Fact or Fiction?

Entire CC organization sold to Orkin?

True

Here is link to story

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rollins-inc-acquires-critter-control-inc-300043633.html

This is certainly the biggest news in our business that I've seen so far. I have no idea how this will affect each of us but I

don't think it will hurt our company at all. Neither Orkin or Critter Control is a big competitor in our area. Orkin has a lousy

reputation as a wildlife company and at least in our area they want long contracts for their pest control. Critter Control is only

as good as its franchisee. They used to have a very good owner in the Milwaukee area but they are nothing special now. They have

114 franchises in 40 states and 2 provinces and grossed $45 million last year. ( That's almost as much as Vinke made ) That

averages out to about $395,000 per franchise. ( That figure will impress some of you but not a lot of the older guys ) The

companies will remain separate and I believe Kevin Clark will still run CC. It will be interesting to see how the franchisees feel

about this and I'm looking forward to your comments as well.

I saw another article where their top 20 franchises did over a million each which really makes the other 94 franchises average not spectacular at all.

Orkin does not do wildlife in all of their markets. Same goes for all of their other pest control subsidiaries. I think this gives them a lot more referable options and still keep the $$ under the same umbrella.

I'm sure you're right on target Bob. Orkin has been referring CC for a long time and finally realized that a large investment now

will pay dividends in the future. I don't think Orkin does wildlife in any of their markets; they just pretend they do. I wonder if

this will be good, bad, or business as usual for the franchisees. That's interesting and quite believable about the top 20 franchises

and you're right; that leaves 94 franchises averaging less than $270,000.00.

It won't mean anything to the big guys Paul, but it could kill the aspiring companies puttin themselves in the wrong turf. (Me)

Throw Back, wrong attitude. I started this business much smaller than CC in my area and I am now bigger. Orkin is part of a mega

corporation and if I took away 98 out 100 of their customers, I would wonder what I did wrong with the other two. I don't dislike CC

and I don't hate Orkin, but I certainly would feel terrible if I couldn't give my customers more for their money. I don't have to pay

any franchise fees and I would certainly hope that I could pay higher wages and consequently have more qualified help than Orkin.

It's even easier when you're a sole proprietor. I know. I've been there.

No it is not going to mean anything new. I have a past employee that works for Orkin in my area. nothing changed in the past 2 years that he has been doing their work, other than now they may get some stuff done right. And CC has been around for years. Nothing drastic will change. I do not know if this will effect the folks coming into CC for the future though.

Just one question Ron. Does your past employee wear a white hard hat with a white shirt with orange epaulettes and a black tire?

When C C opened shop in My corner of WA it did impact my business,,,,only because I was the only full time operator in my area for 12 years,,,,And I was opening shop in three other state and have not found anyone like me,,lol (thank goodness)..... I am betting most of the franchises make a majority of their money off bugs and not wildlife.....Wildlife takes a totally different mindset and pricing structure and can be frustrating work.......

Orkin is high pressure sale and I do not think they want to do exclusion,,,,,C C will be battling Orkin for territory......

Orkin is my area doing Wildlife Control. Most of what they do is birds and bats. Something they can do on a 9 to 5 schedule. They don't like paying overtime for nights or week ends.

ORKIN, they are a joke around here, the small time guys seem to get more work than big companies.

BB, you've expressed my sentiments exactly but we must be the exception to the rule. I think Orkin is one of the largest pest control

companies in the world so they must have big business somewhere. They bought Bill Christman's business and I am told he is now

training wildlife technicians for them and I can't think of anyone that would be better.

Bill has done a good job marketing himself with media,,,,, but what works in IL may not work in WA or other states?

Anyone can place a trap,,, only a few can place confidence...........

What works in IL will work anywhere in the world if applied correctly, Just the same as what I do in Virginia will work anywhere else in the free world, I don't really understand that comment Vinke....enlighten us....
Bill has done very well for himself and is a pretty good success story from our industry, He achieved everyone's end result... BOUGHT OUT!, must have been doing something right.

Mike, being bought out is not what everyone wishes for. Passing the business to the next generation is my end result. ( And I still

get to be the janitor )

I see your point paul, you have children working in your company, BUT if you do not,you should look to be acquired or shut down when you get older...

