Hitting a Home Run

HITTING A Home Run

Home-service franchises are all-stars for recession resistance and flexibility

by The Franchise Dictionary Magazine Team

No matter the economic climate, home services are always in demand. While some brands work to beautify homes, others provide necessary—and even emergency—services.

If you're a homeowner, you probably know how impossible it can seem just to get a contractor to show up at your house. Even getting one to return your calls can be a struggle. Franchising is changing all that and professionalizing the industry by having systems in place—and taking administrative tasks off of businessowners’ plates—so they can focus on the job at hand. Translation: happy customers.

Most of these businesses offer low cost of entry and quick startups. They can be scaled easily and many can be run from home. Sound good? On the following pages, we look at several all-star brands that are making life easier for homeowners and creating opportunities for investors. You might never have considered a home-service franchise, but when you examine their merits, you’ll agree that most of them knock it out of the park.

B.O.R. Restoration & Bio-One

YOU MIGHT THINK THAT OWNING TWO HOME-SERVICE FRANCHISE brands would be a conflict of interest, but for Nick Zamucen, it made good business sense. In fact, Zamucen launched Best Option Restoration (B.O.R.) as a complement to his first franchise offering, Bio-One, a biohazard and decontamination service. “After getting repeated inquiries for restoration services, I decided to explore the options and saw an opportunity. There’s a lot of synergy between the two businesses. It just made sense,” he says.

While Bio-One provides cleanup services for hoarding and in response to events like murders and suicides, B.O.R. helps customers who are victims of water and fire damage. “Both companies offer different specialty services, but both are in the business of helping people in a time of need,” Zamucen says.

Zamucen hired Jason O’Brien as CEO to run Bio-One so he could focus on B.O.R. “Jason started out as a franchise consultant who knew my brand inside out. It was a perfect fit. Now we have a healthy rivalry, which really isn’t a rivalry at all. I wanted to hire someone who was as passionate and motivated as I was to take over. Someone who could beat me at my own business,” Zamucen jokes.

Investors can start with either brand and have the option to add the other at a reduced fee when they are ready. “For franchisees, adding on is a great way to keep staff busy steadily and have backup support when needed. You just never know when a disaster is going to strike,” Zamucen says. “You can’t predict it, but the model solves that problem.” Working together as two separate companies allows for shared leads, cross-training of employees, and cross-marketing. “It’s a win-win,” he says.

Franchisees don’t require any restoration background but should be passionate about helping others and have a desire to make a difference while building a business. “Find me a person who wants to be successful, and we can teach them the rest,” Zamucen says.

For more information, visit www.BORestoration.com or call 720-204-2095.

The two companies offer different, complementary services that help people clean up after tragedies.

Renew Crew

WEATHER TAKES A TOLL ON EVERY OUTDOOR SURFACE, FROM residential and commercial buildings to fences and sidewalks. When it’s time for a refresh, Renew Crew™ has advantages over typical power washing. The company’s gentle but thorough process starts with a presoak using an environmentally friendly proprietary foam and ends with a protective finish—also eco-friendly—that retains the bright, clean look a long time.

Renew Crew began as Wood ReNew in March 1993, when founder Stan Krempges was a partner in a fence business. His customers wanted to keep decks, fences, and other outdoor structures clean and protected; he developed safe products and techniques for doing so. In 2012, Outdoor Living Brands acquired Wood ReNew, quickly rebranding as it added services such as the cleaning and sealing of concrete, pavers, windows, gutters, brickwork, vinyl and fiber-cement siding, stucco, and more.

Franchisees typically operate one of three models: 1. executive, with employees overseeing day-to-day operations; 2. owner/operator, working alongside technicians; and 3. diversifying business owners (such as lawn/landscape companies and fence, deck, and painting contractors) who add the franchise to existing services.

Franchisees need to be personable managers who readily ask for help, especially in the early years, to tap the experience of advisers at company headquarters. “They’re very easygoing,” says Rich Pinckney, a franchisee in Castle Rock, Colorado. “Whenever I have a problem, I can call them and they’re more than happy to help or even send people to me if I get stuck.”

For more information, call 804-206-8686 or visit www.renewcrewfranchise.com.

Kitchen Tune-Up

NOT EVERYONE HAS THE BUDGET OR PATIENCE TO DEAL WITH A MAJOR kitchen overhaul. Often projects go over budget and displace families for weeks or even months at a time. Kitchen Tune Up offers an inexpensive and convenient alternative for people to get a new look in their kitchens (and bathrooms) without the usual hassles and expense. The company was founded in 1988 offering the “original Tune-Up” and over the years added more services, including cabinet refacing, redooring, custom cabinets, storage solutions, and more.

You might think you would need a special contracting background to run this business, but that’s not the case at all. There is no heavy lifting involved either. What is needed is a service-oriented attitude and the ability to manage a team. “We are looking for partners who are self-starters,” says Heidi Morrissey, president. “If you can manage people and tasks, we provide training on all aspects of our business.”

