Episode 256: The Systems that Took a Restoration & Cleaning Business From 0 to 82 Locations 

What does starting and scaling a business across the country in over 20 states look like? What if you added in the additional complexity of having 82 different owners? On today’s episode, host Chris Yano and co-host Chad Peterman sit down to chat with Dan Claps, CEO Voda Cleaning & Restoration.

Dan has been in the franchise world for over a decade and has helped grow Voda Cleaning & Restoration to a national franchise with 82 owners in the system and no signs of slowing down. We chat about the franchising model, his journey into the business, and what it takes to run a business with so many different entrepreneurs all moving in one direction together.

Becoming Your Own Boss

Dan was an entrepreneur from an early age, and even through college, he was more focused on his side hustle than his studies. After graduating, he worked hard on his business only to find that it wasn’t really an asset. He had no systems, no processes, and no people — just him working seven days a week.

Taking advice from his father, Dan started looking into franchises because they had systems and processes he now understood he needed. In 2014, he joined a franchise system. After a few years, he realized that he still wasn’t feeling like an owner — he felt like he was just part of the business. In 2016, he started his own lead-generation business in the franchise space and grew that until 2022, when it was acquired by private equity.

Of course, Dan wasn’t content with stopping there. He co-founded Voda Cleaning & Restoration, and it has since been one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country, winning multiple awards and achieving exactly the revenue goals he and his team set out to hit.

• His history moving through the franchise space
• Starting his own franchise business and selling to private equity
• Founding Voda Cleaning & Restoration and scaling rapidly
• Dealing with multiple owners and locations
• The importance of leadership training and frequent communication
• How to navigate recruiting for franchises
• Why he chose cleaning and restoration
• The potential difficulty of getting all franchisees on the same SOP and brand
• And more!

Growth Goals

Whether you’re a franchisee, the owner of a small company, or just a technician starting out, there’s some great wisdom in Dan’s journey. He emphasizes the importance of reverse engineering your goals; starting with the macro and working backward into small steps. Dan also highly recommends surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you!

In addition to being CEO and co-founder of Voda Cleaning & Restoration, Dan is also the founder and CEO of Franchise Playbook and co-host of the I Fired My Boss podcast. Check it out today!