• Not a get rich quick business opportunity
  • Over time you will get a lot of referral business if you do a good job when you say you will
  • Need to be customer driven- unhappy customers do not send referrals
  • Building decks can be very physical work, foundations and framing and finish carpentry (particular & patient)
  • Time management
  • Hard work
    Product Knowledge
  • Invest in education continually
  • Team building- Don't want a 1 man company
  • The handier the better
  • Good with numbers or hire someone who is
  • Team player- part of franchise team, help at regional shows
  • Honest

Below is a list of Questions and Answers we have compiled to help you learn more about the Deck industry and owning a Hickory Dickory Deck Franchise. If you do not find an answer to your question in this section, please click here to contact us today and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have...

 

Why would I buy a franchise from a deck company?

  • Maybe I should just start my own! Everyone who joins the Hickory Dickory Decks team at some point thought the same thing. Take time to find out all the benefits that Hickory Dickory brings to the table, both short term and long term. We believe the hundreds of benefits will lead to joining our team.

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Do I need to be a carpenter?

  • The short answer is no. Most of our franchises are not carpenters. We do believe that if you own a deck business you should know how to build a deck. (If I owned a restaurant, I would hire a chef) In the first year we suggest about twenty hours per week building with your lead crew. By year two you will be a great deck builder and your crew with be taught by yourself.

Do I need to be a professional salesperson?

  • The short answer again is no. Many of our franchises have come from marketing and sales positions but many have never sold anything before. Our sales system has been proven for over 20 years and it works if you follow it. Our training is very intense and then we follow it up with great sales manuals and sales support from our franchise managers.
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What net worth do I need to join the Hickory Dickory Deck team?

  • The current required net worth is $100, 000.00 and can be yours or an angel investor.
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What are the royalties?

  • The royalties are 6% of total sales and are paid on the 15th of the following month

Do you have a Regional Advertising Account and what does it cost?

  • Yes we have a regional advertising fund and currently it is 1.6% of sales based on the previous year's sales.

What is the term of the franchise agreement?

  • The initial agreement is for 5 years with two more 5 year renewable terms following.

How long will the initial training take?

  • The initial training is now 4 weeks for the owner and 3 weeks for their lead builder or partner.

How much money can I make with a Hickory Dickory Deck franchise?

  • Because of franchise laws in both Canada and United States, we can not give you a figure of what you can make. We have not grown  to be the largest deck business in Canada with an unprofitable business model. What you make in any business is dependant on many things but here is a few points to keep in mind.
  • Market conditions
  • Personal abilities
  • How hard you work
  • How smart you work
  • Territory conditions
  • Competitive conditions
  • Time to learn the business
  • Business and personal contacts
  • Referral

Who builds the deck?

  • As a franchise owner you will determine who builds your deck.  You are required to hire an experienced carpenter or a subcontractor. Depending on how large your company grows will determine how many crews you will employ.

How large is a franchise territory?

  • Each territory is determined by head office working with the franchises. Most areas are between 50,000 and 100,000 people.

What is the competition like?

  • This is a question that is different with each area. During the weeks or months a prospective franchisee is looking at the Hickory Dickory Decks opportunity, he or she must get as much education about the competition as possible. Most areas will have some existing deck or fence companies as well as renovators, home improvement companies, carpenters and handy man.

Does Hickory Dickory Decks sell very much low maintenance decking?

  • The short answer is yes, most areas use over 90% low maintenance decking with the balance being cedar. Our competition is 97% wood with 85% of that being pressure treated.

What is low maintenance decking?

  • Low maintenance decking has been around for over 10 years and is usually a combination of some type of plastic and a filler, sometimes wood or now other products like flax, rice, glass, or minerals.

What are the major advantages of low maintenance decking?

  • The first advantage is unlike wood you never need to sand and stain it. This is the major labour and cost advantage over a wooden deck. A few others are no cracking, splinters, warping cupping and less slippery when wet. Some low maintenance decking is cooler than wood when walked on.

Why don't they call it maintenance free decking?

  • We call it low maintenance decking, because it does need cleaning.  A good wash a few times a year will keep all the dirt and mold from growing onto your deck and will keep your low maintenance deck looking great for years.

How do I acquire business leads?

  • Hickory Dickory Decks has grown the business by doing a great job for our clients and also marketing. Referrals are the best customers for any business. Our guaranteed satisfaction leads to lots and lots of happy referrals. As far as marketing I will just list some of our proven methods
  • Referrals
  • Web leads
  • Home shows
  • Garden shows
  • Signs on trucks
  • Signs on trailers
  • Yard signs Uniforms
  • Brochures
  • Our deck book
  • Trade referrals
  • Company newsletter
  • Local newspapers
  • Regional magazines, radio, T.V.
  • Displays
  • Local fairs and parades
  • Business club
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Is this business for me?

  • This is a question that over a period of weeks and maybe months we will help you answer. The deck business involves skills in sales, building and business in general. You must be honest and hardworking and enjoy working with people. The deck business is not a get rich quick business but for the right person, it is a great way to create backyard living environments for great customers and make a fair living doing it.
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What is the investment needed to get into the business?

