Franchise QB

Episode 96: Charles Bonfiglio, Founder and CEO- Tint World

• Mike Halpern • Season 1 • Episode 96

Share episode

In this episode of the Franchise QB Podcast, host Mike Halpern interviews Charles Bonfiglio, founder and CEO of Tint World. 

Charles shares his entrepreneurial journey from Brooklyn to Florida, his transition into franchising with Meineke and the founding of Tint World. He discusses the importance of support systems for franchise owners, adapting to industry changes, and identifying ideal franchisees. 

The conversation also covers financial aspects of opening a Tint World franchise and performance metrics that contribute to success.

Takeaways

✅Charles moved to Florida with a dream to open a car accessory shop.
✅Franchising provided a roadmap and support for his business.
✅Tint World was founded to fill a gap in the automotive aftermarket.
✅Support systems are crucial for franchise owners' success.
✅Technology plays a key role in franchise operations and customer interaction.
✅The automotive industry is evolving with electric vehicles and new technologies.
✅Franchise owners need to be committed and build their own teams.
✅The investment range for opening a Tint World franchise is between $240,000 to $450,000.
✅Performance metrics are essential for tracking success in franchising.
✅A collaborative franchise culture fosters growth and learning among owners.

https://www.tintworld.com/franchise-opportunities/


Free Resource for Franchise QB Listeners:

The Franchise QB Playbook will guide you through the process of finding your perfect franchise fit.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XlbD8oyl3uyeiqaM73poH67BX1jRRyCGR7l7qB-3Nz0/edit?usp=sharing. Also, you can view the Franchise QB podcast at www.youtube.com/@franchiseqb.

Contact me and my team with any questions along the way. www.calendly.com/franchiseguy
Mike Halpern, CAFC
mike@franchiseqb.com

