Mosquito Hunters

Pest control franchise <a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Mosquito Hunters</a> recently graduated its latest class of franchisees, and the new additions to the franchise system are ready to hit the ground running as they approach warmer months and their respective grand openings. 

Chris Piercy of <a href="https://mosquitohunters.com/ftmyers-capecoral-fl/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=from-corporate-volatility-to-a-people-focused-franchise-how-mosquito-hunters-newest-franchisees-found-support-and-training-2709423" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Mosquito Hunters of Fort Myers</a>, Anthony Scheeda of <a href="https://mosquitohunters.com/buffalo-ny/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=from-corporate-volatility-to-a-people-focused-franchise-how-mosquito-hunters-newest-franchisees-found-support-and-training-2709423" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Mosquito Hunters of North Buffalo</a>, and Rob and Linda Sutterfield of <a href="https://mosquitohunters.com/frisco-thecolony-tx/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=from-corporate-volatility-to-a-people-focused-franchise-how-mosquito-hunters-newest-franchisees-found-support-and-training-2709423" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Mosquito Hunters of The Colony-Frisco</a> shared their experiences with joining the brand, enjoying ongoing support from the corporate leadership team and how the training class has prepared them for strong launches.

Piercy and Sutterfield both come from an information technology (IT) background, and Scheeda from retail and logistics. All three sought out <a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters/info/index.html" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Mosquito Hunters</a> buoyed by a desire to step away from the volatility of the corporate world, <a href="https://youtu.be/1c4ZoN4iu7Y?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=from-corporate-volatility-to-a-people-focused-franchise-how-mosquito-hunters-newest-franchisees-found-support-and-training-2709423" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">much like Mosquito Hunters&rsquo; founder Andy Fuller</a>. 

After 30 years working in the IT field, Piercy was laid off from his job of the previous three years. Feeling disillusioned by his experience working hard to drive profits for someone else, he sought to build a business more directly tied to his efforts that he and his family could &ldquo;work on together and be proud of.&rdquo;

&ldquo;I began exploring business ownership, at that time, and investigated a number of different franchise systems,&rdquo; Piercy said. &ldquo;Mosquito Hunters stood out for a number of reasons, so I later attended Discovery Day in Chicago, received my approval from the team and made my commitment to move forward.&rdquo;

Rob Sutterfield shared a similar experience. 

&ldquo;I was in the IT industry for the last 18 years. After three years with IBM, I was laid off,&rdquo; Sutterfield said. 

From there, Sutterfield started working with a franchise broker who presented several franchise opportunities, Mosquito Hunters among them.

&ldquo;They stood out because they&rsquo;re a new franchisor in a pretty new industry, which is I think becoming more trendy, and I liked the business model, the brand and the fact that it&rsquo;s home services. And I liked that it was <a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters/mosquito-hunters-teams-up-with-lawn-doctor-for-exceptional-franchise-opportunity-2707762#trending" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">backed by Lawn Doctor</a>, which has been in business for a long time,&rdquo; Sutterfield said.

After working exhausting hours for Walmart for 15 years, Anthony Scheeda had been looking at franchises for a little over a year when he found Mosquito Hunters. Like Piercy, Fuller&rsquo;s story spoke to him.

&ldquo;Mosquito Hunters drew me in,&rdquo; Scheeda said. &ldquo;I liked the transparency, and I liked Andy. He was a very forthcoming, down-to-earth kind of guy, and his story mirrored my story, [in that he] worked for corporate America and felt like he had something more to offer other than working for someone else.&rdquo;

Furthermore, as Scheeda pointed out, Mosquito Hunters&rsquo; business model provides a necessary service to the community, meaning that franchisees know they&rsquo;re giving back in a meaningful way.

&ldquo;Having a service where you eliminate something that could potentially kill a person is so gratifying,&rdquo; Scheeda explained. &ldquo;My cousin actually has Lyme Disease, and western New York has a Lyme Disease organization that we&rsquo;re going to join. For me, personally, as a leader, I love that interaction with people. People leadership is my strong point.&rdquo;

Scheeda is with the right brand: people leadership in the form of franchisee support is one of several key differentiators that sets Mosquito Hunters apart from the back. To ensure their franchisees are well-equipped to launch their business, Mosquito Hunters offers a four-day training course that covers everything from applying treatments to marketing. 

