Pestforce’s parent company, The Forces Group, which encompasses Pestforce and sister brands Lockforce and Washforce, has been shortlisted as a finalist for the National Entrepreneur Awards 2021.

This is a testament to all the hard work across the board, including our Pestforce franchisees and support team, helping us achieve the golden standard in pest control and evidenced through the outpouring of 5 star reviews.

We will know in one weeks time if we will be bringing home the trophy, so fingers crossed 🤞!

Last night Sean Taylor, Pestforce Managing Director and Anita Roberts, HSBC Franchise Director, co hosted a joint webinar. It was very well received and focused on how to correctly finance your franchise.

If you’d like a copy of the presentation please email gayle@pestforce.co.uk.

Darren our Franchisee at Pestforce Derbyshire was faced with a real task from a client last week, an 84 roomed old age peoples home along with offices, restaurants TV lounges etc suffering from bed bugs.

Before calling in Darren the client had been told by another Pest Control company empty the rooms where infestation was found and we will apply insecticide to the room.

Darren decided to take a more proactive approach to this problem, canine detection, which he had heard about at one of the Pestforce conferences. It took just two hours for the dogs to check all 84 bedrooms, offices, restaurants and TV lounges. The dogs detected just three areas that required treatment and Darren carried out the treatment to these rooms accordingly.

The manager of the home commented that she was absolutely blown away with Darren’s professional approach in dealing with the problem using this unique method and the cost was surprisingly unbelievable (in a good way)!

Pestforce Derbyshire has now been confirmed as an accredited supplier to this customer.

We received some very welcome news last week that the banks we work with are starting to lend again. 

We have already had a successful application and with our tried and tested Business model and our relationship with our lenders, the process is smooth and straightforward. 

Typically the banks will lend 70% of overall investment.  Great news if you are looking to top up borrowing requirement with the ability to pay back over 5 years.

The lockdown has led to new revelations for many of us. These may be personal revelations or reassessing the direction of your career.

Perhaps you’ve been laid off, but you’re ready to pick yourself up, and show the world what you’re made of? Maybe you’ve always dreamt of owning your own business, but you’re not sure where to begin? While you’ve probably day-dreamed of handing in your notice (and reaching for the champagne), you’re smart enough to know that you need a plan first!

For many people, training in a franchise is the stepping stone they need to achieve business ownership. So why should you invest in a franchise and what are the costs involved? Let us consider the topic together in more detail.

The Upfront Costs

The upfront cost is a huge deciding factor for people considering franchising. Many individuals are wary of investing several thousand pounds from the get-go.

Now, I fully appreciate that money has a relative value for all of us. For some, £10,000 could be their life savings, for another, a mere month’s salary!

However, if you are considering investing in a franchise, it’s important to view the upfront costs with the right mindset. The logic is, you are investing so that your business gets a cracking head start.

Allow me to outline the true value of a franchise

1 . An amazing head start

When you invest in a franchise, you’re gaining a huge amount of new knowledge and expertise throughout the training period and beyond.

What is the real value of being trained, set up, and trading all within three short weeks of starting your own company? I conclude that franchising has both monetary value and so much more than that!

Setting up your own business from scratch is a lengthy process. You’ve got to create a brand, conduct your target audience research, build your reputation (and that’s only a small part of it)!

Franchising is an outstandingly valuable opportunity, you can fast track your way to entrepreneurship, while learning plenty of new skills. If you’re prepared to put in the work, you could see a faster return on your investment.

A quality franchise will provide you with the tools and knowledge you need, to thrive and become successful.

At PestForce, we’ve spent the lockdown recording plenty of training videos and strengthen the training provided to everyone in the network. These videos provide our franchisees with the additional guidance to enhance their earnings. With this knowledge they’ll be able to pay back their franchise fees several times over!

2 . Learn from others mistakes

Starting a business from scratch can be exciting, but it’s a process of trial and error. As a new entrepreneur, you’re bound to make mistakes. When you buy into a franchise, you’re buying into a tried and tested business model. The model is proven to work and the mistakes have already been made (and corrected)! Believe me, when you invest in a franchise, you get to enter the entrepreneurial world with less risk.

