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Twenty-year Navy service member Jon Moore and his wife Kathy joined the Veteran-owned franchise concept four years ago and have continued to find new ways to give back to Veterans in their local San Diego community.
JDog Junk Removal & Hauling, a junk removal franchise from Veteran-exclusive franchisor JDog Brands, stands out in the industry with its unique goal of lowering Veteran unemployment and giving franchisees access to a tight-knit community of fellow Veteran business owners. Now, following the brand’s nationwide, strategic partnership with the VFW, JDog franchisees have even more opportunities to support their local Veteran communities. For example, Jon Moore, a former service member of the U.S. Navy, and his wife Kathy have been JDog franchisees in San Diego, California for four years and are excited to take their community involvement to the next level by partnering with their local VFW office this year.
Prior to investing in JDog, Jon spent 20 years in the Navy, during which time he says he wore several different hats. “I oversaw safety, I dealt with hazmat quality assurance, I worked in maintenance management,” he said. “But my main role was ensuring that people were trained and aircrafts were ready to deploy to take care of whatever mission they needed to take care of. My whole family is full of Veterans — my dad, grandparents and my brother were all in the Army.”
Kathy’s background includes both a professional career in office management and marketing, as well as a 20-year journey as a military spouse (“MilSpouse”) following Jon’s Naval career. “I’ve always supported Jon and his career, while also supporting my family and trying to make sure that I stay busy with my profession and education,” she said. “I was an office manager and was also a marketing and support administrator for a commercial real estate company.”
Jon adds, “Kathy and I have been married the whole time I was in the military, and we have two kids. I was away from the family for a good seven years, so she really put in a lot of work as a military spouse and has been a big part of our success.”
When Jon was ready to retire from the military, he knew he wanted to find something different to focus on that would allow him the flexibility to spend more time with Kathy and his family. Throughout his career in the Navy, Jon says it was a high-tempo and high-stress environment that required very long hours.
“After leaving, I went through a severe depression where everything was different than what I had become used to for 20 years,” said Jon. “I started looking for jobs, but all the jobs I was navigating towards were exactly like what I was doing in the Navy because those were my skills. I knew I didn’t want that because I wouldn't be able to spend more time with my family.”
When Jon stumbled upon JDog Brands online, he connected with the brand’s mission to lower the Veteran unemployment rate to under 1% and felt like it was something he needed in his personal and professional life. He says he also knew it would be a great opportunity to invest in a business together with Kathy and leverage both his military background and her marketing and management experience.
“I knew that if I became a franchise owner with JDog, I would be able to re-enter the military community and work with like-minded people,” Jon said. “I loved that the brand only partnered with Veterans and military families and encouraged those franchisees to help fellow Veterans in their community. Plus, the business model was simple. They had everything set up just right. When you are in the military, everything is written down, operationalized and laid out for you. JDog had it all laid out, with a road map that you could follow. I knew it was something that we could do successfully, and I’d get to work and provide for my family while also being my own boss.”
The JDog Brands franchise opportunity was specifically designed by CEO and founder Jerry Flanagan to meet the needs, skills and values of Veterans. The JDog Junk Removal & Hauling franchise only allows Veterans and their families to apply for franchising and provides in-depth support, a flexible and low-cost business model without the need for a storefront and streamlined operations.
“Our franchisees are exclusively Veterans and military family members. Veterans often have a difficult time transitioning into civilian life,” said Flanagan. “Most jobs don’t look anything like the military structure that Veterans are accustomed to, but franchising, when done correctly, can fit like a glove. Veterans like to follow a process. They take their training seriously, and they’ve got the grit and experience to overcome challenges. We’ve built our franchise opportunities to make the most of those qualities and help our franchisees find success quickly.”
The Moores officially signed on with JDog Junk Removal & Hauling in 2017 and opened their office in Vista, California. Over the past four years, the Moores have expanded their business to three territories in North San Diego County and say they’ve enjoyed providing a professional service for homeowners in their community, while also creating jobs for Veterans.
“Our favorite part of JDog is really the comradery,” said Kathy. “We get to interact with people from all walks of life — they all have military backgrounds, but their unique skill sets are all so different. Everyone brings something new to the table, and we are able to learn from them while also being part of a community of Veteran brothers and sisters.”
Now, Jon says they are excited to expand that comradery even further through a new partnership with their local VFW office.
“When we saw that JDog partnered with the VFW nationwide, I got very excited because I knew it would be great to get in touch with our local VFW,” Jon said. “The VFW helps Veterans with everything from cleaning out yards to donating food — all things that I’ve always wanted to do. For example, we played a little part recently by hauling half a trailer’s worth of old junk that was piled up in their office and donated a couple 10x10 canopies. We were also able to give them a foosball table to replace an old shuffleboard table. That really hits on JDog’s goal of giving away something old and replacing it with something new. It’s been great so far.”
Looking ahead, Jon and Kathy say their long-term goal is to expand into two more territories and secure all of North San Diego County, while continuing to provide jobs for as many Veterans as possible.
“We are incredibly proud to have franchisees like the Moores in the JDog system,” said JDog Brands president Kevin Kopa. “As a proud military family, they’ve already done so much for their community, and they will be able to do even more thanks to the brand’s partnership with the VFW. As we continue to grow JDog across the country, we are thrilled to partner with passionate and driven Veterans to help them achieve their dream of business ownership.”
JDog Brands has had record growth in 2021 as it looks to expand its footprint. Now, JDog Brands is actively seeking qualified franchisees to open franchise territories in markets across the country, starting with Cincinnati, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The cost to open a JDog Junk Removal & Hauling ranges from $30k–$110k, but generally that investment is $85k including a $35k franchise fee. For more information on franchising with JDog, visit https://www.jdogbrands.com/own-a-franchise.
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