Like every great superhero, every great company has an origin story.
We sat down with Founders Jeff Franson & Mike Herrera to hear their story and how they grew what came to be such a successful, nationwide franchised business.
Q: The FutureVu (parent company of CoolVu) website has a timeline that starts with “Window Expert” way back in 1992. Jeff, what drew you in the direction of windows in the first place?
A: I’m a big fan of businesses that are always in demand, and I happened to get connected with 3M almost 30 years ago via my first company, which was called Window Expert, LLC and serviced the Metro-Atlanta area.
In many ways, we were an independent, less-focused version of what a CoolVu franchisee is today.
Being a window cleaner and installer during the 90s when things started to move online, I landed on the idea that I should get into ecommerce.
I quickly realized that essentially any town that is growing would be a great place for what we were able to provide via what would become: windowfilmdepot.com
So we’ve always had early access to “sell” 3M products, but what our clients “buy” is what I really love.
They don’t buy window film for the sake of having window film. They want:
- A more comfortable and pleasing space for families or employees.
- To pay less on their electricity bill.
- To make a property more secure.
…And overtime, the list has expanded as we’ve added purely aesthetic products, products related to the pandemic, and more.
The other piece that was extremely attractive was the opportunity to build a family business and that has been amazing.
Q: Mike, what appealed to you about franchises as a business model and franchise development as a career?
A: I’m a huge fan of entrepreneurship and being your own boss. I like to help people who feel like they would like more control of their destiny get it.
Franchises (the good ones) have this magical quality that acts as a shortcut to building a nice business that can really power a comfortable lifestyle for the franchisee and their loved ones.
There’s a widely quoted statistic that over 80% of small businesses fail (and usually pretty quickly). A well-executed franchise opportunity paired with a franchisee who is willing to learn and do the work required makes it so much easier to get to a point of stability.
Looking back over hundreds of franchisees I’ve been privileged enough to help is really motivating.
There are plenty of deserving people who are working hard in jobs that don’t really have the growth opportunities that a franchisee who is willing to do the work does. I’ve been lucky enough to solve that for so many people over the years.
Q: When and how did you guys first meet?
A: We connected way back in 2006 when we were both working on our respective businesses (window film distribution & window covering franchisor). We saw the world in a similar way and stayed in touch.
Q: Eventually it made sense to launch CoolVu Glass & Surface Solutions in 2019…what was the inspiration?
A: We had tracked 3M’s development of various types of surface treatments for decades and were very familiar with demand in the market via Window Film Depot’s metrics.
While it felt like there would be periodic, incremental innovation with products, the bigger challenge in the industry was a lack of quality installation services in many markets. And for the relatively few independent installers, managing client acquisition and inventory was challenging.
We spent the first few years in development, building a model that would allow qualified franchisees to learn the business and plug into the national brand we had already built. CoolVu would be part of FutureVu Brands, which also owns Window Film Depot.
Q: How did the launch go?
A: We have a lot of experience in the franchising industry. So not surprisingly, we’re familiar with the story of a business that achieves some degree of success in their local market and decides to start offering franchises.
Often they sign up one here and one there and the whole enterprise kind of struggles to get off the ground, especially for those that don’t know what they don’t know.
We didn’t have that problem because we had Jeff’s decades of experience selling window-based products across the country and Mike’s decades of experience developing whole franchise systems including Jani-King, H&R Block, and Alliance Brands.
And we had this interesting twist where Covid-19 hit while we were still in R&D and people’s behavior changed in ways that favored our model.
Consumers started investing significantly more into their surroundings and everybody woke up to the home office model of doing business.
We launched in January 2022 with a whole cohort.
Q: How did your experience with franchising influence how you set up the franchise opportunity?
A: Across all business categories, we wanted our franchisees to have the best possible solution:
- We were able to produce service leads via our footprint.
- We gave them CRM systems to stay organized, track goals, and ensure their clients got a great experience.
- We connected them with our supply chain so they never missed a job due not being able to source the materials quickly.
- We trained them on installation best practices so they’d start to get referrals off of early jobs.
