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Hermitage man brings Weed Man franchise to Mercer, Trumbull counties
HERMITAGE, Pa.
When Hermitage resident Wes Roberts started his own landscaping business at age 23, all he had was a landscape contracting degree from Penn State University and a lawn mower he had received as a graduation present.
“I got a few accounts, a few jobs here and there. Just me and the lawn mower,” he said.
Roberts was just out of college, where he had gone back and forth between majoring in engineering with a pre-med degree and landscaping.
“No matter what, I had to work with my hands. That was part of the deal,” said Roberts, now 39.
But he had experience in landscaping and decided on his degree, which combined design, business and horticulture. Soon, his new business, though small, was up and running.
“I didn’t know everything, but I knew enough,” Roberts said.
Wes Roberts Landscaping LLC has expanded steadily in Mercer County, Pa., gaining a loyal customer base. His success and reputation in the business made him the ideal candidate to start a Weed Man franchise, and now he is bringing North America’s leading lawn-care service to Mercer and Trumbull counties.
Founded in the Toronto area in 1970, Weed Man has grown steadily, expanding to the United States and United Kingdom.
Phil Fogarty, a Weed Man franchisee in the Cleveland area, was on the original team that brought the company to the U.S. in 1999. He said that U.S. business has seen “rapid expansion” in the past 15 years, accounting for $80 million of the company’s approximately $130 million in earnings last year.
In 2013 alone, Weed Man grew by 18.5 percent, he said.
“When all of our opponents were shrinking, we were growing as fast as we could,” he said.
The growth attracted Roberts’ attention. He ran into Fogerty at an industry conference in Kentucky, and the two started talking about a new franchise.
Fogarty, who supervises Weed Man franchises in Ohio, Pennsylvania and upstate New York, said the company had been looking to add a franchise in this area for about 10 years, but Roberts was “the first one that met our criteria.”
But it was not an easy process. Weed Man extensively checks out its potential franchisees on the basis of character, experience and personal background, among other things.
Roberts met those standards, and his business and horticulture background made him even more desirable.
He joined Weed Man in November as the only area franchisee, and he gained access to an exclusive product line that he and Fogarty called the best out there.
“They have the best products in the business, and the only way to get them is to buy a franchise,” Roberts said.
Roberts also has access to Weed Man’s unique, high-tech method of reaching out to 30,000 potential customers in his two counties.
Under the supervision of Weed Man staff, a closely vetted team of high-school students, armed with tablets, go door-to-door asking if residents would like a free lawn-care estimate. The process is GPS-based, and the information is sent to Robert’s office in real time, Fogarty said.
Based on the data, Roberts can identify boundary lines, turf density and how recently the land was fertilized, even when lawns are covered with snow.
“We can get a better view of their lawn, almost, than if we were walking across it,” Fogarty said, and the estimate is then relayed to residents within 24 hours.
Weed Man also uses a web-based marketing campaign and buys radio spots in major markets and on satellite radio, Fogarty said.
For Roberts the approach is a far cry from the word-of-mouth and referral strategy he employed with his own company.
“That, there, is 40 years of doing it and adapting with the times,” he said.
Roberts said he will continue to blanket the area with free estimates, as he builds his Weed Man customer base and puts his staff in place.
Once the weather allows work to get started, he will oversee projects, manage his employees, do sales and marketing and work with his customers, he said.
He plans to keep operating Roberts Landscaping and use both businesses to complement each other. But he is excited to now be a part of Weed Man.
“I’ve spent 16 years reinventing the wheel every day,” he said. “And that’s what appealed to me about the franchise. They have the systems and procedures that work.”