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If you want to understand franchising, ask Charles Bonfiglio. He’s seen it from an unusually large number of angles.
First he became an area developer for Meineke in 1983, developing and owning six locations. Then he purchased a brand called Tint World, which specialized in automotive accessories and window tinting, and started franchising it in 2007. He grew it from six to 150 locations, which teed up his final act: a successful exit. He sold a stake of Tint World to Susquehanna Growth Equity in 2025, and has stayed on as CEO.
Now, even though he’s in his 60s, Bonfiglio believes there’s so much more to do. Susquehanna has surrounded him with an experienced executive team, and they see lots of growth ahead. “With these people they helped me bring in,” Bonfiglio says, “I realized that I’m just getting started.”
Here, he shares what he’s learned about growing a company, and finding the right financial partner for the next chapter.
Some of your success with Tint World has included government contracts, like tinting windows for police cars. How did you get into that business?
When I started to open up bigger Meineke centers, they were costing more than the average Meineke. I had to go to all these meetings with the cities to get approvals. They started to know me. So I’d go to the Department of Labor and say, “Let me do your cars.” I’d give a deal to all the teachers in the teachers’ union.
How did you get involved with Susquehanna Growth Equity?
Up through 2024, I had all these private equity people knocking on my door, and I said, “I’m not selling this unless I have a health issue or my son doesn’t want to work with me or there’s a downturn in the market.” But then that year [2024], my son, who was at Emory business school, said, “I know you want to do it all yourself, but Mom wants a break.” He’s my son, and he cares about us, and he’s smart.
We ended up with 142 private equity firms interested in Tint World. We narrowed it down, and on July 4, 2025, I got the Susquehanna offer. They really listened to what I wanted.
That sounds fast to close a deal of that nature.
I happen to be a very diligent person. I am careful with my folders, my subfolders, my naming conventions. I keep everything very organized. When I went through the due diligence process, I was so proud to give them all this great stuff. Boxwood Partners, which was my adviser, said that out of all the companies they ever sold, nobody had ever been more detailed. It cut the process down by months.
Looking back, what helped you get Tint World to where it is today?
What I focused on in the first 10 years was building the system and the business process. I had to make a model where someone with less knowledge than me could come in and operate the system. After that, the brand identity — the interior of the store, the website, and the social media marketing. And then the right tech stack. Marketing without technology doesn’t work. You have to be able to market to people, remarket to them — I learned all of this at Meineke.
When I was a franchisee, they used to spend 65% of our advertising fund on the brand and 35% on local stores. I flipped it around. Only 20% is brand awareness. The other 80% is direct-marketing leads for franchisees. Because as we grow the business, the brand awareness will grow.
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