Being in business for yourself leads to endless opportunities and Capricia Turner can do it all. Finding a work-life balance especially with two careers can be difficult, but many, including Capricia have found a way to make it work. With a seasonal franchise, this veteran continues her role in active duty and quality family time. Since owning a Mosquito Squad franchise, Turner found a way to work for herself, but not by herself, and make time for all that she loves to do.
Transition into Business
A 20 year old veteran and active duty Army National Guard member for the National Guard, Capricia Turner first joined the Army National Guard in 2000 with her husband joining soon after in 2001. Capricia’s husband, Ethan Turner, is also an active duty Air Force member who serves as an Aeronautical Guard. Used to serving the nation through their active duty, the husband and wife duo decided they wanted to mirror the same efforts in their local community, so they went on a quest to find a business that could do just that. Together they decided to get started with a new career business for themselves by opening a Mosquito Squad franchise in Indianapolis, IN. The couple saw the attraction that Mosquito Squad franchising brought to the table through the company’s tools and community network that are put in place to support new small business owners along their journey. Capricia was also drawn to the similarities between being a franchisee and in the military. With both careers being run on being part of a team and great support, the new business owner was easily able to adapt to the structured system of the franchise world.
Switching gears to focus on her business career, Capricia opened Mosquito Squad of Indianapolis in 2013 where she owns the greater Indianapolis market. Prior to opening her franchise, Capricia helped soldiers prepare for deployment and find jobs in her local communities. With her Master’s in Business Administration in general business, 29-year-old Capricia was ready to take on being her own boss. Ethan joined as well to support her business and owns 49 percent of the company. When opening the franchise, Capricia had two daughters – one who was three months old at the time and the other who was one year old.
You Can Do It All
This veteran continues to wear more than one hat with juggling being a mother, Army National Guard member, business owner and so much more. After just a couple of years of being in business with Mosquito Squad, Turner was deployed in 2018 to Afghanistan while the company was left in capable hands, as Ethan helped run the business. Loving the seasonality of the mosquito control business, Capricia found balance between raising her kids, running a business and maintaining her status in active duty.
Being able to empower her kids by being a female business owner, as well as an active military member, her desire to show her young daughters that being the boss is possible has motivated her to build her Mosquito Squad business. Capricia is setting the bar high as to what an individual is capable of achieving and has been successful at growing her Mosquito Squad franchise from one location to three and now serves 1,100 customers with 14 staff.
Franchising fits perfectly for a veteran as it provides structure with operation manuals to guide franchisees to run their own business. The flexibility of the franchise allows Capricia to be able to do five to six weeks a year on active duty with the National Guard. Capricia recognizes the parallel amongst both the franchising and military careers and contributes the strong system and high expectations she’s set for her technicians to her success with Mosquito Squad.
Capricia see the corporate staff as her greatest and most valuable employee. As a franchisee paying for franchise fees, she has access to multiple resources that can be utilized for the business to continue to advance each step of the way. With franchising opportunities comes business models, marketing tools, a network of other franchisees to collaborate with and so much more. As an individual that prefers structure, she sees this as a great investment to guide the small business. She believes that others running a business from on their own pay much more for external support and not get the same results.
Finding what she loves to do and implementing it in the next project she sets her eyes on has led to two career paths that Capricia has learned to juggle. Mosquito Squad has supplied their franchisees with a system to succeed and the flexibility to fit their lifestyles. Celebrating seven years of franchising with Mosquito Squad, Capricia continues to take the opportunities and flourish with growth.