May 11, 2011

Striping Franchise as a Business Solution

By Allan Heydorn
Editor

We Do Lines and Yellow Dawg Striping offer streamlined systems for

contractors who want to stripe without the business hassle.
Bob Russo wanted a way out of commercial real estate where he could put to use his background in construction equipment.

Rob Schlosser was looking to expand his sealcoating and pavement repair business.

Nikki Randolph and Molly Birk wanted to start a business that would dovetail with their husbands' sealcoating company.

Bob Burris was looking for a business to start from scratch.

All five of these people came to the pavement marking industry from different backgrounds and for different reasons, but they all
ended up entering the industry through a new business model: the pavement marking franchise.

Currently available through We Do Lines and Yellow Dawg Striping, the franchise approach offers an established, tested system with
field training and extensive marketing and business management support to get a pavement marking business up, running and
profitable in a relatively brief time for a new business. In exchange, franchise owners pay a one-time franchise fee plus monthly
royalties on gross sales (and in the case of We Do Lines an additional 5% marketing fee). Presidents of both companies say the
franchise model is ideal for new contractors and for contractors looking to expand.

"When people hear 'franchise' that can turn them off because they think it's them working for someone else. That's a challenge we
have," says Jack Child, president of Black Dawg Franchise Group, which includes the Yellow Dawg franchise. "But what they have to
look at is how the franchise model can help get their business to where they want it to be. This industry is perfectly positioned for
the franchise model because it's scalable, it does require some expertise, you can train people, and national accounts are always
seeking reliable companies to solve their local problems for them," Child says. "By using a system like we envision we will be able to
cover coast to coast using the same standards, the same equipment, the same uniforms, and the same practices, so the customers
know what they're getting. It makes buying decisions easier for national accounts such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot."

Chris Couri, president and cofounder of We Do Lines, says he and partners Tom Darrow, chief operating officer, and Dan Rella, chief
financial officer, see the pavement marking industry as ripe for franchise businesses. The three came from the landscaping and
irrigation industry and were doing a lot of commercial property maintenance, so they saw some of the issues facing the pavement
marking industry.

"We see the industry as a fragmented, part-time industry where there just aren't that many contractors doing striping full time,"
Couri says. "By bringing a franchise approach to the market we think we can offer a great business opportunity to the contractor and
improve the service the industry is receiving."

How We Do Lines Works

We Do Lines offers a franchise for a one-time $25,000 franchise fee plus an additional 8% commission on gross sales and 5% to fund
national and local marketing initiatives, search engine optimization, social media, public relations, and aggressive branding.
Currently We Do Lines is on pace to sell its 17th franchise, some of which are co-owned by one of the three partners.

The franchise fee covers rights to a territory (defined as 350,000 parking spaces as determined by a proprietary We Do Lines metric),
licensing to use the We Do Lines franchise system, use of a company's internet system (StripeNet, which Couri terms "the artery of
communication for our system"), an operator's manual, sales data and leads, search engine optimization data, and the We Do Lines
brand. A public relations firm handles national marketing, assists in tapping in to the local market, handles promotion on social
media, and provides lists for contractors to pursue.
We Do Lines' starter package includes a trailer, striping machine, safety equipment, and support tools and materials, all of which are
purchased through We Do Lines or through an approved vendor where pricing is negotiated in advance by We Do Lines. We Do Lines
also has a national supply agreement with Sherwin Williams for paint and supplies.

"Our relationship with Sherwin Williams is a value proposition that has given our system solid value. Our franchise members can use
any Sherwin Williams location and get the benefits," Couri says. "Our guys know they have the option to buy where they want but
we have an ally in Sherwin Williams and they really support us."

Couri says new franchise owners go through a five-day initial set-up and training in either Connecticut or Florida which covers
everything from the Internet, business management, and how to work with approved vendors to two days of field training on how
to layout and stripe. "When they're buying the franchise they're buying the breadth and depth of a system of doing business," Couri
says. "They're buying into the brand. It's a model of distribution."

How Yellow Dawg Striping Works

Yellow Dawg Striping is one of the brands under the Black Dawg Franchise Group umbrella, which features four franchises: Black
Dawg Sealcoat, Blue Dawg Power Wash, Red Dawg Infrared and Yellow Dawg Striping.

"One of the benefits of owning one of our franchises is that we're not one dimensional, and that's something our franchisees really
embrace," Child says. "We feel that each franchise is a pipeline to another brand, so once you own one of our brands you get a 50%
discount on our other franchise fees. That makes it easy to expand your portfolio and creates great multiple exit strategies as well."

