Meet Frankie owner of Ocean Appliance South Florida

[00:00:00][music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> And ladies and gentlemen, we are live. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of Live hour. YouTube's premier off-the-clock appliance repair talk for off-the-clock appliance techs.

[00:00:51]I'm your host with the most, Brother B.

[00:00:55]And you could have been anywhere in the world, but you're here with me.

[00:01:00]Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I bring to you a special guest.

[00:01:05]For those guys that are single operators that want to know what it's like to run a large business with multi-technicians, have a service company larger than yourself, and you've always wanted to have these questions on how to do it or pick at somebody's brain, tune in tonight cuz you're going to love our guest. Ladies and gentlemen, it brings me great privilege and great honor to have on tonight's guest. I've been hounding at this young man for many moons, and he doesn't know what he's involved with tonight. So, please, let's make him feel welcome. Let's hit the like button. I'd like to bring to the stage tonight's guest, business owner of Ocean Appliance Repair.

[00:02:02]Frankie Corres. And I hope I said the last name right. Brother Frankie, welcome. Welcome. Welcome to live hour, sir. How are you, my friend?

[00:02:15]>> You are You are way too kind. Your intro is extraordinary. I appreciate that. Thank you.

[00:02:22]Thank you. How are you?

[00:02:23]>> best for you. Nothing but the best for you. So, brother, I want to first off thank you for being here, man. You know, it was hard to get you on here. I know that you run a company. You lead the You lead a boy scout. We'll get dive into that.

[00:02:39]Uh you're just a VIP. So, to take 1 hour out of your time, I personally want to thank you. So, with that out the way, Frankie, owner of Ocean Appliance Repair, please, sir, introduce yourself.

[00:02:57]>> Um well, as you already said, my name is Frankie Corres.

[00:03:01]I am the owner of Ocean Appliance. We're located in Hollywood, Florida. And we've been around roughly going on 12 years now in the South Florida area.

[00:03:15]>> Okay.

[00:03:16]>> Yep.

[00:03:17]>> No, no, go ahead.

[00:03:19]>> And we have roughly We're like 12 strong right now. And about seven of those eight of those are techs, and then the rest are office.

[00:03:29]And you know, just in the grind like everybody else.

[00:03:33]>> What is the total head count of staff that is under your lead leadership?

[00:03:39]>> Uh right now, probably like the last year it's been 12. So, uh in the field, I'd say there's like seven, eight, you know, floating, and then about four or five in the office.

[00:03:51]usually that's how it looks.

[00:03:53]>> So, you got eight in the eight in the field and four or five in the office?

[00:04:00]>> That's correct.

[00:04:01]>> And where do you fit in that, sir?

[00:04:04]>> Uh well, see, I'm a very involved person when it comes to the to the business. So, there's a lot of different ways people want to run their business. I'm very very involved in mine. I like to be in the like you said before, and I watch your videos, by the way. I do love your videos. So, you do excellent jobs. Uh you're I like to be in the trenches, as you say, with my people and uh you know, the technicians really respect that and they respect an owner that is there with them uh learning and in the grind with them. So, I am in the field. I am in the office. I am uh doing the admin, you know. So, I'm I'm heavily involved in my business.

[00:04:44]>> Now, how did you get into appliance repair, sir? Let's start there, Frank.

[00:04:50]How old are you, by the way? You look my age.

[00:04:53]>> Yeah, I'm I'm 44. How about you?

[00:04:55]>> 44? Uh huh?

[00:04:57]>> That's awesome. There you go.

[00:04:58]>> Uh huh?

[00:04:59]Okay, so you So, how did you get into appliance repair?

[00:05:03]This is a surprise, buddy.

[00:05:04]>> It was definitely a a surprise, I'll tell you.

[00:05:08]Um I didn't start off as appliances at all.

[00:05:11]You know, I started off in a different kind of industry. I was actually in the hospitality industry. Started off doing hotels. That's what I mainly did in South Florida uh administrative work there. Uh maybe 12 years ago, I was approached by a friend, a technician, and um he asked if we would be interested in uh getting together and starting a company.

[00:05:34]Uh he saw that I was really good at on the admin side, uh strong when it comes to talking to people and networking, and obviously on the technical side. He uh said that he would take care of everything in the field and I had no experience at all whatsoever in in appliances and not knowing how the industry worked or anything like that.

[00:05:56]So, it was a a learning process. It was great.

[00:06:00]Um we picked up business fairly quickly like the first 6 months and we kind of just took off after that.

[00:06:10]It was definitely a learning experience and it's still learning experience till this day.

[00:06:15]And that's probably one of the best things I love about this industry. It's It's every day is is different as you know. Um it's a challenge and it's a fun challenge. But back to what you were saying, yeah, I started in hotels and then eventually I went into this industry and doing it 12 years since.

[00:06:33]>> Yeah, yeah, but Frankie, I've been doing this 14 15, but I don't got nine let me do the math. 8 plus what? I don't got all that. I don't got all How how'd you walk me through the the the evolution?

[00:06:45]How'd you go from single operator to one of South Florida's largest operations?

[00:06:52]>> Um well, I don't really view myself like anything like larger. I I don't I don't really know.

[00:06:58]As far as my size compared to other people, I never really thought about it thought about it like that. I was just trying to think of my company trying to be as efficient as possible.

[00:07:10]At the height of Ocean Appliance we were like 22 people and that was entirely too much. That was a lot going on.

[00:07:19]Uh I can tell you and this is just from my experience that the bigger you become, uh the more controls have to be in place and if you don't have those controls, you're you're asking for a recipe for disaster. So, it's nice to be big and you think that you want to be big and that's like the key to success, but that's not always the case.

[00:07:38]Uh to find that happy medium and to find that uh that nice sweet spot really is where you know where you want to be. I'm I'm still trying to evolve every day to find that sweet spot. Um And as you know, being in an industry where everything is volatile, you know, it's not consistent.

[00:07:57]You always have to be evolving, be creative, and and and adapting. That's pretty much where we're at now.

[00:08:04]>> Frankie, how the hell do you get to 22 sticks? Like how do you find all that work? These are the answers that I These are the questions that I want to peel back at your brain.

