Best Friends and Multi-Unit Smoothie King and Mosquito Joe Franchise Owners Bring Pool Scouts to Miami

Best friends Omar Sanchez, Albert Sardina and Eric Gonzalez are turning their life-long friendship into a thriving business partnership and diversifying their portfolios with Pool Scouts, the 50-unit premier pool service brand under the Buzz Franchise Brands umbrella. 

Both Gonzalez and Sanchez have previous experience in franchising — Gonzalez is a franchise owner with Smoothie King, the health food franchise with 1,195 locations, and Sanchez opened a Mosquito Joe, the 100-unit pest management, in Miami. Now, Gonzalez and Sanchez are bringing Sardinia into the franchise world and diversifying their multi-brand portfolio with the opening of a new Pool Scouts location in Miami.

“Franchising allows you to buy a business in a box,” said Sanchez. “There’s no guessing, and there’s a lot more support with franchising. Before Mosquito Joe, I had no knowledge of how to run a pest control business. They gave me the tools I needed to be successful, which is why I pushed another franchise opportunity on Albert and Eric, knowing the low overhead of a service-based industry.” 

The three friends met in June of 2020 to discuss ways they could safely and successfully expand their wealth together. After seeing the success Sanchez and Gonzalez had within the franchise industry, Sardina wanted to do something similar that allowed him to grow outside of his corporate role. 

“We did think about starting our own business, but went the franchising route because there was a proven model, and we felt more comfortable investing our money in something with a solid structure,” said Gonzalez. “Especially with the times we’re currently in, we didn’t want to take too big of a risk by starting our own business from scratch.” 

As opposed to retail business or a business that requires a brick-and-mortar presence, the trio knew that joining a service brand would be the best option for them in this current pandemic landscape. They looked into several franchise concepts, including brands in the elder care, mold inspection and pressure-washing industries, but couldn’t find the perfect fit. 

That’s when they stumbled upon Pool Scouts. Recognizing that a vast majority of Miami homes have pools, the trio knew this would be a safe and smart business venture in a pandemic-plagued economy. 

“We liked how Pool Scouts was service-based and was considered an essential business during COVID-19,” said Sardina. “About three out of five houses in Miami have pools, and they need a quality service like Pool Scouts to come in and treat them regularly. Pool Scouts has the technology that mom-and-pop pool companies don’t have. We have an app, text message capabilities and so on that really give customers peace of mind.”

Gonzalaz agreed, “We were drawn to Pool Scouts because it is COVID-proof,” he said. “With more people spending more time at home, they’re spending more on home maintenance, and pools fall into that bucket. Now, we’re bringing a professional attitude to an unprofessional business.”

Pool Scouts delivers a quality, consistent pool cleaning, maintenance and minor repair service through the use of highly trained technicians who are experts in testing, monitoring, treating and servicing pools. In addition, pool service pros don’t even require face-to-face interaction with customers to get the job done, which has turned into a big plus this year.

Pool Scouts’ impressive 2020 growth numbers reflect this success. The brand saw a 46% growth in systemwide revenue this past year, as well as a 55% increase in total customers. On the franchise development front, the brand added 14 new franchisees to their system, sold 32 territories and opened 9 new locations.

To help new franchise owners take advantage of this increased consumer demand, Pool Scouts offers an affordable and efficient business model; a value proposition that positions itself at the front of a fragmented industry; multiple revenue streams; established brand consistency; and, last but not least, the support of an established parent company.

“Since Pool Scouts is a part of Buzz Franchise Brands, we were really attracted to the infrastructure of the company,” said Gonzalez. “The marketing and operational capabilities of the Buzz Franchise Brands company were very impressive.”

Sanchez also notes that Buzz Franchise Brands was the original owner of Mosquito Joe before they sold, so he already knew and trusted the corporate team and systems. “The similarities between Mosquito Joe and Pool Scouts are uncanny; it’s just a different service,” he said. “I had a good handle on the systems, which made me feel comfortable purchasing the Pool Scouts franchise. The support systems and family atmosphere are amazing — they have your best interests in mind, and they want you to succeed.”

The friends’ Pool Scouts location will officially open on March 1, 2021 and will service the Pinecrest, South Miami, Oakland Grove, Coral Gables, Miami and Coconut Grove communities.

Looking ahead, the trio note that they are excited to continue growing with Pool Scouts in the Florida area and are considering adding another Buzz Franchise Brands concept to their portfolio in the future.

“It is an incredible asset to have experienced franchise owners join the Pool Scouts brand,” said Pool Scouts President Michael Wagner. “We are excited to hear that Omar was so confident in Buzz Franchise Brands’ support that he brought along his friends and invested in another brand. That level of support is what we strive to offer all of our franchise owners, and we are happy to welcome them to the team during such an exciting time for the Pool Scouts brand.”

The average startup costs for a Pool Scouts franchise is $113,000. To learn more about franchising with Pool Scouts, visit 

https://poolscoutsfranchise.com/.