Franchising with Prokill
Prokill Thames-West Pest Control Franchise owner & manager Justin Holloway talks about his experiences as a local pest control franchisee.
Back in late 2007, almost two months after launching my Prokill pest control franchise in Swindon, I was asked by a franchising journal how I felt about the experience so far and proclaimed ‘Six weeks on and I’m loving my new life!’ Well, as I write this it’s some 24 months later and perhaps a good time to revisit my thoughts.
Was a franchise right for me?
Absolutely yes! To launch a new business in an unknown sector on the cusp of a recession is naturally daunting and what you don’t want to do is to make too many mistakes. After all, the two most precious commodities you have are time and money.
The franchising model helps avoid costly mistakes and minimizes the learning curve.
Another benefit of belonging to a franchised business network is the inter-franchise support. The "community" aspect of franchising is reassuring and, unlike a totally self contained businesses, we are able to share our thoughts, concerns and successes together and, in so doing, collectively learn from each other. This can be very reassuring during the formative months.
Why Pest Control & Prokill?
Many of the franchised business opportunities that I came across were very specific and the scope of opportunity limited. Further, the services they delivered were very prescribed and formulaic and I liked the breadth of opportunity that Prokill & Pest Control delivered. For example a recent domestic job comprised of an initial Prokill Free Risk Audit to determine the exact nature of the reported pest problem, a series of control measures to rid the homeowner of the identified pest, the remedial work to ensure the problem did not reoccur and finally to remove and replace all the loft insulation that had been spoiled by the occupying pests! In the past 2 years there have been many pest control projects where a “turnkey” solution to the pest problem has been warmly received by our customers.
Another key aspect of the business, assuming that you build it with the appropriate mix of contract versus job work, is the ongoing and incremental quarterly incomes. Annual contract work can deliver a quarterly income that, when delivered to the client satisfaction, can be a long term contributor to your cash flow. Adding lots of medium value contracts results in a healthy bottom line and no single loss will greatly impact the sustainability of the business.
Finally, the two key drivers for our business are Health and Safety and Distress and these attributes have proven to be just as important in bad economic times as the good. This has resulted in very strong customer retention.
What have been the challenges?
The challenges continue to change and evolve alongside the growth of the business. Initially, your time is all spent on business development and, assuming you are successful, the time will come when the resulting workloads will thwart any serious growth going forward. This is the point where you make a decision to either remain a “Man in a Van” or lay the foundations for a management style business. The Prokill franchise had always been sold as the latter and the business model geared with this in mind. Before the end of year two I had wanted to put in place a technician so that the business development aspect of the franchise didn't fall by the way side under the volume of servicing work. Owing to the success of the business I began recruiting much earlier than planned and appointed employee 1 in June 2009. Now the challenge is dividing my time between, business development, service delivery and managing staff and the general task of business management consumes more time than I might have guessed!
As with any business, a healthy cash flow is key. This is especially true in today's harsh economic environment and debt management is a very important element to keep in check. Underestimate this at your peril. Many franchised operations provide a “Back Office” that takes care of the routine task of invoicing and debt chasing and Prokill are no exception. Again, this is a significant difference when compared to a non franchised start up business. If I was to add this onerous task to the myriad of other responsibilities I shoulder, I am sure that I would not have made the progress that I have.
The rewards of working for Prokill
One of the most satisfying things has been to see the business grow; to plant the seed, to watch the green shoots and to finally see it standing tall without support. I think that the franchisor takes a similar pride in this too. It has also meant that for the very first time in my career I am truly able to say that I alone control my destiny. I wonder how many people are reading this and wondering if tomorrow will be the day their services are no longer required?
Oh yes, and the financial rewards are naturally a component too!
What qualities does a franchisee need?
Whilst franchisees come from all walks of life, another very important aspect that I must stress about the franchising model, especially in relation to pest control, is that anyone considering an investment should be endowed with some basic commercial skills and the self confidence to sell their services. After all, Prokill train you to be a very competent and qualified pest controller and will also provide you with the tools and systems to help you sell, but without the requisite self confidence, social and networking skills you might struggle to advance the business. After all, this is first and foremost a business and the business skills must accompany the technical skills. Further, it is often forgotten that a franchise is a "business model" and to make the model work you have to be pro-active because it is not the role of the franchisor to do the work for you.
Would you recommend a pest control franchise from Prokill?
‘Two years on and I’m loving my new life!’
For more information on becoming your local hero just like Justin at Prokill Thames-West, simply complete our online contact form or contact the Prokill Head Office.
