VIP Café Show – Youngstown, Ohio – Local Guests with Amazing Impact to Our Community

E45: The VIP Café Show - Rob Fernback's Tale of Grit, Business, and Cultural Charm

• Debbie Larson and Greg Smith • Season 4 • Episode 45

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Welcome to the cozy corners of Havana House, where Youngstown's very own Rob Fernback joins us with a mug of steaming coffee and tales that'll leave you with a warm heart and a head full of dreams. This hometown hero, with roots as deep as the family tree in his spirited Italian upbringing, shares not just his journey but the laughter and grit that shaped him from a high school athlete to a community icon. It's an intimate look at how life can toss the ball in unexpected directions, from the football field to the buzzing world of pest control.

Coffee in hand, we navigate through the ins and outs of starting a pest control franchise, turning the unexpected into a hotbed of opportunity. If you've ever wondered about the thrills of owning a business with all the perks and none of the pests, this is your chance to get the inside scoop. We're peeling back the curtain on franchise fees, overhead costs, and the winning strategy that's disrupting the critter-catching game, all while fostering relationships that turn colleagues into family. Rob's enthusiasm is as infectious as the support system our franchisees receive - it's business with a personal touch that makes all the difference.

We wrap things up with a laugh and cultural flair, talking about the nuances of pest preferences and the simple pleasure of Sheetz's fries—curly or regular, it's a debate worth having. Rob's candid charm shines as we chat about everything from Southern ranch life to the great Coke versus Pepsi standoff. Tune in for a unique blend of humor, culture, and business savvy that proves the most compelling stories are often hiding in the places we least expect. Grab those headphones and join the 'in-crowd' at the VIP Cafe Show.

Speaker 1:

hey, hey, hey. Welcome to the vip cafe show here at the havana house thank you very much where they have wonderful coffee yes, they do smokes and good times to sit in the back lounge and it's really yeah and it's honestly it's really. It's a place where you can share ideas and you're not shamed for what you think.

Speaker 2:

That is good, and there's very few places like that. That's true, that's true.

Speaker 3:

Not to mention, we're pretty secluded back here.

Speaker 1:

So if anyone was offended, we wouldn't know. Yeah, that's true, that's true. And at this time of year, what starts to happen?

Speaker 2:

Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1:

Oh my goodness, Bugs, right Pests.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my goodness, they're trying to dig holes and tunnels into the warmth. I'm telling you Multiply, spring, multiplication happens.

Speaker 1:

And we have a guest today yes, to talk about not only how to get rid of them, but how to be a part of getting rid of them.

Speaker 2:

Yes, Today we have Rob Fernback, who is a director of sales and franchises at Complete Pest Solutions, and you guys may have been wondering who that third voice was that popped in on here. You guys are about to meet Rob Fernback, who is a Youngstown native and played for YSU football, and you know what I have to say this Sometimes, when Rob's not even in there different chamber of commerce events or different things people would be like, oh Rob, oh yeah, rob, rob. When Rob different chamber of commerce events or different things people would be like, oh rob, oh yeah, rob.

Speaker 2:

When rob is in the room he's in the room, and when he's not there, he's talked about because, of his personality and just his larger than life charisma it took time to get to there.

Speaker 3:

Thank you for having me yes it did take. It took two years of going to literally everything non-stop. Yeah, when I got to the point where we grew and I was able to hire a marketing person, okay, she started going to Got it Everything and I could go to the things that I you know, try.

Speaker 2:

So that's why everybody knows has known you around town.

Speaker 3:

It took work, it took work.

Speaker 2:

The question that I had is one Greg always talks about tell us who you are starting from, like high school, High?

Speaker 1:

Greg always talks about tell us who you are starting from high school.

Speaker 2:

High school is always a good time, so one question particularly I have is have you always had this outgoing personality, larger-than-life charisma, and how did that? Even before high school, how did that handle? As a kid, I know I used to get told stop talking so loud in the car and stuff. Yeah. So tell us a little bit about yourself.

Speaker 3:

I told you about my nickname that my one buddy has for me is Megaphone.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's right, Megaphone, megaphone.

Speaker 3:

My buddy Josh the guy who owns Stone Fruit Coffee?

