Andy Fuller, Chief Hunter and Founder of Mosquito Hunters
What about Mosquito Hunters makes it unique within its industry?
We’re a very positive home service, helping folks spend more time together in a way they never could before. It’s not as if we come in when something goes wrong and needs fixing; we are proactivity allowing people to enjoy their outside spaces with their families and friends. We are also at an advantage because we have a lot of open space to add locations in markets across the U.S. Add to that the backing and support of Lawn Doctor’s corporate team, 50+ years of experience, and more than 600 locations and I feel we have something that’s pretty exceptional in the world of franchising.
What have been some of the brand's most important milestones over the past five years?
We launched Mosquito Hunters in Chicago in 2014, and in 2016, we started franchising. By the end of 2016, we had our first franchise owner in Tampa, Florida. Around that same time, I was introduced to Scott Frith, the CEO of Lawn Doctor, who quickly became an unexpected friend and mentor. The next big milestone for the brand was May of 2018 when Mosquito Hunters and Lawn Doctor teamed up, effectively transforming Mosquito Hunters from a franchise start-up to “a start-up on steroids.”
What plans does the brand have in the coming years?
I started Mosquito Hunters with the objective of becoming a national household name. Now that we’re partnered with Lawn Doctor, we’re poised for serious growth, done right. While maintaining our start-up spirit, we can now provide our franchisees with support from a seasoned and sophisticated corporate team, engage in data analytics to further optimize the performance of franchisees, elevate our consumer marketing programs, leverage relationships, and expedite our growth.
What does an ideal franchisee look like?
A successful Mosquito Hunters franchisee must believe in building relationships with clients, employees, vendors, and the overall community. The focus on the client cannot be overstated. We call this a “speed to lead” mentality. For most people mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks are still an unsolved problem and our service provides a real solution, but to this day the consumer space is highly fragmented. The Mosquito Hunters brand is fun, unique and memorable, which attracts clients and gets us the call or click. Our ideal owner understands that true differentiation is rapid follow-up and the client experience following the initial inquiry. We are looking for franchise owners who excel at building relationships and have a passion for making a difference in their community. Our owners love being mobile and on the go, engaging with new customers every day. We are in the loyalty business as much as anything and look hard for owners who share our “client for life” mentality.
Why is Mosquito Hunters a good investment?
For me, one of the biggest draws to the mosquito control space was the recurring revenue stream. I would probably not be happy owning a business where I had to reinvent my client base every single year. The Mosquito Hunters model is to build up a base of clients and grow that base incrementally each year. On the consumer side, it’s something that solves a real problem, it’s affordable, and it’s not something folks are going to do themselves. I also wanted to be in an emerging space that wasn’t overly mature, that was simple to run, had high profit margins and actually provided value to the community. I started Mosquito Hunters because it checks all those boxes, and now we’re we want to find budding entrepreneurs who value those same things in a business.