We’re Here, And We’re Wacky: A Retrospective on the Success of We Do Lines

I think we can all agree that those who attempted to launch their small business during the recession took an extra risk – some might even say an uncalculated risk. Sure, the concept may be viable, but even the most viable small businesses have had problems surviving over the past two years.

Perhaps the key to success is eccentricity. Perhaps it’s those recession-launched companies that are just a little funkier than the others that did the best job of sticking out, raising eyebrows, and creating a foundation for success, gaining market share once the economy starts picking back up.

At We Do Lines, that’s exactly what we did.

It all started one day in 2008, when three business partners had a rather strange problem. We needed to accomplish a simple task: get lines painted in our business parking lot, yet we could find no one to do it. We called a slew of companies who did parking lot line striping on the side, but most never even called back. That’s when we discovered that there was a very specific void to be filled, and decided to come together and revolutionize an industry.

What we saw was a need for a more professional, reliable and efficient business to paint all those much-needed lines in parking lots across the nation. For two years, the three of us striped parking lot lines from Maine to Florida, putting a face to the parking lot line striping industry. Who couldn’t remember a name like We Do Lines? Then, late last year, we decided to turn our new small business into a national franchise. Within four months of launching, we had already signed 6 territories with a pipeline full of future prospects from all over the country. We Do Lines is the first and only company to tap into this estimated $1 billion industry segment. The reason for our success? A wacky yet simple concept that would capture people’s attention and fill a need in an untapped market.

Now, the risk has more than paid off. When other industries are failing due to the recession, at We Do Lines we’ve doubled our growth and are planning on expanding our business nationwide using a new franchise model that’s currently being implemented quite successfully in Cleveland. We Do Lines is now in the process of signing on a whole new slew of franchisees across the country—anyone could be next!

The fact is, parking lots need lines. And that’s what we do.