RESTORATION 1
REVIEW
SERVPRO REVIEW
COMPANY INFORMATION
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Company Name
Restoration 1 (officially registered as Restoration 1 Franchise Holding LLC)
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Company Overview
Restoration 1 operates exclusively within the niche of restoring and remediation after damage. It offers primarily fire, water, and mold damage restoration services. In addition Restoration 1 offers emergency restoration services in the aftermath of disasters such as flooding and storms.
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Number of Locations
Restoration 1 has over 300 branches throughout the United States and Canada.
SERVICES PROVIDED
As mentioned above, Restoration 1 has made its niche the restoration of damaged property. As such, most of the services it provides are in the field of restoring a home or office after a disaster. However, the range of services this entails is extremely broad. Indeed, Restoration 1’s offerings run the gamut from very minor cleanups to major hazard cleanups.
The overall list of services offered is:
WATER DAMAGE RESTORATION
Water damage can involve a number of different stages of cleanups, from remediation to water removal, to prevention, and Restoration 1 offers all of the different stages. Interestingly, Restoration 1 can offer encapsulation services, which prevents water damage in the first place.
This is a service that differs from some of its competitors, although it does make intuitive sense within the range of services on offer:
- Water damage
- Mold remediation
- Sump pump cleanup
- Story recovery
- Flood damage cleanup
- Emergency water removal
- Crawl space encapsulation
- Ceiling and basement leak
POST-HAZARD CLEANUP
Where Restoration 1 really differs from the rest of the pack is in offering cleanups in more extreme circumstances.
Many companies offer the ability to clean up after a flood or leak; however, Restoration 1 has a team of experts who can clean up in the most dangerous and harmful scenarios.
The services they offer in this respect are as follows:
- Sewage cleanup
- Virus disinfection
- Biohazard cleanup
- Crime scene and trauma cleanup
- Disaster response
- Fire and smoke damage
- Odor removal
- Emergency services
ONGOING SERVICES
As well as the more dramatic offerings listed above, Restoration 1 has a more typical set of ongoing cleaning services for both home and commercial properties.
These are not based on any particular disaster but are more tailored towards keeping commercial offices clean as well as addressing specific cleaning challenges.
These include:
- Industrial services
- Commercial restoration
- Air duct cleaning
- Residential services
- Drapes and blinds cleaning
- Carpet cleaning
- Cleaning services
Additional
Company Information
What is particularly remarkable about Restoration 1 is that it is a relative newcomer to the market. Many other companies within the space are between 40 and 60 years old (there was real growth in the cleaning services industry in the 1970s and 1980s).
However, Restoration 1 was founded in 2008 and was first franchised in 2010. Not only does this suggest a deliberate intention to build a national company – unlike many competitors that began as local stores and only grew after a decade or so of operation – but illustrates the speed of its growth.
In 2016, under CEO Gary Findley, Restoration 1 began a program of extremely rapid growth. In 2016 alone, Restoration 1 opened 75 new locations.
In the first two years of his tenure as CEO, Findley had doubled the size and reach of the company.
This has brought Restoration 1 to a situation where, ten years after selling its first franchise, it has now reached over 300 branches throughout North America. Gary Finley’s explicit goal was to grow the company ‘exponentially,’ and it has become the fastest-growing restoration franchise in the nation.
Restoration 1’s growth is fueled by a low financial barrier to entry, combined with a personal connection between franchisees and the company. All franchisees must meet personally with the leadership, which helps to foster a sense of brand connection.
RESTORATION 1
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
BBB RATING
BBB RATING: A+
Restoration 1 received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
PROS AND CONS OF USING RESTORATION 1
Restoration 1 is a slightly different company than many others in the restoration and remediation industry. Aside from its aggressive growth, it offers a slightly distinct set of services, focused primarily on the three main causes of damage: water, fire, and mold. Much of its marketing is shaped by the emergency response, as well as the hazardous cleanup services it offers.
In a way, offering these services is a marketing tool in and of itself, since showing you can clean up biohazard waste makes the customer comfortable with your ability to handle lesser situations. However, it is difficult to avoid the relative youth of the company as a potential risk for a customer. Below is the list of pros and cons for prospective customers to consider.