&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you that it was very detailed. I&rsquo;m taking a 30-hour course to get my license and it&rsquo;s mirroring what they cover in training. They exceeded any expectations anyone could have of training,&rdquo; Scheeda said.

Sutterfield agreed.

&ldquo;The structure was straightforward. It was a lot of information, but well-organized and very well-presented. They did a really great job of speaking on each subject and the [course] flowed well from one subject to another.&rdquo;

Asked if he felt better prepared to open his location following the course, Sutterfield replied: &ldquo;Absolutely.&rdquo;

&ldquo;I definitely feel better prepared to open my location. We learned a lot about hiring and managing employees, the day-to-day operations, more in-depth marketing and financial management aspects of the business. So I got a lot of good info I can use to get my business off the ground.&rdquo;

Scheeda emphasized that, in addition to providing business-building education during the training class, Mosquito Hunters also offers continued training and support once class wraps.

&ldquo;Training didn&rsquo;t stop that day,&rdquo; Scheeda said. &ldquo;There are webinars that they will continue to host about different marketing tools. There&rsquo;s a bi-weekly webinar with the marketing team, plus weekly ramp-up calls before your business opens&mdash;it wasn&#39;t just one-shot training; there&rsquo;s constant training which is great because our business is always changing, whether it&rsquo;s via regulation, a new marketing strategy, etc.&rdquo;

Having concluded training at the end of January, the graduates are now looking ahead to opening and their 2019 goals.

&ldquo;Our grand opening is planned for April 2019,&rdquo; Scheeda said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure on the specific date yet, but typically that&rsquo;s about when the weather starts to break in Buffalo.&rdquo; 
 
As for goals, Scheeda said that he and his wife hope to turn a profit in their first year, &ldquo;even if it&rsquo;s a dollar.&rdquo;

&ldquo;That would tell us we&rsquo;re doing things the right way, to be able to be profitable after year one. It&rsquo;s a lofty goal, but I have high expectations for myself,&rdquo; Scheeda said.

Sutterfield shared that his goal was to reach 200 customers by the end of the year, and that he and his wife Linda will open officially on March 18.

Piercy also plans to open in March and has joined his local chamber of commerce to bolster his networking in advance of his launch.

&ldquo;My goals for 2019 would be to grow the business, as quickly as possible, while maintaining consistent quality of service, to cultivate and build an ever-growing, loyal customer base,&rdquo; Piercy shared. &ldquo;My immediate goal is to get the business organized and ready, as quickly as possible, and I am on the verge of gaining good traction on that front in February, so far.&rdquo;

From Corporate Volatility to a People-Focused Franchise: How Mosquito Hunters’ Newest Franchisees Found Support and Training

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The outdoor service franchise’s newest class of graduates is ready to come into opening season strong.

