Why Threshold Brands is on the Threshold of Dominating the Franchise Industry

Threshold Brands, the multi-brand franchisor behind fast-growing home service brands MaidPro, Men in Kilts, FlyFoe, Pestmaster Services, USA Insulation, Plumbing Paramedics, Heating + Air Paramedics and Sir Grout, is quickly establishing itself as a massive player in the booming home services franchise space. 

Headquartered in Boston, Threshold Brands is led by a stacked team of corporate experts who are well-equipped to usher these emerging and longstanding brands into nationwide success and recognition. In 2021, Threshold Brands appointed Hagan Kappler as CEO. Kappler is leveraging a wealth of experience — both professional and personal — to help the franchisor’s rapidly expanding network of franchise owners thrive in the home services segment. 

1851 Franchise spoke with Kappler, as well as other members of the Threshold Brands team, to learn more about the company’s recent growth, find out why franchisees continue to join the system, and gather insight into the team’s plans for the future.

Big News From Last Year

2021 was a banner year for Threshold Brands. For one, the company added four new brands to its portfolio — insulation franchise USA Insulation in March, Sir Grout, the hard surface restoration franchise in September, and sister brands Plumbing Paramedics and Heating + Air Paramedics in November. In addition, Threshold executed 84 new franchise agreements over the course of the year under the leadership of Kappler, with nearly 80% of its new 2021 franchise units added in the final five months of 2021.

“Our entire Threshold Brands team made significant strides last year, achieving incredible growth and positioning the company for continued success across all of our franchise brands,” said Kappler. “Our growth enables Threshold Brands to invest in our franchise brands to help our franchise owners across the country to pursue their dreams.”  

Kappler joining the team was also a major milestone for Threshold Brands. Kappler came to the team after two years with ServiceMaster, another franchisor in the commercial and home services segment, where she served as president of the ServiceMaster Clean and Merry Maids brands. Prior to her role at ServiceMaster, Kappler built a diverse career in business, growth and innovation, strategy and M&A, working with brands like Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Co. and Starbucks. 

Now Kappler is bringing her relentless focus on customer experience and strong business development to the Threshold Brands portfolio. 

Why The Home Services Segment Is Poised for Growth

The $506 billion home services industry is booming as consumers spend more time at home than ever before. People want to finally make necessary home repairs before putting their home on the market, or they’re simply investing to make their time at home as enjoyable as possible. According to a Nerdwallet survey, three in five homeowners have taken on home improvement projects since March 1, 2020.

“Our consumer today is busier than ever, and she needs help keeping her home and workplace clean, safe and comfortable,” Kappler said. “Our brands and our franchise owners are able to provide her with the help she desperately needs to fulfill her dreams, and I am excited to build the support at Threshold Brands to help.” 

The time to own a home service business is now, Kappler says. And while some Threshold Brands are well-established, others are still emerging, meaning that owners can have their pick of territories in order to capitalize on growing demand in their preferred market.  

“While many service businesses across the country are still feeling the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the commercial and home services industry continues to see a spike in demand,” said R. Scott Sutton, Threshold Brands’ chief growth officer. “Threshold Brands is able to service many needs of the homeowner, and our brands resonate in nearly every market across the country, making us an appealing option for interested franchise owners.”

Why Franchisees Are Getting On Board with Threshold Brands

As home services become more relevant than ever, Kappler says prospective franchisees are increasingly recognizing Threshold Brands’ well-positioned business model. The multi-brand company aims to streamline the consumer experience so they don’t have to spend time researching or comparing different brands to find providers who can meet what are ultimately straightforward service needs.

“[Think about] the last time you needed to get something done around your house, or you moved and you needed a really solid cleaner for your home, or you noticed your windows needed washing,” Kappler said. “I challenge you to figure out who would be the best to come to your home and meet those needs — it can be very confusing. Look, the franchisee is ultimately going to own that experience and deliver for the customer. We [the franchisor] will do our best to ensure that it’s always a solid end product, but to the extent that we can help that customer find us easily — and I think digital tools will enable that — it's actually quite simple to get those matches made.” 

Another key benefit of joining the Threshold Brands system, Kappler says, is the ability to leverage an expansive and expanding network of franchise owners and corporate team members, all of whom work together to share best practices, problem-solve and innovate. 

