From Engineer to Entrepreneur: One Immigrant’s Journey to Business Ownership

Free Agent Podcast with Meg Schmitz – Guests: Anirban Maiti, Great Clips Franchise Owner and Business Builder

Meg Schmitz:
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to or welcome back to my podcast. It’s called the Free Agent. My name is Meg Schmitz and this discussion is all about becoming a free agent and taking control over your future. The mission of my show is to share inspiring conversations with real people who took the leap into self employment, business ownership, franchising and freedom from corporate refugees and executives tired of the desk job. To entrepreneurs and investors looking for camaraderie and inspiration through their own business journey. My podcast seemed to spotlight on real people who stepped into the unknown, took control over their destiny and became their own boss. And today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Anir. 

Anirban Maiti:
Anirban. 

Meg:
I did it. Anirban Maiti. Is that correct?

Anirban:
That is perfect. Yes. 

Meg:
Thank you. It’s always, it’s always interesting to interview people from a different culture and get the name pronounced correctly. So I try. And anyway, thank you for your grace and my mispronunciation of your name. How are you today?

Anirban:
I’m good. As you know and as you spoke about right before we started is, it’s. It’s one of those weekends where we had Diwali and Halloween both come together. So it was an interesting dynamic for us as a Indo American family. And it’s a celebration, weekend of celebration and here we are talking about celebrating life and journey of being a free agent. So perfect timing.

Meg:
It is perfect timing. So talk about your history. I’ve been really excited to have you on the podcast because as someone who was born into a different culture, moved to the United States, you come with a perspective, an education and I really want to hear your point of view on integrating with your education and cultural upbringing and how you ended up in the world of business ownership.

Anirban:

Thank you, Meg.

So let me start with my education. So I’m an engineer by trade. I did my engineering in electronics and then worked through the technology sector and then arrived in the land of opportunity 2010 with my 3 year old son. And since then our family has grown. I have two more daughters, we have a four baby that we took care of two years ago. And it’s been an, it’s been an interesting journey, I would say.

I come from a very middle class family. My dad used to work for the government. He was a police officer and he took pride in discipline and he always thought the best jobs that he can work for are the jobs that the government provides. And here I am, who was not what he was expecting me to be. Essentially getting into the corporate sector and then obviously taking a leap of it and moving us as a family to the United States.

One thing I think while working through my corporate job, I, I love the sense of entrepreneurship and the idea that you can be anybody that you choose to be. That is inherent in the culture of U.S. And it’s a land built by people from so many different countries who bring different perspectives. And it’s beautiful to see how it’s a melting pot of cultures and ideas and how you can essentially choose to be whoever you choose to be.

So now talking about my family, my, my daughter, my oldest daughter, Alina, she was born in 2016 and then down the road two years when, when she was not hitting our milestones, we got worried. We went through an evaluation and we found out that she is on the spectrum and we had no idea what it means and we started navigating that as a family. And, and she’s thriving, she’s making progress.

But that whole idea of as a first generation immigrant, we have brought nothing to this country in terms of wealth or things that the family can rely on. So anything first generational wealth that we accumulate through my job is what is going to be there for my kids. And that was a little worrying, especially with a special needs child, because I don’t want her to be dependent on only what the social welfare provides for her. I want her to have a more life. I want her to have more that she deserves.

And that’s what got me to the idea of doing something by myself. But it’s a journey. I’ve been on this journey for seven, eight years till I would say around three years ago, I discovered the idea of franchising and here I am. And it’s been a wonderful journey since then.

Meg:
So you’re building a legacy for your, for your kids, but especially then to protect your daughter, in combining your career with the franchise. How do you divide your time so that you still have family time?

Anirban:
That is, I won’t lie, it’s a balancing act. Three kids, a dog, and then, you know, my full time job. It is not easy, but nothing in life is easy. And me and my wife, when we moved to the country, we are raising three kids by ourselves. There’s no family to fall back upon. It’s just us. 

Meg:
Yeah. 