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<a href="https://mosquitohuntersfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise&amp;utm_medium=referral%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Elite%20Window%20Cleaning%202-minute%20drill">Pest Hunters-Mosquito Hunters-Humbug Holiday Lighting</a>, the 140-unit pest management and holiday lighting franchise, continues to grow both in footprint and infrastructure, now with the addition of industry veteran&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtka">Court Aiken</a> as its new brand president. With 24 years of experience in the franchise industry, including time spent with Cold Stone Creamery, Dunkin’, Clockwork Home Services/Direct Energy, Neighborly and Threshold Brands, Aiken has experience in operations, mergers and acquisitions, compliance, customer service, finance, and brand leadership. Now, in his new role with&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters/info">Hunters-Humbug</a>, Aiken will work alongside both franchise owners in the system and members of the&nbsp;<a href="https://happinest.com/">Happinest Brands</a> leadership team to propel the future success of the Hunters-Humbug brand.While Aiken sees clear business potential in the Hunters-Humbug model, much of what drove him to join the team was less tangible. In addition to a scalable business, Aiken sees clear value in the leadership team's approach. This alignment was a key contributor to his choice to join and will continue to inform how he steers the network as everyone throughout it pursues healthy, impactful growth.“I very quickly identified the love and dedication that everyone at Happinest shares for their brands, and it’s not just siloed into the brands that a single person might work for,” Aiken said. “It truly is a cross-functional team where everyone helps each other. The passion is palpable. One of the things that struck me very early on was that the development team at Happinest maintains their relationships with the people they’re bringing into these brands long after the ink is dry on the franchise agreement. The strength and power of these relationships is truly unique, and I’m excited to be a part of an amazing team that focuses on this aspect of the business.”<h2>Aiken’s Vision for Hunters-Humbug’s Long-Term Growth</h2>Aiken joins the Hunters-Humbug team at a unique inflection point. After&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters/mosquito-hunters-three-in-one-franchise-model-2729107">officially rolling out its three-in-one model</a> last spring, Hunters-Humbug has significantly expanded the revenue potential for its franchisees and opened the door to even stronger long-term growth.“I truly believe in and endorse the idea of us not just being a mosquito control or abatement company but moving into the pest control space,” Aiken said. “The mosquito control space has become crowded both with other franchises and mom-and-pop operations — even lawn care companies have jumped in with both feet. Branching out to pest control allows us to differentiate ourselves, and adding holiday lighting only compounds the impact even further.”With this in mind, Aiken is embracing a franchisee-first leadership approach, prioritizing the support, resources and additional innovations that will propel growth. While Hunters-Humbug was built on a foundation of mosquito control, the addition of pest control was a big step, and the brand has now positioned franchisees to enter the lighting world with both holiday lighting services and the potential to provide permanent lighting solutions.“My vision is for Hunters-Humbug to be the leader in this space,” he said. “And it’s not just one space. I really look at our market as two spaces. We’re a pest control franchise, and we’re also a lighting franchise. And the team and I are incredibly well-positioned to take us to the next level in both industries.”<h2>Driving the Next Generation of Hunters-Humbug With Collaborative, Hands-on Leadership</h2>Reflecting on his career to this point, Aiken says one of the best pieces of advice he has received is to “listen first, talk later.”“When I was younger and trying to establish myself, I always wanted to be the smartest person in the room and make sure people knew it, but I’ve learned that I learn much more from the people around me than I could ever hope to know on my own,” he said. “This has taught me to be methodical… to make sure I’ve truly processed what people are saying before giving a deliberate and measured response."As Aiken steps into his new role, he carries this lesson with him, making a concerted effort to prioritize a collaborative approach and work alongside the Hunters-Humbug owners who have “boots on the ground” each day. By hearing what they have to say and not just falling back on default rules, Aiken will support and empower owners in the ways they actually need, driving success at both the unit-level and system-wide.“I’m not the kind of person who likes to sit behind the computer and tell people to do things because I think they’re the right things,” he said. “The beauty of Hunters-Humbug is that I’ve joined a team that shares that vision. When we’re making decisions for the Hunters-Humbug brand and for the franchisees, we’re asking for feedback. We’re looking to franchisees to give us their opinions.”&nbsp;“And as much as I love the franchisees, I love the technicians even more because they’re often the ones actually doing the work; they’re the ones who have to live with the decisions that we make,” he continued. “Getting out and spending time in the field with the owners and their techs is incredibly important to me. I’m a very hands-on leader.”With Aiken at the helm, Hunters-Humbug is poised to enter its next phase, balancing aggressive market expansion with a deep, personal understanding of the franchisee experience. Combining his decades of corporate expertise with the practical lessons he learned as a franchise owner himself, Aiken is charging toward the future with a high-powered, multi-service model that remains rooted in the success of the people behind it.&nbsp;To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters">https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters</a>.&nbsp;

Photo of Pest Hunters-Mosquito Hunters-Humbug Holiday Lighting president Court Aiken

