The Grass Might Be Greener . . . Franchise and Business Opportunities12-04-13 | News
The Grass Might Be Greener . . .
Franchise and Business Opportunities By Mike Dahl, LC/DBM Editor
You could be thinking it's time to cross over to something a little different, or add a service or two (and extra income) to your current business, or explore new off-season opportunities, or start a whole new venture. If so, there are numerous franchise and business opportunities available to landscape pros. To give you an idea, we detail some here with the understanding that this list is not exhaustive.
Franchises
No matter the motivation for buying into a franchise, the rewards, in spite of the risks, often outweigh working for someone else, starting, or even continuing, a one-off business. The benefits of franchises include proven business strategies, name recognition, pre-established supply lines, protected territories, training programs and a built-in support system. While becoming a franchisee can require a full-time commitment, sometimes the parent company will advise a new owner to retain another revenue stream until the franchise is running strong, so closing up your old shop or quitting your old job is not necessarily a given. And some franchisees choose to function as investors; continuing to run their old business while letting others run the day-to-day operation of the franchise. Others just convert their existing business to a franchise.
Lawn and Garden Care Clintar is expanding across the U.S. and Canada and offers landscape maintenance, landscape design-build, road and parking lot maintenance, turf and garden irrigation and snow and ice control services. clintar.com
Enviro Masters Lawn Care promotes pesticide-free alternatives for turfgrass management and currently offers select territories throughout the country. enviromasters.com
Lawn Doctor is a home-based lawn, tree and shrub care and pest control company that has been setting up franchises since 1967, and is reported to now have over 450 locations in 38 states. lawndoctor.com
NaturaLawn of America is a nationwide, organic-based lawn care franchise, which currently has 70 locations providing services in 24 states to the residential and commercial markets. naturalawn.com
Nutrilawn, Inc. offers minimal or no pesticide treatments. They primarily service residential homeowners and are a subsidiary of The Franchise Company, Inc, the franchising arm of FirstService Corporation. nutrilawn.com
Scotts Lawn Service is one of the most recognizable names in the industry but still report that territories are available throughout the country for qualified candidates. scottslawnservicefranchise.com
Spring-Green Lawn Care Corporation began in 1977, has been a member of the International Franchising Association since 1981, and is a founding member of the Professional Lawn Care Association of America. franchise. spring-green.com
The Gardener franchisees take care of property maintenance and snow plowing for residential and commercial clients in Canada. The company states that some partners are currently grossing over half a million dollars per year. hirethegardener.com
The Grounds Guys has approximately 90 locations throughout the United States and Canada and over 20 years of landscaping expertise. Their list of services includes irrigation, outdoor lighting, and snow and ice removal for residential and commercial clients. groundsguysfranchise.com
Turf Logic is a nationwide Canadian lawn care franchise company that has developed an environmentally friendly solution, which includes customized, pesticide-free treatments for lawns. turflogic.ca
U.S. Lawns, Inc. is a growing network of franchisees that provide landscape management services to the commercial market. The company states it is the landscape maintenance industry's only registered franchise organization. uslawnsfranchise.com
Weed Man, with over 30 years of experience, is one of the largest franchised lawn care companies in North America. weedmancanada.com
Lighting Lighthouse Landscape Lighting specializes in the installation and service of high end, low voltage architectural and landscape lighting. lightsbylighthouse.com
Nite Lites franchisees install high quality, energy efficient, low voltage lighting manufactured exclusively for the parent company. The products feature an unconditional 5-year warranty. nite-lites.com
Outdoor Lighting Perspectives is a nationwide provider of high-end architectural and landscape lighting systems to end users and trade partners. The company also has its exclusive manufacturer, B&B Manufacturing, whose sole distribution channel is to franchisees. outdoorlights.com
Signature Landscape Lighting provides architectural-grade landscape lighting products and the contracting services to install them at residential and commercial properties. Their franchisees become members of the National Architectural and Landscape Lighting Association. signaturelights.com
Hardscapes Border Magic's franchisees design and install seamless landscape borders, curbs, walkways, and edging in a wide variety of colors and styles, for both residential and commercial use. bordermagic.com
Concrete Technology Inc. has a network located throughout the United States as well as in 34 foreign countries focused on the multi-billion dollar industry of concrete restoration and beautification. cti-concrete.com
Deck Renewal Systems' franchisees restore and protect exterior wood surfaces to help maintain decks, fences, stairs, gazebos, storage barns and play sets. deckrenewalsystems.com
Water Features Bio Nova Natural Pools is the master licensor in North America for patented NSP technology that has been used in Europe for more than 30 years. They license the use of this proprietary technology to industry professionals such as landscape contractors. bionovanaturalpools.com
Russell Watergardens & Koi has been providing products and services for water gardeners and fish enthusiasts since their founding in 1997 and are currently seeking franchisees interested in this industry that pulls in a reported 1.4 billion annually. russellwatergardens.com
Miscellaneous Dog Guard franchisees learn to install Out-of-Sight® electronic dog fencing and help train pets how to use it. dogguardbiz.com
IdeaVision is a home improvement and landscaping consulting franchise that helps people see their building, remodeling and landscaping ideas come to life via a visualization tool. ideavisn.com
Innovative Services
Whether for your slow season or to boost your income year-round, there are many products available, and more coming out all the time, that not only fit in well with a landscape professional's skillset, they can help differentiate them from the competition, and provide new revenue streams.
