In case you didn鈥檛 know, our goal here at the 缅北禁地 Group of Companies is to become Canada鈥檚 largest home improvement franchise network. Last week, we got one step closer to that goal and achieved something big 鈥� we officially sold our third franchise!聽

As we continue to build franchisable, business-in-a-box solutions for entrepreneurs in the home services industry, we look forward to providing mentorship and support for our franchisees. By doing so, we鈥檙e not only able to help these entrepreneurs, but we鈥檙e also able to help bring premium home services to other communities.聽

Selling our third franchise this past week was a thought-provoking experience. Our team sat back and reflected on where we started a mere 7 years ago. Our lofty dream of becoming Canada鈥檚 largest home improvement franchise network seemed much further away seven years ago than it does now.聽

Hitting the big number 3 motivated and inspired our team to do more while also reminding us to be thankful for how far we鈥檝e come in the past few years.聽

Let鈥檚 take a quick walk down memory lane.聽

Franchise #1 – Five Star Holiday D茅cor Leduc

Our very first franchise was sold back in October of 2021, not even a year ago. We were able to bring to Leduc and area when we sold a franchise to Mike Stone. With a very short, busy season, Five Star Holiday D茅cor is an incredibly profitable seasonal franchise.聽

Mike has been an amazing franchisee, and has had the pleasure of lighting up Leduc for the past 2 seasons. With mentorship from the 缅北禁地 Leadership Team, Mike has developed a successful business and lit up many homes in Leduc and area.聽

Franchise #2 – Screen Savers Plus North Calgary

After selling our first franchise in fall of last year, our team was even more motivated than ever to expand our franchisable businesses and work with more driven entrepreneurs. Despite the plethora of challenges that came our way throughout 2022, our team pushed on.聽

Earlier this summer, we sold our first Screen Savers Plus franchise to Tyler Scott! Tyler, a former screen technician here at , wanted to take the next step in his career. Looking for power over his own schedule, a fresh start, and an opportunity to grow a successful business, Tyler came to the 缅北禁地 Leadership Team expressing his interest.聽

On June 1st, 2022, opened in the North side of Calgary as a mobile screen service. Tyler was able to take control of his time as a business owner and start a new chapter of his life down south.聽

Although Tyler has only been servicing Calgary for a few months now, he has brought in twenty six five star Google reviews so far! That鈥檚 a lot of happy customers.聽

Franchise #3 – Screen Savers Plus South Calgary

This August, we officially hit the milestone of three franchises! Max Fernandez, a Calgary based entrepreneur, decided to take the step and bring Screen Savers Plus to the southern region of Calgary.聽

With high demand in the Calgary area, Max expressed his interest in expanding the brand in the wonderful city and can鈥檛 wait to help even more customers Bring in the Breeze. After officially opening on August 15th, Screen Savers Plus south Calgary is ready to rumble!

Max has a passion for bringing premium products and services to those in his community and is already looking forward to what the Screen Savers Plus business will help him do.聽

“I decided to join the 缅北禁地 team because I saw a tremendous opportunity to bring value to the homeowner. The 缅北禁地 team has positively affected the community and I’m looking forward to being a part of this impactful initiative,” Max shared.

Where We鈥檙e Going From Here

That brings us to the present day. Thanks for walking with us down memory lane!聽

So, what鈥檚 next?聽

Achieving the milestone of three franchises simply fanned the fire for the 缅北禁地 team. We can鈥檛 wait for three to turn into 33 and then 103 and then 3003. In fact, we鈥檙e working towards these next milestones each and every day.聽

Each day, the 缅北禁地 team will continue to perfect and flush out our business processes and procedures. Every day, we鈥檒l get closer to our goal of being Canada鈥檚 largest home improvement franchise network. Each day, we鈥檒l work to find entrepreneurs who want to be able to run a profitable business from day one.聽

Every day, we鈥檒l continue to expand our brands, excellent customer service, and premium solutions across Alberta, Western Canada, and beyond. Our goal may be lofty but we will achieve it.聽

The passion that we have for the home services industry and for providing premium solutions to our customers cannot be hampered. To read more about why the home services industry is right for us and why we鈥檙e passionate about it, feel free to check out our blog.聽

We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You

At the end of the day, we couldn鈥檛 have done any of this without you, our valued customers. So thank you for all your support that you鈥檝e shown us in the past and thank you for the support that you鈥檒l continue to show us.聽

And remember, no matter how many franchises we sell, we鈥檒l always be large enough to serve you but small enough to know you.聽

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All of these market forces can result in a very high degree of competition, which challenges businesses to find ways to stand out and differentiate themselves. At 缅北禁地, identifying and developing value around competitive differentiating factors is a multi-step process.

Know Your Customer

If you let them, your customers will 鈥渨ant鈥� your home improvement business to death. Oftentimes one home improvement project bleeds into another – a paint job becomes a drywall repair, which becomes installing new baseboards, which becomes installing the wall mounted TV, and so on. All of these projects sound simple, but each requires a different skillset, a different set of tools & materials, and will delay the completion of the project beyond its original date, pushing back the next customer in line. If you want to stand out in a competitive market, you have to accept that you must say 鈥渘o鈥� to a customer that鈥檚 asking for something so that you can say 鈥測es鈥� to the next one who鈥檚 waiting.