  • We have a full investment package starting at $50,000.00 with options adding up to another $15,000.00 for a total of $65,000.00. This includes
  • the franchise fee
  • company trailers
  • carpenter  tools
  • training packagemarketing supplies
  • optional start up marketing campaign
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What is the cost of the franchise fee?

  • The franchise fee at Hickory Dickory Decks is $25,000.00 for a protected territory.
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Who designs the decks?

  • The short answer is you. During your initial training we will teach you our system of helping the customer to design their own deck. Using our system, our photo gallery of over 10,000 decks, our web sites www.hickorydickorydecks.com and www.decks.ca and our engineered designs plus our support from our franchise managers, you will have all the tools to design beautiful custom decks.
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What if the customer or the building department wants auto cad drawings?

  • No problem. We have over 1,000 pre-engineered deck designs and we have a full design service if required.
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What are your pre-engineered designs?

  • Over the last 20 years our team has designed thousands of custom decks. Now we have put thousands into auto cad quality designs for future reuse. This includes multiple views, construction views and complete material lists. This is an amazing time saver.
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What kind of sales support does Hickory Dickory Decks have?

  • During your initial training you will be taught our sales system and meet many of our sales stars. Once in your area you will be supported by day to day contact with your franchise manager and the resources of your training manuals. Your franchise manager will be able to help design, price and help sell some of your decks and also rely on others at head office for support. Being part of the Hickory Dickory Decks team brings a entire family of head office and other franchisees as support.
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What kind of building support does Hickory Dickory Decks have?

  • During your initial training you will be shown how to design and build a Hickory Dickory Deck. Over the three weeks of building training you will meet many of our head office carpenters and will make long term contacts with them. Once in your area you will have day to day support with both your franchise manager and head office carpenters to help answer any building questions. Our building manuals are a resource you will also use. If you ever need support in your market, head office maybe able to send a crew for this as well.
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Can I work from my home to start?

  • Yes. We strongly suggest too start out as a home based business. You will need a place to park your truck and trailer and store a small amount of inventory. As your business grows you may consider more room for equipment, inventory and office help.
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How will I find employees?

  • This is part of every business, and we will train you how we get good team members. In our initial training and our manuals we go over all aspects of team building. Our franchise managers are also involved during your hiring requirements and we will help you build a winning team.
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How large of a business can I build?

  • The advantage of working for yourself is that you choose how large a business you want to build. We have some franchises that have chosen to stay smaller and we have franchises that want million dollar businesses. We currently have one franchise doing over $3,000,000 in sales and now working toward $4,000.000.
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How does the typical sales call go?

  • Most of our sales calls start with a phone call answered by our call center. The message is sent to the franchisees Blackberry and he or she then calls the client and books a first call. The first call is an information gathering, seeing the site, and getting to know the client. Before the first call most clients view our web site so many initial questions are answered before we ever meet. At the end of the first call, a second call is usually booked in approximately one week. At this meeting a design or two will be presented with exact pricing. Sometimes adjustments need to be made and a third visit is required by this time the client has been shown the Hickory Dickory Decks advantage and value and hopefully becomes a customer.
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Do I need to be a high pressure salesman?

  • Definitely not, we do a great job of marketing to the right people so our clients want to buy a quality deck from a reputable company.  We believe we offer the best value for the investment. 
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Size of Market?

  • Over 3 million decks are replaced in North America every year. This is a constant supply of business and is very steady even during recessions. Most people want a home and as soon as they get one, they want to improve it. Consumer reports in 2008 listed decks as the best home improment investment getting 87% return.
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Future of Business?

  • Our goal at Hickory Dickory Decks is to grow the business one happy customer at a time. We believe there is a need for quality deck builders in every community in the world, and we are striving to fulfill this need.
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Design Service?

  • Our design service at our head office can support all franchisees with complicated designs. We have an Auto CAD expert available and many professional designers on staff for assistance.
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Can I own more than one location?

  • Yes, We usually do not allow more than one location to start, but we have many franchisers that own more than one location.
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Can I expand using managers?

  • Yes, we have designed a management trainee position and developed this for over 10 years. We usually hire a University or College graduate and spend one year training them on every area of the deck business. Our goal for you to is to promote these trainees into a general manager position, running a franchise area, in year two.
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Does just building decks get boring?

  • We don't think so. If you review some of our past work you will see that all our decks are custom and are built UNIQUELY for each customer. You have the advantage of building a small project the one day and then moving onto a very large complicated custom deck that make take many weeks to complete, and challenge your design, contracting and building skills.
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Why would an existing deck builder buy a Hickory Dickory Deck Franchise?

  • This answer would be different for each person, but I will name the top three for most deck builders. Our website is "world class" and is worth millions of dollars. It cannot be duplicated without years of work and thousands upon thousands of quality deck pictures of happy customers. This alone is worth the franchise fee and the royalty payments. Number two would be our systems. After years of learning the hard way and millions of dollars of education we have SYSTEMIZED the decking industry in all areas. We can improve operations, marketing, sales, building or some other areas to help grow our business to a new level. Number three would be our team. Since 1987 we have built a "deck team" second to none in this industry. In all areas of the business we have experts to teach, coach and consult to grow together.
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