The former Marine served four years in the military, where he attended electronics school in California, and landed a special duty assignment in Denver, Colo. A job with Texas Instruments brought him to the Lone Star state, before he finally landed with AMD.
“After losing my job, I really wasn’t sure of my next career move,” said Bryfogle. He looked into becoming an insurance adjuster, but without experience in the field, the options were extremely limited.
His journey to entrepreneurship began with a little bit of introspection. He had always been someone who loved the outdoors, was passionate about building and remodeling homes, and loved the thought of being able to help people. Searching for options, Bryfogle attended a seminar about business ownership at a local outplacement company.
At the seminar, Bryfogle met Kyle de Haas, a franchise consulting expert with FranNet of Central Texas, and the man who gave the seminar on business ownership. FranNet works with budding entrepreneurs to match them with franchise businesses. Through their research, one of the businesses that surfaced to the top was the Dryer Vent Wizard franchise.
“I really liked the idea of being able to help people,” said Bryfogle, in describing his initial interest in the dryer vent cleaning concept. “I liked that I could use my engineering background to create solutions for people.”
Following his interest in the company, Bryfogle went so far as to attend Dryer Vent Wizard’s national conference in Orlando, Fla., before buying into the company. There, he met several current franchisees in the business, including the company’s franchisee of the year, with whom he spent two hours reviewing Bryfogle’s business pro forma.
“It was the people of Dryer Vent Wizard,” admitted Bryfogle. “Here’s their franchisee of the year, who doesn’t know me, spending two hours with me to look at my business plans. That meant a lot and spoke to the support throughout the system.”
Bryfogle is quick to point out that his new business venture is much more than just cleaning dryer vents. In addition to the cleaning, he also will perform a safety inspection of a homeowner’s entire dryer venting system, including a measurement of the air speed and temperature where the vent exits the home.
“Because we specialize in dryer vents and that’s our entire focus, we ensure the system is working safely and properly,” said Bryfogle. And that specialty is apparently paying off as Bryfogle’s Dryer Vent Wizard franchise was given a Super Service Award from Angie’s List, a recognition based on outstanding ratings from satisfied Angie’s List customers.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, annually there are an estimated 15,500 fires, 10 deaths and 10 other injuries due to clothes dryer fires causing more than $200 million in damages. Those are numbers Bryfogle wants to reduce.
“One fire is one too many, and I hope to help lower that number,” said Bryfogle.
Bryfogle is not alone is his business-owning aspirations. According to the International Franchising Association, the governing body for all franchises, nearly 14,000 total franchise outlets will be added this year across the country. That number marks a two percent increase over 2011 and will pump an additional $37 billion into the nation’s economy.
For information on utilizing Bryfogle’s Dryer Vent Wizard services, call 866-498-SAFE (7233), or visit his site on the web at www.dryverventwizardofcentraltexas.com.
For those in the Central Texas area and interested in the services of Kyle de Haas at FranNet, call 512-329-2613 or visit www.frannet.com/kyled. For anyone else interested in exploring business ownership with FranNet, please visit www.frannet.com to find your local FranNet consultant.
About FranNet
FranNet is the world’s most respected leader in matching individuals with franchise opportunities. Based in Louisville, Ky., FranNet has more than 100 consultants across North America and Germany who use a proprietary profiling and consultative process to determine a business model unique to each client’s goals, skill sets and interests, and has matched thousands of entrepreneurs to rewarding small business opportunities. FranNet has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in America for the last four years.