Millions of new businesses pop up across the U.S. every year, but according to Investopedia, almost half of those businesses fail within their first five years.1 While each business’s failure is due to a ton of different factors, it often stems from the person behind the venture being inexperienced in business management. However, many of these issues can be solved by joining a franchise because of the systems already in place to help you get through many of the struggles that cause other companies to shut their doors. These systems can be something as complex as a multifaceted business model with multiple streams of revenue, a unique differentiating factor, or as simple as a franchisor support team to help guide you through your first few years.
In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at some of the advice our support team has offered to our Franchise Owners on what you should and shouldn’t do when you join the unique world of accessory dwelling unit (ADU) franchising – and how Anchored Tiny Homes aims to help each Owner succeed.
There are hundreds – if not thousands – of franchise concepts within the home services industry alone (but we’re the first and only franchise focusing on ADUs!), so it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed by the amount of options you have to choose from. Luckily, most franchises are built only for a specific kind of potential entrepreneur, so you can narrow down your search significantly when you consider what will fit with your life and professional background. At this point, you should be able to rule out the majority of models out there down to just the franchises that pique your interest and work for your lifestyle rather than those that would get in the way of your ideal life or schedule.
At Anchored Tiny Homes, our model is most successful with self-motivated Franchise Owners who bring management experience or a sales background to the table and are passionate about the idea of becoming a leader within their community. If this sounds familiar, our franchise may be the perfect fit for you!
Before you become an official Franchise Owner, you’ll need to choose which territory you’d like to claim. This will determine if you can move forward with the process right away or if you need to hit pause and choose another territory because your first choice is unavailable. As convenient and ideal as it may be to work in your home community, never discount the potential that a nearby area could be just as – if not more! – profitable in the long run.
To learn more about how to tell if the territories you have in mind would be a good fit for an Anchored Tiny Homes franchise, check out this article we published earlier this year for more details!
Unlike other home service franchises, you won’t be forced to go it alone when you start your Anchored Tiny Homes. To ensure you’re set up for success, our model requires Franchise Owners to hire a Design Project Manager to get started and then a Construction Manager once project permits are approved. This means that you won’t be on an island when launching your new ADU business, and you will need to take on a leadership role right out of the gate.
However, this goes beyond your regular employees and expands to the subcontractors you hire to build the ADUs for your customers. Whether this professional connection and leadership capacity is with each subcontractor directly or with a team’s foreman, you’ll still have additional people outside your W2 team looking to you for guidance.
When you become an Anchored Tiny Homes Franchise Owner, it’s because you’ve chosen to leave behind your unfulfilling – perhaps boring – desk job for something that you actually want to do. The last thing you’ll do with your day-to-day is sit and toil away in your home office every day. Instead, our model is designed to get you out and about, meeting with customers on their properties to discuss their dream tiny homes and connecting with contractors to ensure your projects are moving according to schedule. Even if you grow and choose to hire sales professionals for your team, a huge part of your daily work will require your engagement with the community.
Marketing is an essential part of running any business, and it’s especially important when you’re first launching your new franchise. Otherwise, potential customers in your territory may never know you exist. A well-planned marketing strategy can help you establish your brand in your new territory, grow your customer base, and even educate your clients on your various service offerings. When you join our ADU franchise, your marketing will cover a variety of platforms, including social media, offline promotion, digital marketing, and more. All these combined will get your name out there and maintain your lead generation efforts to help you grow in the long term.
If you’re curious about what’s involved in marketing an Anchored Tiny Homes franchise and how our support team will help make your marketing campaigns happen, read our article on marketing an ADU business for more information.
Regardless of how you choose to start a business – whether that’s by bootstrapping an original idea or through joining a franchise like Anchored Tiny Homes – it can be an expensive path to take. Some people who abandon their franchising search do so because they aren’t familiar with how they can fund their initial investment and the potential they could get approved for financing.
When you join Anchored Tiny Homes, our financial investment starts at only $136,250, which is a fraction of the cost of many other franchise models available today. You can choose to fund this on your own using your existing assets – both in the very beginning and as you’re maintaining your business – just don’t forget the financing possibilities available to you.
The ADU market is in a stage of exponential growth right now, but very few contractors are actively offering “granny flats” or “mother-in-law suites” to their customers. This could be due to a lack of knowledge or exposure to this type of project, or because of legal limitations/local restrictions on this type of construction. Before you jump into this untapped, up-and-coming industry, it’s essential that you do your research to determine if your market has minimal competition because no one has thought of it or because your local government isn’t allowing neighborhoods to build ADUs.
Launching, running, and scaling a home services-based business like an ADU franchise can be incredibly rewarding because you and your team will be welcomed into your customers’ homes. However, in addition to this, you’re also welcoming risk and liability into your day-to-day operations. Each property owner you work with should have their own form of insurance, but this covers them, not you and your team.
This is why it’s important that you carry your own insurance policies to cover you in areas including lawsuits, property damage, financial loss and/or medical expenses due to injury, and much more. While your day-to-day work may not include submitting insurance claims, if you were to neglect your insurance policy, you could expect to take a huge financial hit. Depending on the severity of this, it could be enough to set you back months or even years.
By joining a home services franchise like Anchored Tiny Homes, you have the opportunity to launch with either one territory or multiple territories. Regardless if you choose to start your business with one or one dozen territories, it can be incredibly narrow thinking to only consider your original territory – or territories – when you think of the future. If you don’t put in the effort to make a plan for your future growth, or worse, allow things to actively hinder your ability to grow, you can stunt your business before ever giving it a chance to become a leader in your region. Instead, plan out how you’d like to grow now before you even launch your ADU franchise; this will help keep scaling your business in the forefront of your mind.
While the dos and don’ts we’ve laid out here are a great foundation on which to build your franchise ownership, the support and guidance of the Anchored Tiny Homes team doesn’t end here! Learn more about our model, the regular assistance you’ll receive as a Franchise Owner, and if you qualify to become the next candidate to join our franchise family by taking our 1-minute qualification quiz today.