A Yellow Dawg franchise fee is a minimum of $7500 based on the population of a given market. Child says a Yellow Dawg territory
needs to contain at least 700,000 people (Child acknowledges generous adjustments are often made based on demographics and
market potential), so the rough cost is less than one penny per capita in any given market. In addition franchise owners pay 6% of
gross sales to the franchise group. Currently Yellow Dawg has six franchise locations serving eight states, and Child says he expects to
have 15 operating by the end of the year.

Yellow Dawg, which holds its annual meeting at the National Pavement Expo, offers field training, a web page dedicated to the
contractor and linked to his own site, an 800 number with a dedicated call center answered "live," management of Internet
advertising, search engine optimization, public relations through a national firm and more, including ongoing training, consulting,
and business coaching. "Keeping up with search engine changes is practically a full-time job and most business owners simply don't
have the time or resources to do it. Our franchise owners don't have to worry about creating any of the business systems," Child
says.

Including the $7500 buy in, Child says most people can have their business up and running for less than $25,000 (assuming they
already own a truck). The additional money goes to buying a Graco 3900 Line Lazer IV, their striping machine of choice, stencils,
tools, an enclosed customized trailer and paint.

"We do help negotiate a price on certain things that they need, but they buy direct from the vendor. Unlike most franchises, we
don't take a cut on any equipment or materials," Child says. "They have the flexibility to use approved brands and we negotiate on
their behalf with numerous approved vendors."

To enhance brand awareness, Yellow Dawg also wants franchise owners to either own or sponsor a yellow dog through the local
humane society.

"A Great Add-on for Contractors"

Couri says that We Do Lines expected competition from paving and sealcoating contractors doing their own striping, but he was
surprised at what happened.

"Those companies ended up becoming our customers because that way they could focus on their other work and not have to focus
on line striping," Couri says. "In fact they never really were focused on line striping - they just did it because they felt they had to. If
they really want to pursue striping they can buy a franchise and have the entire business model already set to go for them. It's a
great add-on for contractors."

For contractors such as Rob Schlosser. A former fire fighter, Schlosser for nine years did residential sealcoating part time with his
Just Sealcoating business. As the business grew he decided to pursue commercial work so he changed the name to All County
Asphalt Maintenance, and today works in New York's Westchester and Nassau counties.
Early in 2010 he contacted We Do Lines because he couldn't get local striping companies to call him back to even bid jobs. "We had
been doing the striping ourselves using a 2 x 4 and a hand roller at first, then we bought a Graco machine," he says. "But we couldn't
handle the striping on large jobs."

He says talking with We Do Lines "tweaked my interest but I didn't have time for it because I was still building my own company."
But eventually he partnered with We Do Lines cofounder Darrow and the two are getting the franchise off the ground this year.

"The We Do Lines franchise enables us to add striping in a bigger way," Schlosser says. "One of my biggest problems was getting in
front of people. Having the We Do Lines name really helps. I'm not just the guy next door."

And Schlosser expects the We Do Lines franchise to help All County Asphalt in other, more important, ways.

"It's going to build All County Asphalt faster than we could and I see that already through the call center," he says. "If a customer is
looking for line striping he also probably needs repair, sealcoating, and plowing, so that helps All County grow. It will help get us
where we expect the company to go but we'll get there quicker and we'll be even bigger."

"An Extension of the Sealcoating Business"

Child says the easiest part of the striping business is the striping itself. "The hardest part is reaching the customer, marketing,
running and growing your business," Child says. "The biggest challenge is getting the business and hanging onto it and with our
system contractors can focus on what they want to do - line painting - and letting us handle the business part of it."

Nikki Rudolph, vice president and co-owner with Molly Birk, president, of Yellow Dawg Striping's Cincinnati franchise, says the two
women acquired the franchise because their husbands' Black Dawg Sealcoat franchise was giving away too much business in 2010.

"Our husbands purchased Black Dawg in 2010 and we worked side by side with them all year doing the scheduling and doing the
books, and we had quite a good time doing it," Rudolph says. But as the year went on the two women noticed that Black Dawg was
subbing out all its pavement marking work - a fair amount of business for the first-year sealcoating operation.

"So buying Yellow Dawg just seemed like the right thing to do," Rudolph says. "It's an extension of the sealcoating business."

