Hard-driving entrepreneur, not yet 26, on a new venture

Unlike many of his University of Minnesota classmates who were up to their mortarboards in debt when they graduated, Kyle Baker not only was debt-free when he collected his diploma in 2006, he had $35,000 in the bank.

The secret: As a freshman, he latched onto a College Pro Painters franchise that grossed upwards of $500,000 during the five years he ran it -- while also maintaining a 3.1 grade-point average for his triple major in finance, accounting and entrepreneurship.

Whereupon he took those savings, put the arm on the Small Business Administration for a $92,000 startup loan and acquired a Floor Coverings International (FCI) franchise, which has grossed more than $260,000 in just eight months of 2007.

In short, this over-achieving young whippersnapper has accomplished more by age 25 than I have by age ... well, never mind.

Baker's Vadnais Heights business is one of four FCI franchises in Minnesota. It's a concept that involves an unusual shop-at-home approach to selling flooring products ranging from carpeting, hardwoods and tile to stone, cork and luxury vinyls.

The strategy requires franchisees to lug dozens of 2-by-2-foot display boards, each holding eight to 12 flooring samples, to a prospective client's home for perusal and selection.

It's an arduous selection process, typically requiring two to three visits as customers narrow their choices. With one memorably fussy client, however, it took nine trips.

That's a lot of schlepping, Baker said, "but if that's what it takes to make a customer happy, that's what we do." While he sells the flooring, outside vendors do the installations.

A congenital salesman who can't seem to help himself, Baker tends to talk that way. Indeed, in the course of a 90-minute interview, the phrase "delivering the dream" kept popping into the conversation.

Given the lad's track record, we might forgive him his enthusiasm.

Let's start with the fact that Baker didn't have to work his way through college as a house painter. He not only had a college fund set up by his grandparents, he also won a scholarship that covered much of his tuition and books.

"But the entrepreneurship thing appealed to me," said Baker, who was introduced to College Pro Painters when he worked for one of its franchisees the summer after he graduated from Totino Grace high school in Fridley.

The appeal must have been industrial-strength, because the ensuing five years were challenging. While the painting projects were completed in the spring, summer and early fall, the winter months were spent on cold calls and door-to-door visits to prospective customers and distribution of promotional literature in target neighborhoods.

It all added up to as much as 40 hours a week during the five years it took him to finish college, and it took an obvious toll.

"I put a lot of money in the bank, but I didn't have much time to spend it," Baker said "You miss a lot of college stuff -- parties, sports, any kind of social life. But you also learn a lot about the work ethic and self-motivation."

Baker gave up the painting franchise after he graduated, figuring that it belonged in the hands of a student, and started interviewing at local accounting firms. He quickly abandoned that path, however.

"There was way too much structure in those places," he said. "It just didn't fit.

So he contacted the Franchise Co., the Ontario-based owner of the College Pro Painters business and several other franchise concepts, to see if there were opportunities for him. There was a wide selection to consider.

There was another painting franchise ("But I was tired of painting"), a home inspection business ("Which required a lot of homebuilding experience") and a custom closet operation ("It was sold out nationally"). Not to mention a handyman services concept ("I'm not that handy") and a remodeling and restoration business (see above).

That left the flooring franchise, which Baker saw as having a model similar to that of College Pro Painters: "There were the home visits and the on-the-spot design choices and estimating," he said. "The difference was a lot of interesting projects -- much more interesting and challenging than painting," he said.

Challenging might be an understatement. Baker has literally thousands of different flooring choices to offer, and a two-week training stint in Georgia hardly qualified him to sort them all out. But a lot of late-night Web-surfing and a flurry of meetings with wholesaler reps has helped him get started.

The marketing comes more naturally. Much as he did with College Pro Painters, he blanketed targeted neighborhoods with promotional material and launched direct-mail assaults based on ZIP code and financial demographics. He also has contracted with a pay-per-lead online service to find prospects.

Baker launched the business last April and grew his revenues to $266,000 by year's end. It was a promising start, but given upwards of $125,000 in start-up costs, it was not enough to produce a profit or allow him to pay himself more than $15,000.

Which leads us to his 2008 goals: Given the month-by-month growth in sales late in 2007, Baker expects to nearly triple his gross to $750,000 this year. The housing slump and impending recession should not interfere, Baker said.

"Our bread and butter is homeowners, and if they're not buying new homes they're fixing up the ones they have," he said.

Just to make sure his projections are met, however, he plans to add two salespeople and a project coordinator this year.

Oh, yes, and if the business grows the way he expects, he might even start paying himself a living wage.

Dick Youngblood • 612-673-4439 • yblood@startribune.com