If you are wondering how to start a franchise with the right brand, you should be researching how much they cost and what they provide for the initial investment. One of the key differentiators between investing in a franchise and starting a business from scratch is that you can see how much it is going to cost to get started before you invest. Every franchise investment is broken down either on the franchisor’s website, in the franchise disclosure document, or both, so you can see what your money goes towards. Here is what our franchise investment comes with so that franchisees know how to start a landscaping company with us.
Every franchise investment incorporates a franchise fee. This one-time fee covers everything you need to get started – the brand name, the training and support, the tools and resources, equipment, marketing, and more. The total varies from company to company, but a low franchise fee may indicate less training or support and a high one may indicate that there are unnecessary costs associated with the franchise. This is why it is important to look into what the franchise fee covers to show you how to start a franchise.
Something to also note about the franchise fee is that if you are converting your business into a franchise, oftentimes the fee is lower. When we have someone converting to a U.S. Lawns, they already know how to start a landscaping company, so they don’t need the same amount of resources than a person who may not even know how to start a franchise.
Training and support are very important when it comes to a franchise investment. Some opportunities may just give you a manual and send you on your way with your new business, but we do it differently. We recognize that a franchisee’s success is our own success, so we put extra time into making sure you know everything there is to know about how to start a landscaping company through us. For the initial training, you will fly down to our headquarters in Orlando and for five days you will learn about the business model, best practices, the industry, and more. This helps prepare you for your new business and everything to expect in the beginning. Learning how to start a franchise is just a small part of running a U.S. Lawns franchise, so we made sure we cover everything.
Beyond the initial training, we will come out to your location to help you in the first year as well. We would never leave our franchisees out to dry with no support to help them see success. We will work with you on things like marketing, sales, bidding and estimating, and operations.
Depending on the franchise opportunity you chose, there may be required equipment to provide a service or create a product. The initial investment should also incorporate those. We made sure our investment accounted virtually all of the equipment you need. These include things for the office and to get jobs done, and even a service vehicle to help you carry what you need.
We also made sure our investment covered specific tools and systems that are exclusive to our franchisees. We have systems that can help with many different aspects of your business. One that we pride ourselves in is the intranet that we use to connect all of our franchisees. By fostering this network, our franchisees can share their best practices with one another, which makes our brand and the services we provide that much better.
Something that a franchise investment should also account for is working capital for when you get started. This is money that you need to keep your location up and running while you are trying to grow your business. Odds are, you won’t have customers right there when you start, so you need to make sure you have funds to help with the first few months of expenses. While you are researching opportunities, make sure to be wary of companies that have low working capitals factored into their investment. This could mean that there are things that there are hidden costs involved.
These five points are imperative to a good franchise investment, which is why we made sure all of them are covered in ours. We want to encourage investors to consider how to start a landscaping company with us, so by showing them everything we cover and provide to help them along the way, they feel more confident in us and their new investment.
Find out how to start a franchise with us by checking out the next steps in the process.
If you want to invest in a franchise, there are a lot of terms you need to know in order to choose the best one for you. No two franchise opportunities are the same, and the best way to find the right one is to do some research and learn about the terms that franchisors use. Here are some of the most important terms to look for as you research franchise opportunities.
Every franchise opportunity is different – a lawn care franchise won’t run the same way as a fast food franchise. There are three different types of franchise ownership that are utilized by franchise concepts. Those include the executive model, the owner-operator model, and the semi-absentee model.
Here at U.S. Lawns, we use an owner-operator model for our franchisees. This means that you are responsible for the day-to-day operations and hiring a team. You are the boss and the owner of your U.S. Lawns location and the front and center of everything. Being an owner-operator is very different than an absentee owner. With a U.S. Lawns franchise, you are part of the business. That doesn’t mean you will be riding a mower and servicing properties, but you will control who you hire, all of the operations, marketing, and more. Absentee owners do not get to be their own boss – they invest in something, rely on someone else to run things, and hope for its success.
This is an important term to understand because the initial investment is the amount you pay for your franchise. Every franchise has a different investment that comes with different things to help you get started with your business. One thing every franchise investment does have in common is a franchise fee. Although this fee varies from franchise to franchise, each brand needs to have one. The franchise fee often covers training, support, rights to use the brand name, the business model, and other resources that help you get started. Other items that make up the initial costs when you invest in a franchise include equipment, starting capital, tools, systems, and resources.
Once you find the right franchise for you, the next step is usually to read through the franchise disclosure document (FDD). The FDD is a 23-item legal document that every franchisor is required to have. It explains everything, in detail, about the franchise opportunity, and it even breaks down the initial investment so you know exactly where your money will go. The FDD is designed so that no one is left in the dark when it comes to an important decision like a new career.
The FDD also has an optional section that many franchisors choose to include, which is Item 19. This item breaks down how much a franchisee, on average, could make with a franchise. We are proud to include ours because of the transparency it provides between us and a prospective investor and because it shows exactly how much you could make with our lawn care franchise.
