Meet Pat McKee, an Epcon Franchise Builder in Fayetteville, North Caorlina.

Pat McKee left his job with a Fortune 100 company to start McKee Homes in North Carolina.

Host: Today we’re here with Pat McKee, owner of McKee Homes in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Pat, thanks for joining us. Let’s talk a little bit about coming into home building. Let’s learn a little bit about your background and how you ended up with Epcon.

Pat McKee: I have a mechanical engineering degree, but I spent 15 years in corporate America in sales and marketing, so my whole background is in sales and marketing side but in a construction‑related business. I’d always been involved in and around mostly commercial and industrial construction.

In 2007, a fellow that used to work for me started an Epcon franchise right outside of Atlanta, and the project went so well, they sold 44 homes on a lottery in 25 minutes. He says, “You got to come see this. This is great. Timing’s great. Let’s come look at it.”

I went at looked at what they did and their plans to expand and to do some other projects. I said, “This sounds great. A franchise support system behind you would be great.” Off I went. I left my job with a Fortune 100 company and started an Epcon Franchise in North Carolina in 2007.

Host: Obviously, leaving your role in 2007 and the housing market crash in 2008, things became difficult right off the bat. But you’re still here. Why are you still here?

Pat: I’d been involved in franchising before. I had owned a Dairy Queen franchise, actually several Dairy Queen franchises before, so I understood the franchise system, I understood the process. I understood why most small businesses fail is lack of processed and cash flow is one of the keys too.

Most franchisees, most franchise systems, don’t fail because they’ve got processes and procedures behind them. So that was an immediate thing that was adventurous to me. The fact that I understand enough about home building to be dangerous but I don’t understand enough to deliver the end product and to have a franchise system behind you that can help you deliver that was definitely appealing. The fact that I had experience franchising before, I knew the value of a franchise behind you.

Host: What caused you to make the leap from a corporate role in marketing and sales into home building?

Pat: Home building, albeit it can get very complicated, it’s not that complicated on the surface. There’s lots of people out there who know how to build houses. Going out and hiring somebody that can manage the construction of houses was not a concern of mine. I physically wasn’t going to be building them and I wasn’t going to be managing them.

One of the things that I always saw lacking, most home builders get started out of the back of a pickup truck. A lot of home builders have started as small businesses and grew up. The one thing that they lacked was sales and marketing experience. You can build a great house but if you can’t sell it, what good is it? Being able to market and sell homes and do it better than what the competition is doing was an opportunity I saw and that was a strength that I had.

Take a proven process, go out and hire somebody that knows how to build houses and follow a process and then the differentiator would be can we market and sell those houses better than anyone else? So that was kind of where I saw the expertise that I had would pay off.

Host: Have there been any surprises? Was it what you expected?

Pat: Well obviously I didn’t expect the housing market to crash in 2008-2009. Besides that, that inherently caused some structural changes with inside Epcon too that made it a little more challenging for the folks in the field. When we got into the franchise business there was a lot of support. We had a local regional sales and marketing director within Epcon. We also had a local build consultant.

We had a lot of field support and as the market declined we saw, for obvious reasons, Epcon had to cut back on that support and there was less of that support available. But still the draw to Epcon and any franchise is being able to leverage the skills of everybody that’s doing it around the country and being able to get together and network and understand what somebody is doing that’s working and what somebody’s doing that’s not working. A lot of small home builders don’t have access to that.

They don’t have access to those opportunities so it makes it really difficult for them to succeed outside of their box and to see what other people are doing. Not everything everyone else is doing you can apply to your local business, but there are a lot of good ideas out there that you can pick up and apply locally.

Host: So as a local business, how are you invested in your local community?

Pat: We formed our new company, McKee Homes, in 2010 when our dad passed away from Alzheimer’s – my brother and I did. We decided to dedicate our company in his name and we set up a fund in his name and we take a percentage of every home we sell and we put it in his fund and then with that money, we use it to support and bring resources locally in and around the Alzheimer’s cause.

We also decided to tie that in with our local community that we’re building in that why not hold an event locally that helps support the Alzheimer’s association and helps bring awareness, but also helps bring awareness to who we are as people? So one of the very first things we did in 2011 was we hosted the very first Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Fayetteville. We did it at our Epcon Community.

We have about a mile walking trail around the community and we hosted it there and we brought about 400 people into that community for that walk. It was great. We raised about $25,000 that year but in addition, those 400 people got to come in and tour our homes, see our community, see who we are, that we’re human beings and giving back to the community. It was tremendous.

We did it again the following year. We hosted the second one and we probably had about 600 people there and we raised close to $40,000. It’s one of those things that continues to grow and evolve. My goal was always, because that charity is so near and dear to our family’s heart and giving back and supporting is important to us, was eventually making our name, McKee Homes, synonymous with Alzheimer’s in the local area. So when somebody thinks of Alzheimer’s, they think of McKee Homes.

