Article featured in Franchising Magazine USA.

The franchise industry is experiencing a surge in interest, with individuals seeking flexibility, convenience, and value in their professional endeavors.

Mobile and home-based franchises offer significant advantages for new or potential franchise business owners. This sector includes services such as pest control, home improvement, lawn care, landscaping, cleaning, automotive care, and property restoration. Owners can deliver services promptly by meeting clients at their homes or offices, streamlining operations for greater convenience and efficiency.

These opportunities typically require less upfront capital investment and have lower operating costs than storefront or brick and mortar franchises. They’re efficient to operate and designed to grow to suit franchise owners’ lifestyles and financial goals.

Here are some specific ways that mobile and home-based franchise opportunities offer unique freedom and flexibility in an industry defined by those characteristics:

• Low cost of entry: Mobile and home-based franchise businesses typically require fewer resources and less time to launch than brick-and-mortar outlets. Because operations are simple, mobile and home-based franchises require less equipment, inventory and staffing. Another significant advantage is that mobile and home-based franchise business owners avoid the substantial financial investment required to identify and secure property for a storefront location.

• Efficient to open: Mobile and home-based franchises can also streamline and accelerate the process of opening their business, compared to franchises that require a physical location. In the right circumstances, a mobile or home-based franchise can be operating within a few weeks of signing the franchise agreement.

• Efficient to operate: Once a mobile or home-based business is up and running, ongoing costs tend to be much lower than for comparable brick-and-mortar businesses. Ongoing savings on rent, utilities, furnishings, and other expenses mean more revenue stays with you and can be invested back into operations.

  
  

• Efficient to scale: Many franchise businesses are designed to grow. Growing a brick-and-mortar franchise business, however, may require a significant additional investment of time and capital. With a mobile or home-based franchise business, expanding the service area, adding new services or hiring additional employees can be accomplished with less cost or risk, helping franchise owners reach their goals more quickly.

• Flexible scheduling and staffing: With a mobile or home-based franchise business, owners can deliver products and services themselves or hire additional employees while serving in a strategic sales and management role. Owners can schedule their own hours to suit their goals and lifestyle. It’s the ideal business model for those seeking a more fulfilling work-life balance.

  
  

• Customer connections: Balancing work and numerous commitments leaves many individuals with limited time and energy to visit a physical store. Mobile and home-based franchise business owners have the advantage of bringing their services directly to customers, broadening the service area, and guaranteeing a personalized experience. This approach maximizes revenue opportunities and fosters customer loyalty.

  
  

• Efficient returns: These efficiencies and savings all add up. Strategically reducing the costs of launching and operating the business and fast-tracking operations means owners of mobile and home-based franchise businesses can often generate revenue and see meaningful return on their investment in a shorter time frame. The inherent speed, efficiency, and scalability of the franchise business model are optimized in mobile opportunities.

Interest in mobile and home-based franchises has steadily increased in recent years. Demand for home services is also on the rise. More people than ever are willing and able to pay for services that former generations might have performed themselves.

Many people are attracted to franchise opportunities because they’re looking for independence. Whether it’s financial freedom or the ability to set their own schedule, franchise owners often say that the opportunity to be their own boss is one of the main reasons they entered the industry.

Few sectors offer the freedom of mobile and home-based franchises. This growing, accessible market helps franchise owners maximize the advantages inherent to the franchise model, providing the unique flexibility and convenience that many franchise owners are seeking.

Few sectors offer the freedom of mobile and home-based franchises. This growing, accessible market helps franchise owners maximize the advantages inherent to the franchise model, providing the unique flexibility and convenience that many franchise owners are seeking.

Michael Moorhouse is president of Mosquito Shield, America’s trusted provider of effective residential mosquito, tick and perimeter pest control service. Mosquito Shield, part of the Five Star Franchising platform of home service brands, was ranked the #1 franchise in pest control by Entrepreneur in 2023 and 2024.