A territory is the specific area you operate within. We put a lot of research into our territories to make sure our franchisees are in the best position to market toward commercial businesses. We use CoStar, which is a leading commercial property data software, to research what properties are in a specific area. We run multiple demographic tests, and if the results are favorable for a lawn care franchise, it becomes a territory for a potential franchisee. We have found a number of territories all across the country that are still available to invest in!
If you are looking to invest in a franchise but need more information, check out this article on how to open a franchise.
Investing in a franchise can lead to an extremely rewarding career, but only if you start off on the right foot. Every franchise opportunity offers some sort of training, whether it be a simple manual or an in-depth, weeks-long course. Here at U.S. Lawns, our goal is to make sure our franchisees feel confident in their business, so we incorporated different types of training into our opportunity. If you are looking to invest in a landscaping franchise, we may be the perfect opportunity for you. Our training program will teach you how to get a franchise started and show you everything you need to know about your new business, and then we will even help you implement what you learned. Our in-depth training and ongoing support put our franchise owners in a great position when they open their location. Here are the different types of training we offer.
Your first step in the process is the initial training. This comes after you sign the franchise agreement and pay the franchise fee. For this, you will fly down to our headquarters in Orlando, Florida, and spend five days learning the ins and outs of how to get a franchise started and meet members of our leadership team. In addition to the operational side of a franchise and getting it up and running, during your five days here you also learn all the other aspects of the business such as horticulture, agronomics, scheduling and estimating jobs, and networking. By the end of your time at our headquarters, you will understand everything there is to know about running a landscaping franchise and how to implement our tested and proven business model.
After your initial training, we will still be there to help guide you through your development period. This time period is typically the first year after you open your franchise. Every new business owner faces a few hiccups along the way as they get their business up and running, but we are there to help make sure things continue to run smoothly. A member of the development team will take multiple trips to your location to show you how to operate your business. With a U.S. Lawns franchise, you know you have someone to turn to every step of the way.
After your first year, you will feel confident in the different areas of your business and will probably have everything down pat. But there is always room to grow and improve! Because of this, we host annual conferences for our franchisees to come and hear about the latest trends in the industry, learn about best practices and different problems that other franchisees have faced, and connect with different owners across the country. We have also developed an intranet for our franchisees to stay connected. We pride ourselves on the Power of the Network that the intranet and conferences bring to help us grow together as a united brand.
In addition to the conferences and the intranet, we also have regional conferences, gardener and crew member training online, and boot camp training programs that are specific to business developers and account managers. During these boot camps, we coach the people on your team to help them grow your business effectively. This ongoing training keeps you up to date on everything that has to do with your franchise and the industry as a whole, so you can provide the best services to your customers.
In addition to all the training we provide our franchisees, we also offer a ton of support. We are always there for our franchisees, because we recognize that their success is our own success. We help our franchise owners find customers, answer any questions they may have about their business, and walk through any issues that may arise.
Our training and support have led to over 250 franchisees growing their landscaping franchises. From the moment you find out how to get a franchise started with us through your first year, we are constantly there for you to make sure you have key tools to be successful.
We have thought of everything when it comes to showing franchisees how to get a franchise started and growing successfully with their new landscaping franchise. Find out more about our training and support by reaching out to us.
You’ve finally made the decision to take a leap, invest in a lawn care franchise, and become your own boss. That sense of independence and excitement will only grow as you sign a franchise agreement and get started as a franchisee. As you are looking for a lawn care franchise for sale, it is easy to see why you should choose U.S. Lawns.
Here are a few of the things that set us apart in the industry and make us who we are.
Through hard work and dedication to our craft, U.S. Lawns has become the #1 commercial landscaping franchise. The secret to our success? We exclusively work with commercial clients, as opposed to residential, to win bigger accounts and earn higher revenue.
There are a number of advantages that come from work exclusively with commercial clients. The most significant are:
Because of our success with commercial clients, we are growing rapidly with territories available all over the country.
A key part of our brand’s vision is creating outstanding opportunities for our franchisees and providing outstanding service to our customers. As such, we are constantly striving toward is 100% franchisee satisfaction and 100% customer retention. We believe these two go hand in hand, so we emphasize them equally.
We take care of our franchisees by giving them the tools they need to succeed. Everything from our national training program to our strategic partnerships within the industry is devoted to assisting franchise owners as they operate and expand their businesses.
We take care of our customers by providing a full range of landscaping services to keep their properties pristine. Even better, all of our owners are members of the communities they service so they care about beautifying the properties they work with.
Over our 30 years in the industry, we have learned what it takes to build a strong business and scale it to become a success. We pass that knowledge on to our franchisees as we help them get started and grow their businesses. The first step is to find the right owner. We are looking for franchisees who are willing to put in the work and are ready to be leaders. That means that when we have a lawn care franchise for sale we aren’t going to work with just anybody; we want to make sure that you are a good match for our brand.
A common pitfall for independent business owners is stagnant growth. Oftentimes, business owners don’t know how or when to grow their businesses, so they fall flat. Investing in a U.S. Lawns franchise will keep you from running into that problem, because we use our experience in business growth to assist you. Our Roadmap to Success is the tool that our franchisees use to know exactly when and how to add employees, equipment, and more, all based on their revenue.