The company offers extensive training, including working with the home office team for the first 12 weeks, plus ongoing webinars and support. “People don’t even believe it when I tell them about the ease and value of this opportunity,” Morrissey says. “Franchisees can run the business out of their homes and grow it at their own pace. We are here for our franchisees every step of the way,” she adds.

For more information, contact franchise@kitchentuneup.com, 800-333-6385, or visit www.ktufranchise.com.

Kitchen Tune-Up offers an inexpensive and convenient alternative for people to get a new look in their kitchens without the usual hassles and expense. Shown here are before (top) and after (above) shots from a job the company did.

NextGen Great Sealcoating

TIM SMELTZ’S PATH TO A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS UNEXPECTEDLY STARTED AT home. “I was on my driveway noticing how white it was. It was oxidizing and needed seal-coating,” Smeltz explains. Seal-coating, a relatively inexpensive process, prevents water from seeping through asphalt into a foundation, which could be a costly disaster down the road. But finding a service provider turned out to be no easy feat for Smeltz. He found only one company in his area, and “they didn’t even return my calls.” So Smeltz decided to do it himself. The lack of local options led him to establish NextGen Great Sealcoating™, a family-owned, family-operated business based in New Jersey.

Smeltz didn’t stop there. When he entered the marketplace in 2005, there were no environmentally friendly product options, which led him to partner in the creation of the proprietary formula ECOAMIGO™, a safer asphalt sealer that is just as effective and long-lasting as traditional products, Smeltz says. In addition to being non-carcinogenic, it is also friendly to the bottom line. “There is no discernible difference in costs,” Smeltz says.

Smeltz expanded NextGen Great Sealcoating into a franchise offering just last year across a region made up of New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York. Smeltz says his company provides franchisees with several advantages, including a call center to handle all customer inquiries, from scheduling estimates to processing credit card payments. “And we offer huge territories compared to most franchises,” he says.

NextGen Great Sealcoating also offers recurring income because the service needs to be performed every two to four years. “We equate it to an oil change on your car. It’s regular maintenance,” Smeltz says. “We continue to build upon our existing customers.”

For more information, call NextGen Great Sealcoating at 888-201- 6109 or visit www.greatsealcoating.com.

Tim Smeltz

PuroClean®

WHEN A HOME OR BUSINESS EXPERIENCES WATER, FIRE, MOLD OR biohazard damage, the owner will always want a trustworthy company to take care of cleanup and restoration. A speedy, safe return to life as usual is the tip-top priority. And that’s why clients turn their troubles over to PuroClean, with its array of property damage restoration services.

Founded in 1991, PuroClean labels its franchise opportunities “low-risk, high-reward.” Translation: 1. an inexpensive buy-in plus steady demand ($190 billion in the U.S. during non-hurricane years) and 2. threefold satisfaction: healthy income, a feel-good career, and grateful clients who make many referrals. PuroClean works with national insurance carriers to support franchise owners and their customers. The company’s high-tech tools help franchise owners update customers in real time, keep a job diary, take moisture readings, handle cost-effective claims management, automate billing, and more. PuroClean is looking for motivated franchise owners who possess sales and customer service skills, management experience, and compassion. Three weeks of training, much of it hands-on, at the PuroClean Academy trains franchise owners to prepare estimates, dry out buildings, remove mold, eliminate odors and much more.

Field training is offered at each franchise owner’s location, and a regional director is available 24/7/365 to assist franchise owners.

Franchises can be home-based, and PuroClean can steer prospective franchise owners toward lenders. Military veterans are eligible for discounts.

For more information, visit www.PuroCleanFranchise.com.

Conserva Irrigation

EVERYBODY WHO HAS A LAWN OR LANDSCAPE WANTS IT TO LOOK NICE, but nobody wants to squander water and money doing so. Enter Conserva® Irrigation, which appeals to residential and commercial customers from the standpoints of environmental and fiscal responsibility. Conserva is the brainchild of Russ Jundt, who started the company in Minneapolis in 2011. “I come from the land of 10,000 lakes. We love our water,” says the Minnesota native. In 2010, an irrigation show opened Jundt’s eyes. He saw that “smart irrigation” was coming on the scene, and he wanted to be part of it. The efficient nozzles and technology used to adjust sprinkler-running times made sense to him.

Conserva is a great stand-alone franchise but also can provide an excellent complement to businesses that do snow-clearing and landscape maintenance, for instance. Not just a residential service, Conserva Irrigation has national accounts with large companies like Target, and franchisees get to step right into those established contracts.

The franchise offers quick start-up, low entry costs, multiple revenue streams (installation, repairs, winterizing, irrigation equipment upgrades such as moisture sensors), and excellent corporate support, from initial training to follow-up troubleshooting. Another benefit: Conserva partners with TORO® and SiteOne™ Landscape Supply for great pricing on parts.

Franchisees, who don’t need prior experience in irrigation, find the work rewarding in many ways. “Not only are we going to be able to save them money in irrigation costs, but we’re going to be able to save the finite resource that we all share, which is our fresh water,” says Dean Ives, a franchisee in the Richmond, Virginia, area. “I think that’s important. It’s what makes the model.”

For more information, visit www.irrigationfranchise.com or call 804-206-8623.