How Much Does It Cost to Invest in Scoop Soldiers and How Much Can I Make?

Scoop Soldiers, the pet waste removal franchise that aims to help pet owners and their four-legged friends by taking on the dirty work of pet ownership, offers savvy investors the chance to capitalize on the growing demand for residential and commercial waste removal services. With a proven business model, lower-cost, multi-unit investment and wide-open territory availability, Scoop Soldiers has become a premier player in the growing “pooper scooper” services segment. 

The total cost necessary to open a Scoop Soldiers franchise comes in between $61,300 to $111,300, which is significantly lower than many competitors. According to the brand’s most recent Item 19, Scoop Soldiers franchisees see an average 65% to 85% gross margin after costs of goods sold, making it a particularly high margin business.

That affordability is part of the reason why Jeff Easterling, for example, opened a brand new Scoop Soldiers in Arkansas last year. Easterling has worked in corporate America his entire career, mostly in the restaurant and food service brokerage industry. 

“I’ve worked for large companies my entire life,” Easterling said. “I wanted an opportunity to make money that would go straight to me, not a company. I was looking into franchising because I knew I would get support to start and operate my own business. I picked Scoop Soldiers because of the national brand they are building, their marketing and the support they offer. I looked at many companies, but when I came across Scoop Soldiers, I saw that they offered their franchisees more support than most brands. They handle the backside of the business, and that is very nice to have.”

In addition to starting a new operation from scratch, Scoop Soldiers offers franchisees the opportunity to invest in an enhanced territory where a corporate operation has already developed and built up an established client base in the market. While the ramp-up of the business is already fast, enhanced territories can make it almost instantaneous. 

John Amaroufi and Ron Battaglia, for example, originally signed on as Scoop Soldiers' first franchisees in 2019, opening two territories of the pet waste removal franchise in the Dallas area. From there, they went on to invest in two additional enhanced territories in Dallas. Now, after seeing the quick scalability of that model, they are already expanding into Tampa with another enhanced territory.

Amaroufi comes from a long background in construction and finance. He bought a concrete construction company in 2011 before branching off into real estate and flipping houses on the side. Battaglia left a 25-year career in the corporate world to start his lawn care company. In the two decades since then, he has started several businesses and met Armoufi through real estate investments.

“After looking at the numbers, I knew it would be harder to scale if we just picked one spot in the beginning,” said Amaroufi. “With multiple locations, you can gain more momentum to expand in the future.”

The brother-and-sister team of Andrew Entwistle and Heather Harrington in Austin, Texas are another example of Scoop Soldiers franchisees taking advantage of enhanced territories.

Harrington has a background in various industries, as well as experience on the corporate Scoop Soldiers team as operations manager. Entwistle is an Army veteran who also has management experience on the corporate side of Scoop Soldiers as a training department manager. When they heard about the enhanced territory opportunity, they decided to try their hand at being franchise owners themselves. 

“Because of our experience, we already knew what it took to run a territory in terms of what it is going to cost you, the manpower, scalability, overhead costs,” said Entwistle. “It was kind of an easy choice for me. I knew instantly that it was something I wanted to do.”

In terms of the financials, Harrington says the benefits were clear. “We don’t need to pay rent for anything, which saves a lot of money,” she said. “Also, by taking on a territory that already has clients and is already running, we don’t have to wait for revenue to build up — it was instant profitability. That was a major leg up. But Scoop Soldiers franchisees tend to get off the ground pretty quickly, even without enhanced territories.”

Looking ahead, Scoop Soldiers is planning to target another 30 additional franchise territories, either through existing or new franchisees and is targeting an additional five to six new markets, including in Seattle, D.C., North Carolina and Salt Lake City, Utah. 

The total cost to invest in Scoop Soldiers ranges from $61,300 to $111,300 per territory. To learn more about franchising with Scoop Soldiers, visit https://scoopsoldiersfranchise.com/.