Owner Of Local Moving Company “Moves In” To Help Soaring Need in Lehigh Valley

Supply and demand are essential to small business ownership, so when the owners of two Philadelphia TWO MEN AND A TRUCK*® locations noticed increased calls from those in Allentown, or those moving to Allentown, there was no debating: they needed to get trucks and movers to the Lehigh Valley. After all, the area saw more than 50 major expansions or new developments in 2021 that created or retained more than 5,000 jobs. Locally, it’s not hard to see the connection between a growing economy, the great sellers’ market in real estate and an increased need for a practical moving company. Allentown’s TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® location will be opening soon. 

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

ROB WALLACE: I have been with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® since 1996. I started as a driver of a moving truck as I worked my way through The Ohio State University. As I neared graduation, one of the managers at the Columbus location asked me to stay on in operations. I agreed and was eventually promoted to general manager and stayed in that role for several years. I left TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® in 2007 and joined a company that focused on logistics and commercial moving. Being outside the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® system allowed me to recognize the strength of our brand and luckily I had the chance to return to TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® a few years later managing locations in Charlotte, Rock Hill, and Statesville, North Carolina. After almost four years in that role, I connected with owner Mike Lally as he was just about to purchase his fifth location. Mike and I have been together for almost nine years now and he owns 14 total TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchises. I’m part owner of six, our partner Anthony Jent is part owner of five — Mike is the supermajority owner of all locations at this time.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

WALLACE: I didn’t know anything different because this was my college job. When I stepped into the office to start taking on leadership roles, that was when I learned more about the franchising business model and some of its advantages. I would tell people who are considering franchising, and are not connected, to get connected with a franchisor. The templates and resources available to you from corporate will speed things up and help you get things off the ground. Looking back now, it would be hard to piece a new business together without those tools.

1851: What makes you stand out as a business owner in your local community?

WALLACE: Allentown is about one hour north of Philadelphia’s metro area where we have three other thriving locations. We are already doing quite a bit of work in Allentown, and customers are willing to pay the additional travel fees to use us, so the demand is definitely there. Being closer, and having more of a presence in the area will help us to cut down those travel fees, hire local residents and get even more involved with the local community. 

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

WALLACE: I learned a lot about the transportation world while I was away from TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, and I would say sometimes you don’t realize how well something works until you get away from it and see things from a different perspective. So having had the opportunity to go and work for a different company and see how hard it is for other folks to scratch and claw for business was eye-opening. Our brand recognition is amazing. We don’t have to create demand — it’s there. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is always in the conversation when people are talking about moving. 

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

WALLACE: In the last three years, we’ve added three TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchise locations in Philadelphia, two in Connecticut and now will own one in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It’s part of our strategy to continue to add locations, so if we have opportunities to grow, we will take them. We are starting off with a moderate-sized footprint in Allentown, and we have hope to get a larger building and more trucks soon. We’d like to get involved in the community and look for team members to join us. Our strategy is to build leaders in all 14 locations we own and then send them to other markets as we acquire them. We hope our team will continue subscribing to that vision. That's what’s enabled us to grow so quickly — we have the right leaders who have been able to step in and run our systems when we send them to a new city. That has been our recipe for success, but you can only go fast when you have the right leaders trained and ready to go. 

There is no secret ingredient, but almost everyone who’s currently in a manager role, came up just like I did, from mover and into the office, and then into leadership. Like myself, they’ve started as sales representatives or truck drivers. These are the folks who have had success — they’re the ones who have been around a long time and have shown leadership ability and the willingness to take on a new adventure. We focus on giving each person the training they need to be successful in their new role. If they’ve been on one side of the business in operations, we bring them over to the sales side to learn. 

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

WALLACE: My story is not unique. I’m just like hundreds of other people in the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® system who have been able to succeed, with the strength of our brand, through hard work and perseverance. I just needed a job to get through college, but it became a career and it’s taken me on quite a journey. 

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

WALLACE: To execute the plan you need to have the right people, and the challenges are worth the reward. Moving is a simple concept, but it’s not easy. You need to bring the energy every day to be successful! 

ABOUT TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®:

Headquartered in Michigan, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is the largest franchised moving company in North America. Currently, there are more than 390 locations and 3,000 trucks operating in 46 U.S. states in addition to Canada, Ireland and the UK. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® has performed more than 9 million moves since its inception in 1985 and has seen consistent growth dating back to December 2009. In 2022, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® as one of the top 500 franchises in the U.S. and No. 1 in the moving/junk removal category. Franchise Business Review also named TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® a 2022 Top 200 Franchise and a 2021 Top Recession-Proof Franchise. As of August 2021, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® has joined the ServiceMaster brand. ServiceMaster was founded as one of America’s first franchise businesses and does business under six brands today across 50 states and nine countries that generate more than $3.3B in system-wide sales: ServiceMaster Restore, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, AmeriSpec and Furniture Medic. For franchising opportunities, visit franchise.twomenandatruck.com.