URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/26666
When Tim Hanauer began working as a landscape designer for a
North Carolina firm, he noticed how much time designers spent
driving to sites or to meet clients and contractors . . . and how
little time they had for designing.
After several years of researching the problem, Hanauer found the
solution: a mobile office. "We converted a van into a mobile
office with computers," he says. "With this office, the
designer doesn't have to leave the site until he's finished
with the landscape design."
With the traditional approach to landscape design, it can take six
weeks to deliver a finished design, whereas, with Hanauer's
process, the designer drives his or her mobile office to the site
and meets with the client for about 45 minutes to brainstorm ideas.
He or she then works at the site for several hours and, at the end
of the day, presents the client with a sketch of the design and a
digital image of what the landscaping will look like.
Now Hanauer, 38, is franchising his mobile landscape design office
as Earth Graphics. Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, the first
Earth Graphics franchise began serving the Columbia, South
Carolina, area early this year.
"We wanted to franchise because it was franchiseable,"
Hanauer says. "If we didn't do it, someone else would
have."
Columbia-based franchisee John Keeler agrees. "It's a
great idea. I save about a month [per project]."
Hanauer is currently focusing his franchising efforts on the
Southeast states, and westward from Texas come summer. Start-up
costs are $50,000 to $60,000, including the cost of the mobile
office. Hanauer is looking to co-brand Earth Graphics with existing
landscape contractors or garden centers.
For more information, contact Earth Graphics at (877) EARTH-G1 or
visit www.earthg.com.
Contact Source
Keeler Landscape and Design Inc., (803) 699-7133;