Many franchises have planted their roots in Ontario’s fertile soil to grow into flourishing businesses. Some have been here for a long time and are still thriving while others are expanding into new markets, but all of them are becoming industry leaders with a competitive edge. Here’s a selection of franchises in Ontario that set the example for how to build a leading business.
Jugo Juice
People today are more health conscious than ever, so they want to know that the food they consume promotes a healthy, active lifestyle. This is why Jugo Juice has become so successful in the 15 years it has been in Ontario.
“We have a strong presence in the (Toronto) downtown core with stores in office towers and throughout the PATH system. During our time in the Ontario market we have expanded to traditional mall locations and non-traditional locations within hospitals and even the ACC,” says Jugo Juice president Kendall Pupp. “Business across the entire Jugo Juice system is experiencing excellent growth. 2012 was a breakthrough year where we saw strong positive same store sales growth, and 2013 is performing in the double digits.”
Jugo Juice recently launched revive.ca, a resource for everyone looking to develop a healthy lifestyle. It features blogs, articles, and Q&As authored by health and fitness experts providing the latest information on how to live an active life with nutritious dietary habits.
“We see Ontario as a major opportunity for Jugo Juice,” says Pupp. “We would like to see our number of units growth in this region increase exponentially over the next 3 to 5 years.”
M&M Meat Shops
M&M Meat Shops has been in Ontario for a long time, 30 years to be exact. In fact, they’ve fully saturated the markets here and have nowhere left to expand. For M&M the challenge right now is in finding new franchise owners to take over the ones who are now looking at retirement.
“A lot of people use the product, believe in the product, and therefore have the passion for the brand and want to be part of the business as well,” says Stacey Burgess, franchisee qualification specialist with M&M Meat Shops. “It’s a family atmosphere with M&M Meat Shops and that’s really appealing to a lot of people. We find that people come to us because they want to be their own boss, but they also want the support of a head office behind them.”
There are a lot of copy cats out there, but the M&M advantage lies in its restaurant quality products and specialized recipes that can’t be found anywhere else. The M&M quality tends to be higher than these copy cats, and Burgess insists that this makes their products second to none.
“Another great thing about M&M Meat Shops, because we’re a national brand a lot of our suppliers will give us exclusivity to our products. That is because we are able to sell so many of the products from one side of the country to the other,” says Burgess.
Just Junk
Many people have garages, attics, and basements full of old junk they no longer need. Sometimes they have so much that they can’t leave it at the curb because municipalities have restrictions on how much a household can throw out at garbage day. This is where Just Junk comes in. They have tapped into the junk removal market and became renowned as the industry leader with a CFA Award for Excellence in 2012.
“We’ve basically sold out every major market in Ontario,” says Just Junk president Mike Thorne. “Year after year we hit new revenue growth records.”
There are many small mom and pop junk removal companies run by just a couple people with a truck, but these small operations aren’t considered competition to Just Junk. Serving 25,000 customers a year in Ontario, their main competition is 1-800-GOT-JUNK. It’s a business model with low start up costs and low overhead.
“The nice thing about the business is it is a simple business model in the sense that you don’t need inventory. You don’t need a store front. Your truck is your business,” says Thorne. “So you don't have a lot of the overhead that most stores have, and that's what's really appealing about this concept.”
Chorus Entertainment recently filmed a full season of a show with one of the Just Junk crews. They went around on the junk truck and filmed adventures in the life of a junk removal team. Thorne says one of the things that people love about working with Just Junk is the day to day experiences on the junk truck. You never know what you’ll find, or who you might meet.
These are just a handful of examples of franchises hitting the big time in Ontario. There are always opportunities to operate your own Just Junk, Jugo Juice, or M&M Meat Shops and they are tried and true businesses that stand the test of time.
