Tiffiny Consoli, one of the original franchisees for premier pool service brand Pool Scouts, has built a successful business from the ground up in the Raleigh-Durham Greater Triangle area of North Carolina. With a background in retail management spanning 13 years, she discovered franchising as a way to apply her skills while building something of her own. After initially exploring other opportunities within Buzz Franchise Brands, she ultimately decided to take a leap of faith with Pool Scouts as its first franchisee. "I knew that I really liked Buzz Franchise Brands and all the people there and I really liked what they had been doing with their other brands,” Consoli said. “So I had a lot of confidence in them, and I just felt like I wanted to work with them.”

Over her eight years with Pool Scouts, Consoli’s business has thrived, serving Raleigh and its surrounding cities, where demand for pool services has steadily increased. The area’s growth, along with a significant rise in pool installations during the COVID-19 pandemic, created a steady stream of business for her franchise. Consoli places a high emphasis on customer satisfaction and her efforts have been recognized through her inclusion in the prestigious $1 Million Club in both 2022 and 2023.

Achieving this level of success has come with its share of challenges, from maintaining profitability in the early stages to developing the skills necessary for pool repair services. However, Consoli’s focus on growth and customer service has paid off. “If we have to give away an appointment or give away a service so that we can keep that customer for 10 years, then that’s the approach that I want to take,” Consoli said. She believes that building a culture of care among her employees is essential to delivering top-quality service and ensuring customer loyalty.

Looking ahead, Consoli aims to continue refining her business operations while scaling her repair services. Her ultimate vision is to create a franchise that can operate seamlessly with or without her direct involvement. "My goal is to continue to make it a successful business with the most efficiency and the most profitability possible,” she said. “That way, we have something that can continue on past us as owners, whether it be with another owner someday or we have great people running the business.”

Consoli recently sat down with 1851 Franchise to talk about her journey into franchising, her success with Pool Scouts and her advice for other entrepreneurs looking to follow in her footsteps. Here’s what she had to say:

1851 Franchise: Could you start by sharing a bit about your background and what initially attracted you to the Pool Scouts franchise?

Tiffiny Consoli: Prior to Pool Scouts, I worked in retail for about 13 years. I started in sales, then moved up to store manager and eventually spent a few years as the rep for the South District stores. In that time, I managed customers, budgets, stock, inventory and other responsibilities. I kept feeling like I wanted to have my own business and felt the skills I’d learned were very transferable. However, to advance, I would have needed to relocate, which I didn’t want to do. I was in a relationship and didn’t want to start over, so I began looking into franchises.

I looked at Buzz Franchise Brands and initially considered one of their other brands, but it didn’t work out at first. I kept my eye on them and, about a year or two later, I saw they were starting Pool Scouts. I called immediately, got in right away to speak with them, and ended up being the very first franchisee to sign up. It was a bit of a leap, as it was an unproven franchise, but I took the chance. I knew I really liked Buzz Franchise Brands and the people there, and I was confident in them based on their work with other brands. I felt like I wanted to work with them.

1851: How long have you been with Pool Scouts, and what were some key factors in your decision to join the brand specifically?

Consoli: I’ve been with Pool Scouts for eight years in August. When I was looking for a business, I wanted something service-oriented, outdoors and somewhat seasonal. Pool Scouts checked all the boxes: it was a service-driven, seasonal business, and definitely outdoors. Even though I spend a lot of time indoors now and I’m not cleaning pools myself, I still like the aspect of running an outdoor business. That was a big part of the attraction for me.

With cleaning pools, I felt like it was something I could learn to do and manage. It ended up being a bit more involved than just going in and cleaning — pools are definitely a lot more complex — but it was pretty straightforward in terms of what I thought I was getting into.

1851: Being part of the $1 Million Club is an impressive achievement! What do you think has been the biggest contributor to reaching this level?

