TechZone Airbag Service

Founded: 1992 Franchising since: 1994
In the early '90s, engineer Douglas C. Hansen was working for an aerospace firm developing airbag inflators. He discovered there was a lack of understanding regarding airbag systems–how they worked, how they should be handled and how they should be repaired.

Propelled by that discovery and recent legislation that required all cars to be equipped with driver and passenger airbags, Hansen and his wife, Victoria, founded Airbag Service. Franchisees work with repair shops and consumers in testing, maintaining and replacing airbags.

The company has co-branding relationships with Novus and Apple Auto Glass.

1968 130th Ave. N.E. Bellevue, WA 98005

Phone: (800)224-7224 Franchisee Association Franchise Advisory Council

Franchisor is a privately-held company with 11 employee(s); 4 employee(s) in franchise department.

Franchise Growth

Year	U.S. Franchises	Canadian Franchises	Foreign Franchises	Company Owned
2006	31	0	0	1
2005	28	1	1	1

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: 500,000 to 1.5 million population

Total investment: $36.5K-108.9K Franchise fee: $15K-35K

Ongoing royalty fee: 8.5% Term of agreement: 10 years, renewable

Type of Financing Available

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

Qualifications
Net worth requirement: $100K
Cash liquidity requirement: $25K
Business Experience:

• Industry experience
• General business experience
• Marketing skills

Operations

• Franchise can be run from home
• 20% of all franchisees own more than one unit
• Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 1
• Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

Training

• Available at headquarters: 3 weeks
• At franchisee's location: As needed
• Ongoing

Ongoing Support

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

Marketing Support

• Co-op advertising
• Ad slicks
• National media
• Regional advertising

Other marketing support

• Web media & online scheduling