of everything you taught them.

Casey (45:25.781)
They could take it anywhere they want to and make, you know, at least what I’m paying You know what I mean? Yeah. Especially if they’re hungry, it could happen even quicker.

Matt Allred (45:33.505)
Yeah. Well or or they could become their own

Yeah. Or they could become their own their own owner, their own franchise. I mean that’s that’s essentially what you did, Alex, right? You came in, you learned it, and at some point you’re like, Hey, I’m I’m ready to to own and run this thing and and stepped right into the captain’s seat, essentially.

Alex Martin (45:53.606)
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Matt Allred (45:56.056)
Yeah. Yeah. but I and I am hearing a couple of things, you know, from you guys just just regarding talent that it’s it’s one thing to find some work ethic. You also gotta find somebody that that cares. And, you know, some of our our audience members are just mentioning that, you know, some just don’t care, right? As long as they get a a paycheck or they don’t, you know, that that you may you may hire somebody and and sometimes you gotta weed out the bad ones because maybe they’re maybe they’re poisoning the system more than they’re bringing value and that can be that can be challenging and and

painful at times to have to work through those situations.

Casey (46:30.78)
Absolutely.

Alex Martin (46:31.432)
Absolutely.

Matt Allred (46:33.303)
Yeah. So let’s talk for just a minute about who would you say the the ideal franchise owner is? Is it somebody, you know, you know, because you you can find all kinds of people looking to buy a business. and you can find and then and then obviously we’ve talked about you guys coming right out of the out of working in it into ownership. So Alex, why don’t you start with this one? Who’s the ideal franchise owner for this opportunity?

Alex Martin (47:02.274)
ideal franchise owner is somebody with experience. I think that’s the most important part. And it kind of goes back to the last topic with just hiring, you know, guys, is there’s a lot of aspects to our industry that just you don’t see in in other industries. So to be able to come from you know a a a maybe a plumbing background or even an electrician background and then to dive into elevators, it’s you know it it can be very overwhelming. someone in my you know from my aspect of being a licensed you know mechanic

started round franchise the the transition you know from from I I had the transition from the mechanic day to day to to to the business operations and that was learnable you know it it took time but if you are coming in as a business owner and you’re trying to learn the elevator industry it’s it it’s gonna take a lot of time and it’s very difficult. so so having that that that

Matt Allred (47:43.651)
Mm-hmm.

Alex Martin (47:55.783)
background in in mechanics. I think for myself it it was huge to to have that. And I just I I I I have seen people in the past who come from different backgrounds, even more white collar backgrounds that that got into it. And they struggled. They you know it’s not to say that’s impossible, but you know, it was definitely more difficult for them to to be able to learn everything that that goes into our industry to make it operate.

Matt Allred (48:19.735)
Well, one of the things that comes to mind that that I think would be a challenge is, you know, let’s say I’m coming from a maybe I’m an accountant, right? And I want to buy a franchise and hey, I’m gonna do this. I also need a license, right? In in many of the states. And if I don’t have that experience, you know, how does that even work? Right. How how do you how do you run a business and and have a a license for it when you can’t qualify for the license? That sounds like a major roadblock.

Alex Martin (48:45.242)
Yeah, a lot a lot of companies in that situation might be able to find a licensed guy who who can be the the license holder for that company. I I I see it, I I I can’t speak, you know, for every state as far as what what their their rules and regulations are. I know it it happens in California, quite often where you where you you’ll you’ll find investment companies or or you know, private equity companies that that will utilize s somebody’s license, you know, to to put that license under their business to be able to operate that way.

Matt Allred (48:52.983)
Okay.

Matt Allred (49:12.779)
Okay. So you sent you’d essentially have to hire or or pay for someone to kind of be that be that person, as it were. Okay. Okay. There you go. is there anything that you think matters more than the experience, Casey? Or is or is or is experience like a number one?

Alex Martin (49:19.612)
Mm-hmm. Exactly.

Casey (49:30.85)
So I would say he’s about six six, red hair, strong as an ox. Okay. I’m talking about Alex. No, the ideal, the ideal franchise owner. you want somebody hungry, smart, somebody who’s turned some wrenches before, preferably somebody in the business who’s looking for some freedom.

Matt Allred (49:44.129)
Right.

Casey (49:59.716)
You know, for me there the the benefits to being obviously you know, the the owner for me, I I mean it’s you know, like that I have to try to sell it. It’s like I made it to my kids’ ball games, basketball, volleyball, baseball, plays. I made it to every one of them. Had I not been an owner, I could have never done that. Ever. You know, and you know, in time with the kids.

Matt Allred (50:00.355)
Mm-hmm.

Matt Allred (50:25.879)
Gotcha. Gotcha.

