Home-Based Franchises Show Strong Growth In 2005

Home-Based Franchises Show Strong Growth In 2005

There's no place like home - and for an increasing number of Americans, there's no business like home business. The rise of home-based franchise opportunities coincides with the shift to a service economy in the United States. As more households with two working adults struggle to make ends meet, a combination of factors has made working from home an increasingly attractive option.

Beyond the security of signing with a well-known brand name and a strong operating system, home-based franchises offer several advantages: 1) low overhead (no rent or real estate costs, as well as home-office tax deductions); 2) lower cost of entry (no need to outfit a building, with all the associated infrastructure and permitting costs); 3) no commute (no gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, or time wasted commuting - and no coffees and lunches to buy every day); 4) flexible hours; and 5) no difficult co-workers to face each morning.

According to Entrepreneur magazine's 2005 survey of home-based franchises, seven of the top ten concepts were cleaning-related: Jani-King, ServiceMaster Clean, Chem-Dry, Jan-Pro, CleanNet USA, ServPro Industries, and Coverall Cleaning Concepts. The other three were Snap-on tools and Matco Tools, and Jazzercise.

For working families, a home-based franchise allows one of the parents to care for young children, or to rotate responsibilities if both are involved in the business. For retired or laid-off former managers and executives, it provides a chance to run a service-based business from home.

Why are commercial cleaning and related businesses so popular? Volume, need, and competition each play a part. "There is $200 of commercial cleaning per capita in a city, and no one has any more than 2 percent," says Jacques Lapointe, founder and chair of Jan-Pro. Also, he says, there is a lot of churn, especially for non-franchised cleaning companies, creating opportunity for well-run franchise operations to step in. Jan-Pro sells only to master franchisees, who manage unit franchisees from home. "Most of our unit franchisees are family members working two to three hours a night collectively, and make an extra $20,000 to $30,000 a year as added income."

Other popular categories in the home-based franchise business category include the following:

Bookkeeping and Accounting - Padgett Business Services,
CFOToday/LedgerPlus

Computer Service and Repair - Geeks on Call, Rescuecom, Computer Troubleshooters, Expetec Computer Technology, Concerto Networks

Home Care Services - Home Helpers, Comfort Keepers, Visiting Angels, AmeriCare Alliance Homecare, Companion Connection

Kids' Education & Tutoring - Club Z Tutoring Services, Mad Science Group, Young Rembrandts, Computertots, CompuChild, KidzArt, Abrakadoodle, Tutorioum

Kids' Exercise/Fitness - Stretch-N-Grow, Kinderdance, StrollerFit, Gymboree

Home Cleaning - Molly Maid, The Maids Home Services, MaidPro, Maids to Order

Home Repair & Services - Mr. Handyman, House Doctors, Maintenance Made Simple, HomeFixology, Rooter-Man, American Leak Detection, The Crack Team

Home Improvement - Gotcha Covered, Budget Blinds, Interiors by Decorating Den, Kitchen Tune-Up, Furniture Medic, PremierGarage, Archadeck

Home Inspection - AmeriSpec Home Inspection Services, The HomeTeam Inspection Service, Pillar To Post, National Property Inspections, World Inspection Network, HouseMaster, The BrickKicker

Lawn Care & Landscaping - Lawn Doctor, ChemLawn, Scotts Lawn Service, U.S. Lawns, Weed Man

Pet Care - The Pet Butler, Top Dog Daycare, Fetch! Pet Care, Doggie Dreams Groomobile, Aussie Pet Mobile, Bark Busters, Pets Are Inn, In Home Pet Services

Online Sales & Auction - Assist 2 Auction

Published: December 6th, 2005

Share this Feature

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants
SPONSORED CONTENT
Checkers Drive-In Restaurants
SPONSORED CONTENT
Checkers Drive-In Restaurants
SPONSORED CONTENT

Recommended Reading:

American Family Care
SPONSORED CONTENT

FRANCHISE TOPICS

Twin Peaks
SPONSORED CONTENT
Conferences
Caesar's Forum, Las Vegas
MAR 25-28TH, 2025

Featured Opportunities

Sylvan Learning Center
Transform lives with a Sylvan Learning education franchise. Join a leader in personalized tutoring and build a rewarding business in your community.
Urban Air Adventure Park
Own a highly profitable business that impacts lives in your community by jumping into action as an Urban Air franchisee owner.
Moe's Southwest Grill
Moe's Southwest Grill® is a fast-casual restaurant franchise that serves high-quality and fresh southwestern food.
The Human Bean
With a passion for creating happy 'Human Beans', the company's drive-thrus have established a reputation for friendly baristas, high-quality coffee,...
Class 101
Class 101 college planning franchise helps high school students get into better colleges and qualify for higher amounts of scholarships and financial...

Share This Page

Subscribe to our Newsletters