Are you considering entering the moving industry as a franchisee? Investing in any franchise is a significant decision that requires careful consideration.
Our comprehensive guide delves into the essential factors to consider when evaluating a moving franchise opportunity.
Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or new to franchising, making the right decision requires thorough research and analysis.
Here are the signs of an excellent moving franchise opportunity.
How do you identify an excellent moving franchise opportunity before investing?
The appeal of owning a franchise is undeniable. Often, you benefit from established brand recognition, a proven business model, and valuable data. Logically, owning a franchise is a better option than starting your own local moving company from scratch.
However, even with a franchise, success is never guaranteed. Consumer preferences can be unpredictable, and what works in one location may fail elsewhere.
The following are key factors to consider when evaluating a solid franchise opportunity.
1. Established Brand and Reputation:
Investing in a moving franchise means joining an established brand with a solid reputation. Here are some tips to identify a solid moving franchise brand –
Narrow Your Research
Narrow your search only to include franchises that have already carved a niche for themselves. Doing this will save you the effort to build brand recognition from scratch.
Check Customer reviews
Research the reputation of the moving franchise by reading customer reviews and testimonials. Seeing a lot of authentic, positive feedback from satisfied customers is a strong indicator of a franchise’s service quality and reliability, which can contribute to your success as a franchisee.
Let’s Get Moving Franchise
Let’s Get Moving is an established brand, and our objective is to help our franchisees get off on the right foot. The company lends its expertise, branding (website, social media channels, and constantly updated SEO content), and reputation (reviews across all channels, including Google My Business) to new franchisees. When our franchisees succeed, we all do.
2. Proven Business Model:
With a moving franchise, you inherit a tried-and-tested business model. The franchisor has already fine-tuned its approach, providing a roadmap for success and minimizing the need for trial and error.
Evaluate the growth potential of the moving franchise by assessing market trends, demand for services, and expansion opportunities. A franchise with room for growth and innovation can offer long-term profitability and sustainability for franchisees.
3. Passion for the Work:
Consider whether you have a genuine passion for the moving industry and operations. Success in a franchise requires dedication and perseverance, especially during the initial stages when profits may be minimal.
Be sure you are committed to the business’s long-term success, or you may lose steam quickly and become frustrated with your investment.
4. Transparent Franchise Agreement:
Review the franchise agreement carefully to ensure transparency and fairness. Look for clear terms regarding fees, royalties, territory rights, and other obligations.
A transparent agreement builds trust between the franchisor and franchisee and sets the foundation for a mutually beneficial partnership.
Here are some of the essential elements of a franchise agreement:
- Term and renewal of the franchise
- Financial Obligations (including franchise fees, royalty fees and other payments)
- Obligations and duties of both the franchisor and franchisee
- Support and training (provided by the franchisor)
- Branding, advertising and marketing rules and regulations (as outlined by the franchisor)
- Terms of termination
5. Comprehensive Data:
Look for a franchisor with detailed and balanced data to support their proposal.
Whether the franchise is new or established, it should offer a professional business proposal with data from pilot programs. Ensure the data is easy to understand and simple enough.
Look for the number of people moving in or out of your target location to understand the trends for that area. The industry and real estate development are booming in Houston, TX, where the population is growing. This fuels the moving industry, with relocations happening throughout Houston all year.
6. Limited Competition:
Do your due diligence before committing to a moving franchise. What’s working for their current locations may not have the same upward trajectory in yours.
Analyze the competition in the area, including revenue, pricing, location, number of trucks and employees (full- and part-time). When you are done conducting your competitive research, ask yourself: Can the local demographics support another player in the market?
7. No Pressure Sales Tactics:
Beware of franchisors who pressure you with urgency or vague references to competition for the franchise. While timing is essential, a hard-sell approach is often a red flag.
8. Minimal Overhead:
Joining an established moving company franchise means minimal overhead costs beyond your initial investment. This ensures financial stability and eliminates the burden of excessive monthly expenses.
9. Supportive Corporate Team:
Choose a moving franchise with a dedicated and supportive corporate team committed to your success.
A franchisor that provides ongoing training, marketing support, and operational guidance can help you navigate challenges and maximize your business potential.
