Currently a ~30 unit restaurant franchisee. Looking to potentially branch into home services w/ a business partner. Thinking pressure washing, commercial cleaning, etc.
What are the pros and cons to a franchise vs. non-franchise in this space? How do you compete against the “fly by night” folks who only accept cash, etc?
To give you an anecdote: before I moved cities, I had “a guy” for most home services. Like you described: cash only, fly-by-night. They got the job done cheaply.
Then I moved and lost those contacts. I needed a new furnace and contracted with a Neighborly franchise. The experience was night and day and I’ll never go back to having “a guy.” They were professional, priced reasonably, accepted a credit card, showed up when they said they would and were done quickly. I didn’t have to negotiate, or supervise, or speculate about the quality.
I think these franchises, if run well, target people.lkke.me: people who are willing to pay a little bit more to make sure that the experience runs smoothly.