For Dominic Gentile, every night is Friday night. That's the best description the one-time corporate executive and former Alabama Crimson Tide football player can give to friends and associates who question his decision to become a franchise owner in the commercial cleaning industry.

"People did ask me about that quite often when I first started out," says Gentile, who is now a Jan-Pro International master franchisee with development rights in the Birmingham, AL, territory.

"I would ask them if they could imagine what life would be like if every night were Friday night. That's something most people can relate to, and that's how I feel about my life today. It's that exciting and fulfilling."

Gentile describes his transition from the corporate world into franchise ownership as "a lifestyle story," and at the center of that lifestyle are his wife and their three sons.

"I had spent about 17 years in the corporate world, and over the last 12 of those years I lived in eight different places, including Singapore," he relates. "And I had another move coming up shortly."

Such a peripatetic existence is not unusual for an executive with the type of resume Gentile boasts. He served as vice president of marketing for the household and body care division of an $18 billion company from 2002 to 2004 and was president and chief executive officer of a $20 million privately-held manufacturing company for three years before that.

He spent much of his career with battery giant Duracell, now a division of Gillette Inc., which itself recently merged with Procter & Gamble Co. All told, Gentile witnessed four corporate ownership changes and a successful leveraged buyout with a subsequent public offering during his 12-year stint with Duracell. Through it all he was part of a successful management team that grew sales from $400 million a year to more than $2.8 billion.

With another relocation pending, Gentile stepped back to take a look at his life. His kids, ages 5 through 12, had always adjusted to the moves, but he wanted to provide a more settled life for them. And, he admits, "I was worried about my future in the corporate world."

Gentile's wife is from Huntsville, and they both went to school in Alabama, so that part of the country beckoned. "Relocation to Birmingham was totally a personal decision. Although I had a great career in the corporate world, I felt my kids needed to be nearer to their grandparents as time went on," he says.

"And my wife and I needed to be nearer to be able to care for them as they aged," he adds. "We wanted to put down roots in a community after all those years of moving around so much, and this seemed like the right time and place to do it."

Birmingham is a city with an industrial past and blue-collar roots. "It was the Pittsburgh of the South years ago," Gentile says. "But since then it has transitioned to a more service-based economy. It's become a center for health care and financial services firms, somewhat like Nashville but on a smaller scale. We decided we wanted to be here, and Jan-Pro had a master franchise territory available."

Gentile didn't just plunge headlong into franchise ownership. He did a lot of research and due diligence, availed himself of expert help and resources (including The Franchise Handbook and FranChoice, a leading franchise search assistance firm), and had a backup plan in place-not surprising for an MBA with his impressive record of success in the corporate world.

"I looked at several different options, including a non-franchise startup, a startup with an established franchise company and buying an existing company," he recalls. "I quickly eliminated the first one. I thought about buying some brands from a previous employer but decided that was not the way to go, and I didn't have any brilliant ideas of my own."

He looked at some existing companies but got no real good feelings from any of them. He began looking at the world of franchising, and at least initially, his reaction wasn't much more sanguine. "There wasn't a ton of opportunities I could say I was excited about," he remembers.

Gentile says he arrived at his decision to become a Jan-Pro franchisee "through the back door." Someone gave him a copy of The Franchise Handbook, he had a number of conversations with former professors from his business school days, he got in touch with FranChoice, and he continued to do research on the Internet.

"My research was broad-based, looking at things such as industry size, growth prospects, etc. And then I came across commercial cleaning and, eventually, Jan-Pro," Gentile recalls. "There were several factors that ultimately swayed me to choose this particular franchise. No. 1 was Jan-Pro's successful track record, closely followed by the company"s culture. The clear opportunity for additional growth was also important."

Based on his own experience, Gentile believes there are two separate but related aspects to a franchise search, and that prospective franchisees need to take both into consideration to have the greatest chance of success.

The objective aspect of the search is that you need to make sure the franchise you are considering is a legitimate business opportunity, and that it will allow you to meet your financial goals, whatever they may happen to be, he says.

"The subjective piece-and this is what I like the most-is that you have to make sure there is a good cultural fit, and that the franchisor is the kind of company and has the kind of people you want to work with," Gentile stresses.

"(Jan-Pro chairman) Jack LaPointe and his people are good people. I have no doubt they would be on a plane to help me if I needed help," he adds. "They are good, family people, and that was important to me. Since I was leaving the corporate world, I didn't want to find myself back in the same kind of environment. I was looking for something with a greater sense of personal involvement, and I've found it."

Many successful franchisees benefit from marshalling the strengths derived from previous experiences throughout their lives, and that's been the case for Gentile. To be sure, his extensive background in the corporate world has been helpful, but the time he spent as a college football player for "Bam's Crimson Tide turned out to be invaluable.

"I don't think I could have made this move in my life without having had that experience," Gentile says. 'That entire experience showed me that succeeding in anything you do is about mental toughness. I was prepared both mentally and financially. Under no circumstances was I willing to accept failure as an option."

Of course, not too many people can list participation in one of the nation's top collegiate football programs among their assets, but most everyone has some talent, capabilities, skills, etc. related to earlier life experiences. Such experiences can be as valuable to other prospective franchisees as Gentile's has been to him.

That's not to say becoming a business owner, even with the support of a solid franchise organization behind you, is likely to be a bed of roses. For Gentile, one of the toughest adjustments has been the loss of some the amenities to which he'd become accustomed in the corporate world.

"It's the little things that I was only vaguely aware of because there were always other people taking care of them for me," he recounts. "I've had secretaries my entire working life. When you start your own business, you don't have your secretary call "the computer guy" when there's a problem with your computer. You are the computer guy-and the copy machine fixer and all those other little things that drive me crazy."

When all is said and done, though, Gentile has no regrets, and he's sure he made the right decision. His business plan calls for him to build out the Birmingham area and then expand to as yet unnamed markets. "We have units up and running, and we are dead-on with our plan, which calls for 35 unit franchises and 100-plus customers," he reports.

What Gentile likes most about being a franchisee is that there is a system in place for him to follow. "You don't have to recreate the wheel every day, but there is enough leeway to do your own thing," he says. "You're in business for yourself, but not by yourself."

His advice to prospective franchisees is to make sure you have the fundamental skill sets you need for success as a business owner, and that the franchisor you pick will give you even more time after you write the check than he did before.

"I was nervous after I wrote the check that they would treat me differently," he admits. "It's similar to the feeling you get as a new employee. But the level of support I get from my franchisor is nothing short of phenomenal."

Asked if would do anything differently if he had to do it all over again, Gentile says there's only one thing he would change: "I would have done it sooner."

And that's just the answer you'd expect from someone for whom "every night is Friday night."