A new franchise in town

[The Dirt Army]

I like the idea of putting a sweet dirt army wrap on a future van of mine. But the question is...what is dirt army promising to do for you if you buy into the business?

Yeah, the branding is a big part and having hard-core equipment would help anyone in this business. It's the training. How we do business both in landing jobs and when we are onsite. It's teaching how to market yourself and your business for growth. It's learning the business side of business, the dollars and cents.

 

[The Dirt Army]

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Also do get a lot of other cleaners in the State indicating I should franchise and they would join... Kind of have my hands full right now...

And doing a franchise is a whole new management animal

Damn straight Mark. This is a lot of work. Good thing I have a lot of people who believe in me and the beginnings of a great team. We are going for it.

 

[Mark Saiger]

Damn straight Mark. This is a lot of work. Good thing I have a lot of people who believe in me and the beginnings of a great team. We are going for it.

Best wishes on your new Adventure Gary.

I will look forward to following along.

My family started years ago, and it was setup as a franchise, but the only people who really bought in were family, and eventually, our uncle Merle who started it all, gave up the franchise part so the family didn't have to pay him the 10% anymore.

Now today, this is all a different animal as mentioned...and I truly wish you the best. I hope your hard work pays off

 

[BIG WOOD]

Good Points Ed. That's the beauty of our model. Yes, we are looking to franchise but not quite the same way it has been going in this industry. Our model is to groom hungry owner/operators to learn how to market themselves, manage and grow their business, and make their own opportunities. We want the franchise to be successful so we will be selective on who we work with and won't be selling shops all over the place so that franchisees fight over business and cannibalize each other to scratch out a buck

Could the owner/operator who wants to stay that way afford to invest in your franchise, or will the cost outweigh that chance, meaning: Will a guy like me have to expand the business so big in order to pay the franchise fees and collect profit after those expenses? Or will there be a franchise package price for an owner/operator like your business is currently?

 

[Russ T.]

I think the REAL value (as opposed to perceived) to a franchise is when it becomes a household name.

Can you give us some compelling differences between the Dirt Army and the other franchises like Stanley and Zero Rez?

My personal advice would be to incorporate rotary extraction into your residential cleaning. You could dress it up like a little tank or something.

Maybe you are already doing this?

I wish you the best.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I would revisit alternative vehicles to get you where you want to be. A franchise is for a corp with deep pockets, what about a network, a marketing group something similar to a franchise without all the expense and baggage.

Is your attorney giving you what you are asking him, or what he suggest the best option?

 

[Mikey P]

I would think you need to make it an appealing affordable alternative to buying a Subway, Batteries R Us, Jamba Juice or any other offering that the guy looking for a new oportunity with a $100 to $200k in his fist.

Are people who are looking for a franchise wanting to clean floors themselves for a few years in the truck while they build up thier clientele?

Zerorez are being bought by who and for how much? Has to be a ton of $$. I've never heard of a location where the owner is out cleaning. They hit the ground running with a small fleet, a crew and a huge advertising budget. Has to be more money involved than a sandwhich shop that might earn the owner 40k at best in a great location


Will Dirt Army appeal to that type buyer or the Chem Dry level DYS buyer?

 

[steve_64]

I would revisit alternative vehicles to get you where you want to be. A franchise is for a corp with deep pockets, what about a network, a marketing group something similar to a franchise without all the expense and baggage.

Is your attorney giving you what you are asking him, or what he suggest the best option?

Bane clene with better equipment.

 

[The Dirt Army]

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Best wishes on your new Adventure Gary.

I will look forward to following along.

My family started years ago, and it was setup as a franchise, but the only people who really bought in were family, and eventually, our uncle Merle who started it all, gave up the franchise part so the family didn't have to pay him the 10% anymore.

Now today, this is all a different animal as mentioned...and I truly wish you the best. I hope your hard work pays off

Thanks Mark. The feedback has been strong and the momentum is there. You win some and you lose some but you can't win in you don't play.

 

[Bob Pruitt]

You win some and you lose some but you can't win in you don't play.

Any chance you get a second price quote from an Attorney? That just seems like a lot of money for filling out forms. Good luck with this. Sort of like getting married...until you say I Do, you can always change your mind.

 

[The Dirt Army]

Could the owner/operator who wants to stay that way afford to invest in your franchise, or will the cost outweigh that chance, meaning: Will a guy like me have to expand the business so big in order to pay the franchise fees and collect profit after those expenses? Or will there be a franchise package price for an owner/operator like your business is currently?

We have been talking about developing a program to convert the experienced OO to benefit from the system without getting crushed. More to come on that as we navigate the franchising process

 

[The Dirt Army]

Any chance you get a second price quote from an Attorney? That just seems like a lot of money for filling out forms. Good luck with this. Sort of like getting married...until you say I Do, you can always change your mind.

I should clarify - there are significant costs to getting this thing going, the attorney fees are a big part but there are a bunch of other costs to feed the beast

 

[The Dirt Army]

I would revisit alternative vehicles to get you where you want to be. A franchise is for a corp with deep pockets, what about a network, a marketing group something similar to a franchise without all the expense and baggage.

