Green Home Solutions had a big 2017. The indoor-air-quality franchise cemented its position as the leader in its segment, adding 65 new units and 15 new franchisees to its already booming franchise system. This year, the franchise is looking to capitalize on that success by developing more units in more markets.
Green Home Solutions should have no trouble finding eager candidates to open new locations. The brand has long offered a number of unique benefits to franchisees, and as the franchise grows, so do the upsides of ownership.
Here are five reasons why Green Home Solutions is one of the best franchises to invest in this year.
1. Exciting new leadership
Last fall, Green Home Solutions announced the appointment of new CEO Jeff Panella. Panella brought with him more than 25 years of experience in the franchise industry, his career ranging from the foodservice segment to boutique concepts to Fortune 500 companies.
Glen Snyder, Green Home Solutions’ chief development officer, said the decision to hire Panella was made explicitly with an eye toward growth.
“Jeff brings a lot of franchise knowledge and experience to the team, which reinforces some of our visions and directions,” Snyder said. “There’s no doubt that he’s going to be able to guide us through our next phase of growth. Our aspirations for the future are very strong. What separates Jeff from the rest is his passion for franchising. He knows how to look at things from both the franchisee and franchisor perspective, and he’s always on the lookout for win-win scenarios that will benefit the entire Green Home Solutions brand.”
2. Increasing momentum
Health is no passing trend in U.S. or abroad. Each year, consumer spending is further influenced by a rapidly growing concern for health and quality of life. Green Home Solutions has tapped into that concern and found a wide and enthusiastic customer base who are eager to improve the air quality in their homes.
In addition to the more than five dozen new units, Green Home Solutions opened last year, the franchise’s development team is actively pursuing new franchisees in a host of key markets across the U.S.
“We’ve seen an enormous surge in interest from consumers in every market,” Snyder said. “The demand is there, and it’s growing. Still, we are careful to position new units only where we know they will be most successful, so our development team is carefully selecting territories where new franchisees can get up and running quickly and will have room to grow.”
3. Good company
As Green Home Solutions continues adding new owners to its system, it also adds to the support network available to each owner. Currently, more than 165 franchisees share resources and best practices, and because Green Home Solutions owners operate in fully-inclusive territories, there is no competition between owners and a built-in incentive to support neighboring franchisees, as the success of each individual franchisee promotes the reputation of the brand.
And Green Home Solutions’ franchisees share more than just a profession. Russ Weldon, the franchise’s Chief Cultural Officer, says the development team carefully selects franchisees who are best suited to represent the brand, resulting in a close-knit community of like-minded entrepreneurs.
“We have built a team—both franchisees and in the corporate office—of people who have a passion for what we are doing,” Weldon said. “Because all of our franchisees are working for the same cause and are not stepping on each other’s toes in terms of clients, we have a very tight community of people working to support each other. That’s not something you see at a lot of other franchises.”
4. Growing demand
Green Home Solutions’ growth in recent years coincides with an increasing awareness of the harm that mold and poor air quality can have a person’s health. Those adverse health effects are not exclusive to certain seasons, markets or homes, and homeowners are learning that protection is essential.
Snyder says that as fast as the franchise has grown, it still hasn’t kept pace with demand. “People are learning just how dangerous poor air quality can be,” he said. “That’s not something previous generations were thinking about, but more and more, homeowners are seeing that proper air quality is essential to the health of their families, and landlords are required to meet new, stricter standards. As we continue to put our brand out there, we continue to see more and more interest from both consumers and prospective franchisees.”
5. Low startup costs
The startup costs to open a Green Home Solutions franchise range from $45,675 to $76,250, far below the hundreds of thousands often required to open a new franchise unit for other brands. And the franchise model is built to scale quickly and inexpensively, so savings on the initial investment can immediately be put to work growing the business.
“It doesn’t cost a lot to get a Green Home Solutions up and running,” said Snyder. “You don’t have to lease an office, you don’t have to buy a ton of specialized equipment or hire an enormous staff, the overhead is quite low. Our startup costs are designed to take advantage of that low overhead by letting owners leverage their savings to invest back into their own business. With the money our owners save compared to other franchise brands, they can do really great marketing campaigns and immediately start thinking about opening up their second and third territory and beyond, which is where the value of our model really starts to take off.”