We Do Lines featured in The Gulf Coast Business Review

We Do Lines was featured in The Gulf Coast Business Review today in an article entitled "Entrepreneur takes on double duty." In the article, Tom Darrow discusses how We Do Lines began, why he decided to personally bring the franchise to Southwest Florida, how easy it is to become a We Do Lines franchisee, and how many business opportunities there are in the market. Click here to view the full article in its entirety.

TUESDAY’S CUP: Entrepreneur takes on double duty
By Gulf Coast Business Review

Here’s a subtle sign the economy is on the mend: Tom Darrow, a former Gulf Coast resident and entrepreneur who moved to Connecticut, has returned to the region — and business is good.

Darrow, who ran a commercial landscaping firm in Ridgefield, Conn., didn’t only move back to Florida for the weather. He mostly moved so he could help build his business, a franchise-based company that repaves parking lot stripes, into a national success.

“We want to be able to do any job from Maine to Miami,” says Darrow, who previously lived in Venice and now lives in Naples. “But we realize we have to have the hubs to do that.”

(Read More)

We Do Lines featured in National Weblog

The article that published in “The Bradenton Herald" about We Do Lines was picked up by a national weblog called “Business Opportunities” which acts as a source of info and inspiration for potential business owners, many of whom are looking for potential franchises to invest in. Click here to view the weblog.

Firm Creates Niche Painting Stripes
By RICH WHITTLE

They do lines — lots of lines. You’ll find them in parking lots, airports and even at Miami’s Doral Golf Resort.

The company We Do Lines USA is one of the few companies nationwide that specializes in striping — creating those white, iridescent lines to mark off parking spaces.

According to Bradenton.com, the Connecticut-based firm, founded in 2008, has expanded to Florida and is selling franchise territories and drumming up business.

(Read More)

We Do Lines featured in Bradenton Herald

In the article, Bob Russo discusses how he got started with We Do Lines by easily transitioning from commercial construction, and how other potential business owners can do the same. Tom Darrow discusses how We Do Lines began, how they forayed into franchising, and how much they’ve grown since the company was founded. To view the article in its entirety be sure to click here.

Firm creates a niche painting parking stripes
By JENNIFER RICH

They do lines -- lots of lines.

You’ll find them in parking lots, airports and even at Miami’s Doral Golf Resort.
The company We Do Lines USA is one of the few companies nationwide that specializes in striping -- creating those white, iridescent lines to mark off parking spaces.

The Connecticut-based firm, founded in 2008, has expanded to Florida and is selling franchise territories and drumming up business.

Bob Russo, of Englewood, just started the franchise that includes Bradenton and stretches from Clearwater to Port Charlotte.

(Read More)

We Do Lines featured in Newsday

Newsday has published an article called “Parking-line painters expand in LI,” which focuses on Long Island’s newest parking lot line stripers, Skip Barrett and Rob Schlosser of We Do Lines, Long Island. Skip describes how he became involved with We Do Lines from a corporate perspective and then turned franchisee all while still managing franchise development for the brand. Check out the article here.

Parking-line painters expand into LI
By JAMES BERNSTEIN

Three entrepreneurs have proved that just about anything can be made into a business, including painting those ubiquitous white lines in parking lots.
We Do Lines, a Ridgefield, Conn.-based franchiser that began only two years ago and boasts customers from Maine to Florida in its first year, is expanding to Long Island.

Skip Barrett and Rob Schlosser, both of Huntington, are the company's franchisees for Long Island and Westchester County. Barrett was We Do Lines' franchise development director before taking up some territory himself. The Island, Barrett said, is perfect for the business.

Sometimes, he said, Long Island seems like one long parking lot. The shopping malls, businesses, schools, and municipal buildings all have lots, and the spaces need to be maintained. There are also guidelines required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Airports too need lines.

(Read More)

We Do Lines listed by Business News Daily as 1 of 8 Low-Cost Franchise Opportunities for 2011

The New Year is the time for a fresh look on life and many people take it as a time to reevaluate their career paths since it’s such a huge component to anyone’s life. BusinessNewsDaily just published an article about 8 Low-Cost Franchise Opportunities for 2011 and We Do Lines was featured for their low initial investments and being home-based franchises. Check out a portion of the story below or read the full article here:

8 Low-Cost Franchise Opportunities for 2011

If you’re thinking 2011 is the year you’re going to start your own business, you might consider the thousands of franchise opportunities available. The International Franchise Association (IFA) web site is a good place to start pursuing your franchise ownership dream.

