GROWTH SPURT
Demand is steadily increasing for home services
T
by Jerry Rieder, Certified Franchise Consultant
here are more than 140 million housing units in the United States. That means a lot of roofs, sinks, paint, toilets, furnaces, and other items that require maintenance— plus constant demand for high-quality home repairs and home-services franchises. Estimates for the total financial impact of the home services industry vary from $400 billion to $800 billion annually. However, all industry observers confirm that the industry is growing again at a noticeably substantial rate. The U.S. Department of Labor projects the general home services and maintenance segment of the franchising industry and related need for workers will rise faster than the average segment through 2021.
60
FranchiseDictionaryMagazine.com
Why is the home-services market growing at such a significant pace? One overriding factor is that more American homeowners have the resources to pay others to do tasks and chores for them. According to an ABC News report, “not only are Americans working longer hours than at any time since statistics have been kept, but now they are also working longer than anyone else in the industrialized world. And while workers in other countries have been seeing their hours cut back by legislation focused on preventing work from infringing on private life, Americans have been going in the other direction.” Another significant aspect of industry growth has been referred to as “aging
