TruBlue House Care offers everything from cleaning services and handyman repairs to yard work and special projects for busy homeowners and seniors. We recently checked in with Brian Rowland, owner of a TruBlue House Care franchise in Virginia Beach, Va. to learn how he navigated the franchising process. Here's what he had to say: When did you open for business? Were you ever a business owner prior to owning your franchise? What made you want to become a business owner? Did you seek out a specific franchise or research several before making your decision? How did you find this particular opportunity and what compelled you to ultimately purchase it? Did you have prior experience working in the same industry? Did you speak with other current franchisees about their experiences before making your
decision? What was your experience like working with the franchisor during the decision making process? How would you rate the training and support offered by the franchisor?
Did you employ the services of an accountant and/or franchise attorney and if so, how important were they in the decision making process? I wish I would've used the franchisor's accountant. I used one who might have been a little bit cheaper, but in the long run in just caused a big headache. What is the best part about being a franchise owner? I use this analogy. A baseball player goes to pitch or goes to swing and gets into slump. The franchise thing - what I liked about is if you go into a slump you can go to your coach and they can advise you on what might be causing the slump. They have invested interest, but they're not telling you how to run business. The handyman industry has no college, no industry, no specific way to do repairs. The cool thing about that is, with this franchise it leaves a lot of room for creativity to figure out how you want to do things with the safety net of the franchise. What has been the most difficult aspect of owning a franchise? What advice do you have for someone thinking about purchasing a franchise? What was the most important step during the exploration process in your opinion? Return on investment was a big one for me. A lot of time with lower-cost franchises, a lot of people don't have a ton of money to drop into investing. I wanted to make sure that if I was going to take the risk of incurring debt, that I was going to have a reasonable time making a return on the investment. I can't live off it yet, but I'm profitable. Looking back, is there anything about the exploration process you wish you had done differently? Is there anything else you would you like to tell us about your experience becoming a franchise owner? Are you ready to turn your skills into a business? Search Franchise Gator's comprehensive list of franchises for sale in every industry. |