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September 2005 |
Volume 6, Issue 9, Part
1 |
The popularity of homebased franchises continues to
grow and so do the number of interesting opportunities. Prospective franchisees
like the fact that cost of entry is typically much lower than a traditional
franchise and without the overhead of a storefront operation, ongoing costs are
lower as well. In this issue we speak with Christine Rankin from Carpet Network
and Rick Hagen from Ident-A-Kid to get their views on how franchisees can
benefit by working from home.
Carpet Network franchisees provide their customers with a hassle free way to
shop for flooring products and "hard" window treatments (window treatments that
come on a head rail). Customers can select from large samples of carpeting,
vinyl hardwood, and fashion laminates for their floors or designer blinds,
shades, and fabrics for their windows right in their own homes. "Customers
benefit from our service in several ways," says Carpet Network President,
Christine Rankin. "Due to low overhead and national buying power, franchisees
can assure their customers that they are getting the best values anywhere. But,
most importantly, customers will make their selections right in the rooms where
the products will ultimately be enjoyed."
Rankin says the concept is
straightforward: "There's just no place like home to make important decorating
decisions. If you've ever tried to shop for room décor products, you know it is
very difficult to capture color in your mind and transfer that from place to
place. You need to look at all the things you are considering in the same
lighting where they will end up. Shopping at home means there are no big
surprises. After installation, it should look as good as you imagined."
Franchisees do not install the products they sell. "Our franchisees work
with craftsmen or specialty installers who work as subcontractors," says Rankin.
Rankin believes things have gotten a little impersonal with the "big
boxes." "Everybody keeps thinking larger is better, but we disagree. We think
smaller is just fine. We provide a real niche service and we make it very
personable and fun. Our customers don't have to dread the experience of
replacing their carpeting, for example. You may have seen commercials from other
establishments that make it look like new carpet just kind of gets blown under
the furniture as if the furniture levitates and the new flooring magically
appears. It would be nice, but nobody can do that yet. What we can and will do
is help the customer go through the process step by step, telling them what
needs to be done and how. Generally, we advise them to move their own precious
items, but let our guys help with the big stuff. The customer probably only goes
through this process every seven years or so, but we do it every day so we can
be very helpful," asserts Rankin. 
Most Carpet Network customers want personalized
service because they have families that limit their running around time. Rankin
says, "We make it possible for them to shop at their own leisure. We'll come out
to them whether it's raining or snowing outside or it's a beautiful sunny day
and they'd prefer to be poolside. While they're taking care of business, the
baby can be in a swing or the little ones can pop in a Disney video or the older
ones can play basketball out front. Everyone's a lot happier. Husbands are
especially captivated by what we do. They are often the ones who bring it to
their wives' attention so they don't have to trudge around stores on a
Saturday."
A mobile unit built for comfort and efficiency
Carpet
Network franchisees conduct business from a Unicell mobile van. It is a
fiberglass unit fitted onto a Ford or Chevy chassis with a rollup rear door.
Unlike most mobile sample vans, the Unicell design is roomy enough for guys over
6' to stand up and move around with ease. There is a center aisle with shelves
on either side and everything is within easy reach. There is also a skylight.
During daylight hours, interior lights aren't necessary to see what's in there.
A serious homebased business requires serious
franchisees
Carpet Network is a serious, homebased business in a
fast growing $30 billion industry. Rankin continues, "We are smart enough to
understand that each individual franchisee makes a strong link in the overall
organization. It's not thousands of them that make Carpet Network great. It's a
few hundred who are terrific. We look for superstars, the cream of the crop.
With those we can do numbers that the others can't approach. Understand, this is
not a part time filler, it is a serious business that can grow into something
very substantial."
Rankin says the biggest advantage to being homebased
is the super low overhead. "Starting out, franchisees don't have a big nut to
crack every month. When the business has grown enough they can move into a small
warehouse/office situation. And that's about as far as they have to go. At some
point it becomes more convenient to move out of the home because there will be
installers coming to be paid, materials being delivered, and so on," says
Rankin.
