Weed Man Farmington Hills, MI and Ferndale, MI
Names: Steve & Chuck Russell
Market: https://farmington-hills.weedman.com/ https://ferndale.weedman.com/
Number of Locations (Territories): 10 territories in the metropolitan Detroit market and a partially owned subsidiary Weed Man franchise that is comprised of shareholders from the Eradico Services management team.
Education: Steve attended Adrian College in Michigan where he majored in Business. Chuck attended Central Michigan University where he majored in History and minored in Public Relations.
Family: Steve and his wife Renae have been married for 21 years and have two daughters. Chuck and his wife Kelly have been married for 26 years and are the proud parents of three boys.
Career Background: Steve and Chuck’s Weed Man franchise is a division of their company Eradico Services, which was founded in 1931 and focuses on pest control, holiday lighting and lawn and tree care services. Their father bought into the business in the 1980s, and Chuck and Steve grew up working in the company. In 2006, Chuck, Steve and their business partner David Sidder finalized the deal to purchase Eradico Services from their father.
Why Weed Man? Eradico Services became a franchise owner of Weed Man USA in the year 2000. At the time, Steve was serving on the board of the Professional Lawn Care Association of America and a representative from the Weed Man Canada team was also a board member. While Eradico Services wasn’t actively looking for a franchise to invest in at the time, we decided to travel to Weed Man’s corporate office in Toronto to learn more about the opportunity. Upon taking a deeper look into the heart and culture of the company, we realized that Weed Man and Eradico Services shared the same values, and that investing in the franchise concept was a great opportunity to take advantage of a sound business model while adding on to our existing company.
Why was a Weed Man franchise a perfect complement to your pest control company? Pest control and lawn care services are a like science. They have similar governing bodies and licensing procedures. Since we were already familiar with the management side of the business, we knew it was a great opportunity to immediately leverage our client base and expand our service offerings to them.
What are you most proud of so far as a Weed Man franchisee? We are honored to be involved and associated with a first class organization. We are a part of something that is bigger than ourselves. From the ongoing training initiatives from the corporate office to the support system of franchise owners across the country, there is always someone available to discuss strategy with.
What is the key to your success? Our key to success is focusing on hiring good people who are willing to follow the systems that have been laid out to help guide us to success.
What’s next for you and your franchise? We are looking at opportunities to expand into new territories both inside and outside of Michigan.