If you’ve done some research on franchise opportunities, you probably already know that home services franchises are booming right now. But like any new business venture, the more you know, the better prepared you’ll be to find the franchise opportunity that is the best possible fit. In this Guide, we’ll explore how to find that perfect fit, what to look for in a quality franchise opportunity, and what you can expect from the process of becoming a new franchise business owner.
Advantages of Buying a Home Services Franchise
When compared to other ways of doing business, there are many clear advantages of buying a home services franchise. In our recent post “Why Buy A Home Services Franchise,” we talked about these benefits, which range from lower startup costs and overhead to enhanced flexibility and scalability of the business. These advantages make a home services franchise one of the best investments for anyone looking to start a new business.
How to Identify the Right Home Services Franchise
Within the home services industry, however, there are many different franchise options to choose from. While options are nice, it can sometimes be a challenge to identify which home services franchise is right for you. To help make that process easier, there are a few things you can do now to narrow your search.
Assess your interests. Do you have any experience or interest in a particular aspect of home services? Perhaps you enjoy doing your own home renovations, or get a thrill out of helping people make their homes cleaner and safer. An interest, hobby, or attribute could help you find the right fit for your new business venture.
Do your research. With a few ideas in mind, it’s a good time to do some research on the home services sector. Try to find opportunities that are not only related to your interests, but that also have strong growth potential. If you identify a need in your local community, that could also help guide your decision.
Determine your own goals. Finding the right fit also requires knowing what you want to accomplish with it. Try writing out your personal, financial, and professional goals. Now compare those to the opportunities you found during your research. Then ask: Which seems like the best path to achieving your goals? That might be all you need to make the right decision with confidence.
What Attributes to Look for When Selecting a Home Services Franchise?
Part of choosing the best home service franchise for you is knowing which attributes to look for in a quality franchise opportunity. There are many different kinds of home improvement franchise companies out there, and unfortunately not all of them offer the kind of training, technology, and support that new business owners actually need to succeed. To help weed out the lower-quality offerings, it’s important to look for specific indicators that define the strength and future of the company itself, as well as the success rate of their franchise owners.
Market Strength
An important part of assessing different home services franchise opportunities is looking at both the past and projected future growth of the market. The most successful franchise businesses are those tied to a market sector showing signs of strong growth. The Home Services market, for example, is a $762 billion industry that is expected to exceed 1 trillion by 2027.
One of the biggest sectors driving that growth is a rapid increase in the sale, remodel, and repair of existing homes. In the recent U.S. Home Remodeling market report, service-based businesses reported strong growth, even in the face of recent economic difficulties. Businesses that provide services ranging from home repair, electrical repair, carpet cleaning, air conditioning, handyman services, pest control, plumbing services, and beyond have shown remarkable resilience. More than ever before, people are relying on their homes for a wide range of daily activities, and the strength of the home care services industry shows it.
But more specifically, market indicators point to specific shifts in roofing needs. For example, today’s homeowners are increasingly concerned about creating more energy-efficient homes, giving certain home service businesses a big boost. Roofing, in particular, has benefitted from this shift, as homeowners look for new ways to conserve energy in all areas of their homes. Green roofing options like metal roofing as well as strategic collaborations between governments and utilities have produced new programs focused on improving recycling, weatherization, and direct install initiatives. Supported by rapid technological advancement and upgraded materials, the franchise roofing segment of the home services market is poised to become the innovative solution homeowners are looking for.
As one of the companies best positioned to benefit from this growth, the Storm Guard roofing franchise is working to stay on the front edge of new market developments. For example, demand for metal roofing has never been higher thanks to the way that it reflects about 85% of solar heat. These energy star qualified metal roofs, also known as Cool Roofs, may lower roof temperatures by up to 50%. Homeowners looking to save energy are increasingly turning to roofing professionals like Storm Guard because we offer these and other innovative products.
Track Record
Next to market performance, a home improvement franchise organization’s track record may be one of the most important attributes to examine carefully. To make sure that you are making the best possible investment, it’s important to do your due diligence and look at everything from the officers and directors to the success rate of their franchise owners.
As you explore a franchise opportunity, take care to note how much the organization seems to care about your professional success. Do they conduct themselves in a professional manner? This can give you a strong sense of how your future interactions with them will be, and in what manner they conduct their business. It’s also important to do your best to determine how well the company’s culture and values align with your own. Does the organization have a strong core of beliefs and values, and does everyone you meet appear to work diligently to uphold those values? To achieve your desired level of success, you need to be in line with your franchise organization, not trying to work against them.
In a very real sense, the Storm Guard franchise has experienced such strong growth over the years in part because of the values that the officers, staff, and franchise owners embody. As America’s largest roofing franchise, Storm Guard has a track record that holds up under scrutiny – and that is by design. Storm Guard’s approach has proven to be exceptionally resilient throughout economic recessions. Quality and growth don’t happen by accident; they are a result of hard work and the strong core of values that guide every aspect of our franchise organization.
Opportunities to Upsell
One attribute of a quality franchise business that doesn’t get talked about as much as it should is the opportunity to upsell products and services. The most successful franchise businesses tend to specialize in a particular product or service, and provide customers with a high degree of professionalism and excellence. This is true whether that product or service is related to construction services, cleaning services, junk removal, HVAC repair and replacement, home inspection, or business that provide senior care – and more.
But real growth tends to come from the ability to expand on your business’s core offering and provide your customers with related products or services that they may also need. Homes and businesses alike benefit from the ability to get related products and services from a single source.
