Building a global name by acting local

In a global world, local sells, especially in a time of resentment toward globalization and big business, says Doug Burgoyne, co-founder and president of Vancouver-based Frogbox Inc. Heading for a massive expansion in the United States, Frogbox looks for local partners who understand their marketplace and who will sign on to franchise agreements.

The company rents out environmentally friendly plastic boxes for moving, dropping them off at people’s homes and picking them up when the move is done. It brands itself by donating 1% of gross revenue to restoring frog habitats. It has franchises in Seattle and four other mid-size U.S. cities, plus nearly a score of cities in Canada. Within four years, it plans to have franchises in 150 cities in North America. Down the road, it hopes to expand to Australia, New Zealand, Northern Europe and South Africa.

Doug Burgoyne, co-founder and president of Frogbox Inc.

Burgoyne, a licensed physiotherapist who went on to earn his MBA at the University of Western Ontario, says he “craves learning new things.” He received advice from another Vancouver entrepreneur, Brian Scudamore, founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?<linkto: http://www.bwob.ca/profiles/junk-tycoon-on-the-hunt-for-the-intrapreneurial>, who linked him up with a franchisee in Seattle for his initial foray across the border.

Why is being local so important?

I think it is the rebellion against big corporations. People want to support local businesses and have their local economy going. It’s an extension of the green movement; if you’re paying money, you want to be supporting people in your community. This was happening long before the Occupy movements.

How did the connection in Seattle help?

He understood the market. He did home services already in the Puget Sound area. Seattle is a hyper-local city. If you say that you’re a Vancouver company, you don’t do nearly as well as if you brand yourself completely as a Seattle company.

What does he do for you?

He’s our franchisee there. He helped us make it a local business. We make sure that franchisees are responsible for choosing the charity [for frog-habitat restoration], and that they choose local charities. In Seattle, it’s the Woodland Park Zoo, the local zoo. We do a few big national charities, but we really want to get involved in the local community. We also do a lot of 10k runs or bike races, and donate boxes. We do a ton of charity work in the communities where we are so we get to know the local scene.

Why did you choose franchising?

The main reasons were speed and capital. If we were going to do this ourselves, it’s $100,000 a city, and we want to be in 20 to 30 new cities in the U.S. next year. We didn’t want to put up $2 million or $3 million for the capital just to do that. If you sell a franchise, you actually make some money in the beginning. You’ve got a lot of training and legal expenses, because the laws are different in every state. But we’re not putting up the money for the trucks and boxes.

What’s the downside of franchising?

You lose some control of the brand.

How can you minimize that?

We have a pretty strict and strong franchise agreement, where we have customer service ratings—if they fall below a certain number, a fairly high number, they risk losing their franchise.

What’s the main thing you learned from Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

The focus on brand integrity—making sure you’re watching where you put your brand. And making sure you’re watching who you’re partnering with. Nobody thinks of trash removal as a sexy or desirable industry. He built a pristine brand in that industry. Moving is not quite as bad as trash removal from a perception standpoint, but it’s close.

Why did you link your brand with frogs?

We didn’t want to call it “Save the Earth Moving Boxes” because people assume environmentally friendly businesses are inconvenient and expensive. With Frogbox, we have a name that’s unique. It stays in people’s minds. If people care about the environment, they understand the connection with frogs and the environmental movement; and if they don’t care about it, we still want to service them. It doesn’t scare them away.

What is your vision of the future?

We’re going to be in the biggest 150 cities in North America within four years and then we’re going to be in Australia, New Zealand, Northern Europe and South Africa at some point. We’ve got a lot of work to do in the U.S. first, but we are in talks with people from those areas.

How do you go about penetrating those markets outside the U.S.?

The biggest thing is finding the right local partners. You’ve got to do it right. We don’t have the resources to go and learn the Australian market. We’re talking to some people in those areas right now but it’s not imminent.

This article has been edited for length and clarity.