I once belonged to a franchise it left me all but bankrupt how much of a percent in sales do you pay your state?How much of a percent are you going to pay your franchise?How much are they going to require you to pay on advertising that does not work?How about a company vehicle? The list goes on and on and your working your butt off and losing money the whole time just to be part of their system.They are like the government they are here to help you???????

Regarding the performance of certain franchisees, keep in mind they are trained by the head office, but how they perform their duties isn't and never could be under constant scrutiny by HQ. While I'm sure CC HQ (and for that matter, AAAC HQ) would love ALL of their franchisees to provide service second to none, the fact is, franchisees are relatively independent and performance is based on the skills, experience, knowledge, ethics, ambition, and professionalism of individual franchisees and their employees. Some are going to be outstanding, some average, and some below average. Just because they're driving yellow trucks doesn't mean they're all performing at the same level, but you can't bust on the entire organization because of that. I'm not a franchisee of any wildlife control company, but I won't generalize/stereotype an entire corporation because of my personal experience with a local franchisee or his/her technicians.
BTW, my local CC office gets lots of referrals from me when I'm swamped with work because I know their techs are up to the task. I also refer to one other independent because of his quality of work. But we do have a couple others in the area that will never get referrals because their quality of work is so abysmal and there is no effort by their owners to train, mentor, or follow up on what their very young techs are doing.

Trapster, are you talking about an animal removal franchise or some other kind. I have never heard anyone clarify franchises quite like you have. I, and I'm sure many others, would like to hear more if possible.

What a bunch of BS.You must of been an officer in the Navy and I thank you for your service.The big picture is if you are with a franchise and in a medi ocre market your going to loose your arse.I never drove a yellow truck and dont intend to.They tell you what to spend and where to advertise ALL MANDITORY whether your getting any work from it or not.I may be just a hick from the sticks but if something dont work why not fix it?? If your advertising isnt working are you going to keep paying for it???? I was just trying to answer a simple question to help someone avoid the same mistake I made.
USNret if you think I am not experienced in this buisness you sir are sadley mistaken.

Sorry Paul,my typin skills arent that great but yes Im talkin about an animal control franchise.

I think Kevin generalized fairly well, I didn't see anything in his post that questioned your experience. He was pointing out a fact that we all learned a long time ago, everyone operates their business differently , even inside critter control

Alright let me clarify this for EVERYONE.I did NOT work for or own a Critter control franchise.
I do not wish to point fingers at anyone just trying to offer a little help.

Not sure who Kevin is but if it is USNret He needs to look a little deeper into the cash flow of a franchise.

This response is very accurate. Using the logic that a franchise operator can't make any money or doesn't offer or provide something of value to customers is a bit flawed. The automotive dealerships, motorcycle dealerships, many restaurant chains, and a huge variety of other service or product businesses are franchise-based operations, and I don't believe the owners of each franchise are collecting welfare checks or eating mac and cheese.

I do a lot of work in the St. Louis area, and Critter Control has a strong presence there. There are I believe 15 CC operators/employees in STL and 3 CC operators/employees on the east side of the river in metro-east (IL). I do a few follow-ups after they fail to solve issues (especially bats) but I have also see some decent work by their techs and have talked with many homeowners over the years (22 years, in fact) who have had desirable results with them.

Of course each of these operators are simply employees of the STL franchise owner. I seriously doubt that he is going broke. 18 service vehicles each taking several calls a day isn't exactly a bad business. There is the obvious variance on tech levels (experience/abilities) and it is a crap shoot for homeowners when the tech arrives, but overall the franchise is not a weak business model. This is primarily due to the immense market available in STL and metro-east being able to support such an operation, but still a franchise may be well suited for someone with no or little business knowledge/experience.

I personally operate my own business, and wouldn't have it any other way, but certainly wouldn't suggest anyone ignore the potential of any of the wildlife franchise opportunities. It all depends on the operator, as all the advertising in the world doesn't work if you can't provide the desired results for clients.

Ron, I've met the franchise owner that you're talking about and I have no trouble believing that his guys are a cut above. He has the ability to teach and train them himself if called for.

That triple A should have had two S' included.

Thanks for all the info guys. I still think Happy Truan should change her name to
Ms. Miserable.

I do agree, with her business / phone skills, CC does not really have a clue.

So what you're saying is that Happi isn't all that happy. Well, if they didn't know it before, they do now.

The St. Louis CC franchise is one of the few outfits in this area that knows its hiney from its elbow, largely becuz the owner is an ol' trapping boy who put himself through college that way.

The dynamics of this business are changing and Ms. Miserable does not realize this. During our conversation she advised that their data did not support a CC Franchise in my area, even though none are around here.

What Ms. Miserables' data doesn't show her is that even though I live in a rural area, we are being overrun by city dwellers who have little or no knowledge about wild animals.

Her statement to me was "You live in a rural area, people who have problems with animals just shoot them and don't call anyone to do it."

That is probably the stupidest statement I've ever heard coming from someone who is supposed to be in charge of franchising and having access to consumer data!!

I think Ms. Miserable has no real clue that city dwellers are pouring in to rural america at an alarming rate.

Oh well, perhaps I have an opportunity to fill a void!

Ya exactly... But atleast her name isn't Ms. Smart, that would be another thread!