Miguel Cruz, 58,
was born and raised in Puerto Rico, but moved to the U.S. at the age of 18 to
join the U.S. Army as an electronic technician. He served in the Army for
almost 16 years before leaving to join the Civil Service in 1994, where he
performed various duties including equipment management and managing contracts
for automotive maintenance. After Cruz
retires from the Civil Service in January 2014 to focus on Honest-1 as the Region Developer for Northern Virginia, he will have worked for the government for
close to 33 years.
How did you learn
about the brand?
In preparing for my retirement from the government, I
started looking into businesses. I was going to go on my own but began looking
at franchises and came across Honest-1. What appealed to me about them was
their business model, which is one that I had envisioned doing had I opened my
own business. It was family-friendly and honest.
Why did you decide
to take up an opportunity with Honest-1?
After nearly 33 years working for the government, I
thought it was time to retire and chase my dream of being a business owner. I
grew up in the restaurant business and I always liked business. The automotive
field appealed to me because I like working on cars. I haven’t been through
formal training in automotive maintenance but I grew up repairing and working
on my own cars.
Why did you decide
to take on the role of Area Developer?
It was a no brainer for me to become area developer – I
hope to have multiple stores and go beyond just being a franchisee. Also, it’s basically a sales position and I’ve
been in sales before. I don’t have experience as an area developer but I didn’t
feel like I needed it with the training that Honest-1 provided.
What challenges
have you overcome to get where you are now?
The main challenge we have faced in Northern Virginia is the
availability of properties in the right area. Zoning for automotive businesses
is a real hurdle to overcome because it takes time, which is why it’s important
that I open my own store and have something to show future franchisee
prospects. One thing that I take into consideration is the convenience of a
customer driving to the facility: how far do they have to drive, is there much
traffic to get to the location. I try to look for convenience so I’m limiting
myself to the areas that I can set the stores in. We’ve worked hard to overcome
that challenge and now we have landlords calling us to offer us sites in the right
locations.
What are your
expansion or development plans? What is your end goal with Honest-1?
There is a location in Alexandria that opened in 2012
before I became area developer and we are currently working on the lease for a
franchisee in our Ashburn location, which we plan to open in June 2014. We have
at least six sites that are available to us should we decide to move forward. Now
it’s a matter of finding candidates to put on these sites. If I don’t find
applicants I’m going to open them myself and turn them over to future
franchisees. I plan to open around 30 stores in the Northern Virginia area
within the next eight to 10 years.
Why did you decide
to join the military?
When I was growing up, I always liked watching TV, in
particular a program called Combat!, and for some reason, that type of life had
always caught my attention. I thought it was a good opportunity to get out of
the island and see other parts of the world and serve my country. So when I was
almost 19, during the Vietnam era, I joined the military. I didn’t think twice
about it. I learned a lot and it opened my eyes to a different world and
different people.
Before I joined the military, I was a shy guy. Once I
joined the military, I started moving up the ranks and inherited more
responsibilities and it put me in a position where I had to stand in front of
people training and teaching them. The military gave me confidence and I lost all
my inhibitions when it came to standing in front of people.
Why did you decide
to join the Civil Service?
After I decided to leave the U.S. Army, the job market was
tough in the civilian sector. I had just finished 16 years working for the
government so it didn’t make sense to throw that away, so I decided to pursue a
career with Civil Service and combine my military time to total 33 years with
the government.
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