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Franchises

7K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  JFGLN 
#1 ·
Lawncare would be a new business for me. Franchise or not? Weedman, Grounds Guys, US Lawns, or go it on my own? Lots of opinions out there, just wondering about any updates for folks already in a franchise system. Would you do it again? Guys doing it on their own…do you ever think about going the franchise route?

Thanks in advance for feedback.
 
#2 ·
A couple guys here had there own company for about 5-6years and then went with grounds guys. As far as I know things are going well for them. And growing quite a bit
 
#3 ·
There is alot of inormation on here about this subject. Being a Grounds Guys fanchisee I can tell you it takes alot of hard work either way. But if your going the franchise route I can give you the best advice. You have to be willing to get out and promote your business. If you dont get out there and do the foot work it WON'T work. There is so many things that being a franchise owner has help me with. From major discounts on equipments to access to nearly 200 other Grounds Guys franchisees. Also unlimited business training and a franchise consultant that has nearly 40 years in the business to help out with day to day operations. I will say this, I'm no where near where some of the other franchisees are with their business but if I wasn't a Grounds Guys owner I wouldn't have made anywhere ner the money I did in 2014. Working on adding services and a goal of doubling my gross fo 2015.
 
#4 ·
Im in the same boat, looking to go franchise, Ive done this on my own for almost ten years, couldn't ever get over the hump (my hump was $450k-ish). Im currently talking to three, one is turning me off with the hard sale, one doesn't seem to have a lot of backend support, or post-sale support from the research so far, and one has caught my attention, we will see what happens.
 
#6 ·
Good morning! If anyone is considering a franchise or looking for advice please feel free to reach out to me! We have just launched a franchise program and are looking to expand nationally in the coming years. We just signed our first franchise. We have an aggressive growth model that is sustainable in the residential market. Feel free to email me jonathan@drivenlandscapes.com or check out our website www.DLFranchises.com
 
#8 ·
I'm not a franchise - I'm just a green industry supplier, but as a result I get to see independent and franchise clients and have picked up a few observations.

As noted; being a franchise does not change the work itself. The work is still hard, the hours can still be long.

The biggest thing I see is that as an independent you have the luxury to completely forge your own path. But the flip side of that is that you can step in a LOT of manholes...even just simple things that you choose to do one way when there might be a better way to go.

The franchise option provides a lot of answers. There's less guessing at the best way to handle something because you have someone more or less telling you the right way to go.

You say this would be a brand new type of work for you?
I don't mean this flippantly, but consider how much space you have in your finances to make mistakes. Because it can be very instructive to learn things on your own, make a few mistakes...get better as you go. But those mistakes can be expensive.

Another consideration: how big are you shooting to get? Being independent allows you to stay small if it makes sense for you, while often a franchise agreement will be predicated on a specific size of market, and there's a built-in need to get bigger within that territory. Naturally that varies from one company to another.
 
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