Anirban:
And I think, and I think that has made us very resilient and there are some days, obviously it’s harder than others. And I’m also fortunate because my job provides me a lot of flexibility of time and I choose to work and where I choose to work from, which does give me a little more of breathing space but at right now I’m burning candle from both sides to be honest. But I know what I’m working towards and it is getting easier at least on the business side. I have a team in place, I have staff in place who I can trust. I’ve been able to create a core group of few people that are able to do things and I don’t need to be involved as much as in the day to day of it, which needed a lot of work upfront but it’s starting to pay off. So it’s a journey, it’s not easy. I’m not saying it’s easy, but if you’re motivated enough to find a way, you will find way to make it work.

Meg:
Absolutely. And I use this example, I’m holding up a silver bullet. Many years ago at a Great Clips conference, our chief operating officer was speaking at lunchtime and he said, you know, you’re all relying on us to fix your problems, you’re relying on us corporate to address, identify and to fix. And the bottom line is you own this business. So there’s a box on the table, open it up and see what’s inside. And what was inside is the silver bullet. The analogy being you are the silver bullet. You Anirban are the solution. You are the chief operating officer of your own destiny. And so every day the buck stops with you. Which makes it interesting. How long has your franchise been operational? How long have you been up and generating revenue and adopting your practices every day to what’s coming next?

Anirban:
Right. So we started the, we opened the doors to the customers March of this year. So it’s been a little over eight months. It’s funny because when I think about it, when we started the discussion, I was always wondering like, how can we even open a business and make it work? And now it’s working. Now the idea is, okay, how can we keep growing? It’s obviously a multi unit and we all share, you and me share the same common starting point, Red trips, right. So it’s about how do I get to that next door and I keep bowling. And there are opportunities to also acquire that I’m exploring. So it’s fun. It’s a journey. It has given me more meaning than I thought I could have driven just through the W2 path. And it has also given me a little bit of, I would say, fearless. I’m not really afraid of what if, you know, my employer chooses tomorrow to not like me anymore. And that happens a lot in the technology sector.

Meg:
So when you say that there’s more meaning with this than just a W2, tell me what you mean by that.

Anirban:

Yeah. So don’t get me wrong. I love what I do for my day job, but this one is a little different because suddenly I am the employer, and then I have these five, six, seven people and their families for whom this is a living. And that does something to you. That did something to me in terms of an added sense of responsibility and also being able to do things for them, not necessarily financially, but the impact that you have in how you behave and how you operate.

I’ll share an example with you. As I began my business in March, I think around two months down the road, we had something called a stylist appreciation day, which is essentially a nationwide appreciation day for our stylists. And I chose to take me, my entire staff out for a dinner, and I said, let’s talk about what day it works. We’ll close our store early and we’ll go out for dinner.

And one of the stylists, when I was chatting with her, came to me saying, she’s been in the industry for 15 years, and this is the first time an owner is actually coming and talking to her saying, let’s go out for our dinner. I want to appreciate what you do. And she said that made her day.

And moments like this happen every now and then, and that is very rewarding. It’s, you are truly in some way having a meaningful impact on people’s lives. And that’s. That’s. That’s a joy that. That probably a regular day job may not be able to provide you all the time.

Meg:
I agree with that completely. I love my day job. Wouldn’t give it up for the world, but there’s you and I share the cosmetology industry. 

Anirban:
Right. 

Meg:

I’m no longer with Great Clips, but I’m with a different brand now, where I am essentially a landlord to beauty and wellness professionals. And for me, my inner creativity, my inner child is a frustrated artist. I can’t do anything with a paintbrush or scissors, but I so admire the professionals and this is a demanding job. I didn’t realize when I first got into great clips just how hard it is to stand on your feet, how hard it is on your back, your arms, your hands, to be in someone’s personal space all day long, every day for your career. It’s. And so to have that appreciation day, I remember just like you do, how meaningful it was to hear from them, how meaningful it was to work for me. And that made me notch it up that much more to be even better. 

Anirban:
Right. 

Meg:

It’s a competitive hiring environment. How, how are you creating your culture? What, what do you think your, your differentiation points are?

