Dan Hopkins is Vice President of Development and Operations for Heron Capital Corporation, a function he fulfills for all of the Heron Group of Companies including TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Canada. Mr. Hopkins has been affiliated with the Heron Group of Companies since January 2008. Mr. Hopkins was formerly the Director of Development & Franchising for Midas Canada and the former Vice president of Development and Franchising with Mail Boxes Etc. Mr. Hopkins also has franchise development and industry experience in the following franchise systems: KFC Canada, Wendy’s Canada, Cara Foods and Manchu WOK. Mr. Hopkins is also known for his related experience in Real Estate, Franchise Management, and Construction management which enables him to facilitate franchise transactions of all types. Mr. Hopkins graduated with honors from the Humber College Civil Engineering program and has successfully completed the Queens University Executive Program
BeTheBoss - What is the TWO MEN AND A
TRUCK® franchise opportunity all about?
Dan Hopkins -: TWO MEN AND A
TRUCK® delivers exceptional customer service in the moving
industry and has earned the reputation of “The Movers Who
Care®” over the past 20
years. We are like no other moving company you have experienced
before. We generate a 94% customer referral rating with our
Residential, Business and Commercial moving services. Our
franchisees benefit from our extensive knowledge and 20 years of
experience in the moving industry.
BTB - Who is your ideal candidate for a
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchise?
DH - Our ideal candidates have a passion for
customer service and the aptitude to market themselves as the local
representative of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® in their
designated region. We have extensive training programs to teach our
franchisees everything else they need to know to be successful.
BTB - What type of training and support do you
offer at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?
DH -: Our franchisees take an intensive two week
initial training course at our training facility “STICK MEN
UNIVERSITY®” in Lansing Michigan. STICK MEN UNIVERSITY®” is a state
of the art training facility dedicated to providing state of the
art training in all aspects of the moving industry. STICK MEN
UNIVERSITY®” consists of a fully functional two story home build
inside the training wing of our corporate head office. It also
houses a state of the art classroom and separate computer lab to
facilitate all aspects of training for our franchisees.
BTB - What are some of the advantages in being a
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchisee?
DH - The biggest advantage is the 20 history and
brand recognition of Quality that comes with being a part of the
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® brand and a member of the
family of franchisees. When JD Powers and Associates ranked full
service moving companies in 2008 they ranked TWO MEN AND A
TRUCK® first in customer service satisfaction and that
reputation and legacy lives on today.
BTB - Are you a member of any Associations?
DH - Yes, one of our corporate core values is to
be a leader in our industry. We are active members in the Canadian
Association of Movers, Canadian Franchise Association,
International Franchise Association, BUILD, and The Canadian
Association of Home Builders.
BTB - Tell us a little about the Moving
Industry?
DH - Most people don’t realize the moving
industry in Canada is a stable $4.2 Billion annual business that is
recession resistant. When the housing resale market heats up as it
has over the past year we see a dramatic increase in our
franchisees sales moving customers in and out of these resale
homes. States Canada reports on average 14 – 16% of Canadian
Families move every year even in recessionary periods and this
frequency of moving generates revenue for our franchisees in
Residential Moves, Business Moves, Packing & Unpacking Services,
Sale of Boxes and Moving Supplies as well as Storage Services. Our
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchise branches can
generate revenues that compare with any fast food restaurant or
donut shop but our franchisees generate higher margins and our
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® businesses are a lot easier
to manage.
BTB - How successful is your company today and
what are your future growth plans?
DH - Our franchise program is very healthy
today and we are poised to gain even more market share from the
independent operators that did not survive the downturn in the
economy. Our market research tells us there is only room for 50
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® branches to service all of
Canada. With 10 TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchises
operating in southern Ontario, we only have 40 more franchise
opportunities to service the rest of Canada. Once we grow our
system to 50 Canadian franchises we will change our focus away from
development and towards maximizing the sales and profitability of
our franchisees.
BTB - What are your franchisees saying about the
business?
DH -Our franchisees are very happy with the growth
and profitability of their TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®
businesses, they even appear in our franchise information DVD
talking about their positive experience starting up their
franchise.
BTB - What advice do you have for someone
looking to acquire a Franchise?
DH - Find something in the franchise business that
you can be passionate about, that way the work becomes fun. If you
enjoy working with people, managing your own business and marketing
yourself along with your business, then there is no better choice
for you than a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchise. The
satisfaction you and your team will feel when a customer tells you
in a comment card how appreciative they are to you for taking
control of the most stressful day of their lives and make it all go
smoothly is priceless, and our franchisees get to live that
experience every day.
BTB - In your opinion, why do you think that
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® would be a great opportunity
for someone?
DH - This is a ground floor opportunity in
Canada with a franchise concept that is already a huge success in
the USA. The best analogy I can offer is, “if you could go back in
time knowing what you know now and were offered the opportunity to
purchase one of the first McDonald franchises in Canada, would you
take it?”
The only difference here is there are only 40 TWO MEN AND A
TRUCK® franchise opportunities remaining and once they are
awarded this opportunity will be gone forever.
