When Lawrence England met Jack Schroeter at a neighborhood dog park, neither could have predicted the business partnership that would follow. Over years of weekly Dungeons & Dragons nights and conversations about entrepreneurship, the two — joined by Lawrence’s wife, Samantha — began mapping out a path to ownership together. That path led them to Pool Scouts. With Lawrence’s 30-year roots in Harford County, Samantha’s analytical background as a pharmacist and Jack’s firsthand franchise experience running two Bark Busters territories, the trio brings a uniquely well-rounded team to a market that Lawrence has long called home. Now, as Pool Scouts of Northern Baltimore takes shape, the group is focused on building something simple but rare in the pool service industry: a professional, reliable brand the community can count on.

Lawrence, Samantha and Jack sat down with 1851 Franchise to discuss how their friendship evolved into a business partnership and why they chose Pool Scouts to serve their local community. Here’s what they had to say:

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What do you want us to know?

Lawrence England: Samantha and I are married. We met online nine years ago, and we made friends with Jack at the dog park. We started playing Dungeons and Dragons together every week for years. We always sort of talked business, especially during COVID, and had plenty of time to scheme. Over time, Jack, who comes from a very heavy franchising background and lineage, gradually exposed us to the franchising world. We started looking for an opportunity together, and it led us to Pool Scouts.

1851: What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Jack Schroeter: I owned and operated two territories of an in-house dog training franchise called Barkbusters. I was a behavioral therapist local to the Maryland area, specialized in going into people's homes and helping with their pups' aggression and anxiety. After about five years of being the main owner and operator of one territory and a co-owner and assistant operator of a second territory, I decided that I wanted to move into more of a service-based background where I'd be able to have a wider reach, build a team, and affect change in my community.

Samantha England: I've been a pharmacist for going on 12 years now, in the retail environment, so I'm going to be continuing to do that. But I am still available to these guys, and I might be out in the field on occasion. In regards to my skill set, I think we all have a lot of customer service experience, and that combined with sort of an analytical, detail-oriented skill set will be helpful to our group.

Lawrence: I got my start in tech sales, and then about 11 years ago, I got into software, specifically account management and project management. I'm coming from software development in multiple industries—payroll, insurance. If we just sum it up as software, that's pretty much the extent.

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?

Samantha: I had the perception that it was a much more closed kind of corporate situation where you were very heavily regulated. You were essentially buying a job that you had very little expression or creativity input into. There certainly are franchises like that, but at least the ones that we vetted, we value that creativity. I had never thought much about franchising; it was always something kind of on my periphery, and it seemed a bit risky for me. I think us picking Pool Scouts in particular has been very helpful because it feels like they make it really easy to get into. I feel a lot more secure in their hands, and I'm just excited to get started working.

Lawrence: There's a really key balance in following their model. There's a ton of value we get out of following their model; we are paying for that with our royalty, and it's worth every penny. Most franchises will want to see that creativity and the camaraderie that comes from across the country. That's been the biggest surprise actually — just the sense of community and the level of collaboration you get between franchises in all these different territories. During the process we've had several long conversations with many of the other franchises and they have been super helpful.

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

Jack: What initially attracted us to Pool Scouts was that we were interested in being in the in-home service industry or in the backyard. We like the model. We appreciate being able to build a team and really utilize three very different skill sets that will come together. I really liked their focus on optimization and efficiency; that's something I really enjoyed professionally, so that was definitely a standout. They're very hands-on, and I really enjoyed the culture that they've developed at Pool Scouts.

Lawrence: It's important to us when we were shopping brands... something that attracted us to the models is the professionalism that it brings into a field that not necessarily everyone has great uniformity in. There are a lot of mom and pops, and there are a couple of big players in our area that do things very differently than we do. So, we found a model that we'd be able to build on top of while providing high-quality service with the backing of a nationally recognized franchise, but with local ownership. We're excited to be a brand that you're able to rely on that isn't cutting corners in any way.

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

Lawrence: I'm really looking forward to being able to build a team culture that can make a positive impact. This is going to be very networking heavy, and I'm looking forward to building a reputation and making connections throughout the community. At least personally speaking, Sam and I don't get out much, so having a professional capacity to do that and meet the people around us will be a nice sort of icebreaker.

Jack: We value connections coming from the dog training field. It's a little world, but there's a lot of us in it, and I assume pool cleaning will be much of the same. We'll get to know contractors, pool builders, and suppliers, really making sure that we have a touch point on everything that we can so that the community feels involved. We're able to give back with programs such as Hope Floats. As far as expansion and growing goes, we've got some targets. We're certainly looking to get plenty of our vans on the road. You should be recognizing the Pool Scouts logo all over town. We've started with this one territory here in northern central Maryland, but we already have plans in the next couple of years to expand out to the Columbia area, creating this wrapping territory where we'll be able to provide service to probably a third of Maryland.

1851: Is there anything else about your story you want us to know?

Jack: I do want to mention that Larry has grown up and spent his entire life in this area that we're opening up in. So, he's probably going to end up reconnecting with some of his old acquaintances.

Lawrence: It would be accurate to say I've lived in Harford County for 30 years, and Harford County is the first territory we're opening in for the most part.

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

Lawrence: My two biggest points being entirely new to the process: One, do your homework, particularly in the financials. Get into the nitty-gritty. In a lot of cases, you're able to figure out at least estimates for revenue and a general expectation of performance from an FDD. Really dig into the fundamentals of what it is you're going to be doing and how the numbers pan out. Number two, the other biggest one: get way more funding than you need. Something will come up. You are so much better off to be overfunded than underfunded.

Jack: If I were to give advice to anyone who's playing with the idea of franchising... the conversations that are at the initial outset set the tone for the rest of what you're looking to go for. Many of the franchise consultants that are out there really are experts at taking your background, finding the right fit for you, figuring out what risk you're willing to take, and your financial situation. There is a type of character that thrives inside of franchising. You need to be gritty; things will go wrong, and there is no sitting down all day and whining. You won't always have a boss so you can call to help. The idea of being able to build a future for yourself has to be more exciting than the stability that would come with every paycheck that hits.

ABOUT POOL SCOUTS:

Virginia Beach, VA-based Pool Scouts is a premier pool service franchise focused on delivering a quality, consistent brand experience while providing pool cleaning, maintenance and minor repair services at residential properties. Technicians are trained in testing, monitoring, treating and servicing pools and can provide ongoing service as well as help at the beginning and end of the summer season. With nearly 76 territories across 18 states, Pool Scouts offers a great opportunity as a low-cost franchise in the pool services industry with available territories across the United States. For more information or franchising opportunities, visit http://poolscoutsfranchise.com.