Here’s How To Succeed In Franchising

Just to be clear (and put you at ease), I have never worked for Puroclean, I have no personal interests in Puroclean, and (surprisingly) I don’t know anyone at Puroclean. You might have thought (as I had) that someone from Puroclean would have contacted me in 2009 when I wrote about the Reeds, but no one ever did! (That may be another story.)

Dad wanted information

I know about the Reeds because I know Misti’s father, who called me to find out what I knew about Puroclean. He said Misti and her husband had visited HowToBuyAFranchise.com, read some of my articles, and read my 92+ Questions to Ask Before You Invest in a Franchise. But now he was looking for more information before his daughter signed on the dotted line. However, this story has never been about Puroclean . . . my idea was to write a “slice of life” account about a young couple’s experience buying and operating a franchise business. At the time of my original article, I wrote:

For a blogger, it doesn’t get any better than knowing that someone visited your site, subscribed to your free blog, followed your suggestions, and found a deal they liked! I’m proud to have been a catalyst for this young couple, and I plan to follow their franchise journey, especially since I feel like I helped birth it.

What’s the update?

So how are the Reeds doing? I caught up with Misti to find out, and I asked her how she describes her business:

“We are an emergency service (2-hour response time, 24 hours a day),” she explained, “and have very specific and advanced training, which allows us to command a premium price for our service. We are a niche, specialty service that not many can perform. That all translates into added revenue.”

High and low points?

As good as that sounds, how’s it going? “What’s been the high point of your business career to date?” I asked. “What’s made you say, if anything, ‘This is why it’s worth owning a franchise?’”

“Probably the day we got a check that was more than any salary I’d ever earned!” Misti continued. “We still have those happy moments when we have multiple jobs going at once and Rob and I are able to leave town on vacation and know that everything will still go on without us.”

“And how about the low point? Did you ever have a day when you said, ‘I can’t take it anymore?’”

“Many days I said, ‘I’ve had enough!’, but I’m hoping that’s somewhat normal,” she said. “There haven’t really been any low points, more so just points of absolute exhaustion and frustration. When we had the first freeze in 2010, we worked 7 days straight in below freezing temps with 1 or 2 hours of sleep, and I didn’t know if I was going to make it. I remember breaking down in tears in someone’s attic at 2 a.m. and my tears froze on my eyelashes. I guess that’d be my low point. But we were making a ton of money! I was just tired.”

Is the business recession proof?

For my original story I had asked Misti, “Why Puroclean?” and she told me there were three reasons, the first of which was: A recession proof industry. So now I asked, “Have you discovered the business to be recession proof?”

She replied, “Like any business, we have our ups and downs financially, and there have been some franchise offices that closed (since we joined the network), but that’s not because of the industry. The restoration industry will always be here, and we’ll always be needed – that is, until people stop using toilets and washing machines, and there’s an end to natural disasters!”

One major advantage of the Reeds’ business is that primarily insurance companies, and not homeowners, pay them. “This means that we get paid our full invoice very timely. Due to the tough economic situation, some families don’t have the liquid funds to pay for significant property damage repairs, but insurance companies do!” She added, “That’s a great selling point when you’re comparing hundreds of franchises.”

More to come

As for the other two points that explain why she and her husband came to the conclusion to buy Puroclean . . . I’ll tell you about them (and other updates) in future articles. Meanwhile, I hope you won’t miss the main point of this story: The Reeds did their homework before they invested in a franchise, and that’s a principle reason for their success today!