For those of you who think owning a hardwood flooring franchise requires years of experience in construction or carpentry, allow us to introduce you to Footprints Floors’ new Franchise Owner, Floyd Khemai. “I actually worked for Verizon for pretty much my whole career,” says Khemai, a New York native who recently moved to Orlando, “I started as a technician and then went into management.”

Floyd, who describes his career in the operations arena as a mixture of “the heavy stuff as well as the individual customer stuff,” credits his time at Verizon with providing him diverse opportunities to work in virtually every aspect of the organization, including staff support, field management, and even the construction side of the business.

After a 23-year career with Verizon, Floyd decided to switch gears and move with his family to a different part of the country, after receiving a welcome and unique opportunity from his former employer. “Verizon offered a buyout at the end of 2018 to all management employees-  I took it, and so did my wife, who also worked for the company,” he explains.

Having lived his whole life in New York, Floyd and his wife decided to relocate to the sun-soaked city of Orlando– a city they’d always wanted to live in- with their young children, ages 8 and 3.

Despite receiving the buyout from Verizon, retirement wasn’t anywhere near Floyd’s radar just yet. “It wasn’t about retirement,” he says, “it was about changing careers.” One of the most important items on Floyd’s wish list for a new career was a more flexible work schedule that allowed him the freedom to spend time enjoying life. “I love spending time with the family,” Khemai says. “I love to golf- it’s one of the reasons I came down to Florida!”

Wishing to embark on a career that gave him more time for leisure and enjoyment of his new life in Orlando, Floyd began looking into opportunities that allowed him to invest in himself as a business owner. A fellow former Verizon employee whom Floyd had known since high school mentioned that she had been looking at franchise opportunities, making him curious about whether franchising might be right for him as well. With the help of a broker, Khemai began looking into potential franchise investments to find one that fit in with his many years of on-the-job experience.

To Floyd’s surprise, his best match for a franchise opportunity had nothing to do with telecommunications- in fact, it was a hardwood flooring franchise! He was pleased to see that all the expertise he had gained in management and leadership roles with Verizon would come in handy as the owner of a Footprints Floors franchise. He also saw the simple, home-based business model as a huge plus! “Not having to have a storefront or carry inventory- that was huge!” he says.

One of the main factors that mattered a great deal to Floyd was the hardwood flooring franchise’s low overhead investment and industry-leading unit economics. He says, “I’m using my retirement savings to fund this business, and I didn’t want to dip too deep into that. It’s an amount I’m comfortable with. Also, the potential earnings look good- everywhere you go, there are new developments popping up all over the place.” Seeing how quickly he could potentially make a return on his initial investment helped Floyd decide to move forward with Footprints Floors.

By the time Floyd was ready to meet our Founder Bryan Park and the rest of the Support team at our Corporate headquarters in Colorado for Discovery Day, he was already impressed with what he’d seen so far about our hardwood flooring franchise. As he explains, it wasn’t so much about what Footprints Floors was doing, but how they were doing it differently from other flooring installation companies- particularly when it came to how we treat our customers.  “I come from the customer service industry where communication is key- not only clear communication but timely communication,” says Khemai. “I’ve seen where communication can make or break a deal. You always try to deliver the best work you can, but if a customer is not being informed and you’re not managing expectations, it can be very difficult.”

Floyd feels that the constant communication and dedication to service that Footprints Floors Franchise Owners provide for their customers is the key element in our successful hardwood flooring franchise model. “That people-first approach- you’re setting an expectation with a customer, keeping them informed every step of the way.”

Floyd’s Orlando territory will officially be up and running next week and is scheduled to begin scheduling estimates for customers on Monday, May 18. Thanks to the new virtual estimates we’ve made available to customers, Floyd and other Footprints Floors Franchise Owners haven’t had to miss a beat during this tumultuous time and continue to book new flooring installation and restoration jobs, which are conducted safely and in adherence to social-distancing guidelines outlined by the CDC.

By investing in our recession-resilient hardwood flooring franchise opportunity, Floyd has set himself and his family up for potential financial success- not to mention the tremendous emotional rewards that come with schedule flexibility and a healthy work-life balance. We’re proud to welcome him to the Footprints Floors family!

Want to know how you can get in on the Footprints Floors opportunity and lay the foundation for a new career? Click here to visit our franchise website.

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