Speaker 2:

Oh, wow.

Speaker 3:

Josh. He deemed to be Megaphone. But yeah, like you said, I'm Youngstown native. I went to Borman High School. I graduated in 2006. Go Spartans, Go Spartans. Although we did not have a stellar football I did not have a stellar football career in high school it did transfer over to college. I was able to get college paid for and play a sport that I loved. My body to this day reminds me that I did that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah did you get a ring, did you? I did you know, I just went to that ysu scholarship. Yes, that was phenomenal I learned so much about ysu sports and like such an appreciation for it. But anyway, that's side note.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, no, but anyway. So, as far as my outgoing personality, I come from a large italian family. If you want to be heard, you got to be loud, got it and luckily, I'm always heard because I'm the loudest, but it's difficult in the middle school and high school ages because people will look at your outgoingness and think of it as you being a cocky jerk or a jock or conceited Not you and I need to knock you down so I can stand above you, yeah but that's not the case at all.

Speaker 3:

It's just. I'm just being me. I had friends in the jock groups, in the artsy-fartsy groups, in the grease monkey groups. I didn't discriminate when it came to friends. Yeah, I had my own little personal five to six best friends that we always did stuff together, right, but I had friends in groups all across the board. That's the way to do life. Oh yeah absolutely.

Speaker 2:

It's not ever apologizing for who you are, but appreciating the beauty in the others you know what I mean.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, but transferring into being an adult in business and everything. My personality plays well because I'm in the sales sector. I wasn't always. I was a teacher at first. I graduated with a degree in phys, so I taught phys ed and some health ed classes up until it came to the time where I started a family.

Speaker 1:

And I was like crap.

Speaker 3:

Kids are expensive and teachers don't make squat. So I went into sales and I saw success. But I've never seen success like the pest control industry. It is such a lucrative industry. The overhead is very low. Your profit margin is very high. It's a billion, it's a $33 billion. Arative industry the overhead is very low, your profit margin is very high. It's a billion. It's a $33 billion a year.

Speaker 2:

industry and it's needed because those pests don't discriminate.

Speaker 3:

Everybody needs it, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Even the Bible mentions spiders in the palaces right, it doesn't matter who you are. The king still has spiders.

Speaker 3:

Rich or poor, it doesn't matter, and luckily I was able to connect with a gentleman who's a local guy, went to Canfield High School, literally was raised in the pest control industry. His father owns a competing pest control company.

Speaker 2:

What? Yeah, no way, yeah, oh, that's, and then it gets juicy yeah.

Speaker 3:

No, they have a good relationship. They have a good relationship. But he worked for his dad up until he wanted to branch off on his own and do something different. And what's different about our company than the other companies? Most pest control companies do insect only, or wildlife only, or specialty pests only. Specialty pests are like mosquitoes, your wood destroying insects like carpenter, bees or carpenter ants.

Speaker 3:

We do everything we do insect, we do wildlife, we do wood destroying insects and other specialty pests. And then in 2021, when I joined Complete Pests, they just started going into franchising and they had their first two or three sold I was not the franchise developer at the time. Resold I was not the franchise developer at the time but because of the success I had in the corporate sales he decided to move me into.

Speaker 2:

I'm still corporate sales, but you decided to add on franchise sales.

Speaker 3:

So we don't call it franchise sales, we call it awarding a franchise, because that's like sales. It has a negative connotation in the franchising industry. But, yeah, a part of it. I've learned a ton in the last year and a half doing it. It's a whole different world but it's so much fun.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I get to talk to people all over the country. Yeah, I get to travel to places where I've awarded franchises. I've been to Massachusetts a handful of times. We have a guy up in Central Mass, new Braintree is. We have a guy up in Central Mass New Brain Tree is where he's from. We have a Columbus franchisee, we have a Cleveland, canton, akron, pittsburgh Hermitage and we even have a branch down in Fort Myers, florida.

Speaker 1:

So tell me something. What's in it for me in this franchise?

Speaker 2:

I was about to ask that.

Speaker 1:

Tell us about the franchise, tell us all about the offering.

