Deck Medic and Benetrends Financial on Franchise Business Radio

Deck Medic and Benetrends Financial on Franchise Business Radio

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Jeff Konopack, VP Franchise Development
Deck Medic, Inc.

I joined the Deck Medic team back in 2008 after owning a painting company for 20 years. Deck Medic has been in the outdoor wood restoration business since 1990. After running the old company for a few years it occurred to me that the best way for us to grow was going to be through franchising. Employees care about their check in two weeks, owners care about the customer calling us back for a maintenance coat in 2 years.

In 2012 we decided to turn Deck Medic into a franchise, it took a few years and a name change from Deck Bright to Deck Medic because of trademarks but in 2016 we started franchising. I am not only the VP of Franchise Development but an original franchise owner myself. We currently only have 14 franchises but have 3 more scheduled to join us next year already and hopefully we will have a few more sign up this fall for next spring.

Although we are “Deck Medic” we clean and stain more than just decks, we also protect Fences, Play Sets, Gazebo’s, Pergola’s and all outdoor wood surfaces. In addition we offer power washing service for concrete, paver patios, and house exteriors. Our wood repair options range from one board to a full re-deck.

Most of our customers are homeowners but we also handle a lot of condo and town home associations. With everyone sequestered at home this year we have been especially busy with most of the franchise owners already surpassing last year’s numbers.

I would say what has been most interesting since we became a franchise is dealing with the Covid19 issues. In the past we used to always print the quotes up in the customers driveway then present it to them at the kitchen table while we were there. This year we had to switch to more email quotes and early in the year while everything was still an unknown I would talk to the customer on the phone while I was on the deck and they were looking at me out a bedroom window.

One of the best things about the deck restoration business is that it is not only recession proof (we did well in 2008 as well) but apparently pandemic proof as well. In a normal year most franchises have more work than they can handle but this year we have all be busier than ever.

One of the unique things about Deck Medic is that in addition to the 30 years we have been in business and the training each franchise owner gets is that we have all of our own proprietary products. Our deck cleaners give our owners a competitive edge over the competition and since we make our own 100% oil based stain when the customer is ready for the maintenance coat in a few years there is only one place they can go to have that done, back to the local franchise owner.

Our typical franchise owner is someone who is a people person, they have to be able to communicate well with the white collar homeowners as well as our blue collar workers. They must like the outdoors and not be afraid to get their hands dirty. They have to be able to wear all the hats; estimating using our software, selling, scheduling, payroll, hiring & training, and billing.

One of the things I like about being a small franchise is that I get to know all the owners, their businesses and their employees intimately.

QUESTIONS:

Tell us about Deck Medic? What is it you do and what is the history of how Deck Medic was founded?
Why did you decide to franchise?
Who is the typical end-customer for a Deck Medic franchisee? Is there a specific market or demographic that is ideal for a franchisee?
What makes Deck Medic unique?
How did you as the Franchisor and your Franchisees manage to COVID19?
What is the typical profile of a franchisee?
What is the estimated investment range (Item 7 in the FDD)?