These Boots Were Made for Walking: Melanie Bergeron Conquers the World as Franchisee and Franchisor

When it comes to franchising, there are very few members in the elite club of people who have been both successful franchisee and franchisor. Of their small membership, even fewer are women. Melanie Bergeron, Chairwoman of Two Men and Truck, is in that club. In fact, she should be the president of that club. She has what franchisors want – the ability to say she walked in the shoes of the inspired. She also has what franchisees want – the ability to say she has been there, done that, and then went on to lead the brand. But, if you ask Bergeron about her success, she will respond with a shy grin – showcasing modesty amongst accolades. Bergeron was not born a franchise executive. In fact, a lot of her success comes from the proactive approach of her mother, Mary Ellen Sheets, who gripped the male-driven industry of moving and changed the game with superior customer service and a scalable business opportunity she called Two Men and a Truck. She keenly understood that they industry lacked professionalism and was highly fragmentation and showed Melanie the ropes of how to succeed in a man’s world. Her mom’s commitment to the people inspired her, drove her and defined her. She was engulfed in the mystique of doing right. “My heart immediately went to a place of helping people. Movers needed jobs and people needed moving,” Bergeron says. In 1987, Bergeron left her native Michigan for Georgia, where she started her unofficial franchise while holding down a job in pharmaceutical sales. In those days, as she would say, franchise law was not as stringent, yet come 1989 her mom had her sign a franchise agreement. “You want me to sign what?” Bergeron asked. “I didn’t understand all the franchise stuff. I didn’t understand what a royalty was. I just loved what I was doing.” Paying royalties to her mom was no big deal – especially since Bergeron was driving significant smiles – among customers and staff. “It wasn’t about the money. It was about helping people who desperately wanted this service,” she says. Scalability earned its way into Bergeron’s life, as she realized she had built a money maker and was able to kick the pharm-sales job to the curb. This life had happened on accident. “If you told me I would be a mover, I would have told you never. Most small businesses, though, are not about what you do but the passion you have for it. It’s about relationships. If you get that right, money will come naturally,” she says. “For me, it was about the passion. This is what is beautiful about the franchise model. I was following what my mom made work. She came to Atlanta and showed me how to do it. After learning the ropes I had my own business and I was my own boss. Sure, I could tweak things here and there, but I was following a system while being free. This was mine. The harder I worked, the more results I saw.” For this, Bergeron walked in the shoes of a franchisee – a characteristic very few in the franchise community can say they did well. While venturing through the process, she didn’t get it, but as the process turned successful she understood the moving parts. She understood who she was. Now she can clearly say if she had only known then what she knows now. “When people look at brands, they need to ask honestly whether the business is sustainable or a fad. With Two Men and A Truck, it was moving. Moving should always exist. If it were a fad and could go away, and had a ton of competition, then what would you be buying? If people are solely money focused, there will be a dip in their passion. They will lose interest quickly. If you are motivated and it is not about the money, the money will come,” she advises. When Bergeron first joined Two Men and A Truck, she had built-in trust as it was founded by her mother. However, she strongly advises entrepreneurs to perform due diligence and to study the brand’s idiosyncrasies. “If I were a franchisee again and looking at a concept, I would perform deep due diligence. I would ask for an entire list of everyone who has been in and has left the system. If a franchisor gives you a limited list, that’s an immediate red flag. I would want the franchisor to be very open and excited about me contacting their franchisees. I would want them to tell me to contact several. Not everyone is going to be happy – that’s obvious – but asking them if they would do it again is a fair question.” Today, Two Men and a Truck has 1,400 trucks on the road – including footprints in Canada, the UK and Ireland, not to mention a $1.5 million average gross sales a with an average net profit of 24 percent – yet Melanie Bergeron has not forgotten about her experienced boots. In fact, she still relies on the many bumps and bruises as a franchisee to relate to those dreaming of success today.   --Nick Powills