Franchisee Success: Alair Homes

Construction costs that inexplicably skyrocket, shoddy workmanship, a contractor who tears up the kitchen and then disappears for weeks.

David Letourneau, a franchisee with Alair custom home builders and renovations in the Scottsdale, Arizona, area, says Alair is successfully fighting these customer laments that have plagued other companies. Alair is all about transparency, he says.

“We go in and do a complete design-estimation process,” says the Canadian company’s first franchisee in the U.S. “We work with the customer well before we talk about a construction agreement. We want to define their project. We get quotes from everyone with whom we work. It’s all transparent with the client.

“Before they sign a construction agreement, they know everything.”

The native Canadian, who’s been in the Scottsdale area for about 20 years, says the company recognizes and respects the modern, well-informed client.

“Today’s consumer is so savvy,” Letourneau says. “They say, ‘I want to know.’ The process is in the hands of the client.”

Letourneau recently passed the one-year mark as an Alair Homes franchisee and experienced success quickly after coming aboard.

“We were swamped with business within six weeks of opening.”

He had expectations of doing well. As a former consultant to Alair, he helped put the franchise launch together, so he knew the brand. He also had a strong base from which to grow after being active in the Phoenix and Southern California markets for several years.

“I certainly was optimistic. From a franchise perspective, it’s low-dollar entry, and there’s no limit to the upside of what a person can make. There’s nothing that compares to this. Nothing comes close. With most franchises out there, there’s something that’s limiting them. That’s not the case here,” he says.

“We’ll be the dominant player fairly quickly in the U.S. … The main reason for our success is our systems and process. Client control is the most important thing. We’re there to execute everything.”

His extensive experience in the industry was valuable when deciding whether to buy an Alair franchise.

“I’ve been around the business for a while. I love the fact that Alair has such a great support system. It’s very meaningful in today’s business world. … I started my first business as a kid in the ’60s. You could do that back then. But today it’s so much more complicated. It makes sense to be part of something bigger. That’s where franchises come in.”