Sean and Karen Hall are Kitchen Tune-Up franchisees who own three territories in the Buffalo, NY area. Their first location opened in 2019, with the following two in 2021. Sean has lived in the Buffalo area for 36 years and is originally from Michigan. He spent over 15 years as a finance manager for a car dealership. He enjoys spending time with his family, maintaining his koi pond, and is a recent beekeeper. Karen was born and raised near Buffalo. Before Kitchen Tune-Up, she was working as a Commercial Horticulture Educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension. She enjoys time with family, gardening, camping, and hiking. Both Karen and Sean enjoy cooking and spend much of their Sundays doing food prep for the week. They also love WNY and all of the beautiful seasons, including the snow.
What made you decide to look into purchasing a franchise?
Sean was looking for a career change that gave him more time with family and a better work-life balance.
When researching franchises, what criteria mattered to you most? How did your franchise meet that criteria?
We were interested in a franchise that was supportive and felt like family. We were so impressed with the fact that we met directly with the president of Kitchen Tune-Up when we were trying to decide which franchise to purchase. It gave us that family feel.
Financing can be an obstacle and/or intimidating factor for aspiring entrepreneurs. How did you find financing options to purchase your franchise?
We used a 401K rainmaker for the initial purchase. Later on, we used Erie County Industrial Development Association for the 2nd & 3rd territories and showroom.
Which of your prior skills and experiences do you use in operating your business today?
Sean uses his sales, customer service, and management background. For me, I call upon my experience with business owners for 20+ years. Going into this, I felt like I understood the challenges.
During your research, did you use FBR’s website to compare franchise opportunities? What other resources did you use?
We hired a franchise consultant to help find businesses that were a good fit for our interests.
When doing your research, which questions did you ask the franchisees?
In general, we asked things like how supportive the corporate office was, how long it took to become profitable, and how long does it take to really learn the details of operations.
Which questions did you ask the franchisor?
We wanted to know about the kind of support we would receive (from marketing & sales to installation) from Kitchen Tune-Up. Plus, we wanted to talk to businesses with significant sales.
What were your first 90 days like as a franchisee?
They were both exciting and overwhelming. Sean sold more than we expected in the first month, and then we had to figure out the details of installation. He was also our installer so it was quite a crazy time.
At what point did you feel like you “got the hang of it” and settled in as a business owner?
It was probably in year 3 that we felt like we were making great progress and seeing consistent growth. I’m not sure that you can ever “settle in” as a business owner. Things are constantly changing and there are always opportunities to learn new things and better ways of running your business.
How does the franchisor support and encourage your success?
The Kitchen Tune-Up home office has significant resources to help new business owners with all aspects of their business. They provide numerous opportunities to learn, from daily podcasts to weekly, monthly, and quarterly virtual meetings.
What are you most proud of and why?
We are very proud of the amazing team that we have built (and is very much like family); the growth that we’ve achieved over the years; and the brand recognition in our community.
What advice would you give to potential franchise owners?
Choose a franchise that has a proven track record of supporting its franchisees and one that fosters a great community of other franchise owners. You need to know that help can be found by simply reaching out to other franchise owners. Be prepared for a lot of ups and downs. In the beginning, as an owner, you need to be the hardest-working person in the organization.
The Kitchen Tune-Up Franchise Opportunity
Kitchen Tune-Up appears on a few of Franchise Business Review’s lists, including the Top 200 Franchises of 2026. We use data from franchisee surveys to rank the best franchise brands to own. Only the brands that exceed FBR’s franchisee satisfaction benchmark are displayed on our website.
Kitchen Tune-Up cares a great deal about transparency, so they actually share their full franchisee satisfaction report. Download that here.
Highlights include:
- 89% of franchisees agree that their fellow franchisees are supportive of the brand.
- 90% of franchisees agree that their fellow franchisees are supportive of each other.
- 89% of franchisees agree that their fellow franchisees actively participate in company programs and events.
