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 Why DreamMaker Is Perfect For Custom Home Builders

Our home improvement franchises can be a great way to diversify and add new strengths to your business.

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Even a lucrative custom home building business can benefit from a strong side business in kitchen and bathroom remodeling. Diversification offers several advantages:

Less vulnerable to housing cycles

A Hanley Wood Metrostudy Housing report notes several challenges confronting home builders: rising mortgage rates and tariffs that are pushing up costs, as well as tax reforms that have impacted high-end housing by reducing the value of mortgage interest deductions. The report forecasts challenges for home builders but notes that remodeling revenue is expected to grow.

Higher sales velocity

Remodeling project timetables are typically measured in days or weeks — not months (or even a year). By tackling smaller projects, your cash flow is less affected by any single project. You also have an opportunity to work with (and earn referrals from) a wider variety of customers. If a customer is especially challenging to work with, you’re typically serving them for a shorter period of time.

Labor retention

Because remodeling projects are plentiful compared to custom home building projects, you are also likely to have a higher stream of projects available for the highly-skilled tradespeople who are integral to your team. Remodeling projects provide a great way to keep your best construction partners engaged between full home builds.

During periods of slow home building, this is especially important. If you’ve been in construction for a while, you will remember how many great tradespeople vanished from the industry during the Great Recession. Attracting new people has been one of the primary challenges of the construction industry for years. By providing a steadier stream of work, you not only stand a better chance of attracting great people — you also stand a better chance of retaining the very best people.

Strong margins — think 40-50% — are possible

In 2017, DreamMaker franchisees enjoyed average margins of 41% on their remodeling work. The top franchisee quartile averaged 51.2% in GPM*. You may be surprised by that number because many remodelers operate at much lower margins.

2018 full year figures will be released with our 2019 FDD in April 2019. How we win customers and generate strong margins

We’re able to generate higher margins thanks to several aspects of our business model, including:

● Group buying power that allows us to buy materials at wholesale prices, creating more room for profits.

● Vendor relationships that give our remodelers access to unique products, which helps distinguish us from competitors.

● A full design-build process. Our remodeling process isn’t cookie cutter. You’ll be able to leverage the full breadth of your expertise and creativity to serve clients through all-in-one remodeling.

● Time-tested processes, including systems and technology that help franchisees more accurately price jobs, create time tables to guide project management, and create incentive pay opportunities for efficient carpenters.

● A focus on delivering value that is measured by excellence, not just price. DreamMaker is rarely the lowest cost option. Customers choose us because we deliver a thorough design process, reliable communication, and exceptional results. We target customers who are willing to pay more for a smoother remodeling experience. We’re far from the most expensive company in the marketplace, but we’re also not the cheapest.

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