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Following a decades-long corporate career in global sourcing and green energy,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-lopez-48a785377/">Gina Lopez</a> began considering a pivot. She wanted financial freedom, but having risen to the leadership level, any corporate career move would likely require relocation, and she was determined to stay in Greenville, South Carolina. So, she turned to franchising.“What really triggered us to look at business ownership was that we wanted to have more control over our destiny from a financial perspective,” she said. “I had learned quite a bit about scaling businesses, making and keeping them profitable, even in tumultuous times, so I felt like I had the skills I needed to do it on a smaller business scale.”After connecting with&nbsp;<a href="https://happinest.com/">Happinest Brands</a>, the parent company of&nbsp;<a href="https://mosquitohuntersfranchise.com/">Pest Hunters-Mosquito&nbsp;</a><a href="https://humbugholidaylighting.com/">Hunters-Humbug Holiday Lighting</a>, Lopez completed a thorough due diligence process before deciding to bring&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters/info">Hunters-Humbug</a> to her community.“We spent several months having conversations, going through due diligence — all those things,” she said. “I really liked that Happinest had a growth objective. They intended to continue to expand their brands and service offerings, so I felt like it was a good place to land.”“At&nbsp;<a href="https://happinest.com/">Happinest Brands</a>, we combine decades of franchise expertise with a commitment to continuous innovation,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericmartinfranchisedevelopment/">Eric Martin</a>, senior vice president of franchise development. “By leveraging technology, automation and data-driven systems, we’re helping franchisees operate more efficiently, improve customer experiences and scale smarter — while still maintaining the personal, community-focused service that defines our brands.”Since launching, Lopez has leaned into this growth objective as a part of the larger Happinest system and within her own business, embracing new technologies, staffing strategically and taking advantage of opportunities for additional visibility where possible.<h2>Leveraging AI and Automation</h2>As she has grown, Lopez has taken a strategic look at where technology can step in, as well as where it absolutely shouldn’t. By staying on the cutting edge of technology, Lopez learned early on that there were tools available to help her clear the all-too-common hurdle of working&nbsp;in the business rather than&nbsp;on it.By considering where technology can augment the business and team’s performance, rather than replacing the people themselves, Lopez has established a cost-efficient operating model for today and set the stage for long-term scalability within the business.“I’ve leaned into automation quite a bit,” she said. “It’s a pretty good substitute for adding people for about 80% of cases. And it’s kind of a natural evolution for a business like this to integrate some of these things because it’s really how people are used to behaving now… They’re no longer making phone calls; they’re sending inquiries online. They’re used to chatbots.”As the technology develops, Lopez is also keeping a close eye on the data it yields, using it to make smart decisions for the business.For example, she built an AI agent that can generate 90-day cash flow forecasts and acquisition plans. She performs detailed return-on-investment analysis on additional fleet vehicles at specific revenue points to ensure her expansion is backed by real data.“Business is a combination of taking your own knowledge and leveraging AI, and some of that is just a gut check,” she said. “For me, the AI analysis is typically confirmation of what I was thinking anyway, but with real numbers and a tangible business plan that I can look at and say, ‘Okay, am I executing to this?’”While the tools and technology have been key to her success, Lopez’s commitment to the human element remains an important part of her strategy.<h2>Prioritizing Connections, Locally and Nationally</h2>Having created a strong baseline with the Hunters-Humbug system and her own technology integration, Lopez has been able to focus even more closely on the interpersonal aspects of the business. From networking locally to contributing to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bhg.com/home-checkup-after-winter-11931911">Better Homes &amp; Gardens article</a>, Lopez keeps her focus on the visibility and relationships that will drive the business.“Leaning into networking and becoming an active member of the community has been so valuable for me,” she said. “Having worked in corporate America, my network was global, but this is a different network now. I’m really leaning into different business networking groups and fellow business owners to find opportunities to increase my sphere of opportunity. As the owner, you’re the face of the business, and you have to build a reputation through relationships.”As she looks toward the future, Lopez is leveraging the three-pillar revenue model that includes mosquito control, pest control and holiday lighting. With a blend of AI-driven efficiency and a real commitment to her Greenville community, Lopez is building her business and securing her family’s future.To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit <a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters.">https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters.</a>&nbsp;

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Gina Lopez, owner of Hunters-Humbug of Greenville, blends executive-level data analysis with a high-touch community presence, reimagining what home service franchise leadership looks like.

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From Corporate Volatility to a People-Focused Franchise: How Mosquito Hunters’ Newest Franchisees Found Support and Training

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