How TruBlue is Leading in the Subscription-Based Home Maintenance Business Model

TruBlue Total House Care, the franchise that provides subscription-based home maintenance and handyman services for seniors and busy adults, is seeing significant expansion as the senior population continues to grow. And because seniors require ongoing help around the house, maintenance is not simply a matter of installing a few key modifications and moving on to the next job. That’s where TruBlue’s recurring service offering, Home Ally VIP and VIP Plus, provides a key differentiator from other brands in the home services industry. 

“People sometimes don’t realize how much routine maintenance needs to be done around the home,” said TruBlue President Sean Fitzgerald. “If neglected, it leads to major and costly repairs. It is the Jiffy Lube mentality — if you look at your car, for example, people are conditioned to get routine maintenance. Everyone knows it. You don’t drive until it breaks down. The home should be the same, but people don’t realize that.” 

TruBlue’s subscription services allows homeowners, specifically seniors and busy adults, to ensure that their home maintenance is taken care of, whether it be mulching, picking up brush, touching up paint, putting batteries in smoke directors, fixing a sink or otherwise. 

“So much of our business is repeat clientele naturally — these are recurring clients calling us every quarter or so to fix something or upgrade their home,” said Fitzgerald. “Our goal is to be more proactive and prescriptive when it comes to that maintenance by scheduling ongoing service. We believe that the subscription model is the future, and people are conditioned for it. Not only do we maintain the home, but we also offer helping hands packages that clients can sign up for so they don’t have to worry about their to-do lists. Our focus is on helping people live in a worry-free home.”

For TruBlue’s growing roster of franchise owners, Home Ally VIP offers a lucrative recurring revenue model, offering maintenance services and reminders about routine maintenance scheduled regularly throughout the year. 

“The subscription model is great from a cash flow standpoint — it is predictable income coming in every single month,” said Fitzgerald. “It also gives us permission to check in with clients and ask if there is anything else they need us to do, which can lead to more business and revenue. It allows us to maintain that communication.”

And today, Fitzgerald says consumers are increasingly becoming more acclimated to subscription-based service models. “It isn’t a hard sell anymore,” he said. “People are used to paying for subscription services now, which wasn’t really the case 20 years ago. Everything is a subscription today, and the customer is more willing to sign on with our Home Ally VIP packages.”

Now, as awareness around the ability to age in place by adapting your environment to your new needs, continues to increase, TruBlue is partnering with more franchisees and national senior care companies across the country to help spread the word about our home modification and maintenance programs and to promote each other's complimentary services..

“When talking to large organizations in the senior care industry, they are excited about the subscription model because it isn’t just about home modifications. It is also about ongoing help and support,” said Fitzgerald. “Companies are really excited about how our subscription model can help seniors age in place more successfully and overcome safety issues.”

Looking ahead, Fitzgerald says subscription services are going to continue to be a big part of the TruBlue business model. “This type of service is really needed,” he said. “It's not like we are inventing a new category. It is just that no one has really approached it like we have on such a large scale. It is still an educational process, but once people learn about it, they really like it. We are very excited about what that means for the future of TruBlue.”

The total investment estimate for a TruBlue Total House Care franchise ranges from $65,050–$91,400. To learn more about franchising with TruBlue, please visit https://trubluefranchise.com/.