10. Training and Support:
Franchisees benefit from comprehensive training and ongoing support from the franchisor. From initial setup guidance to continuous assistance in moving operations and marketing, this support system sets you up for success.
At Let’s Get Moving, franchisee training is 7-8 days of jam-packed training that involves going through each department the company offers. That means:
- Marketing
- Sales
- Dispatch
- Safety and Compliance
- Operations
- Customer service, and
- Accounting
Our franchisees get the best of both worlds by having our directors and managers explain the process. We supplement this with practical training as per the departments. The goal is to ensure franchisees understand the objective upon completion of the training.
Our training aims to ensure that by the time franchisees land back in their territory of operation, they know the foundational steps necessary to set up their franchise.
So we train them on various aspects of business such as where to operate, sourcing trucks, placing Google Ads, getting payment machines, and gathering materials. Ultimately, we encourage our franchisees to continually reach out to us to guide them each step of the way.
No matter which company you choose to work with, we advise you to ensure that the company provides comprehensive training programs for new franchisees.
Only proper training and support will equip you with the skills, knowledge, and resources to operate your business safely, earn money, and deliver exceptional customer service.
11. Access to Technology and Tools:
An excellent moving company franchise will have access to the latest technology to streamline operations, convert potential customers into paying customers and allow them to pay for your services quickly and reliably.
Let’s Get Moving invests in the latest customer relationship management tools(CRM), point of sales (POS), SEO, and social media tools so our franchisees don’t have to. We also oversee all digital marketing activities so our franchise owners can focus on running their businesses.
12. Reduced Risk:
Investing in a moving franchise carries lower risk than starting a business from scratch. Your chances of achieving franchise success are significantly higher with a recognizable brand, a proven business model, and backing from the franchisor. Additionally, many franchisors offer financing options, easing the financial burden of getting started.
13. Resilience During Economic Downturns:
Assess whether the franchise is likely to withstand economic downturns. Conduct independent research to determine its resilience in challenging economic conditions.
From the perspective of a moving company franchise, resilience during economic downturns is a crucial aspect to consider when assessing the viability and stability of the franchise opportunity.
14. Easy to Scale and Expand:
The dynamic nature of the moving industry allows for easy scalability and expansion. Franchisees can diversify their offerings, starting with essential home moving services, commercial moving, junk removal, packing and unpacking, and storage solutions.
Investigate the franchise’s growth rate and closure rate. While no franchise is foolproof, consistent growth and low closure rates indicate stability.
15. Information about Returns on Investment:
The moving industry offers tremendous growth potential, which should result in swift returns on your investment. On paper, all moving companies can make money, but we know well that the potential return on investment depends on the business owner and their team; in the equation of a franchise, that includes the franchise backing the business owner.
ROI of Let’s Get Moving Franchises
At Let’s Get Moving, the ROI may vary for each franchisee, as the location and population affect it the most. Safe to say, 25% to 35%, a few variable factors would be:
1) How much do you charge in any given month, depending on the time and season?
2) Fixed costs include the type of facility you are operating from (storage, lease commercial building, shared office space).
3) Variable costs such as advertisement spending; more input means more output, keep in mind.
If business owners involve themselves with the moves, they may see numbers as high as 35%-40%.
As mentioned above, we noticed trends that if you invest more in any form of advertising, you have a sure way of getting it paid back with more moves.
16. Strong Franchisee Community:
Look for a moving franchise opportunity that fosters a strong sense of community among its franchisees. A supportive network of fellow franchise owners can provide valuable insights, advice, and camaraderie, enhancing your overall franchise experience and success.
17. Clear Exit Strategy:
Consider the franchisor’s approach to exit strategies and resale opportunities. A clear exit strategy reassures franchisees and ensures a smooth transition when it’s time to sell or retire from the business.
Conclusion: Should You Invest in Let’s Get Moving?
An excellent moving franchise opportunity aligns with your values and offers a proven return on investment and ongoing support.
On the other hand, a tremendous moving franchise opportunity offers even more, like taking care of search engine optimization for each location, along with social media and digital marketing. They invest in marketing strategies that many new businesses could not otherwise afford.
With over 13 years of experience in the moving industry, we offer a turn-key solution, making it easy to kickstart your journey as a local moving company franchisee with Let’s Get Moving.