For example, Storm Guard specializes in quality, innovative roofing services and products. But we also have secondary products and services that we are able to offer our customers. These products and services, which include window replacement, siding, painting, and more, help to increase the size of individual jobs. In this way, even a small job may become more profitable and help people in more ways than other roofing contractors can do.
Support System
Another important consideration when choosing the right franchise opportunity is the strength of the organization’s support system. Choosing a franchise with a strong support system, one that will help guide you through each aspect of operations, marketing, technology, and service delivery, is key to any franchise owner’s success.
Among home service franchises, Storm Guard offers one of the best support systems around. This is because we understand that supporting our franchise owners is the best way to ensure the continued growth and profitability of not just their business, but the entire company as well.
As part of the Storm Guard family, you can expect to start your franchise business journey with award-winning training, mentorship, and support from a range of business professionals. Our franchise business owners are also encouraged to get to know one another and offer new owners advice and support. We take pride in the satisfaction of our franchise owners, and often solicit feedback on what our franchisees think about the support and training each one receives. This helps us to continually improve and ensure that the support and training we offer is designed to best meet the needs of our franchise owners. These and other aspects are all part of Storm Guard’s support system, a system that has made us one of the fastest growing roofing franchises in the nation.
Financial
Along with the other attributes already discussed, the financial aspects of a quality home services franchise are key to fully understanding your investment. To begin, it’s important to look at critical components such as your expected revenue, initial and ongoing costs, and current and future capital expenses.
In many ways, the amount of revenue your new business will generate will determine the health of your cash flows long term. Revenue, also known as gross sales, is the amount of money you bring in before paying expenses. As a rule, the more ways your business is able to generate revenue, the more likely you are to succeed. With quality core products and services plus opportunities to upsell, this is part of what makes a Storm Guard franchise such a good investment.
Of course, expected revenue is just one piece of the financial puzzle. Costs, both in terms of your initial investment and ongoing operational costs, must also be taken into consideration. Your monthly cash flows will equal your revenue minus your costs, big and small. For example, you may have expenses related to the everyday operation of your franchise business, but also capital expenses (replacing service vehicles, for example) that may come up infrequently. It is not hard to see how a business with lower overhead and operating costs can start generating healthy cash flows faster than other, more operationally expensive franchises. For many, a cleaning franchise is often a top pick for this very reason. But you don’t need to limit your options to that market sector. With Storm Guard, your initial investment will get you started on a franchise business that is streamlined, efficient, and when done well, capable of a high degree of growth and profitability.
Social Responsibility
In today’s society, people increasingly want to do business with companies who are socially responsible. Gone are the days when consumers make purchases based solely on price. Rather, today’s homeowners want to hire professionals who align with their beliefs and values. This is true whether they need home restoration services, janitorial services, care services, or something else. But some franchises still don’t make social responsibility a priority for the organization. For franchise business owners, this makes it imperative to understand what each franchise you are considering is doing to be socially responsible.
Social responsibility starts with the franchise organization’s leadership, and this is one attribute that really sets Storm Guard apart. Our company has a strong commitment to community and to operating with integrity. In fact, one of our core values is “Give Back,” which recognizes that doing business in a community is a two-way street. We encourage our franchise owners to be active contributors to community activities and initiatives, giving back whenever possible. In this way, we strive to grow franchise businesses that are built on a strong foundation of social responsibility.
The Process of Becoming a Home Services Franchise Owner
Once you’ve identified your ideal home services franchise opportunity, it’s time to start the process of becoming a franchise business owner. But before you do, it’s important to know that it is a process: there are a number of steps that all new franchise owners must go through to join a franchise organization, including the Storm Guard family.
To help you go into your new venture fully informed, here is a quick overview of the process to become a home services franchise owner.
- Understand Financial Qualifications & Ongoing Cost & Fees. Your first step is to understand what the financial qualifications are to become a franchise owner and to carefully examine all of the costs and fees associated with your new franchise business. You’ll want to go through the qualification process and make sure that you meet the criteria. Then, identify how much capital you’ll need to get started and where you’ll get it (bank loan, private funds, gift money).
- Review the FDD. Next, contact your franchisor for a copy of their Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD) and an application. You’ll need to submit the application early in the process, so be sure to complete that as soon as you can. It’s also important to go through the Franchise Disclosure Documents carefully, noting any questions you may have.
- Interview Existing Franchisees. Once you have a good idea of what it will take to start and run your new franchise business, your next step is to talk to other franchise owners within the system. This is a critical step, so be sure not to skip it! Existing franchise owners are an essential resource for tips and advice, as well as getting a full picture of what life as a franchise business owner will be like.
- Attend Meet the Team Day. Any reputable home services franchise company will offer prospective franchisees the opportunity to attend Meet the Team Day. And it’s important to do so. Meet the Team Day is an excellent chance to meet with company leaders and support staff in person, as well as learn valuable information about the franchise opportunity that you may not find elsewhere.
- Review the Franchise Agreement. Once your application is approved, you’ve arranged your financing, and you’re ready to sign that contract, it’s important to take enough time to carefully review the Franchise Agreement. This agreement is a legal document and should outline your responsibilities as a franchise business owner. Make sure that you understand every clause in full, and ask questions as needed.
- Attend Corporate Training. Signing your Franchise Agreement may seem like the end of the process, but it’s actually just the beginning of your new venture as a franchise business owner! To be as successful as possible, your first order of business after signing those documents is to attend corporate training. A quality franchise company will offer comprehensive training to all new franchisees, as well as ongoing support to help you open and operate your new business.
After looking at other home services franchise companies, we are confident that you will find a Storm Guard franchise among the best available. To learn more about the Storm Guard franchise opportunity, download our Franchise Opportunity Guide and then visit the Get Started page on our website.
