The Differences Between Franchises and Sole Proprietorships

I have revised the original blog as I said I would.  I hope everyone who took offense would re-read it and let me know if I have said anything untrue or unfair, because I am not trying to offend or put off anyone. 

Regarding quality Jack, I know the kind of folks Advantage chooses to represent them.  We have some great people.  And if you knew how particular Brian is regarding quality you would know that that is not an issue for our office.

Scott, Advantage has been around since 1992 in Greenville SC. and have been expanding for the last several years.   You may be right. They may not make it.  Time will tell.

I don't understand why your friends who own a franchise want to break away.  Their franchise must not be offering them any distinct benefits they could not come up with on their own.

Some of the new developments Advantage is working on just amazes me.  I am excited to see where we will be in 5 years.

David,

As to whether our inspectors are better than others or not is not what I was getting at with the Chuck in a Truck description.  I was drawing a comparison between two different business models.

As you can see I have modified the origninal blog. The term was getting in the way of my intended message.

I do know some local inspectors who have gained quite a bit of noteriety for their impulsive and unprofessional conduct, and one was a past state pres. of ASHI.

It seems to me that having been in the industry for a long time can be both an asset and a liability.

It is an asset in the sense you really know the ropes after so many years, but a liability when a state goes from unliscenced to liscenced and the long-timers continue, by force of habit I suppose, to make comments that contradict the new state standards.

And I agree with the state standards here in NC, because in the cases I am thinking about it limits speculation and generally keeps the report to the facts.

For instance, some inspectors still comment on how much a certain repair is going to cost, when in fact, as anyone who has been in remodeling knows, the opinion of a home inspector is not going to influence your bid.  But the homeowner has been influenced by the opinion of the home inspector and it is unfair to the contractor and the homeowner.  I've been in the remodleing industry for a long time, but I don't know and would be reluctant to say what any particular thing might cost at any particular time. To say I did would be irresponsible.  

Or a story a realtor related:  The inspector looked at a second story deck and proclaimed with absoloute certainty that the deck would eventually fall with all the prospective home buyers family on it and kill someone.   A simple explaination that the deck was unsafe and required repair before use would have been enough.  Thats the alarmist that we keep hearing about which speculates way beyond the facts.

No one can say for certainty exactly what will happen, but to indicate that this is a trip hazard, or that is a maintinance issue is usually enough.

Corrections ?

Mark,

I don't get points for people responding to my blog.  But I've gotten a lot of grief.

Why don't you guys check out some of my other blogs ?

Didn't know that about the points Kevin, thanks. I certainly did'nt attempt to stir up controversy for the sake of a few measly points. It would never be worth it.

I do think Acive Rain is about the best thing since frozen water though.

This whole topic is coming from a place of my own personal jouney, since I operated a Restoration business as a Sole Proprietor for 15 yrs.  Why go with a franchise, esp. this franchise rather than start another sole proprietorship ?

For a long time I had made a good living and had a niche in the marketplace working in restorations. 

Then, floods of illegal labor poured into NC. Many legal unliscenced tradesmen began to suffer.  Impossible to compete. I made the choice not to hire ilegals whose backgrounds I could not check, and precisely because they were illegal, to go into the houses of my customers. I could say a lot about that, but not now.

In any case, I was planning to make a career move anyway because I was ready for a challange.

Becoming a liscenced home inspector was not my first choice, but after I looked around, it seemed a good one based on by work history and experience.  And the liscensing process might provide some protection from illegals ( but not likely, as they can get drivers liscences here as easy as anything else).

When I did get my liscence however I was really not excited about the prospect of all the marketing I would have to do to promote myself, and the cost in materials, mistakes, etc., much less having to 'learn on the job'.  ( No one knows everything)

Brian had just purchased Advantage franchise rights for Greensboro and was a friend of a friend of my wife's.  He came highly recommended.  So I met him at an introduction to Advantage that Sonja Skidmore led.  I was impressed with the products and the presentation. 

And with every thing it would take to get a new business venture started it was exciting to know I would get the support both locally and corporately.

Anyway, Brian is a details guy, I am a big picture guy and though at first I found it difficult to deal with his endless tangenting into every miniscule detail of construction, it soon became clear that both talents were needed to create a good business.

