Mosquito control services—and franchises—are on the rise.
In researching outdoor franchise brands, we couldn’t ignore mosquito control franchise brands as an emerging trend.
Although brands franchising for fewer than five years were disqualified from the primary LM
Franchise Best Buys list, we allowed younger brands on the list of mosquito control franchise opportunities. Otherwise, the ranking was determined by the same methodology used for the primary list.
So what accounts for the rise in mosquito franchise opportunities? Mosquito Joe CEO Kevin Wilson says it’s a few things, starting with the ineffectiveness of the “old” way of controlling mosquitoes: the city truck that would spray mosquito control material down the street.
The barrier method—spraying a pyrethroid on foliage around a property’s perimeter—is a more effective, targeted approach, he says. Mosquito companies typically treat properties every 21 days from the first sign of mosquitoes until they disappear for the winter. An average spray is about $70 and the treatments work well, so word spreads quickly, Wilson says.
Plus, awareness of mosquito-borne diseases is high. “It seems like every year we hear about a new disease carried by mosquitoes,” Wilson says, citing frequent media coverage of West Nile and Zika viruses.
There are several benefits of adding mosquito control, he says. First, it’s a relatively low investment for companies that already have pesticide licenses and equipment. Plus, attracting customers with one service and cross-selling them others has a reciprocal benefit.
But why not just offer it as a new service line versus buying a franchise? Wilson points to estate-planning and exit-strategy benefits. For example, you can sell a franchise as its own business when the time is right.
“If someone wants to get into a fast-growing business where they attract a lot of customers, this is a good one,” he says.