Anirban:

Yeah, as I said, it’s a learning journey. I don’t aim to have it perfected. And obviously I’m a smaller player in the sense of being a multi unit business where people have larger group of employees.

I think the differentiator that I’ve been talking to people is the opportunity of being part of something that is beginning. Many a times these employees, when they are getting into businesses, they are already established and then they are trying to define who they are. I bring that opportunity for them to be part of that journey where we together define who we end up being as an organization.

And the personal attention that they get from the owner, which is harder to do when you are joining a team of 50, 60 stylists in a, you know, five, 10 unit franchisee. And I think that has been rewarding because a lot of stylists, whenever they need something, they’re able to talk to me directly, they call me up on my cell phone and they have said the access that they have to me and the staff manager has been unlike anything that they have experienced with larger franchisees.

So I think that has helped us to keep some of them. It’s a rotating door, as you know, it’s a tough industry. The churn rate is significantly higher. But those values have helped. And even if people have moved on, they’ve come back even in the spot that I’ve been in the industry.

Meg:
And this is an interesting perspective for the listener. Getting into business for the first time and essentially buying that insurance policy of the multiple unit locations so that you can have economies of scale and move people around with your first location. What I think I’m hearing you say is you’re grooming your people. They have, they have total access to you right now. You can groom them for future opportunities to help you expand.

Anirban:
All right, that’s what, that’s the story that has been resonating with people that are sticking around, they are growing with the business, the opportunity to grow as I grow and be part of something more meaningful than what they’re able to do at another place.

Meg:
Well, you’ve just given me a little tidbit of wisdom to keep in my own back pocket here as I’m growing my new business. I’ve got 40 suites to fill, and we’re not growing as fast filling as fast as I thought we would, but just like you and I’ve been around for a long time. I think I started with great clips when I was 28 and I’m 61 now, so I’ve had plenty of experience as an employer and a business owner. We still have to judge the people who are coming to apply for a job and then awarding that role to them. We’re going to make mistakes. We can’t be perfect with our judgment every time. And we’ve got demand that needs to be fulfilled, haircuts that need to be done. And so sometimes you take a leap of faith on someone who may be on the margin. Some of those people end up being your best employees.

Anirban:
Right. And I think people like it when it’s they are working towards something versus just my job. And being able to craft that story for them has been my predominant tool to retain my staff.

Meg:
Working towards advancement is definitely a securing mechanism. And having them leave and go test it out somewhere else and then having them come back, it’s kind of like with your kids. When you own a business, you don’t necessarily want them to gravitate into it immediately, but to go and cut their teeth somewhere else and find out what it’s like in the real world. And then when they come back, you know they’re coming back with experience under their belt and a better perspective on the advantages of working for you.

Anirban:
Yeah, true. I heard a lot with franchisees who are moving on their business to the next generation, where they go explore the corporate world, work there for a few years, and then they start appreciating what has been built for them. And that gives them a bigger sense of making it more meaningful for them.

Meg:
How. How are you in your trajectory of expansion? How are you? Where are you really? Have you started to look for your next location or have you started the conversation about acquiring another location in your market?

Anirban:
Yes, so both. I have started looking for a second location. We’ve kind of identified a possible second location that could work for us. As you know, it’s a process. It takes time to find the place, go through the lease agreement negotiation and all that fun stuff. So I’m doing that. And then there are possible opportunities in the market to acquire some units from existing owners who want to move on and do something else in parallel. Since I like this space, I’m also looking at parallel opportunities in the market for brands who are similar, but not exactly in the same space that I do. And there’s something that’s working on. 

One thing I will tell you though is obviously building is hard as you also see with the thing. So for the other franchising opportunity in this space, I’m looking at acquisition as a growth strategy. So yes, so there’s I would say at least three sort of approach. One is in the existing brand, build one more and acquire possibly one or two more units, that are in currently discussion. And then in the same space that I operate in, there’s an opportunity of buying an existing already successful business. And I’m in discussions with the owner to figure out how we can make that work.

Meg:
Oh, interesting. Okay, so it’s similar but different. Health, fitness, wellness, beauty. Somewhere in there.

