Former district manager brings leadership lessons to franchises

Before becoming a franchisee, Rich Epps worked at Lowe’s for 25 years.

He worked his way up at the home improvement retailer, serving as district manager in two different districts. Most recently, Epps led a district that encompassed 14 stores from Bradenton to Naples for over 10 years. The district had $750 million in annual sales, with most stores coming in at about $60 million. “We had sales and profit budgets, and my job was to help the stores meet and exceed those budgets,” Epps says.