Brett Shaw runs a House Doctors handyman franchise in Tulsa. He’s also the mayor of Morrison, Oklahoma, and a volunteer firefighter and first responder. He opened House Doctors of East Tulsa in 2024, drives two hours round trip to his territory every day, and still meets every customer face to face. Two years in, he has one trusted technician, a part-time office assistant, a 4.9 rating on Google, and a business that, in his words, still runs on him “as if it were day one almost.”

Alan Melton sits down with Brett to talk about what it costs to carry a business, a town, and a fire call at the same time, and what it would take to step back.

What you’ll hear:

• Why Brett built the business to rely on him, on purpose
• The franchise playbook he expected, and the one he had to write himself
• How he keeps running a town and running a business completely separate
• Why being competitive doesn’t mean being cheap
• What freedom looks like for him, and why it’s still a hard question

In the Stage Check, Alan places House Doctors of East Tulsa at Stage 2 (Chaos) in his 7 Stages to Business Freedom framework.

🎙️ ABOUT ALAN MELTON
Alan Melton is the founder of Small Business Coach Associates. He’s spent 24 years coaching 1,100+ business owners on marketing, sales systems, and operational clarity. Credentials: Inc. 500 Founder — #422, East Coast Transportation | SBA Small Business Person of the Year 1994 | Florida Governor’s Sterling Award 1999 | #1 Small Business Coach, Life Coach Magazine 2026 | #1 Business Coach Blog, Feedspot 2026.
Free strategy session: smallbusinesscoach.org

📌 CONNECT WITH BRETT SHAW & HOUSE DOCTORS OF EAST TULSA
🌐 housedoctors.com/east-tulsa
📱 Facebook: House Doctors of East Tulsa
💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brett-shaw-7164b055
📍 Tulsa, Oklahoma

📌 CONNECT WITH ALAN MELTON
🌐 smallbusinesscoach.org
💼 LinkedIn: Alan Melton
📺 YouTube: youtube.com/@BeyondTheOwnersTrap

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
2:25 The first year and what it cost
6:03 “As if it were day one”
12:53 What the franchise gave him, and what it cost
14:35 Mayor and owner: keeping them separate
18:58 Know your value
24:02 What freedom looks like
27:50 Stage Check

#BeyondTheOwnersTrap #HandymanBusiness #FranchiseOwner #TulsaBusiness #HomeServices #SmallBusinessOwner #OwnersTrap

🎧 Also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, and Audible.