- The two of us were constantly in contact, training, answering questions, refining everything and just being sure they were successful.
And our “launch partners” were very successful and continue to be. The key to franchise success in our mind is being a great franchisor (providing the right resources) and recruiting the right franchisees.
Both sides did a great job, even with Covid still in the background.
Q: What are some business characteristics that make CoolVu a good opportunity for franchise development?
A: We love a business model that is always in-demand and where there isn’t much competition. That’s a great place to start.
We also like a business opportunity where both businesses and consumers can be served. If government, higher education and religious institutions are also great clients, even better.
Reasonable margins make any business much easier to operate.
An industry where payment is expected at time of work completion makes cash flow management much simpler.
Businesses that don’t require a bunch of specialized equipment that is costly to repair and likely to cause downtime is also really nice.
Our business has this really nice network effect, too. Once someone in the area buys from our franchisees, they’re highly likely to get asked about their purchase and share the story.
Q: What types of businesses don’t make good franchises?
A: Businesses with highly variable demand are not a good fit for franchising. We’ve seen plenty of fad-based franchise systems crop up and then disappear.
Food and exercise brands often struggle to stand the test of time. Remember Froyo? It’s not really around much anymore. We’ve seen the same thing happen with many gyms and similar concepts.
Franchises that depend on spotty supply chains can also be really tough.
There are even franchises that don’t really deliver value to the customer. Those aren’t sustainable nor good investments.
Q: There are lots of franchises available in all kinds of industries. What makes CoolVu special?
A: Our franchisees also don’t have to put a bunch of capital into real estate and improvements like you would if you were launching a restaurant or other models.
With our centralized distribution model, our franchisees don’t even have to maintain much in the way of inventory.
Unfortunately, there are many franchisees making purchases with the expectation that the franchisor will help a great deal with their lead generation and then that doesn’t happen.
Via the nature of our experience in the window film industry, we had that base covered as well.
Our franchisees also don’t have to “sell” so much as simply solve problems. Is a space too hot or too expensive to cool? Our franchisees can help.
Is a window likely to get broken? Our franchisees can help.
There’s also this cool “mobile billboard” aspect to what we do. Our franchisees wrap their vans with impactful statements about what they do and make it crystal clear how to reach them.
It’s remarkable how many neighbor calls come in once a first home is visited within a neighborhood.
Q: There are also all kinds of business owners out there. What types of owners make a good candidate to join the CoolVu family?
A: Quality is everything to us. We want anyone who purchases from CoolVu anywhere in the country to have a consistently awesome experience.
Business ownership is work. Make no mistake about it. For someone making the jump into owning a business after only having ever been an employee, it is different.
Our franchise system makes it a lot simpler to get going, but at the end of the day, it’s the franchisee who provides the service and collects payment.
We expect our franchisees to be on-time, honest, transparent, do a quality job, clean up when they’re done, and communicate with their clients from start to finish.
In a nutshell, we seek franchisees who share our values and are willing to learn.
Q: Many franchises spring up and then are gone within a couple years. CoolVu has just kept growing. What do you attribute that to?
A: First and foremost, we put years of work in before launching. It was one of the more robust launches in the industry.
Then we just kept making the system stronger:
- We make new products available quickly.
- We offer ongoing training.
- We host monthly townhall-style calls.
- We have peer-led mastermind groups.
- We have an annual convention.
And we’re not stopping there. We’re extremely proud to have emerged as one of fastest-growing franchise concepts in the nation.
Q: Tell us about some of the early franchisees. What have they been able to accomplish as owners of CoolVu in their territories?
A: We love to see the expansion of some of our earlier franchises. This business just grows within a particular territory: more jobs, more trucks, more market awareness of the transformational value of the products and services.
And once a franchisee really “gets it,” they’re often ready to expand and they pick up additional territories. We’re in great shape to support franchisees wherever they are in their development cycle.
Q: What about some more recent franchisees…What should a new “zee” be looking to accomplish in year one?
A: A new franchisee that owns other franchise concepts is probably a little less on edge than someone who is cutting their teeth with entrepreneurship.
