Franchisee Spotlight: Eric Heslop of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK

The Heslop family celebrated the opening the second Montana TWO MEN AND A TRUCK*® location in April in Whitefish. Brothers Ben, Eric, Brian and their father are all taking part in running this business, a family dream for some time. Their family has been vacationing in Whitefish for many years after their parents randomly found Whitefish after losing their luggage during a flight to Canada. Whitefish holds a warm spot in their hearts and they are excited for what this business will bring to the community.

While most of the family does not live in Whitefish, Ben, the youngest brother, is moving to Whitefish to run the operations with a family friend, Hugh Smith. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® as a company, places a high priority on community involvement and giving back to the community, which the Heslop family plans to continue in Whitefish.

What were you doing before partnering with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?

Banking is almost like a family business in our family. My dad, my brother Brian, and I all have a background in banking. Brian and I will continue to work our full-time jobs while assisting with the company as head of tech and finance, respectively. My dad, who is retired, will be the head of HR. My youngest brother, Ben, will be relocating to Whitefish to run the operations of the store with our good family friend, Hugh Smith.

How did you learn about TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, and what made you ultimately decide to commit?

Through my current work in banking I have worked with other TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchisees and have always been very impressed with the company and their customer service. As a family, we have always been interested in going into business together but never knew how to make that happen. After being so impressed with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, we decided it would be a great opportunity to achieve our goal.

We have always loved the Whitefish area and have vacationed there as a family for a long time. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® was interested in expanding in the Montana location so it would be a perfect opportunity for us to be new franchisors.

Why is the Whitefish the perfect market for your TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® business?

Whitefish is a beautiful town with many outdoor activity options. It has become a very popular vacation spot and is a place where many families have their second or third homes. My parents came across theirs very randomly. They were on a trip to Canada and the airlines lost their luggage at the local airport near Whitefish. They decided to spend the night to find their luggage and then drive to Canada. They immediately fell in love with the area and within a year bought a vacation home. Since they found so much use for it they bought more property and built a bigger home that through friends and family gets used almost every month of the year.

Whitefish is perfect for TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® because of its recent popularity. More and more people are buying vacation homes or retiring in the area.

What kind of marketing initiatives have you does so far to promote your new business?

Once we are settled we will definitely participate in all the community involvement that TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® does, like Movers for Moms and other campaigns.

What’s next for you and your business? Do you have any development/expansion plans?

We hope to be multi-unit franchise owners. There is a lot of room to grown in the western part of the country so hope to quickly expand our business.

Visit the International Franchise Association’s @OurFranchise website for more stories of passionate local franchise owners, employees and their communities.