Skeptical about the value in being part of a franchise? Ben Whitehouse, owner of Whitehouse Lawns was, too, until he found himself at a crossroads, unsure of the most profitable way to grow his lawn care business.

Whitehouse had built his own successful lawn care and maintenance business in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area, starting from scratch in 1998. After 10 years in business, Whitehouse acquired a competitor’s business, which doubled his revenues and gave him more business in both the commercial and upscale residential markets.

Whitehouse knew the lawn fertilization and weed control services that his business was providing were the most profitable, but he wasn’t sure how to effectively develop that business. “I recognized that the lawn care services were more profitable, less labor intensive and required less overhead,” he says.

After making the decision to focus on growing his lawn care offerings and building his own brand in that area, Whitehouse received a marketing piece from Spring-Green Lawn Care in the mail.

“They made me feel like I would have an executive team behind me, helping me to grow the business and get where I wanted to be,” – Whitehouse says.

Whitehouse was skeptical of a lawn care franchise, but decided to call Spring-Green to hear what they had to say. After several conversations with the management and support staff, his skepticism turned to certainty—becoming a Spring-Green franchise owner and operating his existing business in conjunction with his new franchise was definitely the right decision for the future of his company.

While the demographic data that Spring-Green showed Whitehouse was impressive (including where he could find the most potential for business growth in the Charlotte area), what really swayed him was the people in the Spring-Green support center. “They made me feel like I would have an executive team behind me, helping me to grow the business and get where I wanted to be,” Whitehouse says.

Together, Whitehouse and the Spring-Green support center team developed a solid plan for his lawn care business—from budgets to forecasts to marketing programs. Spring-Green assigns each franchise owner a dedicated business consultant who has invaluable experience in the green industry. “They even conducted a day-long session to make sure the plan was in alignment with my other business and worked in my personal and lifestyle goals,” Whitehouse says. “That’s something that’s an incredible value to someone who has been operating on their own.”

With long-term growth his primary goal, Whitehouse adds, “I want to create an asset for myself that’s going to put me in a comfortable financial position.” And when the time comes for retirement, Whitehouse is confident his business will have grown into something valuable as an acquisition for someone else. All with the help of Spring-Green.

Learn more about diversification and the many other benefits of buying a lawn care franchise with Spring-Green—get started today.