Booming Mosquito Prevention Industry Celebrates Another Strong Season

With a heightened demand for mosquito and tick prevention nationwide, Mosquito Joe has continued to excel in the rapidly growing industry. The brand began helping homeowners enjoy the outdoors again in 2010 and has since opened more than 234 locations in 32 states.
Mosquito Joe reported more than $27 million in system wide revenue in 2016 and expecting to surpass that this year. While much of this growth can be attributed to franchising, the brand's proven system and dedicated owners that have helped Mosquito Joe become a household name.
As we near the tail-end of mosquito season in many markets nationwide, we touched base with a few of Mosquito Joe's owners to find out how 2017 has compared so far to previous years.
Paul Burdine, owner of Mosquito Joe's Western Wake location, has been with the brand for nearly five years, and while he has continuously grown his customer base year-over-year, he said 2017 has been his strongest year so far.
"Brand awareness in our market has been a huge perk for us," said Burdine. "Mosquito control is still a fairly foreign concept to people, but with the number of openings we have in this area, brand recognition is helping to drive our business."
According to Burdine, there are dozens of pest control companies in his market, yet his business now has four vans running at all hours of the day, five part-time technicians and the opportunity to open full-time salaried positions to existing techs.
"Just as this has become a year-round business for me, it's becoming a full-time time job for our technicians as well," he said. "We don't service year-round, but we are looking at having salaried employees. Many of the larger, more established Mosquito Joe locations have that opportunity. I think it almost becomes a necessity the bigger your location becomes."
Long Island franchisee Whitney Mastropierro also saw a significant spike in business, but for a more threatening reason. Last year, Mosquito Joe vetted concerns from customers nationally regarding the Zika and West Nile viruses. But in 2017, the Northeast was plagued by a different pest, ticks.
"On Long Island, Lyme disease and Alpha-gal syndrome have been really prevalent this year," according to Mastropierro . "Hundreds of cases have been reported and the area is buzzing with questions on how to stay protected. We try to bundle our services as often as possible to help protect local families from all types of pests, but this year more than ever, people want a package deal. In fact, we've more than doubled the number of customers we had at the same time last year."
Aside from those with a previously established customer base, newer franchise owners have also capitalized on the reputable brand name. Franchise owners Ted and Lindsay Fitzpatrick celebrated their grand opening in Naples, Florida in March of 2017, and have already noticed an unusual seasonal uptick in their market.
Traditionally, Mosquito Joe's peak sales period is during the spring and summer months, but with Naples warm weather climate and heavy tourist population, the Fitzpatrick's are actually anticipating a huge winter.
"We've serviced 175 customers so far since March but the seasonal population of our area doubles between October and January," said Fitzpatrick. "The majority of these retirees stick around until March or April, so we're eager for the type of business we'll have throughout the winter and into the early spring."
This high demand for mosquito control solutions is only expected to rise as more people discover the benefits of a mosquito-free yard and lifestyle, paving the way for continued expansion of the fast-growing brand. And it's not just the profitability of the business that is making the job worthwhile, it's also the impact that these franchisees are having on their local communities.
"We're committed to finding a way to give back, whether that's through volunteer work or local partnerships," said Burdine. "We've put a focus on growing our business to service more families throughout Wake County and we're excited to help make a difference by allowing our customers to enjoy being outside."

by Alison Hoesli

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