Anirban:
Yes, it’s something to do with Lash. I can’t do more than that right now.

Meg:
Yeah, sure, perfect. And I was asking about your second location because to me it’s very similar to having your first baby and the learning curve. You bring the baby home from the hospital, you’re not really sure every day is a little bit different. So you, you must feel like you’ve hit a stride, your stride to some degree of comfort, that now you’re ready to move forward with the next one. 

Anirban:
Correct? I think I have the operational rigor that it needs because a lot of time it’s about figuring out how to run the business in itself and the associated supporting processes that make you successful. So I think I have a reputable framework that I can work with and I have my own sort of bag of tools that I have created over the past few years of figuring this out and hoping to continue to build on that. And I think, and you said that the multi unit franchisee thrives on economy of scale. Just that one unit doesn’t necessarily do a lot and you start seeing, it’s like compounding, you start seeing the impact of it once you get to that three to five sort of sweet spot. So that’s what I’m trying to work towards.

Meg:
Yeah. And my exit came at unit number five. In around 12 years, someone made an offer that I couldn’t refuse and I was happy to take it. I periodically get asked by people, oh, so you got worn out by the industry. No, the opposite actually became true. I didn’t understand the industry in the beginning and then I got more comfortable with it. And so after I opened the fifth location, now I really had an organization infrastructure, economies of scale. I could move my customers around, I could move my marketing my product around and keep feeding each of those five locations. And yeah, that compound effect then do you think that will create an exit from your current job or do you want to continue to run both in parallel?

Anirban:
I think that probably would take longer term horizon but hopefully if I am moving toward my third location, that might be the time to find an alternate path at that point that would probably be two to three years. I would assume in my head from where I am right now.

Meg:
Yeah.

Anirban:

And I am feeling good about that, I’m feeling good towards that goal.

Meg:
It’s an evolving trajectory. And the second one will open. I remember after I got the my third great Clips open I felt like I really hit my stride and we had the culture that was my organization really took shape and I knew who I could trust. We had some people who were showing really good potential and it suddenly dawned on me that I had, I had the infrastructure I needed to confidently continue to move forward and build. And then the money was really rolling in a way that I didn’t need to go get loans to continue to other people’s money in order to expand. Now we were making enough money that we were self sustaining and I could expand on my own dollars, my own profitability. That’s when you get there, that’s when you know you’ve made it was when you’re expanding and not continuing to get loans.

Anirban:
And you bring a very good point. I think a lot of people start the journey saying when will I make money and how much will I make? And I think that’s the wrong question to ask. You have to start with the why and then ask yourself how long are you going to wait for that why to work out? And depending on the industry it’s going to be different, especially with great clips and post pandemic. And I keep hearing these stories from other franchises back in the day they opened the door. There’s 600, 700 customers coming in during grand opening and they could ride through that. And it’s not the same wall anymore. It needs a little longer and you need to have that patience. But it’s a process that had worked for years. You just give an example. You started when you were 28 and you exited the system. But there are people who started with the brand and are still around. That tells you it stands the test of time. And you need to just trust the process and do not lose focus on why are you doing it. That’s important. Especially the early days are hard. The first, I would say one and a half, two years are not going to be easy. And that’s okay.

Meg:
And you used the word why, which is a question I ask everyone I’m working with. Why are we having this conversation? To your point, this is not a superficial band aid. I’m going to unlock the door, turn on the lights and boom, you’re making money. You really have to have that investment investor mentality that like a parent or you adopted a furry friend during, during the last couple of years. If you want a good dog, you have to spend the time with a puppy in order to have. It’s the same with your children from day one. You’re grooming them to become self sufficient. And it’s the same in business. You really do have to know your why are we having this conversation? Why will this change your life? Why will this improve your financial condition and what will it provide for your family? Because it is taking time away from the ones that you love. But you’re, you’re building an outcome that will for a long time, decades, benefit your family and give them a lifestyle. Do you know what your why is? It’s not, it’s not lifestyle. What is your why?

