A Lehigh Valley-based tree care service company is entering the franchising space, and it has its sights set on a location in Summit.
Joshua Tree Experts currently has 60 employees and customers across the Lehigh Valley in neighboring Pennsylvania. Summit is one of about a half-dozen cities founder Joshua Malik plans to launch franchises in in 2022—and the only one in New Jersey.
“[Summit] has a really good unique spot that’s offering the type of tree and topography that we’re used to now, and we think a franchisees can launch very successfully there,” Malik said. “The profile of our partner audience, we want to deal with single home dwellings and an older community that understand the value of a healthy landscape. We know that people who are mature understand the value in investing in their home, not just in tree care but other maintenance projects to keep their home up to date.”
Homes in Summit are in high demand, according to Redfin, with the average house selling in around 31 days of being listed. The average age of homes in the municipality is 66 years old, which according to Malik creates strong demand for tree care and lawn maintenance.
Malik’s been working in tree care for over 15 years, and in recent years has also expanded his business into outdoor pest control and lawn care. The avid outdoorsman, who also mountain bikes and rock climbs, said that a property’s landscape can add up to 25% to the value of a home, and “not only that, trees shading in the summertime can cool your home, and you can put your evergreen trees to block wind and therefore lessen your heating costs in the winter.”
He said that the industry is experiencing growth nationwide: The landscape service industry was at $114 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow to $129 billion in 2026.
“When we look at franchisees, that type of person we want is someone who’s passionate about the outdoors, who wants to be able to build relationships, to form their own team,” Malik said. “I’m looking for the business minded person that will be able to develop the team and the actual operations part of the business. We want an arborist out there, and we want you to hire that person.”
Franchisees will pay a $50,000 franchising fee, which is part of an estimated start-up cost of $143,244 to $215,418. On-going royalties, paid weekly, are 7% of gross revenues; and a brand development fund fee is 2% of gross revenues. But Malik, who said he met one of his best clients in line at Wawa, believes from experience that it’s worth it.
“This service, it’s needed. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been talking to someone [and someone says] ‘oh my god, can you answer this question. I have this tree …’ it always starts like that. It’s so common and that’s what makes it such a good business … opportunity knocks all the time,” he said.