Casey (50:29.186)
Especially those years, you know, when that’s gone, it’s gone. And you’ll never, ever, ever get it back. And so you you you want somebody who cares about their family, you know, and and somebody who wants to be free, if that makes sense. You know, somebody who’s not afraid of hard work, you know, somebody who’s not afraid of hard work. at least, you know, i as far as our team, the nationwide team,

Matt Allred (50:46.401)
No, absolutely. Yeah. Thank you.

Casey (50:58.81)
That’s who I think is ideal. Six six, you know, and strong, hungry, you know, driven, you know, a family people, you know, loyal, and who who wants some freedom, you know, somebody who wants some freedom. And yeah, I think that’s the ideal person, if that makes sense.

Matt Allred (51:25.165)
Yeah, no, that’s perfect. I and I appreciate that because I I do hear from people quite often in my recruiting work where, you know, they’ll say, Man, I really want an equity opportunity, right? I would I would, you know, definitely you know, jump out of what I’m doing to to have some kind of opportunity where I have skin in the game. Now, whether it’s, you know, residential or commercial or or either, they don’t really specify but but to your point, some freedom, some ownership, I think that’s the American dream more than

You know, more than some of the other things we we hear about. so I guess I wanna jump to well, I wanna share so we and I and I apologize to the audience member, I I kind of skipped a a comment question. W I had asked earlier about, you know, what what would stop you from from you know installing a home elevator and and one of the audience members saying when it came down to this lack of knowledge, so we’re talking about, you know, educating the the population.

is what stopped his parents, his or her. I’m not sure. they sold their home when it became inaccessible for mom and they moved into a single story. So one of those examples where you know, just just didn’t know what they didn’t know. That’s the only thing that seemed workable at the time. And so you know, that’s that’s kind of how it how it went. So I have a couple other and so audience members, if you’ve got some questions, now’s a great time to

To go ahead and put them in there. And I’ve I’ve got a couple here. I just wanted to bounce off you guys. so one of is what does the application process look like? If someone wants to be a a franchise owner, what does that even look like? Alex, you wanna speak to that?

Alex Martin (53:10.78)
you know, honestly I think Casey can probably speak to this a little bit better.

Matt Allred (53:13.571)
Okay. Casey?

Casey (53:15.991)
well I know you would contact our office, obviously our corporate office, and and then obviously go through them. As far as the process, I mean it’s it is as long as as you’re vetted by our team. I haven’t gone through the process in over 20 years. but I I know that there’s some vetting, you know, and I know

Matt Allred (53:37.899)
Yeah.

Casey (53:43.767)
Obviously there’s financial responsibility to it. and then territory. but you would contact yeah, I I’m sure it would be just elevators.com. You know, just go directly to elevators.com or our New York office. I I know we have some franchise ads up currently, I believe. I think those are those are on, at least I believe they are.

Matt Allred (53:44.163)
For sure.

Casey (54:11.543)
marketing the states that are available and the territories available. So I would start at Nationwide Lifts headquarters, Nationwide Lifts corporate office out of Syracuse, New York, and and or elevators dot com is is is where to start. and I will tell you for those if there are any if there is anyone here looking to do that, you know,

Matt Allred (54:15.757)
Mm-hmm.

Matt Allred (54:28.087)
Yeah. Yeah.

Casey (54:40.999)
I I love it. Love it. It has been the funnest to greatest to craziest ride I’ve ever been on. And yeah, I’m I’m grateful for being here. I’m grateful for our team. yeah, all of You know, all of And we’re all here for each other. You know, we all kind of stick together. We all work hard and

Matt Allred (55:05.379)
For sure.

Casey (55:08.395)
So if that’s any encouragement to to nationwide itself, you know, I I can say that if that answers your question, Matt.

Matt Allred (55:21.047)
Yeah, no, I think it’s I think it’s a good answer. I mean, certainly you’ve you’ve kind of pointed them to the to the folks that can answer all the questions, right? Which is to to nationwide lists, right? I I can’t answer it. I was just curious, you know, from from having walked that path. and and the other one, you know, is is a question about how quickly can a franchise owner expect to generate new profits. I think I’m gonna have to I don’t know. we’re we’re we’re running out of time and I’ve got to

Just a last few questions and some comments. Do you guys want to speak to that quickly?

Casey (55:53.94)
I I can tell you right now, with a hundred percent certainty, it’s instantly. I mean, it’s I mean you you’ll start selling elevators immediately. I mean, so long as you’re capable of selling and you can close a deal, you will close the deal immediately. You know, there’s there’s work all over the country, it’s everywhere.

Matt Allred (56:13.889)
Okay. So it’s just a matter of of doing the work, basically. You got it. Gotcha. Gotcha. Alex, any thoughts on that?

Alex Martin (56:21.02)
Yeah, there there is there’s no shortage of work right now, that’s for sure. And and you know, speaking more to the point too of you know of the nationwide franchises, one thing I’ve really noticed throughout the years is is the powers i in numbers that we have. you’ve got guys from all different types of of elevator backgrounds, union guys, non union guys, you know, commercial side, residential side, even even people from from you know, the different

Matt Allred (56:24.501)
Mm-hmm.

