Lawn Doctor

Spring is by far the busiest time of the year for a <a href="https://lawndoctorfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fall-and-winter-openings-mean-lawn-doctor-franchisees-get-a-headstart-on-the-swing-of-spring-2711465" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Lawn Doctor</a> franchisee, with customers mobilizing to get their lawns looking nice for the warmer months.&nbsp;For this reason, prospective franchisees looking to franchise with legacy home services brand <a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor/latest-stories.html">Lawn Doctor</a> would do well to begin the discovery process during the fall season. By doing so, candidates and new franchisees have time to learn the ins and outs of their new venture and set their business up for maximum springtime success.&nbsp;Lawn Doctor was first founded in 1967 with the aim of bringing superior service to the lawn care industry. Today, the lawn care brand has more than 570 franchise locations across 40 states, with plans for continued expansion. Stellar technology and call center support, a flexible work-life balance and the chance to work outdoors are just some of <a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor/top-5-reasons-to-invest-in-a-lawn-doctor-franchise-2709778">the main reasons to franchise with the lawn care brand</a>.&nbsp;Two Lawn Doctor franchisees familiar with spring sales possibilities are Bryan Sallmen and Jim Coia. <a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor/how-bryan-sallmen-knew-the-grass-was-greener-with-lawn-doctor-franchise-ownership-2706439">Sallmen joined the brand</a> in January 2011 and owns and operates three Lawn Doctor franchises: two in Kalamazoo, Michigan and one in South Bend, Indiana.&nbsp;Coia opened a Lawn Doctor franchise in Stow, Ohio in February <a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor/top-5-reasons-to-invest-in-a-lawn-doctor-franchise-2709778">with his wife, Aimee, and their business partners, fellow husband-and-wife team Brian and Jamie Foster</a>. Together, the team purchased four Lawn Doctor territories in northeastern Ohio that cover 41 zip codes in total. They signed their franchise papers in December of 2018, did their training in January and opened their franchise in February.&nbsp;Starting a Lawn Doctor franchise in the fall or even winter is a great way to get a headstart for optimal spring success, Sallmen said.&nbsp;“You want to be prepared for the spring season,” Sallmen said. “Your window in spring in March and April is crucial to how good of a year you’re going to have. If you start in the fall, <a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor/lawn-doctor-offers-soft-launch-options-to-those-joining-the-team-to-prioritize-franchisee-success-2709777#most-recent">you have time to learn the software and get your marketing ready and organized</a>. You also have time to get your licensing taken care of and, most importantly, you have time to network in your community and join local groups, such as your local BNI Group and your local Chamber of Commerce. You can go out and meet people and make them aware of what you do and the business you’re starting.”&nbsp;Getting a headstart before the spring season is also important for another reason: It gives franchisees time to set expectations with their customers. Sallmen noted that every customer is different and has their own needs and wants for their lawns.&nbsp;“Some customers want to have the best lawn on the street while others just want their lawns to be sprayed to get rid of dandelions,” Sallmen said. “We give them recommendations accordingly. There are lots of different things involved when creating a perfect lawn so you want to know what your customers want so they can get the results they expect. In doing so, you build long-term customers.”&nbsp;Sallmen loves the Lawn Doctor brand both for giving him the opportunity to own and operate his own business and for its turnkey model and the resources available to franchisees.&nbsp;“My dad is a business owner and he worked 80 hours a week for 15 years to get it to the point where it became profitable and did well,” Sallmen said. “I knew I wanted to be a business owner but I didn’t want it to take 15 years to get there. At Lawn Doctor, you have a huge support system. If you are experiencing a challenge and don’t have an answer, you can get it from your neighbor. We have regional business consultants, which I like to describe as the best employee you don’t have to pay for. They are there for you for whatever you need.”&nbsp;For Coia and his team, business has been great since they opened in February, but he also noted the benefits of <a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor/lawn-doctor-s-newest-class-of-franchisees-gears-up-for-spring-launches-2709266">starting the franchising process just a little bit earlier</a>.The demand for Lawn Doctor services can mean that phones will be “ringing off the hook” with new business opportunities as soon as a franchise opens, Coia said. Coia has seen how other lawn care services go after spring business as early as December, so franchisees who wait until the spring to open their doors can “miss a little bit of that first wave,” he said.&nbsp;“The benefit of opening a Lawn Doctor franchise in the fall means you won’t have as many customers right out of the gate,” Coia said. “Having that little bit of a slower start gives you the ability to learn the brand’s product offerings and equipment. You can ease into it and get comfortable and learn the system, which is good, because spring is all about focusing on customers.”&nbsp;With the entire month of November still ahead, prospective Lawn Doctor franchisees have plenty of time to learn about the brand’s robust franchising opportunity before Spring 2020.&nbsp;The startup costs for a Lawn Doctor franchise range from $100,015 to $116,065. The franchise fee ranges from $88,950 to $102,000. To learn more about franchising with Lawn Doctor, visit <a href="https://lawndoctorfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fall-and-winter-openings-mean-lawn-doctor-franchisees-get-a-headstart-on-the-swing-of-spring-2711465" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://lawndoctorfranchise.com/</a>.

