Mosquito Joe Appeals to Tax Professionals Struggling with Seasonality

Many Americans dread the arrival of tax season, but one segment of the population dreads its passing even more: tax preparers.

Helping taxpayers file their forms is a seasonal gig, and many tax professionals find themselves in need of steady work once the rush ends in April.

Interestingly, Virginia Beach-based mosquito control treatment franchise Mosquito Joe* has found itself receiving plenty of attention from this number-crunching set.

Angela Zerda, director of marketing at Mosquito Joe, said there are currently four Mosquito Joe franchisees who also have tax businesses. These four individuals alone account for upwards of 10 separate franchise locations.

“I think it plays on our seasonality,” Zerda said. “And with the tax industry in particular, it’s interesting because that [and pest control] are not a combination people would ever put together.”

One example is Chad Armstrong, a tax professional who previously told 1851 about how Mosquito Joe helps him supplement his income while keeping his team employed.

“I was looking for ways to keep my employees working all year-round,” Armstrong said. “Tax is a seasonal business and I wanted to provide them with a full-time job, and mosquito season happens to occur just outside of the tax business period.”

But how easy is it for someone who deals with paperwork behind a desk much of the year to get out and succeed in pest control? According to Zerda, the answer is “very.” In fact, she stated that one of the brand’s most successful franchisees in terms of customer recruitment also happens to be a tax preparer.

“There is no pest control experience required, and most of our franchisees knew nothing about pest control before,” she continued. “We have a few with backgrounds in agriculture or lawn care or gardening and landscaping, but the majority of our franchisees have zero experience or knowledge of pest control.”

Franchisees go through a four-day training program at Mosquito Joe corporate headquarters, and also receive support from the home office in the field when they open. Depending on where the franchisee opens up their business, there are typically regional-specific licensing procedures to consider. However, becoming a Mosquito Joe franchisee is an opportunity open to people of all backgrounds.

And while some may look at the inherent seasonality of mosquito control as a detriment, Zerda views it as a perk for potential franchisees.

“In the further north territories, even with a shorter mosquito season, people are so desperate to spend time outside – they want to leverage every day of sunshine,” Zerda said. This means that some business owners are able to pack a year’s worth of business into half the time.

“If I can make the same amount of money in six months that I could make over 10 months and then have extra time to go on vacation and go relax, I would,” she continued.

Geography also plays a major role in how seasonal the business truly is. For instance, many southern franchisees have business year-round, even during winter, according to Zerda.

With tax season coming to a close, it wouldn’t be surprising if more tax professionals decided to join the Mosquito Joe family – a family that is growing at a remarkable rate. There were 15 Mosquito Joe locations open at the end of 2013, a number that shot up to 39 at the end of 2014. Meanwhile, the brand expects to have more than 100 locations open by the end of 2015.

Unlike some franchise concepts, mosquito control is a service pretty much everyone can use, not to mention a service that genuinely helps neighbors, friends and family. At the very least, the person who helps their community better enjoy the great outdoors during summer is sure to be more popular than a representative of the IRS.