In 1991, Andy McCoy left the cold Michigan winters for the warmer climate of Arizona. He didn’t realize at the time that he would be changing his life as well as his latitude.
The married father of two loves to spend time outdoors with his family and his horses, taking care of them and enjoying trail rides. Arizona offered the perfect opportunity to do just that, but McCoy was struggling to find the time to do the things he loved.
“I worked as an auto mechanic, working in shops,” McCoy says. The hours were long; the stress was high. “I just got tired of working for other people. I managed a lot of shops and I just thought ‘If I am going to put in these kinds of hours and run the place, I might as well be doing this for myself!’”
So like thousands of other frustrated workers, Andy McCoy decided to take a chance and grab the American Dream. He learned about Creative Colors International after reading a newspaper article. “It sounded like a good opportunity.” (And it remains so this year – check out nine reasons why 2019 is the year to take a closer look at the Creative Colors International franchise opportunity).
What made Creative Colors International stand out to McCoy was the low overhead. “You don’t have to have a shop! It’s mobile. There’s a lot less overhead when you don’t have a shop or a storefront.” Indeed, along with an intensive four-week training program, each Creative Colors mobile franchise opportunity comes with a van that is equipped with all the tools needed to get jobs done. The franchise is home-based, so there’s low overhead, but with high profit potential.
With no prior business ownership experience, McCoy put his trust in CCI and in his own tenacity. “The process of becoming a franchisee was pretty simple,” McCoy says. “I don’t think you could go into a better business than working with the Fosters (JoAnn and Jim Foster — the original founders of CCI). They are great people.”
So in 1995, Andy McCoy stopped clocking in, and instead started hitting the bricks. “I just started selling myself. I started going by car dealerships and asking to do repairs. I got told “no” a lot.” But McCoy says that is the most valuable advice he can give to other potential franchisees. “You have to learn not to take no for an answer. I just kept showing up, week after week. Once they see that you are serious about doing their work, they’re sold! You’ll work hard to get started, but it’s very lucrative once you get it going.”
“The best thing about being self-employed is having a lot more freedom to do what you want to do,” McCoy says. Now, Andy McCoy has time to do the things he loves to do the most: spend time with his family and ride his horses. “On the weekends, we go to a little mountain retreat we have, and we trail ride.”
If you are interested in an affordable, low-overhead franchising opportunity that will allow you to have more freedom to do the things you love to do, get started with Creative Colors International.