1. Save yourself money

Last year, we at Pestforce were chatting to a potential franchisee. He had already built his own company and was keen to expand his business across new locations. I found myself asking him, ‘ why do you want to join a franchise if you already have a successful company?’ To my question, he replied, ‘because it will save me a lot of money!’

He assessed that building a reputation in a new area would cost him more money than buying into an existing brand. He knew that we would take care of the marketing lark and that he would start earning- faster!

4 . An Investment

When you buy into a franchise, you’re gaining an asset that can be sold in the future. As an example, our Pestforce franchise currently sells for £ 16,500 plus VAT. We value onboarding and training at £6,500 (plus VAT), and we value territory and ownership at £10,000 (plus VAT). The training is a one off cost, while the £10,000 investment is an asset that can increase in value.

Training in a franchise

If you are considering starting your own business, franchising is just what you’ve been waiting for. A franchise gives individuals the opportunity to start their own business, train and earn money, all in a matter of weeks!

For more info, reach out to us at Pestforce today, and don’t forget to check out my other blogs in the series, Financing Your Franchise and Starting A New Business.

The one thing that may not have crossed your mind right now is the fact that it could be an excellent time to start a business.

We know, Covid-19 and lockdown have changed the game and made things far more restricted. The thing is, it’s the perfect moment to slough off the life that you have been living and change it. Lockdown gives you time. Time to think and plan and decide what you want in life and time to realise your dream that owning a business that you love to do is better than spending the 9-5 in a job you hate.

A franchise could be the answer to your internal questions. The worry and tension about working in a company or an industry you detest could be off your shoulders, and instead, you could be heading to work every day knowing that you were doing something that you loved. It’s an exciting idea – and lockdown could be the catalyst that makes you reconsider your life.

The one big stumbling block that pulls the rug of dreams out from under most people? It’s money—a giant, green, money-shaped boulder blocking your path. Of course, this isn’t unusual. Most people feel like money will trip them up when it comes to starting their own business. A business idea turns into lists of things to achieve, including credit histories and borrowing power and income and expenditure sheets. It isn’t very easy, of course, but knowing your finances is going to be your starting point for success.

Owning a business does cost money, but if you aren’t willing to push your money into your dreams, you must ask yourself why. Why wouldn’t you do everything that you can – including taking a little risk – to live a life you could only dream of having? Sure, the upfront cost may be an initial factor in joining a franchise, but it’s not the only factor involved. If you can answer the question of whether you’d love the work you do, it’s a good step in the right direction. It would help if you next worked out what you NEED to survive in the future, and then you can align whether or not your business idea could meet those needs. You then have to answer what you want your business to do for you.

If you can answer those three questions with confidence, you’re ready to start your own business. Of course, not everyone can answer all of those questions at the same time, but it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to. We have processes that can address those questions and help you to determine whether starting a franchise right now will be the right thing for you. We also help you by assessing your needs and not just your “wants”. While it may not feel like the right time right now to start a business, it doesn’t mean that you can’t plan for the future. Sit down and use your time in lockdown to work out what your incoming and outgoings are, and be precise. Evaluate every single expense and whether they are essential. Once you do this, we can understand what you may need for the best chance of being successful.

Something as simple as knowing the number for your business can make a difference as to whether your business idea is a viable one. Asking yourself whether now is a good time to start a business is an easy question: it’s the right time if it’s right for you. If you are considering starting your own business right now, whether you are going for a franchise or not, you need to sit down and begin financially planning how you could make this work. You may have to cut back on luxurious for a while, but it’s the cutbacks now that will pay you back later on! Make your compromises and plans now and you can ensure that once Covid-19 has made its way out, you are ready to go for your new business.

Starting a business alone is hard, and most fail because they lack the right support. With our help, though, you will get the exact support that you need. With a franchise, you can make the decision that you need to start strong on your new business. Let’s have a chat and see whether it’s right for you to start a franchise. Call 03335 670561 and speak to Gayle or email gayle@pestforce.co.uk.

We are some of the lucky ones…!!!

As we enter into September we are now a few months out of the national lockdown and the business is flourishing, albeit that we have an eye over our shoulder so that we are well placed as this pandemic plays out over the coming months.

