Home Services Franchise: How to Choose the Right Opportunity

Considering investment in a home services franchise? Learn more about the different options and their pros and cons, so you can make an informed choice.

Most often your customers are homeowners, but they could also be renters or landlords. Home services can include property maintenance, cleaning services, renovations, appliance sales, and security system installations, to name a few. There are several franchise opportunities available for people looking to start their own home services business. The challenge is choosing which one is right for you.

Evaluating Home Services Franchises: Indoor vs Outdoor

To help with narrowing down your choice of franchises, it’s easiest to start by reviewing the pros and cons of indoor and outdoor opportunities.

Outdoor Home Services

Outdoor home services include lawn care, landscaping, handyman repairs, pressure washing, window cleaning, asphalt and concrete work, tree trimming, pest and mosquito control, roofing, pool cleaning and maintenance, and others.

Benefits of these types of businesses:

• Usually requires active labor so a great opportunity to exercise while earning revenue
• For some services like lawn mowing or landscaping, others can see your work easily, which presents a cost-free marketing opportunity
• Many franchises can be run as home-based businesses to lower overhead costs

Challenges for these types of businesses:

• The work is often not available for 12 calendar months; seasonal or shortened growing seasons can limit your time to generate revenue
• The work will be impacted by weather, which will require you to work extra time to maintain appointments or be adept at rescheduling
• Outdoor services usually require an investment in equipment, so upfront costs and maintenance costs can be higher

Indoor Home Services

Indoor home services include house cleaning service, trade work (electrician, plumbing, HVAC, carpentry), painting, interior decorating, home repair services, and so on.

Benefits of these types of businesses:

• Year-round demand
• More flexibility in scheduling
• Lower overhead costs because less equipment is needed to perform the work, which also saves on maintenance costs

Challenges with these types of businesses:

• Clients often demand work on short notice
• Certifications or licenses may be required for trade work such as electrical or plumbing
• As people cannot see your work like outdoor services, your franchise must have a good marketing strategy

Ongoing vs One-Time Services

Another factor in choosing a home services franchise is to evaluate the pros and cons of services that are performed on an ongoing basis versus those that are one-time services. Ongoing services would include lawn cutting, home cleaning, pool maintenance, and mosquito control where you re-visit the property several times in a year or season. One-time services might be bathroom renovations, repairs, or tree trimming, which will not happen repeatedly.

Here are some factors to consider when evaluating these kinds of services:

Pros of Ongoing Services

• Seeing customers frequently provides recurring revenue
• You can build solid relationships with customers you see often
• Your schedule is more consistent with regular, repeat appointments

Cons of Ongoing Services

• You have a smaller customer base unless you hire more people
• Losing a customer or two can have a bigger impact on your income
• You have less flexibility in your time due to repeat schedules

Pros of One-Time Services

• Jobs tend to be priced higher, so you earn more per job
• Your work schedule is more flexible without regular appointments
• You have a more diverse business with different jobs and different customers

Cons of One-Time Services

• Marketing is important to capture the customer at the time they’re looking for the service
• Depending on the service, you may need to work evenings or weekends if the homeowner needs to be in the home with you
• With a higher-priced service, the customer’s expectation is also higher

Important Factors When Considering Any Home Services Franchise

Making the right choice in franchise ownership involves factors beyond the pros and cons listed here. When we meet with prospective franchisees at Bath Tune-Up, there are common elements of a franchise opportunity that are important to making a good decision. The value of these factors can differ for each person, but they all play a role:

• Whether you choose a work-from-home opportunity or prefer to rent office space, Bath Tune-Up leaves that decision up to you. Everyone’s life is different, so make the choice that works for you.
• We offer protected territories, which means we will not allow other Bath Tune-Up franchisees to establish in or pull customers from your area. Some franchisors don’t offer this protection, leaving you to compete with your fellow franchisees for business. Be sure to ask.
• Niche model. You have to differentiate yourself from your competitors, so the franchise you’re considering should offer a niche market opportunity. At Bath Tune-Up, we use designer options that fit any budget to make it easier for homeowners to choose their bathroom to remodel.
• Training and support. A big part of a franchise business model is the support and training offered by the franchisor. Bath Tune-Up has a 12-week action plan to get your business open, plus we offer in-person conventions, a private podcast channel, weekly email updates, webinars, and more. Training and support should not end with your launch date.
• Franchisee satisfaction. Talk to other franchisees and ask them about their experience with the brand. At Bath Tune-Up we include talking and working with other franchisees as part of our training. Other franchisors may not offer that opportunity.
• Strong industry projection. Be sure your franchise is in an industry that has strong future growth. The home improvement industry is always growing because people always invest in their homes. Find out if it’s the same for the other industries you’re exploring.

Bath Tune-Up: A Home Services Franchise of Choice

The National Kitchen & Bath Association released a 2022 report assessing how the housing market and general economic trends are impacting the kitchen and bath industry. They found that the industry was poised to reach $199 billion in record revenues, with a growth rate of 19% for the second consecutive year. Further, 85% of kitchen and bath remodels involve professionals.

The home renovation industry offers plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to open a home service franchise like Bath Tune-Up. With the right business model that offers a unique, customer-focused approach, franchisees can carve out a niche in the home renovation market.

To find out more, fill out this short form. A Bath Tune-Up franchise could be the opportunity you’re looking for.