Tree Care Franchise Reaches New Heights through Franchise FastLane’s CarPool Program
Joshua Malik’s first job after high school was providing plant and tree care for homeowners. While working with small companies in his early years, he also was studying the business landscape, learning what other companies were doing, where there were gaps in service and whether there was a niche that wasn’t being filled. By 2005, he’d found his niche and started his own business, Joshua Tree Experts that he ran from a garage in Pennsylvania.
At that time, education and training were lacking in the industry as there were few trained and certified arborists, he says. Malik had devoted himself to continuous learning, and he had the necessary certifications and licenses. He purchased a commercial site and moved out of the garage, while expanding his team, infrastructure and services to include tree care, lawn care and pest control. By providing this three-pronged service, Joshua Tree Experts offers recurring sources of income to tree care franchise owners.
Malik was a quick study who knew what he didn’t know, so when he decided to franchise in 2021, he turned to Franchise FastLane’s CarPool program for coaching, training and mentorship to help with franchise development. “We’ve grown steadily over the past year, and revenue is up double digits in percentage in all three departments and 40% overall for the business,” Malik says. “We signed four franchisees in 2023 and are looking to sign another 12 in 2024. Ideally, we would like to launch those within a five-hour radius of headquarters in Pennsylvania. We have the infrastructure, connections, etc., to grow the tree care franchise right now, and we’re in a much better position for growth than many franchise brands of our size.”
Tree Care Franchise Growth
Franchise FastLane launched CarPool in 2023 to provide franchise development coaching and administrative services for emerging and established brands seeking to perfect their processes and plug into Franchise FastLane’s proven systems. While Franchise FastLane partners with a select number of brands – “the chosen few” – to propel their responsible, accelerated growth, CarPool works with “the many, not just the chosen few,” that can benefit from training and coaching to assist in their franchise development.
Franchisors in the CarPool program keep sales development in-house while receiving coaching and support that includes organic lead qualification, territory checks, call scheduling, validation and leadership call reminders. In addition, brands receive guidance on consultant network contracts, assistance with compliance issues and up-to-date territory mapping.
Since participating in CarPool, Malik says he and his team have focused on establishing modules for future franchisee training, and a staff member is dedicated to the effort. “We know that training is one of the most important things for franchisee success. We are working with a team right now to put together a marketing playbook, for example.”
He’s also gaining valuable insight to help the tree care franchise plot its specific market penetration plans. “We’re looking at the East Coast and states like New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We want to grow our franchise opportunity just like Joshua Tree Experts did, by starting with one service and then adding more from there.”
‘Pulling Toward the Same Goal’
Caleb Hill and his father, Seth Hill, decided to invest in a Joshua Tree franchise in the Pittsburgh suburb of Cranberry Township after doing extensive research. “The P&L was very impressive, but it was the organizational standards and the atmosphere and attitudes of the workforce that sold us. As we dug deeper into the industry, we found that it was full of great people who loved their careers, families and country,” Seth Hill says.
Caleb Hill was most impressed with Joshua Tree’s professionalism. “What attracted me to the business model of Joshua Tree was the people. Honestly, that\’s what solidified my decision. It definitely helps that the business model and the service practically sells itself. But it\’s how the tree care franchise focuses on ‘the right person in the right seat.’ Anytime you can get a group of people all pulling toward the same goal, it makes business easy,” he says.
For more information about Franchise FastLane and its portfolio of brands, visit https://www.franchisefastlane.com/about-us/brands.
To learn more about joining FastLane or CarPool, go to https://www.franchisefastlane.com/franchisor/emerging-to-thriving#form.
For more information about becoming a Joshua Tree Experts franchise owner, visit https://www.treecarefranchising.com.
