How Lawn Doctor Saw Double Digit Increases Following the COVID Pandemic

With more than 630 nationwide locations, the lawn care maintenance business Lawn Doctor is poised for continued growth through 2022. While the brand grew double digits from 2020 to 2021, it also showed that it has a pandemic-resilient business model.

“As an essential and mobile service that requires limited face-to-face customer interaction, Lawn Doctor was not adversely affected by pandemic challenges,” said Eric Martin, vice president of franchise development at Happinest, the parent company behind Lawn Doctor. “Of course, there were some challenges along the way, but growing at the rate we did and recording double digit growth during the pandemic speaks volumes about the resiliency and durability of this business model.”

Whether there is a pandemic affecting the way we live our daily lives or not, people are always going to need lawn care. As baby boomers age and can't do the things around the house they once did and millennials who are more than are willing to pay for home services to be done for them so they can spend more time with friends and family, there will always be a need for the services offered by Lawn Doctor. 

As part of its efforts to attract more franchise owners, Lawn Doctor prides itself on its business model and low-overhead costs. Trevor Merrill, a franchisee in Utah, said that he was able to quickly grow his Lawn Doctor franchise in a high-demand area, for example. 

Lawn Doctor’s presence in the $600 billion home services industry is also a valuable business opportunity for potential franchisees who don’t want to spend a lot of money getting things up and running.

“We were very drawn to the low overhead costs and didn’t want to have to worry about operating a brick-and-mortar storefront,” said Josh Stewart, a Lawn Doctor franchisee with a location in Baldwin County, Alabama. “That lower risk was really important to us compared to other concepts or starting our own business from scratch.”

How Lawn Doctor and Other Happinest Brands Plan to Grow in 2022

Happinest also oversees franchise operations for ecomaids and Mosquito Hunters. Together, the three brands signed more than 100 units in 2021, marking a milestone for the brand. 

“We plan to award just as many units, if not more, this year,” said Martin. “We definitely expect each of the brands under the Happinest umbrella to meet or exceed development goals in 2022, which is really great to see following the immense growth all of our brands experienced during the pandemic.” 

Happinest is becoming more nationally recognized, and their brands are preparing for continued growth. With franchising experience that expands over five decades, Happinest is well positioned to help franchisees grow not only within their chosen brand, but also grow with future brands under the umbrella company. 

“Our long-term vision includes plans to help franchisees, who have the desire and resources, to grow vertically within Happinest brands,” said Martin. “While it’s always nice to have franchisees expanding their territory reach with one brand, we see a day in the not-too-distant future where we have certain franchisee’s operating multiple Happinest brands — whether that be Lawn Doctor, ecomaids, Mosquito Hunters, or other future service concepts that become a part of Happinest.” 

A primary focus for the home service and route-based businesses is having newer franchise owners focus on going deeper in their territory, before growing wider. Trying to manage a wide-reaching and scattered customer base too quickly can, in many cases, become counterproductive and impact profitability, according to Martin.

“We provide a system that is built for scale, but as importantly one that allows our owners to increase efficiency and drive down customer acquisition cost,” said Martin. “Our digital advertising tactics are extremely targeted and surgical, and when those combine with ground game efforts by a local franchise team, building density in a customer base is much easier now than ever before.”

As for 2022, Lawn Doctor plans to continue its upward trajectory in signing new franchise partners to an attractive brand that utilizes a centralized approach to media marketing and customer sales with their very own in-house sales center. By centralizing these activities, franchise owners have the luxury of more time to focus on customer relationships, retention, and the offering of additional upsell services, all of which have become cornerstones of the Lawn Doctor and the Happinest business models.

“As a cutting-edge leader in the home services space, regardless of the climate we are operating in, we are constantly looking at ways to innovate and improve both the business operations and overall customer experience,” added Martin. 

The initial total investment for a single Lawn Doctor territory ranges from $102,015 to $127,065. For more information, visit: https://lawndoctorfranchise.com/.