Featured Franchise: Kitchen Tune-Up Verde Valley, AZ

This week’s feature takes us to Arizona.  Paul & Lisa Peterson joined Kitchen Tune-Up in 2015, and also own the Sears Hometown Store in Cottonwood. In addition to staying busy with two businesses, they are active in their local church, Verde Valley Christian Church, and the Manzanita Outreach Board. You can find them on Facebook here to see some of their recent before and after transformations.  Thanks again to Paul for the interview!

What was your career before becoming a Tunie?
For the last twenty years, I have been part of the construction industry in one form or another. I have been involved with building everything from clean rooms (where microchips are manufactured), the infrastructure involved in a planned development, to building homes and commercial properties. Most recently my wife and I own and operate the local Sears Hometown Store.

What is your favorite part of owning your own business?
The best part that I have found in owning our own business for our family is that we are able to make the financial concessions that allow us to be active participants in our two teenagers' lives. Whether that means we have to hire a manager in our Sears store so that we are able to be absent easier, or hiring installers and sales staff with Kitchen Tune-Up to allow us the freedom to attend our kids' events.

It always amazes me how we tend to live with things we don’t like about our home for many years, and often “settle” for less than what we want. But then we consider selling our home, and all of a sudden we’re willing to invest to fix those nuances. Why do we wait? We love that feeling of satisfaction the homeowner gets when the job is done and their space is more functional, more aesthetically pleasing, and a space they love. When they made the decision to make those changes now, so they can reap the benefits instead of waiting.

What comes to mind as your most memorable kitchen update? 
Doing a kitchen update and getting that huge shock and awe reaction doesn’t always happen with our kitchens because the homeowner is typically in the home, sometimes watching during the process, and they get used to seeing the kitchen as it is transformed, forgetting what it looked like when we started. However, the most memorable reaction was a homeowner breaking down and crying she was so happy with the end result and how our installers treated her and her husband through the process. Her joy stayed with me for a long time.

Any advice for someone thinking about making the leap and buying their own franchise?
Owning any business has pros and cons. Make sure you’ve evaluated them fully on how the financial, mental, physical, and emotional requirements might affect you and your family.  Establish healthy boundaries now and re-evaluate them as you go. One of the boundaries that we continually work on is to not talk about work at home. Because my wife and I work together, we could allow work to consume our life…that gets old very fast for everyone involved. For us, we needed to establish that boundary for our family.

When you’re not working, what is your favorite hobby or pastime? 
Favorite hobbies usually include exploring the mountains and valleys in our area whether that is hiking, mountain biking, motorcycling, quads, or even side-by-sides.  We have some great countryside. I love getting to share that with others who visit.

What’s something unique about your area? 
We live in a great valley. During the winter we can go north an hour and be in the snow, or south an hour and be in the desert. During the summer we go north and are in nice cool temperatures to avoid the heat. Sedona is known internationally for its beautiful rocks, and we love living close enough that we get a beautiful view. Also, in the Verde Valley, our wine trails are becoming almost as well-known as Sedona, and it’s been great to see the local industries take off.

Do you have a favorite cabinet door style?
My favorite cabinet door style is the one my current customer falls in love with!

What was the biggest motivator to why you bought your own franchise?
The opportunity to set our own schedule.

What have you found to be the biggest benefit to franchise ownership? 
The largest benefit so far has been the ability to have active participation in our kids' lives and their events.