Weed Man USA, based in Oshawa, Ontario, is on pace to have a stand-out year in terms of revenue growth and franchise territories sold.
The lawn care franchise, which had a 2013 annual revenue of $63,344,012, projects to be up about 20 percent year over year at more than $75.5 million for 2014. Additionally, it already has exceeded its budget for the number of territories sold by 21 with 77 territory additions so far in 2014.
Nearly a third of those territories were awarded to one new franchisee: Dan Carrothers, former marketing manager for BASF Specialty Products Division. He purchased 22 territories in the Houston area, creating the largest Weed Man franchise sold to date, said Weed Man USA COO Jennifer Lemcke.
Carrothers said this new position is a good transition from his role as an industry supplier.
“After many years in the industry, primarily on the chemical side as a basic manufacturer, I’m now going to be on the other side of the fence, where on a day-to-day basis we’re interacting with customers with an organization that clearly is customer-centric,” Carrothers said.
Carrothers’ entity, Turf Operations Houston, also created a joint venture with individual shareholders including Carrothers; Lemcke; Roger Mongeon, CEO of Weed Man USA; and a few other Weed Man employees.
“This is the first time we’ve done this, so it goes to show how much belief we have in Dan,” Lemcke said.
She added: “We’ve had a phenomenal year — the best year we’ve ever had since the beginning of my career, as far as development in the U.S. And the good news is that the year isn’t over yet and we’re coming into our busiest time of year for selling franchises.”
Updated: 9/3/14
