If you own a home, you already spend money with home service businesses. The HVAC guy comes out when the AC quits. You hire somebody to clean the gutters because getting on a ladder doesn’t seem as smart as it did 15 years ago. Maybe you pay for lawn care, call a plumber when something starts leaking or finally bring in a painter after staring at the same half-finished room for three years.
Vetrepreneur® Virtual Franchise Fair: Home Services
Friday, September 18 | 12–3 p.m. EDT
100% Virtual
See if you qualify and register here.
We tend to think of these as people we’re hiring to knock something off the weekend to-do list. But take a closer look. That HVAC tech works for a business. So does the painter, plumber, restoration crew and lawn service. Somebody owns those companies, and in many cases, the owner isn’t the person crawling under the sink.
For Veterans considering business ownership, that’s worth thinking about.
You Don’t Have to Invent the Next Big Thing
There’s a version of entrepreneurship that makes it sound like you need a brilliant new idea, a pile of venture capital and an app nobody has thought of yet.
You don’t.
Plenty of successful businesses do things people have needed for decades. They fix air conditioners. Paint houses. Maintain lawns. Repair plumbing. Clean homes. Manage rental properties. Restore houses after water or fire damage.
They’re not particularly glamorous businesses, and that’s kind of the point. Homeowners aren’t going to stop having clogged drains because the economy changed. Grass doesn’t care what’s happening on Wall Street. Your furnace will happily die on the coldest Saturday in January whether it’s convenient or not.
Home services exist because houses require work and a lot of homeowners either can’t do it, don’t know how to do it or would rather pay somebody else.
That’s a pretty straightforward business proposition.
Vetrepreneur® Virtual Franchise Fair: Home Services
Friday, September 18 | 12–3 p.m. EDT
100% Virtual
You Don’t Necessarily Need to Know How to Fix an Air Conditioner
This is where home service franchises can be interesting for Veterans.
Owning an HVAC business doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the HVAC technician. Owning a painting company doesn’t mean you’re spending eight hours a day with a roller in your hand. Depending on the franchise model, your job as the owner may be much more about running the operation: hiring good people, managing schedules, keeping customers happy, watching the numbers and making sure the business does what it says it’s going to do.
Sound at least a little familiar?
A lot of military experience translates well to that kind of work. You’ve probably dealt with personnel problems, limited resources, schedules that fell apart, equipment that didn’t cooperate and plans that changed five minutes after somebody said the plan was final.
That doesn’t automatically make you a good business owner. There’s plenty you’ll have to learn. Sales, marketing, cash flow, hiring in the civilian world and customer acquisition may all be new territory.
But you don’t have to start from zero, either.
See if you qualify and register here.
Why Buy a Franchise Instead of Just Starting a Business?
You absolutely can start a home service business yourself. Plenty of people do.
The appeal of franchising is that somebody has already built much of the framework. Depending on the company, you’re buying into an established brand, training, operating procedures, technology, marketing support, vendor relationships and a business model that’s already being used by other owners.
Of course, you’re paying for that. Franchise fees and ongoing royalties are real expenses, and putting a recognizable logo on a truck doesn’t guarantee customers will come running.
That’s why researching the actual business matters more than falling in love with the brand.
Before buying anything, you need to understand how the company makes money, how much capital you’ll need, how owners get customers, what the margins look like, whether hiring is difficult, what the franchisor actually provides and what current franchisees have experienced.
You also need to know what your own job would look like.
That’s a question people sometimes overlook.
What Do You Actually Want to Own?
Let’s say you’re looking at a lawn care franchise. Do you want to manage crews? Are you comfortable with seasonal demand? How much equipment is involved? How large does the operation need to become before the numbers make sense?
Now look at property management. That’s a completely different business. You’re dealing with owners, tenants, maintenance issues and properties that don’t care whether it’s after hours.
Restoration has its own realities. So do plumbing, HVAC, painting and residential repair.
They’re all “home services,” but owning them can mean very different things.
That’s why the better question isn’t, “What’s the best franchise?”
It’s, “What business would I actually want to run?”
The answer depends on your finances, family, goals, personality and how you want to spend your days.
Start With the Businesses You Already Understand
One advantage of looking at home services is that you’re already familiar with the customer side of the equation.
You’ve probably hired some of these companies yourself. You know what good service feels like. You definitely know what bad service feels like.
The company that actually answers the phone stands out. So does the contractor who shows up when he says he will, gives you a straight answer about the price and doesn’t leave your house looking like a tornado came through.
None of that is revolutionary.
It’s just good business.
And if you’re looking for a business to own, sometimes that’s a better place to start than chasing the newest thing.
Take a Look Under the Hood
On Friday, September 18, from 12–3 p.m. EDT, Vetrepreneur® is hosting a Virtual Franchise Fair focused specifically on Home Services.
Veterans and military families who qualify can get a closer look at seven franchise opportunities covering lawn care, screen repair and installation, painting and property improvement, property restoration, heating and air conditioning, residential property management, and plumbing and drain services.
Instead of spending an hour listening to a sales presentation, you’ll get short First Look sessions designed to show you how each business actually works. You’ll also have opportunities to ask questions and connect directly with participating franchise teams.
If something catches your attention, you can dig deeper. If none of them do, you’ve still learned something about what you do—and don’t—want in a business.
That’s a much better outcome than buying into something because the brochure looked good.
The event is free for qualified Veterans and military families, and there’s no obligation to buy a franchise. Vetrepreneur® also offers Veteran Franchise Coaches who can help you sort through the opportunities, understand the process and figure out whether franchise ownership makes sense for you.
So the next time a service truck pulls into your neighborhood, look at it a little differently.
That’s not just somebody coming to fix an AC unit, paint a house or clear a drain.
It’s a business.
And somebody gets to own it.
Vetrepreneur® Virtual Franchise Fair: Home Services
Friday, September 18 | 12–3 p.m. EDT
100% Virtual
See if you qualify and register here.