As of July, Jon Langbert, 48,
has become the Region Developer for Honest-1 Auto Care in North Texas. Langbert
grew up in Dallas and went to the University of Texas in Austin, where he
received his BBA in finance and later received his MBA from Harvard. Langbert
has always had the entrepreneurial bug and in 1995 he started his own video poker
business.
Franchising has always
been something that peaked Langbert’s interests. He bought a Commission Express
franchise and became one of their most expansive franchisees ultimately owning
seven locations. Commission Express is a small specialty financing franchise
that covered the United States with 70 locations. In 2010, Langbert sold all of
his units individually and explained, “I had more fun buying and selling the
franchises, than I did running them. That’s how I decided to become a
developer.”
“I am environmentally conscious and I wanted to be part of a brand that was in
tune with my values. I met the folks at Honest-1 and saw that it was an upscale
franchise. I liked the fact that they were taking a product that everyone buys
and making it better,” said Langbert. “Honest-1 is doing the same thing that
Starbucks did for coffee. Before, you had to go to the corner bodega or Dunkin’
Donuts. But, they turned it into an upscale cultural phenomenon. I believe that
Honest-1 can do the same thing for auto repair.”
How did you learn
about the brand?
I looked at a few different franchise options, but knew I
wanted to be a developer which narrowed my focus. I also wanted to go into a
business that was early on in its growth curve so I could help reach its
potential. I started by talking to other regional developers and since there
are no Honest-1’s in Texas, I made arrangements to visit a fellow developer,
Steve Grimes, when I went to my brother’s wedding in Seattle. I visited four of
the stores with Steve and I began to understand the way they operated within
the auto care industry.
Do you have any
other interesting hobbies or passions?
I am a private pilot, but only have about 200 flying
hours so far. I play ice hockey as does my daughter and I also have triplets
that take up a lot of my time. They are going into middle school, two girls and
a boy. My family is my real passion.
Honest-1 was recently featured in an article in Entrepreneur titled, "Franchise
Players: The Challenges of Finding Funding". Steve Grimes, Honest-1 Auto Care franchisee, learned all the
skills he needed to be a successful franchisee in the military: leadership
training, positive attitude and intense work ethic. However, when he returned
to the U.S. after a year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan and opened an
Honest-1 franchise, Grimes faced an unexpected challenge: finding funding.
Here's how he found the perfect bank for his needs as an auto franchisee.
