The Great Franchisee: Nathan Berns, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, Maryland

While pursuing a law degree at the University of Iowa, Nathan Berns took up a new hobby: online poker. He and his college roommate had so much success in the high-stakes card game that upon graduation, rather than pursue careers in law, they turned pro and began playing poker full-time. The only thing missing was something they didn’t realize they craved.

Stability.

Berns found that stability in franchising when he gave up poker to launch his first TWO MEN AND A TRUCK* location in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His old college roommate eventually joined him and the two partnered to open a second location in Gambrills, Maryland. Today, Berns has six total TWO MEN AND A TRUCK locations — some he owns himself, some with partners — including his most recent in Potomac, Maryland.

Here's a little bit about his journey, and how he used TWO MEN AND A TRUCK to stack the entrepreneurial deck in his favor.

1851: What did you do before franchising?

Nathan Berns: Before franchising, I was going to law school. There, I ended up essentially getting an education in professional online poker playing because it was something my roommate was doing. 

1851: How did you initially find out about franchising? 

Berns: With my winnings, I started looking for businesses that were for sale and connected with a representative from FranNet who profiled me. He recommended that I could be suited for that window cleaning franchise. That turned out not to be a passion or a fit of mine. To acquire new customers, I needed to go door-to-door to commercial businesses, and I just didn’t have the sales ability for that…but the service industry and TWO MEN AND A TRUCK was.

1851: Why did you pick franchising over starting your own business?

Berns: Coming out of college and then law school, I knew I needed the support franchising offered. The support of a franchise system was a comfort as I had never owned or even worked at a small business. Being able to learn from the network of franchisees is priceless and helped me flatten the learning curve substantially. 

1851: Why did you pick TWO MEN AND A TRUCK? What excited you most about the potential?

Berns: The Potomac market spoke to me; it’s still growing, so there is room for growth. It’s also geographically close to my already-established territory, so it will help me more easily service the new territory and get to customers quicker. My costs will stay low and allow me to be more competitive in an area that would otherwise be more difficult. 

Initially, I bought an existing TWO MEN AND A TRUCK franchise in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and really enjoyed the business. I own a total of six now (some with partners, others without),  but this Potomac one is the first that is close to the DC area. 

1851: What are your dreams with the business? What does the future look like?

Berns: With the Potomac location specifically, we have four trucks, and I could see it being an eight to 10-truck location within the next three years. For the future, I would like to expand into other existing open markets in Maryland, as well as continue to grow my footprint around Buffalo, New York, because there are some open areas there. I also own a location up there.

1851: What advice would you have for others looking at buying a franchise?

Berns: Make sure to speak to franchisees in the industry and in that franchise group to get a consensus on pain points. Plan for the unknowns so you can survive the initial learning period before you reach sustainable profitability. 

1851: What do you do in your personal time (hobbies, family, sports, etc.)?

Berns: I live in Cedar Rapids. My wife is a pharmacist, and we have five girls, with a boy on the way. We recently bought a house in the country that has some woods around it, so I like to go for walks out there. The property has a pond that we’ve stocked with fish, so I spend a lot of time managing that and enjoying nature in general.

ABOUT TWO MEN AND A TRUCK:

Headquartered in Michigan, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK is the largest franchised moving company in North America. Currently, there are more than 390 locations and 3,000 trucks operating in 46 U.S. states in addition to Canada, Ireland and the UK. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK has performed more than 9 million moves since its inception in 1985 and has seen consistent growth dating back to December 2009. In 2022, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked TWO MEN AND A TRUCK as one of the top 500 franchises in the U.S. and No. 1 in the moving/junk removal category. Franchise Business Review also named TWO MEN AND A TRUCK a 2022 Top 200 Franchise and a 2021 Top Recession-Proof Franchise. As of August 2021, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK has joined the ServiceMaster brand. ServiceMaster was founded as one of America’s first franchise businesses and does business under six brands today across 50 states and nine countries that generate more than $3.3B in system-wide sales: ServiceMaster Restore, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, AmeriSpec and Furniture Medic. For franchising opportunities, visit franchise.twomenandatruck.com.