b us i n e s s s e r v i c e s fr a n c hi s i n g fe at u r e
FOCUS: YourHomeHub
Why service franchises will continue to surge
in 2022
Kathleen Kuhn has more than 35 years of experience in real estate and home services, with an emphasis on franchising. She joined MooveGuru in 2021 to expand the company’s consumer services and help launch the YourHomeHub franchise offering. In October 2021, Kathleen was named President of MooveGuru, the first female president in the company’s history. Learn more at YourHomeHub.com. know some of the market trends. Based on my experience in this industry and current vantage point, here are several trends to be on the lookout for in the year ahead.
A rise in tech-focused franchising opportunities The franchise industry as a whole witnessed some of its most substantial growth in a long while in 2021, fueled by an economy rebounding from the initial shock of the COVID19 pandemic and a growing number of professionals making life-changing decisions to make a professional change. Career moves were quite common in 2021—we all read and heard the news stories of the Great Resignation taking place every month in the U.S. as millions of people left their jobs for greener pastures elsewhere. A similar trend ensued in other parts of the world. The mass exodus went beyond switching jobs; tens of thousands chose to become business owners and invested in a franchise 30 Franchising MAGAZINE USA
concept. Service franchises, particularly in the home services sector saw solid growth. This expansion is no surprise. From a business perspective the appeal of a service franchise has been elevated due to the pandemic. Quick serve restaurants and many other brick and mortar businesses continue to struggle more so than service sector. And our homes have become more critical over the past few years, in part because we’ve spent more time at home during economic shutdowns, remote learning and a shift to working from home. Besides that, the real estate market has been on fire in many parts of the U.S. National home prices increased by nearly 20% in 2021 compared to 2020. Some markets like Phoenix and Boise, Idaho, were significantly higher. If you’re a home services franchise owner or looking to invest in one, you want to
Technology, as it has done in every other industry, has significantly changed how franchising works. Franchise systems can manage their entire brand on a single dashboard; franchise owners can do the same with their units’ marketing, sales, and operations. Taking that a step further, there’s a future where more and more franchise brands are tech-first in their actual model, not just the way they operate on the backend. Take, for example, what we’re doing at MooveGuru: We have launched YourHomeHub. This “everything home” tech hub allows homeowners to manage both the home’s financial details and physical elements. From real estate agents to mortgage officers to savvy marketers or sales experts who want a work-from-home business, franchise owners operate the tech-first franchise, selling their services to real estate agents who provide it for free
