FBR Emerging Franchises 2015

SPECIAL REPORT: Emerging Franchises
Newer Can Be Better
A Look at the Strongest Up-and-Coming Franchise Brands
There are a variety of reasons people seeking
to be self-employed purchase a franchise
instead of creating a business from scratch.
The primary one is that franchises tend to
have a higher success rate than start-ups do
because they offer a blueprint for success—
proven systems and ongoing support.
“After working on Wall Street for 23 years,
I had the opportunity to accept a severance
package. I had seen too many Wall Street guys
in transition waiting around for another job,
often for a long time, and knew I wanted
to have my own business. A career coach said
that starting one from scratch fails 90% of the
time and that franchises had a much higher
success rate because of the support structure.
He gave me four franchises to look at. I threw
out two immediately and went to the discovery
day for the other two. When I met the CEO of
101 Mobility, I knew it was the franchise for
me for several reasons. With 10,000 people a
day turning 65 the marketplace is huge, the
size of the territories and price point really
appealed to me, and I’d be able to give back
to people who are facing desperate times,” says
John Michielini, who opened his 101 Mobility
franchise in August of 2013 in his New
York territory.
“At first I thought I’d add a mosquito and
pest control division to my existing lawn care
business, Southern Lawn,” says Steve Clark,
who purchased his Tennessee based Mosquito
Joe franchise in January 2014. “I’m glad I didn’t
because it took me eight years to reach $250
thousand in sales with Southern Lawn and we
plan to hit that same figure with Mosquito Joe
this year. It’s clear that Mosquito Joe’s existing
systems trump me trying to figure out what to
do on my own. In fact, I’m now applying them
to Southern Lawn.”
“It’s a lot of work to have a franchise, but
it would have been even more work if we tried
to create a similar business on our own and
it would have cost more, since the tools and
infrastructure wouldn’t be there for us,” says
Judy and Reed Alewel, owners of Pinot’s Palette in Las Vegas, at their Phantom of the Opera themed event.
Franchises tend to have a higher success rate
than start-ups do because they offer a blueprint
for success.
Pinot’s Palette franchisee, Reed Alewel. He
and his wife, Judy, left well-paying corporate
jobs to open their two franchise locations in
the Las Vegas metropolitan area.
ESTABLISHED VS. EMERGING FRANCHISES:
THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM
Franchisees that invest in a newer concept
tend to be less risk averse than those who are
only interested in franchises that have been
around longer. They often see opportunity
where others see risk and have confidence in
themselves and their ability to make things
work within a franchise system that may
still be working out its kinks. The potentially
greater risk franchisees of emerging franchise
concepts take on is often offset by their ability
to obtain larger territories and more locations
for lower fees than those who come on board
later.
“Franchisees who invest in an emerging
franchise get in on the ground floor, pay lower
start-up costs and are part of creating the
brand model,” says Amy Wasney, Director of
Operations at Men In Kilts Window Cleaning.
“As an emerging franchise we need to
ensure that not one franchisee falls by the
wayside. We do so by listening to our franchisees
input and ideas for better growth.
Once a franchise system gets larger, these
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