What Do I Need to Consider When Starting a Business — And How Does ShelfGenie Help?

Passion, determination, and capital are important prerequisites for starting a successful business. But they aren’t enough. What about having a sound business plan, products or services that people want, a brand that people admire, customer service that dazzles, and operational predictability?

ShelfGenie provides all the tools our business partners need as they launch their entrepreneurial careers or expand on what they have already built. These tools combined with the strength of our brand and focus on customer service have been the driving force behind our growth over the past decade. We not only provide the keys to success for the new business owners who join us, but also help build the relationships that foster sustainable growth over the long term.

Here are some of those elements of success that ShelfGenie provides for our franchise partners:

Quick start: By establishing and replicating our success formula with our many franchise partners across the country, ShelfGenie has perfected a way to help new partners achieve business lift-off much more quickly than would be possible if they were attempting to start a similar business completely on their own. We are able to expedite the pace at which a ShelfGenie franchise partner learns the business and get them to opening day — when they can start generating revenues.

How? Franchise partners work with our onboarding team via weekly calls, making their way down a checklist of requirements before they open or prior to visiting ShelfGenie headquarters for a week of very specific, highly effective training. This includes obvious but often overlooked things like determining what type of insurance the franchise partner needs and getting it into place, establishing a corporate entity, such as a limited liability corporation, and navigating the paths for acquiring the necessary business licenses and permits that are required — and which vary from state to state.

Reliable manufacturing: If someone were starting an independent company to provide storage solutions that compete with ShelfGenie, or another home-refurbishment product, they would face a huge disadvantage compared with ShelfGenie franchises. We are vertically integrated and control product manufacturing at our own plant, where we put together custom solutions for every client. Our emphasis on quality is at the forefront of our operations, not only with our franchise partners but also with our thousands of satisfied customers. This is a huge factor in helping our franchise partners begin to experience business success immediately.

Our brand and marketing services: Affiliating with the ShelfGenie brand is one of the biggest reasons our franchise partners choose us. There is no other brand that comes close to ShelfGenie in reputation in the storage-solutions category, where we dominate. And to help our franchise partners optimize their affiliation with ShelfGenie, and get their name and presence out into the community quickly, we provide them with marketing materials and services that include everything from website design, digital marketing strategy and implementation, to advertising purchases — even full-vehicle decal wraps. All of this helps ShelfGenie franchise partners turn on the marketing faucet immediately, creating awareness among potential customers and generating significant sales leads.

Help with human capital: Especially in these labor-tight times, being able to recruit and retain the right people is crucial for the success of any small-business owner. For ShelfGenie franchise partners, those hires are designers, salespeople who work with customers in their homes, and installers. ShelfGenie enjoys vast experience in this important part of the business, and we share all our human-capital resources with our franchise partners right away. This includes expert guidance and best practices for creating and building a team and collateral material that ranges from sample job descriptions to interview guides.

One of the unique tools we offer is a template with personality assessments of top designers and installers based on actual personality tests of hundreds of people. New ShelfGenie franchise partners can compare the results of personality tests they give job candidates to composites of the results of the best hires in the business. Once you’ve brought designers and installers on board, ShelfGenie provides exactly the training they need to help you generate sales contracts and create happy customers.

Real support: One of the biggest edges we have at ShelfGenie is the great support infrastructure we have built for helping franchise partners optimize their own operations. This includes the Business Support Center, which handles all the sales leads that come through the various paths that potential customers use to contact ShelfGenie, online or via mobile or telephone. Our highly trained and personable agents assess these inquiries, and their job is to convert them to appointments, at the local level, for our franchise partners. They also handle inquiries from clients once they’re on board, and follow up with customers on behalf of our franchise partners to see if they’re satisfied. Furthermore, we provide state-of-the-art back-office management and reporting through our WishPortal, a fantastic proprietary tool which we have perfected over the course of a decade — and would be almost impossible for an independent business owner to replicate.

Answers to your questions: One of the biggest obstacles to success for new entrepreneurs is that at some point they feel very alone. It may be when business is slow to develop, or when they face a challenge that is unprecedented for them.

Well, ShelfGenie franchise partners never have to feel alone — because they aren’t. You’ll have the strong support and tremendous capabilities of the ShelfGenie organization to help at any time, in multiple ways. And, just as important, ShelfGenie franchise partners enjoy a robust network of connections with fellow franchise partners — other business owners in the same position who share tips and advice with one another, provide encouragement, spread best practices and, sure, occasionally grouse about the home office!

Want to enjoy success as a small-business owner right out of the gate? Become a ShelfGenie franchise partner!

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