This is the Franchise QB Podcast, where we empower entrepreneurs to win big in franchising. We huddle up weekly to educate our audience about the most successful small business model ever created. Franchising! Welcome to the Franchise QB podcast. I'm your host, Mike Halpern, a 20-year industry veteran and entrepreneur. My mission is for listeners to achieve their American dreams of creating wealth and independence through franchise ownership. Every week we speak with franchisees, franchisors or vendors that support the industry. Thank you for joining us and let's get started. Joining us on the huddle today is Charles Bonfiglio, founder and CEO of Tint World. Welcome to the show, Charles. Thank you, Mike. It's pleasure to be here with you. Absolutely. Great to see you again. So you moved from Brooklyn, New York. My family has ties to Brooklyn. When they emigrated here in the 1800s, they moved to Brooklyn. And then they went to Philadelphia, and that's where most of my family is. But it's kind of interesting. My cousin's son, who's in grade school just did a project for his school on our family history in Brooklyn. And it turns out my family in 1921, they built a building that is still there with the name Korchin on it, which is uh not my last name, but a family name. And it's just really interesting. Like it's a building and obviously Brooklyn's changed a lot over the years. So I thought I'd add that to the mix, but you left Brooklyn when you were 21 years old with a dream and a one-way ticket to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. What were you planning to do when you arrived in? Florida? told my dad and my mom I said listen I'm gonna move to Florida I want to open up my own car stereo shop and I want to do aftermarket accessories and I want to drive cool cars and convertible up the beach palm trees I had the vision I want to come down and live that dream. Yep were they do they think you were nuts or did they support your your ambition? They they actually really supported me I had uh amazing family my mom and dad always supported me I learned a lot of my business skills from their business. had a clothing factory in New York and you know, I graduated high school, actually opened up a clothing factory and then the pizzeria restaurant. I just fell into these things because they were, it was really good, but I just want to do something that I was passionate about. And I determined I want to do this in a place where I would love growing that business. That's awesome. So when you got down to Florida, did you then jump right into the automotive aftermarket and accessory business or did something else kind of take a twist and turn? Well, it did take a twist and turn because, I just took two suitcases, a one-way plane ticket to Florida, got down here, get myself set up in a one bedroom apartment and bought a, coming from a fairly new Corvette to selling that, to use the monies to open up a business. I did downgrade it to like a four year old Ford EXP, which was not really my style, but I was really trying to conserve the money to open a business. When I started looking for locations, thought that's the first thing. Let me find the least location. The landlord was the one who rent to me. They're like, oh, well, you want to open up wide across. That's not a real business. I said, no, it is. I really, did this in New York with a friend's older brother and he had a nice shop and I worked there and had other businesses. And they're like, wow, we don't really think that's a business. We want brand names. I brand names. What do mean? I'm going to have a great brand name. Oh, no, no, we really want established brand names. I didn't really understand what he said. But I saw he had an auto center and had like, know, precision tune and Lee Miles transmission and Jiffy Lube, but I'm like, wait a second, you got all these names that they started sometime. It's not what we like brand names. So that's really when I started to look around and I found Franchising. So that's really interesting that like the landlords are who required you to kind of pivot because they're like, look, we're not going to sign a lease with a kid with an idea. We want a brand name that is going to draw people to the center and all that. So now that you knew that your dream of doing something independent wasn't going to work at that moment, what did you do? So, you know, I figured, okay, let me go to the bank and if the bank will lend me some money, I can go back and I say I have a loan. have a business plan. Maybe I can convince him. But when I went to the bank and they said, no, we don't have any loans for that. I mean, what do you mean? How do you get started? I had like $30,000 for my name. And I needed about $80k to open up this business on my plan and they want to lend to me. And so I said, thank you. And I left and then I started looking around and trying to find out how am going to evolve this? Well, my mom called me and said, you know, why don't you come back for the weekend? I was down in Florida for a few months. Just come back for the weekend in New York and meet all your family because we're having a family wedding and you get to see everybody. okay, mom. I went up there and at the wedding, my cousin came over to one of my cousins and says, hey, listen, what are you doing in Florida? told him kind of what I told you. said, what are you doing? It was about a year ago, I moved to New Jersey and they opened up this Meineke Discount Muffler franchise. I said, a franchise? What's that? He goes, well, they give you a roadmap and a blueprint and help you find the location and get a loan and then off to the race. They opened my first store. It's about a year. We're already doing really well. And him and his brother were getting ready to open up a second store. I said, franchise? Wow, that's interesting. So he said, why don't you come and see my shop in Jersey before you go back to Florida? I said, okay, I went over to my dad's, let's go take a look at Roland's shop on Monday. So after the weekend, we went out and we took a ride. I saw his shop. was not exactly what I was looking for. I was looking for something different, but he was busy and he was doing well. So after speaking with him, he gave me the business card today, find out about this franchise, see