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Steps to ownership

From first callto first job.

Six steps, a mandatory fourteen-day review period, and no pressure to skip either.

How long it takes

Nothing is signed quickly. Federal law requires you to hold the Franchise Disclosure Document for at least fourteen days before you can sign anything or pay us, and we treat that as a minimum rather than a target.

Steps to ownership
Six
Minimum FDD review
Fourteen days, by law
Who you should call
Owners listed in Item 20

Six steps,in order.

None of them can be skipped. Step three is federal law, and the rest are how we decide, together, whether this is a fit.

  1. 1

    Introduce yourself

    Tell us the metro you are looking at and where you are in your thinking. We will tell you whether it is open.

  2. 2

    Intro call

    A conversation about the work, the market and whether this is a fit. Both directions — we are deciding too.

  3. 3

    Review the FDD

    You receive the full Franchise Disclosure Document and hold it for at least fourteen days. Read Items 5, 6, 7, 12, 17 and 20 closely.

  4. 4

    Call the owners

    Item 20 lists current and former franchisees with their contact details. Call them without us on the line. Ask what surprised them.

  5. 5

    Meet the team

    A discovery day with the corporate team and the founder, at the Charlotte corporate store where the systems actually run.

  6. 6

    Claim the market

    Sign, then onboarding: kickoff, system setup, two weeks of training, equipment, and national account setup before you open.

Step three, in detail

How to readthe FDD.

Fourteen days is the legal minimum, not a suggested pace. If you only get through six items, make them these, and read the last one first.

The mandatory fourteen-day review period A timeline of fourteen days. Day one is when you receive the Franchise Disclosure Document. Nothing can be signed and nothing can be paid until day fifteen at the earliest. Calling existing franchisees and attending a discovery day both happen inside the window. Federal minimum, not our policy Day 1 You receive the FDD Day 15 Earliest Call the owners Item 20 lists them. Without us on the line. Read it properly Items 5, 6, 7, 11, 17 and 20 first. The mandatory fourteen-day review period A timeline of fourteen days. Day one is when you receive the Franchise Disclosure Document. Nothing can be signed and nothing can be paid until day fifteen at the earliest. Calling existing franchisees and reading the document properly both happen inside the window. Federal minimum, not our policy Day 1 You receive the FDD Call the owners Item 20 lists them. Without us on the line. Read it properly Items 5, 6, 7, 11, 17 and 20 first. Day 15 The earliest you could sign or pay
Fourteen calendar days is the legal floor set by the FTC Franchise Rule, and it applies to every franchisor. We treat it as a minimum rather than a target, and nobody here will push you to reach day fifteen in a hurry.
  1. 5

    Initial fees

    What you pay to sign, and what it does and does not buy.

  2. 6

    Other fees

    Every recurring charge: royalty, brand fund, technology and the rest. This is the item people skim and later wish they had not.

  3. 7

    Estimated initial investment

    The full range to open, including the working capital line. Check what the range excludes as carefully as what it includes.

  4. 11

    Assistance and training

    What the franchisor is obliged to do for you, as opposed to what a brochure says it likes to do.

  5. 17

    Renewal, transfer and exit

    How the relationship ends, who decides, and on whose terms you can sell. Read this before you are emotionally committed.

  6. 20

    Outlets and franchisee contacts

    Names and contact details for current and former franchisees. Call them, without us on the line. This is the most useful item in the document.

Why ours has no Item 19

What new ownerssay is hardest.

We publish this because you will find it out anyway, and it is better to plan for it than to discover it.

  • Doing the jobs and running the business at the same time

    The admin happens after the last haul. It is a real squeeze until the first hire.

  • Getting comfortable hiring and firing

    Most first-time owners have never done either. Crew quality is the business, so this is the skill that matters most.

  • Cash flow while commercial terms catch up

    Residential pays on the spot; commercial accounts pay on terms. Working capital is not optional, and the FDD says so.

  • Insurance, financing and equipment take longer than expected

    Getting the right truck and the right policies is weeks of work. Start earlier than you think you need to.

Next step

Let us talkabout your market.

Tell us where you are looking. We will tell you straight whether the metro is open, what it would take, and whether we think it is a fit.

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A person replies, usually within a business day

Not an autoresponder sequence, and not a call centre reading from a script.

Fourteen days with the FDD, minimum

Federal law gives you at least that long before anything can be signed. We treat it as a floor, not a target.

We will tell you if it is not a fit

Both directions. We are deciding too, and we would rather say so early than waste a year of yours.

PENDING COUNSEL. This is not an offer to sell a franchise. An offer is made only by a Franchise Disclosure Document, and only in states where VETS is registered or exempt.