Rudolph and Birk will handle the sales and office work and they've hired an experienced striper and will train one of the sealcoating
crews to work with him. They anticipate sales from the husbands' Black Dawg business will provide a foundation, but they will
pursue work on their own.

"You Couldn't Do That on Your Own"

One of the advantages of a franchise is you can extend your business into a much larger area, making regional and even national
advertising worthwhile.

"There's no way you could open up a striping business in 10 states at the same time," Couri says. "It would be too complex and cost
too much money. But you can do that in a franchise situation."

Bob Russo had been involved in the construction equipment business for 20 years before getting out to sell commercial real estate.
In 2009 he decided he wanted something different; in April 2010 he bought into two We Do Lines franchise territories in the
Orlando, FL, area.

"We spent a few months investigating the franchise and decided it was a great opportunity," Russo says.

He says We Do Lines' Internet focus and its aggressive approach to marketing and sales were key factors in the decision. "Through
We Do Lines we got more than 100 jobs in 2010 ranging from work for national franchises like Dunkin' Donuts to small retail outlets
and apartment complexes," Russo says. "Through them we cover the gamut of what the market is."

Russo says that with its franchise approach We Do Lines is trying to upgrade the pavement marking industry and take it to a different
level.

"With We Do Lines franchises throughout the country (the company can sell franchises in 40 states) there are opportunities to
network. We can refer property managers and developers to each other and other franchises can refer them to us," Russo says.
"Once we get the whole network built up that's the game plan: to be able to refer across the country, and you couldn't do that on
your own as a small business."
"We Can Get a Guy Noticed"
Both Child and Couri say the franchise model interests some people because not everyone wants to start a new business on their
own - or maybe they want to, but are worried about all the different aspects of starting a business. Others don't want to spend one
to two years getting their business going - something franchises can shortcut.

"In very short order we can get a guy noticed on the Internet and in a new location," Child says.

That's what happened with Bob Burris, who purchased his Yellow Dawg franchise in December and started operating in January
2011. By end of February he'd already completed work for Disney World via Yellow Dawg's website.

A military veteran with four years' experience in law enforcement, Burris was looking to make a career change. An entrepreneurial
coach helped narrow the options and he opted for Yellow Dawg partly because of the branding and the business coaching.

"Yellow Dawg blew all the other things I was looking at out of the water, no question," Burris says. "You get the brand, the logo, the
training - all things I couldn't possibly create on my own. It's great to be a part of a national brand and I think that really helps.

Burris says that buying a franchise took some of the concern out of being a start up business.

"I tell the customer 'It's a franchise' and you can almost see their relief because they recognize it's already a proven business," he
says. "They know it's a system in place that works - otherwise they wouldn't be selling franchises."

He says buying a franchise has also "tremendously shortened the learning curve. You can't put a price tag on all the experience
taught firsthand," he says. "All the mistakes people made in the past, I would have been making those same mistakes on my own. I
am much more efficient because of the training and support."

In addition to working as a subcontractor for one of his area's largest paving and sealcoating companies, Burris has already felt the
impact of Yellow Dawg's nationwide Internet marketing effort.

"I received at least 15 leads directly through the website in just my first few weeks and I expect it will only increase since we're just
now getting started. One lead was for 75 large malls around the country which will benefit other Yellow Dawgs, too."

"It's not 6% Off Your Number"

Couri says the franchise concept can intimidate some people, but he says because the striping market is ripe for this type of business
model he expects franchises to grow quickly.

"We've looked at our model from very different systems and backgrounds and we've designed a lot of value into the system because
we're business owners too and we know what business owners need," Couri says. "We pride ourselves on being a professional and
service-oriented company that can raise the bar of service of what customers can expect. A customer can call in and get the same
service whether you're in Miami or Maine."

Child also expects franchises to grow, partly because the industry has changed.

"If a guy buys a used striping machine for $2000 and throws it in the back of his truck, does that mean he's in the striping business?
In this day and age you need to be a true professional, you need to have a dynamic website that helps you sell, the site needs to be
updated, and you have to be able to optimize the site for search engines. You also have to develop a brand, a logo and prepare other
materials," Child says. "In exchange for just 6% royalties our franchise owners don't have to worry about any of that.

"We believe we can help that guy grow in exchange for that 6%. And you can't look at it as if it's simply taking 6% off your sales
number because with Yellow Dawg we expect your number will grow and be higher than without us working on your behalf," Child
says.