The organization relaunched its web site yesterday, adding functionality that makes it easier to access information about its 1,100 franchise members. (Read More)

Giving Franchisees the Tools to Succeed; We Do Lines Brings on Another Key Partner

Veribooks Assists We Do Lines Franchisees Secure Jobs

Big ideas come in all sizes. Rarely, though, do those ideas come to fruition. That is unless you are Chris Couri, Tom Darrow, and Dan Rella – who collectively teamed up to put the word “sexy” into the parking lot striping industry with the launch of their franchise-brainchild We Do Lines, USA, which is now in six states . In order to bring in jobs quicker and more efficiently for its franchisees, We Do Lines has partnered with Veribooks, a business that offers complete management of all non-core business services.

“It’s important to us to give our franchisees all the tools they need to be successful,” said Chris Couri, CEO of We Do Lines. Sales and marketing is a must in our business so in addition to our franchisees making local connections, Veribooks is also securing qualified appointments for our franchisees who will then meet with the decision makers to close the deals.”

In just the three months that We Do Lines has been working with Veribooks, they have secured over 200 appointments for existing franchisees, including multiple appointments in new opening markets.

Veribooks also provides We Do Lines franchise owners with weekly sales tactic roundtables. “Most franchisees don’t have a formal sales background, and for those that do, a moderated roundtable on best practices is very beneficial,” said Eric Sweeney, President of Veribooks. “These weekly calls cover sales basics in an environment where franchisees can connect with fellow franchisees on a consistent and structured basis.”

According to Couri, as a growing start-up franchise, We Do Lines is pulling out all the stops for its franchisees to ensure they’ll be successful from day one. Earlier this fall, We Do Lines entered into a strategic partnership with Sherwin-Williams to provide training, supplies and expert knowledge to We Do Lines franchisees.
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These partnerships will position We Do Lines for further growth and development. While other brands are struggling to find avenues that work, We Do Lines is ahead of the curve by signing 11 new locations this year and partnering with key players to drive the business and brand forward.

“Giving franchisees everything they need to run a successful We Do Lines franchise is how we’ll get from eleven locations to 100,” Couri said. “We continue to be on the forefront of this industry at every level. And these strategic partnerships and national supplier agreements are key components in the We Do Lines value proposition.”

Thoughts On Branding and Compliance

By Chris Couri, CEO and Co-Founder of We Do Lines

"If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you." - John Stuart, Chairman of Quaker (ca. 1900)

In the last quarter of the 20th Century there has been a dramatic shift in
ascertaining shareholder value. For most of the century, tangible assets
were regarded as the main source of business value. Brands, technology,
customer relationships, and employees were always at the heart of a
company's success, but rarely explicitly valued.

With the rise of such consumer brands as McDonalds', Coke, Proctor and
Gamble, and a host of other late 20th century brand powerhouses today, it is
possible to argue that the majority of a business' value is based on
intangibles like 'brand equity', Management's attention to these assets has
grown exponentially and efforts to protect these assets have become a top
priority because their perceived values have so vastly increased with the
technology to penetrate the brand into a marketplace, whether it be globally
or locally.

A franchises brand is a very valuable asset. Franchisors know that a
customer will walk into a store or use the services of a franchise based on
the reputation of the brand name.

Remember that although franchise establishments are independently owned and
operated, they still maintain the high standards of the franchisor and the
uniformity that contributes to brand recognition and reliability. That is
why a McDonalds in Portland is a McDonalds in Pasadena.

Brand management is important in other business, but in franchising it is
paramount.

It is therefore important, especially in the early going that we all
understand that if there's one bit of cautionary wisdom to share with you it
is "If the brand fails, we all fail." It is true that being a small
franchisor poses all sorts of challenges in establishing a brand,
particularly when it comes to working within a limited budget. However,
affordability is secondary compared to the primary task of each franchisee
to understand the importance and the value of the brand itself. If we fail
at that level-it doesn't matter how larger your budget or how creative your
marketing campaign-we may as well have thrown the time and money away.

Why? Because no matter how effective our branding effort, it's not worth the
paper it's printed on if the franchise owners aren't fully committed to
living and breathing the brand at the local level.