Name: Jamie Weber and Eric Gogulski
Position: Owners
Company: Anago of Nashville
Ages: 39, 38, respectively
Jamie Weber and Eric Gogulski went to high school together, worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car and now jointly own Anago of Nashville, a corporate cleaning systems master franchise.
The pair decided to break out of the traditional corporate world and own a business.
Weber led the search, looking into many franchise systems. He chose Anago because the people in the corporate headquarters were supportive, and it was a “perfect skill-set match” from their experience with Enterprise.
“Selling cars is like selling cleaning accounts, except the buildings don’t move and the weather’s good all the time,” he said.
Eric Gogulski, left, Michelle Weber and Jamie Weber pooled their talents to launch Anago of Nashville in 2005. Anago is a commercial cleaning franchise system supporting more than 30 master franchises and 2,400 individual franchisees. / John Partipilo / The Tennessean
As Weber, his wife, Michelle, and Gogulski all worked previously at Enterprise, they all have the same sense of value and consider relationships with employees and other contacts to be crucial.
Similarly, the trio had worked in different arenas that Weber thought built an important skill set for Anago. Weber ran a car dealership, Gogulski rented cars and Michelle worked in administrative support positions.
Gogulski emphasized that, like car rentals or sales, “we want [the client] to make a well-informed decision every step of the way. It’s not going to work unless they’re excited.” Gogulski takes the lead in presenting the Anago system to potential franchisees and emphasized the importance of happy clients for the network to function.
As a master franchise of Anago Cleaning Systems, Anago of Nashville is in charge of selling janitorial franchises and supporting them. In a way, they are the liaison between the franchisees and the corporate headquarters.
Anago of Nashville opened in July of 2005. Since then, the company has retained its first franchise owner and added more than 100 to its service. The larger Anago Cleaning Systems was ranked the 10th-fastest growing franchise by Entrepreneur for 2013.
While Weber and Gogulski attended high school in Connecticut, they diverged for college.
Weber spent his first two years at Colby Sawyer College before transferring to the University of Miami for his junior year. He left Miami for a personnel coordinator internship at Riverside Park in Agawam, Mass., what is now Six Flags New England.
There he learned how to manage employees from all different backgrounds and how a business runs. This sparked his excitement in serving the community through business.
Gogulski attended Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts before transferring to Westfield State. After he graduated, he began working at Enterprise in Connecticut and later in Massachusetts.
Weber’s pursuits of business ownership for the pair led him to Nashville specifically, as it was highly rated for entrepreneurship.
“Nashville was a great growing city,” Gogulski said. “It was someplace you would want to start a business.”
Gogulski said one of the most gratifying aspects of being an Anago master franchise is helping people achieve their goal of running their own business. He also takes pride in the fact that “someone’s hopes and dreams are now in my hands” as the business owner.
Do you have hobbies or other interests?
Gogulski: The Nashville Predators. I am a season ticket holder. I think my first purchase in Nashville was half-season tickets. I played hockey since I was 8 years old.
Weber: Working out, pinball, spending time with my twin daughters (2 years old). But the first kid was Anago. That was a birth. This model takes a lot of time, patience and capital.
Favorite book or movie?
Gogulski: John Grisham novels
Weber: “Gone in 60 Seconds”
Who inspires you?
Gogulski: My parents gave me my values of honesty and integrity. My fiancée keeps me grounded with support at home.
Weber: My parents and Michelle, but also Frank Flack. Flack is the co-founder of Molly Maid USA. He was a mentor for Michelle and me before we even started. He had so much to offer and he really took us in.
What, besides family, can you not live without?
Gogulski: The passion of everything we do every day. That sense of accomplishment from growing something bigger and bigger every day.
Weber: I couldn’t live without waking up every day and having something like this to make better.