According to Rankin, "Beautifying people's homes is very
rewarding. It's just great to see that happiness on a customer's face when
they've changed their rooms into something they've dreamed about."
Contact Information: Christine Rankin, President, Carpet
Network, chris@carpetnetwork.com,
www.carpetnetwork.com,
(800) 428-1067
Each year, nearly a million children are reported lost, missing, or separated
from their parents. Often, law enforcement agencies are thwarted in their
efforts to locate them by the lack of current and accurate identification.
Officials agree that having such information readily at hand is the best
assurance of a quick, safe recovery of a lost or missing child. That's where
Ident-A-Kid comes in. This aptly named franchise provides driver's license sized
ID cards for parents to carry. Each card contains a complete physical
description of the child along with a professional, full-color photograph and a
fingerprint using a special inkless touchpad meeting national standards. On the
back are instructions to follow in case the child is missing. The entire card is
heat-seal laminated and is designed for parents, guardians, relatives or
baby-sitters to carry at all times. The company originated the concept nearly 20
years ago and now has 230 units operating in 40 states.
"Parents often
ask if this really works," says Rick Hagen, President of Ident-A-Kid. "The
answer is yes. We post news stories about kids who were actually found with an
Ident-A-Kid card on our website."
Marketing to parents through schools
The primary market
for these cards consists of parents of elementary and preschool children. It is
an easy market to reach through public and private schools and also daycare
centers. Typically, franchisees might service schools during the school year and
save the daycares for summer to even out the workload.
The marketing procedure starts with calling on principals
and daycare directors, lining up appointments to make presentations. Hagen says
it is rare to be turned down because it is an optional program for parents and
neither the school nor the parents are under any obligation. All the principal
has to do is pick a date on the calendar for the "Ident-A-Kid Program Day" and
the franchisee takes care of everything else from there.
A supply of
take-home material is provided to each teacher to distribute to the children.
Those parents wishing to participate have their child return the envelope with
the appropriate amount of money. On the designated Program Day an Ident-A-Kid
"technician" can process up to 100 children an hour. "Our pricing is good," says
Hagen, "so it is affordable for just about anyone. Our suggested pricing is four
ID cards for each child for $10. Since the service is primarily offered through
schools, those quantities can run into the thousands. It's the volume that
allows us to keep prices low and accessible to everyone." Hagen adds, "In a lot
of territories, franchisees are serving over 100 schools. And these are repeat
customers, year after year."
The business procedure hasn't changed much
in 20 years, but technology has. "We started out with Polaroid film and a
typewriter," says Hagen. "Now everything is digital. Changes came in phases.
First we went from Polaroid to digital photography, then from the ink
fingerprint to a digital fingerprint. Now we have streamlined it even more with
a LAD color laser-printing process that speeds up the process and efficiency for
our franchisees. Technology has really helped make this a more profitable
business when you calculate it on an hourly basis."
When Ident-A-Kid
starting offering ID cards for kids, they were pretty much alone in the
marketplace. That's changed. Now there are competitors - some even "nonprofit"
competitors - vying for parents' attention. "We compete by providing the best
quality card. We don't try to be all things to all people like some others do.
We also see some trying to get too high tech while others offer nothing more
than a piece of paper with fill-in-the blank spaces for the critical
information," says Hagen.
Like many homebased franchises, the cost of
entry is low. The franchise fee is $29,500 and that's for a turnkey business.
"It includes the all the supplies, equipment, and training," says Hagen, soup to
nuts. Ongoing costs are low, too, because there is no overhead. Franchisees keep
all their equipment at home so they don't have storefront rent or a lot of
expense that a typical franchise might have."
Contact Information: Rick Hagen, President, Ident-A-Kid,
rick@ident-a-kid.com,
www.ident-a-kid.com,
(727)577-4646
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