Business-Minded Approach to the Traditionally Closed Off Glass Industry Makes The Glass Guru an Emerging Franchisor to Watch

For most, the home services industry was a tough one to be in over the past decade. After the economic recession, many companies struggled to find their footing in a market where people were cutting back on spending. However, The Glass Guru continued to bring in new business, ultimately establishing itself as an emerging franchise concept with strong growth potential.

Over the past 14 years, The Glass Guru has revolutionized the glass and window repair space. That’s because founder and CEO found a unique niche in which to thrive—foggy window repair. The brand is the only concept in the industry with the ability to repair foggy windows instead of completely replacing them, separating the concept from the competition. And according to Frey, it was that different spin on the glass business that first inspired him to franchise.

He said, “What ultimately led us to franchising is that fact that this is a really unique concept in the industry. While our signature foggy window repair service isn’t the only service that we offer anymore, it’s still our biggest distinction, and we’re the only providers of the service in the entire country. Given that this is such a common problem, it creates a great business ownership opportunity for our franchisees.”

What makes The Glass Guru an emerging franchise to watch is the fact that it’s operating in a segment that’s currently experiencing an upswing. And even though the home services industry isn’t typically known for being recession resistant, the brand’s business model gives it a competitive edge.

“The home services industry is on a huge upswing. There’s a whole segment of the population who had put their homes on pause back in 2008, and now that the economy is back to a degree of normalcy, they’re investing in their homes again. There’s also a new generation of homeowners coming into the market that’s focused on green products and energy efficiency. All of those factors combined make now the perfect time to invest in The Glass Guru,” said Sean Young, Director of Operations for The Glass Guru. “If I’m someone getting into franchising right now, I want to be a part of the home services industry. There’s a level of staying power here—even when the economy was in a downturn, we were growing. Since we started franchising in 2007, we haven’t had a year when we’ve receded. There aren’t a lot of sophisticated providers of glass repair out there, which puts us in a unique position of being a concept that’s a radical departure from a traditional home services company.”

The Glass Guru’s model also breaks down barriers in an industry that’s traditionally been closed off in the past. Right now, the glass repair industry is saturated with family owned businesses and tradespeople. But by tapping into the franchise system behind The Glass Guru, entrepreneurs who don’t have hands-on experience with replacing or repairing glass can break into the segment.

“The glass and window industry has been a closed business for decades. It’s been limited to family businesses and tradespeople who have worked in this space their whole lives. We’ve created a unique entry point that didn’t previously exist,” Frey said. He added, “We love working with people who have a burning entrepreneurial spirit. Although we are in the home services industry, our ideal franchise candidate is not a tradesman. In fact, most of our owners had zero glass or home services experience prior to purchasing their Glass Guru franchise. And while we have a diverse group of Glass Guru owners, those with business, sales and marketing backgrounds tend to be the best executioners of our model and hence get the best results,” said Frey.

With 87 locations currently open for business, The Glass Guru is nearing a milestone that will propel it into the established brand category. And by capitalizing on its unique niche and growing demand for its services, the brand is anticipating that shift to happen sooner rather than later.

“We’re a franchise that has one foot in the emerging pool and another in established. We aren’t quite at that 100-unit mark yet, but we’ll be there within the next 12 to 18 months,” Young said. “That being said, we’ve made a lot of the evolutions that emerging franchises need to make in order to become established. We’ve expanded our marketing and support teas to accommodate a larger number of franchise owners, and we’re supporting them on more topics than we have in the past. We’ve also operationalized our model—there’s a proven methodology that we follow that’s a formulaic approach. We know the markets and candidates that work, and we’re going to parlay that until we’ve awarded franchises across North America as well as international markets where we know we’ll be successful.”