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Article:Teamwork pays off
Handyman Connection Owner Linda Panitz can do things such as replace insulation on an air conditioner line.
Linda Panitz is a team player. She wins by making sure everyone gets recognized for their talents and contributions.
For 30 years, she was a hotshot player for IBM, changing jobs every two or three years within the giant corporate team. She started as a programmer, ended up a practicing lawyer and writing contracts.
Today, she makes sure your leaky toilet gets fixed.
Panitz and her brother operate Orange County's only Handyman Connection, a franchise that does what the name implies — provide guaranteed, licensed workers to do everything from dry walling to honey-dos like changing light bulbs.
Once she lived on the East Coast, mostly New York and Connecticut. Now she lives in Orange, gardens and skis and even occasionally changes her own light bulbs.
Her dad insisted she grow up "handy," Panitz says. But knowing how to use a hammer and saw are not the keys to her success.
"Our success comes from being good businesspeople, not necessarily being an expert in the thing being done," she says.
And her good business skills told her buying a franchise offers a small business owner a higher probability of long-term success. "A franchise gives you an entrance strategy and even an exit strategy," Panitz says.
She and her brother got to talk to other franchise owners. They were given a business plan, a national advertising campaign, an internal network of owners, even customized liability insurance.
Finding the handymen was the easy part.
"The first thing I try to do with the guys is train them. I don't hire a construction worker with one skill but four to six, or different levels and combinations of skills. I figure if we can send one guy out to do your job, we'll save you money. And if he runs into something he doesn't know how to do, he can call the office and we'll send another guy. No one is 'practicing' on your house.
"You can find somebody good at the skills you need," she says. "And you can develop a list of reputable people."
Panitz plays up her strength — her business knowledge.
Other small business owners often start with a concept — a handicraft or product, for example — but know nothing about business.
Her advice to them: get a business-oriented partner.
"I knew before I retired from IBM I needed something to go to, not just to get away from," she says. "I saw the opportunity in a franchise well ahead of time."
The concept has served her well, even in tough economic times, she says.
"We're pairing up with sister franchisees — like office maintenance and rental people — because we all need to survive," she says.
"And I know the odds are stacked in my favor. Even when I want to sell — and I'm not ready to do that yet –—my business is worth more because it is a franchise."
Panitz is right about the support system and business plan — both keys to a franchise operation's success, says Sally Coon.
She's the vice president of operations for TeamLogicIT, a fast-growing franchisor of computer and network technology.
"The major advantage is buying an entire operations system," she says.
She points out about 80 percent of small business start-ups fail within the first five years. "Only 20 percent of franchises fail, by comparison," Coon says.
Jane Glenn Haas
Orange County Register