At the end of 2010, Mosquito Terminators had recently launched a new business model which was quickly growing across the United States. A new segment of pest control was taking shape and beginning to change the way consumers viewed their outdoor living spaces and properties. The mosquito control and outdoor spraying business had started to expand rapidly and was quickly changing the landscape for pest control services. Mosquito Terminators was one of the first in this market segment and the two entrepreneurial partners saw the potential for growing the brand quickly. Both partners owned a maid service franchise for a large, established franchise brand and had recognized the opportunity for outdoor pest control services.
In 2010, the business was born and the model quickly took shape with two corporate territories managed by each partner, one in Atlanta, GA and the second in Connecticut. The business model required effective sprays, one using standard pesticides and the second being a green, eco-friendly spray, mobile spraying equipment, a simple and basic residential vehicle and an aggressive marketing model that would spread the word and develop a customer base quickly. The true definition of a home based, low investment franchise model.
In late 2010, after only several months of operating the business, Mosquito Terminators hired Franchise Marketing Systems to develop the franchise model and get the brand ready for franchise development. It started with the franchise strategy and business plan to get the business ready to go to market. With little competition and relatively low levels of validation, much of the research was done using other home based, mobile operations as a reference point. The franchise operations and training manuals were then organized in order to be able to support new franchisees quick ramp ups and shortened learning curves. Lastly, the franchise marketing materials and sales process was developed to maximize exposure and develop the sales pipeline in as short of a time period as possible. Christopher Conner, the project lead, and the Franchise Marketing Systems team saw opportunity with the model being such a low investment, the market being in a high growth phase and there being a mass rush for market positioning in the pest control space. For these reasons, the Mosquito Terminators franchise presentation was extremely attractive very quickly when released to the market.
Franchise Marketing Systems lead the franchise sales presentations and helped in qualifying, screening and processing the leads, placing the ads and developing the entire franchise sales model. With a reasonable monthly ad spend, the total monthly lead count was in excess of 150 leads per month. The first franchises were sold in the fall of 2010 and by the spring of 2011, the organization had over 30 new units in place in key markets throughout the Midwest, Southeast and East Coast of the United States. The brand was moving and the business model was gaining traction, so much so that the organization expanded to over 150 units by the start of the third full year since franchising the model including international locations in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Canada. As the business grew, so too did the need for better systems, technology, strategic relationships and overall business direction.
As the business reached a level of maturity, there was an opportunity to sell the majority of interest in the business to Green Home Solutions, a home services business who was looking to enter into the market space. The timing was right, the market made sense and for the best interests of the business and brand, the exit plan took shape. Today, the pest control space is large and growing when looking specifically at the outdoor mosquito control franchise market. By franchising the business model, Mosquito Terminators was able to quickly and effectively establish itself as a market leader and through continued duplication was able to build an exit strategy for the founders to generate a significant return on their business investments.
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FMS is a team of expert franchise consulting professionals based in Canada that provides solutions for franchise development, franchise consultation, and expansion of businesses globally.