Real estate has always been Brian Ellsworth’s biggest passion. After earning his Master’s degree in real estate development, Ellsworth worked at a real estate consulting firm before finally opening his own property management company. But when he realized it was time to take his business to the next level, he decided to look into franchising.
“I was ready to expand my business, and I always thought that a franchise system – following a recipe that has already been perfected – was good for growing a business,” Ellsworth said. “I knew it would be better than continuing to start from scratch, so I ended up purchasing a Weichert Realtors franchise.”
Running a full-service real estate company was right up his alley, and Ellsworth was quickly able to find success. After chatting with another Weichert Realtors franchisee in the system, Ellsworth learned about another unique business opportunity: Showhomes.
“A Weichert franchisee in another city was also a Showhomes franchisee, and I was immediately intrigued by the business model,” he said. “I learned that it’s not your traditional property management or home staging company – Showhomes is some sort of hybrid! I liked that there are three different revenue streams: traditional home staging, home updating and the Home Manager program. I’d been working in real estate in St. Louis for years and knew that no one else in St. Louis is doing what Showhomes is doing. I felt that the success the other franchisee I knew was having could be duplicated in my city.”
Ellsworth is now set to open St. Louis’ very first Showhomes franchise on October 1. The nation’s leader in professional home staging serves as a perfect complement to his Weichert Realtors business. And because he’s already so ingrained in St. Louis’ housing market, Ellsworth has a solid base of clients and contacts to tap into when getting his business off the ground. The Home Manager program, in which Showhomes matches high-end vacant homes for sale with people who own beautiful furniture, artwork and accessories and need temporary housing, is perhaps the brand’s most unique offering that Ellsworth is bringing to St. Louis.
“The greatest opportunity I see with Showhomes is the Home Manager program.” Ellsworth said. “No one else is doing anything like it, and there isn’t a lot of short-term furnishing or housing options in the market. We currently just have either extended stay hotels or condos for people that need short term housing, so the Home Manager program is going to be huge for us.”
Ellsworth is far from the only franchisee capitalizing on Showhomes’ home staging programs this year – the brand has been a natural fit for real estate professionals nationwide. Whether Showhomes’ proven model serves as an extension of existing businesses or is an entrepreneur’s first business venture, it provides people with an opportunity to further their passion for real estate and design into a successful career. In addition to opening in new markets including Westchester, New York; Portland, Oregon; Long Beach, California and more this year, Showhomes is also actively looking to expand in key development markets like Southwest Florida, the Pacific Northwest and Southern California.
“Passionate franchisees like Brian Ellsworth are fueling our expansion efforts from coast to coast, and our team’s number one goal is to see each of them succeed,” said Matt Kelton, COO of Showhomes. “We really are a one of a kind company, and we’re looking forward to welcoming even more owners into our system this year.”