An early milestone is when a franchisee surpasses their previous wage-based earnings. Then they really know they’ve got control of their own destiny.
Hitting revenue goals is important in year one as is building skills and a reputation. So much referral business is available in this industry and that starts with a first job.
Q: What is “a day in the life” like for a franchise in year one?
A: Our franchisees schedules revolve around completing jobs and managing their businesses.
One nice thing about this business is you offer your clients various times from which to choose their installation. If you have drop-off or pick-up duty for your kids, you can easily manage that.
Are you coaching youth sports? Also not a problem.
This is a work from home franchise. Throughout the week, our franchisees leave the office (typically a home office) to provide a service at one or multiple job sites in a row.
Somewhere in their day, they’re returning emails and phone calls.
Somewhere in their day, they’re being sure the supplies they’ll need for jobs around the corner will be there on time.
And then our franchisees network with others and us. In those sessions, we’re really working on growth.
Q: How does that change as a franchisee develops their business?
A: In the first year, we really encourage our franchisees to talk to clients directly and do the work. They need to know it inside and out.
After that, many franchisees are hiring staff and setting up additional rigs and that makes sense.
They may be using more support staff as well for things like bookkeeping and correspondence.
For the most experienced, they may already be looking at new territories in year two.
Q: For someone who is considering the purchase of their first franchise. What advice would you give them?
A: Do your homework. Any business requires a plan. With franchise opportunities, it’s about doing what’s called due diligence.
Look at what’s available in the materials available from the franchisor.
Try to get a feel for how much or how little support is available from the franchisor and other franchisees.
Then look at the market. Do you see demand continuing for what the business offers? Is it competitive or not so much?
Then be a little bit selfish. Just because you believe a particular franchisee business is likely to be successful in your territory doesn’t mean you want to be the one running it.
Our franchisees drive to and from job sites and work outside quite a bit. For a lot of people, that’s ideal.
For others, they’d prefer to be in one spot.
Q: For CoolVu franchise ownership, what specifically is required?
A: Hopefully you have a great idea of what the business is and who we’re looking for.
To quantify the economics of the CoolVu opportunity, as of 2025, the initial investment ranges from $63k-$111k depending on how many territories are included.
Financing is available through us or 3rd parties. Military veterans and first responders can expect meaningful discounts.
Q: Post establishment of a new territory. How does the relationship with “The Mothership” work?
A: We have a robust onboarding program and then we treat our franchisees as part of the family.
We pass leads and keep supplies available at great prices. That’s the more functional side of the business.
But the more fun part is working with franchisees to achieve their goals. The townhalls, master minds, training, and conventions are happening throughout the year, and we love helping the learning spread throughout the whole ecosystem.
Q: What’s around the corner for CoolVu?
A: Of course, we’ll continue to make new products available as they arrive on the market.
We’re continuing to add to our training resources.
As we’ve achieved national distribution, we’re proud of what we’ve done to improve awareness of these types of products in the market and CoolVu as the vendor of choice.
Beyond that, we’re always innovating. For example, we’re looking at AI and how we can leverage it to make life better for our franchisees and their clients.
Q: For someone who wants to take the next step in exploring CoolVu ownership, how can they find out more?
A: Everything starts via requesting more info on the website. Simply scroll to the bottom of any page and you’ll find the form.
Once we know you’re interested and how you prefer to be contacted, we’ll have an initial conversation.
Remember: it’s a relationship. You should be vetting us and we’ll be vetting you.
If our initial conversation leads us jointly to the conclusion that we should move forward, we’ll get you copies of our Franchise Disclosure Document, look at the availability of your desired territories, help you evaluate methods of payment, and finally establish a launch timeline.
Q: Any closing thoughts for visitors exploring CoolVu franchise ownership?
A: We’re excited that you’re taking a look at what we’re up to. We’re always excited to meet new people that might be a fit for our culture and benefit from having a business of their own. We’re so thankful for what the window film industry has afforded us and our families and love how our franchise system is creating similar opportunities for people across the country.