Well Mike,,,,In WA I catch 100% of my skunks on apple oil and marshmallows,,,,That does not work in ARZ....

Covered traps in Arz will get you a rattle snake or a lizard....not your target...

Insects or rats will carry off your chum,,,,,,, not so in WA..And you might get bit by a scorpion that is feeding on the insects

No crows in Arz,,,,,, WA they will be in your trap..

Blue jay will also fill traps in WA if not under an eave on a roof in WA

Never seen a possum in Arz,,,,,but you better set extra traps in WA for skunks this time a year because the possums and skunks are fighting for the same home


CO,,,,sunny and nice today and 20 inches of snow last week,,,,,,

Rainy as heck in WA last week,,,then trow in the wind.....

Without knowing the Area you are going in blind.....


Setting confidence is the ability to make the customer like you

More for Mike H,,,,,,,,,


Have you ever had a rat enter a home though a cut off uncapped pile in a wall???,,, Not did I until I moved to Arz,,,,

How would you find that pipe?

How are you going to exclude pigeons from a roof when it does not rain and there are no birds of pry to force the under cover?

How are you going to dig around a house in Arz in the summer when the soil is hard as cement?

More for you Mike H,,,,,....

How do you walk on Mexican 2 piece clay (or taco shell) tile to do rodent proofing?

How do proof it?

How do you proof villa, roma, and flat tile?

Mike H,,,,,,,, No fair Yahooing it................

Vinke; that was sure a couple of very interesting posts. I have caught one crow in my life although crows are pretty abundant here.

I've never caught a jay but we don't have near the number we used to. I never really thought about it before but when you move to

different climate, your non-targets change as well.

That's probally the best post I have ever seen from Vinke, I knew he had it in him.
I think that is a pretty descriptive explanation, anyone selling one of these businesses to the pest control companies are not making all their money trapping animals, the real value they see are in exclusions, insulation and warranty's.
Reoccurring income.is what they are looking for. Sorry wanted to get back on track about this thread.

Good point Mike. So now we have the Orkin truck showing up to spray the wood shake roof for yellow jackets, followed by the Critter

Control truck to catch the squirrels that chewed a hole in the roof, followed by the carpenter who has to ask the roofer where he get

wood shakes that come close to matching the weathered shakes that the squirrels chewed through. Just another day at the office.

they buy bait off me and when he stops by he is looking like the TV commercial LOL never saw the hard hat on him but he has one LOL

Ron, I have never quite been able to figure out what in the world a hard hat has to do with pest control. Maybe those falling Asian

beetles really hurt!

I don't usually give it away for free.....

Plus I am only here to have fun with Mr Winke..lmann

The biggest change to this is that Kevin now works for a large corporation instead of himself. For the franchises, the current change is that Rollins now controls their franchise license and not Kevin. My guess is that for the rest of us, we'll see a lower buy out of existing wildlife control companies due to the market saturation already held by CC. In other words, this is all behinds the scenes business junk that most of the public will never know about (unlike when Sprint bought out Nextel).

In terms of competing with other wildlife control companies, nothing is going change immediately as Rollin's wants to keep the Critter Control name brand with everything still happening under Kevin's direction. It also won't surprise me if we start seeing more CC offices popping up (either new franchises or renamed purchases companies) as it makes sense to have the separation between Orkin (insects) and Critter Control (wildlife). This also allows for easy advertising and continued name branding of these two companies versus having to keep 100 different company names going.

It really boils down to that Rollin's will be making money off of both companies, so it makes no sense to have them competing instead of complementing each other.

I'm pretty sure that all that stock in Rollins will make working for someone else a lot more palatable for Mr. Clark. Maybe Kevin can

convince Rollins that a combined Wildlife and Pest Control cruise in the Caribbean every winter is very important for the health and

well being of the technicians. My wife and I sure enjoyed being invited along on those Critter Cruises years ago.

Paul
I like it. Critter cruise 2016.... Where ya wanna go?

Mike, there are several cruises in the Caribbean and we've never been disappointed. It's a real riot when you have a bunch of crazy

wildlife people to share it with. I'm pretty sure that the Caribbean is also the least expensive. We've cruised Hawaii twice and that

costs quite a few more service calls, raccoons, squirrels, and closures. ( Not to mention the difference in plane fare )