if it's good for you. So we went and I called around and I said, you know, let me try and see if there's another franchise like this, but only in the car audio after market accessories. And there was nothing. Because he was doing well, my father told me very simply, Charles, take the path of least resistance. can get a brand. If your cousin's doing well, you should be able to do well in the future. If you want to do something like that, you'll have the wherewithal behind you and you can do it a lot easier. And that's kind of what I did. went back to Florida and I signed up for uh the Meineke franchise and it wasn't long after that I opened my first store. So I guess the landlords were a lot more receptive when you came to them with a brand name. And I know we could probably spend hours talking about your journey with Meineke, but just in a minute or two, tell me about that journey. like you started with one, I know at some point you exited that business so you could start Tint World. So what was that period of time like when you went from one to multiple locations with Meineke and then had your exit? It was just like an evolving journey. So first I did go try after it. I went back to the bank and I told them, I just got this letter approval from Meineke via franchise. I wanted to see if they trust me, you should lend me the money for this other business. And said, no, no, we only have special SBA loans for franchising. And so you can get a special loan. I said, okay. And took that letter and I went back to the landlord. said, you you're sure you don't want to rent to me because, you know, Meineke approved me. You should let me do this thing. I mean, obviously I have good credit because they wouldn't have approved me. Oh, Meineke, we love that brand. We'd be absolutely... Happy to have you in here. So that original place I wanted for something else, they approved me for my, so I went back, I opened up that first store and I was dating my wife at the time. told her when I my first business, we'll get married. uh And so after a few months of being into the business, we started doing well. She was taking on the bookkeeping for me. I was doing sales, marketing operations. And after about a year, go to her, said, listen, you when I was in New York, I actually, you know, had a really nice car and Corvette and now that it's been down here, I really like to get a nice car so we can come to work in a Corvette convertible. And she says, Charles, we're doing really well and I appreciate, we got married, you took me to Hawaii on our honeymoon and we bought a townhouse, that's all great. But if you want something like a Corvette, you might have to open up another one these. I go, okay, I picked up the phone, I call Monica, she says, I wanna buy another license. And they gave me another license, opened up a second store a couple months later. And after about eight months of being in business, six, eight months, says, Jeanette, you know, this store seems to be doing just as good as the first one was. I said, can I go buy the car now? She goes, yeah, go ahead and go ride. So I went and bought a new Corvette. And what did I do? I customized it with all car audio in it, customized the car, went to car shows. I really enjoyed it. And I actually helped me build my Meineke stores. And, you know, couple of years later, I went to an annual convention for Meineke. And I heard people buying property and building them. And I'm like, why are you buying the property instead of the rent? well, father and son guy, they were on their six-one already. And they said, well, plan is to open up all these stores. And at the end of the first term of the franchise, would sell it. Somebody else would take it on. But the business, the building would be paid off. And we'd actually collect rent forever. I said, I'd like that. So I went to my wife and I says, Jeanette, hear what they're doing. I want to go stop buying buildings and open up my own mine keys. I said, I... with my own property, we can pay it off and we'll make income forever on the rent. She says, Charles, I really appreciate what you're doing. I think it's a good idea, but if you want that, you're to have to open up another one of know, it's okay. called my nigga, he opened up my third store. So I had these three buckets, one for living expense, one for the car and the toys and travel. And the third one was just for real estate. And it was really very simple. And lo behold, I started opening up, I started buying properties. I got my GC license and I started building. of my own buildings and leasing them to my nephews. And I built 10 of them. That's how it worked. That's the American dream, man. I love to hear that. And I love that Jeanette kept pushing you to, hey, if you want these nice toys, we got to have a cash flowing asset that's going to pay for them. You can't just go out there and blow all the money we're making on these nice toys. So that was really prudent advice from the wife. So So eventually at some point you've got these 10 stores, you own the real estate. Did you exit where you kept the real estate and you would then sell the businesses to other people so you would still enjoy the earnings from the rent? Or did you do a full exit where you sold the land and the buildings? Or is it kind of a hybrid? It was a hybrid. So after I started realizing how great it was to own my home building and build it the way I want rather than leasing something that wasn't exactly what I want and the rent goes up. uh I started selling off uh the franchises that I built uh that didn't own the lease of the land. And then I took that money and I parlayed it into buying more properties. opened up my, and each one was bigger than the next and better than the next. uh And my last one that I opened was 10,000 square feet, a Meineke shop. was the nicest, biggest one in the chain. was the first one that everyone over $2 million in annual sales. so I kept. like three or four of them with the properties moved on and eventually I just we started having children my wife and I in 1999 and up to 2001 we had you know a couple of kids and My son and my daughter and then I told my wife I'm not gonna open up anymore for a while I said, you know, let me help because my partner my best friend my wife She's come to work