Fall and Winter Openings Mean Lawn Doctor Franchisees Get a Headstart on the Swing of Spring 

1851 Franchise

Prospective Lawn Doctor franchisees who begin the discovery process now and decide to sign will have time to learn the ropes before the rush of the spring season. 


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For&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominick-pennella-9918a448/">Dominick Pennella</a>, the journey to becoming a franchise owner with&nbsp;<a href="http://lawndoctorfranchise.com">Lawn Doctor</a>, the 700-plus-unit national lawn care franchise, has unique ties back to his childhood and family. Growing up in Brooklyn in a traditional Italian family, Pennella was involved in the family landscaping business from a young age. He also saw just how important family was. As he approached adulthood, he wanted to explore other paths, which led him to the Navy“I was the baby of three kids. The family culture was already set; landscaping was the thing, and we were Italians who lived in Brooklyn,” Pennella said. “I just felt like there was so much more world to see. I’m appreciating all of these things now, in hindsight, but as an 18-year-old, I just wanted to get going. So I joined the military, and it was the scariest thing I ever did.”<h2>The Military to Corporate Transition</h2>For Pennella, the military was a way to fast-track personal growth, in a way, allowing him to explore what it would mean to go out on his own. It meant leaving his hometown and taking on the adventure without familial backing.He spent about four years in the Navy, working on submarines and doing things like monitoring nuclear reactors through a keyhole. In addition to meeting new people and seeing new places, his time in the Navy set Pennella up with a technical foundation that would define his corporate journey.This military background and technical proficiency opened doors for Pennella as he transitioned to civilian life. He was hired as a field service engineer for a biomedical company before even completing a college degree, but he was already looking toward the “next rung” of the ladder.“I was looking up at the next rung. I thought, ‘I can do that, and to do that, I would need an education directly in management,’” he said. “I decided to sign up for distance learning and see if I could work full-time and go to school at the same time. I did that for about five years. My master’s was in business management.”As he continued to climb the corporate ladder, Pennella returned to lessons he learned in his early landscaping years.“Whether you're showing up to someone's home to take care of a lawn or whether you're showing up to a hospital mid-surgery to take care of a blood gas instrument, the end result is still the same,” he said. “You still have to deal with people who are discontent. They don’t like the current situation, and they need to believe in you. You need to convey a plan, communicate throughout that process and close the loop at the end.”“Regardless of the perceived severity of what you’re fixing, any type of field service is similar,” he continued. “When I worked for my father as a landscaper, it was the exact same thing. A different product, but the exact same customer-facing experience. They want to know what you can do for them. ‘I’m in this situation. How can you help me? And can I contact you if I need anything?’ If you answer all those questions, they're happy. It was the same thing in medical device field service. So, I did well by literally copying the same tenets my father taught me.”Throughout his corporate career, Pennella’s approach earned him and his teams multiple awards and widespread recognition. But as he advanced, it also began to demand more from Pennella in terms of travel. When these requirements began to overshadow his family time, he knew it was time for a change.“I was successful, but my family is so important to me, and they were not more than 20% of my week in any given week in that life,” he said. “I knew it was time for a change.”Today, Pennella says that decision was fueled by the people who matter most — his wife of 14 years, Maria, who is also his partner in running the business, and their two daughters, Dora (11) and Gigi (7). He describes them as his daily inspiration and the driving force behind his decision to build something that would allow him to be present, ambitious and rooted at home all at once.“I didn’t even think of landscaping again, because that was what my dad did,” he continued. “I did electronics in the Navy, and that was my thing. But my father and I, one thing we have in common is the love of family. He couldn’t wait to get home and spend time with us when I was young, and I share that same view.”So, when he first began searching for his next opportunity, Pennella was looking for other roles in the same industry. He wanted to stick with “his thing,” just in a capacity that would require less travel and allow for more family time. After realizing that, at his level of seniority, any new role would be more of the same, he went to step two: franchises.