[00:08:16]>> I You know, I'm going to tell you the number one advice I give to people that are in this industry is that never ever put your eggs in one basket, right? Don't ever say that you're going to work for one person and and that's where your money's coming from because uh you know, one day you're going to have it, the next day it's a whole different scheme or different plan that somebody else wants to do and then, you know, money's lost. I remember when I first started in the industry, I had two contracts, you know, when we first started. And I thought we were riding high and then summer came and I never experienced a summer in Florida that 10 years ago, you know? Everything starts to dip down and those contracts, you know, weren't bringing in jobs and I started to realize that you can't really count on one company to to to you know, keep you alive. So it's your job to keep hustling, to look out there, to get the the contracts, to find other avenues of revenue, you know, not just to depend and sit there and expect that people that are going to feed you are the same people that are going to feed you for for years. Um the industry in my opinion has changed drastically, especially as of late. I I think you can sort of feel that the last couple of years it hasn't been uh uh the same that what we're used to, so it's uh I feel like it's a strong with survival mentality right now, sort of like a Darwinism kind of experience, so you have to be able to adapt, otherwise uh I think the future right now is going to be is going to be hard on on technicians. That's some odd reason, but this is what we're at.

[00:09:56]>> Okay, so you you you are seeing you I mean Let me see if I could wrap my brain around this.

[00:10:01]>> Yeah, sorry I'm talking a lot, so I'll slow it down. You can you can stop me whenever you need.

[00:10:05]>> No, no, no, no, no. You're a hotel guy.

[00:10:07]>> Yeah.

[00:10:08]>> You get introduced to appliance repair.

[00:10:12]You get two contracts?

[00:10:15]And you go from one to 22? Damn, homie. That's pretty impressive.

[00:10:23]>> Um yeah, but you know, it's got its ups and downs. That doesn't you know, doesn't mean that you're a great company just because you have those people. It was it's It was a lot of trial and error, you know? Um like I said, the bigger you become, the more uh management and checks and balances and you you know, you need to keep more people in place to keep that. Uh you got to excuse my language, like they always say, the bigger you become, the shittier you become, right? So, you need to make sure that you have those those uh things in place, otherwise you're going to have technicians that um lose parts and you could lose your entire business in parts in a month if you really don't pay attention to your parts inventory and your parts usage and things like that.

[00:11:06]Uh so, that was a a problem. As you get bigger, you need to make sure that you have control of your inventory and that's something that was always a challenge for us. Um getting the technicians to make sure they bring stuff back or uh you know, just the communication. Uh the bigger you become, more people are involved in talking and relaying information. So, it's important that you have a the correct system in place um that people can reference all the information in a in a central location.

[00:11:36]And that was always a hard thing. So, uh being bigger is is nice to have that support, but at the same time you have to have that uh that extra support. So, with that comes, you know, overhead, payroll, uh getting bigger. So, you have you have to be able to uh support that, right? So, it's [snorts] a it's always been a in the struggle, I think, for a lot of companies like us down here, um especially with the the inconsistency.

[00:12:05]So, that's something that honestly I'm trying to work on every day myself as an owner.

[00:12:10]>> Frankie, I'll I'll take you out of the spotlight for a moment, but I'll >> Please do.

[00:12:15]>> I'll I'll put you in a consultation role for a few minutes.

[00:12:22]I'll tell you what happened with me, Frankie.

[00:12:25]And I'll tell you where the you know, things went left.

[00:12:30]And then I'd I'd appreciate a guy like you with your level of expertise, your business savvy, cuz to get from one to five is a miracle. To get from one to 10 is unheard of. To get from one to 15, they should build a statue for you. But what to 22? Listen, listen to me.

[00:12:53]Wow.

[00:12:55]But with that said, I'm I whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa take the compliment. Listen, I want to tell you my situation.

[00:13:03]>> Please.

[00:13:03]>> I want to tell you what happened with me, my experience, and then Frankie, I would appreciate a guy like your advice, you know, guy with your expertise and your accolades. So, here's what happened with me.

[00:13:17]I got into this.

[00:13:19]Uh my cousin did AC.

[00:13:23]And he told me about appliance repair.

[00:13:25]He said, "Bro, I go I change dryer belts, I get paid This was 14, 15 years ago. I get paid 150, um and I'm like, damn." This was when 150 was 150, you know what I'm saying?

[00:13:37]No, for real, for real, for real. This This was when, you know, inflation wasn't crazy. Back then, you know, you make a killing. So, and and I'm sure today you still can, but I got into it, right? And I would moonlight. So, during the day, I worked as an electronic bench technician.

[00:13:58]Okay? I I I inspected boards.

[00:14:02]And at night, I would run appliance repair calls. And 14 years ago, there was a company called Appliance Appointment, something along them lines, where they would do lead generation.

[00:14:16]It was $35 per lead.

[00:14:21]So, when I would And I would turn on my availability from 4:00 p.m. to like 8:00 p.m.

[00:14:27]So, anything that came in that window, I would get those those leads.

[00:14:33]And man, that's how I started my feet into appliance repair at nights.

[00:14:39]Fast forward, I get a call from Sears Home Services.

[00:14:45]Service Live, to be exact. This was 2013, '14.

[00:14:51]At the time, Frankie, they tell me, "Listen, we'll give you as many calls as you want, and we give $100 per call, and like 200 per sales assist 250, something along I forget, it's many years ago.

[00:15:09]Now, Frankie, you got to understand, I was in my hotel phase, much like you, but I was in the electronics uh lane.

[00:15:16]So, I'm doing this math in my head. I'm like, man, if I run in theory four, five calls I said, "Oh man, there's no turning back. Appliance repair is what it is."

[00:15:28]So, I jump into it full name. I leave my electronics gig and here I am now.

[00:15:36]I'm running with two sources of lead generation, if you will. But Frankie, all due credit, I didn't have any business coaching, I didn't have any business training, I didn't have any of that.

[00:15:50]Fast forward, I started to do good and they made me a preferred.

[00:15:57]So, I I said, "You know what?

[00:16:00]What if I I talked to my service manager?" I said, "What if I get 10 calls a day? Can you facilitate that?" Oh, yes, no problem. We need service searchers in your area.

