Discover Preservan: The Wood Rot Repair Franchise Revolutionizing Home Restoration

Emerging wood rot repair franchise Preservan is changing the way people care for their homes as it supports the growth of its franchisees through a low-cost, sustainable and truly unique model. From the initial investment and required skills to day-to-day operations and the ability to scale, Founder and CEO Ty McBride discusses 10 of the most frequently asked questions about the brand.

1851 Franchise: What is Preservan’s business model? How does it work?

Ty McBride: Preservan is a home-based wood repair company. We use a proprietary epoxy repair system that allows us to get into deteriorated wood — whether the deterioration is from termites, rot or pests — and consolidate the wood, harden it up, inject it to prevent future rot and fill those areas so the repair is virtually invisible. 

Because we’re working on people’s homes, our specially outfitted Kia Souls have everything our techs need to complete the job and we operate on a mobile basis.

1851: How much does it cost to start a Preservan franchise?

McBride: The initial investment ranges from $83,800 to $142,400. We always encourage people to make sure they make the right investment — which often means looking toward the high end of that range — to ensure they have enough capital to get up and running. But the cool part about all of this is that Preservan is a relatively low-overhead business, so once you’ve reached a steady pace, you can focus more on growing your business than dealing with a substantial cost of doing business each month.

1851: What experience or skills do I need to become a Preservan franchisee?

McBride: We look for someone who has some leadership and management experience, specifically operational or project management. Internal sales experience is great, but high-level sales skills aren’t necessary because we're an in-demand service. If someone can clearly educate and communicate with the homeowner, that’s enough.

1851: Will I need a team? How will I find qualified team members?

McBride: Each territory will need a small team of technicians — two to three — and that's one of our major components of support: helping our franchisees identify people in their market who would make great technicians for our service.

1851: What does ownership look like on a day-to-day basis?

McBride: On a day-to-day basis, a franchise owner is going to be focused on promotion and sales of the business, combined with doing administrative tasks, like scheduling, ordering inventory and coaching their technicians.

We want our franchisees to know how to do the job, but we don’t want them to spend a ton of time in the field every day. It’s good for them to be able to do the work alongside their technicians in the early days or when the need arises, but their primary focus should be on sales and running the operation.

1851: Does Preservan have competitors? How will I raise awareness in my market if people don’t know that epoxy repair services like these are available?

McBride: There are companies that will replace your windows and doors, and there are “Chuck in a truck” companies that will show up and do whatever you need. But when it comes to doing things the way we do, we’re essentially the only one. As long as we get our business in front of people, we stand out quite easily. And we help our franchisees achieve that through targeted local advertising using things like Facebook, Instagram and direct mail.

1851: Will I only be able to work on windows? What other areas of a home could I potentially service?

McBride: Windows do make up a great portion of our work, but really, we can do anything that’s made of wood. Let your imagination run wild here. Windows, doors, wood trim, porches, decks, patios, pergolas … Another big one is log structures, like log homes, that are really common in certain parts of the country.

If it’s wood and it’s exposed to the elements, it’s going to rot and homeowners will need a solution. And it’s a lot cheaper and far more sustainable to repair what we can rather than replacing an entire deck, door or banister.

1851: Do I need an off-site location like an office building or warehouse?

McBride: You do need a spot to store some of the product, but a couple of shelves in a small storage unit or in your garage will be plenty. Really, the business lives inside our repair vehicles, which are fully equipped Kia Souls. All of the supplies and materials a technician will need are rolling around with them in the vehicle.

1851: How do you determine the demand for wood rot repair across the U.S.? How does this impact the size of a franchise territory?

McBride: We use a map that was developed by the American Wood Protection Association to look across the U.S. and determine what demand is. The U.S. has regions that range from low to severe in terms of wood rot prevalence, so our territory sizes are consistent with those. In areas where there are lower levels of rot, the territory size will be bigger to help our franchisees be successful.

1851: Is there a restriction on the number of repair vehicles I can run within my single territory?

McBride: We draw territory lines in a way that we believe will allow each territory to support two technicians or two vehicles. But if an owner is able to drum up more demand, they can put as many vehicles as they can support in the territory. That kind of growth is mutually beneficial, and we certainly don’t want to slow you down.

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/preservan.