What do you all think of this company? I had thought about buying a franchise until I spoke with the woman in charge of them. When I spoke to her, it was obvious that "Ms. Happy" had no idea what she was talking about. They claim to be growing rapidly, but I doubt that especially with Ms. Happy in charge.

I was just wondering what you all thought. I may start my own animal control company similar to what they do, but I don't want to be associated with this company. Ms. Happy was a miserable b**ch on the phone and really had no idea what she was talking about.

I don't think much of them.

What Co.?

Don't !

I TALKED TO THEM YEARS AGO AND THEY SAID THEY ALREADY HAD AN OFFICE IN LOUISVILLE AND THERE WASN'T ROOM IN KY FOR ANY MORE. LOUISVILLE IS 4 HOURS AWAY FROM HERE. ANYWAY I WENT WITH A ALL ANIMAL CONTROL AND AM REALLY HAPPY WITH THEM, BUSINESS HAS REALLY GROWN FROM WHEN I WAS TRYING TO DO IT ON MY OWN. JUST MY OPINION.

Roaddawg,

The better question is to just ask yourself do you want to be a franchise (which has benefits for some folks) or do you want to be wholly
responsible for everything in your startup? Some folks like having the ad materials, equipment, training etc...that these franchises do
to help them along.

Some folks on this forum once owned or worked for these folks and other franchises and have their reasons for going solo that range from
more money to more control or happiness.

I think when some folks start they find too many variables that if not business inclined can be overwhelming. Since they are franchises some
can be great operators, others might not, that is just the nature of franchising, just like pizza hut, subway, roto rooter or any other out there.

Good luck whatever you decide, there are folks happy on both sides of the fence, I operate in one of their areas here and pass them often and
as david said, I don't really think about them, one way or the other.

Justin

Yeah, I don't know why Kevin Clark even lets Happi answer the phone. I called CC HQ around 1994 and said I wanted to buy a franchise and she said someone else just bought the rights to my service area...then she hung up. There was no, "Thanks for your interest, but sorry". There was no attempt to put me in contact with the franchisee so I could work for him. There wasn't even a "goodbye". Just a click at the other end of the line. She was just plain rude with absolutely no phone manners at all. So I fired off a letter to Kevin to explain what happened and he sent me an apology letter...he sent it, not her.

This is a wonderful post. Thanks to my good friend Al Krier, I have know Kevin Clark, ( The owner of the Critter Control franchise ) and Happi Truan, ( The gal you're talking about ) for nearly all 25 years that I have been in business. I have gone on cruises with them and have met a lot of their franchisees. ( Most of whom are still in business ) I have a lot of respect for many of their people. The guy who owned the Critter Control franchise in the Milwaukee area was more than just a competitor, he was a friend.

I will tell you right now, that if you are a great salesperson and know nothing about animal removal or pest control, a franchise may be your best bet. If, however, you are in a attic and it is 120 degrees, you may not want to share any part of your hard earned money with a franchise.

As far as Critter Control goes, I think the whole franchise started going downhill when Mike Dwyer, the president, decided to quit and buy a hardware store, but that's just my opinion. ( I'm guessing that other franchises like Wildlife Solutions and A All Animal Control would agree )

One thing that I have noticed is that not a single Critter Control agent has posted anything on either this or LT's site that I know of. ( Perhaps they're not allowed )

All I will add is to let your business sense decide your business stuff. The Individuals are not the part to worry about (important, but not the meat and potatoes). Call a franchise out of your area and ask them your questions. Regardless of the franchise, McDonald's or Critter Control, the folks that know are the ones running the individual businesses under the franchise rules. Mike D used to ask if you wanted to make 100% of ten thousand or 90% of 100,000.00 as an example of owning a franchise or doing your own thing. Pros and Cons both ways.

I pretty much agree with everything Tim said. Whether or not to buy into a franchise depends mostly on your skill levels, both at WC and running a business. You need both in order to thrive as a WCO, and franchises can help if you have weak or no business skills. One biiig consideration is whether you want to be 100% independent or not. Most folks in this field kinda tend to walk their own line.

I looked at their potential earnings in my area before I started. Numbers looked good but
I'd rather do it by myself. With the amount of miles I put on my rig I would think I would have seen them somewhere.

I will refrain from saying anything about cc, but as far as Happy, She has been in the business for a long time now.

You are a better man than me sir.

Cc was the first company I contacted when I decided to enter the industry. I had the same experience that roaddawg did. She did me a favor because after that I decided to start on my own.

Come on Phil, who else do you know that dyes their hair that white?

Is that a s*** pot being stirred?

Rich, not as far as I'm concerned. If Happi or anyone else is in Cleveland we'll take about old times as usual.

Same here.

I have a lot of their former customers. That should tell you enough.

I once belonged to a franchise it left me all but bankrupt how much of a percent in sales do you pay your state?How much of a percent are you going to pay your franchise?How much are they going to require you to pay on advertising that does not work?How about a company vehicle? The list goes on and on and your working your butt off and losing money the whole time just to be part of their system.They are like the government they are here to help you???????