I’d like to say that it was all charitable, but also as a marketing person, I know the value of people relating your name to good things and good causes and giving back. It’s that one thing that has done more to propel our company than anything else that we’ve done. And all the money that we’ve given, we’ve donated well over $100,000 to the cause in the last couple years, that money we’ve given we’ve gotten back ten-fold in reputation and opening doors and opportunities for people because it automatically gives you credibility.

We’ve taken that platform and we use it on several other things. We’re building a Home for A Hero in one of our other communities. Basically it’s a wounded warrior, could be a double-amputee or a burn victim, that with a private organization we’re going to build a home for that hero and they’re going to end up having this home, an adapted home, that suits their needs for a mortgage of about $50,000.

So that’s another opportunity for us to give back, to use the resources we have an to spread our brand and our name as well too. And one of the interest things is we’ve built a couple of adapted houses through Epcon and through also our single family home business, but because of the experience we’ve gotten with Epcon – aging in place housing and extra-wide doorways and zero-entry – it gave us a leg up to be able to know that confidently we could adapt a house for somebody. We’ve got some of the experience of doing it through our Epcon Franchise already.

Host: That’s fantastic. Have you seen other Epcon Franchise owners getting involved like this?

Pat: I frankly have not talked to enough of them that are doing things like that. We get so consumed in this building business, and especially as times start picking back up, that we lose focus of some of the things that are more important. You really have to step back and look at some of the higher-level things.

The time that we sped on these things pays big dividends for us down the road in terms of not only reputation but home sales. Eventually, it impacts that as well too. I don’t think people do enough of realize the importance. To me, you’ve got to find a cause that’s near and dear to your heart.

Just going out and picking one, you don’t get the passion behind it. We’ve got our whole family behind this one and so it’s near and dear to our heart. It gives us the motivation to be able to put more effort into it. It was a passing thought that comes to you when you’re laying in bed one night and it says, ‘why, why don’t we do something like this?’ and it just grows from there.

Host: That is phenomenal. So what has been the greatest benefit to you from joining forces with Epcon?

Pat: We have grown rapidly over the last three, four years in not only our Epcon franchise business but our other traditional single family homes. We sold close to 100 homes last year, we’ll do close to 150 this year, so we’re becoming a large regional builder in our area.

We could not have done that without the experience and support from Epcon. Not just in Epcon home sales but, it’s amazing, the process of building a home, the process of marketing a home and selling a home is still the same whether it’s an Epcon home or a traditional single family home. For us to get exposure into all the things that Epcon offers and be able to take that and translate that into the rest of our business, has been phenomenal.

It’s access to sharing an information that my local competitors don’t have. The local home builders don’t have access to world class sales training like I do, to world class marketing, to sharing of building practices amongst franchisees all across the country. They don’t have access to that stuff. That’s kind of a little secret weapon that we have, and we’ve taken advantage of it and used that to translate into the rest of our business.

I really think our business has grown and we’ve been exposed to things we have because of the relationship with Epcon.

Host: So Pat, what would you say to a home builder that is thinking about franchising?

Pat: It goes back to when I was in sales and marketing and worked for a Fortune 100 company and I had the benefit to go around and see manufacturing plants all across the country. I was not in the manufacturing side, I was more in the support side. But after you get exposed to see what other people are doing in other markets and how people take one problem and solve it a different way, it opens up your eyes to all kinds of different opportunities. That’s a small facet of franchising and the ability is the access to the network that’s out there and taking advantage of that.

You can become a franchisee and just sit your hole and never talk to other people and never get exposed to what other people are doing, but you’re selling yourself short. To me, that’s one of the best benefits out there.

The other thing is you might think locally you are doing a good job, but you don’t know what somebody else is doing. Their practices, because of different environments, may not apply to yours. But if somebody is paying paying $2 a square foot for frame and you’re paying $2.50, why are they paying that? Some of it’s regional and local, but some of its not. So the access to that information is well too.

Then just an overall, from a sales and marketing perspective, being able to learn. One, understand the process of, “How should you really set up a sales and marketing organization?” “How should you manage that organization?”

Local builders who think they know how they’re doing it don’t have access to this nor can they afford it. It takes a certain size builder to get to a size where you can go out and hire a Myers Barnes or a Jeff Shore to come in and train your staff. If you’re doing 20-30 houses a year, you can’t afford to do that. Whereas, as a Franchisor, you get exposed to that. For very nominal fees, you can go attend this training and you can get that and bring it back and apply it locally.

Host: Those are great features and benefits, but what is it form a business standpoint that makes franchising with Epcon unique?

Pat: Well there’s a couple things there. One, product, and I hate to dive into product, but product can be a very important point. Epcon’s had the ability to build this product and evolve this product over a period of 30 years or so and has sold to this market for that entire time. They understand the market, and they understand the demographics, and they understand the changes in the market. They’re constantly watching how that market’s changing.

