- 26 November, 2006 -

The Browns are no strangers to having their own business -- they owned Precision Tune franchises for 14 years. But as cars improved and the competition increased, they knew it was time to get into something else. A moving experience of their own prompted them to open a Two Men and a Truck franchise. "We saw our sales going down with the auto repair franchise. Everyone and their brother was doing the same thing," Jeff Brown said. "When we moved four years ago, I was surprised at the lack of professionalism among movers. Most of them acted so busy, like they couldn't begin to accommodate us. So we decided to look into opening a business." Brown started the franchise with two trucks, now he has eight. Last year the company did 2,500 moves. In August, he decided to open a second location in Lake County, five minutes from their home. "About 75 percent of our business is from Porter and LaPorte Counties," Brown said. "Everyone wants to use someone who is local. We wanted to tap into the Lake County market, so we decided to open the second location." They liked the concept of Two Men and a Truck, which started as an after-school business for two high school boys. Now, 20 years later, Two Men and a Truck International Inc. includes more than 184 locations in North America and is the country's largest moving franchise, with offices in 28 states and Toronto, Canada. The company has nearly 1,200 trucks on the road. The initial franchise fee is $37,000, with total startup costs -- including facility, trucks, equipment and other expenses -- range from $112,300 to $407,200. Franchisees pay a royalty of 6 percent of gross revenue, plus 1 percent for advertising. "It is truly a family-run franchise," Brown said. "They also our very family oriented, they give a lot of money to charity." While there is competition in the moving industry, Brown credits the company's name with much of the success. "It's a catchy name, most people think it's just a small moving company, and usually it is," Brown said. "Most of the franchise owners have grown up in their community. We also have the 'grandma rule.' We try to treat every move like it's our grandma that we are moving. We always try to put ourselves into the customers shoes." The company can be hired for moves as short as two hours, and most of the business comes within a 400-mile radius. "I've always been enterprising, I've been offered lots of sales jobs," Brown said. "I'm the type of guy who feels I can do everything better than the next guy. Since I've started here, I've moved furniture if necessary. I can't tell a customer that a couple of guys called off sick and they can't move. I would never want to disappoint a customer."

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