Fabrion's Business Is A Simple One

You don't have to be a car aficionado to own a Fabrion franchise, says CEO Larry Klukowski of the Michigan based auto interior and restoration company he started in 1988. "We have very few car guys as franchisees," he says. "We attract professional people with high incomes, people who may have been downsized from other positions and who have dreamed of owning their own business."Fabrion's business is a simple one - the company repairs and restores the interior of used cars, contracting mainly with car dealerships that want to clean up used vehicles before they're taken to the used car lot. There's no storefront, no retail space; it's simply a service that franchisees take on the road. Franchisees typically work out of their own minivan, SUV or pickup truck, traveling to car dealerships and other facilities with the Fabrion inventor of paints and other materials used to spiff up car interiors. Fabrion requires no set amount of net worth for its franchisees. Total investment for a Fabrion franchisee is $35,000. This includes the franchise fee, training, support, inventory and materials, the whole ball of wax. The only thing required of the franchisee is their own vehicle.

Klukowski requires his franchisees to be hands-on operators at first, then they may hire employees and expand their territories. One reason, he says is, because of the profitability of being a hands-on operator. "You get 80% percent profitability running your own mobile service and for the units you staff with employees, it's 30% percent," he says. There are 72 Fabrion franchisees operating 140 mobile repair and restoration units in 66 major U.S. markets. Klukowski reports that the Fabrion franchise network is now servicing over 4,000 new car dealers at their used car facilities and has achieved over $12 million in sales annually.

What accounts for the business success? Klukowski points to the high demand for Fabrion's specialized services, along with a good return-on-investment and profit margin for franchisees.

Kip Phelps purchased his first Fabrion franchise in Portland, OR 11 years ago. Today he has a dozen mobile service units in the Portland and Seattle area. He was drawn to Fabrion when he read an article about the company.

"I had never owned a business and wanted to be an entrepreneur," he says. "But I didn't have much money, Fabrion was the lowest-investment franchise I could find." Phelps bought his first franchise and worked in building the business at night and on weekends while he kept his day job as an engineer. Three years later, he was able to focus on the Fabrion business full time. Part of the credit for his success goes to Klukowski he says. "He really makes it easy for franchisees to succeed", says Phelps.

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