As an individual builder, you don’t have access to that broad scope of knowledge. You think you can come in, and I can design a two bedroom or a three bedroom single story house, and it will sell, and it will work. Sure, it might, but it could be so much better, if you had access to focus groups and, over years, constantly evolving products to meet the demands of what the latest consumers want.

The concepts and the product behind the detached-homes and the courtyard homes and rear-facing homes have been phenomenal concepts that nobody is doing locally. Having access to that product and being able to take that and why is it beneficial and how do you sell that as well too.

Another business case is access to National Purchasing. Being able to leverage a system to get the best possible price for me here locally. If I’m a small builder, building 20-30 houses a year, the national vendors are not going to give me the same discounts and rebates that I can get if I’m tied to a national organization that’s selling thousands of homes a year. So access to that will pay for itself – pay for the franchise fees and the investment that you have to make alone.

The processes, some people follow them and some don’t. But follow the processes – they are tired and true processes of how you build a house, how you market a house, and how you sell a house – follow those processes. Yes, you could develop those yourself, but you’re developing them in a closed environment. One’s that have been thought through and tried out over time, there’s value in that.

Host: I’m going to switch gears just a little bit. What makes your business, McKee Homes, different?

Pat: Our story is one, we always try and offer the best product that’s out there, no matter what segment of the business we’re doing. We always want it to be the best that will meet the needs of the customers. But then secondly, it’s customer service and it’s reputation. You would buy from me because you know that I will always do what I say I am going to do. My word is king. My reputation is paramount to me.

If we do something wrong, we will fix. We will stand behind what we do. We have lots of documents and contracts that identify things that we do, but ultimately, at the end of the day, if we do something wrong, we’re going to fix it. The piece of mind knowing that you are dealing with somebody that, number one, cares about their customers. Number two, has the financial strength to build a house and stay with it over a period of time, is one of the things I didn’t talk about. And then number three, will stand behind what they do.

There are a lot of builders out there that will hide behind contracts, that will hide behind warranty agreements, and won’t do what’s right. We get a reputation of knowing that we will do what’s right. We will do what’s in the customers best interest to a point. Just standing behind our product.

The other thing too is we have the great position to be in which we’re extremely financially solid and found. We have very little bank financing behind what we do – most of it’s our own internal money mostly from my brother. Coming into a customer knowing of what the business went through and how many builders went out of business and weren’t able to be there to support you 3, 4, 5 years from now, knowing that you are dealing with a financially strong builder is important.

Knowing that they are going to be here in a year from now. Knowing that if there is a difficult problem, they have the ability to solve it. They’re not going to go run and hide. They’re not going to file bankruptcy or what have you to be there for the long haul of a customer is extremely important.

And then what we do back for the community. We have built a marketing plan and strategy around marketing what we’re doing to the community back to the community through the Alzheimer’s Association, through the Helping a Hero project, it makes customers feel good that they are dealing with good people. At the end of the day, people want to buy from people that they feel comfortable with – people that they trust. So we try to instill that from the top all the way down to our sales people and our project people.

Host: If a potential franchise owner was thinking about Epcon, what would you tell them?

Pat: The first thing before I would answer that, I would ask what do they expect to get out of a franchise. Have they ever been involved in a franchise? What are they looking for? What do they think is going to be of value in a franchise system?

If they think it’s going to be the silver bullet that they can buy into this franchise and be successfully automatically, then I would talk to them about you need to have a little bit of a deeper understanding of what you’re getting into and what you’re looking to get out of it.

As far as if you’re looking to invest in a franchise and you’re motivations are correct, you want to get into a market or a product segment that you’re not in right now, you think that the active adult market is going to boom over the next five to ten years and you want to play in that, and yes, you could go develop your own product or you could get in and start using a product that’s tried, true and proven, that would be a reason to get into a franchise with Epcon.

Secondly, if you could use some help on the business support: how do you run a building business? How do you construction company? How do you run a sales organization? If you need that support – you don’t have that expertise – that would be another reason to get involved with Epcon, too.

Host: So finally, have you thought about the legacy that you are leaving and the impact that you have as a home builder in your community?

Pat: Yes, it’s a scary thought at times. Some times we get caught up in the day to day when we have issues and troubles. It’s difficult to envision 50 years from now, what will this look like? What will this be? Leaving behind these footprints in communities where you can go around and you can say, ‘I built that.’ You know, ‘We did this.’ It was because of us that this happened.

Moreso, how do you help people? A lot of people, especially active adults are looking to improve their lives. That’s why they buy and Epcon home. It’s a lifestyle choice. What they have now is not working for them and they are looking to improve their life. So the legacy that I see more is giving people the ability to improve their lives. Offering a product and solution to them that will help them improve their life, not only now, but also into the future.

That legacy is probably more important that going around and pointing at different communities and ‘I built this,’ and ‘I built that.’ To some people thought, that’s incredibly important to them is to be able to put their footprint, an actual physical footprint, on the community is important.

To learn more about Pat McKee’s story, watch Left Corporate America to Build Homes.