Ann Benes on 14 Years Running Fibrenew in Lincoln, Nebraska

This Fibrenew franchisee profile features Ann Benes, who has owned and operated the Fibrenew Lincoln franchise for 14 years. Benes describes a business anchored in residential furniture work — the bulk of her revenue — supplemented by warranty work and a smaller automotive segment that includes a few car lots looking for higher-quality repairs than their usual provider can deliver. Benes walks through how she built the customer base from the beginning: the furniture industry was the entry point that opened the door for the rest of the business, with referrals and word of mouth doing much of the long-term lift. The video also acknowledges how much of today's lead flow now comes from search and the website — 'everybody googles anything they want anymore.' The lifestyle case is the emotional center of the video. Benes describes building her day around her kids' school and ball game schedules, pairing her customer work with a weekly business networking group, and handling phone calls and emails in the afternoon. She returns repeatedly to the freedom Fibrenew gives her family as the original draw, and the family-oriented culture as what has kept her with the brand for 14 years. She also speaks directly to other women considering the business, framing Fibrenew as a non-traditional but very accessible role — she describes feeling consistently treated as a peer by other franchisees and notes that more women are now taking ownership in the system. This watch page is part of the Fibrenew US content series on Franchise Direct.