We are Making Headlines in the Humane Wildlife Removal Market!

One of the best things about owning a Skedaddle home protection franchise is that it offers something no other local competitor does — truly humane wildlife removal that gets critters out of the house for good without harming them or threatening their habitats. 

Because of this, we’ve been making news in various publications, and it’s becoming clear that we’re being closely watched by others in the pest and critter control franchise industry. We’re excited to be making headlines in the United States, and can’t wait to expand our humane wildlife removal operations further across the country by partnering with like-minded Franchise Owners. In case you missed them, here are some of the latest Skedaddle stories that have hit the press. Enjoy!

PCT: Canada Wildlife Company Expands to U.S. Pest Control Market

We may not be a traditional pest control franchise, but that didn’t stop trade publication Pest Control Technology, or PCT, from doing a feature story on our expansion to the United States. In the article, our president and CEO Bill Dowd shares our storied, 35-year history, from our humble beginnings in Nova Scotia to our impressive growth to 35 locations across the Canadian provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, to the groundbreaking success of our first U.S. home protection franchise location in Madison, Wisconsin. You can read the entire story here.

Dowd also stresses in the PCT article that prior experience in the pest control or critter control industry is not at all necessary to become a successful Skedaddle Franchise Owner, saying, “​​You don’t need any information or experience in wildlife to be a franchise operator. … We train on all of that.” It’s true—when it comes to assessing which franchise applicants will be the best fit for our humane wildlife removal company, we look for people who genuinely want to help others and make a difference by performing a much-needed service in their community. We also want to ensure our Franchise Owners are aligned with our values of outstanding customer service, professionalism and determination to give 110 percent with every job. As Bill Dowd says in the PCT interview, “We hire attitude and [teach] skills.”

The theme of Skedaddle as a solid and potentially lucrative investment continued in the PCT article as Dowd discussed the benefits of owning a local business in the humane wildlife control industry. “If you want to grow something for yourself and family, want a work life balance and are willing to learn, the sky is the limit,” he notes, adding, “You must be properly capitalized and have some money to get into owning a business, but we will be able to work with that franchisee and ramp it up quickly.”

For those who are currently working through our Franchise Discovery Process, the relatively low initial investment and potential for fast returns is a major reason to invest in a Skedaddle humane wildlife removal franchise. Starting at just $89,100, our critter control franchise puts investors in the driver’s seat of their own business for considerably less than the typical pest control franchise. And that’s not all — a Skedaddle Franchise Owner in the United States has the potential to earn almost 10 TIMES as much in gross sales! Last year, our average U.S. gross sales was a whopping $823,738.

How is humane wildlife removal so lucrative? As Dowd mentions in the PCT article, “Our average ticket or price per job, typically falls anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500 versus a spider treatment that might only be a couple hours [of work].” Since critter control problems are common household annoyances throughout the country, there’s no telling how much you could make in your market!

So, why did Skedaddle end up in a publication that caters to pest control franchise businesses anyway? Thanks to our simple critter control franchise model, it’s easy to use your own pest control company’s trucks and employees to double as a Skedaddle business. That’s right — existing pest control franchise businesses can easily add Skedaddle’s proven humane wildlife control to their list of services without having to give up their lucrative main hustle. Dowd explains, “It would be a great add-on service for any pest operator in America because they already have the service trucks and labor. We’re going to teach you how to do wildlife properly.” 

The PCT article also highlighted our “off-season” business of holiday light decoration, which is one more thing that makes Skedaddle unique. While other critter control franchise operators are sitting around in winter, waiting for baby critter season to make their phones ring again, Skedaddle Franchise Owners are decking the halls of their neighbors’ homes and businesses and adding a festive, and lucrative, touch to their roster of available home services. “We don’t sell any of the lights, but we install our lights and take care of them if there are any issues, and we take them down at the end of the year,” Dowd explained to PCT. “We have a 75% renewal rate on that service.”

Not only do our Franchise Owners love bringing joy and holiday spirit to the people in their community, but they also report that it makes a great cross-promotion tool, with holiday light customers remembering Skedaddle and giving them a call when they have a critter control problem, and vice versa!

1851 Franchise: Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control Sees Double-Digit Sales in 2022 as the Brand Expanded Its Presence in the U.S. and Canada

In addition to the PCT article, Bill Dowd talked to the team at 1851 Franchise to report on Skedaddle’s impressive growth and double-digit sales revenue as we aim to expand our U.S. presence.  

“2022 has been a fantastic year for Skedaddle,” Dowd told 1851 Franchise. “Despite economic uncertainty, people are turning to us to take care of the biggest investment of their life: their home. We found that, during tough times, people tend to retreat to their ‘castle.’ And they don’t want to have mice running through their walls or critters destroying them. We feel we’re well positioned as we as the economy goes in these turbulent times, and we are looking forward to 2023.” 