Getting granular on the type of customer you want to work for is the first step in the process because it allows you to hyper focus on developing a value proposition that makes sense for them. For example, service plumbers are hired for a variety of reasons by a variety of homeowners. The family who hires a plumber to come to their million dollar home to install a new tankless hot water heater has drastically different buying behaviors than the single mom who needs someone to come unclog a drain. These clients have different levels of urgency, will want to communicate with the company in entirely different ways, have different willingness to pay, different warranty expectations, and so on. You can鈥檛 begin to stand out in this hyper competitive industry until you decide which type of customer you primarily want to do work for.

Ask Your Customer

Once you鈥檝e identified your customer, building a great business becomes much simpler. If you want to know what your customer wants, and why they hire you, just ask. Surveying customers about why they hired you, what other companies they considered hiring, and how their experience was, is an incredibly powerful source of information that can inform future decisions. If you want more customers, simply look at your book of business, find your best customer, and ask them how they found you. Your marketing strategy lies entirely in what they tell you. Don鈥檛 be afraid to ask that customer for a referral at the same time – your A customers know other A customers!

Know Your Team

Once you鈥檝e identified exactly what kind of customer you鈥檇 like your business to focus on servicing, it鈥檚 time to assemble a team specially designed to service them. Again, getting granular is key.

For example, many people think that is easy – you need to drive a vehicle, climb a ladder, and use a squeegee. The reality is that oftentimes employers expect their team to complete a variety of tasks, and often they can鈥檛 be good at all of them.

Your window washer may need to wash the outside of a window, enter the customer’s home in a professional and courteous way, safely set up a ladder on their brand new hardwood, wash the interior of the window without spilling a drop of water, and leave the home as though they were never there. More often than not, on top of this set of skills, window washers need to climb on roofs, clear out gutters, run high powered pressure washers without causing property damage, manage a schedule, collect payment, generate invoices, knock on the neighbors door to try to sell the next job, and so on. It鈥檚 not as simple as 鈥渨ashing windows.鈥澛�

Understand exactly what your customer wants, then build a team with the specific skill sets required to provide that service. If your customer wants to have a seamless experience where they never see anyone, you need a simple window washer. If your customer wants to speak to the team, have them clean the interior, have the home power washed, and the gutters made spotless, you need a customer service expert, not a window washer.聽

Put simply, standing out in the hyper competitive home improvement market isn鈥檛 about spending the most money on TV commercials. Standing out requires you to get incredibly clear on who your service is built for, and ensuring every one of their wants & needs is fulfilled in a way that no one else can.

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The strategic plan of the company is the groundwork designed for the base on which the trajectory the company must go, however it is the ability of the team in place to move the company in a forward direction towards the strategic goals. Without the alignment of the team the strategic goals might as well be like shooting darts at a dartboard blindfolded.

The best way to move forward is to have a blueprint for implementing the creative strengths of the team through the unpredictable times. Give them the tools to succeed without causing fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The agenda should and always will be the strategic plan, the goal of the company.

Keep it Simple.

What is our Mission Statement? What differentiates us from our competitors? Let鈥檚 start by focusing on why we are doing what we do and deliver value to our clients. In unpredictable times, doing the best job will put the company in a fantastic position to make the best strategic choices.

Predict the Outcome.

Unpredictable times can cause huge anxiety for business leaders and their teams. Looking towards what is likely to happen and knowing where the obstacles may be is one way to keep your strategic plan on track and your team moving it forward. When they know or at least can predict where there may be potential dangers, they can make strategic decisions on what needs to happen to mitigate any losses to keep working towards the future.

Priorities have Priorities.

Moving towards a huge strategic plan all at once can be a daunting task. Break it down into smaller pieces. Make one step at a time towards the goal. Always keep in mind the strategic plan, but what task do you need to do today to help propel the company forward? What tasks this week? This Month? Every priority will have a smaller priority attached to it. Something you can do in this moment to help you propel forward.

Navigate Emotions.

During unpredictable times, teams can become unsettled, and emotions can become heightened. It is important that as a leader you must keep your emotions steady in front of the team. Having as much knowledge as possible about changes in the company, with your clients and suppliers will mitigate the anxiety with any uncertainty within the ambiguous environment. Having answers and making sense in an unpredictable climate for your team will ease anxiety and create a culture of trust.

Open Communication.

During uncertain times is the most important to keep the lines of communication open. Share your own emotions around the uncertain times. Be honest yet steady. Keep fear and anxiety at a minimum and answer questions factually. If you need time for clarification let them know that you will get back to them and put a time and date to when. The team will see your confidence, willingness to be open and honest and respect you for it.聽 Clear and Decisive, take the guess work out.

Peer to Peer Learning.

If someone you know and admire came to you for advice, assistance or was going through a tough time and reached out to you for help, how would you feel? It would make you feel valued as a businessperson and as a peer. Sharing our experiences is part of our growth in business and in life.聽 We can all use our networks to gain insight into the obscurity of unsettling times when necessary. We as businesspeople sometimes forget that we are not alone. By asking 鈥淗ow did you manage through this situation? What was your experience? Do you mind sharing?鈥� we can gain a lot of wisdom in the experiences of others. We gain confidence knowing we are not alone.

Having an approach to unpredictable times that focuses on your vision for the company, keeping it simple with open honest communication and gaining wisdom through your networks, can set you apart from leaders who panic during the storm, and those who are steady and ready to ride the wave with confidence to the other side.

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