What Makes Door Renew Such A Good Business?

by FMS Franchise | Case Studies
7 minutes
Door Renew Franchise

As the name implies, Door Renew renews doors! It sounds simple enough, but it’s an art to take an old door and make it look new again. Door Renew will not only help you learn all of the steps needed to accomplish the restoration but also how to operate a profitable business.

As a franchise owner, you can be a part of bringing smiles to the faces of customers who are pleased with their “new” door at a very reasonable cost to them. We will share our secrets with you (including our temporary door system) and will show you how to do everything.

We will also share our business model and will help you see what it takes to be successful in the door restoration business. We have a proven track record and we want to see you flourish in your own business with our name, our knowledge, our procedures, and our training. So take the plunge and let us help you get started on a great business opportunity!

  • High-profit margin
  • Low overhead
  • Very little competition
  • No expensive equipment
  • Temporary door system that installs within minutes
  • Very limited liability— the doors are already in bad shape
  • Can be done in both residential and commercial sectors
  • No problem getting paid—people want their doors back!
  • Work in your shop, at your own pace.
  • The customer only has to be home twice:  when you pick up their door and when you return it
  • Set your own schedule
  • Work with your hands
  • High-tech in a low-tech trade
  • A tremendous sense of satisfaction
  • Can be started in your garage
  • You’re not a slave to email
  • You’re not in constant meetings
  • You don’t have to submit a day-off request form
  • You don’t have to get permission to leave the office early
  • We teach you the system
  • We teach you how to set the price, prepare the proposal, and sell the concept
  • You don’t need to be an expert on the Internet. We help set up your FaceBook, Social Media, and other Internet systems to make sure your company appears at or near the top of the list

Door Renew was started by Matt Eggenberger in August 2009. The company is based in Cincinnati, OH, but also restores doors in three states: Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan.

“I started this business as a sideline in my garage after being laid off from my job,” says founder, Matt Eggenberger. “Having owned a very successful Mr. Handyman franchise for four years (2001–2005), we received a lot of calls to refinish front doors. Customers couldn’t find anyone that specializes in this type of work, so they called us.

At first, we did what everyone else did: I would dispatch a service technician who would sand the loose varnish off the door, try to match the remaining stain as best he could, and then cover the whole thing with a new coat of “off-the-shelf” Spar Varnish.

The customer was never satisfied and didn’t want to pay us for what we did. Three to six months later I would have to send my technician back to the house because what we did was already flaking off.

I knew we had to take the door off its hinges and bring it into a shop to completely restore it, but installing a temporary door to match up with the hinges and door lock took hours and ate up all of the profits. I finally decided to not accept this type of work anymore because we couldn’t refinish the door on-site to our quality standards, nor make any profit with all of the warranty service requirements.

I sold my Mr. Handyman franchise in 2005 and went back to work for my former employer with whom I had fifteen years of seniority, but after just three more years, I was laid off! I spent the next year looking for work and actually found a position selling House Doctors franchises, but after six months, I was laid off again. “

“While conducting my new career search, I had the opportunity to interview with a company in Cincinnati that restores beautiful mahogany Chris Craft antique boats. They bring them into their shop and completely strip them down and refinish them using tried-and-true techniques that endure in the marine environment.

I remember thinking to myself, that’s just what those doors need, but only if it didn’t take so long to install a temporary door. I thanked them for their job offer and decided not to accept it, but their techniques stayed in my mind.

Later that week it came to me how to design a temporary door system that is secure and installs quickly. So in August 2009, I decided to test the waters by sending a press release to the business editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer about my new venture.

After a couple of weeks, my little two-paragraph announcement appeared on the last page of the Sunday business section, but it was buried with a half dozen other business-opening announcements. Well, the phone went crazy and I was not prepared to handle all of the volumes.

I spent the fall of 2009 finishing up these doors and putting Door Renew out of my mind for the winter.  Then in the spring of 2010, while I was deep into my career search, the phone started ringing again, which was odd because I didn’t have a website and hadn’t done any advertising or promotion.

People had saved or remembered that newspaper article since August and started calling me! Long story short, I ended my career search to concentrate on Door Restore full time.”  –Matt Eggenberger

After the business was up and running, Matt’s brother, John, who has over 15 years in franchising with three national brands, became so excited that he left his job and joined Door Renew to partner with Matt in developing the concept into a franchise, and the rest is history!

When you join Door Renew’s team as a franchise owner, you can expect support in a number of different areas:

•  Operational Support

•  Marketing Support

•  Ongoing Research and Development

•  Overall Program Oversight

Training includes:

•  1 week of Training at Door Renew’s HQ in Cincinnati, OH, timed just before you open your business

•  2–3 days of Training at your location to get your business started

•  Regular teleconference and webinar training sessions

•  Ongoing support and guidance in building and operating your business

You will be awarded an exclusive territory of 25,000 to 35,000 targeted households that meet the demographic criteria for homeowners who are the most likely ones to use the Door Renew services.

We are looking to expand to your area soon!
The fee for one franchise is $25,000 and start-up costs can be less than $34,000, which includes your $25,000 franchise fee.  This amount can vary depending on a number of factors. Please see the chart on the next page.

If you are looking to franchise your business, opportunity, and chance for growth and a targeted, profitable franchise model, you just might want to get on a call with us.  The concept is simple, you can operate the business from home.

We don’t have really any established competition, so you could control your marketplace.  You would have the training, support, and mentorship from an established management team who stands behind you every step of the way as we build a brand together.

So why wouldn’t you contact us?

Here’s how!

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