Victor Kiam, the late business owner and spokesman for Remington electric razors, made advertising history in 1979 with his famous line, “I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company.” Former research scientist Richard J. (Rich) Carter felt the same way 26 years later when he fell so in love with his executive- search franchise that he bought the parent franchisor, SRA International, Inc.

Founded in 1959 and still headquartered in Akron, Ohio, the company today supports over 60 worldwide franchised offices of the Sanford Rose Associates® (“SRA”) network. Each office helps clients in a particular industrial or occupational niche fill their needs for top-level executive, managerial and professional talent. SRA typically selects franchise prospects who have similar industry or functional niche expertise or who have previous entrepreneurial experience in a service-oriented business.

Rich’s experience and network of contacts is a case in point. After graduating from Georgia Tech with a Ph.D. in chemistry, he worked in the medical sciences field at an academic institution and at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta before transitioning to the healthcare manufacturing sector with such companies as DuPont, Baxter, Chiron (now Novartis) and Boehringer Mannheim (now Roche). Over time, his expertise spread from R&D to business development, marketing and sales – while his responsibilities increased from bench-level scientist to general management.

In his last position in the San Francisco Bay area – prior to acquiring an SRA franchise – Rich had a laborious commute, sometimes taking two hours each way, as well as extensive travel on top of this. “The daily commute is pretty bad when you actually look forward to air travel”, Carter observes. As a result, a userfriendly commute and reduced travel, as well as other quality of life factors, were at the top of Rich’s list when he elected to purchase an SRA franchise.

“With today’s technologies and the ability to connect anywhere with clients, job candidates, employees and contractors, the executive search industry is one that allows me to live wherever I choose and still be in touch,” Carter says. “I elected to walk away from a two-year employment contract not only for the quality of life and portability advantages inherent with an executive search practice, but also because I had the desire to be my own boss.” Moreover, he was attracted by the relatively low capital investment and upside income potential, coupled with the professional nature and clientele of an executive recruitment firm.

“Our SRA franchisees,” Carter adds, “have substantial freedom and flexibility as to how large they want to build their businesses. Our owners typically represent two general models: ‘rainmakers’ and ‘builders’. While rainmakers sometimes work with limited staff, the level and extensiveness of their networks can produce incomes into the seven figures. Conversely, builders want a more scalable operation that adds employees and builds shareholder equity over time.”

Regarding the nature of executive search and why he chose it, Carter says, “It was largely an extension of my career. Over the years, I was involved in hiring a lot of employees – doing it myself as well as using internal and external recruiters. I found that there was a wide spectrum of capabilities and professionalism exhibited across the executive search industry, but largely an opportunity for substantial improvement. I believed that with the application of best practices as well as other client-centric principles, I could build a viable and sustainable business. Also, executive search allowed me to continue to partner with client companies and contacts within the industry that I love – healthcare.”

Rich has been able to leverage his professional society memberships and other professional contacts to garner numerous awards for his San Francisco office within Sanford Rose Associates, including Five Star Office (2000- 2007), Consultant of the Year (2003-2005), and Office of the Year for four of the past six years.

As he became attracted to starting an executive- search business, Rich says he chose Sanford Rose Associates because he knew two of the prior office owners – one who tried to recruit him as a candidate and the other whom he used to recruit a head of information technology.

“Ken Monroe (former owner of SRA’s Clearwater office) tried to recruit me for a client company years ago. Although the position was not a good match, I was very much impressed with Ken’s manner and professionalism. Then, years later, while I was heading a Bay Area company, I used Bob Dudley’s firm (Sanford Rose Associates – Temecula) to recruit the head of IT and was very favorably impressed with Bob’s capabilities and professionalism. Therefore, when I looked at the different franchise options, I chose Sanford Rose Associates.

“Also,” Carter notes, “other than brand name familiarity, I chose to go with a franchise, rather than creating my own firm or joining a partnership, because I was impressed with the relative probability of success of a franchise entity versus other higher-risk alternatives. Also, I wanted a business that had extensive training, ongoing support, a defined process and a turnkey start-up. That represented the best of both worlds for me – having my own boutique search firm with specialization in the healthcare industry and having access to the global reach, resources, and global presence of a franchise organization.”

Richard J. Carter, Ph.D. President and CEO SRA International, Inc. and Sanford Rose Associates – San Francisco

How the acquisition of the franchise organization occurred is an example of “keeping one’s ear close to the ground”. In 2005, SRA International president and CEO George Snider, an alumnus of Procter & Gamble and BFGoodrich, had owned the company for 13 years and was exploring its sale to other investors, including established franchising companies and individuals. Learning of the potential sale, Carter told Snider it had been his lifelong dream to run a global business enterprise. With another offer on the table, Snider chose his San Francisco franchisee.

“Rich had three distinct advantages,” the former CEO says. “He had a passion for the business, an in-depth understanding of our unique methodology, and the admiration and support of our other franchise owners around the world. That was a combination I could not afford to ignore.”

The rest is history. Although the San Francisco franchise is still owned by Rich, he and his family decided that the SRA International opportunity had too much potential for them to continue to reside in California. Therefore, Rich and family packed their bags and moved from Danville to Akron during the winter of 2005.

Revenues at SRA International have doubled since 2004.

“Just like Victor Kiam,” Carter notes, “one must passionately believe in his company and its products or services.”

Franchising success comes in all forms. For Sanford Rose Associates president Richard J. Carter, success meant finding ways to be his “own boss” while doing what he enjoyed. It also meant watching for key opportunities and making use of them. For Carter, the franchise business model was the business entity of choice.