Honest-1 Auto Care Ends 2014 With Recognition from Franchise Gator

Honest-1 Auto Care, a national full-service auto care company that is 100 percent ESA® Certified Eco-Friendly, is proud to announce that they have been included in the 2015 Franchise Gator Top 100. Franchise Gator studies hundreds of FDD’s when determining the brands that make their annual list and take financial stability and franchisee retention into consideration, in addition to other criteria including conversations with respected industry professionals. You can read more about Honest-1 and the Franchise Gator ranking here.

Honest-1 Auto Care on Entrepreneur

Honest-1 Auto Care on Entrepreneur 

Honest-1 Auto Care Franchisee Sherry Rector was recently featured on Entrepreneur. The article is a feature piece on Sherry Rector, Honest-1 Auto Care franchisee, for Kate Taylor’s Franchise Players column. Sherry talked about her experiences in franchising with Honest-1 and what it’s like to be a female entrepreneur in a typically male dominated industry. 

View the full article here. 

Honest-1 in Sun Thisweek

Honest-1 in Sun Thisweek

Honest-1 Auto Care was recently featured in an article in Sun Thisweek on Wednesday, March 19^th, 2014 about the Eagan Honest-1 Auto Care team winning the company’s Excellence Award. In the text of the article: "The Eagan Honest-1 Auto Care team recently was awarded the company’s Excellence Award for its service. The award was for the team’s contribution to improvements in customer service, operations, sales growth increase in 2013, 27.5 percent increase in car count, improved gross profit management and results, and top quality level of service. Team members, from left, are Robert Moehnke, Robert Whitehead, Miguel Mitchell, Collin Brown, Harold Pearson, Ben Bromen and Vince Lanz."

You can view the full article here.

Developer Profile- Eric Renninger

Developer Profile- Eric Renninger

Eric Renninger, 40, has more than 15 years of experience in government, commercial and environmental management. After spending four years in the Middle East on an international federal government assignment, as the director of operations for a large-scale government contractor based in Detroit, Renninger returned to the US in 2013 to implement a business plan he had been developing for two years.

  

Renninger grew up in rural Pennsylvania and joined the U.S. Air Force immediately out of high school, serving internationally and domestically from 1992-1996 before graduating from Penn State with a BS in 2000. He then relocated to Raleigh to work in the environmental engineering industry, working his way up the ranks until he was presented with the life-changing opportunity to relocate to the Middle East.

During his time abroad, Renninger had bounced business ideas back and forth with a good friend, who was also the director of entrepreneurship at a local community college. When Renninger eventually returned to the US in July 2013, his friend had met someone who worked with Honest-1, and noticed how similar Renninger’s business proposal mimicked Honest-1’s.  

 

“The model they had developed was so close to what I had been thinking about for two years; there was no reason to reinvent the wheel,” Renninger said. Within a few months, Renninger attended Discovery Day, hired a lawyer for legal advice, vetted Honest-1’s performance and signed with the brand in December 2013.

Why did you choose to sign on as a regional developer?

As a former director of operations, I am used to working with thousands of people, and I enjoy teaching and helping people become better managers and operate to their maximum potential. I succeeded previously in this type of role, so I thought it would be a good fit.

What type of people are you hoping to recruit?

Ideally, we’re looking for owners who are looking for an executive position and didn’t necessarily grow up with tools in their hands. I’m looking for a business man or woman who wants the opportunity to be their own boss and understands operations and people management.  Ideally, I’d like to have five individuals who want to develop five stores in each of the various markets. That way, we’re not re-teaching from the ground up and we can more easily move from one store to multiple stores. This strategy also allows us to devote our focus on the operational success of the store.

I also hope to tap into the military connections that I have made. The region is home to Fort Bragg, which is one of the largest military bases in the world. We want to become involved in the transition assistance program, and recruit some high level military officers who want to stay in the area in a new career.

Are you involved in charities or community outreach programs?

I’m involved with Wounded Warriors project through my affiliation with the local Trout Unlimited group.

What publications would you like us to focus on?

The Penn Stater, Alumni Magazine and trade magazines.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’ve always had an interest in automobiles since a young age. I have a small collection of vintage cars that I like to drive in my spare time. 

Regional Developer Spotlight: Jon Langbert, North Texas

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.