Regarding the performance of certain franchisees, keep in mind they are trained by the head office, but how they perform their duties isn't and never could be under constant scrutiny by HQ. While I'm sure CC HQ (and for that matter, AAAC HQ) would love ALL of their franchisees to provide service second to none, the fact is, franchisees are relatively independent and performance is based on the skills, experience, knowledge, ethics, ambition, and professionalism of individual franchisees and their employees. Some are going to be outstanding, some average, and some below average. Just because they're driving yellow trucks doesn't mean they're all performing at the same level, but you can't bust on the entire organization because of that. I'm not a franchisee of any wildlife control company, but I won't generalize/stereotype an entire corporation because of my personal experience with a local franchisee or his/her technicians.
BTW, my local CC office gets lots of referrals from me when I'm swamped with work because I know their techs are up to the task. I also refer to one other independent because of his quality of work. But we do have a couple others in the area that will never get referrals because their quality of work is so abysmal and there is no effort by their owners to train, mentor, or follow up on what their very young techs are doing.

Trapster, are you talking about an animal removal franchise or some other kind. I have never heard anyone clarify franchises quite like you have. I, and I'm sure many others, would like to hear more if possible.

What a bunch of BS.You must of been an officer in the Navy and I thank you for your service.The big picture is if you are with a franchise and in a medi ocre market your going to loose your arse.I never drove a yellow truck and dont intend to.They tell you what to spend and where to advertise ALL MANDITORY whether your getting any work from it or not.I may be just a hick from the sticks but if something dont work why not fix it?? If your advertising isnt working are you going to keep paying for it???? I was just trying to answer a simple question to help someone avoid the same mistake I made.
USNret if you think I am not experienced in this buisness you sir are sadley mistaken.

Sorry Paul,my typin skills arent that great but yes Im talkin about an animal control franchise.

I think Kevin generalized fairly well, I didn't see anything in his post that questioned your experience. He was pointing out a fact that we all learned a long time ago, everyone operates their business differently , even inside critter control

Alright let me clarify this for EVERYONE.I did NOT work for or own a Critter control franchise.
I do not wish to point fingers at anyone just trying to offer a little help.

Not sure who Kevin is but if it is USNret He needs to look a little deeper into the cash flow of a franchise.

This response is very accurate. Using the logic that a franchise operator can't make any money or doesn't offer or provide something of value to customers is a bit flawed. The automotive dealerships, motorcycle dealerships, many restaurant chains, and a huge variety of other service or product businesses are franchise-based operations, and I don't believe the owners of each franchise are collecting welfare checks or eating mac and cheese.

I do a lot of work in the St. Louis area, and Critter Control has a strong presence there. There are I believe 15 CC operators/employees in STL and 3 CC operators/employees on the east side of the river in metro-east (IL). I do a few follow-ups after they fail to solve issues (especially bats) but I have also see some decent work by their techs and have talked with many homeowners over the years (22 years, in fact) who have had desirable results with them.

Of course each of these operators are simply employees of the STL franchise owner. I seriously doubt that he is going broke. 18 service vehicles each taking several calls a day isn't exactly a bad business. There is the obvious variance on tech levels (experience/abilities) and it is a crap shoot for homeowners when the tech arrives, but overall the franchise is not a weak business model. This is primarily due to the immense market available in STL and metro-east being able to support such an operation, but still a franchise may be well suited for someone with no or little business knowledge/experience.

I personally operate my own business, and wouldn't have it any other way, but certainly wouldn't suggest anyone ignore the potential of any of the wildlife franchise opportunities. It all depends on the operator, as all the advertising in the world doesn't work if you can't provide the desired results for clients.

Ron, I've met the franchise owner that you're talking about and I have no trouble believing that his guys are a cut above. He has the ability to teach and train them himself if called for.

That triple A should have had two S' included.

Thanks for all the info guys. I still think Happy Truan should change her name to
Ms. Miserable.

I do agree, with her business / phone skills, CC does not really have a clue.

So what you're saying is that Happi isn't all that happy. Well, if they didn't know it before, they do now.

The St. Louis CC franchise is one of the few outfits in this area that knows its hiney from its elbow, largely becuz the owner is an ol' trapping boy who put himself through college that way.

The dynamics of this business are changing and Ms. Miserable does not realize this. During our conversation she advised that their data did not support a CC Franchise in my area, even though none are around here.

What Ms. Miserables' data doesn't show her is that even though I live in a rural area, we are being overrun by city dwellers who have little or no knowledge about wild animals.

Her statement to me was "You live in a rural area, people who have problems with animals just shoot them and don't call anyone to do it."

That is probably the stupidest statement I've ever heard coming from someone who is supposed to be in charge of franchising and having access to consumer data!!

I think Ms. Miserable has no real clue that city dwellers are pouring in to rural america at an alarming rate.

Oh well, perhaps I have an opportunity to fill a void!

Ya exactly... But atleast her name isn't Ms. Smart, that would be another thread!