Leading the Charge: Meet Chad Schloerke, CEO at Floor Coverings International

Chad Schloerke, Chief Operating Officer at Floor Coverings International, has a rich history with FirstService Brands, the parent company of Floor Coverings International. Starting as a franchisee with College Pro Painters, his career trajectory launched him onto a successful path that ultimately led him to become a C-Suite Executive. With decades of experience as both a franchisee and executive, Chad has a dynamic philosophy for supporting today’s franchisees in achieving success.

History with FirstService Brands

Chad’s journey with FirstService Brands began during his sophomore year of college. With a strong inkling for becoming a small business owner since a young age, Chad quickly discovered that becoming a franchisee aligned perfectly with his entrepreneurial drive. At the age of twenty, he recognized the immense potential of owning a business in the home improvement sector. While many of his peers pursued careers in corporate America, Chad confidently directed his path towards the franchise industry, and he hasn’t looked back since.

Before he graduated from college, Chad was brought onto the full-time team at College Pro Painters and went on to serve as a Vice President for eleven years. At that point, he began investigating similar franchise concepts to invest in. Floor Coverings International, being under the same umbrella of FirstService Brands, had always piqued his interest for the low overhead costs and minimal staffing needs. On a fatefully discovery day in 2006, Chad met with the leadership team at Floor Coverings International, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Chad moved into a role as Director of Operations at Floor Coverings International and hit the ground running to transform the “man and a van” concept into an easily scalable ecosystem. Over the years, he has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs from first time business owners to seasoned multi-brand operators to carve the Floor Coverings International franchise opportunity into a turn-key operation. Chad’s background as a former franchisee helps him empathize with other franchisees, but it’s his core principles as a leader that have helped him drive the brand’s 200% growth.

A Leadership Ethos

Chad credits Floor Coverings International’s novel approach to the flooring industry as a key differentiator from other home improvement franchises. The Mobile Flooring Showroom concept enables franchisees to start making sales with a small team compared with franchises in other industries. Part of his role as COO is optimizing systems to help franchisees and design associates maximize their time. Chad recognizes consumers want a comprehensive, local resource to help them navigate the flooring product selection, pricing estimates and project management. He and the operations team aim to streamline backend systems to support franchisees get their business off the ground seamlessly.

From his more than 25 years of experience in the franchise industry, Chad has worked alongside industry leaders who taught him that operational excellence does more than service a single franchise. Quality systems, data collection processions and best practices reflect a cohesive operation that values the contributions of everyone– from a newly onboarded design associate to a C-Suite executive.

Behind all decisions he makes, Chad returns to three key questions:

1. How does it serve the Floor Coverings International Brand?
2. What changes are indicated by the data if this decision is put into effect?
3. How would this decision translate into the field?

Since taking on a greater leadership role on the operations team, Chad reiterates the importance of in-person training and tailored support systems. No two franchisees face the same challenges in their first year of operation, which is why Floor Coverings International diversified their support systems to include peer-support groups and routine trips to the home office in Atlanta. Facilitating connections among franchise owners as well as prospects has been pivotal for Floor Coverings International. The community of like-minded entrepreneurs who want to support one another find success motivates the operations team to find ways to support the franchise system as a whole, every step of the way.

What’s On the Horizon

In the past few years, Floor Coverings International has seen multiple franchisees hit their stride as high-performing business owners with multi-million-dollar assets. By the end of 2024, Floor Coverings International has ambitious goals to add on an additional 90 franchises, growing the brand to well over 300 locations across the U.S. and Canada. With their eyes turned toward growth, Chad and the leadership team stay grounded in the core principles that have guided them in the right direction over the last three decades.

Financial transparency, peer-to-peer support and maintaining personal relationships between the corporate team and franchisees remain paramount. With frequent system-wide gatherings, Floor Coverings International demonstrates their commitment to a work-hard-play-hard culture by rewarding excellence and celebrating community. By fostering a cadence with franchisees, the operations team at Floor Coverings International strives to incorporate feedback from franchisees to help inform the future of new systems.

To learn more about COO Chad Schloerke and the rest of the leadership team at Floor Coverings International, please visit https://flooring-franchise.com/franchise-leadership/