<h2>Identifying Lawn Doctor: The Return to the Lawn Care Business</h2>“There are about a billion franchises for anything you could possibly think of, so how do you choose one?” he said. “I ended up finding some really great people — some franchise brokers. I took the Zorakle Assessment, and two days later, they called and said, ‘Hey, have you ever heard of&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor/info">Lawn Doctor</a>?’”At this point, Pennella had not mentioned Lawn Doctor to the brokers, but he remembered it from childhood. He saw the green thumb logo and vehicles in the community and, as a child, asked his father how the business model worked since he never saw them cutting anyone’s lawn. At the time, his father explained that fertilization was one of the more profitable services in the lawn care space, but the conversation stopped there.So, when Pennella was presented with the Lawn Doctor franchise opportunity decades later, it almost felt meant to be.“When I started doing some research, I realized it might be the perfect fit. It tied in with my nostalgia, my culture, my history, my skill sets — everything,” he said. “And again, it’s field service. It wasn’t a straight line, and I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for the folks who guided me in the selection process. But when they said ‘Lawn Doctor,’ I thought, ‘Are you kidding me? I used to joke about comparing Lawn Doctor to the type of work I did in my father’s business.’ And here I am, the owner of a Lawn Doctor franchise! And I couldn’t be happier with the choice.”<h2>Building Momentum Through a Culture of Collaboration</h2>As Pennella launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lawndoctor.com/naples-fl/">Lawn Doctor of Naples-LaBelle-Marco Island</a>, he applied a sophisticated management lens to a local service model. This approach has already yielded impressive results, driving Pennella to blow his first-year projections out of the water within a couple of months. By focusing on communication and personal outreach, including knocking on clients’ doors himself, he was able to build trust and set the business up for an amazing first year.“It’s a simple, scalable model, and it sets you up to make your money back in a fairly short time frame,” he said. “It’s a great choice for a calculated risk-taker.”In addition to his own analytical lens, Pennella’s success has been driven by the support of the entire franchise system. Previously accustomed to a “dog-eat-dog” atmosphere in corporate America, Pennella was pleasantly surprised by the collaborative nature of the Lawn Doctor system. While he has worked diligently to educate himself on all facets of the business, he realized that, with the franchise system behind him, he didn’t have to absorb all of the information immediately and completely.“In the corporate world, everyone is looking for their own win. Here, a rising tide floats all ships,” he said. “I have at least five other owners and a dedicated mentor that I can call any time for any reason, and they’ll have an answer. I’m not scared to take on things I might not be an expert on yet because I have the backup to help me find those answers if needed.”&nbsp;Pennella is quick to credit those who have walked beside him during this first year. He highlights&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottspitz/">Scott Spitz</a> of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lawndoctor.com/lakeworth-fl/lawn-care-in-west-palm-beach/">West Palm Beach</a>, who has served as a dedicated mentor, providing the institutional knowledge that only a veteran owner can offer. He also expresses deep gratitude for the ongoing support from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-valle-a92584103/">Ralph Valle</a> in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lawndoctor.com/jacksonville-fl/lawn-care-in-jacksonville/">Jacksonville</a> and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lawndoctor.com/fortmyers-fl/home/">Duffy family in Fort Myers</a>, whose insights helped him navigate the nuances of the Florida market, illustrating just how valuable it is to be a part of the Lawn Doctor system, which functions as a true team.As he prepares for continued growth, Pennella recognizes that there will be additional learning and growth opportunities as a Lawn Doctor owner, but he’s ready for them, and he encourages others in a similar position to consider taking the leap, as well.“If you are willing to learn agronomy and work closely with the franchisor, this can change your life,” he said. “It gave me the one thing I couldn’t find in the corporate world: the ability to put my family first without sacrificing my ambition. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor">https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor.</a>&nbsp;

Photo of Lawn Doctor franchisee Dominick Pennella and family

After making the switch to franchising for better work-life balance and to prioritize his family, Dominick Pennella exceeded his first-year projections by 50% in his first few months of operations.

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Design with photo of John Perry and Lawn Doctor logo

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Fall and Winter Openings Mean Lawn Doctor Franchisees Get a Headstart on the Swing of Spring

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