[00:16:13]I was like, "Ah, okay. I'm going to hire somebody." Now, I'm starting to think, "Man, why do I got to do this? Somebody else could do So, I started like dabbling in that. So, long story short, the largest that I ever grew to was two techs, one CSR, and myself. Now, I wore all the hats. So, I helped the CSR, I helped the techs, and I ran calls that no one else could do. And I made sure that everything was running smooth.

[00:16:46]Fast forward, 2020 comes.

[00:16:52]Sears puts on some temporary suspension because they the customers don't want technicians coming in due to COVID.

[00:17:02]Me putting all of my eggs in one basket, I didn't have any work for my guys.

[00:17:10]We did have CODs and people who would find us or repeat customers or this one, you know, noth- nothing to feed three techs and give us a full slate of work.

[00:17:23]So, you know what?

[00:17:25]They told me, "If you don't find me work, man, we got to leave." And Frankie, what am I going to do? Hold them?

[00:17:30]I can't I can't hold the guys. So, you know what?

[00:17:34]They left.

[00:17:36]The CSM, I tried to hold on cuz she needed a gig.

[00:17:40]But, eventually I was like, you know, I could do this on my own. I really don't need your services no more. I let her go, too.

[00:17:47]Now, I start doing this all over again, but with a different approach.

[00:17:54]I signed up with LG, Liebherr, U-Line, U-Line, B-Line, D-Line, all of the manufacturers, all of the third party.

[00:18:03]>> Yeah.

[00:18:04]>> Now, I got more work than I know what to do with, Frankie.

[00:18:08]My head is spinning.

[00:18:12]But, Frankie, man, these people take 30 days to pay.

[00:18:18]And there's these big portals, and you got to fill in what's the model, what's the serial, what's the thing, what's the state of the condition. Did you do this?

[00:18:26]Did you do that? Upload photo. Frankie, sometimes these portals would take more time to fill out than actual repair.

[00:18:36]No No, no. Here's the kicker.

[00:18:40]If you don't cross the T or dot the I, they reject the order.

[00:18:48]Now, Frankie, I got bills that don't care about rejection. I got a baby mother that takes me to court for child support.

[00:18:56]She don't care about none of that.

[00:18:58]She don't care that LG and ServicePower is not cool.

[00:19:02]None of that matters.

[00:19:03]>> Yeah.

[00:19:05]>> And guess what?

[00:19:06]They don't They didn't consider me, Frankie.

[00:19:10]And you know what, Frankie?

[00:19:11]I eventually got in over my head.

[00:19:15]I I was actually making all this money on paper, but my bank account looked pathetic.

[00:19:24]I said, "I'm I'm better off going to welfare at this rate." But meanwhile, I had like 6,000 here, 4,000 there, rub-a-dub-dub. I'm like, "Where's the money?" Frankie, I was going to the mailbox daily, opening it up like a crackhead, looking for it. Frankie, there wouldn't be the envelope, but I still would keep it open, hoping >> Oh, boy.

[00:19:47]>> it appear.

[00:19:49]Now, I just had enough.

[00:19:52]I said, "You know, this is Kids Hide the Kids Tonight, folks."

[00:19:56]I said, "Fuck all this.

[00:19:59]I'm good."

[00:20:01]I said, "I'm just going to get a 9:00 to 5:00.

[00:20:04]I and I'll do this [ __ ] on the side.

[00:20:07][ __ ] this." And you know what Frankie, I did.

[00:20:11]Got benefits, dental, medical, days off, PTO. Do you know what that is?

[00:20:18]I get vacation. And now I'm selective with who I do in the nights. I have freedom, you know. I got fixed income every 2 weeks.

[00:20:29]But Frankie, do I miss the freedom of being my own business owner? Absolutely.

[00:20:35]But man, when I think about all the [ __ ] that comes with it, I don't know, Frankie. It doesn't It doesn't sit well with me. With all that said, brother, and I'm sorry for talking your ears off, what's your take on my approach, brother?

[00:20:49]What's your thoughts?

[00:20:50]>> I'll tell you, um if there's anybody here besides me and you that's listening and says that they haven't struggled in this industry, they're a liar. Okay? Everybody struggles in this industry. Uh I would love to meet that person that does what we do and is a millionaire. I haven't met that person yet. So, until that day comes, I feel your pain. I definitely Everything you have experienced is the truth. This is exactly what it is to be a business owner, to wake up every day thinking about, you know, where are you going to get the money to pay for the employees that you have, you know, cuz it's going to be bi-weekly or weekly or whatever. That that's, you know, a major responsibility on your shoulder, right? So, business is got to be going. I wake up every day like my life depends on it. You know what I'm saying? That's that's the mentality that I try to have when I'm out there.

[00:21:51]Uh I know it's not easy and and it's easier said than done. Uh But, I mean, I I do what what you were what you were saying right now and everything that that you you were experiencing is just kind of bringing back uh you know, deja vu for me. Like, I still go through those things every day and I still question, you know, if that's something that I still want to pursue. There's no doubt about that.

[00:22:20]Being a business owner has been a double-edged sword, you know?

[00:22:25]It's a blessing and it's a curse at the same time. Uh it puts you through experiences that you never thought you would go through. And being a business owner, uh it makes you a goat, you know? Like, a lot of people that want to start a business don't have the guts to even make that attempt. So, the fact that you made the attempt already puts you in my eyes that you're like in the top 5%, top 2, 3% of people in this world. You had the guts to make the attempt to do that. So, a lot of people, and I'm more than sure you've encountered it cuz I've encountered it where you uh you know, you wanted to start some kind of business venture or you wanted to start some kind of uh partnership with somebody and you're the one that's motivated and you're hyped up and then the other person kind of flakes out or you don't hear from them or uh you know, just kind of ghost you and that is the majority of people. So, to those people, you know, I really they can't really say anything to me, right? The ones that I respect are people like you and people that have actually made the attempt and have failed because uh I mean, truly that is somebody that knows business. I mean, truly that is what it is.

[00:23:45]Uh every day is not sunshine and just because you own a business doesn't mean that you're like rolling in the dough.

[00:23:51]That doesn't work like that, unfortunately. But, what you can uh control is a good reputation um and a steady customer base and build that up over time and over the years that you know, people will you will trust you and instill uh not just, you know, their money in you, but uh you know, the trust that you're going to fix their problem. And that's what I base my business model off of is, you know, trying to do one job at a time, do a quality work, uh the customer's very happy and we move on.

