Mark Canon: School Teacher and Engineer to Fibrenew Franchisee
At Fibrenew we are big on supporting one another. In doing that, we would like to share spotlight interviews with our existing Franchises. Today we are looking at Mark Canon and his Fibrenew Franchise in South Orlando, Florida.
Mark joined the Fibrenew family in May of 2012. Coming to Fibrenew from a varied background; he was a Math and Science school teacher in his early to mid 20’s before returning to school and pursuing an engineering degree. Mark worked as a power systems engineer for 12 years before finding the Fibrenew opportunity.
One of the reasons Mark was drawn to Fibrenew was the freedom to control his own destiny and the ability work his own hours. Setting his own hours was important for two reasons. One, the heat and humidity of Florida has Mark out the door so he can complete projects early in the mornings and spend the hot afternoons making follow up calls and knocking on doors to build new connections. The second reason was his children, Mark likes that he is able to be available for school activities, sports, doctors appointments and other things related to his two children. He also appreciates that he does not spend a lot of time behind a desk.
Right now it is just Mark running his Franchise and for now he enjoys it that way, he likes the physical hands-on work that Fibrenew requires. He is not ruling out the potential for a technician down the road, but right now he enjoys working the Franchise alone. “It is good exercise” Mark jokes. He hopes to continue to see his franchise grow, particularly within the small specialty car industry, doing warranty work for local Orlando furniture shops and he would love to add some aviation plastic work to his consistent business.
Mark’s advice to potential new Franchisees is that they be honest with themselves. To be successful a new Franchisee needs to comfortable marketing themselves and their Franchise and that starts by knocking on doors and shaking hands, and Mark suggests a strong mechanical aptitude is important for the technical hands-on work.
Mark shared two stories with us from repairs he has done. One involved a family in their community whose home was being staged for sale. It was suggested they replace their worn and pet damaged burnt orange aniline leather sofa. Mark went in to take a look at the sofa, and it had extensive pet damage from the family dog, but Mark was able to restore the sofa so both the realtor and family were happy with the results. The second job Mark shared was regarding a man who called about his 90 year old Father’s old wing back chair. The son had damaged the chair moving it between rooms and wanted the chair repaired while his Dad was away so as not to cause his Father any distress. What made the job particularly unique was the trust the customer placed in Mark. After sending photos and receiving a quote, the son left Mark a hide-a-key to access the home and do the repairs. Mark never met the Father or Son in person, his only interaction was via email and telephone.
Are you in the South Orlando, Florida area? Contact Mark at Fibrenew South Orlando at [email protected] or (407) 922-0232 for more information.
