Behind the Scenes of a Business Franchise
Franchising is a path to fast growth for owners, and an immediate support system for entrepreneurs, but there’s no such thing as instant success.
Jim Bodden had more than 15 years of painting experience behind him when, in 2006, he wondered if there wasn’t a better way to grow his business than just finding new jobs. The renovation market was booming – British Columbians spend more than $7 billion annually on home improvements – and Bodden wanted a bigger slice of it.
He found a way to differentiate his service by offering one-day paint jobs: his crews would arrive in the morning and leave by suppertime, the house painted and back to rights. Depending on the labour required, an interior paint job would cost $1,000 to $1,500, while an exterior job would run from $2,500 to $4,000. The idea caught people’s imagination and work began rolling in.
Bodden quickly realized that the approach was a franchise waiting to happen, and the answer to his growth dilemma. Although his own start in the painting business came in 1990 via College Pro Painters Ltd., a franchise launched in Thunder Bay in 1971, Bodden hadn’t considered the franchise route for his own painting business until it was well established. Organic growth was good, but a franchise offered him a network of associates in exactly the same line of work, something most entrepreneurs never have.
“I wanted to be part of a group, working with other people,” Bodden explains. “I previously had one person working with me, a general manager. [Franchising] gives me the opportunity to be able to cultivate something and grow it into something that’s way larger than I could have done as a single unit.”
His company attracted the attention of Brian Scudamore, founder of 1-800-Got-Junk?, and the two joined forces last year to launch 1-888-Wow-1Day! Painting. The franchise has 10 locations across North America, from Vancouver to Tampa Bay, with aggressive growth plans for 2012.
“I really think we can grow our franchise system into 300, 350 units and do $200 million, $250 million in revenue one day,” Bodden says.
It’s a familiar story for Lorraine McLachlan, president and CEO of the Toronto-based Canadian Franchise Association. The number of franchise brands in Canada has increased 10 per cent in each of the past five years. There are now more than 1,200 active in Canada, and 78,000 franchisees. McLachlan’s organization represents about 450 brands.
Much of the growth has happened because entrepreneurs like Bodden wanted an opportunity to grow an established business, while participation by franchisees has been spurred by a tough economy that’s made many think twice about taking control of their financial future.
“People were looking for ways to control their own financial future, and being able to run your own business is a key to that,” McLachlan says. “There is continued interest in becoming a franchisee, and for a business owner – a franchise brand owner – it allows them to grow the brand perhaps more quickly than they would be able to do if they were doing corporate expansion only. It’s a symbiotic relationship that works well for both sides.”
The sector is too diverse for the CFA to track specific ownership trends, but McLachlan says a significant number of franchisees are younger – one-third of people attending The Franchise Show, which runs in Montreal and Toronto each winter, are 34 years old or younger, and many are women. While food-service establishments represent one of the single largest blocks of franchises, at 36 per cent of CFA members, many professional and commercial services businesses are also embracing the franchise model.
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