Two colleagues-turned-franchisees share the details of their first year of Puddle Pool Services franchise ownership
By Suzanne Bowness
Zach Wilson and Jason Curry got to know each other over the years while working on various jobs in the swimming pool construction and renovation industry. They got along well, enjoyed the work, and eventually wondered if they could start their own business. But when they started to look into the possibilities, they discovered a business opportunity that would become key to their operation—joining a franchise.
“We were initially looking to start up from scratch, and just through research, Puddle Pools came up in an ad,” recalls Wilson. “We set up a call with [franchisor] Mark [Amery], got to know him and his vision, and really liked what a franchise could offer. It removed the administrative burden; we liked the vision and values that came with Puddle Pools. It was a good fit for us.”
In April 2023, they launched their business in Ottawa and have spent the year growing a healthy client base that they expect to expand in the next year.
Puddle Pool Services serves residential and commercial pools (in hotels and condos) with services such as scheduled pool and hot tub cleaning, water testing, and renovation projects.
VIDEO: How Puddle Pool Services gets year-round work in a seasonal business
In the repair and renovation sphere, franchisees do everything from replacing pool liners to adding stairs, slides, and diving boards to adding fountains and other water features. They can even make a pool area spectacular through lighting, built-in sound, and customized pools (or a custom waterfall that flows into a custom pool, as Wilson recalls from one particularly posh project).
The franchise differentiates itself through its brand image, customer service, and transparent pricing and reporting. Wilson says that this standardization was one of the elements that he and Curry liked best about the opportunity; he liked that Puddle had established a brand and also had a tidy look. “Image is huge in this business, and Puddle puts a lot of emphasis on being a clean-cut, organized company,” says Wilson. Unlike the stereotype of the overly easygoing pool boy who drops by on a whim, the Puddle team shows up dressed in uniform, drives clearly identifiable branded vehicles, and follows standardized procedures to offer a consistent service. Their Instagram page provides a window into this image, with photos featuring the franchise’s blue and yellow branding and cheery puffer fish logo. There are also a few before-and-after photos of pools that go from yucky green to clear blue to demonstrate the results of a good cleaning. The franchise website provides a sense of their service consistencies, noting that technicians are fully insured, that the service is guaranteed, and that they offer pricing packages that include all elements. For even greater transparency, customers get a digital report after each service detailing the chemicals used, results of water measurements, and more.
Already enthusiastic about the franchise’s potential from their initial meetings with the franchisor, Wilson says that the 2.5 days of training followed by on-site training plus the “Puddle playbooks” furthered the impression that the franchise had an organized approach and solid system. Training covered everything from the customer relationship management software to sales and marketing, social media training, and documentation for dozens of service offerings, including almost 100 training videos.
While Wilson came to Puddle Pools with five years of experience in pool construction and Curry with ten, Wilson says that the training alone would be enough for a newcomer to get started. “Absolutely you could get by without experience; it helps to a degree, but the training is impressive. Once you do a deep dive, the information is a true value-add and meant we ended up hitting the ground running,” he says. He adds that the franchise is very hands-on, with weekly meetings with the franchisor and a monthly roundtable with all franchise owners to discuss topics like new products and services.
Starting from the beginning, that preparation and support provided the boost the team needed. Wilson says they spent their first weeks and months establishing a social media presence and advertising with flyer and door hanger distribution in targeted neighbourhoods. They also did direct outreach to corporate clients. Having a marketing department with materials already prepared meant that they could get started quickly. Wilson says he and Curry were lucky to launch at pool-opening season, which meant that a flurry of business came their way initially with a lot of customers eager to get into their pools for the summer.
Before long, the co-owners had hired three technicians to deliver the day-to-day service in the field, while they focused on administration, sales, and doing site visits in preparation for quoting on new jobs. As the partnership developed, the pair discovered their individual strengths and began to divide the work accordingly. They also handed off some scheduling elements to their senior technician. While Wilson says that some franchisees in the system act as owner-operators doing both the technical work and the business development, he and Curry are focused on growing the business at this point.
A year-round pool business
While you would think that a pool service business would be very seasonal in a country like Canada, Wilson says that the business is in fact year-round, thanks to the commercial clients where pools are mostly indoors. Residential pool opening and closing seasons are especially busy, and repairs, maintenance, and renovations tend to be the focus through the summer. “There’s some breaks in the season, but it tends to be quite busy,” says Wilson.
Now that the team has completed a cycle including both opening and closing seasons, Wilson says that the biggest challenge of the first year in the franchise is that it’s hard to forecast how the business will roll out, and, as a result, when to add resources and vehicles. He’s looking forward to year two because now they have a year’s track record on which to base their projections. He foresees growing the team, doubling their fleet of vehicles by next summer, and delivering more renovations, possibly dedicating a small team to focus on that exclusively. Already they were brought into several large, custom projects as the water consultants by general contractors, and he sees that continuing while taking the lead on some renovations. The team expects to continue growing the commercial side of the business as well.
Wilson encourages prospective franchisees to make sure their values are aligned with the franchisor, and that the support is in place. That’s what happened with Puddle Pools. “The vision and values aligned right away, it was clear,” he says.