every day and that she has to take care of kids and it wasn't as fun without her. So I stopped opening stores for a few years and then about 2005 I went to my wife and I said, know, Jeanette, I want to start opening up new businesses again and developing. said, but I don't want to do any more money. She goes, what do you want to do? I said, I want to open up the business that I always dreamed of, the one I came down here for. I says, now my father told me after I get to a point, I can do it on my own. I think I can. I says, but you know what? Opening up one shop is not going to do anything for me. there must be other people that want this opportunity. So I think I could build a franchise and I could build it better and other people can buy into growing it with me. And so that's what I did in 2006. I reached out to a six store small chain of Tint World Shops, what was founded in 1982 and he did pretty well. They were kind of like built on a shoestring, but I felt I can convert these and do really well with them. So I bought them and in 2007 I wrote the franchise system and launched franchising. And from that point there, I just started selling franchises and growing the brand. That's amazing. I appreciate the context. And that's just really cool for listeners that from 1983 all the way up until 2006, you, you know, you were a franchise owner. You became a multi-unit franchise owner. You became a real estate investor. Like you learned so much. and you know what it's like to be a franchisee. So now that you're on the other side and you're a franchise or you can kind of keep focus on like what your owners go through when they kind of launched their business for the first time, because you've been there, you've done it. That's really awesome. So fast forward to 2007, you acquire Tint World at the time for those listeners that may not have a Tint World in their market. Tell us a little bit about your concept. What is Tint World? Well, I do want to just step back and tell you one thing that may be valuable for your your audience if they're interested in franchising, regardless if it's tip-wall or something else. You know, when you go into franchising, sometimes they go in and open up a franchise of any kind, and they start getting sidetracked and thinking of doing other things, because they see other people and they watch your shiny objects. The reason why I wanted to real estate, because it was something that was going to continue building the brand that I was building, and it wasn't getting sidetracked. It was just another layer of investment that would let me go further. So it kept me focused on building my franchise brand over and over again and getting really good at it. And I joined the franchise advisory council. I got involved with everything. I helped them develop their first point of sale software, which really took me to another level of understanding, know, financial management and electronics and marketing and everything within it. So when I started to go build Tip World, I felt that I already had knowledge from all of this. I opened up the, I bought the first six stores. And then we started to sell franchises and I really was working with them one-on-one. I kept three of my original stores that I had because I wanted that funding to keep coming in so I didn't have to make money on the franchise system. And so as those were those three stores were bringing me money, I was developing the franchise without having to worry about payroll or income. And then when I got to I felt like now this company is growing at the head 30 or plus stores. And I said, now it's time to sell the businesses. And I sold the franchise locations. I did not sell the leases. I collected rent on these leases. They were all paid off. And so that gave me a good amount of income. I didn't have to worry about taking money from the franchise. I could focus on building it and reinvesting the money. And I did that all the way through 2019. We grew to about 70 stores, maybe 75. And I felt, we don't build it under the radar. really just little by little. And by 2019, I felt it was time to scale. It was time to really start growing faster. The system is down, it's predictable. So, you know, of course, 2020, when I was planning to launch this new thing of growth, hired some extra people for doing franchise dev. And as we started to grow and plan this thing, the pandemic hit. And, you know, sometimes you're lucky in life. And I believe I was. Tint World wanted to be one of those sustainable businesses that you could stay open. And I stayed I kept the business open my franchise I got them all in help them stay open So we've gone growing in a lot of the broker networks that I was starting to sign up with They were like saying hey, we can't sell gyms anymore. They were closed. Restaurants they were closed. But this Meineke, I'm sorry, this Tint World thing. Oh, they're actually growing and let's go with them So in 2020 I sold I believe 21 licenses and it really went over good in 2021 I sold 69 licenses and that I was more than I sold the whole time since I've been doing it So from there was 50 60 license a year pretty much up until where we are And now we have about just under 160 stores open with about a hundred in the pipeline and the development and We're growing at a different rate with you know more mature management team Yeah, I mean, I just love how like you found out about franchising through a relative and then you found out about how to invest in real estate from a fellow franchisee. Like that's such a great culture within a franchise system that I know you bring the tent world. Like I know you have conventions and you allow the owners to collaborate and learn from each other because you can provide them all the support in the world. And we'll talk about that in a minute. But the fact that they have this peer network to tap into is just so vital and useful because they're like, brothers going through this process of like scaling their own businesses, just like you did back in the day. So yeah, you and I met through the broker network. I'm with FranServe and you and Jeanette, your wife and the Tint World team hosted us in Boca a couple of years back. Mike and Anthony on your Fran Dev team did an awesome job kind of educating us about your franchise model. Great