Comes in handy: got some work around the house, but can't find anyone who's up to the task? Just buy yourself a Franchise

Entrepreneur, April, 2002 by Devlin Smith

SO MANY CUSTOMERS NEED CEILING fans hung, garbage disposals installed or any of a dozen other odd jobs handled, but don't know whom to turn to. Contractors aren't interested in these too-small jobs.

Stacy Swift and Tamyra Wallace ran into this very dilemma as home-owners. They were hiring local handymen and hadn't been pleased with the results. "We had been ripped off too many times," explains Swift. "We knew there was a huge market for the service, and nobody out there with a reputation of being prompt, safe and reliable."

While looking for the right person to hang drywall in their garages, Swift, 41, and Wallace, 43, were also searching for the perfect franchise opportunity. Their experience in the franchise industry (Swift is a franchise consultant; Wallace was a franchise sales director) told them a service business was the way to go. Their experience as homeowners, meanwhile, told them Mr. Handyman would find an audience in Greenwood Village, Colorado. As Swift reasoned, "There's no way we were the only people who needed handymen on a regular basis."

The pair founded Fix It Chicks Inc. in 2001 to operate their Mr. Handyman franchise. Swift and Wallace handle the corporate end of the business while their three licensed, bonded, experienced handymen are doing odd jobs for customers. The franchisees would like to expand their business into an additional territory and have nine or 10 vans on the road, maybe a few operated by handywomen. "We'd love to have a great handywoman," says Swift, "but nobody's called for an interview yet."

Settled Out-of-Court

STAKE YOUR MALL CAFE CLAIM AWAY FROM THE FOOD COURT.

DAVID AND CAMILLE RUTKAUSKAS, 40 and 34, respectively, have created a franchise any mallgoer can appreciate: Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, which offers a tiny oasis for tired, hungry shoppers. Their idea sets them apart, literally--the cafe offers sandwiches, smoothies, salads, wraps and coffee drinks in an enclosed space away from the packed, noisy fried-food-dominated food courts.

The couple opened the first Camille's Sidewalk Cafe in the Woodland Hills Mall near Tulsa, Oklahoma, in October 1996 and began franchising three years later. The company now franchises both mall based cafes and larger, inline locations.

Before they started Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, the Rutkauskases owned a deli and a sportswear chain. They never considered being franchisors, however, until the cafe came along. "The concept was tailor-made for franchising," David explains. "It's very efficient, and we felt the system we developed could be easily duplicated."

Camille's Sidewalk Cafe currently has 16 franchised units, with agreements signed for up to 26 more. The company is also planning to open a second corporate location this year, while plotting national expansion. "We have the right concept at the right time," David says. "The fastfood places are all geared toward kids now, and baby boomers want something quick in a place [with a] warm, inviting atmosphere. Yes, our concept is fast food, but it's so much more than that."