Is your attorney giving you what you are asking him, or what he suggest the best option?

We are looking at several options. There is a big difference between new entrants and the existing OO.

 

[The Dirt Army]

Thank you all for your comments and commentary. I got to get back at it. Gary

 

[Old Coastie]

My personal advice would be to incorporate rotary extraction into your residential cleaning. You could dress it up like a little tank or something.

Maybe you are already doing this?

I wish you the best.

A mine detector. Back and forth, looking for dirt bombs..

 

[Shane Deubell]

If you have investors, sure why not. Its now or never ....

This industry is really really hard to franchise. Think about it, franchises need $30k franchise fee, $30-$50k in equipment/vans so we are talking about $60-$80k investment. Which nobody has in cash so you end up bringing in all these sub-prime lenders and leasing companies that charge 12% or more in interest. Before you know it you are sending a guy out into the world with no experience very little cash for advertising and lots of high interest debt.

That doesnt sound like too much fun.

The franchises growing fast are like oxifresh, sir grout etc who are lite in equipment so people can put all their money in advertising.

Used to belong to a couple franchisor forums and it was always kinda funny how they made the same mistakes carpet cleaners do. Put all their cash in operations and then go on the forum and ask "how do i advertise with no money and no effort...."

Some things to think about, wish you good luck either way. You do have an opportunity here, not sure what direction thats up to you.

 

[Mikey P]

The first buyers are going to want to see Gary's proven successful track record dating back a number of years.

@Dirt Army can you tell us more about your business?

 

[Johnny]

Many on this forum have more technical and marketing experience than any franchiser, and all that knowledge is available here for free.

Really don't see the value of a franchise for anybody in this industry.

 

[bob vawter]

The value is for the franchisER.....
I never could stand someone making the rules....and THEN expect ME to pay THEM.......

PLUS......once you make the deal...
You are "hardwired" into the system. ..and no one wants THAT
RIGHT DINK?

 

[TomKing]

I think the real question is how many trucks does this guy run?

If you are going to be a franchise you have to be able to demonstrate that your system has the ability to grow.

I bet there is not one fully written professional manual of how to implement their system.

I bought Howard Partridges system years ago and it was embarrassing at how poorly it was done.
I have seen top level franchise materials in other industries. It takes a lot of work to produce national quality materials.

Their are tons of examples on franchising that has not gone well or expanded beyond a small geographical area.

Look at
Dalworth , Clean as a whistle, Professional Carpet Systems, Langenwalters
The dude from *** tried to franchise I believe also.
I bet the old guys could name a hundred examples

I would wait to see if he can put 5 operations in a 3 hour circle before I invested. If he can't hire 5 guys to run 5 different locations and give them owner level compensation it wont make it as a national franchise.

We get asked all the time if we are a franchise. I know I would not be able to open in another area.

I spoke with a owner of a cleaning and restoration company that has 150 employees. The CEO told me they can not figure out how to franchise because this industry is too dependent on people in the beginning.

If I had the viral video. I would license my name and sell training meetings. I would sell my coaching services. Less legal guidelines than a franchise system.
Cash in for a few years and then move on.

Lets be honest everything you saw in the video Scotty and Bill can sell to you.

Good luck I hope he profits off his fluke national exposure.

Reality television is full of pop culture millionaires more power to you.

I wish it happen to us. I would be trying to monetize it also.

Why not go to reality TV. I have never seen a carpet cleaning / Tile cleaning / trauma clean up show. If you hit you get paid and can walk away when it is over.

 

[Old Coastie]

"Hit Man Cleaners," the new reality sensation! Watch as perp stew is re-liquified and ...

 

[Desk Jockey]

I don't care for the name. "Dirt" sounds negative. I'd use "Clean" instead.
CLEAN ARMY
CLEAN BATTALION
CLEAN SQUAD
???

 

[rick imby]

Substitute Chavez (wetback) for "clean" in all those names and you will have a guaranteed winner...

 

[Desk Jockey]

 

[Mikey P]

Did anyone in Vegas get to Gary's booth?

or see or talk to him?


I walked the show hall five times and never saw the Camo...

 

[Cleanworks]

A franchise system is sometimes a good way to start, especially if you are getting support for systems, marketing, etc. The problem with all franchises and other large companies, is that as you expand and put out many teams, you will have some that will do well and some that will screw everything up. The ones that do well will have those customers tell 2 or 3 people. the ones that screw up, their customers will tell everyone who will listen. We have some large companies here, who have great advertising and marketing skills but if you check out their online reviews, you would never hire them. The larger you get, the harder it is to maintain quality control. If you are considering a franchise, think about what they are going to do for you, compared to what you could do on your own with the same budget.

 

[Loren Egland]

The best owner operator carpet cleaning franchise in the world.

http://www.northlandakitas.com/delta/family.htm

 

[Cleanworks]

Does the mustang come with it?

 

[Loren Egland]

Does the mustang come with it?

No. That was the old franchise. We have updated since a quarter century ago.

 

[Cleanworks]

Niiiiice