The search for the perfect landscaping franchise is over! U.S. Lawns provides an amazing opportunity to hard working, passionate, business-minded people like you. Get in touch with us to get started!
By Ken Hutcheson.
A term I like to use is “radical personalization.” If something is radical, it’s shocking. And that’s how I believe customer service should be.
Have you ever had service so great you were shocked? I bet you can remember exactly what happened.
Sometimes, I think talking about service in the commercial property industry is “shocking.” People don’t expect it. Not in B2B. But we’re all people, and our clients are, too. For me, radical personalization means making every single interaction personal. That extends from the contract through the maintenance phase.
Want some examples? Here are five tips for making radical personalization work for your business:
1. Be part of the community. As a property manager, you spend a lot of time enforcing the rules. But the most profitable part of your job isn’t administrative; it’s building relationships. Tenants, whether commercial or residential, want to feel like they’ve got an ally. So make it clear they you’re part of the community, just like them. Be yourself. Talk to them about the schools your kids attend; your church; your recreational baseball league. Respect comes from trust and loyalty, not from a title.
2. Conflict isn’t all bad. Some of the best customer service experiences start from bad situations. You can’t prevent every problem, but how you respond says a lot about your business, its quality and ethics. If a tenant is unhappy, take time to listen. Put yourself in their shoes—even if their complaints have nothing to do with you. Taking time to understand people’s frustration, offering an out-of-the-box solution, or just giving them a perk to improve their day, will let them know you care. We guarantee they will remember how you helped, long after they’ve forgotten the problem.
3. Never leave an issue unsolved. This is one of the hardest things for service providers to grasp. No matter how difficult a tenant’s predicament, keep working until it’s resolved. You may not have an answer, and it’s all too easy to shrug and say, “I don’t know.” But that’s not radically personal service. If you truly care, you’ll track down an answer, or delegate the problem to someone who can help. Afterwards, follow up to make sure they’re satisfied and all issues are resolved. Remember: “I don’t know” is never the end of a transaction; it’s only the beginning.
4. Learn about people. Relationships are about details, and getting to know your tenants will reveal this. Maybe an accountant is an avid baseball fan. So, you might pass on some tickets you get from a vendor. Or, if a florist loves indie rock, you might give her a CD by a new band you’ve just discovered. It’s almost impossible to explain the kind of impact these personal gestures have on clients. It’s like Starbucks writing your name on your coffee (minus the misspellings). The more unexpected a personal gesture is, the more people will remember it.
5. Be open about money. Financial negotiation can sour any relationship, but remember to treat your tenants like people, even though they’re paying rent. That means alerting them up front to any extra fees they’ve incurred—before they get the bill. It means never raising prices without sitting down a tenant and telling them why. And it also means being willing to flex if a special situation comes along. Obviously, you can’t play fast and loose with your contracts. But just remember to keep the human factor involved, and treat others in the manner you’d like to be treated. Marketing experts have long known that consumers will actually spend more if they know the service is superior. So, don’t be surprised if a radically personal service model really pays off.
After just five years, Ken Beasley has purchased three U.S. Lawns locations. His annual revenues exceed seven figures. And it’s no surprise that he’s recently won a third honor: a Customer Hero Award for one of the highest client satisfaction scores among franchises.
Are all these achievements coincidence? Not according to Ken. Before buying a U.S. Lawns franchise, he spent 15 years at Walmart Corporation. He says it taught him the importance of service when building a profitable business. Here’s a brief profile of Ken and his advice for managers in any industry.
“At Walmart, we did a lot of silly chants,” Ken admits. He doesn’t do that now, but he has worked hard to create a family culture.
Ken owns U.S. Lawns locations in Louisiana and Mississippi—places known for their Southern hospitality. For his employees, he provides daily coffee and donuts, health insurance, 401K matching, and plenty of incentives like laptops for perfect attendance. Crew members get a new pair of boots on their birthday, and he’s taken another page out of Walmart’s book: a high hourly wage. The result? “I don’t worry about recruiting,” Ken says. “Good people come to me, because it spreads in the community that we treat our employees well.”
As Ken’s customer satisfaction scores seem to prove, well-treated employees lead to happy customers. “Nobody wants to come to work every day, but our people do know they’re valued,” Ken reflects. In addition, they’re taught to be the best at their job, with weekly internal videos and training. The result? Competent employees who like their work. No wonder they’re rated so highly.
“This is a philosophy I learned at Walmart, and I still believe it’s true,” Ken declares. “If a customer has a problem, you always listen.”
Ken’s clients, like his employees, feel cared about. He admits he “makes a big deal” about trying to fix things if an issue ever arises. No matter how small, he takes complaints seriously. And he won’t quit until his customers feel the problems are resolved.
Caring may not seem like a cut-throat business model, but it’s hard to argue against a multi-million dollar growth trend in just five years. U.S. Lawns is proud to salute Customer Hero Ken Beasley for his outstanding commitment to service.
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