experience to meet you and your team and tour several of the locations. By the way, are you guys still planning to move into that new corporate HQ or have you done that yet? Yes, we haven't done it. There was a slight delay with city approvals and stuff, but it's the permit is submitted. We'll be breaking ground in the coming months and we're excited about moving into that amazing facility that we're building. That's incredible. Well, congrats on that. So tell us a little bit about support for someone that's like considering getting into the automotive aftermarket space. Tint World might be a fit. How do you support your owners? You know, in a lot of different ways. I mean, I use all the resources that I A lot of things that when I was with Meineke, they did really, really well. But as a franchisee, you think, know, what if they did this, what if they did that? So I just put my money where my mouth is, wherever I felt that we can do a better job. I took everything that was good and I brought it forward. But things that I felt like could have been better, you know, I really wanted to dial into marketing. I really wanted to get the quantifiable, you know, they put money to the advertising fund, it brings them business. Because there's some people that might be good at marketing. but it's got to be syndicated to a full system. It's not just one channel. So we're really focused on building an awesome website, awesome landing pages, awesome paid search and a dashboard where franchisees, you when you're a franchisee, you're contributing money to this fund. You want to know what you're getting. So we have a dashboard that shows every lead, every conversion right into your point of sale software so you can see what's happening. And then the franchisee recently we added some tech into it where we have an operational dashboard. Sometimes I have people that own four or five stores and they want to know how their managers are working. So everything they can log into a dashboard, see how many leads came in, customers converted to appointment, what the average ticket is, how many items per ticket, how many times did they follow up with the customer from when they called or asked for a lead. Everything gets managed within this data dashboard. So it gives them transparency on their own store and benchmarks the entire chain to see where they're ranking. in every area of the operation, their average ticket, their uh cost of staff versus another company. So if they see it right in front of them every day, it lets them believe that they can adjust and grow into the system even more. Well, let's talk a little bit more about that technology. Clearly what you just described is extremely useful to measure KPIs for a franchise owner. Do you also have technology that interacts with their customers? Yes, we do. um So we, and it's ever evolving with all the new AI, the strategies coming out. So I really haven't tapped too much into the AI interacting with the customers. I want to make sure we don't make any mistakes, but we definitely have automatic follow-up, automatic when you bill out, the customer will receive a request to maybe give us a review if they enjoyed the service or let us know if there was something that they want further. So it's texting and emailing and... um We also have a call center that they can call, they can talk and schedule for any kind of appointment that they want. So all these little pieces of tying the technology together. We have a Zoom dashboard that we can actually benchmark every store's call. And there's an AI rating in the background, how well the managers did on the calls versus the other ones. And then it gives them a report once a week. It automatically sent them what they can do better to improve their conversions, their sales. and their ratings based on what all the other stores are doing. There's a lot of really cool things like that we've been really able to leverage in the last two years. That's awesome. So let's talk about the industry overall. How does Tint World adapt in the automotive industry? Like electric vehicles are a big thing now. I'm sure it's just a fraction of what's out there in the inventory, but there's driver assist features. There's demand for different types of customization. How do you guys adapt to the changes in the marketplace? uh just where I did. So when I was with Meineke, they were a muffler shop and I was on the test center. I used to test all the new services. So we expanded from three categories in the auto aftermarket, in the repair, maintenance and tire industry. So what are the services on the repair, uh on the maintenance, the maintenance you to do to keep the car in factory warranty and then tire replacement. So all these are the areas we expanded through. And then when I came into Tint World, It's the aftermarket. There is no regulation. There is no standardization. Nobody's really ever put any kind of franchise together with this. And so I want to put a full package together. So how do you do styling, maintenance, detailing, window tinting, accessories, you know, custom wheel and tire packages? How do we wrap that into one system that makes it easy or easier for a franchise owner to get into the aftermarket business when a franchise system that will support them. which there was none at the time I started. And even now there's really not anything relevant to what we're doing. So I focused on building a model that was after market. And of course, when I was a Meineke franchisee, I was friends with all the corporate people. And I went up and I said, guys, is this something that's going to conflict me? They said, nope, this doesn't. I had them sign off on it. And then I bought the company and then started building to make sure this is a new segment. Nobody's done it. And I really wanted to take all the knowledge I had in auto. repair world and put it into automotive accessory world. Yeah. And I can imagine that with electric vehicles and driver assist, it's not going to have a real impact on your business because you can still do the stuff you do. You might have to tweak this or that, but it's just another opportunity for you guys to compete and kind of generate revenue. So that's pretty cool. So what's next for Tint World? Like are there any new markets, services, innovations? What's