[service guy]

I got a postcard in the mail recently from some franchise I never heard of called "Executive Plumbing" that was trying to recruit me. I threw it in the garbage.:laughing:
We have had some discussions before about franchises. I for one (and many others here) don't like franchises much, but I am curious to hear the other side of the story. We have all heard the horror stories about unqualified technicians working for the big franchise name companies and the fees that must be paid, etc., but what about the positive side of franchising? There must be one thing good about them?:whistling2:
So is there anyone out there that would like to share the positive side of being in a franchise? A competitor of mine owns a local Mr Rooter here in town and he mentioned to me that he discovered this site recently. I would like to hear his view on why he franchised and how he likes it, but so far he hasn't posted here yet.:whistling2: Come on out, that goes for anyone that owns a franchise company. Are there any defenders of their franchises out there?

 

[Scott K]

Perhaps a certain catchy household name naturally helps with advertising? (e.g. Roto-rooter?).

 

[stillaround]

I went to the Ben Franklin pitch meeting. 1st they are impressive. Systems down to a tee. Its only been a few years and the One hour Hvac and Ben Franklin franchises are doing(including independent owned) 1/2 a billion annual revenue.
Benefits are name recognition and exit strategy mostly. The presentation and the maps made you think the country was slowly being taken over by an invading army-Im sure by design. They recruit the top names of the industry and its hard to argue with such levels of success. But--sacrifices have to be made and money has to be shelled out. There will always be a place for the average plumber. Look at pizza parlors in Chicago. The ma and pa place beats out franchise pizza.
I know most want to dismiss it and site the rip offs etc. But really its one mans brain storm and hard work and that is impressive.

 

[WestCoastPlumber]

http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/buyingafranchisecoachjeffelgin/article188452.html

 

[Song Dog]

Carl, You got me... one good thing to say Ok, the system is good.
My experience was a joke and a financial burden. A new franchise MUST have a business consultant that has true experience in THE PLUMBING business, not just college educated. Our BC was a rude and book smart gal.
They are supposed to be there to help you grow:laughing: My last 6 months as a Fran and the 1st 6 months back to LeMarr Plumbing, LPI quadrupled total revenue compared to the Fran. And thats is no calls coming from left over Fran marketing. Their marketing for us lead to nothing.
:laughing:OK... I will stop and say there was one thing that was good. One more thing, I can thank the Fran for being able to explain my experience and give people who has an open mind to decide if a Fran is right for them.
I have friends who is still a Fran and for them the Fran is doing OK for them.

In Christ,

Song Dog

 

[UnclogNH]

We had a Ben Franklin and RR start up here a little while ago.

Where I'm located its hard to make money I'm on day 5 with nothing
Population is small 45 mins drive to any of the other small towns.

Ben Franklin now R.I.P closed it's doors from what I hear very expencive
"If any delay it's you we pay" great sales pitch but how much do they have to charge in the first place.
The new Local RR is dying few jobs high prices word gets around Talked to one of their techs he's looking for a new job but he is stuck with a van payment with their logo on it.
By the way he paid for the logo poor guy. I'm sure the franchise is great to talk to other owners in the same franchise. But being my own name and rules has helped me survive where the big guys fail. They have rules we make our own.
:thumbsup:

 

[service guy]

http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/buyingafranchisecoachjeffelgin/article188452.html

Good article. I can see how it could help a startup company get all the systems in place to run a successful business and of course there is the name recognition aspect to it. But for me, it seems that it is more economically sound to simply build your own business system and apply it yourself, than to incur the increased overhead costs associated with franchising. I did my own research and reading to discover the systems I need to run the business, and I admit that initially it did cost me a lot of time and money. So I can see the value in having a franchise help out with all the marketing, pricing and operational management.
I just prefer to operate my business independently from any franchise. Less hands in the company till that way. But I suppose for some people, its more efficient to hit the ground running with a franchise support system.

Good discussion. So far only one post from an ex-franchisee. Would still like to hear from someone that does own a franchised company, but I can understand that they may not want to post too much information due to any disclosure contracts they have with their franchise. Don't want to step on any corporate toes!:whistling2:

 

[Herk]

One of the reasons that franchises work better in very large areas is because you can get a lot of new customers with the advertising but few repeat customers. That's death in a small town.

They say they'll show you how to make money, and for some people it might be worth it just to learn how it's done. Sort of like a bad burglar going to "college."

I've seen them fail around here. The obvious question is, was it the poor support from the franchise, the inability of the franchisee to learn the system, or simply that it won't work in all areas? It's a simple fact that people wouldn't franchise if there wasn't something valuable in it for them. They get paid off the top, even if the business is failing.

 

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

I'd rather get ran over by a train, backed up ran over by a car, dig gashes in my legs and pour salt in open wounds before I'll commit to any company that has been the tell all of horrible experiences.


At least that is what the average has come to be.

Now, there's exception to every rule, not everyone is a bad techie from those places, but you have to understand that if your company has a bad habit of dodging bullets from what your fellow worker did, trying to blow someones head off because he was trying to get the largest margin on a job, well, take your ass whippins in reputation because that's how the game is played.


I know that one of those franchise companies bases pay on 30% percentage of job, the company gets the rest.

I can run my own company, I've done this twice and have other companies so if I don't know what the **** I'm doing by now, it's time to flip burgers and wait for smoke breaks.

Mr. Rooter sends me post cards all the time for franchise buy for $7800.00

Which puts all that good stuff like the advertising in the yellow pages and all that to the grind.

Why in the hell would I want people hating a name in a new area just by default?

 

[psolutions]

Franchise

No way...

Franchises are supposed to build a strong image and customer trust.

IMHO this is not true with the plumbing industry.
Its not like a Hardee's or McDonalds. The difference in the plumbing industry is customers dislike these big names. I say you have better luck building your company on the values these companies claim to have, but actually delivering.

Build your brand off of the strength that you ARE NOT the big man in the phone book.. You are truly the local plumber, family owned, honest, and will work directly with the customer.

I think they have things down well and they have something going, but i think for everything they have gives you have a point to sell... that being that you are not them.

The other problem is they want your hard earned money upfront for their idea. Dont finance their lazy rumps. You are just bankrolling some big franchise with the sweat of your brow.

All that being said if you want to franchise call me direct, for a low payment of $50,000.00 and a monthy installment of $5,000.00 you can call your company by my name:laughing:

 

[cincy plumber]

After all these years working for small companies,and one large I found that I could help some of the legitiment small companies expand there service to
provide the service to the ones that do not have $500.000 homes.
There are real people out there that can still use our help.
And if we do not do it then it is going to a hell and a hand basket!