You're looking to start a concrete coatings business but don't know where to start. Perhaps you're unsure if concrete coatings are an avenue you should pursue. Here at Floor Shield, over the course of our 20+ years of experience in helping people start concrete coatings businesses, one of the questions we hear all the time from potential dealers is, "What does it really take to start a concrete coating company?" By the end of this piece, we aim to ensure this question is answered so you know if this move is right for you, and which route for your specific needs will best lead to success.
Starting any business comes with great risk. On average, about 45% of all businesses fail in the first 5 years. To combat this reality, it's imperative to start with the question: "Is there a demand for my service?" Luckily, the concrete coatings market is projected to have a 4.9% compound annual growth rate over the next 7 years. Homes, facilities, and businesses will continue to require coatings, which means they will always be in demand.
Over the course of Floor Shield's run, we have helped many companies become part of our dealer network. At the same time, we've told even more companies that they're either not a good fit for our dealership model, or do not have the necessities to start a concrete coatings business. Here's what happened in 2022:
Several companies went with a franchise model, others went for the DIY approach, and some decided to not pursue concrete coatings after they had all the information.
Assessing your avenues for concrete coatings operations is essential to understanding how your business will be structured. There are 3 options:
With the first, everything from product acquisition to marketing is left up to you. While this does enable freedom to explore different options, this can easily lead to a lack of direction, especially if you are just starting out in the concrete coatings marketplace.
One of the alternatives is to operate under a franchise. With a franchise, you'll not only have robust guides like great marketing strategies and leads, but all the equipment, training services, and software to get started. Your franchise provides all the tools to ensure your business isn't lacking anything to be successful. A franchise's abundant benefits come at a cost, though. Not only will businesses have to bring working capital of up to $80,000, but every franchisee must pay 6 to 12% of their monthly profits to the franchise depending on the level of service they received.
Franchises offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to work with an established brand, which offers a shortcut to customer trust and recognition. They have lower failure rates compared to independent startups because they operate within a proven business model. Additionally, securing financing for a franchise may be easier, as lenders may view them as less risky due to the established track record.
The last option, dealerships, are for businesses that want franchise-like support without the ongoing fees and more pricey start-up costs. A good dealership program should include:
Your product is the backbone of your company. While epoxy-based or polyurea coatings are effective formulas and typically run at a lower cost, Floor Shield is a research-backed, superior-grade polyaspartic coating proven to have:
The last benefit is crucial for many businesses that require the durability and aesthetics a floor coating provides without having to halt their operations for several days to do it.
While a premium product means a steeper price tag, using a well-known, reputable brand gives your business another potential boon. The American consumer is brand-driven, and by utilizing a brand like Floor Shield that is both nationally recognized and ripe with positive testimonials, it enables your business to be a top competitor in the market.
Last but far from least, you'll need to come up with an effective marketing plan. Even with a stellar product and application, businesses often collapse due to a bad marketing strategy alone. This is the #1 reason most concrete coating businesses don't survive. You need a good marketing strategy to generate leads and proper software to maintain those leads in the long term. A company's marketing success hinges on how quickly they can come up with leads, and how long they can maintain them. In 2021, 78% of home improvement leads went to the first responder, and 40% of all leads converted through relationship-building over time.
Floor Shield provides a comprehensive, turnkey marketing program, offering your business:
As part of the initial deposit, most of these benefits stay with our dealers for a year. Along with this package, we offer sales training geared toward lead generation and retention. Included with this training is also a 10-step, in-home sales system and 20–30-minute sales closing strategy. This information is essential, as 44.1% of the concrete coatings market is tied to residences.
To recap, we discussed the three primary models to start a successful concrete coatings business. You can:
Learn more about the cost of starting a concrete coatings business here.
Any of these routes must be accompanied by a strong marketing plan that has both good lead generation and customer relationship management. You'll also need to have a comprehensive training plan to ensure jobs get done efficiently. If you feel the dealership model is right for you and want to learn more about this potential venture, you can contact a Floor Shield representative by scrolling down. We'll be happy to have an honest discussion on whether this is truly the right fit for you.