[00:24:29]Uh that's that's how I feel a business should run. And for what you've done and I've seen you in the streets, I remember watching you uh crossing the street in uh where were we? Uh about Harbor. I think we were in Bal Harbor area. I think I said I said, "Friend." And that's where we were crossing across the street over there. Remember that? I'm like, "That." And I said to my partner, I'm like, "That guy right there is a hustler. That guy, I love that guy." I think Brandon is out there doing And uh you know, you know what it is. You're you're with me out there in the in the in the trenches, too. You're in the field. So, I respect everything that you've done up until this point. I respect, you know, seeing you pulling up at Encompass over there, you know, with Sears. I I I respect all that. You know, you're you're in the grind. I see what you're doing.

[00:25:15]Uh and you love this you love this game and you love doing what you do. Uh the fact that you're able to wanting to teach now, you know, you were What's his name? Is it Joel Cut? What's his name?

[00:25:26]You know?

[00:25:27]>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. My business partner, Rick Zilka.

[00:25:30]>> there, you know. It's It's good to have people like you in the industry, you know, that uh that care. So, uh fact that, you know, if you want to continue business or not, doesn't It's irrelevant. You've done it.

[00:25:42]You've experienced it. A lot of people don't even have the guts to do that. So, mad respect to you. So, that's that's my opinion of how I thought what you did, you know. Um yeah.

[00:25:56]That's it, man. Nobody can ever take that away from you. I mean, well, >> Frankie, I know that there's a lot of guys out there that have aspirations.

[00:26:04]And they think that being a large company is is all good. They may have these uh you know, Tik Tok dreams of a lifestyle that they're going to be millionaires. And man, it's not like that, man. I mean, this is where I need your expertise cuz I don't want to be the voice of reason. And but I mean, do you get like late charges? Do you get like, you know, problems with your third-party like Do you Do you see things?

[00:26:34]>> Are we get the Are we get delayed all the time? Of course, I'm not going to throw any any manufacturers' names under the bus, of course not.

[00:26:41]Um but this all goes back to again, not putting all your eggs in one basket.

[00:26:47]I remember too, working one of the first contracts we had with Sears, as well.

[00:26:51]And I remember working on that. I call it the carousel, you know?

[00:26:55]Uh they put you on the carousel, you work a lot of jobs, and uh you get paid. And it was nice because Sears, you know, they paid you like in two two or three days. It was easy claims. They had a great system, and you had the money, and it was consistent.

[00:27:08]Then season was over, summer came, money wasn't there, and the the it disrupts the flow, right? So, uh you have to have another another source of revenue, you know? And it That's all I can tell you. You got to you got to build it up, and it's not uh it's not something that you can do overnight, you know?

[00:27:29]>> Now, you work in in an area in South Florida, for those who don't know and who are viewing.

[00:27:35]You Frankie works in an area that's what some folks would hit would say is a high-income or you know, high-medium in Bal Harbour.

[00:27:47]That's like where the rich folks stay.

[00:27:50]So, Frankie, how the hell did you get in your foot into that so saturated of a niche and become such a stronghold of a name? And let me let me elaborate.

[00:28:04]In South Florida, you got businesses popping up every day. Bing bing bing bing of appliance repair. How did you become like a household name in in in um that particular area? I've worked on some units where I've seen your stickers.

[00:28:22]You know, you put those poor stickers, and you would think the customer would call you. Well, they call you. Well, anyway, that's a story for another day. But, uh how did you like how did you rise to prominence in such a saturated market? That's my question.

[00:28:37]>> First of all, you're you're giving me too much credit on on that, but I thank you anyways. Um I will tell you this.

[00:28:45]The number one thing is customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is how you get people to call you back and keep that, you know, recurring revenue.

[00:28:56]With that being said, the number one thing customers like is communication. How many times have you heard when you're in a customer's house, the previous company never called them back?

[00:29:08]Hey, I paid this customer I paid this uh company, they don't even know the name, and then I gave them a check or I gave them cash, and they never came back, and then I got screwed over, and now you're the person there that's got to clean up the mess. But, uh you know, that happens quite often in our industry, as you know. And, uh people always come back to us and say, "I like Ocean Appliance because you guys always call back. You guys always come back. You guys are, you know, we know that you guys are being held accountable for your actions.

[00:29:40]It's not like we're running off when we take your money and we come back."

[00:29:44]In our industry, down here, I refer to it as the Wild West. I think there's a lot of people down here that are cutthroat, that uh make people in the industry that actually care, they make them look bad, you know.

[00:29:57]Uh there's people that actually do want to sit down and do quality work, and I try I try to convey that to my technicians, to show that to the customers, and it it does show.

[00:30:06]Uh I'm I'm big on customer service, and that's that's the one thing that I tell my technicians, "Listen, you can go back to a customer's house five or six times, as long as they like you." And, I'm I'm pretty sure you've heard stories about that technician, "Man, that guy's been there like six or seven times, but I can't tell him no cuz he's a nice guy."

[00:30:26]Being nice goes a long way, I'll tell you. If you are not good at working on your appliance, you better have a good charming uh attitude. So, uh those things work for us.

[00:30:37]Um but, customers love communication, email, texting, you know, not being afraid uh to convey a message to a customer uh whether they like it or not, being transparent.

[00:30:53]And they like that.

[00:30:55]>> I want I want to say thank you for that answer. I want to segue to something.

[00:30:59]You mentioned parts earlier.

[00:31:02]>> Oh, yeah. Parts, my favorite, right?

[00:31:05]>> Taking them back, making sure that you got the right ones.

[00:31:10]Yeah. I'd like to take this time and thank the sponsors of tonight's show.

[00:31:15]Ladies and gentlemen, it brings me great honor to thank tonight's sponsors, Mor Auto Parts.

[00:31:22]>> I see Saul.

[00:31:23]>> No, for real. They They really be sponsoring the show.

[00:31:26]>> Oh, really?

[00:31:27]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:31:28]>> You're a big dog.

[00:31:30]>> Hey, man. You know what it is to get a cup, bro?

[00:31:34]Not everybody gets that, champ. And more importantly, you know, that they have a convention coming up. Are you aware of that?