on the horizon for Tint World? Well, a lot of the things that we're doing is within the services. So It used to be paint protection film, which is clear film that goes on the vehicle. And that's really big on Tesla, as a matter of fact, because Tesla, paint from the factory is very thin and you really want to protect it. So people are starting to do a lot of paint protection. Most recently, the new thing with paint protection film is coming in colors. So you can actually change the color of your car with the paint protection film. actually, so you get protection and you're also getting a color change if you want to. And then we have graphic designs. A window film, the technology is grown where you're really keeping, you're protecting your skin from the UV rays and the sun. And people go to the beach and they put sunscreen on, but they're in the car all day and they're getting uh the sun on. So keeping the car cooler, um keeping it safer, keeping some privacy if you want it. It always looks better, of course, it's part of styling. um Some of the first things people do when they get a car is that window film and wear the best that it's all computer cut. So there's nobody on a razor blade on your car. It's actually pre-cut and applied to the windows, the factory specs. And same thing with paint protection film, all pre-cut, put on the vehicle so it matches perfect. And then we got aftermarket accessories, whether it be car audio upgrades. mean, now it's more like OEM integrations where you use the factory system and you just plug in and upgrade the speakers and amplifiers and they're pre-plug in place. That's a new thing going. oh Trucks, they're all getting the bed liners, the bed covers, the lips, the, you know, all the different things that we do on trucks, wheel and tire packages. So it's, really evolving from what it is, just like the auto repair industry. It's all evolving. There's always going to be the aftermarket, you know, whatever new car comes now and new features come now, it's a small amount of vehicles versus the ones that are already in the road that want to get upgraded. So the aftermarket will always be 90 % of the market for the aftermarket vehicles. And the new ones that come out, might have some of these new features. So it's never ending growth. Sounds like a huge market for owners. So who are you looking for? Who makes a great franchise owner for Tint World? You know, I really, I have a wide variety of franchisees coming from all walks of life. It's really hard to say exactly who they are, but the more they got to be committed to building a business. Because it's your business first, the franchise second. So you have to know, nobody's going to build it for you. You have a system, a process, support team, a marketing team, all that is great, but you still have to run it and you have to build your team. My mindset is this is not, you know, where you get in the truck and you do some home services and you work it yourself. This is your build a team and your team builds your business. So if you're a good leader and you carry on the program and you enjoy this industry, this will be a great fit. No matter what franchises you want, you want to be able to believe that you like it. You can do it and if you stick to it and you want to put your time and effort in building it, it's not a get rich quick scheme. It's something that you work at and you can do really well and grow it. Once you get your hand on one, if you're new to franchising, you can start adding more on as you start to learn. And it's really nice to see people start expanding to second and third stores. have one guy just recently bought up to six stores and he's awesome. And he's doing even in different states. So it's great. that he's so confident that he can do that and build his teams in a really positive way. No, I think it's really important that you convey early on that like we're looking for leaders that can build a team. can't do it yourself. You have to be able to take a step back, replace yourself, delegate, and it's hard work, especially in the beginning when you're learning these systems. And I also like how, you know, you as the franchise or the top guy in the system. You're like, it's your business, right? I mean, it's got to adhere to our brand standards and our trade dress and our way of doing business and our culture, but the local owner creates their own culture within their four walls. So I think it's really cool that you take that mindset going into a relationship with an owner. So Charles, let's talk a little bit about Item 7. How much does it cost to open a tent world? I know it's going to vary because it's a construction project, but what's our range that we're looking at? Well, we like to try to keep these models between 240,000 to 450,000, it'd be nice to keep somewhere in the middle of that. We have really fun business, so some people get carried away and they wanna do more, but really you don't need more. If you follow the system, you're anywhere between $240k, $450k, all-in, we should be able to get the store open in a reasonable amount of time. From the time you have a location based on the build out needs, it could be three to five months of build out time, and then we help them, they come to training. two weeks of in-store training and in-office training. So all about the business model and then we have technical training. Now we're not training franchisees to be, know, tithers or installers in any way, but they should know how to put their hand on that, have fun with it, so they actually know what their employees are working with. We help them with finding the right technicians, um helping them get trained. A lot of the support we give doesn't cost them any more. Maybe some travel time to get where we are for training. And we have operation field coaches of different types. have business coaches, marketing coaches, and technical coaches to make sure we teach them all aspects of the business. And that's the reason why the gross profit margin is so high, because they're trained people that do a job they can't buy on Amazon or anywhere else. You know, there are some really good qualified mom and pop stores, but they don't have the resources to be able to scale the way we are. So the branding and the system