Floor Coverings International Franchise vs. ProSource Wholesale Franchise

According to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (HJCHS), the home improvement industry is expected to grow through 2025, making it an exciting time to consider owning a franchise in this sector. ProSource Wholesale and Floor Coverings International are two franchises that offer different opportunities in the sector. Here’s a look at both.

Floor Coverings International franchise

When you own a Floor Coverings International franchise, your target audience is primarily homeowners who are looking to upgrade their flooring. They may be remodeling a current home or choosing flooring for a new home. As a mobile franchise, your minivan will carry 3,000 to 4,000 samples of flooring, ranging from hardwood and vinyl to stone and carpet. You travel to the customer’s home.

The cost to own a Floor Coverings franchise is estimated at between $161,400 and $230,100. This includes your franchise and territory fees, which combine for a total of $65,000. Other expenses are related to training, software and general office expenses.

The costs appear to be built around a one- or two-person business as the franchise estimates $0-$5,000 is needed for personnel and staffing. While you can have employees in the business, there would be additional expenses to consider if you chose to go that route.

Comparing Floor Coverings International and ProSource Wholesale

Floor Coverings International is a mobile franchise. Flooring samples are contained in a minivan and you travel to the customer’s home. The franchisee is responsible for installing flooring or arranging for and paying a flooring installer. A home office or rented space would be needed for the business administration.

A ProSource Wholesale franchise offers a brick-and-mortar showroom that includes flooring, kitchen and bath offerings, cabinets, countertops, faucets, sinks and additional home improvement options. The showroom is a members-only space where trade pros bring customers to plan their home renovation or improvement project. You run the business out of the showroom building. Installations are handled by the trade pro.

The similarities

There are some similarities between Floor Coverings International and ProSource Wholesale.

Non-traditional retail. Both franchises have built their concepts to be different from traditional retail. Floor Coverings International is a mobile franchise where you work out of a vehicle. ProSource Wholesale offers a brick and mortar showroom with a team of experts committed to the success of their trade pro members and simplifying the process for their homeowner clients.

Flooring options. While both franchises offer a long list of flooring options spanning vinyl, tile, hardwood, carpet and laminate, ProSource also offers kitchen and bath renovation options, spanning cabinets, countertops, hardware, faucets, sinks, showers, tubs, toilets, vanities and more.

Franchise ranking. You will find both franchises in the annual franchise Top 500 ranking by Entrepreneur Magazine.

The differences

Finding customers. With Floor Coverings International, you are responsible for finding customers like you would at a retail store. In fact, you compete with retail stores for customers. With ProSource , you target a very niche market — trade pros (builder, contractor, remodeler, installer, interior designer, architect or real estate professional). They already have the customers, so you’re not competing with traditional retail.

Larger market. Floor Coverings International is focused on flooring, and that can limit future business. ProSource offers flooring, kitchens, baths, and more. There are additional opportunities for the trade pro to work with the same homeowner, which means an opportunity to increase your business.

Expertise. While neither franchise requires a background in the home improvement industry, someone from Floor Coverings International will need to have knowledge about flooring in order to provide recommendations and secure reliable installation services.

Whole package. Flooring is often one part of a home improvement package, yet the trend is for more people to refurbish whole rooms. If a homeowner chooses to go with Floor Coverings International, they will have to source out another business to complete other renovations. ProSource caters to trade pros for all renovations.

Which home improvement franchise should I choose?

While both franchises offer a business opportunity in the home improvement industry, the Floor Coverings International franchise is focused solely on flooring, so it is more restrictive than the ProSource franchise.

When you think about your franchise as a long-term business investment, including being able to sell your business when you retire, the ProSource franchise offers a larger opportunity for growth. While residential flooring is a $48 billion annual industry, the renovation industry is nearly nine times larger at $400 billion annually, according to HJCHS. ProSource gives you a larger piece of the home improvement industry pie.

To learn more about owning a ProSource Wholesale franchise, fill out this form and one of our franchise development representatives will be in touch.