Speaker 3:

So our franchise it always starts off. What's it cost me Our franchise? About the offering. So our franchise, it always starts off. What's it cost me, our franchise? Our franchise fee is fifty thousand dollars. It gets you a territory, location of 250 000 person population. We go by zip codes when we go through the whole onboarding process and I take you through discovery of our brand and the things that we do different and why you should buy into what we're doing. We get together and we physically you and I pick out the zip codes that you want to have as your territory. So it's a very relationship-based process. But usually people come through me in a lead gen form by either internet listing or a franchise. Brokerage firm will bring someone, or I was able to sell one of our franchises to a guy in my local B&I chapter.

Speaker 3:

Yeah it took a year to work on the guy trust me.

Speaker 1:

But he ended up buying one. Yeah, of course, all the Zanes are listening to our podcast.

Speaker 2:

Yes, you're right.

Speaker 3:

There was still many territories available. Absolutely, but it starts with an introductory type thing. I'll set a zoom call because most of the time there are a few hours, if not different time zones, away from me. We'll spend a half hour just getting to know each other if it's right yeah. After that we get into the qualifying questions like how much money do you have? How much liquidity? How much in savings? How much in savings, how much in yeah?

Speaker 2:

What do they get from Complete Pest Solutions Like the marketing? Okay, yeah, I got you.

Speaker 3:

So what does their franchise fee get them? And what does being a franchisee get them Right? The franchise fee gets them a month-long training, okay, it gets them all of our branded apparel. It gets them all of their starter supplies to start the pest control side. So all their sprayers, all their chemicals, all their mice and rat baiting and bait stations and traps. Um, the ongoing support is where we are unparalleled, got it? I talk to my franchisees every week. Yeah, they call me day and night asking how to quote jobs I'll work with them on quoting large contract jobs.

Speaker 3:

We go in their territory and we'll sell on their behalf. We'll do billboard campaigns on their behalf, television commercials on their behalf, literally anything they need. We're here for them. Right? Because the fact of the matter is, a corporate franchisor is not successful unless what Unless their franchisees are making money and they're successful.

Speaker 3:

So we align ourselves to put them in the best positions possible. So one of the things that I found was very helpful in the pest control industry join a BNI right away. Join a chamber of commerce right away, actively participate in anything they do. Referral sales are huge. You got people that trust you. They're coming from trusted sources. They're not haggling price. My, my, I have a guy in Atlanta Georgia. He owns four territories in Atlanta Georgia. He went to one ribbon cutting for his local chamber. He met the dean of a local college. He signed a $40,000 a year contract from one ribbon cutting.

Speaker 2:

Wow. So we put things into play for them that we found works for us Experience, yeah, which is priceless, honestly priceless, Because nobody wants to take the time to make all the mistakes and have to learn all the lessons themselves.

Speaker 3:

And we do that. We spend the money, we take the bruises and then we roll out the things that work so they don't have to go through those hardships. Got it, it's interesting.

Speaker 1:

I'm thinking of the pest control industry and the two things humans always look for in any situation is am I safe and what's my status?

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 1:

They always look for that. Think about it If you've got rats and pests in your….

Speaker 3:

You're not safe. You don't have a good status either. No, yeah, your status is new.

Speaker 1:

Oh man.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's definitely not something you want, yeah.

Speaker 1:

But what I'm saying is it's just like soap, it is a.

Speaker 2:

It's not like Ratatouille, the movie. Well, from a food perspective.

Speaker 1:

What I'm saying is the pest control business is something we'll always have.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

It will always need, and we need people that we can trust, people that will take care of us. And what he's saying is we have, we stand behind our product, we have a reputation and we help you develop the relationships.

Speaker 2:

One of the things that you don't want getting. One of the things you don't want to hear when somebody comes out you've made the call, you've been off work or you've arranged your schedule you don't want to hear, oh, we don't cover that, we don't handle that contact, so and so. That's so frustrating because, it's too busy, people right we cover everything with complete pest solutions.

Speaker 2:

I was calling it control and he said solutions, but solutions you're right, because sometimes it could be poison, it could be bait, sometimes it could be just removal and, from what I understand, you guys do small repairs as well. So if there are like small openings in a hole or like small openings because rodents and stuff, you guys help take care of that. Talk to us about that a little bit.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, absolutely so. We call them an exclusion. We'll do exclusion work patchwork, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks Don't destroy your home. We'll seal off. On our general plan, we seal off anything from four feet and below On the larger jobs like bats or raccoons, we'll seal off the entire house, top to bottom. It's not cheap, though I'm not gonna.

