The service and home repairs market in franchising has expanded rapidly since 2009 when the majority of the traditional franchise models such as restaurants and retail businesses took a major hit with the recession.
More people were spending money to fix items than buy new ones and the market for buying a franchise was quickly trending towards service models which could be opened with cash as opposed to financing, which was difficult to come by any longer. Mr. Goldberger was an accomplished entrepreneur but had spent the majority of his time in business as a builder and contractor on large-scale development projects throughout New York City.
At one point in his successful career, Mr. Goldberger realized that there was a significant market for smaller repair work, closer to that of a handyman service, but one that would focus on patchwork and light drywall services. This work was too small for most contractors, yet was a consistent need for many customers.
With this realization, The Patch Boys brand was born and the business was immediately successful. After only a few months in business, Mr. Goldberger decided to franchise the model in order to leverage a first mover advantage in the market space. No one had developed a light services model like Patch Boys and the opportunity for expansion was immediate.
In 2015, The Patch Boys hired Franchise Marketing Systems to develop the business model as a franchise and support the growth of the expanding brand as a franchise model. Franchise Marketing Systems developed the franchise expansion strategy, defined territory models, the franchise fee, royalty structure and support models needed to facilitate the organization’s growth.
Expert legal counsel was brought in to provide franchise legal guidance, FDD development and handle franchise registrations in the States of New York, Washington, Florida, Illinois and Maryland where target markets existed for the franchise expansion of The Patch Boys.
Franchise training manuals, operating documents, brochures and websites were developed in order to support new franchise sales, training and duplication of the model in new markets. Franchise Marketing Systems then supported the marketing, business development and franchise sales model for The Patch Boys.
What became evident early on was the unique market positioning for The Patch Boys was attractive and was drawing immediate demand from a broad spectrum of franchise investors. The first year of growth proved to be significant with twelve new franchises added in a short time period and the attention turned from recruitment to performance.
It became clear that franchisees who had the focus and ability to execute the Patch Boys marketing and business development model were outperforming those who had a focus on performing the actual construction service work. While continuing to recruit new franchisees, Franchise Marketing Systems and The Patch boys developed a solid training and support model that would allow the franchise model to work with both types of candidates.
For those with greater marketing and business development skills, the model focused training and support on operational concerns while the operators who came from the construction field were provided with marketing and sales-focused training.
During the second year of franchising, The Patch Boys franchise system expanded to 24 locations and continued to cover more markets throughout the United States successfully. This growth was even more impressive considering the large number of handyman franchises that had entered the market during the same time frame.
Some of the differentiators that have helped the Patch Boys brand grow at such speed when compared to the balance of the handyman services franchises included branding, focus, marketing and sales models and vision. The Patch Boys is a really nice example of a business that saw an opportunity to capture market share by focusing on a specific market niche and building a brand around that service segment.
Franchise expansion allowed The Patch Boys brand to capture market share quickly and leverage a first mover advantage. With solid management and a continued strategic vision, The Patch Boys will continue to grow nationally and position the organization for market leadership within the construction services market.
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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.