Every entrepreneur faces crossroads. Tom Potter, founder of Eagle Boys Pizza, and Damien Boehm, founder of Urban Clean, both prove that adversity and disruption can spark extraordinary opportunities. Tom pivoted from football to food, turning setbacks into a national pizza chain. Damien pivoted from frustration with the cleaning industry into building one of Australia’s fastest‑growing franchise networks. Their journeys show that resilience, adaptability, and the courage to be a disruptor are the keys to building businesses that last.
Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
Tom Potter’s advice for productivity is timeless: get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Tackling the hardest tasks first builds momentum and prevents procrastination. For Urban Clean franchisees, this means facing challenges head‑on — whether it’s winning contracts, managing staff, or delivering consistent quality.
Tom Potter: Pivoting from Setback to Success
Tom’s story began with a tough choice: walking away from professional football. What seemed like a loss became a blessing, freeing him to pursue his passion for food. After designing a home‑delivered pizza model that worked in Melbourne and Adelaide but failed in Sydney, Tom faced indifference from his boss. Instead of quitting, he pivoted.
Inspired by his mother’s idea, he created Eagle Boys Pizza — Australia’s first regional home‑delivered pizza chain. He spent six months designing the model, sleeping on his mother’s garage floor, borrowing an old Mazda, and pitching to banks. Nine months later, he opened his first store.
His lesson? Adversity is not the end, it’s the beginning of innovation.
Damien Boehm: Disrupting an Industry with Urban Clean
Damien’s journey mirrors that resilience. He saw that commercial cleaning was inconsistent, undervalued, and often poorly managed. Instead of accepting the status quo, he pivoted from frustration into action. He built Urban Clean around systems, accountability, and training — disrupting the industry and creating a scalable franchise model.
Damien shares this philosophy in his book Clean Up With Franchising, where he explains how he built more than 100 franchises in six years without cleaning a single office himself. The book outlines how proven systems, master franchising, and residual income models can empower everyday entrepreneurs to scale quickly and confidently.
His lesson? Thriving through adversity means turning challenges into opportunities for growth.
Lesson: It’s OK to Be the Disruptor
Both Tom and Damien prove that disruption is not only acceptable — it’s essential. Friends or family may sometimes advise against taking risks or pursuing unconventional opportunities. But true entrepreneurs know that listening to proven systems, not fear, is the path forward.
Urban Clean franchisees aren’t just joining a business; they’re joining a movement that challenges the old way of doing things. By trusting the system, embracing disruption, and refusing to quit, franchisees can build businesses that thrive even when others doubt them.
Proven Systems Beat Guesswork
Tom succeeded by designing a repeatable model. Damien succeeded by building a scalable franchise system. Urban Clean gives franchisees the same advantage: a proven framework that reduces risk, accelerates growth, and ensures consistent quality across industries.
A Boss Mindset: Refusing to Quit
Tom slept on his mother’s garage floor and borrowed an old Mazda to pitch his ideas. Damien built Urban Clean from scratch, challenging industry norms. Both stories show a boss mindset: refusing to quit, refusing to accept defeat, and finding a way forward no matter the obstacles.
5 Key Takeaways for Franchisees
- Get comfortable with being uncomfortable — tackle the hardest tasks first.
- Pivot when adversity strikes — setbacks are opportunities in disguise.
- Be the disruptor — don’t let doubt stop you from innovating.
- Trust proven systems — as Damien explains in Clean Up With Franchising, success comes faster when you follow a model that works.
- Adopt a boss mindset — resilience and persistence are the foundation of growth.
Conclusion: Your Pivot Starts Here
Tom Potter’s resilience and Damien Boehm’s vision prove that adversity and disruption can lead to extraordinary success. If other ventures haven’t worked out, commercial cleaning could be your pivot point.
If You’re Tired of Chasing Cleaners — We’re Here
If you’re a business owner who’s had enough of the stress, the follow-ups, and the uncertainty, we’re here to help. Urban Clean delivers reliable, consistent, high-quality cleaning — without the frustration. Let us take it off your plate so you can get back to running your business. Let us handle the cleaning and take it off your to-do list — just click here!
And if you’re someone who’s ready to take ownership of your future, we’d love to talk. Whether you’re looking for a flexible income or ready to build a business that scales, our cleaning franchise model gives you the tools, training, and support to succeed. Click here to connect with us.
