PuroClean franchisee Ben Doebler was moving to a new area and wanted to start a business. Since he didn’t have any connections in his new zip code, he turned to franchising for its expansive support system and hasn’t looked back. With 4 PuroClean locations in Oregon, this former restaurant owner has 32 employees and a strong dedication to his family. When he isn’t working, he loves to play guitar and have game nights with his wife and four children.
What made you decide to look into purchasing a franchise?
We were moving to an unknown area with no connections and we wanted the support system that a franchise offers.
Financing can be an obstacle and/or intimidating factor for aspiring entrepreneurs. How did you find financing options to purchase your franchise?
We self financed many of the initial expenses from the proceeds of selling the restaurant. Outside of that, the support team at PuroClean connected us with some of their preferred vendors who helped us get financing for the truck and the equipment.
How does PuroClean support and encourage your success?
PuroClean offers a strong franchise support system. When we were first starting out I was on weekly and sometimes daily phone calls with my Regional Director. I needed guidance and training for a job we just received. As we grew, another value PuroClean offered were the impact groups. PuroClean offers these in which franchisees can learn from each other, talk about what challenges we are facing, and how we’re turning those into successes. They’ve provided practical support as well, sending equipment and even our RD in the middle of a storm event to help support the increased volume we were facing.
What are you most proud of and why?
I am the most proud of the team that we have here at PuroClean. We recently celebrated two employees’ 10 year anniversary. We have several others who have been with us for 6+ years. It’s been a joy to watch them each develop professionally and blend together into a unique work family. It’s rewarding to have built an environment where people feel valued and want to stay and even have their friends and family members join the team as well
What advice would you give to new or potential franchise buyers?
Any start up is hard work, and every market already has several companies doing what you do. This means two things: One, you need to put your head down and go to work, solve problems (and there will be many), find those diamond employees who are better than you at certain things, and don’t stop when you get a no. It is hard, but it can be enormously rewarding to see the fruit after a few short years. Secondly, since there are already people doing what you do, you need to know what makes you different. Why should someone choose you over the next company in line? Know the answer and protect that aspect of your company through the different stages of growth when it’s less convenient to still so those things, don’t get too far from why you do this in the first place…it will help you on the hard days.
More about the PuroClean franchise opportunity.
PuroClean provides fire and smoke damage remediation, water damage remediation, flood water removal, mold removal, and biohazard cleanup to commercial and residential customers. In addition to offering a valuable service, PuroClean is a top franchise in many areas. Because they survey their franchisees with us here at Franchise Business Review, we can take their data and rank them. With our unbiased information, we’ve ranked them on the following lists.
- Top Franchises for Culture
- Top Franchises for Veterans
- Most Profitable Franchises
- Top Franchises for Women
- Top 200 Franchises Overall
Additionally, PuroClean shares their full franchisee satisfaction report. Here are a few highlights from their report:
- 83% of franchisees agree that they enjoy operating this business
- 86% of franchisees are likely to recommend this franchise to others
- 83% of franchisees agree that they respect their franchisor
