How did you get into the industry?
I was in law enforcement and was looking for extra work and extra income. I just started building fences on my own. After about a year of work, I felt that I was doing well, and chose to pursue fencing full time.
What’s New in the Business or in the Franchise Model?
We are evolving and always learning, trying to make the online request system and quoting system that much easier for the consumer. We strive to be more effective and provide more accurate information to our clients. We are always seeking to be more innovative and to streamline the process.
Where do you See Opportunities or Challenges for the Franchise/Business Moving Forward?
We may see challenges as we deal with the growth. We want to always maintain integrity, quality of customer service, and end results. I see these growth challenges as an opportunity. We are confident with the rate we are growing. We are learning as we are going and always pass the information along to the franchisees.
What is your Goal for the Business Moving Forward?
Our goal is to provide the same opportunity that God has given me to give to other people. It’s a low investment opportunity where people can take advantage of the variations the model offers. With other industries, it’s “this is what you have to buy” and “this where you have to be”. I like the fact that we can grow and start off with less money and grow to where we eventually want to be. They don’t need to go and buy a warehouse or rent an office space.
It’s one of those things where the opportunity is there and you can be big or little as you want. We want to grow at the rate they want to grow. This is a proven system of how to scale and how to determine the size of scale. Ultimately, my goal is to give other people the tools to grow on their own timetable.
Talk to us About Training and Support, How Do You Deliver?
We start our franchisees off with dual phase training that takes place on the job in one of our established territories and then a second phase within their territory as they get their business off the ground. We have ongoing field operational, and marketing support.
As we’ve grown this last year with 3 new locations, we have bi-weekly meetings and spend 45 minutes to an hour discussing what’s going on in each location. We bounce ideas off each other and learn from one another to make the business more efficient. This is a huge piece of our support, the camaraderie and team environment.
Your most difficult moment at the Franchise Business?
If there was a difficult moment, it was learning about the specific restrictions and requirements within each location, within each state. Since we technically fall under the construction field, we’ve had to learn the particular licenses and requirements throughout the nation. We try to assist the new franchisees to see what is needed in their particular locations.
How is your Franchise Model Structured?
- Franchise Fee: $25,000
- Royalty Fee: 5% of gross sales
- Total Average Initial Investment: $74,750
- Territory: 500,000 to 1,000,000 people or a 10-mile radius from the location
What does Your Franchisee Do in the Business Every Day?
A franchisee’s typical day will start off by getting their crews off to jobs. They will work on estimates on their computer and calling customers. These aren’t cold calls; this is following up on leads. They will be ordering materials for upcoming jobs and managing the logistics. Someone can do this from the spare bedroom in their house.
Who is the Ideal Franchise Candidate?
Of course, the basics of business and management skills and strong communication skills. But beyond that, we want people with integrity. People who are honest… who have and can build credibility within their territory and communities. We want the type of people who want to see this business be successful. They want to take the Big Jerry’s brand and the name and represent it as it’s theirs.
Success Stories and Failures with Franchisees?
A huge success story comes to mind: Maria Gail in Nash County. Her father worked for me for 8 years. He also owns his own Big Jerry’s location. Maria is from Honduras and speaks very broken English. She had zero knowledge of construction coming into this. In her first year, she was projected to do around $250K in sales; she did over a million!
Our franchisees are meeting and exceeding their sales goals. Another success story: we had a location launch right before COVID-19 shut down everything. Despite this, their location still exceeded their sales goals, even with one of the two owners contracting the virus (he is now fully recovered and doing well).
These are the stories that truly prove how incredible the Big Jerry’s model is and how we’ve taken something so recession-resistant and packaged it into a franchise system that can work well for anyone.
What Goals Do You Have for the Franchise Model in the Future?
The ultimate goal is to be the best fence company out there and to find the best way of streamlining our processes by using modern technology. We will keep putting our heads together to constantly grow and figure out ways to be more innovative.
For more information on Jerry Davis, Big Jerry’s Fencing and the franchise offering, visit the corporate site: www.bigjerrysfencing.com
Trackbacks/Pingbacks