“With a franchise community like ours, the ability to pull ideas and try out ideas with peers, the ability to compete and say, ‘hey, what’s he doing over there that’s enabling him to kill it?’ or to pick someone up during a difficult time, which is something we all know a lot about after the last couple of years,” Kappler said. “Our franchisees have a network of peers to lean on and can gather best practices for each brand. Also, because of our scale now, we have access to amazing leaders and coaching staff that can provide franchisees with very valuable expertise.”

With Threshold Brands, owners receive the marketing and sales support that come with having a multi-brand franchisor behind each brand, allowing owners to leverage the extensive experience and knowledge of the corporate team while still having the flexibility to navigate their own business.

Best of all, Kappler says, is that owners have the potential to become multi-brand and multi-unit owners within the Threshold Brands system. By expanding within the Threshold umbrella, owners have the ability to expand their portfolio to include a new service and instantly capitalize on the existing contacts they’ve developed within their territory, allowing them to grow as a business owner without expanding into a new territory. 

“It all starts with the owner — it takes a talented individual to run multiple locations or brands at once,” said Kappler. “But we have the structures and resources in place to make that process as easy as possible and uniquely position those multi-brand owners for success.”

The Investment

Each of the Threshold Brands concepts are designed to position entrepreneurs of all backgrounds for lucrative returns, Sutton says, and a large part of the equation is keeping initial investment costs significantly lower than competitors. 

“We have deliberately kept the initial investment for franchise owners as low as possible so that we don’t rule out otherwise qualified candidates simply because they don’t have the liquidity to invest,” said Sutton. “There are no physical storefronts and minimal labor requirements, both of which keep overhead extremely low.”

The total investment necessary to begin operation of a MaidPro business, for example, ranges from only
$94,560 - $119,800, and FlyFoe ranges from $90,735 - $131,535. The total investment necessary to begin operation of a Men In Kilts business ranges from $157,290 to $191,950, and a Plumbing Paramedics franchise business ranges from $102,250 to $205,800. A Pestmaster franchise ranges from as low as $81,600 to $185,800, a USA Insulation franchise ranges from $271,000 to $399,500, Heating + Air Paramedics is between $105,250 to $205,800 and Sir Grout is $121,830 to $146,710.

“The initial investment costs for all of our home service brands are extremely competitive within the industry,” said Sutton. “Franchise candidates have the opportunity to be a part of an emerging, community-focused brand that boasts the support and backing of the leading franchisor in the home services space. With that support comes resources that are designed to help set every franchise owner up for quick success.”  

Why The Leadership Team is More Excited Than Ever

As Threshold Brands wraps up Q1 of 2022, Kappler says the team is looking to continue to add new franchise owners as well as encourage more cross-brand growth for both new and existing franchisees. 

“The Threshold Brands umbrella offers a huge growth opportunity for new franchisees as well as all of our existing franchisees,” said Sutton. “Owners can seek to expand by becoming multi-brand owners and our structure allows each franchisee the opportunity to grow laterally within our system. We’ve seen an impressive amount of multi-brand growth in 2021, and we look forward to continuing that trend in 2022.”

Now, Threshold Brands has its sights set on even greater expansion in 2022, targeting development opportunities in Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville and Tampa, among other top metropolitan areas. 

Overall, Kappler says the company is most excited to continue to diversify its owner base with innovative and digitally savvy owners seeking to build and grow their businesses. 

“People always ask me, ‘how do you do it all?’ and my question back is always, ‘how could I not?’” Kappler says. “I love what I do. I love working. I love being with my team. I love helping franchisees build and grow their businesses. We are passionate about helping each franchisee achieve their individual dreams, whether that be opening a business and getting back in time for little league practice, or building a legacy and multi-generational wealth. That is why we’ve seen such strong growth and why we are confident this is just the beginning.”

For more information on franchising with Threshold Brands, visit https://www.thresholdbrands.com/.

About Threshold Brands:

Threshold Brands is focused on opening doors for franchisees, customers and employees to pursue their dreams. Threshold’s portfolio includes a growing number of franchised service brands including: USA Insulation®, MaidPro®, FlyFoe®, Men In Kilts®, Pestmaster Services®, Sir Grout®, Plumbing Paramedics® and Heating + Air Paramedics®. More information about Threshold Brands and its franchising opportunities is available at http://www.thresholdbrands.com