July 24, 2010 Minneapolis Examiner - Emily Madden

When most people think of owning their own business, they think of starting from scratch, working hard, and doing everything themselves.

Small business owners need to be manager, employee, and accountant all rolled into one and it is difficult. One way to make the transition easier is franchising. Franchising is essential buying into an existing company. There is usually an established upfront cost. With franchising, however, there is an established business plan with tried and proven success.

This is one of the reasons that brought Matt Sederstrom into Honest-1 Auto Care. Honest-1 is a local franchise in Minnesota that originally started in Arizona. He is the owner of the Honest-1 in Eagan, Minnesota. Matt is not a career transitioner. He already has a career in heavy industrial contracting that is focused on wind energy in the Midwest. He bought into and started up the Eagan shop as a “life addition.” He was able to put an investment into himself and something that he wanted to do, by combing his two interests: auto mechanics and eco-friendly practices.

The Eagan shop has a very different feel than most auto mechanic shops. The atmosphere is more welcoming, homey, and clean. Honest-1 strives to provide a family friendly environment. On Saturdays, Matt brings in his dog Pickle, an adorable black lab. The Eagan shop was designed with eco-friendly materials from the glass, to the insulation, and even the cleaning materials are eco-friendly. Honest-1 offers a variety of eco-friendly services, in addition to standard auto care services. They offer G-oil, which is an animal fat by-product that has been recycled, and Eco Power, which is recycled oil that uses up less energy. They also offer full synthetic oil like AMSOIL. The more synthetic oils are changed less and there is less waste. There is no difference in cost compared to standard auto care shops. They are also known as a dealership alternative. They offer the same services at a usually lower price.

Every franchise of Honest-1 in Minnesota also has to plant 100,000 trees in 18 months as part of Plant-A-Tree with American Forest. Each customer that comes in means one tree is planted. Jim Henkel is the area representative. He opened the first franchise for Honest-1 in Roseville in March 2008. Now, there is in both Eagan and Cottage Grove. Jim estimates that another one will be opened by the end of this year and another one early next year. Jim make a career transition himself from his own business to Honest-1. He originally started out in a corporate job, transitioned into his own business when they requested he relocate, and then open his own Honest-1 franchise in Minnesota and become the area representative.

Initially, it took time for Matt to find the right location. He looked at 39 different sites before choosing the one in Eagan. He found a good fit in the community there. The community is green and he has good neighbors that have been very welcoming. He opened his doors on June 14. He likes the look and feel of the shop most and being around good people. He says, in anything a person does, a good attitude and optimism is helpful. As his grandfather said, “nothing good ever comes easy,” but franchising does seem easier at times.

Both Jim and Matt credit their success to the support that franchising offers. Matt says that Jim has been a mentor for him and helped him through the challenges that he faced opening up his own Honest-1. If you have a love of auto mechanics and eco-friendly practices, franchising with Honest-1 may be an option for you. There is the initial investment, which Jim says is outweighed by the discounts and paybacks that Honest-1 offers. There are also time commitment and skills needed and the franchisee needs to follow the rules of the franchise.

Honest-1 Auto Care 525 Diffley Road, Suite 1050 Eagan, MN 55123 651-994-9000