that we put together allows them to grow a lot faster. and really automate their business where they don't have to be in one store doing the work of all themselves every day, let's them grow. Yeah, and just to kind of give listeners an idea, if that $250k to $450k range, if you're putting down 20% and you're taking an SBA loan that the payments can be covered by the production of the unit, you're looking at a $50,000 to $90,000 financial investment, obviously need work in capital and so forth. But that shows people for under $100,000, you can get into a Tint World, pretty cool. So how about Item 19? I know you have a robust item 19. Anything you can share with us today in terms of performance? Well, you know, it really speaks for itself. You know, it's hard, you know, in franchising, you're really not supposed to be trying to tell people they can do more or less or, you know, anything other than Item 19. So it really speaks to itself. I believe we have one of the most highest profit business models that there is out there with gross profit margins, I believe are Our gross profit margin is, I think 79% is reported in there. Our average of our top 50 % of our units are at $1,200,000. And so they're showing really good profits. But you have to notice that the inside the Item 19, that's a mixture of all these stores and it shows you the average and then the top 50%, the bottom 50% and the average. And then these are all shown for two or more years as a group and then within the first year that they open. It gives you a good guide of what you can expect and what you can strive for. But when I went in with my franchise and I was buying a franchise, I wanted to always be at number one. If not number one in the top 10 stores. And it's a good to strive to be there. So what do you do? I went around and visited franchises all over the country. Some of them I would help because when you help people, you get smarter, you know, just by helping them. And sometimes you learn something. You can learn something from anybody. Even an average owner can teach you a couple little tricks that we really take back and actually move the needle on. So it's really great to be in a culture and a family environment. And we really call it our franchise family. Now it's a family because we love each other and we have to support each other when it really is a team. Because teams have got to be responsible for their own positions. So that's kind of way we work it. And um we try to set that example in our corporate headquarters. I hire people that I like, I trust, and they have the ability to do it. Because I figure if I do that, the franchisees are going to see that and they're going to want to do the same. Love it. Yeah, and it's good to like encourage franchise owners to shoot for being the top store. Like you want that healthy competition. You want a collaborative environment, but everyone should want to be in the top 10, right? I mean, just grow into it. Some people take, you know, a little longer. Some people grow a little quicker, but it's your only competition is yourself. But you do have a benchmark to try to achieve what you want to grow to. And that's the most important thing. And you're always going to be getting better. and growing. Once you get your hand to it and you understand the business, you can grow a second store. Once you get your hand to that and you understand that, you can grow more. So I did it and I'm just a kid from Brooklyn. I came down there and I figured it out and I loved it and I worked every day growing my business. And now I just want to pass that on to people that want this industry, this type of franchise and grow it. And we want to give all the support you need, all the technology need, marketing support, everything that you need to run your business, but it is your business. first and your franchise second. Put that together and now you can grow something really great. Yeah, Charles, this has been really great. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us. Like amazing starting in the 80's in Brooklyn, coming down to Florida, opening all those franchises, getting out of that, getting into Tint World, building this a hundred plus unit international success story. Like just really, really cool. Anything else you want to add to the mix before we wrap up today? I guess, listen, if somebody is interested in franchising in general, I guess they contact somebody like you who has a FranServe, which is an amazing consulting firm. It's one of my favorites. Thank you. You guys really do a good job and everybody has a great attitude and spirit for growth. But I guess that would be a really first find out about franchising to a broker if you have that, you need that assistance. And then secondarily, if you're interested in Tint World, you can find more information about if you're a consumer. Go visit our tintworld.com website, see all we do, all locations, what we can offer to you. And if you're interested in franchising, it's tintworldfranchise.com and you can learn more about it. And so anything that you're interested in, oh just work with a broker if you're not sure about franchising and that'll help you get to all the questions and answers that you may have. And I will post the tintworldfranchising.com link with this episode versus both audio and video. And if anyone listening would like to connect with Charles and his team to learn more about becoming an owner with Tint World, contact me at FranchiseQB.com or on X at QB FranchiseQB and I'll get you connected. Thank you, Charles, so much for taking the time to get in the huddle with us today. Thank you for listening to the franchise QB podcast where you're at the helm of your future as a franchise owner. If you enjoyed the content, please rate the show and recommend it to anyone that might be interested in franchising. Make sure to visit FranchiseQB.com to subscribe to my newsletter and for an actionable playbook to go from walk-on to legend in your new business. Follow us on Twitter @QBFranchiseQB and join us every week for a new episode. See you next time. Visit FranchiseQB.com to take the next step of your journey towards wealth, independence, and franchise ownership. And remember, when working for the man gets old, you must do something bold. Thank you for listening.