Anirban:
Oh, it’s not I. And I told you that. Right. It’s, it’s about my children and being able to create. I’m very motivated because of, you know, and I spoke about Alina and her journey. That has been a primary motivator. But as I started doing this, I think I want to create that generational safety net that my kids can rely on, which therefore frees them to pursue whatever dream they have. I reached that product a long time ago and you know, some of the concepts that they talk about, I read it as a book, but as you start doing this, I think some of those concepts keep, keep haunting me and I see why the thought process needs to evolve and how do you take that journey. And I involve my kids too. Like they go, they see, they talk to the people and I think I’m hoping they also kind of start seeing an approach to life. And the spirit of being an entrepreneur, being able to not be fearful and being able to create something of your own are skills that I’m also able to impart them through this journey that we are going as a family.

Meg:
How old are your kids now?

Anirban:
I have three. My oldest is. He’ll be 14 soon in November. And then I have an 8 year old and a 5 year old girls.

Meg:
Oh my goodness, you’ve got…

Anirban:

And I dog. So don’t forget.

Meg:
I was asking how old they are because when my son was little, it was important to me that he go with me to see what his mom does, which I never cut hair, but I was the owner of a business and I had responsibility. What are you hoping your kids will will experience and learn by coming with you to the shop?

Anirban:

That’s a good question.

So I think my daughters are too young to probably appreciate that, but my teenage son — and I’ll share this very interesting experience that he and I had — in a conversation he and I had driving back from the store. So we were doing the back to school promotion and as part of that there was a lot of back to school kids haircut styles that Great Clips had created and there was a marketing information on that.

And he came and he said to me saying dad, I don’t think you guys are doing it right. And then he started talking about how he uses TikTok and how people talk about various things. And it was a very interesting conversation with him because normally a teenager most of the time he wants to talk about things in monosyllable words. It’s like a yes or no kind of answer.

But seeing that passion in him just because we are owning something and he doing that research on haircut styles and what it means and how can we impact the other kids that are coming to the store and our stylists have that conversation was meaningful.

And he said that initially like he always thought I will be a doctor or an engineer. And now in his head he thinks like if he really wants to do something, he feels there’s an opportunity for him to actually go after it and build it even if no one in our family has ever tried that before.

And I think that’s the beauty of this. Like he’s seeing us go through that journey and it has opened up in his mind limitless opportunities of what he can do if he, if he wants to.

And I know we talk about money a lot, but I think if you have the right vision, you will find ways to fund yourself. Like if you have the right framework, you will find ways to fund yourself if you don’t have the capital that you need.

So I think it has been inspirational for him. I hope so.

Meg:
And continuing to groom that it isn’t the same cultural upbringing that you had. Now he’s got so many different influences. And it was interesting to me when you were talking about your dad, because that doesn’t matter, I think where you are, that government worker mentality. 

Anirban:
Right.

Meg:
There’s a sort of an entitlement to that and there’s a mindset that day in, day out, you know what your job is, you’ll be cared for, there’s a pension, you know what the outcome is going to be. And they’re not entrepreneurs, they’re not. They’re not really looking for diversification the same way that you have. So now the exposure that you’ve given your son to, a whole different way of looking at his career. What do you think your daughters will do? Will they come and sweep? Will they come and bring cupcakes? How will you help them to integrate in the business and learn on their own?

Anirban:
It’s a very good question. I want to actually talk about my dad because when I told him about this, that, hey, I’m going to do this, he freaked out because that’s not the traditional way of life that he’s used to. But he’s coming around, he’s understanding my voice. It’s fun that you brought that up because every time that a hun goes, I actually make him check in customers, sweep the floor, ask and check in with the stylist if he can help. And my daughters try to do that, but I think they do more harm because, you know, they’re five and eight, then. Yeah. But what it has done is it also has created with the staff that that sense of there’s a greater reason why I’m doing this. It’s not only trying to make money out of their hard work and effort and it has created that very personal, safe space where they also talk about their dreams, their aspirations, what are they trying to do with their kids, what goals they have, what dreams they have. So I think it has a multifold effect not only with me, my family and my children, but also with our employees, their families, their children and things they are thinking. It has opened that additional bonding of between us to talk about the purpose. And that’s what I was telling about. The sense of purpose that I have drives also an equal sense of purpose through their loved ones and what are they trying to do and where do they want to get?

