Advice From a Multi-Unit Franchisee: Nick Bailey, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK

Multi-Unit Franchisee: Nick Bailey

Franchise: TWO MEN AND A TRUCK*

With over two decades in business, Nick Bailey has built a successful multi-territory TWO MEN AND A TRUCK moving franchise alongside his father. Recently, they also expanded into junk removal with TWO MEN AND A JUNK TRUCK, further diversifying their business and services.

1851 Franchise talked with Bailey about his journey in franchising, his accomplishments in the industry and his advice for other entrepreneurs looking to become the next great multi-unit franchisee.

The transcript below has been edited for clarity, style and brevity.

1851 Franchise: What is your personal story? How did you find your way to franchising?

Nick Bailey: When I was going to school in Wisconsin, I started working at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK in Madison. That’s how we learned of the franchise. My father started looking at it while I was still in school, and we decided to open up a franchise together. We opened in 1999.

1851: Were you planning to scale when you first started, or did that come later?

Bailey: It was certainly something we thought of, but it wasn’t something that we aggressively pursued. It was a while before we actually added a second territory. We were focused on building up the territory we had and making that work, but as we did that, opportunities started coming up. It took us a little while to get to a position where we felt like we could do something here, as far as running multiple units.

1851: Having worked in the brand prior to investing, was there anything about TWO MEN AND A TRUCK that stood out to you? What made you confident in your choice to invest?

Bailey: There has always been a strong leadership team at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, so that certainly helped when deciding. In terms of signing on to the franchise initially, it wasn’t the only factor, but we knew we were comfortable with them right away. We didn’t have to go much further than that as far as deciding to work with them.

1851: How would a franchisor capture your attention today?

Bailey: I haven’t really explored many other opportunities, so this is hypothetical. But if I’m looking at something else, I think one of the most important things I would look at is how the organization is structured. What can I do to maximize the value from the pieces that I have? Do we have to recreate everything with every territory, or are we able to use some of our central resources to support multiple territories? Is there a willingness to look at the model that’s there, make adjustments and do what makes sense once you’re actually running the business? It’s a very different situation to run eight, nine or 10 territories than it is to run one or two because you have more layers going on. Knowing that the franchisor is open to doing what makes sense, or at least discussing it, would be a huge factor for me.

1851: What roadblocks did you have when growing from one to two units, and how did you navigate them?

Bailey: What really emerged as we started contemplating adding multiple territories was that we really had a good management team in place. We knew we had enough management and team members to not siphon all of the goodwill and resources out of location one to support location two. 

Getting that figured out and knowing that we had the team in place to operate without everyone being spread super thin — that was the key. We started to build a lot of things in that direction prior to adding that first new territory. That was a conscious thing we did, and it made it a lot easier. That was the most important thing we did at that stage.

Then, once you get into the higher numbers — seven, eight, nine territories — you’ve got an HR team and accounting team. You can take advantage of those resources. From a central management perspective, it’s much easier to open up another two or three locations when you’ve already got six or seven and all that communication and additional resources already working. There are a lot of factors, but it does get easier as you add more. As long as you’re focused on that central team, they’re going to be able to keep their eye on the “new ball” of the new territory.

1851: What advice do you have for first time franchisees wanting to become the next great multi-unit franchisee?

Bailey: It’s a cliche at this point, but it really is all about the team you have around you. You’re not going to be able to be at all of these places and do the same things you were doing when you owned and ran a single unit, seeing and being involved in every aspect of everything that was going on. You have to give that up a little bit when you’re going into multiple units. Having a team that you can trust to make good decisions on the fly, communicate and stay true to what’s important to you — that’s the most important thing. It’s a whole lot easier to grow when you have people you can trust to be there when you’re not.

1851: Is there anything else you would like our audience to know?

Bailey: If you have an open territory next to you and you’re wondering, “Well, should I do this, or should I do that?” You should think about what it will look like if somebody else goes in there. Is that what you want? 

If you have something available nearby, it’s a great chance to take a first step. That’s exactly how we did it. I wouldn’t sit too long wondering if you should get a neighboring territory; you should probably just get the neighboring territory. If expansion is at all on your mind, you don’t want someone else in that territory, and if it’s available, it’s not going to sit there, empty, forever.

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