By David Chilton Saggers
An innovative idea, a unique concept, and an unfilled need in the market are crucial to franchise success, irrespective of the service or product. These systems have certainly taken those three essentials to heart, and go a long way to ensuring a flying start for prospective franchisees.
Pacini Italian Restaurants
Pacini Italian Restaurants began with one small restaurant in Quebec City some 40 years ago. Now, Pacini restaurants can be found as far west as Calgary, Alberta and all over Quebec, including its base of operations in Montreal. This growth developed through the franchising that began in the 1990s, explains Laflèche Francoeur, executive vice president, as he drives between locations in the system’s home province.
There are now 24 Pacini franchises, eight of them operated independently as restaurants inside hotels, a practice Francoeur says raises the brand’s profile and makes it stand out. As for expansion, he says, “Our next target is the Greater Toronto Area. We open in Mississauga this year.” This growth will follow the system’s plan of opening dine-in restaurants, five to six thousand square feet in size.
Every restaurant in the chain has the same look and feel, Francoeur explains, but there are some differences in the menus, adapting to what’s available in the region. In Alberta, for example, there are more items that feature beef.
Like many dine-in restaurants, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the system hard. “Takeout was not part of our DNA,” says Francoeur. “We had to start from scratch, learn to deal with aggregators [such as DoorDash], but we had amazing sales on takeout.” And in a unique pandemic-prompted move, Pacini used the kitchens in many of its restaurants to make BeaverTails pastries as a way for franchisees to generate revenue. Sales were all online and the desserts became a permanent fixture at 10 Pacini franchises. “Because of COVID, we ended up so much stronger,” says Francoeur.
The franchise investment ranges from $1.5 to $1.8 million. Training in two corporate stores lasts four to six weeks, depending on the franchisee’s experience. As for the benefits of franchising with Pacini, Francoeur notes that the restaurants have a unique concept with a head office that already knows what franchisees need to compete, given its 40 years of experience. There is also a good ROI; and operating in a hotel can be mutually lucrative for the franchisee and the hotelier alike.
Among the qualities he looks for when assessing a potential franchisee, Francoeur says he considers attitude, passion, and financial acumen because “Pacini investors are real investors, real businesspersons.”
Pest Detective
The bites, scratches, and chew marks that appear on wires and along baseboards are sure signs of an uninvited houseguest. They are pests. Every homeowner wants to get rid of them, and that’s where Pest Detective comes in. “From ants to raccoons, we deal with them all,” says Matt O’Neill, vice president of sales and marketing at Pest Detective.
Chris Frederick, the president and founder, spent four years after university with his brother’s pest control firm, says O’Neill, before launching Pest Detective in 1986 in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Since then, the company has grown to eight franchises serving 14 markets in the province. Next comes expansion into Edmonton, Alberta and the St. Catharines, Niagara region of Ontario. A Pest Detective franchise can exist in small population markets, but a minimum population of 70,000 is ideal.
Franchising for Pest Detective evolved naturally, O’Neill explains, with Frederick selling franchises to friends who expressed an interest in owning one. It was all very “hands off,” he says, although the company now prefers “hands-on” investors. They make up about half of the system’s franchisees, with “hands-on” owners having dual roles as owner and pest control technician, for which a provincial licence is required.
About 80 per cent of Pest Detective’s customers are residential, says O’Neill, so good customer service skills are essential. “We look for those who have experience in roles where they’ve interacted with others. Our repeat business is averaging 51 per cent.” He’s also interested in more mature investors – aged about 35 to 50 – seeking both men and women, and who are likely to stay in the business.
Training takes three weeks, with franchisees spending two weeks on a “ride-along” with a Pest Detective employee, learning how to exterminate unwanted insects and to trap and release skunks and raccoons. Pest Detective can be home-based, as well. Franchisees will need a truck wrapped in corporate colours, and $5,000 for inventory, such as bait and pesticides.
They will also need enough working capital until their franchise hits about 75 per cent capacity, usually within the first six months.
As for the pandemic, “We were unsure of what was going to happen, but COVID was good to us,” says O’Neill, explaining that people working at home became more aware of household pests and the numbers of rodents grew as downtowns emptied out. It meant that from 2020 to 2021, the system experienced 20 per cent revenue growth.
Among the benefits of a Pest Detective franchise, O’Neill concludes, is the low cost of entry and a mostly recession-proof business: pests show up irrespective of the economy.
Prep ’n Sell
Prep ‘n Sell started with ambitions similar to other successful franchises: an original idea to fill an unmet need. David Collier spotted that need in 2002, when he was in the cleaning industry in Toronto. The need was, he says, a service to prepare residential homes for sale by decluttering, doing handyman fixes, painting, renovating, cleaning, staging, and landscaping – whatever a home needed to make it appealing to potential buyers, and lucrative for sellers. “Our business is all around the home sale transaction,” says Collier.
He began franchising the brand in 2015, with the first Prep ‘n Sell franchise in Oakville, Ontario. There are now seven franchises across the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario; in Vancouver, British Columbia; and in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Collier, president and founder, hopes to expand to 15 or 20 franchises across Canada by the end of 2023, and has his eye on the whole Canadian market.
People who buy a Prep ’n Sell franchise actually receive two brands for the price of one. Alongside Prep ’n Sell for home sellers, the RENOmagic brand is marketed to home buyers and homeowners wishing to renovate a home they plan to stay in, and want a reliable company they can trust. While Collier notes his franchisees are mostly men, husband-and-wife teams have also been very successful, and says, “we’re getting a lot of people coming out of the trades who are attuned to renovations.”
When he meets potential franchisees, Collier says he looks for people skills. They need a customer service mindset, sales experience, and leadership ability. They should also have experience dealing with renovations. Training takes three to four weeks, with asynchronous online training, plus one-on-one training via virtual meetings. If candidates are located nearby, the individual sessions can be done in person in Toronto.
The $35,000 franchise fee also includes marketing materials and start-up package with literature to advertise the system, plus a corporate “wrap” for the franchisee’s own vehicle. Apart from that, franchisees need only a smartphone and a computer.
Collier also notes that managing changes through the pandemic was difficult. “It really did play havoc with us for quite some time.” He had to juggle changing COVID protocols in multiple jurisdictions, and the curbside pickup of renovation items was a “crazy” experience. During the worst of the pandemic, Prep ’n Sell waived its minimum royalty payments for 20 months and held weekly support meetings. However, Collier says the market for real estate and renovations has bounced back and done nothing but go up.
Collier adds that the benefits of a Prep ’n Sell franchise extend well beyond the usual advantages of franchise systems, such as brand presence and recognition, group buying power, a proven system, and being in business for yourself, but not by yourself. In addition, he notes that Prep ‘n Sell franchisees enjoy the model’s low ongoing overhead cost, and support from corporate when it comes to digital and social media, and research and development.
“Then there are the intangible perks of being part of the Prep ‘n Sell family: our culture of support, mutual respect, and the free exchange of ideas and feedback both ways between our head office team and our franchise owners.”