1-800 WATER DAMAGE sold 50 franchises in 3 monts. It does sounds like the opportunity is ripe and concept is strong.

The past decade has seen substantial innovation and entrepreneurship in the moving industry. As a general observation, there seems to be ample opportunity for franchise success in the trades and laborer market. The public typically responds to recognizable franchise names in an otherwise disorganized industry (see Roto-Rooter, MerryMaids, Handyman Network, Two Men and a Truck, Prospection, CertaPro Painters, Geeks on Call, Mac Tools, 1-800 Waterdamage). Low-margin, labor-intensive businesses in industries such as landscaping, painting, plumbing, moving, repair and installation, can earn premiums if professionally branded with the attempt (or illusion) of standardized, ethical business practices. Here are a few examples: Two Men and a Truck (and copy cat strategy Little Guys Movers): A simple yet successful branding strategy that made local moves less intimidating with the image of a trustworthy, hard-working team of guys. PODS franchise (plus copy cats UNITS and SmartBox) and ABF’s U-Pack: Most moves are local, yet people fear the scams, delayed deliveries, your stuff unloaded in a warehouse to make room for another move, etc. The selling point of large metal-box storage is that your stuff is always locked up, eschewing the chance of damage or loss from frequent unloading. I don’t like the fact that PODS charges a non-refundable $50 to even learn more about their franchise offering, but for a $2+ million startup cost, $50 is nothing to and it filters the inquiries to serious ones only? eMove.com, part of Amerco’s U-Haul, has cornered the market for laborers to help you move with an ebay-like service for hiring those needed strong bodies to load the truck. I have personally used this services and its become one of those “How did I ever do without it?” reliances.

VERY OUT OF DATE.  Do a search instead.  This was manually updated March 21, 2006 Companies Mentioned in Posts (likely incomplete):Automotive 1-800 RADIATORS Oil Butler Lube N’ Go On-Site-Lube Business & Home Services 1-800-WATER-DAMAGE Bartercard Garagetek Help-U-Sell Home Instead Homewatch Caregivers My Girl Friday PropertyGuys.com Sears Carpet & Upholstery Tax Centers of America Cleaning & Maintenance none Computer & Internet (some are listed in “Retail”) Screenz Food and Restaurant Arby’s Auntie Anne’s Blimpies Cheeburger Cheeburger Chipotle Dippin’ Dots Dream Dinners Doc Green’s Gourmet Salad Dominic’s of New York The Dugout Durango Grill Fazoli’s Fire of Brazil Fogo de Chao Goldstar Chili Jamba Juice Jerq’zine Krispy Kream Lenny’s Sub Shops Mauwi Wauwi Original Hamburger Stand Panaderia Taza Papa John’s Pizza Factory Pizza Patron Pretzel Time Quiznos Red Rock Chili San Francisco Soup Co Shane’s Rib Shack Skyline Chili Smoothie King Smotthie Planet Soup Nazi Steak-out Subway Submarina Sub Station II Super Suppers The Soup Box Supercuts Suzanne’s Kitchen We’re Rolling Pretzel Company Wetzel’s Pretzels Z Pizza Zoup! Fresh Soup Co (List all sub franchises) Health & Fitness Curves Liberty Fitness Home Building & Repair Services See “Business and Home Services” above Personnel & Staffing none Pet Retail and Services Camp Bow Wow Doody Calls The Pet Pantry Wag My Tail Interquest Detection Canines Pets Are Inn Retail Franchises Ace Hardware AuctionDrop Battery Plus Best Cuts GNC Educational Outfitters Fantastic Sams Fastframe Foot Solutions Friendly Computers Geeks on Call GNC Hair Cuttery Herman’s World of Sports Imagine This Sold Orbit Drop Play It Again Sports QuikDrop Roosters Men’s Grooming Centers Screenz Snips Its Sports Clips Stone Mountain Carpet Mill Tom’s Foods We the People Categories: eBay drop offs (generally) Hair Travel & Hotel none Industry Lists & Research 2004 Same Store Sales Growth of QSRs (quick service restaurants) Royalty and Advertising …