Mosquito Hunters

For many traditional Home Service franchises, the second fiscal quarter can be a bit slow for signing new licenses and opening new businesses.

For <a href="https://mosquitohuntersfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=mosquito-hunters-ends-second-quarter-on-pace-to-blaze-through-2019-goals-2710331" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Mosquito Hunters</a>, however, Q2 was as hot as ever&mdash;thanks to the brand&rsquo;s unique roll out strategy options, effective marketing tactics and committed support for new franchisees who are now launching their mosquito control businesses for spring.

The home service brand has seen explosive growth over the last year, <a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters/mosquito-hunters-heading-toward-icon-status-as-it-surpasses-50-franchise-units-signed-2710092" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">now boasting 60 units</a> around the U.S. Even more impressive, <a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Mosquito Hunters</a> has licensed 42 territories to 29 franchisees in just 2019 alone. The brand is now in 23 states all over the country&mdash;and as of Q2, that count includes Alaska.

&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been seeing a lot of success, with around 20 new doors opening within the past two months. We are hearing reports that some have more than 100 clients already,&rdquo; said Ron Ens, Mosquito Hunters&rsquo; Franchise Development Manager. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s definitely a big market for mosquito control.&rdquo;

With mosquito hunting season ramping up in the spring and summer, Mosquito Hunters offers a few roll out options for franchisees to choose from throughout the year. That way, after months of working their &ldquo;ground game,&rdquo; franchisees can start strong when the weather turns warmer.&nbsp;

&ldquo;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters/why-mosquito-hunters-offers-soft-opening-strategies-for-franchisees-2709769" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">It&rsquo;s a seasonal business, so the Soft Roll Out really helps</a>&mdash;you can go to training in the summer, start your ground game, get local marketing going and begin gathering clients,&rdquo; explained Ens. &ldquo;Then, come spring, start your full-court press to address the opportunity and get out there to service the community.&rdquo;

Mosquito Hunters&rsquo; marketing and branding strategies are a big reason why the franchise has found so much success. Ens said that franchisees frequently express their excitement about the company&rsquo;s bright branding that leaves a memorable impression&mdash;including the cartoonish Mosquito Hunters mascot head that each franchisee receives.&nbsp;

He is a mustachioed man in a dapper hat named Gunther.

&ldquo;The Gunther figure attracts a lot of attention, especially among kids, who are one of the target audiences for mosquito control&mdash;we are committed to keeping kids safe,&rdquo; said Ens. &ldquo;He is front and center with our brand. Gearing up for spring, owners will do a Park and Wave, parking their branded van on a busy spot, with Gunther out there waving at everyone who passes. Gunther is designed to attract attention and create a strong memory that people draw upon when they need mosquito control. Now that we are fully into the season, our owners are getting calls thanks to those efforts.&rdquo;

Another key differentiator in Mosquito Hunters&rsquo; marketing strategy is its new telesales center, which opened in late Q1. The sales center alleviates Mosquito Hunters franchisees of the burden of digital marketing&mdash;as well as directing and closing sales.&nbsp;

&ldquo;With most brands, a big part of a franchisee&rsquo;s life is dealing with SEO, posting on social media, getting their website up, working directly with media outlets, answering the phone when customers call to ask questions. But with Mosquito Hunters, it&rsquo;s a different story,&rdquo; explained Eric Martin, VP of Franchise Development. &ldquo;Our franchisees receive new customers and just have to schedule a time to go treat them. The sale is already made. It eliminates a lot of the back-and-forth on the phone.&rdquo;

Instead of spending all their time on making sales, Mosquito Hunters franchisees can concentrate on local networking and their growing business with a new base of clients.&nbsp;&ldquo;We wanted to give our owners the ability to focus on their Ground Game activities and as importantly, customer retention,&rdquo; said Martin. &ldquo;We prioritize adding bandwidth for our franchisees so they can optimize their businesses and build customers for life.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s a very different sales model and one that we&rsquo;re really proud of.&rdquo;

The telecenter, which is managed in-house at the company&rsquo;s headquarters in Holmdel, New Jersey, works with franchisees of sister brand <a href="https://1851franchise.com/lawndoctor" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Lawn Doctor</a> as well. In late Q2, Mosquito Hunters officially joined Lawn Doctor under the Happinest brand umbrella. As additional home service brands are added over time, the resources and infrastructure available will continue to expand.

&nbsp;&ldquo;Sharing resources&mdash;such as the call center as well as decades of knowledge&mdash;with our growing family of brands is pretty cool stuff,&rdquo; said Martin. &ldquo;We are creating infrastructure and formally functionalized processes for growing our franchise portfolio and integrating best practices.&rdquo;

As for the year overall, Mosquito Hunters&rsquo; goal is to sign 40 new franchisees. Considering the brand will exceed 30 new partners by the end of June and that autumn is the busiest time for signing new owners, Martin expects to far surpass that goal.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Our new franchisees are happy with how things are going so far this year, especially those who experienced <a href="https://1851franchise.com/mosquitohunters/how-jeff-kelly-and-danny-woodhouse-became-mosquito-hunters-in-just-a-couple-months-2709614" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">our fast start-up times</a>,&rdquo; said Martin. &ldquo;By the time Q3 and Q4 roll around, we will certainly see accelerated growth to hit our goals&mdash;and then some.&rdquo;

<div>&nbsp;</div>

Mosquito Hunters Ends Second Quarter on Pace to Blaze Through 2019 Goals 

1851 Franchise

Thanks to convenient roll out strategies, a robust corporate marketing and sales support system and big-time backing from a franchise legend, Mosquito Hunters is already having a banner year.


This brand page has been paid for by MOSQUITO HUNTERS. Content within this page that is paid will showcase a Sponsored icon. This means the brand has engaged 1851 FRANCHISE to write the content. Content without the Sponsored Icon is aggregated media placements the brand earned. Questions can be sent to editorial@1851franchise.com

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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

Aiken, who brings over two decades of franchise experience and a deep passion for franchisee relationships and support, will lead the brand’s next major growth phase.

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Happinest Brands Turns the ‘Off-Season’ Into a Bright Spot for Franchisees

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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;

Photo of Pest Hunters-Mosquito Hunters-Humbug Holiday Lighting Gina Lopez

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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Mosquito Hunters Ends Second Quarter on Pace to Blaze Through 2019 Goals

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