It’s true — our critter control franchise has had back-to-back record sales years in 2021 and 2022, solidifying Dowd’s theory that people’s homes are an important investment no matter what the economy is doing. In fact, Dowd pointed out that the ongoing shift to work-from-home positions has increased the potential for people to notice what might be lurking in their attics, basements or backyards. 

The 1851 Franchise article also spotlighted Skedaddle’s year of impressive financial growth, not only as a humane wildlife control franchise but also on an individual level for its Franchise Owners, noting that a number of Skedaddle salespeople were inducted into our “$100,000 Club” in 2022, which means that they made $100,000 or more in sales in a single month! 

Dowd points out, “At Skedaddle, you can get big jobs with big sales. I don’t think there are many franchise opportunities out there where you can pay for your franchisee with just a single sale. We think that’s something that sets us apart, and we look forward to signing more of these jobs in 2023.”  

In addition, the momentum that our two United States franchise locations in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin are building have catapulted Skedaddle into sales growth of between 10 and 20 percent systemwide. The success and growth of our critter control franchise is something Dowd attributes to one important thing: experience. “We have hundreds of years of experience when you add up those of all my staff and franchise support people who have been around for 20 or 25 years,” he told 1851 Franchise. “That has been a great accomplishment for us.”

In 2022, we celebrated the 20-year anniversary of our Business Development Manager, Brandon Crawford, as well as a big 23-year milestone for our Director of Technical Operations, Corey Lewis. Because we’ve been going strong since 1989, Bill Dowd and the rest of the Skedaddle executive team knows the humane wildlife removal business backwards, forwards and upside down! For those who are looking to add an animal control arm of their pest control franchise, or who simply see the great economic potential of owning a Skedaddle humane wildlife control franchise in their neck of the woods, the level of experience and knowledge that we bring to the table can make all the difference in the level of success they can achieve. 

You can read the 1851 Franchise article in its entirety here.

BizTimes Milwaukee Business News: The Franchisee: Marcus Mueller

In 2017, Skedaddle celebrated the monumental occasion of opening our first U.S. critter control franchise in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Nearly six years later, Franchise Owner Marcus Mueller, who also owns our Madison, Wisconsin territory, sat down with an interview for his local business news publication to talk about his experiences with Skedaddle.

Mueller, who has become something of a brand ambassador for Skedaddle and even appears in this franchise support video, has been very candid in the past about the level of support and guidance he has received from our leadership team to help him find great success in his markets. In an August 2022 interview with 1851 Franchise, Mueller said, “They’ve been nothing but supportive in terms of providing me with the resources. As soon as I got back to Milwaukee I felt comfortable taking calls and getting out there working with customers. And even now, five years later, they provide a lot of ongoing support.”

Between his original Milwaukee territory and the Madison territory he was awarded back in 2020, Mueller has been able to build a home protection franchise empire in Wisconsin’s two biggest cities, enabling him to hit the seven-figure mark for sales revenue in 2022! He credits his entrepreneurial success with the simple model and niche, yet extremely necessary, humane wildlife control services he is able to provide. “Being able to expand to another service area was a big win for us, and shows just how needed this type of service is everywhere,” he told 1851 Franchise. “There are wildlife control companies all over the place, but really Skedaddle is the only way or the only company out there doing it humanely, at this scale.”

Prior to investing in the Skedaddle concept, Mueller had no prior experience owning a business. However, he had always had a passion for helping preserve the beauty and majesty of his native Wisconsin’s wildlife. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Mueller completed a Wildlife Ecology program and also earned a Master’s degree in Wildlife Biology, with a concentration on peaceful conflict resolution between wild animals and homeowners. When he found out about Skedaddle’s humane wildlife removal services, it was almost as if he was born to become our first U.S. Franchise Owner! He notes that he’d always believed there was a large, unmet need for what he refers to as “humane wildlife exclusion,” but didn’t know such a business existed until he researched the concept, found Skedaddle and learned that our animal control franchise was looking to expand to the United States. The rest, as they say, is history!

“It was exactly what I wanted to do, but I had no experience in owning a business. For them to provide a structure, game plan and wealth of knowledge and resources, it offered a lot more stability,” Mueller notes in his 1851 Franchise interview.

You can learn more about our first U.S. Franchise Owner and read his full interview with BizTimes here. 

Now’s the Time to Bring Skedaddle to Your Neighborhood!

As we look to expand to more territories in the U.S., Skedaddle is proud to be gaining traction and making headlines. For those who are looking for a balanced lifestyle, want to build a family legacy and want to own a business that helps people and animals while potentially helping their bottom line, Skedaddle is an exciting franchise opportunity in the home services sector! We offer semi-absentee ownership tracks for investors who want to focus on building an empire, along with a more hands-on, owner/operator model for people who are genuinely passionate about being outdoors, interacting with wildlife and helping homeowners find a way to safely and humanely evict critters from their attics, basements and more.  

We’re now awarding territories across the United States, and are looking for Franchise Owners to help us make Skedaddle the trusted name for humane wildlife control in America. Visit our critter control franchise website to learn more.