Consoli: I would credit it to a focus on growing the business and doing whatever it takes to make that happen. Customer service is key — if we have to give away an appointment or a service to keep a customer for 10 years, that’s the approach I want to take. It starts with employees: having great employees and creating a culture where they want to work so they go out and do great work. That’s our main thing. Let’s be a great place to work, let’s hire great people and then teach them the job with a set of expectations that everyone follows.

This way, we’re not only meeting our customers’ expectations but also Pool Scouts’ expectations. Additionally, when we get customer calls, we don’t miss them. We take on any customer we can as long as we’re qualified to do the work. We’re not going to turn down a customer because we don’t like their pool. We’re going to take every opportunity, whether it’s a pool that has some issues or is harder to maintain. We’re going to go in, help that customer, and make sure their pool is ready to go.

1851: Which markets do you currently serve, and how have you seen demand grow or evolve in these areas?

Consoli: We serve the Raleigh area, which includes all of the surrounding cities — Wake Forest, Durham, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Apex, Clayton. It’s a large territory, and if I go around the whole city, it includes all the nearby towns. From the furthest points, it might be an hour from one end to the other, maybe even a bit more in some areas.

Raleigh is a growing area with a strong income demographic, which has really helped fuel growth. We have many people moving into the area, building new homes, and a lot of these new homes are being built with pools. During COVID, people stayed home and invested in their homes, with many choosing to build pools. So, we were super busy with maintenance, and the pool builders were also constructing a lot of new pools, which has helped us continue growing our business. Now we’re cleaning the pools that were built during that time. We haven’t seen a slowdown; we actually continue to grow at a great pace each year. It’s been very consistent.

1851: What are some challenges you faced in the early stages of your business, and how did you overcome them?

Consoli: I think the hardest part for any new business owner is achieving profitability. It takes time, and you have to make investments to grow. Depending on your vision, that might mean some sacrifices upfront, like putting off profitability for a while. If you’re opening more than one territory, you may need to use the first to support the second, which also delays profitability.

Hiring is another challenge. Great employees are essential, but at first, you don’t have benefits or much to offer — just a few pools, one man and a truck. You want to create a great place to work, but it takes a couple of years and steady revenue to provide benefits like time off and health insurance.

The repair side was also challenging. We didn’t expect it to be such a large part of the business, but it turned out to be essential. We focused on learning how to clean and maintain pools, then partnered with local providers for repairs until we could handle them ourselves. It was a process and took time, but we’re rolling now.

1851: What advice would you give to someone considering franchising, especially in the home services or pool maintenance industry?

Consoli: You’ve got to come in with tenacity and conviction to be successful. Have a vision, have a plan. It helps to have some capital behind you to get through the first few years as you’re growing your business. If you need capital, get that loan before you start — don’t wait, because lenders often want to see financials, and at that point, you don’t have anything to show. So, get funding beforehand, and have a clear vision for where you want your business to go.

Then, stick to the franchisor’s plan. They’re giving you a template, and if you follow it, you will be successful. But you have to work hard every day. It takes time, energy and a lot of focus, especially in the first few years, but it will pay off if you stick to it.

1851: Looking ahead, do you have any specific goals or visions for your Pool Scouts franchise in the coming years?

Consoli: We have been meeting our goals every year and we’re excited about the growth we continue to have. We keep bringing on new staff as we can. I can’t say that I don’t have a vision to eventually build pools, but we’re focused on growing our repair side of the business. For me, every year I want to be more efficient and run an even better business.

It can be a bit messy in a service and repair business — you may have wasted hours if something is misdiagnosed, or maybe we don’t have all of our customers in the same neighborhood on the same day. There are little challenges we encounter each year that we can keep dialing in and improving. My goal is to continue to make it a successful business with the most efficiency and the most profitability possible. That way, we have something that can continue on past us as owners, whether it be with another owner someday or we have great people running the business. That’s truly what our goal is.

The start-up costs for a Pool Scouts franchise range from $87,490 to $109,625. To learn more about franchising with Pool Scouts, visit https://poolscoutsfranchise.com/.