Speaker 1:

I'm not gonna pretend that it's not pricey, yeah, but what's the cost if they destroy your home?

Speaker 3:

exactly what's the cost of peace of mind yeah and if there is anything that is outside our realm of fixing, if it's a major repair, we have relationships with businesses that will fix it. We have roofing company relationships with handymen and local contractors. So if anything was outside of our grasp, you would have a trusted source to come and take care of it for you through us. But aside from that, everything else we do on our own.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's great. You've got to at least share one story of a triumph of a crazy request that you fix their problem crazy request that we fix their problem.

Speaker 3:

Okay, there was a gentleman. I met him at a chamber event, okay, so this happened. We finished the job about eight months ago. It took about six months to do because there were bats and bats are a protected species, so there's certain times a year where you're allowed to remove them and things like that. You can never kill them.

Speaker 3:

Really you kill them, it's a big—if you kill a bat and you're reported, it's like up to $10,000 fine, oh yeah, it's no joke. Bats are seriously protected, oh my. But there was a gentleman who owned this warehouse where he kept old classic cars Okay, and he was just infested with bats. It was like an $8,000 job. It was no small job and the warehouse was really old and there were a lot of things to fix on it. Wow, we could never ask the customer to pay that whole amount up front before the job's done. So we have a policy where it's three quarters down, the rest at the end of the job it's complete. But this guy was oh, they're crapping on my cars just losing his mind, and I mean he had a lot of money invested into what was, uh, like I said, it took four to six months to complete the job, but it was fun.

Speaker 3:

The. The reason it sticks out to me is because I had just signed our massachusetts franchisee. I I'm in Massachusetts going through our sales training with him in April and I met the guy like a year prior and honest, god didn't remember him for the life of me. Hey, I met you at this so-and-so luncheon for the chamber and wanted to give you a call because I believe you handle this and I'm in Massachusetts making a deal that I met with a guy from networking a year prior and it worked out so.

Speaker 2:

So what did you do then? You have to capture the bats and then re-home them. I know some people buy bats because they have so many mosquitoes they are good for mosquitoes.

Speaker 3:

But what we do, we seal off all opening points because those bats have to leave to go get food. Okay, we'll'll leave the main entry point to the building or structure open Once they leave. We have put a one-way door system in there. Once they leave, the one-way door system closes and they can't get in. Sometimes we have to remove them. If they're pups or babies, we have to remove them. We just remove them from the structure. We can't do anything with them because they're protected. Wow. And then the cleanup afterwards is always a big thing, which we will do for our customers as well. A lot of times, cleanup services like ServPro or cleanup services yeah, that's a company too, right, cleanup services. We'll have to go in and actually do the whole desanitization, but we do that for our customers wow, okay, so which animal propagates the fastest?

Speaker 3:

and then I'll stop asking questions. You ever hear the saying hump like bunnies oh bunnies do okay honestly, I don't know if that's true or not, I just but.

Speaker 2:

But you don't really hear of infestation with bunnies.

Speaker 3:

They're outside structures, gazebos, decks.

Speaker 2:

I have bunnies that live under my deck, but my dog takes care of them. They don't cause too much damage, though, right no?

Speaker 3:

Okay, like what?

Speaker 2:

animal, like if you see one, you know there's a bunch more.

Speaker 3:

Roaches are one thing.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, the bug sector.

Speaker 3:

Sector, that's the roaches and bed bugs.

Speaker 2:

If there's one, there's many. As far as critters go, nothing. There could be one raccoon. Yeah, it all depends on if it's pregnant that's the thing, some.

Speaker 3:

Sometimes you'll get a pregnant mama raccoon that'll dig your way in for the winter, okay, and then have its pups, and then you're dealing with a litter of raccoon pups and then the mama raccoon. And here's the thing about raccoons they are flight when it comes to fight or flight. They are flight animals until they're young, are involved, and then they will scrap you and mess you up. So, yeah, if they're young, involved, that raccoon is not flying away, they are scrapping.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah, yeah, oh. So how do people get in touch with you?