[00:31:44]>> I have Listen, Saul keeps trying to pull me to go over there. I do need to make it over there. I have not gone there yet. So, Saul, shout out to you, buddy.

[00:31:54]Um I should do it. It's just It's hard. I'm not going to lie to you. It's hard for me to pull away from the business. And that is a fault of mine to the max. If there's something that's wrong with me, it's that I cannot pull away from the work.

[00:32:10]>> Uh that sucks, bro. So, you don't got no life.

[00:32:14]>> I have That's, you know, I don't want to say Yeah. It's got to be the truth. Like I said, it's not glamorous. Wise man, Saul, told me you need to make time, you know, away. You have to make the time. You need to make the time. You need to pull away. And that's something that I try to work on every day, uh but I'm not good at it. You know.

[00:32:31]But, yeah. I am >> I'll tell you what, brother. Guy like you would benefit from that.

[00:32:37]Cuz I want to Tell me why.

[00:32:38]Tell me why.

[00:32:39]Oh, because a guy like you, let me explain how this works.

[00:32:45]They have a They have a a convention, right? In a in a trade show booth area where like you go stand to stand and you see all of these people with their different booths. Now, you see a lot of stuff like man um up-and-coming manufacturers on the rise.

[00:33:06]I don't want to say their name because a lot of people watch this show and they don't go to this and they just watch, they listen to what I say and tomorrow they call the manufacturers. I ain't going to give them that pass. But >> [laughter and clears throat] >> you get a lot of No, you get a lot of like man a lot of companies that you probably would have never heard of.

[00:33:26]And they're out there. Do manufacturers show up to this spot? Ooh, the question isn't that. The question is which ones do not show up.

[00:33:38]Cuz you name one, I'll tell you that they go.

[00:33:42]Yeah.

[00:33:43]Whirlpool, GE's um Samsung, LG. You see You see all the name all the the names on the shirts?

[00:33:55]It's a great place to get tech support.

[00:33:57]Meaning you attend cuz when you go there, not only is there a convention center where again you go booth to booth to booth to booth and you know, you meet all these different um vendors and stuff. There's also training going on.

[00:34:13]I e. Like Samsung, Bespoke front loads 2026 and beyond models.

[00:34:21]And there's some trainer there.

[00:34:24]Well, when you sit in that technical class, they take your name down.

[00:34:29]And they say fill out your name and your email, and then before you know it, you're home, chilling, shooting the breeze, and then you get a call from some rando, and they're like, "Hey, Samsung told me that you're one of their factory up. Can you help us and blah blah blah?" And you're like, "Me? What?"

[00:34:47]And simply And I'm not Samsung is just a uh an example, but uh Miele coffee makers, that's a real That's a real one. And there was more I could tell you, but Miele coffee makers I attended two of their trainings.

[00:35:03]And I wrote my name on their thing, and now they send me calls.

[00:35:08]So, >> You're lucky man.

[00:35:10]My favorite.

[00:35:11]>> No, I'm not. I took the time to go out, I made the connections.

[00:35:17]>> Right.

[00:35:18]>> And not only that, I did that with multiple manufacturers. So, I gained a certain level of uh uh connections to the industry leaders. So, if I have a Samsung question, I know who to go to.

[00:35:32]Frigidaire, I know who to go uh you know, so forth and so on.

[00:35:37]Those are some some example And more importantly, Frankie, you said something earlier. You was like, "Man, you giving me way too much credit." Frankie, you you're not understanding, respectfully, love, peace, and harmony. There's levels to this. There's single operators. Guys that That's the highest that they will climb. That's the their mountain top.

[00:35:58]There's guys with two or three.

[00:36:00]There's guys with five to eight.

[00:36:02]That's kind of where you fall. That's huge. Then you got some big dogs with 20 and 30. They're there.

[00:36:09]Those guys are there, and those are the guys that guys like you would speak to and be like, "Yo, how I get to your level?" You understand?

[00:36:18]Everybody's always asking one another, "Yo, what worked for you? How you did that?" This, that, and the third. That That's the same kind of networking that goes on in these places. It'd be like like 900, 1,100 people attendees. They have a big banquet at the end and everything.

[00:36:35]>> Really?

[00:36:37]I got to see if it's too late to go or not. I got to see if I can sign up.

[00:36:40]>> It's in October.

[00:36:41]>> Okay.

[00:36:42]>> October 26th through the 29th. I'm one of the um the teachers there. I'll be teaching something there. And I have a little booth and everything, yeah.

[00:36:53]>> Oh, really?

[00:36:54]>> Yeah, Frankie, you know, I'm trying to do my thing. Be be like you when I grow up.

[00:36:57]>> See, what don't you do is the question.

[00:36:59]I mean, it seems like you got a little you got your hands in everything.

[00:37:03]>> Frankie, you said it earlier, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[00:37:07]>> Yeah.

[00:37:08]That's cool, man. Proud to see I'm proud to see how much how over the years you've matured and you're doing big things. So, that's that's good to to see that, you know. One day, I hope to be on your level when I grow up.

[00:37:19]>> Oh, shut it off, Frankie. You're way level me.

[00:37:22]>> See how that >> [laughter] >> See how that feels on you, man? You're feeling. Oh, you know, we're all regular people just trying to just trying to grind it out, man. That's it.

[00:37:31]>> Okay, Frankie, we got about 20 minutes left. I thank you for all letting me pick at your brains, but I have one or two more questions.

[00:37:38]What what's your strategy now?

[00:37:42]Day-to-day operations. Wait, wait, real quick. Let me phrase this properly.

[00:37:46]Your business revenue, how much of it is manufacturer work, how much of it is COD work, how much of it is third-party work? Do you mind without getting into all the details, but giving me a formula on what you operate with?

[00:38:05]>> What I depend on a lot, um super important to me, is search engine optimization, content creation.

[00:38:15]>> I can't hear you, Frankie.

[00:38:16]>> Sorry. Content creation online, search engine optimization, um being visible online and having that presence is probably the biggest uh thing that you need in today's uh day and age to even be relevant.

[00:38:35]Uh you need to be seen. So, as you know, it's a highly competitive industry uh and that visibility is key. Uh reviews are key.

[00:38:45]Um even even if they're bad of course, obviously good is better, but having your name out there and creating that content is is uh super important. So, I I rely on that a lot. I rely on on people giving me feedback and uh I'm heavy on technology.

