At PIRTEK, we love to celebrate our owners’ success — they are much more than just an extension of our brand, our franchisees are family! Opening an industrial franchise like PIRTEK is a fantastic opportunity to grow a business of your own in greater comfort with the help of our tiered investment structure. We took some time to catch-up with David Burns to talk about the road to growing his business, and how PIRTEK’s model has played a part in his success.
1. What about your community made you think opening an industrial franchise, such as PIRTEK, would work?
David: Huntsville is in growth mode. We are positioned to soon become the largest city in Alabama. The growth is not only in the defense industry, which has been the predominant industry but also in manufacturing. Mazda and Toyota formed a joint venture to begin production in the area in 2021 as well as Facebook locating a datacenter in the area. All of that is contributing to a huge construction boom.
2. What about PIRTEK’s training and support helped you the most?
David: The hands-on training starts at a very basic level and moves you efficiently and quickly through the process you use every day in the field. Additionally, the support during the first weeks of opening with someone from the technical team riding along with you is outstanding. Ongoing support is comprehensive.
3. How did your experience in sales and marketing of electronic components help your transition into PIRTEK franchise ownership?
David: I was able to draw on my experience building relationships. Customers are more likely to conduct business with people they can relate to and are comfortable with. I’m able to meet prospects where they are and relate to them and build that relationship and then we reinforce that trust with quality work.
4. What do you remember about Discovery Day, what were the big takeaways you had from that time of being introduced to PIRTEK?
David: My biggest Discovery Day memory is having the opportunity to meet and spend time with the founder of PIRTEK, Peter Duncan. My Discovery Day just happened to line up with Peter’s visit to PIRTEK USA and he was gracious to sit down over lunch and answer questions and give his thoughts on the Tier 2 model. The passion that he has for PIRTEK and the industries we serve is contagious. Additionally, the access that was provided to all of the PIRTEK team, from the CEO all the way to the warehouse personnel was helpful to provide a feel for the culture at PIRTEK.
5. What big questions did you have going into opening an industrial franchise? If you were to give some advice to someone just starting off, what would you tell them?
David: The biggest question I had going into this was more of a technical nature. How would we know the hose and what were we going to be faced with? The training by PIRTEK’s Jamie Vokes is thorough and answered all those questions. Because of the widespread use of hydraulics, there is no way you could be trained on every aspect of hose removal. That’s where a mechanical background or inclination comes in.
As for advice, I’d have to reinforce building the brand. Get out there and let everyone know what you are doing and how you can help them save money by getting back to operating.
6. What makes PIRTEK a special brand?
David: I think PIRTEK is special because of its position in the industry and its leadership. I can’t say enough about the PIRTEK leadership’s commitment to the franchisees’ success.
7. What do you think the future has in store for your business?
David: The future looks extremely bright. Weathering the COVID-19 storm has been a challenge. Fortunately, we are servicing industries that are deemed essential. Once we get beyond this, PIRTEK Huntsville will likely begin looking at adding a 3rd mobile service unit and then a counter that will provide us more opportunity to serve our area.
8. With the unusual circumstances that we find ourselves in today, what has changed about the way you conduct business?
David: Our sales approach for one thing. We don’t and can’t make the face to face sales calls that we began this business doing. Most of our service takes place outside and typically only around one or two workers. So being able to provide service has not been impacted. PIRTEK USA has done a great job with our suppliers and we haven’t had any supply chain issues.
9. Have mandates on essential and non-essential businesses had a significant impact on your PIRTEK franchise?
David: Not really because we provide service to the essential business. In fact, I’ve gained customers because of that very fact.
10. How has PIRTEK helped you as an owner throughout this past month?
David: In addition to the points I’ve already made about PIRTEK’s leadership, we continue to receive communication from PIRTEK about the industry, the effects of COVID-19 on the industry and on PIRTEK and PIRTEK’s suppliers and the government’s relief acts.
Interested in opening an industrial franchise with PIRTEK? We want to answer all of your questions. Please feel free to contact a member of our team at any time and we can schedule a time to chat!