Alex Martin (56:49.062)
different career paths that that come together that that are able to work, whether it’s electrical engineering or or or or you know CAD design, where, you know, the the the Rolodex, yeah, the Rolodex numbers that I have available just within the nationwide group is is is incredible. And and that’s way we’ve always treated it with everybody is I’m in California.

Casey (56:57.583)
Physics.

Alex Martin (57:11.122)
Casey’s in Chicago, you know, I I I can call Casey almost any time of the day and and be able to talk to him or one of his guys, you know, and and vice versa, and and have that huge advantage, you know, not just to with with help with manufacturers, you know, and the bargaining power we have there, but also just the resources we have of of seeing something that you’re not familiar with, but knowing that you’ve got enough guys within that that group to to be able to help, you know, figure it out.

Matt Allred (57:35.489)
Which which is a a good segue into our we have one question. I’m it’s probably this the last audience question we’ll be able to take, which is what’s the difference? And we talked about, you know, some of the benefits, but I just want to kind of peel this apart a little bit more. What’s the difference between franchising and owning your own company? Obviously, you know, you’re you’re you’re paying a portion for the franchise versus owning your own company. You might, you know, maybe there’s a little bit more margin you get to pocket. Well, what are the big from your perspectives, what are the big differences? Casey, we’ll start with you.

Casey (58:05.522)
So so so technically you’re going to own your own company. You know, you’re you’re going to own your own company. as far as I I mean

The the buying power that we have collectively is is for me is worth every penny that I pay in the franchise, you know, royalties and fees that w that I have to pay. it’s the

Casey (58:38.559)
It’s the manufacturing, the manufacturers, and the r the the respect you get, I think as a as a whole, you know, being part of a a a a network, you know is i is what it is. And I mean the

Matt Allred (58:54.915)
So you’re saying you get you get

Matt Allred (58:59.745)
you get lower costs essentially is what you’re saying, right? You’re getting you’re getting a better deal on on the things you’re buying.

Casey (59:03.03)
Yeah, we you know, yeah, nation nationwide as a whole, we have we have a much stronger buying power to where if I was just, you know, Apple Jack’s elevator company and I did, you know, twenty-five elevators a year, I’m not gonna like, you know, some of the manufacturers aren’t even gonna take us seriously. you know, opposed to like nationwide lift as a whole that’s doing, you know, I don’t know.

30 million a year? I d I don’t know. You know what I mean? Or whatever it is. yeah. So the those those benefits far outweigh you know, our calls get answered, you know, pe people, you know, people wanna talk to you, you know. If does that what do you think, Alex?

Matt Allred (59:52.973)
Sorry you’re breaking up just a little bit. Alex, let’s let you respond to that real quick.

Casey (59:55.534)
I was gonna say you wanna

Matt Allred (01:00:02.477)
Let’s let’s let Alex finish your sentence for you ’cause it cut off.

Alex Martin (01:00:09.404)
Yeah, I I think, you know, Casey kind of kinda kinda nailed it down there as far as, you know, the the benefits, the biggest one. The bargaining power, you know, that we have with manufacturers a a as a whole, you know, group comes together is i i is definitely a benefit. So

Matt Allred (01:00:23.299)
So lower prices, do you get do you get better response rates you know, or or times? I mean, are they more responsive when you say, Hey, you know, I’m calling with nation nationwide versus if you were Applejacks like like Casey said?

Alex Martin (01:00:32.508)
yeah, not necessarily. I I I think that all the manufacturers that that we deal with, they they’re gonna treat all the companies fair. I mean w whether, you know, if it’s response times with tech support or anything like that, I I can’t say that I’ve ever seen an a an advantage that me or my guys will ha would have over another company. that that it i it stays pretty even keel, but you know, typically it’s it’s more just when it comes down to the cost of of, you know, equ equipment, things like that that you can usually help out.

Matt Allred (01:00:58.871)
Yeah. Yeah. Thank thank you. Thank you both. we’re we’re out of time. but I appreciate you both being here. I’ve enjoyed it. I appreciate your willingness to just talk about the the nationwide franchise opportunity and and I wish you the best as you continue to build your businesses.

Alex Martin (01:01:14.885)
Absolutely.

Casey (01:01:15.189)
Thank you very much, Matt. It was a pleasure today. Thank you.

Matt Allred (01:01:20.279)
Thank you. All pleasure here. And yeah, we’ll go ahead and sign off and hopefully you guys will yeah, hop hopefully we’ll you’ll get a few people responding on the on the corporate asking about franchise opportunities. So thanks again.

Alex Martin (01:01:36.936)
Exciting. Thank you very much.

Casey (01:01:37.215)
Beautiful. Thank you.