Speaker 3:

we have a website. Our franchising website is completefranchisingus. Our. Our corporate website for pest control is complete pest solution singular no s solutioncom. I personally am on Facebook. I am always sharing every post we do. We do a ton of content. Our marketing girl is great, our marketing guy is great. We are always out there in the community. We go to golf outings, we're driving in the St Paddy's Day Parade this coming weekend. We are always out in the public so we're easily found.

Speaker 1:

So what about if somebody has a pest control problem in the Youngstown area?

Speaker 3:

Youngstown area. They give me a call. My number is 330-614-0056. Listen, if you say you heard from this podcast my number, I'll hook you up with special pricing on a general insect treatment for your home.

Speaker 2:

The VIP, the VIP. I just hope my boss is listening. You can't do that.

Speaker 3:

I love it.

Speaker 2:

Pays to have connections.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, but thank you for having me, guys. This was great.

Speaker 1:

We got one little thing we got to do. Yes, Go ahead Deb.

Speaker 2:

The rapid fire, rapid fire.

Speaker 3:

What am I in for here?

Speaker 2:

Coke or Pepsi.

Speaker 3:

I actually have Coke in my thermos right here.

Speaker 2:

Oh, so that's clear.

Speaker 3:

Coca-Cola.

Speaker 2:

Coca-Cola.

Speaker 3:

Coca-Cola. Just so nobody's confused.

Speaker 2:

Okay, miracle Whip or mayonnaise.

Speaker 3:

Miracle Whip. That's one of my favorites, actually. Mayonnaise, mayonnaise, really Okay, mayonnaise all the way, because Miracle Whip they call that dressing and I'm like no, my, I'm a Hellman's guy, I'm kidding, I'm a Hellman's guy Alright Beer or wine, can I? Say neither.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that's great. Honestly, I used to.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, my younger days I was a big drinker. Now not so much. I have a nine and ten year old, and they don't care If you're hungover, so I try not to drink. That's really good, but if I'm gonna choose, it'll be I'll have a beer over a glass of wine. Okay.

Speaker 2:

He said they don't care if you're on the Uber ride.

Speaker 3:

They don't. They're making you go, no matter what.

Speaker 1:

Right, okay.

Speaker 2:

Wait, what was the one I had? Oh, this is going to be loaded because I know you like things you do, but favorite pizza.

Speaker 3:

Favorite pizza. Yeah, I got to go my guy's at Uptown stuff, it's so good, not to mention they're my customers. Okay, I would say bruto brothers is up there too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay, customers as well. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Vacation north or south uh south south yeah it's

Speaker 3:

something about being in florida, oh and florida is. It's the dumpster state, but whatever, I still love going there. Palm trees are my favorite yeah, it's more cockroaches.

Speaker 2:

I just went down there to.

Speaker 1:

Canyon. It's a ranch. I thought I was in Texas. It's down at a ranch. Down there they have rodeos and everything. Middle of Florida.

Speaker 2:

You think you're in.

Speaker 1:

Texas. It's crazy.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's fun.

Speaker 3:

All kinds of stuff to do yeah, all right, yep Love the South.

Speaker 2:

Favorite french fries yes, Favorite french fries?

Speaker 3:

That's a good one, honestly. God Sheetz has really good french fries. There you go.

Speaker 2:

Wow, have you ever heard that one? Nope, I have not had that.

Speaker 3:

Sheetz has really good french fries. Oh, they should pay you, they have regular and they have curly and they're both great.

Speaker 1:

Very much Again. Shoot your websites at again and I'll get a hold of you. How old are?

Speaker 3:

you. My number is 330-614-0056. You can find us at wwwcompletepestsolutioncom or completefranchisingus.

Speaker 2:

Awesome, oh wait. Okay, I have a slogan for the VIP Cafe. What's that? I'm going to try it out on you guys.

Speaker 3:

So let me know what you think I can't wait to hear it.

Speaker 2:

If you've always wanted to be in on the VIP crowd, now you are with the VIP Cafe Show there you go All right.

Speaker 3:

Thank you, Ed.