And thats another part of it. Has anyone ever read the E-Myth ?   It talks about the crisis all small proprietors face when they are faced with the desire to grow their business, but the increasing futility of trying to wear all the different hats it takes to do it well.

And I had lived that.  It was why I chose to keep my company small and focused on a niche.

(Has anyone read the book ' Who moved my Cheese?'  I think that's the title.  It addresses the fact of the changing marketplace and the need to be versatile when your previous source of work or income shifts and is no longer there. )

Advantage presented a good game plan, a lot of resources, specialized knowledge of the industry and some unique approaches.

Not only that, they were and are obviously a company that is dynamic and progressive, addressing existing problems with unique solutions.  It is a company that is going places.

Will they make it through all the difficulties of growth to achieve national branding recognition and still retain their committment to quality and excellence ?  Who knows ? But for now, it is very interesting to see what they are doing and to be a part of it.

Philip

Carl/Ceil,

Never intended to start such a ruckus.

And though I took my whuppin', I think some of the initial misreadings about whether we were affiliated with ReMax point to a sensitivity in regards to the Real Estate Industry that causes Inspectors to be a little knee-jerk on occasion. 

This is a problem because even though we may have cause to be suspicious because of historic friction, we can be blind to ways that we can try to engage a sister industry that we cannot help but frequently cross paths. 

I think a lot of hostility and misunderstanding on each side of the aisle could be lessened by an empathic approach to the issues each side has to deal with. 

I find that even some veteran agents do not know what our Standards of Practice here in NC actually require us to report on. 

For them, education is key. And in my experience, once they begin to understand our parameters, that begins to build a bridge towards trust.

We inspectors would likewise do well to understand what their requirements are, and the investment in time and money they have on the line.  While we are here to protect the homebuyer's interests first, and we should never overlook anything to facilitate a sale, we can be sensitive to the agents' vested interest and convey findings in a rational and non-emotional way.

Brian and I constantly compare notes on the exact language we should use in our reports, for the purpose of completeness, correctness and clarity.  The correct use of language in reporting is both a science and an art.

When we are careful in our use of language, willing to educate Realtors and Home Buyers as well as to underdstand and answer their concerns, misconceptions and questions, I think we do honor to our industry and a service to the public at large.

Philip

You are reading my post with a filter on your brain. You read what you wanted to read.

I have addressed some of these questions before.......

First of all, the most egregious error is that you think that Advantage Inspection is affiliated with ReMax. 

Read it again !   We have no ties to Re/Max.  Do you get it ?   None whatsoever!  

Advantage only looked at the business model that Re/Max operated under and chose that to expand their buisness.

Just the business model.   Its a Franchise.  Like McDonalds. Like Chick-Fil-A.  Like oh, I don't know, pick any big name in almost any industry, and a large numer of them will be franchises.

Which is better than a Corporately owned entity which has no local owner with a vested interest in the day to day.  And by the way, the inspectors in this franchise system are all independent contractors, responsible for their own clients and their own reputations if they want to be sucessful.

They can't hide behind the franchises coat-tails if they screw up.  In fact, the umbrella of the franchise is an extra layer of insurance for quality.  If we're screwing up we will be addressed and will correct the problem or we won't be on the team long.

The McDonalds comparison was simply to say that what McDonalds has to offer is obviously valued or else they would have never been such a sucess.  Same as ReMax.

I am about fed up with inspectors who approach Realtors like adversaries.  So what if they are difficult to deal with ? Get over it and find win-win solutions that circumvent the vested interests and put you both on the same side, like the pre-listing inspection, which is also a win for the home seller.

Are you also going to make the arguement that real estate franchises are not as good as independent real estate officees ?  Some might not be, but its for sure that in the basic economy of scale a franchise can offer more to its realtors in terms of educational opportunities, and more to their clients, the homesellers in terms of accumulated experience and general benefits.

No one denies that the 'Mom and Pop' business works hard to earn their reputation.  But even if they come upon a winning approach, it will never be replicated or advanced.  It will die out with the specific inspector. 

And there is only so much one person can actually do.  Read the E-Myth to see what I'm talking about.

Before you fire off your next missle, try reading the whole thread.

Thank you Mark for your gracious and level headed post.  I have tried to remedy and/or address any and all concerns and I'm about done as well.