[00:39:04]Uh you know, as far as organization goes, as far as the the databases goes, as far as security goes.

[00:39:10]Um People know that when they call, I can give them all the information about their appliance, you know, with the last 10 years, everything we need to know about it and and that we're thorough and people, you know, they they appreciate that and I get uh a lot of compliments in our company in our company about the service that we provide. Uh and that goes a long way, believe it or not. Um especially in a place where people come and go. You know, we have a lot of transient people there in our industry and we just want to create good integrity.

[00:39:41]Uh Do we think maybe down the road, you know, uh there should be some sort of regulation, you know, for what we do?

[00:39:49]I possibly think so. I mean, we do a lot of things out there in the field that uh it's that goes beyond appliance repair, right? You know, we risk ourselves, you know, uh at times just to fix a machine and I know it sounds weird to say that, but uh there's been countless situations that I've been in you've been in that uh you know, just to even start working on the appliance, you got to do something that takes double the time. Or uh for example, today going to keep the scheme, you know? I went to keep the scheme with the technician, took me an hour and a half to get there and it was 5 minute job relay, you know? That's it.

[00:40:29]Uh you know, there's there's there's a lot There's a lot going on in our industry um and I don't think that people respect what we do enough to understand that, you know? And then hopefully that we can bring that to light. But the only way that's going to bring to light is if um you know, we get together as an organization. And the more that you guys talk about it, the more I see, you know, I see that I do want to be more involved in companies like the uh MSA or or whoever it is that, you know, can bring people together, right? That can create some sort of uh unity and not just have the manufacturers uh control or dictate the pace down in South Florida.

[00:41:11]And you go back to what you were saying before about what is my uh percentage of CODs and uh warranty work and things like that. It it varies, of course, but um depending on the volume, you have to be able to control that when you forecast it well, that you know that it's going to be busy, that you have to limit the warranty calls and let the CODs in, you know?

[00:41:35]Uh to make sure that you're getting a good margin there as opposed to just being on that treadmill of warranty work. So, you have to be excellent at being able to forecast that. So, Florida is really hard at that. So, uh you have to pay extra attention for that. So, uh we live off a lot off of uh repeat calls, you know, and um recommendations.

[00:42:00]I know that people don't think that, but we do get a lot of repeat customers. And uh if anybody ever sees this down the road besides uh technicians and owners, customers ever run into it, I want definitely thank all the customers that uh you know we have serviced over the years and without you guys we wouldn't be where we are right now. So, thank you again.

[00:42:21]>> Do you pay for marketing?

[00:42:25]>> Do I I did in the beginning to get boosted up for for content creating.

[00:42:30]They said you know you need to have some sort of visibility so it's good to have a boost in the beginning and what that would be is you know just pretty much writing about your company and creating links and pictures and you know Google reviews.

[00:42:50]But now everything is built organically, right?

[00:42:54]I don't have to pay for anything.

[00:42:56]Everything right now I built that database and I built that that uh all that knowledge and it's it's spread through the internet and we're highly visible now. So, that that's a that's a good thing. But it only can come organically, you know, you can't force that.

[00:43:13]Um Uh so I think that it's okay you know to definitely spend money when you need to on advertising and marketing. You have to be very mindful of how you're spending it and be very careful. But I tend to not want to to do it. But I know now in this industry the way that it's going you have to you have to have some sort of advertising. But I personally do not at the moment, you >> What kind of software do you use for your for your business dispatch, your routing, customer What do you service how house pro house pro call?

[00:43:51]RazorSync?

[00:43:53]>> Right now I still use the the pioneer, man. I still use Service Titan.

[00:43:58]>> Oh, ServiceTitan?

[00:44:00]>> Do you know what Do you know ServiceTitan? Remember ServiceTitan?

[00:44:03]>> Man, I heard of them but I never used it. You like it?

[00:44:08]>> In my eyes, they are the pioneers of dispatch software.

[00:44:13]>> Why?

[00:44:14]Why? Tell me why.

[00:44:16]>> Well, first off, if you if you look at their uh their interface, it looks like it's from the '80s, but that doesn't matter because it's highly functional and it's got a lot of different uh options and features that um that it offers.

[00:44:33]The way it keeps database and the way it keeps the history, um the way it keeps everything organized for you, the way that everything is centralized with uh uh the ability to run your ARs through there, your payments, to be able to keep uh to extract emails from databases, to be able to send campaigns for marketing with those emails that you create with your own emails that you collected over the years.

[00:45:01]Uh It's also >> Does it do pricing?

[00:45:07]>> You can like I mean you can import the pricing you want. You can set your percentages like on COD calls for example, like if you were to quote out a part and you know, you go to Marcone and you look at the cost there and you put the cost in the system, it'll mark it up for you at the percentage that you choose to, things like that. You know, I we do we do everything a little bit more manual when it comes to pricing, uh but if we need to, we got it set up like that. We try to mirror the uh vendor's list pricing normally, you know, so we try to create that that integrity.

[00:45:45]>> Vendor's list pricing, what is that?

[00:45:49]>> Like you know, like when Marcone sells, you know, they give you the list price, you know, you try to stay with the list price.

[00:45:54]>> Oh, yeah, but that's in the parts. I'm talking the labor.

[00:45:58]>> What what was your question about the labor?

[00:46:00]>> Okay, the pricing. This company This company that has this older user interface.

[00:46:08]>> Oh, oh, oh, oh, yes.

[00:46:10]Yes, so you you are able to import pricing for labor. Yes.

[00:46:13]>> You got eight guys.

[00:46:15]>> Okay.

[00:46:16]>> Technician one may charge $700 for a thermal fuse, and that's crazy. But, technician number eight may charge 50 bucks.

[00:46:28]>> Yes.

[00:46:29]>> Do you have a central reference point for you and your entire organization to price out of?

[00:46:38]>> Yeah, we have a we have a built-in rate sheet in the system. So, they are able to populate that rate sheet through the app on their phone or they choose to through the app on their laptop, and they pick a code, and that code will be a simple diagnosis code or a tier one labor or tier two labor or tier three six or a sealed system labor or a high-end diagnosis labor. You know, you can break it down however you want as many you know, as many times as you want. We try to simplify it. We don't want, you know, a code for replacing capacitor.

