Do Not Purchase a Franchise Until You Read This..
Pros
The franchisee's really are some good people just trying to build a future for their family.
Cons
DO NOT PURCHASE A FRANCHISE UNTIL YOU READ THIS. Do your research when looking to purchase a franchise from Enviro-Master. The company’s CEO (their public face) is a convicted felon. When doing your diligence, DO NOT ONLY CALL the franchisees they TELL you to call. Request a list of all franchisees, both current AND previous franchisees that have sold and how many are presently for sale. Google numerous locations and talk to the respective franchisee. In an attempt to help others, I posted a review of my experience on their Facebook page, citing facts. After their administrator asked me to remove it, and I refused, I received a threatening letter from their attorney, to remove it immediately or face a lawsuit from Enviro-Master. I posted their attorney’s threatening letter on my previous Facebook post, demonstrating their bullying tactics. Since they could not get me to remove the post, they instead removed all reviews from their Facebook page, further suppressing/masking their unethical behavior. This is not the best franchisee-friendly system. The relationship appears one-sided, with the franchisor reaping the majority of the benefits of the franchisees hard work. In the same week a franchisee generates revenue, the franchisor charges the royalties off of the revenue. Meanwhile, the same revenue takes anywhere from 45 to 60 days to reach the franchisee’s bank account through collection efforts. Therefore the franchisee must invest many thousands more to maintain operations. This is in total contrast to the business plan presented during the discovery process. While some Franchisees are making money, they are the minority. The reality is many franchisees have to invest many thousands more dollars than stated in the original business plan presented by Corporate. Many franchisees have sold and several are in the process of trying to sell, while others have simply just walked away cutting their losses at anywhere from $250,000 to over $400,000. I know this as I have been contacted by several current and former franchisees. Based on my conversations with franchisees, (and the annual conventions I attended) it appears that few are making money. While many franchisees have received “VOLUME” awards for hitting revenue levels, the revenue does not make it to their bottom line. Corporate uses these “VOLUME” awards as leverage to get other franchisees to invest more money into a losing proposition. They invest more money to grow their revenue, but see nothing in the growth of profit. Corporate does not care because their royalties are based on revenue, not profitability! My franchise (Nashville) was sold to the investment company behind Enviro-Master, back in Oct. of 2017. It is now Feb 2019 and I still have not been paid all of my Accounts Receivable. My attorney has had several interactions with the CEO and his attorney and of course I still have not been paid. However, EM was paid their collections fee immediately, on those receivables…. In disclosure I was not renewed. I refused to invest any more money and I was building it based on my accounts receivable receipts (cash I was receiving weekly from EM corp collections efforts). During the sales process I told them and argued with the COO and CEO that the Bill of Sale was wrong. After it was said and done, I took the agreement to multiple CPAs, who stated the accounting was wrong. I then had it audited by a partner for Ernest and Young who also stated the math in the Bill of Sale was wrong. After repeated conversations with Corporate, they admitted the error and said they would correct it – they did not! So now I am working on legal proceedings to get the money recovered, an estimated $66,000 (bill of sale) + $12,000 (in unpaid accounts receivable). Make sure you are represented by an attorney. Current franchisee’s, please protect yourself. There is currently a lawsuit that was filed outside of the franchise agreement. It is public knowledge and can be found on the internet or through your local attorney. It should now be part of the FDD, as they are required to disclose this action. Enviro-Master wants you to believe you have no recourse outside of the franchise agreement, which mandates arbitration. This is NOT TRUE. Check with your local and state laws. There may be laws that will protect you. ALL VETERANS, do your research. As a fellow combat veteran I want to make sure you are protected. Make sure you get an extensive intelligence report. It will bring a lot of issues to the surface. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me.
