Keeping up with technology, following a tried-and-true business model, emphasis on staff and balance, and plain hard work enabled Paul and Saunda Kitchen to grow a successful Mr. Rooter business in Sonoma County, Calif., in less than 10 years.

“We’ve done trenchless repair since the beginning,” Saunda Kitchen says. “For us, it’s important to keep up on technology, because it gives us more options to provide our customers with the appropriate solution for the dilemma they are in.”

Their philosophies of work, and life, make the franchise a good fit. They believe in passing on what they have learned to others in the business. That effort was recognized in 2008, when Mr. Rooter named Kitchen Woman of the Year, and she and Paul received the Excellence in Mentoring award.

Their hard work and success inspired another fan, Saunda’s father, Randy Price. “She worked from the ground up,” Price says. “She’s an extremely attractive young woman, and there she was running out on a rainy night on a call, pulling cable for Paul.” In 2008, Price followed his daughter’s footsteps, buying a Mr. Rooter franchise four hours north in Shasta County in partnership with the Kitchens.

Kitchen insists that her father has always been a trusted adviser – they function as a team. Beyond business success, the couples (including Randy’s wife Cathy) say they share something more important: balance in work, family and community life.

Kitchens’ Sonoma franchise

“I never thought I’d be a plumber,” laughs Saunda Kitchen. “But I love it. I like the people development aspect of it. I love teaching life and work skills. And I don’t mind getting my hands dirty.”

Kitchen had previously co-owned a Mr. Electric franchise (one of the Dwyer Group trade franchises) in Humboldt County, Calif. She made an interesting discovery at one of the company’s conventions.

“We were hanging out with plumbers, and they were much more fun,” Kitchen says. “Our personalities seem to match better.” Kitchen, a former microbrewery restaurant manager, was destined to work full time in some trade when she met Paul, a contractor. In 2000, they invested in Mr. Rooter of Sonoma County.

At first the couple did everything themselves. The trade came naturally for her husband, but Kitchen had her doubts. “One of our first bigger jobs was a trenchless pull,” she recalls. “It was 110 degrees outside. I was so hot. We didn’t have money to rent a jackhammer, so we were taking turns with a sledgehammer. I said ‘I don’t think we make enough money to do this.’ Paul pulled me aside and said, ‘It’s about doing the job right like we said we would.’”

Flawless execution

Customers appreciated their approach, and with referrals growing the business, the couple started hiring technicians within months of their first full year. Kitchen moved to office work and now handles business development and planning, staff management and community in-volvement – the sides of the business she loves.

Teamwork is essential. Kitchen recalls one of the company’s most challenging jobs, repairing a 140-foot water trunk line from a dam for a winery. The winery called when a state inspection found the line was leaking and causing soil erosion at the dam walls. The entire 150-foot-deep line needed to be repaired, or the dam would have had to be re-engineered.

“We lined it and there was no room for error,” Kitchen says. “It couldn’t be dug; that wasn’t an option. It required a lot of planning and a lot of people on board, and it went off without a flaw.”

That job is a good example of one of the business’ many mottos: “Flawless preparation leads to flawless execution.” The company also developed a good relationship with the winery and gained a reference for work with other wineries.

The Kitchens are ready to tackle all kinds of jobs with their 22-vehicle fleet of vans, trucks and dump trucks and three trailer jetters from US Jetting. They also have a Kubota tractor and three job trailers set up with pipe-bursting equipment from TRIC Tools Inc. for 4- to 8-inch lines and a cured-in-place pipe-lining system from Perma-Liner Industries Inc. for 3- to 8-inch lines.

“We are a high-volume underground repair shop,” Kitchen says. “We still dig occasionally, and we also do septic systems and leachfields.”

Nurturing staff

Earning a good reputation depends on all the employees working to define the customer experience. Instead of just telling employees what to do, Kitchen tells them why they need to do things such as slipping on booties before entering a home. “We operate by a code of values from the receptionist to the technician,” Kitchen says. “We’re about building ‘wow’ customer experiences, not just satisfying our customers.”

None of it would happen without a strong team. “One of the things we get the most attention for is the culture in our team,” Kitchen says. “We wanted to create an environment where we want to come to work every day. This is a dirty job, so you have to look for ways to have fun.”

