Lawn Doctor featured in The Sanford Herald

Lawn Doctor was recently featured in an article in The Sanford Herald about franchising opportunities in the Sanford, NC area. Check out the article below!

View Larger Map

GREEN THUMB

by Billy Ball

Sanford is the hub of new franchise opportunities for at least one business.

Execs with Lawn Doctor, a popular national lawn care chain, say the region has a number of franchise slots available, part of an “aggressive” campaign to break into the local market.

Started in the 1960s as a much-needed cheat for New York City escapees with new lawns to care for in New Jersey, Lawn Doctor has grown by leaps and bounds since then, operating more than 450 franchise locations across the country today.

Scott Frith, vice president for Lawn Doctor, tells The Herald that the closest existing Lawn Doctor is in Burlington, and that company heads have been modeling areas to set up new shops in the future. Sanford has a big target on it.

Frith said the region has about 10 possible franchise slots.

Entrepreneurs, here's your chance. (READ MORE)

Lawn Doctor Featured in The Times of Northwest Indiana

Lawn Doctor franchisee Nick Shaw was recently featured in The Times of Northwest Indiana. Check out the article to learn how he left a white-collar job in corporate America to pursue his dream of entrepreneurship.


Former white-collar worker finds success with lawn care franchise

GRIFFITH | Although successful in corporate America, Nick Shaw decided it wasn't for him.

A former IT professional that worked for major companies such as Apple, Shaw wanted a career outside the confines of a cubicle.

"I was never fully truly happy with whatever I did," he said. "I just couldn't be happy with work. I never felt pushed. I never felt working for someone was working for me."

He began looking at franchises where the business' name already was established, but where he could also make a name for himself in the industry. In January 2003, he opened a Lawn Doctor franchise in Lake County, and it has quickly become one of the most successful Lawn Doctor locations in the country with more than 900 customers.

"I looked at a lot of different franchises," he said. "Some had to do with lawn care. Some had to do with food. What I liked about Lawn Doctor is that they just seemed like they were really involved in making us succeed and helping us succeed."
(Read More)

Lawn Doctor featured in The Omaha World-Herald

Lawn Doctor was recently featured in a great article in The Omaha World-Herald about franchisors working together to find the best fit for entrepreneurs interested in breaking into the exciting world of franchising. The article also discusses a virtual round table webinar series many franchisors are participating in to revive cold leads. Check out some of the story below or click the link to view the full article!

Facing the franchise challenge

By Erin Golden
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Chad Case had been managing nutrition stores for a few years when he decided it was time to strike out on his own.

He considered setting up his own shop but worried about the expenses that would come with finding products and distributors. On top of that, he knew he needed names and products that people would recognize if he wanted to get customers in the door right away.

His solution? Franchising.

In 2005, Case opened a Max Muscle Sports Nutrition store in Lincoln, the first franchise in Nebraska for the California-based company. The business grew steadily, and four years later, he was running three other stores in Omaha, Bellevue and Papillion, and serving as the company's regional director of franchise development. For the last five years running, he's been named the top franchisee in a company that has 150 stores in 39 states.

Case's success is the kind most franchise companies and franchisees would like to replicate. But putting the pieces together — the right franchise, the right franchisee, the right timing in an economy that's just beginning to rebound — can be a challenge.

Now, several national franchisors are working together to share information about the business of franchising in a series of online roundtable discussions. Executives from some of those companies said they're joining in the discussions because they're ready to grow — including in Nebraska and Iowa — and they see franchising as an important part of getting the economy moving again.

"Franchising, when there's a down economy, is a significant catalyst for expansion," said Scott Frith, vice president of franchise development at Lawn Doctor, a New Jersey-based lawn care company. "People look at (the economy) and they say, 'I don't want to work for corporate America anymore, I want to go out on my own and I want to mitigate my risk.'"

READ MORE