Jake Welsh
St. Petersburg, Florida
JAN 04, 2022
After 25+ years as a commercial lender and restructuring consultant, Jake Welsh began looking for an opportunity to own his own business. Jake spent the better part of a year looking at existing businesses to purchase. This effort didn’t lead to an immediate purchase opportunity that fit his goals. While talking through his entrepreneurial search with a former colleague, he was advised to attend a franchise expo in Tampa, Florida.
While visiting the Great American Franchise Expo, Jake learned about the Payroll Vault brand and fortunately was able to meet a representative of the Payroll Vault Venice, Florida office owned by Lyndi Wickerson and Stacey Licking. This spurred more conversations during his visit with Marilyn Manning, Director of Franchise Development. After asking questions, attending a Discovery Day with the Corporate Team, and completing his own due diligence, he was fully committed to pursuing his new business venture – payroll services for small businesses.
Jake launched his St. Petersburg, Florida office in July 2021 and began working full-time on the business in September 2021. Hitting the ground running, his goal is to onboard 50 clients by June 30, 2022 and 100 clients by the year’s end. “There are so many factors disrupting small businesses right now that I can’t wait to dig in to help my local small business community,” says Jake. “From assistance programs to reevaluating human resource and workforce management tools, outsourced payroll services are in high demand right now and I don’t see this slowing.”
Although Jake has enjoyed his corporate career, his desire to build a legacy for his family took point. Jake closes with, “I am very thankful to be a part of the Payroll Vault family and a pretty amazing brand, and more importantly, to create an incredible opportunity to build a business for myself and my family.”
When Jake is not strategizing and building his business, he can be found going to the beach to watch sunsets with his family and getting lost in history and historical fiction books.