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Upstate Business Journal: Franchise, diversify, expand, repeat
Starting as a drug testing company, ARCpoint Labs has expanded into the telehealth segment with ARCpoint MD.
Greenville-based ARCpoint Labs has grown to nearly 100 units by offering a consistently evolving model in an industry that CEO Felix Mirando recognized was lacking a national presence, and ripe for the franchise world. Starting as a drug testing company, the brand has grown to offer a spectrum of services in pre-employment and wellness solutions, as well as emerging needs in the healthcare industry including the recently launched ARCpoint MD telehealth program.
Upstate Business Journal caught up with Mirando for a recent article, touching on the brand’s history and future, where Mirando sees the brand increasingly expanding into the changing healthcare industry and offering more services directly to consumers. Coming from the franchise world as a franchisee for Heavenly Ham in Greenville, Mirando noticed the boom that was about to come in the drug testing industry as a result of the drug testing legislation being passed in the 1980s, and set up shop with a part time business in 1998.
ARCpoint Labs launched as a franchise in 2005, with five owners and in the decade since has grown to 78 owners and nearly 100 locations across the country.
“The overall company is going to be more. We’re not just a drug and alcohol testing facility,” Mirando told Upstate Business Journal. “Our market is going to be more based on consumers, and basically letting the consumer take control of their health.”
Part of that shift and expansion of services has included the recently launched ARCpoint MD telehealth program where for $18 per month, families can have access to a 24-hour nurse hotline and unlimited communication with a physician. Additionally, ARCpoint Labs is now offering DNA testing which will allow consumers to determine if they are genetically predisposed to certain medications.
This nimble strategy of staying ahead of industry trends and meeting growing healthcare needs early on has helped fuel the brand’s growth, with projections to add between 15 and 20 new owners and 30 to 35 new territories per year.
“Will we ever be McDonalds? No, but we don’t market and say, ‘Hey, do you want to come in and get a drug test just for fun?’” Mirando told Upstate Business Journal. “We just don’t build franchises just to build franchises. We want to build a national brand.”
As they continue to build their national presence, ARCpoint Labs aims to reach 275 locations by 2020.
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