Built to run: how one franchise owner found the human resources (HR) foundation to grow without the guesswork

Scaling smart: a franchise owner’s HR foundation for what’s next

Remington Riccolo is no stranger to growth. He launched RP Notingmer LLC as an Ace Handyman Services franchisee in April 2025, opening a single location in Morris, Illinois, while still working full time. The company serves homeowners and businesses across the region, handling jobs that range from hanging pictures to remodeling kitchens.

For Riccolo, the work has always been about more than the projects themselves. “My goal of starting this was to help homeowners and businesses with giving them good – honest service,” Riccolo says. That commitment to honest, dependable service became the foundation his business was built on.

By the beginning of 2026, that foundation was ready to expand. Riccolo acquired a second territory and folded it into his operation. Each Ace Handyman franchise runs as its own independent business, managing its own payroll, human resources (HR) and employees. With no corporate HR team to fall back on, every people decision landed squarely on him.

Scaling quickly with a small team brings a particular kind of pressure. It is exactly the stage when early HR gaps become costly, and exactly the moment Riccolo knew he needed the right systems in place.

Recognizing the need for systems before the team grew

As Riccolo took on more staff with the second acquisition, the limitations of his existing approach became clear. His previous HR and payroll provider had been workable for a handful of employees, but it was not built for where the business was heading.

The turning point came during a conversation with his office manager. “We really need to make sure we have the right HR systems and HR processes in place as we grow,” Riccolo recalls telling her. “Because if we don’t get them in now, it’s going to be too late once we hit fifteen, twenty, thirty employees and the kinks still aren’t worked out.”

Employee documentation was a particular pain point. Records lived on paper, and important steps slipped through. “Before working with Insperity, one of our biggest challenges was just maintaining and keeping records of all employee data,” he says. That included credit card policies, handbooks, procedures and I-9 verification. “We just kind of had it all on paper, and sometimes would forget to get somebody to sign that we were then trying to chase them down and it’s a week later.”

In a service business where hiring often happens under pressure, those gaps were easy to create and difficult to close. “You’re always in a rush to hire folks and get them going, and you tend to miss key components when you’re in that process,” Riccolo explains. He knew the issue would only compound as the team scaled.

Choosing a one-stop shop over a basic payroll tool

Riccolo had options, from preferred vendors to a familiar prior provider, but he knew familiar was not the same as right.

What set his search apart was clarity about what he actually needed. The more he learned about Insperity, the more it lined up with that vision. As he worked through what the Insperity HRCore solution could do, the picture came into focus. “We really went through everything that Insperity does, and I was like, this is what I need,” Riccolo says. “I need a one-stop shop.”

The deciding factor was a combination of capability and service. He did not want to juggle separate systems for employee onboarding, human resources (HR) and reporting. “I don’t want to have to have five different systems that I need to log into to hire someone, to have HR, to track things,” he says. “I felt like it was a very robust system, and as a business owner, that is huge to me.”

Just as important was the confidence that support would be there when he needed it. The thoroughness of the Insperity HRCore platform, paired with the depth of support he could count on, stood out as the difference maker. He was not simply selecting software. He was choosing a long-term resource for a growing business.

A system that gives time back

The Insperity HRCore solution is designed for exactly this kind of owner: a leader who wants control and capability without managing every detail alone. It combines a comprehensive human capital management platform with guided onboarding, responsive service and clear pricing. For Riccolo, the impact showed up first in onboarding.

Instead of chasing down paperwork, he could load everything a new hire needed into one place. “We can preload all of your handbook, your credit card policies, your disciplinary policies, everything into one thing,” he says. “It’s all on the potential employee. It’s not on me to have to chase them down for things. If they don’t complete this, they’re not onboarded. I just go in, verify it and they’re good to go.”

That shift returned real hours to his week. Where his office manager once spent time tracking down signatures and driver’s licenses, the process became clean and self-contained. “Now with Insperity, I can just, it’s all in there and it’s one and done. I’ve gotten multiple hours of my time back throughout the hiring process.”

The platform’s depth made the difference stick. “Everything is very intuitive on the platform,” Riccolo says. “It’s super simple to get folks onboarded. It’s super simple to pull reports, to look at past data.” For an owner balancing marketing, jobs and customers, that ease of operation matters.

When support proved its value

The true measure of any working relationship emerges when something goes wrong. For Riccolo,  the experience demonstrated the value of having support available when payroll questions arose.

“I log in and I’m looking, and everything looks to be set up. So I emailed the service team,” Riccolo says. The response was immediate. “Within like twenty minutes I had a response from the team. And it’s not just one person, it’s a couple different folks. The whole thing was resolved within like an hour. There was no lag between responses. Everybody was there to help.”

For Riccolo, the moment confirmed his decision. “That was just like, this is why I went with you guys, because I felt like this is what I was gonna get, and it’s exactly what I got, was the support,” he says. He understands what is at stake when a paycheck is involved. “When it comes to folks’ paycheck, they want it, and I want to get it to them. I don’t think anybody should have to go without because of something that got screwed up.”

Results that free him to focus on growth

The before-and-after for Riccolo’s business is clear. Onboarding that once meant scattered paperwork and missed signatures now runs in one place. Payroll questions that might have lingered get resolved quickly. Onboarding, records and payroll-related questions became easier for Riccolo to manage through a centralized platform and available support.

What he values most is the confidence that comes with it. “I feel comfortable that my time is free from having any issues with payroll,” he says. “If there’s an issue, it will be resolved quickly. There’s never any doubt that I’m not gonna be waiting hours or days to get something resolved, and that’s extreme comfort as a small business owner.”

That peace of mind came from having a more organized system for employee information, onboarding and payroll-related tasks. “We have so many things going on between marketing, between jobs, between dealing with customers,” Riccolo says. “The last thing we want to do is worry about, are my guys gonna get paid, or is everybody set up correctly in the system. It’s total peace of mind.”

He is equally direct about the people behind the platform. “The Business Solution Advisor has been fantastic from day one. Never felt like he was trying to get a quick sale,” Riccolo says. “The whole onboarding team was absolutely amazing. Every call we had was valuable. Everything had purpose.”

The road ahead: scaling without the guesswork

With streamlined onboarding, a centralized HR system and a responsive team behind him, Riccolo has the foundation to keep growing, potentially across additional territories. The decision to put systems in place before reaching 15 or 20 employees has already paid off, and the relationship is built to scale right alongside the business.

For fellow franchise owners weighing their options, his advice is straightforward. “If you’re thinking of working with Insperity, I wouldn’t think very long about it,” Riccolo says. “As a business owner, time is money, time is valuable, and to know that when you see a call from Insperity, it’s a worthwhile conversation to have.”

His takeaway speaks directly to anyone building a service business from the ground up: the right HR support does not slow you down. It gives you the structure to move faster.

If you’re launching your first location, schedule a complimentary consultation with an Insperity HRCore Business Solution Advisor, and let’s explore how Insperity can support your next chapter of growth.