Battery-powered

Mike Riley spent most of his life running other people’s businesses. At 53, Riley was too young to retire, but too old to start again from scratch. What he needed, he realized, was a business he could run himself, something he could retire into that would grow and bring in a little money but wouldn’t consume his entire life.

Starting his own business, he soon discovered, would cost more than he wanted to spend, both in time and money. He also knew that most businesses fail because they lack a proven business model. So after a lot of “shopping around,” Riley decided to open a Batteries Plus franchise on Zanella Way in Chico. While he’s not a millionaire yet, he has done well enough to open a new store in Redding last November. We caught up with Riley at a construction and forestry trade show in Anderson.

“We’re getting up to speed,” he said of his venture. “I shopped around before I got into this business, looked at all the franchises out there, and investigated which ones fit my personal style. You have to find one that matches your lifestyle. Like, I would never want to do a restaurant—the hours are horrendous, you work like a dog and hopefully, after 20 years, you can earn enough to settle back. I spent my time doing heavy careers. My business is only open 12 hours a day so you can’t work much more than that.”

Riley said he chose to sell batteries partly because of the explosive growth the industry has sustained over the last two decades. The flood of PDAs, Ipods, laptops and other electronic devices have created a mega-market for batteries, he said.

“Fifteen years ago, there weren’t cell phones. Well, every cell phone today runs on a battery and we carry a full line of cell phone batteries.” he said. “If you go to cell phone guy [and ask] ‘Have you got a battery for this?’ He’ll tell you ‘Batteries Plus, across town.’ I don’t sell cell phones so I don’t compete with that business. We fill a niche.”

Riley has also found niches selling batteries to tradesmen and hobbyists of all kinds, but his biggest customers are looking for specialized batteries for specialized equipment. One of his clients sells lasers used for ground leveling in agriculture. Another is a local hospital that uses custom-made batteries in medical equipment. That’s why Riley has begun to make the rounds at trade shows. While his store will continue to rebuild worn-out batteries and sell hard-to-find batteries to individual customers, half of his business comes from other businesses.

“You may buy five batteries this year, but if I can get on with an electrical contractor who is installing alarm systems, he’ll buy thousands of dollars a year in batteries from me. The consumer turns on the lights but the businesses make the money for you.”

Riley said buying into a franchise has taken a lot of the pain and guesswork out of starting a business. While he still has to give 5 percent of his gross sales back to the home company, he said it’s worth it, as the money gets spent on advertising and support services that he would have had to buy anyway.

“If I was to start off on my own I’d be XYZ Company,” he said. “I’d have no name, no business plan. I’d have to go out and draw my own logos, develop my own trademarks—it takes years and years. That’s why somebody like myself picks a franchise. You need that stuff to be in business.”