Right back at the start of the lockdown we definitely felt the crunch as people came to terms with the threat of the virus, however it has been amazing to see how our network have dealt with such unprecedented times.

There were definitely a few wobbles at the start but as we look back we are definitely in an industry that can manage and survive through such adverse conditions.  Since the end of March our sales have gradually returned and the summer months of June through to August saw the network post record sales. We are 30% on last year and we remain positive and optimistic that we will continue to see demand. We are lucky that pests are around all year irrespective of what is happening in the world.

There could be a number of factors to this success and while some of it may be circumstance I do attribute much to the strength and resilience of our franchisees.

During lockdown we put together over 30 video webinars to help franchisees look at new or better ways to market their busines and ways that they could improve their business.

Most important we focussed on staying positive and optimistic and did not let the comments on social media and others get us down.

In business you will always face ups and downs and for us it is the way that you deal with it that counts. It is about attitude, persistence and positivity that helps us prevail when others falter.

In fact we even carried out the training and onboarding of a new Franchisee – which was an interesting challenge during a national lockdown – but we found a way and made it work for us and the new franchisee. Feedback on his first 2 months in business has made all the hard work hugely rewarding.

What has lockdown taught you?

Has it taught you that you actually hate your job?

Has it taught you that you want more from life than binge-watching Netflix?

Has it taught you that it’s time to chase your dreams?

For many, the time spent away from their regular routines has been clarifying. It’s made them realise that they are ready to bite the bullet and chase after their dreams; especially when those dreams involve owning a franchise. You, too, could own your own business, and lockdown is the time to consider your options.

If there is one thing that your new business idea should never be about, it’s money. Money cannot make you happy – it’s just something that can assist in it. The goal of owning your own franchise should be to wake up every morning with a smile on your face, knowing you are heading out to do something that you love for a change. It’s refreshing to know that you have your dream out in front of you, and you are working hard for it. If you want to do well in your own business, you need to do something that you love – which is precisely what finance franchising can do for you.

You can stop working in a job you hate. You can stop waking up every single morning, wishing you were somewhere else. You can be the person who smiles on the way to work. Money may not make you happy in the long term, but access to franchise financing will make you happy in the short term: it’ll get your new business idea off the ground. The money will open up more possibilities than you could ever have dreamed, and even if you decide to go it alone, you need to consider how you get there.

It’s natural to think about a brand new business, get excited and then deflate when you consider the cost. The thing is, while an investment in a franchise is a must to be able to get going, it’s all a part of a much bigger picture. The initial costs of your own business shouldn’t put you off: if you’re willing to invest your time, you must be willing to invest your money for those longer-term goals.

However, money is just a piece of the puzzle. You still need to be able to answer whether you can see yourself owning a business and loving what you do. You need to answer the question surrounding what you would need to continue to survive, and you need to answer what your business could do for you. Money? Well, that investment just kicks you off: it’s a piece of the puzzle, remember?

Many things need your consideration when you are hoping to own your own franchise, from the initial financing to your current savings and credit rating. You also have to have an idea of what you would need to earn from your business to make it a viable solution for you. The good news is that we have a process that can help you to address and answer those questions, but we don’t waste much time on them. The critical thing here is that you must decide what you NEED before you aim for what you want. Start simple: workout your current expenses to the penny and be as precise as you can. Once you do that, you can see exactly what you must earn to meet your basic needs. Then, we can assess precisely what franchise financing you need to give you the best chance of being successful. It’s simple, isn’t it? Considering those numbers ensures that you make the best possible decision here, and if you’re considering going it alone once lockdown has lifted, you need to look at your figures first.

Be honest with yourself and don’t assume any numbers: you must get this bit right. You may have to compromise on a few luxuries to ensure that your business works, and you have to be willing to be flexible while you build something that could last. Starting your own business may be tough, and a lot of them fail. However, with the right franchise, the results are steady, and we want to see you succeed. It’s for this reason we ensure that you get the best opportunity to do exactly that.

Are you ready to get started? See if a Pestforce pest control franchise might be right for you and call 03335 670561 and speak to Gayle or email gayle@pestforce.co.uk today.