PROs
As a new brand, marketing is everything, and word of mouth is central to this. In many respects, therefore, there is an inherent advantage in using a new company, since it is more likely to be responsive to customer demands and therefore provide better services. Certainly, this seems to be true when it comes to Restoration 1:
- Positive customer feedback. Restoration 1 has strong customer ratings on multiple rating websites. This shows an emphasis on customer service and satisfaction (which is not always true of more established brands). This is doubly impressive given the speed of the growth of franchisees since it demonstrates a strong quality control.
- Value. Restoration 1 also focuses on offering its services at a relatively low price. Keeping services affordable is a strong growth strategy and fits in with the above issue of customer satisfaction.
CONs
While customer satisfaction and low price points are extremely strong advantages, Restoration 1 does offer some limitations.
- Young company. Although it is undoubtedly a growing company, the fact that Restoration 1 is a little over 10 years old compares it unfavorably with more established franchises. In addition, customers may be wary of trusting a newer company with more prized possessions. Finally, the youth of the company also diminishes brand awareness. While all of these are likely to change as the company grows and becomes more established, they prevent a slight limitation in the short term.
- Weak marketing. Restoration 1 doesn’t have the strong marketing of other companies in the same industry. This is true of both marketing to consumers as well as marketing to potential franchisees. In both cases, Restoration 1 has strong satisfaction levels but doesn’t have the marketing heft of other brands.
OUR RATING
On our five-stage rating scheme, we have given Restoration 1 a rating of ‘Excellent’
- Excellent
- Good
- Average
- Poor
- Very Poor
This stems from its excellent customer satisfaction ratings, coupled with its strong investment in its franchisees. The company clearly cares about its clients and its representatives, which feeds into everything it does.
Moreover, the rapid growth of the company indicates there is a market for its services, and in a highly competitive industry, Restoration 1 has gone from strength to strength. We think they are the best value for a water damage restoration company.
RESTORATION 1 HISTORY
As mentioned above, the remarkable rise of Restoration 1 has happened in an extremely short timeframe. The company was founded in 2008 and is well on the way to becoming the first national household name in restoration services. In fact, Restoration 1’s rise has been even more impressive considering the fact that it has really happened since 2016, at which point the company grew at more than 100 locations a year.
Restoration 1 has consistently been ranked highly by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the best franchise investments in the United States. In fact, the period 2008-2020 seems like only the first chapter in the story of a major corporation.
HOW RESTORATION 1 OPERATES
BRANDING & BUSINESS MODEL
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Restoration 1 brands itself based on the speed of its growth. It talks regularly of itself as “the fastest-growing restoration franchise.” This shifts the focus of marketing slightly away from service provision and more towards franchise selling. However, for the consumer to see this sort of growth instills confidence in the raw product.
Restoration 1’s business model is to focus on franchises and build on that rapid growth.
ULTIMATE SELLING POINT
The big selling point when it comes to selling franchises is their affordability.
As Restoration 1’s own marketing material states: “Restoration 1 is one of the most affordable franchises to own with enormous profit potential” and “Our affordability is one of the main reasons so many entrepreneurs are choosing to invest in Restoration 1.”
To invest in a Restoration 1 franchise costs between $84,500 and $193,125, far cheaper than many of its competitor franchises. This continues the growth cycle and allows dynamic entrepreneurs to invest in a Restoration 1 franchise. This energy is what creates the core of the Restoration 1 operation.
A 10-year-old company with 300 branches is doing something right. The rapid growth of Restoration 1 is a testament to a highly successful business model – one based on expertise, personal connections, and strong customer service. In an industry that is not only not the most glamorous, but also highly competitive, Restoration 1 has risen to the top.
If you have water, mold, or fire damage, you can be confident that when you call Restoration 1, you’ll get high-quality customer service at affordable rates. It sounds simple, and it is. Restoration 1 has ridden that to fairly rapid growth. It remains to be seen only how far it will continue to grow.