Multi-Brand Franchising

Multi-unit franchising is becoming more popular throughout the franchise industry, offering franchise owners the opportunity to expand in their market with an already successful business model.  But as this trend has gained popularity, franchisors and franchisees alike have started to look ahead at what’s next.  Multi-brand franchising takes this vision one step further by expanding into additional brands.

It’s important to understand the benefits of multi-brand franchising from both perspectives.  Such a move, if executed correctly, gives franchisors the opportunity to broaden their business portfolio by progressing as a franchising entity and gives franchisees the opportunity to diversify their business portfolio and branch out into new markets.  Other benefits for franchisees include:

  • New markets in a familiar territory – Sometimes franchisees have difficulty expanding with a single brand in one geographic area.  Multi-brand franchising provides an opportunity to generate more business in the same area by tapping a completely new market.  Familiarity with the territory will play in the franchisees’ favor for things like marketing and networking.  Brand awareness may also be easier if your current franchise is well-known in the area and has strong connections.
  • Diversify your financial portfolio – As most financial consultants will tell you, it’s best to diversify your financial portfolio rather than putting all of your money eggs in one basket.  The same holds true for business.  With the right amount of research, you can invest in high quality opportunities in different industries to increase your chance of success. Franchising allows you the structure to surround your investments without the risk of opening a business on your own.
  • Buying another brand under same franchisor – Assuming the franchisor is well-managed and maintains a successful business model, investing in another brand under the same umbrella allows the franchisees to use similar systems and networks rather than starting from scratch.
  • Resource and Idea Crossover – An article from franchising.com puts it best:

    “Each franchise brand has its own proprietary operating system perfected over many years and many thousands of customer transactions. While the operating systems differ and must remain separate, sometimes elements of one can be applied to another, or to internal operations at the franchisee’s home office. The same holds true for marketing programs, recruiting methods, training, HR, and every other ingredient of franchising success. Keep them separate to maintain compliance, but look for areas to adapt good ideas across your organization.”


Multi-brand franchising is gaining popularity not only amongst franchisees but also among the franchisors.  Some of those benefits include:

  • Pre-existing infrastructure – From accounting and marketing to customer service and training, starting another franchise brand under the same umbrella provides the franchisor with existing resources to tap when developing a new vision.  Some vendors may overlap as well, especially those providing marketing and software services. While the details will be separate between franchises, many of the ideas and principles are similar, giving the franchisor a head start when creating a new brand.
  • New markets in a familiar territory – Similarly to the benefits provided franchisees, many franchisors have sold out of territories in particular markets, forcing them to turn away prospects looking to invest in that area.  Another brand gives the franchisor the ability to start over again in that market with a fresh opportunity.  It’s often advised by experienced multi-brand franchisors to make sure the brands have compatible customer bases, giving each business a solid base and referral network.  Likewise, brand awareness may be easier to achieve if additional businesses under that franchisor are doing well in their industries and succeeding.
  • Attract and reward current franchisees – Adding another brand gives franchisors something unique to offer their franchisees.  Franchisors could offer a franchise with the new brand at a special discount as an incentive to get current franchisees on board.  Additionally, overlapping brands will help consolidate the number of franchisees, which could make management slightly easier on the franchisor.

Some of our very own Mosquito Joe franchisees have first-hand experience with multi-brand franchising.  Check out what they have to say!

Trey Powell – Owner of Mosquito Joe of Lake Murray and a franchise in the financial industry

“I have found that development of multiple brands allows me to diversify my portfolio by doing what I do best… Growing a new business. This way I have control over the growth of my investments. Growing equity in a business is one of the best ways to build wealth. There is no way that my investments would ever grow as quickly through investing in the stock market. They also grow 100% tax deferred until you sell the business.”

Steve Brock – Owner of Mosquito Joe of Greensboro West and an ActionCOACH franchise

“The first benefit of multi-brand franchising is that I’ve been a business owner before, so there’s less general anxiety about opening a new one.  And with franchising, success comes from recognizing the value of the systems in place and not trying to change them. The relationships you have in the marketplace overlap as well which is a huge help; chambers of commerce, merchants associations, realtors, bankers, all of it.  Adding different concepts generally makes you a better business person and exposes you to different areas of the market.  Just like with finance, you can’t be all into one thing.”


Mosquito Joe has recently taken a leap into the multi-brand franchising world with the launch of a new brand Pool Scouts!  Pool Scouts is looking to professionalize the world of pool service and maintenance. With almost 10 million pools in the U.S., and a distinct lack of well-qualified, reputable, and national service companies to care for them, Pool Scouts is poised to make a splash in the industry. The company promises Perfect Pools, Scout’s Honor to pool owners across the U.S.

The decision to branch into other brands was always a goal of Mosquito Joe’s CEO Kevin Wilson:

“When we made the decision to become a multi-brand franchisor, we spent over a year understanding the various business models that successful multi-brand franchisors use and an equal amount of time understanding what our key strengths were in developing Mosquito Joe.  The question we asked was; ‘Can these strengths and skills be applied to other industries?’  Pool Scouts is the result of all this work and is the second of what I hope will be many different concepts we develop that will become a franchise opportunity for future business owners across the country.”

Pool Scouts and Mosquito Joe are sister companies under the umbrella of Buzz Franchise Brands.  If you are interested in learning more about either company, please visit their respective franchise information pages, and give us a call!  We are very excited about this new venture and can’t wait to make outside (backyards and pools) fun again for families across the country.

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