Striping Franchise as a Business Solution

by Allan Heydorn
Created: April 15, 2011

Contractors who don't want the worries of starting a new business can consider franchise opportunities such as Yellow Dawg and We Do Lines.

”The Yellow Dawg website generates great leads for me,” says Bob Burris, Yellow Dawg of North Florida.
”The Yellow Dawg website generates great leads for me,” says Bob Burris, Yellow Dawg of North Florida.
We Do Lines co-founder Tom Darrow on the job at one of his franchises.
We Do Lines co-founder Tom Darrow on the job at one of his franchises.
"Franchises are an option for contractors who want more control over their own destiny but who don’t want to spend one or two years getting the business up and running. “We shorten that startup...
"Franchises are an option for contractors who want more control over their own destiny but who don’t want to spend one or two years getting the business up and running. “We shorten that startup time by streamlining the start-up process," says We Do Lines CEO Chris Couri (right), pictured with co-founders COO Tom Darrow (left) and CFO Dan Rella.
“We get calls from people in rural areas who like our concept, but there’s just not enough density or population to sustain a business,” Child says. “Conversely, an area such as downtown...
“We get calls from people in rural areas who like our concept, but there’s just not enough density or population to sustain a business,” Child says. “Conversely, an area such as downtown Boston, , is not a great market either, but the area around Boston is. Populated suburbs and their large city counterparts offer the most potential.”
"We like the names Black Dawg and Yellow Dawg -- they’re catchy names and they’ve gone over well. There’s a great support system for the franchise, they handle all the website and advertising...
"We like the names Black Dawg and Yellow Dawg -- they’re catchy names and they’ve gone over well. There’s a great support system for the franchise, they handle all the website and advertising for us, and the dog logo is fantastic.”

“We Can Get a Guy Noticed”

Both Child and Couri say the franchise model interests some people because not everyone wants to start a new business on their own - or maybe they want to, but are worried about all the different aspects of starting a business. Others don’t want to spend one to two years getting their business going – something franchises can shortcut.

“In very short order we can get a guy noticed on the Internet and in a new location,” Child says.

That’s what happened with Bob Burris, who purchased his Yellow Dawg franchise in December and started operating in January 2011. By end of February he’d already completed work for Disney World via Yellow Dawg’s website.

A military veteran with four years’ experience in law enforcement, Burris was looking to make a career change. An entrepreneurial coach helped narrow the options and he opted for Yellow Dawg partly because of the branding and the business coaching.

“Yellow Dawg blew all the other things I was looking at out of the water, no question,” Burris says. “You get the brand, the logo, the training – all things I couldn’t possibly create on my own. It’s great to be a part of a national brand and I think that really helps.

Burris says that buying a franchise took some of the concern out of being a start up business.

“I tell the customer ‘It’s a franchise’ and you can almost see their relief because they recognize it’s already a proven business,” he says. “They know it’s a system in place that works – otherwise they wouldn’t be selling franchises.”

He says buying a franchise has also “tremendously shortened the learning curve. You can’t put a price tag on all the experience taught firsthand,” he says. “All the mistakes people made in the past, I would have been making those same mistakes on my own. I am much more efficient because of the training and support.”

In addition to working as a subcontractor for one of his area’s largest paving and sealcoating companies, Burris has already felt the impact of Yellow Dawg’s nationwide Internet marketing effort.

“I received at least 15 leads directly through the website in just my first few weeks and I expect it will only increase since we’re just now getting started. One lead was for 75 large malls around the country which will benefit other Yellow Dawgs, too.”

“It’s not 6% Off Your Number”

Couri says the franchise concept can intimidate some people, but he says because the striping market is ripe for this type of business model he expects franchises to grow quickly.

“We’ve looked at our model from very different systems and backgrounds and we’ve designed a lot of value into the system because we’re business owners too and we know what business owners need,” Couri says. “We pride ourselves on being a professional and service-oriented company that can raise the bar of service of what customers can expect. A customer can call in and get the same service whether you’re in Miami or Maine.”

Child also expects franchises to grow, partly because the industry has changed.

“If a guy buys a used striping machine for $2000 and throws it in the back of his truck, does that mean he’s in the striping business? In this day and age you need to be a true professional, you need to have a dynamic website that helps you sell, the site needs to be updated, and you have to be able to optimize the site for search engines. You also have to develop a brand, a logo and prepare other materials,” Child says. “In exchange for just 6% royalties our franchise owners don’t have to worry about any of that.

“We believe we can help that guy grow in exchange for that 6%. And you can’t look at it as if it’s simply taking 6% off your sales number because with Yellow Dawg we expect your number will grow and be higher than without us working on your behalf,” Child says.