Payless Car Rental System Inc.

Founded: 1971 Franchising since: 1971
Payless Car Rental was established in 1971 in Spokane, Washington, by Les Netterstrom and his wife, Dusty. By 1982, their small two-location car rental business had grown to almost 100 franchises and one corporate-owned location. In 1983, the 150-location company changed its name to Payless Car Rental System Inc. In 1989, Netterstrom sold the company to a Taiwanese investment group. Eighty percent of the privately held company's franchise units are conversions; 47 percent of the franchisees own multiple locations.

2350-N 34th St. N. St. Petersburg, Florida 33713

Phone: (727)323-0943

Franchisor is a privately-held company with 55 employee(s); 5 employee(s) in franchise department.

Franchise Growth

Year	U.S. Franchises	Canadian Franchises	Foreign Franchises	Company Owned
2006	37	0	48	6
2005	44	0	48	7

Where Seeking Franchisees
In the U.S. Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North carolina, North dakota, New hampshire, New jersey, New mexico, Nevada, New york, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode island, South carolina, South dakota, Tennessee, Texas, United states, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West virginia, Wyoming

Exclusive territories available.
Territory size: Varies

Total investment: $252.5K-6.5M Franchise fee: $20K-500K

Ongoing royalty fee: 4-5% Term of agreement: 5 years, renewable

Type of Financing Available

	In-House	Third Party
Franchise Fee	No	No
Startup Costs	No	No
Equipment	No	No
Inventory	No	Yes
Accounts Receivable	No	No
Payroll	No	No

Qualifications
Net worth requirement: $500K
Cash liquidity requirement: $100K-300K
Business Experience:

• Industry experience
• General business experience

Operations

• 47% of all franchisees own more than one unit
• Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 4 - 20
• Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (75% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

Training

• Available at headquarters: 3 days
• At franchisee's location: 3 days
• Ongoing training available as needed

Ongoing Support

• Newsletter
• Meetings
• Toll-free phone line
• Grand opening
• Internet
• Security/safety procedures
• Field operations/evaluations
• Purchasing cooperatives

Marketing Support

• National media

Other marketing support

• Internet marketing

Franchise 500® rank:
#500 (2006);