For example, the WaterVac Solids Separation System was invented by Drew DeMay of Fountain Bleu who was frustrated at the standard method of cleaning his clients' water features, which often killed the fish. According to the company, the machine cleans water features faster, with less trouble, such as having to wade into the water and risk slipping, and most importantly, without harm to fish. The company even offers a buy-back guarantee. fountainbleuvac.com
Holganix is a 100 percent organic bio-nutrional product designed to create healthy soil ecosystems while reducing the need for synthetic inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. The company markets its products, along with its proprietary RAD (refrigerated automated dispensing) unit as a way to capitalize on the green and sustainable trends and to "add value to your company so you can grow." holganix.com
The Rodenator Pest Elimination System is a non-poisonous, chemical-free, trap-free method for ridding an area of burrowing rodents.
We're finding that (this) method is bringing in new business," says Mark Lynch, president of Legendary Landscapes, of Salisbury, Md. "The concept is an easy sell as an add-on service." rodenator.com
Distributorships
This is one other approach to increasing income. Numerous product manufacturers, many of them new, are actively looking for people to sell their products. Typically, manufacturers want their dealers and distributors to have a store or warehouse but, according to Entrepreneur Magazine, "someone could conceivably run a successful wholesale distribution business from their basement." Other potential places to set up shop are at your current location, and the Internet.
For instance, John Spence, the owner of SMK Industries, which manufacturers sprayers for the landscape industry, says that he is hoping to grow a worldwide network, starting with the U.S. and Canada, and is open to the possibility of online distributors. smksprayers.com
SYNLawn, one of the biggest providers of synthetic lawns in the United States is looking for distributors, stating, "showrooms are not required for every partner." synlawn.com
Another synthetic turf manufacturer, Blue Sky Turf, "is always looking for energetic and business-savvy people to bring (their) products to the market place and share in all the benefits as a select dealer. blueskyturf.com
Floating Islands West, LLC, the West Coast manufacturer and distribution center for BioHaven???(R)???AE???? Floating Islands, which are used for habitat restoration, carbon sequestration and water cleansing, are looking to partner with entities that would be a good fit for their product including watergarden and pond professionals. floatingislandswest.com
Western Timber Frame, a manufacturer of pre-cut, pre-stained timber structure kits, is seeking to attract dealers for its products, which include pergolas, breezeways, trellises, gazebos and more. westerntimberframe.com
Wood Stone Home, which offers wood-fired and gas-fired stone hearth ovens and cooking equipment in an array of sizes for both indoor and outdoor kitchen installations, wants to sign up distributors and dealers. woodstonehome.com
LEDS America, Inc. is "aggressively growing brand new technology business" by offering distributor opportunities for their Led-O "The Green Light" brand of lighting, which includes PAR, MR16, Incandescent and CFL lamps. ledsamerica.com
Choosing a product that you have professional expertise in is strongly advised by industry experts. Contact the manufacturers whose products fit this bill and ask about their wholesale opportunities. If prospects look good, compare their wholesale rates to retail rates, then factor in shipping and overhead to determine profit potential.
Success in business often relies on adaptability, agility and creativity, especially when opportunities crop up. And what better time than the start of a new year to peek over the fence. Here's wishing you much success in 2014.
