Franchise owners Us lawns/grounds guys

[ACA L&L]

I have been in the lawn care industry for about 15 or so years.
Ive recentlky been offered the oppurtunity to fly out to Orlando and learn more about being a franchise owner for Us lawns. I was hoping to get sme feedback frm some franchise owners out there. Good and bad and things that i may not be expecting. I like the Us lawns brand, vs the Grounds Guys.(and we have grounds guys here already). I understand you get alot training to go out bid propertys to make money, on the other hand how did the process go for you in the begining? What would you have done diffrent?

[grandview (2006)]

Need minimum 100k to start.Franchise fee I think was 3% a year plus an advertising fee also. You must have all whit trucks too/

[ACA L&L]

franchise fees, minimum cash on hand, trucks are all taken care of as far as that goes. I was very skeptical at first. The franchise fee was the main thing for me, I did not see a benfit of dropping a bunch of cash on the table, and they hand me a book. But after speaking with the US Lwns rep for the last month, I really like what Im hearing. Ive been stuck at the same gross income give or take 20k a year for the last 5 years. I just cant seem to break into that ever elusive moment where you sit back and say to yourself, this is what its all about.

[ACA L&L]

franchise fee is 3%
max advertising fee a month is $275 includes with no cap on materials used.

[grandview (2006)]

How big of an area are they giving you? Around here I don't even think we have any.

[ACA L&L]

the entire city, and a few neighboring countys
all are within 25-30 miles distance.

[BaxtersEssentialLawnCare]

I cant speak for being an owner but I can give a little light on the work i've seen. Just bid a prop us lawns had. They were fired b/c of poor performance. I spent sometime with the maint mgnr he flat out said they were awful. I've seen the work and agree. Mulching leaves of turf till they are so thick you can't see grass. Bid calls for mulch @ 3" they were lucky if it was 1.5. Fert/weeds in bid haven't been done at all. Seperate lot to be brushhogged nothing. List goes on. Long story short they were canned but they rebid and got it due to price. I bid @ $2500 ea month they got it @ $1700. Thier price and work match. Just based on what I have seen with this and other props I don't to be near them not to mention having that name on my truck.

[ACA L&L]

Originally Posted by BaxtersEssentialLawnCare

I cant speak for being an owner but I can give a little light on the work i've seen. Just bid a prop us lawns had. They were fired b/c of poor performance. I spent sometime with the maint mgnr he flat out said they were awful. I've seen the work and agree. Mulching leaves of turf till they are so thick you can't see grass. Bid calls for mulch @ 3" they were lucky if it was 1.5. Fert/weeds in bid haven't been done at all. Seperate lot to be brushhogged nothing. List goes on. Long story short they were canned but they rebid and got it due to price. I bid @ $2500 ea month they got it @ $1700. Thier price and work match. Just based on what I have seen with this and other props I don't to be near them not to mention having that name on my truck.

I think the fact that the work was not up to par would be the franchise owners lack of manager(s) paying attention or just having one. All companys are guilty or have been guilty at some point of not doing all that they should or could for the customer. On a positive note, from what the prop. manager was saying to you and how unhappy he was, its not easy to get another shot at submitting a bid and to win it, they were doing something right...

[AintNoFun]

Originally Posted by 32vld

For a lot less money I can get a new 1/2 truck, good sized open trailer, 2-3 mowers, edger, line trimmer, hedge trimmer, chain saw. Buy a ton of advertising. Have a lot of money left over, not pay 3% off the top.

but you can also flip burgers, so why buy a mcdonalds.. theres soemthing to be said about the systems they can give you. im sure most large companies spends a lot more than 100k developing good systems within there company..
a properly developed franchise could be well worth it...

[PTP]

Why did you like the US Lawns franchise as opposed to the Ground's Guys franchise?