Franchising a Business: A Guide with Advice from Preservan

• What we fix is as guaranteed as death and taxes. Wood deteriorates — rot and termites literally grow on trees, and wood makes our homes and buildings beautiful.

• Wood windows, doors, shutters — all these features are major issues when they start to deteriorate.

• We knew this from owning and operating a historic preservation contracting firm.

• Even in newer houses, wood is deteriorating faster due to the development of sustainable wood sources, so we understood the data behind this.

• You need to bring something unique to the market. There are a lot of mature players in various spaces, and if you’re just another copycat brand — like another burger joint, for example — you’ll have a hard time gaining traction.

• Specifically, in the home service space, I’d encourage someone to have something backed by technology. I don’t mean just AI, CRMs and all that — though those are necessary, of course. I’m talking about the technology behind the service.

• Having a technological element that makes your service better than the rest is crucial. There are some really cool things happening in this space, and Preservan is part of a group of brands leveraging material and construction technology in the home service space.

The first thing I did was get introduced to the idea of franchising through “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber. That was the first place I thought, “That’s it.” I read everything I could about franchising — there aren’t a lot of books on it, so it didn’t take long. I started listening to podcasts as well.

• The most critical part, outside of having a good operation in your prototype, is the partner. The next step is finding the right legal partner because franchising is a legal structure for growing your business. You need the right legal partner.
• I chose a different path — I decided to go legal first. I talked to lawyers first and said, “Here’s what we’re going to do. If this is a legal entity, I’m going to talk to lawyers first.”
• Working with Charles, I understood that the FDD is a document that not only protects the franchise and the system but also helps evaluate the business. He understood the value of a great Item 19, a great Item 7 and a great territory structure. He helped us build something unique that gave potential franchisees the information they needed and gave us a platform for growth.