The Dos & Don’ts of Joining a Home Protection Franchise

There are few things quite as rewarding as starting a business and seeing it be successful. However, this also means that working hard on your business only to see it fail because you made one mistake is heartbreaking. Without prior experience or the right guidance, you could lose your business shortly after launching it. So, before you jump into your new home protection and wildlife control business, there are a few things you need to do and know first, as well as a few things you need to avoid to stay on the right track.

What To Do

Choose the Right Franchise For You

The home protection and wildlife control industries are still a growing industry to join today, but that doesn’t mean most markets aren’t dominated by one or a few major companies or the competition isn’t stiff. When you choose the franchising route, you get the chance to join an established brand that can help you work through the initial hurdles of launching your new home protection business.

However, that doesn’t mean that every franchise is going to properly set you up for success. Take your time and research each franchise carefully. At Skedaddle, our corporate team will guide you through the franchising process so you can be confident you’re learning everything you need to know to make the best decision for you and your future.

Have a Growth Plan in Mind

Starting your own business, especially in the wildlife control industry, often requires some kind of business plan to ensure you stay on track before and after you launch. However, joining a franchise with already established systems and processes typically means you already have a great foundation to start writing this. One other plan we still recommend you create, on your own or with the help of someone from your Skedaddle support team, is a growth plan.

This can be as simple as increasing your year-over-year revenue by a certain percentage or something as substantial as expanding into two more territories within your first five years. Either way, take the time to create this game plan now so you know what direction you plan to grow in over your first few years.

Consider Your Territory Options

When you join a franchise, one of the first things you’ll do is choose your territory. While many new Owners choose their hometown or the area they’re currently living in, it’s always worth looking into what other areas around you are available. While the convenience of choosing your home community as your territory can’t be overstated, there’s always the chance that a nearby territory may be a better fit for your Skedaddle pest control franchise location. To learn more about how to tell which territories are ideal for launching your home protection franchise, check out this article for more information.

Know Your Community

Once you have a territory in mind and you’re preparing to launch, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the communities in your area. Knowing the demographics and different neighborhoods of your territory will only help you know which to target, if seasonality will affect them, how to market to each, and what kind of pests or wildlife may affect the area. Showing your target customers that you’re part of the community will only help you succeed and establish yourself in the long term.

Make Marketing a Top Priority

Marketing is essential to any business venture; without it, your target audience may never know you or your services exist. A good marketing strategy can help you promote seasonal offerings, educate your customer base, and build brand awareness in your market. This can be done through a variety of platforms, including social media, digital marketing, offline promotion, and more. Regardless of how you get your name out there, marketing will help keep your lead generation going and new customers coming to you.

When you join the Skedaddle home protection franchise, you receive comprehensive marketing support. While demand for our services often does much of the selling for you, our team will still assist you with digital marketing, website building, search engine optimization (SEO), and more. We also operate a centralized call center to pre-qualify your calls and book property assessments for you based on the schedule you set. This means fewer headaches and no missed calls – just more time to focus on running and growing your pest and wildlife control business instead.

Be a Team-First Leader

Whether you’re running a single-van operation with one or two employees or you’re overseeing an entire 5-10 vehicle fleet, you’ll need the skills necessary to lead a team and supervise your employees, daily operations, and sales efforts. When you can be the type of leader who puts your team first, you’ll develop a group of people who want to see the success of your business as much as you and strive to grow alongside you. If you can show your employees that you care about their contributions, they’ll stay with you longer, decreasing your turnover and allowing you to delegate training to others in the future.

Give Your Employees a Sense of Ownership

When it comes to a home services business, employees are just as important as the Owners, sometimes even more so if they’re the ones going out and meeting with customers in their homes for property assessments or project work. As you get to know your employees and grow with them, if you can make them feel valued and respected, they’re more likely to show up every day ready to work hard for you and your customers.

What Not To Do

Don’t Start Without the Necessary Licenses

Every business, no matter the state, county, or industry, needs certain business licenses to operate. In the franchise world, you’ll not only receive certain paperwork from your Franchisor to operate using their brand, products, and services, but you’ll also receive guidance on which licenses you’ll need and how to get them. These can include your standard articles of incorporation and sales tax licenses, but each county within your territory may also require additional licensing in order for you to properly operate. Never skimp on this step because it could easily lead to fines or worse if not followed.

Don’t Forget About Financing

Like with any business, it’s critical to ensure that you have the funds available to put into the business whenever necessary. If you ever go through a period of uncertainty, financial recession, or even pandemic lockdown orders, you’ll need money available to keep your business operating and your employees paid.

Additionally, financing is also a great option when you first join a franchise. While Skedaddle keeps its initial financial investment approachable, starting at just $102,100, it’s common for many new Franchisees to finance that amount rather than pull it out of their savings or retirement accounts. However you choose to leverage financing in your business, never forget that it’s available to you should you ever need it.

Don’t Neglect Your Business Insurance

When you join the Skedaddle franchise, you get into the home protection and wildlife control business, which means you and your employees will be going in and out of your customers’ homes every day. While these homeowners will have their own home insurance, you’ll need your own business liability coverage in the instance that something happens. Business insurance can cover everything from property damage and financial loss and/or medical expenses due to bodily injury to slander, lawsuits, and a wide variety of other claims, depending on the situation and insurer.

Don’t Restrict Your Growth

If there’s one thing that can stifle a business, it’s an inability or unwillingness, to grow. Most businesses grow over time, and when you join a home protection franchise like Skedaddle, the opportunity for growth is built into the business models you rely on every day. However, when you consciously or unconsciously choose to not keep up with the growing needs of your business by not staffing appropriately to keep up with demand or not expanding your marketing to new developments in your territory, you leave money on the table that another competitor could use to their advantage.

In the home protection industry, there are plenty of best practices to implement, but all eventually trace back to these dos and don’ts. Whether you already have business management experience or not, there are always bound to be unique circumstances that challenge you as an Owner. When you have a franchise team at your side, you can become your own boss, feeling confident that you can address any situation, thanks to the support you’re provided.

If you’re prepared to start your own business and feel confident In your knowledge and adaptability, there’s no better place to start than Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control. Together with our corporate team, you’ll receive all of the guidance and support you need to tackle any challenge that may come your way. Take the first step to opening your own wildlife control franchise. See if you qualify today to be the next Skedaddle Franchise Owner with our quick, 1-minute qualification quiz.