Choose The Most Affordable Home Services Franchise
The home services industry is booming and now is a great time to start a home services business.
Drive through any neighborhood in America and you’ll probably pass a half-dozen yard signs advertising a home services franchise business. You’ll also likely see at least as many service trucks touting this home improvement company or that “latest product for the home.”
It’s no secret that the home services industry is booming.
Everywhere we turn, there are signs that people are investing in their single greatest asset–their house. If you’re reading this, you’re one of the thousands of entrepreneurs considering starting a home services business. But that choice can become complicated.
After all, the home services industry is as complex as your home and its myriad components and systems.
From lighting to windows to foundation and beyond, there’s a home services franchise opportunity serving that area. Which one is right for you? And which one is the most affordable home services franchise?
THE PATCH BOYS are home services franchise pioneers. Part of the BELFOR Franchise Group, we’ll put our expertise to work for you to help you cut through the clutter and find the answers you need before you start your home services business.
The home services industry is a diverse group of overlapping businesses and services
Think about a house and all of its components. There’s a foundation, a roof, windows. Outside, there may be gutters, sidewalks, and landscaping, and inside carpets and flooring compliment kitchen cabinets and woodwork like doors, molding, and trim.
Behind those beautifully faux-finished walls, electrical wires carry power from the meter to receptacles and outlets while other wires may transmit television signals, music, or the latest episode of The Bachelor. Plumbing is also tucked away in there, alongside air conditioning ducts.
For every one of these components, there are home services businesses competing for the homeowner’s attention to install them in new houses, to keep them maintained, or to repair them when they break.
For every kind of home services business, there is a franchise concept just waiting for you to join them.
Franchise companies like THE PATCH BOYS exist to help you position yourself in this competitive market while shortening the time it takes you to get started and improving your chances for building a thriving business.
For an idea about just a few of the dozens of home improvement franchise businesses available, here are just a few the areas franchise opportunities serve:
- Heating and Air Conditioning
- Plumbing
- Flooring
- Landscaping and mowing
- Cabinets and wood finishing
- Painting and faux finishes
- Roofing
It’s difficult to make an exhaustive list of the franchise sectors in home services because there is a franchise concept for literally every surface of a house—and one for everything that lurks under or behind those surfaces, as well.
That’s one reason the home services industry is so big.
The home services industry is a multi-billion dollar juggernaut
By now you’re probably wondering just how big the home services industry is. Business analytics firm Verified Market Research weighs in on the subject, pegging the total market for home services at more than $281 billion.(1) That growth is driven in no small part by the diversity of the industry.
“Applications of home services include services such as construction, interior design, electricity, plumbing, non-HVAC home applications, gas and more,” VMR writes. They add homeowners love their home services.
“From the consumer’s point of view, home services is an attractive service model as it is timesaving for the consumer.”
Homeowners appreciate the convenience of calling their favorite businesses to take care of cleaning the gutters or fixing a leaking faucet.
They also know they can trust the brands they recognize, and brand loyalty in home services is a major contributor to continued growth. Every day, a new class of entrepreneurs jump into the business, hoping to benefit from that loyalty and opportunity.
Starting a home services business can be expensive, but you don’t have to break the bank
The startup costs associated with opening a home services business can be substantial, but those costs vary wildly depending on the sector you’re serving, the size of your market, and the services you provide.
One of the primary drivers of startup costs is equipment. The more complex the system, the higher the equipment costs will be.
Training and skills development will also be a vital component of cost, but it is nonetheless a necessary and worthy part of this investment for the long-run.
The most expensive home services segments require specialized tools and machinery and the vehicle to transport it all, while the least expensive businesses can be started with as little as a tool box and a hatchback.
Another major startup cost to consider is training and skills development, both for the owner and for employees.
Many home services business concepts require advanced training and even college-level education. Others, though, require very little training beyond the practical aspects of running the business or performing a few, specialized tasks.
Among the most expensive businesses, heating and air conditioning service ranks near the top, alongside exterior finish contractors.
While these businesses can be lucrative, for many entrepreneurs, the cost of entry proves too high a barrier. That’s where affordability becomes a key factor in choosing a home services franchise opportunity.
The most affordable home services franchise businesses keep costs low
As you survey home services franchise opportunities, a question you need to keep in mind is labor and tools costs. How many employees does it take to deliver the product or service, and what tools do they require to serve the customer?
The most affordable home services franchises keep costs low because one or two technicians can serve the client with inexpensive tools and readily available materials.
That can mean high profit margins for the savvy business owner.
Take THE PATCH BOYS, for instance. Many of our franchise owners operate the business themselves, with only a couple of employees. They enjoy getting out and doing the work, meeting the homeowners, and delivering top-notch drywall repair.
The results are a potentially lucrative business that can scale as the entrepreneur grows, making a low-cost home services franchise like THE PATCH BOYS an ideal investment for a project manager or handyman looking to build a thriving, growing brand.
Finding the biggest opportunities in home service franchise businesses?
Considering the size of the industry, it’s no surprise that there are hundreds of franchise opportunities competing for your attention and your investment. How do you choose where you’ll jump in? You’ll need to weigh several factors to make that determination.
Think of this decision as a math formula, where you set the variables:
(Available Capital + My Personal Interests and Skills) – (Startup Costs + Labor Expenses)
____________________________________________________
(Market Size – Competitors)
How big is the market for the business concept? Also, you’ll want to know that you can deliver the services and enjoy working in the business you choose.
But you have to weigh these benefits against the initial investment, which can be substantial, and any associated labor costs as you grow your business. On the other side of the equation, you’ll need to determine the potential revenue you can generate and weigh that against the costs of providing the services.
It might be fun to own a McDonald’s franchise—the king of franchising, and you may like their food. But starting a single unit can take $3 million in the first year, against a shrinking revenue stream and narrow profit margins in a food business.
Unless you really love hamburgers and have millions of dollars to invest, that wouldn’t be your best franchise choice. Ideally, you’ll probably want the lowest startup costs and a wide-open segment with few, if any competitors. That’s where THE PATCH BOYS comes in.
THE PATCH BOYS is an affordable home services franchise
THE PATCH BOYS drywall repair franchise checks off a lot of the “must meet” criteria of the “which business do I choose” formula.
Our franchise owners provide a vital service to homeowners, and our business model requires fewer employees and lower startup costs than other home services franchise concepts.
At the same time, virtually every home has drywall, and there are no other major national drywall franchise brands.