Rent-to-Own

easyhome | Gates Enterprises

Bud Gates (wegatesrac@aol.com)

8100 E. 22nd St. N., Building 2100-3

Wichita, KS 67226

316/685-3893

www.easyhome.ca

 

Type of rent-to-own business: Furniture

 

Company-owned stores: 195

 

Franchise-owned stores: 1

 

Expansion plans: The sky is really the limit. The company, based in Toronto, opened 28 new corporate stores across Canada in 2006 and is planning on adding 21 – 24 corporate stores as well as an undetermined number of franchise locations in both Canada and the United States in 2007. Total corporate expansion in 2008 is anticipated to be 20 – 25 new locations.

 

Type of franchise owner they’re looking for: “Someone who has RTO experience would be welcome and definitely someone who has an entrepreneurial spirit,” says President and CEO David Ingram. Ingram is looking for franchise owners ready to build a multi-store territory as opposed to building it one location at a time.

 

Why they’re different: Ingram’s company is loaded with experience, but it’s new at the franchising game and he likes that. “When you’re younger and not the biggest company; you can have the sense of urgency and speed to try to be as big as the biggest. I think you can be more nimble and adapt and change without it being a huge expense,” says Ingram. But while the franchising part is new, Ingram stresses, “We are going to be bringing the marketing expertise and creativity, retail background, a rent-to-own background and we have a management team with a history of bringing in double-digit revenue growth and disciplined P&L management.” In addition, the company’s master franchisor in the United States, Bud Gates, has an extensive background both as the former CEO of Rent-A-Center and THORN Americas and as a RTO franchisee. This provides potential franchisees with a wealth of experience to draw upon as well as a potential source of financing.

 

What they’ll do for you: Training, training and training—in Toronto. And then support, support, support. “We’re really looking for them to execute the business we’ve already built,” says Ingram. “They’ll use our IT system, our HR system, supplier base, marketing tools—we’ll give them pretty much everything to open and be on track from day one.”

 

License master franchise rights: Yes, Bud Gates has these in the United States

 

Selling primary multiple store location agreements: Yes

 

Selling franchise agreements for just one store: No, but they will

 

Active franchisee advisory board: No, but they will

 

Net worth of candidate: As we are doing territorial franchises, we will look for a reasonable combined net worth of any group, but the amount will depend on the size and location of the market as well as the development schedule to build out the market. By the time someone nears completion of their development, their first stores will be providing substantial cash flow to help fund development.

 

Franchise fees: $30,000

 

Royalties: 3 percent of gross revenue in year one and 5 percent of gross revenue thereafter

 

Advertising co-op: To be set up