[00:47:19]You know, that's like too too much. You just want like a a tier level, you know, of what you consider difficult things, right?

[00:47:28]That's That's how we have it. So, uh there's there's uniformity there, so the technician can be sure that uh if they pick that rate, the customer can't complain. They can always go back to the office. The office can, you know, understand why they chose that rate. You know, it's built in, and uh they can they can defend that rate in the future.

[00:47:46]They know that it's it's a rate that was not made up.

[00:47:50]But, we do have those built in, and those are reviewed yearly, you know?

[00:47:55]>> Have you ever heard of something called the Blue Book of Appliance Repair?

[00:47:59]>> I have. I have heard of the Blue Book. I have really not messed with it how I uh I called a couple places.

[00:48:12]And I asked them, you know, for rates. I also talked to several other owners down here and we go over rates, too, you know, uh in different areas of South Florida.

[00:48:24]Um and we kind of discuss what the rates are, right? You know. Uh and that's how I sort of pick my my median rates.

[00:48:34]But you you know, you have to you have to do your research.

[00:48:40]>> Frankie, >> Yes.

[00:48:41]>> a few more minutes and thank you. I All this is great information. Let me ask you one more question.

[00:48:47]>> Yes, sir.

[00:48:48]>> I need you to go back to memory lane.

[00:48:50]When you were single operator, right?

[00:48:53]When was the moment or when is the moment that a guy or a girl gets to a point in their ownership when it's time to scale?

[00:49:05]That's my question to you. When do you know the signs are there because Frankie, before you answer that, and I know you know, that's that's a commitment to now, no matter what rain, snow, you're going to have a salary now for somebody every Friday or every other Friday.

[00:49:27]How And other responsibilities, another service vehicle. That's another thing.

[00:49:32]Or you got you got a whole fleet out here, Frankie, of of your service vehicles. Pat yourself on the back. Not everybody got that. And they're all uniform and wrapped and everything.

[00:49:43]When does a guy or girl know it's time to scale? What are the signs and how do you do it safely?

[00:49:51]>> I'll tell you, that's so funny you bring that up. Um, you know, in the beginning uh I had uh a partner and he gave me a lot of good advice. And the number one and the biggest advice that sticks to me to this day that I will never forget is not to be afraid.

[00:50:16]What do you mean not to be afraid?

[00:50:18]>> Okay.

[00:50:19]>> Like uh people have done this before you and people will do this after you. What you're doing is not the first time something has happened. So, understand that you the chances of you failing are greater if you don't even make the attempt, but a lot of people won't even make that attempt. Just the fact that you're making that attempt and you want to make that attempt is going to make you more successful. So, you never know I put you never know there's not going to be a day where you wake up and you're like, oh, I'll look at the reports. I think we should buy another vehicle or or, you know, the budget or this and that. Like you need uh to keep moving forward every day to do something different to progress and not be afraid of failure.

[00:51:03]You're not going to know the answer right then and there. You make that decision and you're going to have to adjust as you go. You know, you're not going to know exactly how it's going to go down. The important thing is to pull the trigger, buy that vehicle, assume that you're going to get that the job is still going to be consistent because uh we were at a point where we were losing jobs because we didn't have enough people.

[00:51:27]Uh and you're like asking yourself, well, you know, do we hire more people?

[00:51:32]And you're asking yourself, you know, uh can we absorb that? Can we know for a fact that we're able to uh carry that for the next few years without them, you know, without letting them go, you know? Because that's the worst thing. You don't want to bring somebody on and not being able to support that, right? So, you have to be headstrong, you have to be confident, and you have to uh keep adapting. So, the The answer is, did I know exactly how we're going to, you know, when we were going to take that next level? No, I didn't. It's It was a feeling, but it's also uh an exhilarating feeling when you just jump into it, and you know that, "Hey, I'm going to do this." And whether you get it right the first time or you don't, that's on you, and it's on you to correct that, and it's on you to try to improve it and see, you know, how you can uh do it better for next time.

[00:52:32]Uh So, that's something I probably convey to anybody that is interested or or uh wanting to know, you know, how they are ready to take it to the next level. You know, if you feel like you you're ready for that, make the attempt, man. Make the attempt.

[00:52:49]You You got to do it because if you're uh you're afraid and you're sleeping on it, it's going to pass you by. So, I will never forget that advice. Um I live by that every day.

[00:53:02]>> Wow. Frankie, it We're coming up on the hour, and I prom- I I I booked you from 8:30 to 9:30, and I value your time.

[00:53:12]>> Oh, it's 9:45, yeah.

[00:53:14]>> Well, we got off to a little bit of a late start, but it That's why I'm This is my final question now.

[00:53:19]>> Yes, sir.

[00:53:19]>> Um I appreciate everything.

[00:53:22]Uh >> Appreciate you, man.

[00:53:25]>> My My final question, Frankie, is uh before I send you out, Frankie, uh give give us, in so many words, the layman's blueprint to a safe way to scale, profit, and more importantly, maintain. That's the That's the maintain the business.

[00:53:54]So, again, last question I have for you. What's the blueprint for scaling in layman's terms?

[00:54:03]Profiting and and and maintaining not losing a a successful business. That's the final question I have for >> [sighs] >> I would say that in layman's terms, you need to know how to forecast. You cannot sit on your ass and have things come to you and you think that they're going to be there every day. You cannot do that. A lot of people, they become complacent.

[00:54:31]They become comfortable. They get those few contracts, and they chill. And that's the biggest mistake that a lot of people make. It's that when you think they got that, they become complacent.

[00:54:42]So, that's definitely a time right there where you need to evolve. Um cuz you've already obviously got comfortable with that, mastered that. It's time to get uncomfortable and take it to a different level.

[00:54:55]So, that is a piece of advice that I would definitely would convey to the to the person, you know, if if they were talking about doing it safely.

[00:55:06]Uh Number two, get an accountant.

[00:55:13]An accountant will uh save your ass, believe it or not. I know it sounds costly in the beginning, but in the end in the back end, uh they're going to save you more uh in the in the long run. So, that helps you with your budgeting. That helps you to see, you know, how much your payroll is going to be, um you know, to to forecast it down the Uh I pay weekly at my company and I have paid that since the beginning and proud to say that I haven't missed a payroll yet and knock on wood. But it's important to me and that you need to make sure that you keep your employees happy.

