Jacob D’Aniello is passionate about dog poop. Yes, that’s right—dog poop. Back in 1999, as he listened to a radio commentator complain about picking up his pooch’s droppings, he got an idea.
“I thought—people will always pay for something they don’t want to do,” he says. “After a little research, I learned that 40 percent of households have a dog. When you combine those two things, you have a great business opportunity.”
Six months later, D’Aniello launched Doody Calls out of his home in Charlottesville, Virginia. The business model was simple: pet waste removal for dog owners, cat owners and homeowner associations. It didn’t take long for the idea to take off. Three years later, he quit his day job. And in 2004, he decided to franchise.
“Franchising is all about the system,” D’Aniello says. “The business had become very sophisticated—we weren’t just running around with a bunch of shovels—and it was time to expand.”
Today, Doody Calls has 42 franchise locations across the U.S.
So how do you franchise like D'Aniello did? Here are a few helpful hints.
Analyze your business
“Franchising isn’t right for everyone,” says Matthew J. Kreutzer, Esq., franchise lawyer at Armstrong Teasdale LLP in Las Vegas, Nevada. “You need to have a business with procedures that you can teach someone to duplicate.
“Successful franchises have brand recognition and a system that defines customer service. You will not be successful if your customer experience isn’t consistent across all locations. Uniformity defines the value of a franchise business.”
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