Meg:
Yeah, good. Do you see potential with your current employee population for the next round of manager for your next location? Do you? Yeah?

Anirban:
Yes, I would. I see definitely at least two employees who, there’s obviously like mentoring and coaching opportunities that needs to be driven. But I definitely see potential. Yes. At least two more people that can eventually independently run their store, their location and manage them. Yes and that’s been the blessing part of it to be able to find people who have a similar dream and now I am trying to enable them to achieve that.

Meg:
That was just thinking about the early days for me and not having a second location or a third location. Back then we couldn’t. You could just buy a single license at a time unless you’re high net worth and could. But today you’re allowed to buy a multiple unit license right from the get go. That puts a little bit of pressure on you then to, especially when you’re new, don’t know the industry, don’t have a lot of experience hiring these people and you make mistakes in the beginning. You try to groom the wrong person, you try to teach and train and mentor somebody who’s not the right one. But then someday the right person shows up, you go, ah, now I see. Have you had that aha moment when the right person showed up for the right job?

Anirban:
Yes, and I actually probably got a little more fortunate during the early phase. So I want to tell you the story of hiring because so when I knew that I have a date in mind when I want to open the store and the store was still being built and I had zero employees, that’s when I don’t know if it was an aha moment but that was a super scary. 

Meg:

Holy crap moment. 

Anirban:

Yes. And obviously I’m not in the industry. I don’t cut hair. I don’t know what a good hairstylist should or shouldn’t be doing. But I remember this weekend where I was getting very frustrated and I told my wife, I don’t know where I’m going to find these five, six people that I need. Luckily, I was talking to another franchisee who’s been through that process and he told me how to like cold call people. And so there was that weekend where I cold called 400 stylists for like,that’s what I did Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday. And that is how I found my initial five employees. And through that group I actually found someone who had the aspiration to grow with the brand and become a general manager. She has seen in other franchisees that role and that was a role that was very meaningful to her. And she was looking for a franchisee where that path for her opens up and it was amazing that connection happened. And she’s still with me. She’s one of the few people that began the journey with me and we are still together. So I was fortunate in that sense to be able to find that person as we started building out our first location because at that point all he had was just a concept of a store. So.

Meg:
Well, I share the pain of that experience now multiple times. I can tell you that I still lose sleep every night worrying about where, when am I going to get to that break even point. And it’s a lot of pressure that you and I, we’ve talked previously about this, trying to get to that point of confidence to move forward and expand into that next location. And clearly you’ve, you’re crossing that bridge. You’re on the other side and ready to expand further. This has been a great insight and I would love to connect with you again in a couple of years to see where you are in. You’ve got a couple of different possibilities coming here. Either diversify with the acquisition of that other business or stay with the brand that you’re with and continue to open new or acquire from. I know the other franchisee or Z’s in your marketplace. I know of one that has a pretty significant holding there and I understand that they are looking now at what their future transition, exit from the business is going to be. So I think you’re in a good place. I’d love to have you come back on and talk about where you are maybe two years down the line and other maturation points, your son and him. I love hearing about his integration into the salon and being bold and having ideas and observations that he’s sharing. So this has been tremendous. Anirban, thank you so much for your time this morning and sharing your story and we’ll look for more details as your journey continues.

Anirban:
Thank you so much for having me today. Meg and thank you for inspiring a lot of people like me to take that leap of faith. It’s not easy, but you can make it work.

Meg:

And I so appreciate you not hammering that. But that’s the honest truth. It’s like anything that is worthwhile in life. You’re going to hit brick walls and you’re going to hit unexpected left turns and the beauty of a franchise is that other people have seen it before and can help work you through, and rebuild your confidence. So congratulations on your accomplishments so far and I look forward to catching up with you again.

Anirban:
Thank you, Meg. Have a wonderful weekend.

Meg:
Thank you.