[00:55:55]Uh That's another thing that helps you grow too, right? You want people to stick around. You want longevity. You want people that they want to be there. I have a couple of technicians that are over that been with me for over 10 years.

[00:56:11]Uh they're like family to me, you know? I have Uh and they're they're awesome people and uh I would not be here without them. And they trust me and they look at me as their leader and I take that trust and I I try to run with it. And it makes you feel really good and people in my in my company feel good about that. They see that I'm right there with them that I love them and they care about that and they want and they want to grow with them.

[00:56:39]And that's it. You have to have that drive, that motivation, that determination and and the passion, you know? The passion for it.

[00:56:47]You have to really want to learn every day, grow and become a better person.

[00:56:52]Focus on your craft.

[00:56:55]That's That's what I got, my friend.

[00:56:56]>> Damn, thank you, Frankie. Man, Frankie, I I gave you everything I had, man. I gave you left, right, up, down.

[00:57:02]>> Likewise, bro. Likewise.

[00:57:04]>> Well, but listen, man, if it's okay, I'm sure if some people going to view this at a later time and man, they probably got one or two questions, too. Would you lend yourself?

[00:57:14]Do you have social media? Is there a way uh do you have like an Instagram or Facebook or something that if anybody ever sees this interview and and is inspiring to grow a company like yourself and maybe something I didn't ask, do you have like a social media?

[00:57:31]Someone could get a hold of you?

[00:57:32]>> I do. I'm like I'm kind of well, I'm not kind of old. Me and you are the same age. Uh I'm not like a huge social >> I don't know what you're saying, bro.

[00:57:40]I'm a young old man.

[00:57:42]>> [laughter] >> I uh I do I'm on Instagram. I don't know names and stuff. I mean >> You don't know your Instagram name? Oh boy.

[00:57:49]>> No, I don't know stuff like that. I am not >> You got Facebook?

[00:57:53]>> I just like the reels, man. I'm always on the reels. But you know, my name is Frankie Corres. Um you can find me on @oceanappliance. Guys, you can always call me.

[00:58:01]>> Okay.

[00:58:01]>> Uh uh >> Email?

[00:58:03]>> Email's frankie @oceanapplianceservice.com.

[00:58:08]My phone number 954-399-9176.

[00:58:13]Also, you know, we're all in the industry together. Uh people always talk. So, if you need something, I'm pretty sure that you're I hear about it all the time.

[00:58:22]Uh that's pretty much it. I'll be more than happy to uh help anybody out, give advice. Um you know, I I do like to see the industry grow. You know, we want good people in it.

[00:58:33]That's it.

[00:58:34]>> Frankie, man, it's been a pleasure. I appreciate you being here, man. Thank you so much, man. I'll I'll let you go now. Uh any final words before I let you go?

[00:58:44]>> Hopefully, I'll see you in Vegas.

[00:58:45]>> Oh, I'll be out there. Little Caesars.

[00:58:48]>> Little Caesars?

[00:58:48]>> That's where they're having it at.

[00:58:50]>> All right. I got to see if I get permission from my wife. I'm joking.

[00:58:53]>> Bro, bro, bro, I'll tell you buy your ticket now, bro. It's about 200 right now. It's nice and affordable. 250, yeah. The rooms are 200. They're affordable at night. 200 a night. I'm only I'm only going out there 2 nights, 2 3 nights. That's it.

[00:59:07]>> That's it? Okay.

[00:59:08]>> Yeah. But I got marketing purposes.

[00:59:11]I got a book. I got courses to sell, you know.

[00:59:13]>> That's nice.

[00:59:14]>> I'm trying to do my >> to Vegas one time, and it was a bad experience. I went on the second wave of COVID. So, they were like mask up. So, I had to mask up. Yeah, I you know, that you couldn't walk anywhere without a mask. So, I was just like I'm not I was turned off by Vegas.

[00:59:33]Uh should I give it a second chance?

[00:59:35]Probably. You know, you know, it was >> Yeah, no, it's nothing like that, bro.

[00:59:39]You go out there, you go in the hotel >> Yeah.

[00:59:42]>> Oh, there's there's casino things everywhere in the hotel that >> Oh, yeah.

[00:59:48]>> the hotel that you're sleeping in. Then you go like to your elevator, you go up, and then finally, you know, it's peace and quiet. But man, when you go to those high-rise hotels, you look out there, you see the strip, like the stuff you see in those old movies like Casino with Pacino and all. It looks like that. It looks just like that. And then, you know, I go out there 2 3 days, and I'm back home, man. But I make connections.

[01:00:11]Sign up to different manufacturers and so forth.

[01:00:16]>> I'm going to do that. I'm going to do that. Saul, you're still awake? I can't believe you're still awake, man. Go to bed.

[01:00:21]>> Special shout-out to Saul, man, and the folks at my job.

[01:00:24]>> Saul, my dog.

[01:00:26]>> Frankie, I love you, man. It's been a pleasure, man.

[01:00:29]>> Anytime for you, man. My boy, anytime.

[01:00:32]>> You're the man, brother. Thank you so much, all right?

[01:00:34]>> Take care. Have a good night.

[01:00:36]>> You too.

[01:00:41]Ladies and gentlemen, there you go.

[01:00:44]I did my best.

[01:00:46]Try to ask the good questions. I tried to ask, you know, the questions that single operators have. You know, oftentimes those bigwigs, those guys that have like seven, eight, 10 employees, they they in their minds, they're like, "That ain't nothing."

[01:01:09]But it's something, man, for the single operator. You know, it it it's a tough industry, you know, to to stick around, to have longevity.

[01:01:19]So, to have somebody come on, give, you know, their take, their perspective.

[01:01:26]I hope you enjoyed the show.

[01:01:28]And that's all I have for you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for tuning in on another Friday night YouTube late-night special with your host, Brother B.

[01:01:39]You could have been anywhere in the world, but you was here with me. And ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate it.

[01:01:45]I want to thank you.

[01:01:47]Love, peace, harmony. Goodnight, everybody.

[01:01:51]I'll see you on the next show.

[01:01:55]>> [snorts]