Mosquito Joe Franchisee Finds Opportunity of a Lifetime Through Franchising

As a commercial airline pilot for US Airways, Kurt Godwin has spent most of his life 40,000 feet above the ground.  

Then 9/11 happened, and the entire airline industry was seemingly turned upside down. Godwin decided it was time to shift his focus, and he became a private pilot for high-profile corporate airplanes, including the late owner of the Washington Redskins, Jack Kent Cooke.

But after nearly 31 years as a pilot, Godwin was ready to regain a sense of normalcy in his own chaotic, unpredictable lifestyle. That’s when he sat down to do a simple Google search on available franchise opportunities.

“Being a corporate pilot was hard work—you’re away from home all the time, and you have very little control over your own schedule,” Godwin said. “I knew it was time to do something different, and franchising seemed to offer a lot more stability and control.”

Godwin admits that he knew very little about the inner-workings of franchising. He knew how behemoth chains like McDonald’s operated, but he didn’t know just how broad the industry actually is. When doing his research, he was surprised to find that a brand like Mosquito Joe*, a mosquito extermination and pest control company, had franchise opportunities available.

“I had the perception of franchising that many did—that it’s primarily a fast food industry. I didn’t realize just how vast it was,” Godwin said.

Even more of an eye-opener was the fact that every single Mosquito Joe owner is truly embedded in the community that he or she serves. As Godwin learned more about franchising with the brand, he quickly realized that oftentimes, people, himself included, would forget about the local nature of a franchise. In fact, every Mosquito Joe owner shared a common reason for joining the brand—they wanted to make a meaningful difference in their community.

“It’s easy to think of franchises as a corporate goliath of sorts. But the truth is, each franchisee is different. Of course, a McDonald’s in Florida will be very similar to a McDonald’s in Maryland—every franchisor strives for that consistency because it keeps the business growing,” Godwin said. “But the biggest lesson I learned as I dived into the world of franchising—and what I try to tell people now—is that we’re still the mom-and-pop business owners that live down the street. Running our Mosquito Joe business helps to put our kids through college. It helps to put food on our table. It doesn’t help a CEO buy a new house or a new car.”

Today, Godwin and his wife, Melissa, are the owners of a Mosquito Joe in the Annapolis, Maryland area. They first launched their business back in in 2013—the year that Mosquito Joe was just taking off. Godwin admits that the most difficult part of joining an emerging brand is building a customer base—but it was a challenge that Mosquito Joe’s corporate team helped him conquer.

“We were among the original 15 franchisees to join with Mosquito Joe, so we took a bit of a risk. Educating a customer base about who you are and what you do is a challenge for any new brand. But thanks to the great support coming from the Mosquito Joe headquarters, we moved past that hurdle,” Godwin said. “Now, nearly four years in, people will see the Mosquito Joe truck and there’s this immediate recognition and knowledge of what we do. That’s a true testament to the strong system that their corporate team put in place—they made sure we had everything we needed to thrive.”

And that, Godwin says, is what makes franchising such an important industry. Thanks to Mosquito Joe’s support, his business became so profitable that he was eventually able to leave behind his career as a private jet pilot. He finally had more time at home with his wife every night, and he finally had free time again.

“It’s been such an incredibly rewarding journey,” Godwin said. “The most important thing to know about franchising is that you’re not alone. You’re going into business for yourself, but you have a partner—someone who can help you get going. Especially in a young franchise like Mosquito Joe, having that partner—someone to go to—makes all the difference. In a lot of ways, joining a franchise is like gaining a new family. You can’t find that kind of support anywhere else.”