Back when Robert Harris founded the in-home upholstery and carpet cleaning service Chem-Dry in 1977, he tried to meet everyone's needs. Harris created a carbonated cleaning fluid, and he marketed that fluid as the answer to every carpet issue in an approach that worked well in the 1980s, when marketing was more broad in scope. However, this would not be enough on its own to sustain a business for decades.
In 1990, Chem-Dry franchisees brought an idea forward that would propel the business. They said clients were calling them frequently specifically to handle pet odors, and that the brand should market services to that audience. As the CEO and President of Chem-Dry parent company Harris Research, Dan Tarantin, noted, it's your children and your pets who are closest to your carpeting. The brand spent two years developing and testing formulas just for pet owners and launched those products and services in 1992.
From that point forward, the brand got more and more specific. It created nontoxic formulations for its product and kept expanding its product line. By the year 2014, this brand had 12 green-certified products. There are 50 today, including products for grout, tile and air ducts. Chem-Dry also redesigned its van recently to feature more pets and families.
Although Tarantin says it's very difficult to be everything to everyone, Chem-Dry has proven that a franchise can be many things for many different people. To learn more about this established brand, visit them here at BetheBoss.ca.