Impromptu barbecues, family game nights and regular staff meetings make the Kitchens’ operation an attractive workplace. The North Bay Business Journal named Paul and Saunda to its Top Professionals Under 40 list, and their own employees voted for the business as one of the Best Places to Work in the North Bay.

The Kitchens set up the Kitch Kids fund for their employees’ families, putting money into the fund when technicians and the team meet work goals. Employees fill out applications for things that help their children in leadership or learning activities. Kitch Kids funds have paid for everything from camps to dance programs to Little League.

Besides regular meetings and educational huddles with their team, the Kitchens feel it is important to promote and educate their employees in communications, debt reduction, interpersonal goal setting, and family values. “We truly love what we do,” Kitchen says. “We enjoy providing customer-focused and professional plumbing services to this community. We’re also delighted to help our team grow.”

Paul is on the Mr. Rooter advisory council, and Saunda is a member of the Franchise Forum, which advises the International Franchise Association board of directors. “We like helping other franchisees develop their shops and teams,” Saunda Kitchen says. “When we were new, people were there for us. Now that we’re seasoned franchisees, we want to be there for others.”

Following an example

Those others include the Prices. Even before he bought his franchise, Randy Price helped the Kitchens with legal language in employee policy handbooks. He also rode with Paul Kitchen on calls.

In 2008, Price retired from the California Highway Patrol after nearly 30 years. “I am 59 and too young to retire,” he says. “I had followed their career and watched them build their territory. Then the Shasta County franchise came up for sale. I wanted to get in the business aspect of it and enjoyed the network – also the profit motivation. The territory wasn’t fully developed. When you look at potential for economic development, plumbing isn’t a bad choice to be recession-resistant.”

Three days after retiring, Price and his wife signed on as franchise partners with the Kitchens. “Because of my association with my daughter and Mr. Rooter and the Dwyer group, I have met fabulous support people,” Price says. “I have not had a question come up that I couldn’t get an immediate response.”

The Kitchens’ emphasis on using the latest technology influenced him to specialize in CIPP lining with Perma-Liner. The method works well in his area, where three-decades-old terra cotta pipe is wearing out, but Price soon learned that education is a big part of his business.

Creating cheerleaders

“This is a very rural county, so everybody knows someone who has a backhoe,” he says. “In selling them on trenchless replacement, I try to educate them that the cost will be the same, we can do it quickly, and it’s not going to tear up their property.” CIPP lining was new enough in the county so that even some inspectors hadn’t seen it.

For both franchises, a good job means more than fixing and cleaning pipes. They bring customers into the process from the beginning. “We have a camera that we put down there,” Price says. “We show them the problem.” From there, he can discuss options with the customers: Using a jetter to eliminate roots, repairing broken spots, or replacing the entire line.

“We want our customers to be our cheerleaders,” he says. “We give them a service so good that there is no question they’ll call back. We believe in sending handwritten thank you notes, and we do call-backs about jobs we did.”

As the business grows, the Prices plan to set up a fund, Random Acts of Gratitude, to help individuals and organizations that make a difference in the health and welfare of children. “This desire came when our granddaughter, Ella (the Kitchens’ youngest child), was born premature, and many people helped save her life,” Price says.

Finding balance

The Kitchens and Prices agree on the need to balance work, family and a social network. The couples talk daily about business and personal issues. The Kitchens and their five children love traveling north to visit the Prices, who live in a popular vacation area. Price brags on his daughter’s cooking skills, which she credits to being taught by her brother, a chef who also happens to work in the Mr. Rooter system as a manager for Mr. Rooter of Santa Cruz, Calif.

Up north, they barbecue rib eye steaks. Down south they dive for abalone and fix it fresh. Over meals, it’s common for conversation to drift to business. To keep balance, the families have a rule: “Any person, any time, including the kids, can say, ‘Time out,’” Kitchen says. That’s the cue to switch the focus from business to family.

At the same time, working in the same business means the couples attend conventions and work-related events together. “That part is fun,” Kitchen says. “Obviously it helps if you like the people you are in business with.”

As Saunda and Paul learned 10 years ago, it’s fun to hang out with plumbers. If the plumbers happen to be Dad and Mom, that’s just a bonus.