Franchisee Success: How David Perlmutter became successful with Outdoor Living Brands

The service industry has been booming as of late with seasonal businesses being a hot segment. But what do you do in the off-season to generate revenue? Well, if you’re lucky enough (or maybe smart enough) to be part of a system with sister brands, you do what David Perlmutter did and add to your portfolio.

Outdoor Living Brands is a parent company to four service brands, most of which are seasonal. I had the chance to talk with David about how he’s been able to find success with this model with his two brands: Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, a lighting installation and maintenance business, and Renew Crew, a surface restoration brand.

What brand did you own first and what prompted you to take on another brand under the Outdoor Living Brands umbrella?

“I’ve been with Outdoor Lighting Perspectives since 2007. We do a large amount of Christmas lights and have always struggled finding good employees to help grow the business because it’s so seasonal and guys would only work for three months out of the year. The Renew Crew season in our area pretty much goes April through October. We are able to transition employees between Renew Crew and Christmas lights to get a higher-quality employee and employ them all year-round.”

What were you doing before you became a franchisee with Outdoor Lighting Perspectives?

“My wife and I were living in Tampa; she was an elementary school teacher and I owned an All Star cheerleading and tumbling gym. We sold the business when we got pregnant with our first child so we could move by my wife's family in Pittsburgh. We were looking for a business and inquired about one through a business broker. The broker met with us and right away said he had a different business that he was selling for the previous owner and it would be a perfect fit for us. We learned more about Outdoor Lighting Perspectives; we loved the idea and thought it was a great opportunity.”

What kind of support do you receive from the franchisor and in what capacity?

“Outdoor Lighting Perspectives and Renew Crew both have great franchisee support, whether it's technical, product, marketing, social media or just wanting to run ideas by someone. Outdoor Living Brands have a great staff between all its brands that really help the franchisees out.”

How were you able to fund your businesses?

“We had money from the sale of our previous business to fund part of the purchase of Outdoor Lighting Perspectives. For Renew Crew we partially financed it through OLB, and used OLP money to help with initial startup.”

Are you considering any other brands to add to your portfolio? What growth plans do you have personally?

“Not sure yet, Renew Crew is still young for us, and we would like to build and expand that more before adding anything else.”