Steam Brothers vs Weed Man Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Steam Brothers vs Weed Man including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees
	Steam Brothers Franchise	Weed Man Franchise
Investment	$22,000 - $53,500	$69,790 - $86,850
Franchise Fee	$16,000	$20,000 - $33,750
Royalty Fee	5-6.5%	$6.2K-$12.3K/vehicle/yr.
Advertising Fee	-	20% of royalty fee
Year Founded	1977	1970
Year Franchised	1984	1976
Term Of Agreement	10 years	10 years
Term Of Agreement	10 years	10 years
Renewal Fee	$1K	-
Business Experience Requirements
	Steam Brothers Franchise	Weed Man Franchise
Experience	-	-
Financing Options
	Steam Brothers Franchise	Weed Man Franchise
	In-House/3rd Party	In-House/3rd Party
Franchise Fees	No/No	Yes/Yes
Start-up Costs	No/No	Yes/Yes
Equipment	No/Yes	-/Yes
Inventory	No/No	-/Yes
Receivables	No/No	-/-
Payroll	No/No	-/-
Training & Support
	Steam Brothers Franchise	Weed Man Franchise
Training	-	Extensive 12-day initial training at Head Office addresses all aspects of business operations, including administration, technical, marketing, business planning and budgeting. Training tools will also be provided for training employees. Ongoing training through conference calls, webinars, newsletters, site visits, phone and email correspondence.
Support	Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations	Every Weed Man Franchise is supported by their local and experienced Franchisor who serves as a personal consultant and mentor, providing experience, guidance and encouragement. The network of Weed Man Franchisors represents decades of lawn care operation experience. Their collective wisdom has been fine-tuned into a system that allows you to run a successful lawn care operation with no prior lawn care or agronomic training or knowledge.
Marketing	Ad slicks	Co-op Advertising Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social media SEO Website development Email marketing
Operations	Franchise can be run from home. 2% of all franchisees own more than one unit Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 1 - 3 Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)	Absentee Ownership Allowed Number of Employees Required to Run: 4 - 6
Expansion Plans
	Steam Brothers Franchise	Weed Man Franchise
US Expansion	Yes	Yes
Canada Expansion	No	-
International Expansion	No	-

Company Overviews

About Steam Brothers

After 16 years in the supermarket business, Adam Leier was looking for a way to go into business for himself. He purchased Steam Brothers, an existing cleaning business, in 1977 and began franchising in 1984. Steam Brothers has locations throughout the Midwest and is based in Bismarck, North Dakota.

About Weed Man

Weed Man opened its first location in 1970 and started franchising the concept in 1976. Throughout the years, Weed Man has been committed to delivering superior lawn care services to residential customers across North America. Currently sold out in Canada, Weed Man has seen rapid growth across the US in over 250 territories since 2000. With over $100 million in system sales, Weed Man is the leading franchised lawn care company in the green industry.

Franchisor is seeking new franchise units throughout the U.S.,Canada and Eastern Europe