Painting a Colorful Future
CertaPro Painters is creating a new portrait of the type of
franchisee it wants to attract to North America’s largest painting company.
Instead of attracting prospective franchisees who may have been schooled in
the trade of
painting, CertaPro wants men and women schooled in the art of business who
want to tap into a paint contracting industry that CertaPro Painters President
and CEO Charlie Chase describes as the largest untapped business sector in
North America.
While the maintenance side of painting ensures recurring business and a
comfortable existence, CertaPro’s new breed of franchisees are being recruited
to develop large-scale, regional painting companies instead of smaller
regional businesses. “Before we were going after people who wanted to run
painting businesses. Now we’re looking for people who want to run large, well
staffed business operations built around our brand as the ‘Brand of
Certainty,’” said Chase, whose company has built a customer referral rate that
exceeds 95 percent.
Providing superior interior, exterior and special painting services, CertaPro
is the only large-scale, full-time, franchised commercial and residential
painting business in the home improvement industry. CertaPro has 223 franchise
owners and 260 locations in all 50 states and every Canadian province along
with Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Portugal and the Dominican Republic.
In 2005, 30 CertaPro franchisees had sales of more than $1 million.
Chase’s target is to more than double that number to 70 by the end of 2007.
Same store sales have doubled over the last two years and franchisee retention
has increased as CertaPro has diligently responded to the needs of its
franchisees. The resurgence has been led by Chase, who, before becoming the
founding president and CEO of CertaPro in the United States in 1992, was one
of the early franchisees of College Pro Painters – CertaPro’s forerunner. In
2000, Chase left The Franchise Company – CertaPro’s parent company – to purse
an Internet-related start-up but returned to CertaPro’s helm in 2003.
“I was looking for the next big business opportunity but then I
realized the opportunity was in what I had left behind,” Chase said. “It was
very humbling but also a little serendipitous that the opportunity came back
around again. I was more excited than ever about CertaPro’s potential.”
The sales increases that have resulted have been a product of Chase’s focus on
unifying CertaPro’s franchisee network and a renewed emphasis on customer
service. In addition to fortifying already-strong franchisees, 30 to 40
underperforming franchisees who embraced the changes were able to dramatically
increase sales.
It’s not uncommon for CertaPro franchisees to become the largest
residential painting contractors in their respective territories within their
first two years in operation. “The passion that the leadership of any
franchise organization brings to its franchisees resonates with those people,”
Chase said of the changes.
“If a franchisee wants to expand his standard of living and you show them how
to do it, they will do it. If you don’t, they won’t.” Proper training and
ongoing support have contributed to CertaPro’s growth. The comprehensive
training program includes two one-week sessions focusing on business
operations at its corporate headquarters in suburban Philadelphia in addition
to two to three weeks of onsite, hands-on training either in the franchisee’s
own territory or that of an experienced CertaPro franchisee through its Mentor
Program.
CertaPro’s training department also offers continuing education
programs. CertaPro expects to add 40 new franchises in 2006 toward its goal
of having more than 320 locations by 2008. While the investment cost in a
CertaPro franchise has significantly
increased – the estimated initial investment is between $80,000 and $120,000 –
so has the potential of the paint contracting industry, which is estimated to
approach $100 billion in annual sales.
Thanks to stratospheric growth in home remodeling accompanied by equally
explosive interest in home décor, painting has never been more popular. “One
part of painting is maintenance but the other part is fashion,” Chase said.
“We need fashion-conscious franchisees. We’re trying to take our organization
from being a painting company to a brand that provides certainty. That’s a
totally different individual.”
Today’s CertaPro franchisees include former attorneys, sales managers,
operations supervisors, career military veterans and increasingly, women. They
comprise about 30 percent of potential franchisees who show interest in
CertaPro. The company has close to a dozen husband/wife teams. “Earlier we
predominantly attracted men as franchisees,” Chase said. “Now we’re getting
many more women because women as business leaders are very strong. We’re
looking for people who want to build a $2.5 million to $3.5 million business
that just happens to painting.”
CertaPro adheres to stringent standards in its recruitment process,
looking for skills sets that will translate into successful franchisees. Chief
among them is a strong business sense. “The type of person we need as a
franchisee is one who has a much deeper business experience than what we
required in the past,” Chase said. “These are people who have built
organizations around operating methodology and consistency. We want people
who are not afraid of building an experience for the customer.”
Chase has CertaPro well positioned to serve U.S. homeowners who company
studies suggest have come to view their home as a refuge rather than a castle.
That’s bolstered by a prosperous but aging Baby Boomer generation with more
disposable income but less inclination to handle home improvement projects
themselves.
According to Chase, the paint contracting market offers strong growth
potential for CertaPro Painters because it is one of the few segments of the
home improvement services industry that remains highly fragmented and without
large-scale competitors. “The new invigorated spirit found at CertaPro has
given us a lot of breathing room and growth potential,” Chase said. “It is a
very exciting time.”
The estimated initial investment (between $80,000 and $120,000) includes
marketing and other start-up related expenses. Royalties are five percent of
gross sales with an additional three percent advertising royalty. The
business can be operated from home but is expected to relocate to an outside
office when annual sales reach $500,000 to $600,000. Beginning in 2007, all
new franchisees will be required to operate outside the home. An office
assistant can be added as business increases. Start-up staffing includes six
to nine painters.
For
more information, contact CertaPro Painters Ltd., 150 Green Tree Rd., Unit
1003, P.O. Box 836, Oaks, PA 19456; (800) 462-3782.
