For Freddy Hunt and Chris Baly, starting their three Superior Rail & Fence locations was an event that was “all in the family.”

Hunt and Baly are first cousins who are more like brothers. They lived together when they were small and still spent a lot of time together as they grew. However, the cousins went in different directions when it came time to pick a career. Hunt attended Rutgers University in New Jersey and became a chemical engineer, while Baly went straight into the workforce, working for Home Depot and TRUMPF Photonics.

But the two came together again when it came time to dive into franchise ownership. After spending several months looking for the right franchise opportunity, the cousins decided that Superior Fence & Rail was the right choice for them. And they dived right in by buying into three locations. They are now the owners of Superior Fence & Rail Delaware Valley, Delaware, and Superior Fence & Rail Middle River and Superior Fence & Rail Northeast Maryland, both in Maryland.

Franchise Chatter (FC): The two of you are cousins who grew up together. Did you have a unique experience growing up?

Chris Baly (CB): Our mothers are sisters who lived together in Brooklyn when we were both little. They still live together to this day. So, when Freddy and I were growing up, we were inseparable. We even made up our own games. Even when he moved to Georgia when he was 8 years old, he’d still come up to Brooklyn to spend holidays and summer break.

Freddy Hunt (FH): I even moved back to New Jersey when I was 16. It was just a short train ride away. I may have moved away, but I visited so often, it’s like I didn’t really leave.

FC: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

FH: I wanted to be a dentist. That was my dream.

CB: I was into entertainment and my first dream was to be an actor, at first, and then a musician later in life. I loved Will Smith and even wrote a report on him in the third grade. I dressed up like he did in “Men in Black” to read my report to the class.

FH: We actually did go into entertainment in our teens. We started our own band called Acquired Taste. I played guitar, and another one of our friends played guitar. Chris was the lead singer.

FC: Where did you go to college? What jobs did you have before you decided to become franchisees?

FH: Rutgers in New Jersey, where I studied chemical engineering. I work with compound purification and characterization. After graduation, I went into pharmacology and I’m still basically in pharma.

CB: I did a short stint at Mercer County Community College for music, but basically I went straight into the workforce. I worked at Home Depot for about 10 years before working for TRUMPF Photonics, which is a laser manufacturer. It was there that I gained some supervisory experience. I also did a short stint at Express Scripts.

FC: How did you decide to go into business together and what made you decide to go into franchising?

FH: Despite the fact that we were in very different careers, we were good friends and I knew that starting a franchise together would be beneficial to both of us.

CB: Freddy was always in my ear about it. This was something he had wanted to do for a long time. Before we went into business together, he had started another franchise with his wife, so he had experience with the process and how to roll it out. By the time he had gained some experience with franchising, I was in a place where I had more confidence and was able to commit to the idea of buying a franchise 100%.

FC: What made you decide to pick Empower Brands and, more specifically, Superior Fence & Rail?

FH: We both knew that we wanted to do something in the trades because we believe in those businesses. Not only are these types of jobs beneficial to the community, they are also more recession resistant. You are going to take care of your home. Even if there is a recession and disaster hits, you’ll work to get your home repaired no matter what.

I’m a meticulous guy and had done my research. We actually started with Superior and had a good feeling about it, but we literally worked Monday through Friday looking at other brands, discussing what we wanted and the businesses we liked. We spent hours over six or seven months on the phone talking about this before we finally circled back around and decided on Superior.

CB: We had to do our due diligence and make sure this was the right move for us.

FC: Why did you decide to become a multi-unit owner from the start and what made you decide on the three territories in the Delaware Valley and in Middle River and Northeast Maryland?

FH: My mama always said that if you are going to do something, do it right. We wanted to position ourselves for the best chance of success we could have. We had also been trying to get out of New Jersey since it’s so expensive there, and we saw a lot of opportunity in this region.

CB: And owning those three locations puts us in the best position to be successful. With these locations, we are able to scale our business the proper way.

FC: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned during the process of searching for, buying and running three franchise locations?

CB: The whole experience was a learning process. While you do need to look at the numbers and figure out profitability, you also want to choose a franchise that speaks to you. You’re the one who will be running the business, so it’s important that you find a franchise that “grabs” you in some way.

FH: With us, we not only wanted to bring wealth into our family, but we see this as a business we could either pass down to our kids some day or may even sell the business in 10 or 20 years.

The main thing is that none of us are ever getting any younger. If you are considering purchasing a franchise, there are always going to be pros and cons, and there’s always going to be a risk associated with starting your own business, but you have to overcome that. It’s better to make a good decision properly than an excellent decision that takes you forever.